[Budget] UG Heartbeat

[igri_is_a_bk]

Back in 2005, I played this deck after it got top 8 at Pro Tour LA. I'm trying to port it into legacy, but I'm having some troubles with the numbers and finding replacements for some cards.

This is what I have so far;

9 Forest
9 Island
4 Misty Rainforest

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

4 Brainstorm
4 Heartbeat of Spring
3 Early Harvest
3 Gifts Ungiven
4 Cunning Wish
4 Time Spiral
4 Search for Tomorrow
1 Recycle
1 Regrowth
1 Nostalgic Dreams
1 Moment's Peace
1 Brain Freeze
3 Autumn's Veil

Sideboard
4 Xantid Swarm
3 Moment's Peace
1 Early Harvest
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Brain Freeze
1 Hunting Pack
1 Autumn's Veil
1 Flusterstorm
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away

It's relatively slow for combo in legacy, but can still race aggro and give control decks a run for their money.

The main combo is obviously Heartbeat + Early Harvest + Time Spiral.

Recycle is there as a backup engine.

I wish I could fit more Nostalgic Dreams, but they're risky to cast in the first place.

Cunning Wish provides nice utility, but would something like Drift of Phantasms be stronger since it can also find Hearbeat?

Remand is a card I'd also like to fit in since it cuts the storm count requirement in half, essentially. It also works well at stalling if needed. I need help with space though.

[Darkenslight]

My suggestion? Drop the Gifts package and Wishboard and focus on a one-shot kill. Use something like banefire as a kill: The mana will be tighter, but that should be easier to assemble.

[igri_is_a_bk]

Gifts is what I use to find Heartbeat or Time Spiral or Early or all of them, so I'll need a new way to search if I dropped that package. I don't think Gifts is the package to cut. However, Cunning Wish is replaceable, but it needs to be switched for something that won't lower my odds of getting an Early Harvest when I need it. That's why I thought Drift of Phantasms would be an easy swap since it can also get Hearbeat.

[Mr. Safety]

Intuition seems like it would give you some goods, and it hits earlier than Gifts Ungiven.

So the idea is to combine Heartbeat + Early Harvest/Time Spiral to get big mana/draw a ton of cards? What then, get Recycle down and draw/play a ton of spells to get lethal storm for Brain Freeze?

Remand would be nice...but I think your combo is indeed slow. How do you feel about putting in a little more maindeck protection like these?

Dispel
Flusterstorm
Spell Pierce


You can grab all of them with Cunning Wish...unless Wish is countered. Autumn's Veil is pretty cool for proactively keeping them from dealing with your combo (very Silence/Orim's Chant-like tech there) but I think only having 3 protections and then the Wishboard seems too slow. Better to nuts-draw a 1-mana counterspell than pay 4 mana for it with Wish.

[igri_is_a_bk]

I'd like to have more protection, but the problem is that I need some acceleration or else I'll lose the race even against aggro. Right now I have eight pieces of accel, which may be a couple too many. STE is better than SfT, even though SfT is my best turn one play, I'll take a couple of those out. Actually, if I'm not running 4 SfT, I'm going to switch them out for Rampant Growth since they'll be one cheaper in the later turns.

Intuition would be great, but this is a budget deck. I can't afford to include those right now. I have all the cards for this deck besides 3 Time Spiral and those are taking up a big chunk of my budget.

From goldfishing, I can tell I need more regrowth effects. When I first put the numbers together I forgot Nostalgic Dreams exiles itself, so I need to add at least one more of those.

Turnabout is probably a good wishboard target since it can be a very versatile card.

9 Forest
9 Island
4 Misty Rainforest

4 Sakura-Tribe Elder

4 Brainstorm
4 Heartbeat of Spring
3 Early Harvest
4 Gifts Ungiven
4 Cunning Wish
4 Time Spiral
2 Rampant Growth
1 Recycle
1 Regrowth
2 Nostalgic Dreams
1 Brain Freeze
4 Autumn's Veil

//Sideboard
4 Xantid Swarm
3 Moment's Peace
1 Early Harvest
1 Turnabout
1 Brain Freeze
1 Hunting Pack
1 Flusterstorm
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away

That's 60 in the main and 14 in the side. I added one more piece of protection, but none of the reactive type. I'd like to add Remand and Moment's Peace to the main still, but space is tight.

[Mr. Safety]

Don't forget about Noxious Revival or Eternal Witness. Revival can be free, allowing you to use Brainstorm as an effective Regrowth. Witness can chump block and is a redundant Regrowth that can work with your Gifts pile if you need it to.

I also see some potential for Back to Basics, especially considering you are using a mere 4 fetches and all basic lands.

[igri_is_a_bk]

I had a single Witness in the deck originally and switched it for the Regrowth since it's one cheaper. The block it provides can be really good though. I could also see Revival being more useful since it's free and it could allow me put Brainstorm in my Gifts piles.

Back to Basics is something I've never considered. I can't see how it'd fit anywhere besides the board though. I haven't played tempo with this list yet, but it'd definitely wreck them.

Fact or Fiction used to be a staple in hearbeat, do you think it should be again? It works really well with regrowth cards and really helps battle counterspells. I'm definitely trying it in the 15th sideboard slot so Wish can grab some gas.

[damionblackgear]

I'd suggest a way to win outside of mill via Brainfreeze. Emrakul and random other things shuffle back in either some portion of the graveyard. The Hunting Pack strategy would put 4/4's on the field but, that may be to slow (burn remaining life total, fly over for last bit of damage, deed/pulse away tokens, etc, etc...). I think both ideas are fine, but something that could win that turn (or be able to force your next turn to occur) may be more appreciative.

As a suggestion - Heartbeat Combo produced TONS of mana. Why not run Blue Sun Zenith over Brainfreeze? It's not like it doesn't have the exact same cc as it's old win condition. It also has the ability to win right there on the spot, if not allowing you to 'fire' it at yourself to gain more advantage.

Lastly, I'm not sure if Gift's + Wish is being too Greedy. I'll give the list a shot but, from a "quick glance," it seems dangerously slow to have/rely on both. Again, that's just from a quick look, not testing. From that look, I would replace the ousted cards with Explore either Explore or Rampant Growth. My preference would be Explore.

[Nameless Two]

Maybe add some Mana Flares?

Exploration + the Ravnica bouncelands could be a fun addition aswell.

[igri_is_a_bk]

Blue Sun's Zenith, geez. I completely forgot about that one. It'll probably replace Brain Freeze, which means I don't need to worry about adding Remand anymore. Thanks for that.

I'm avoiding adding a third color right now, so no to the Mana Flares. I don't think a third color is necessary in order for me to combo out successfully.

Here are a few fringe cards I'm considering. If the Wish package is too greedy, would it be wise to just go the route of Brainstorm, Ponder, and Preordain?

Explore
Search for Tomorrow
Caravan Vigil
Mulch
more Nostalgic Dreams
Eternal Witness
Noxious Revival
Snapcaster Mage
Cloud of Faeries
Snap
Fact or Fiction
Moment's Peace
Ponder
Preordain
Drift of Phantasms

The Vigil is only good with STE, so it's probably not going to make the cut. On the combo turn, it'd be sweet though.

Here's a different approach I'm testing right now. I like using Brainstorm, Ponder, and Merchant Scroll more than Gifts and Wish right now, just because they're faster.

// Lands
10 [UNH] Island
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
8 [UNH] Forest

// Creatures
4 [CHK] Sakura-Tribe Elder
3 [UL] Cloud of Faeries

// Spells
4 [MM] Brainstorm
4 [US] Time Spiral
1 [UL] Snap
1 [FUT] Pact of Negation
3 [COM] Flusterstorm
1 [US] Turnabout
4 [HL] Merchant Scroll
1 [MBS] Blue Sun's Zenith
4 [MI] Early Harvest
4 [CHK] Heartbeat of Spring
4 [M10] Ponder

[igri_is_a_bk]

Do you guys think a budget version of Spiral Tide is probably a better version of the deck? I kinda think so.

12 Island
2 Polluted Delta
2 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn

4 Cloud of Faeries

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Preordain
4 Merchant Scroll
4 High Tide
3 Turnabout
4 Cunning Wish
4 Time Spiral
1 Flusterstorm
3 Pact of Negation
1 Meditate
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
2 Snap

//Sideboard
3 Spell Pierce
3 Repeal
1 Pact of Negation
1 Flusterstorm
1 Meditate
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Turnabout
1 Snap
1 Rebuild
1 Echoing Truth
1 Wipe Away