[Deck] BUG Explorer

[nevilshute]

http://magiccards.info/scans/en/wl/86.jpghttp://magiccards.info/scans/en/ju/62.jpghttp://s.mtgprice.com/sets/Planeshift/img/Diabolic%20Intent.full.jpghttp://magiccards.info/scans/en/wwk/31.jpg

This deck is a combination of Nic Fit and a deck that Robert Pittman piloted in an SCG open a few weeks back. Pittman's deck was named BUG explorer, and even though this deck differs from his it seems an apt name so I've decided to keep it. Basically it's a deck that revolves around abusing Veteran Explorer and various "sacrifice-a-creature" effects such as Cabal Therapy and Diabolic Intent ramping into lots of mana while having a lot of different BG goodies such as Hymn to Tourach, Deathrite Shaman and Abrupt Decay. The 'U' in BUG here should really be a 'u' as it's just a splash of blue.

Contrary to Nic Fit we don't run Green Sun's Zenith and as such run less green "hate bears". This also means that the deck can't rely quite as much on ramping into early mana from the Veteran Explorer (it often, often does, but there are obviously less chances than if we run 4 GSZ). We do have many alternative early plays such as 4x Deathrite Shaman and Cabal Therapy. The deck plays 7 additional creatures (4x Veteran Explorer, 3x Baleful Strix) that do something either entering or leaving the battlefield and therefore really fueling the 'sacrifice a creature' spells like Cabal Therapy and especially Diabolic Intent which lets us basically Demonic Tutor for whatever silver bullet we need, be that a fatty/beater, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Liliana of the Veil or a Pernicious Deed (trust me, there are few things sweeter than sac'ing a Veteran Explorer to a Diabolic Intent and getting to ramp up mana as well as Demonic Tutor for anything).

Initial deck list:

Creatures:

4x Veteran Explorer
4x Deathrite Shaman
3x Baleful Strix
2x Vendilion Clique
1x Grave Titan
1x Consecrated Sphinx

Instants:

4x Cabal Therapy
3x Hymn to Tourach
4x Brainstorm
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Diabolic Intent
3x Force of Will

Enchantments:

1x Sylvan Library
3x Pernicious Deed

Planeswalkers:

1x Liliana of the Veil
3x Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Lands:

3x Swamps
2x Forest
3x Island
1x Bayou
2x Underground Sea
1x Tropical Island
3x Verdant Catacombs
2x Misty Rainforest
2x Polluted Delta

Sideboard:

2x Dread of Night
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Relic of Progenitus
1x Flusterstorm
1x Maelstrom Pulse
2x Kitchen Finks
1x Abrupt Decay
1x Force of Will
1x Thragtusk
1x Darkblast
1x Bribery
1x Massacre Wurm

The deck feels quite controley and as such is related to other generic BUG control lists. But with the Veteran Explorers Diabolic Intents we get a more tool box type deck as well more mana to play around with so as to include some mana heavy cards that would not otherwise be viable in a legacy deck (save for perhaps Nic Fit - a deck that this has also been inspired by).

Strengths:
The deck has a great knack for levelling out and stabilizing through Pernicious Deed. Mana ramping through Deathrite Shaman and Veteran Explorer also means that we have the chance of dropping a big threat as early as turn three or four (be that a Jace, the Mind Sculptor or a Grave Titan/Consecrated Sphinx). Most of the time though, the deck wins the game later on having first attritioned out the opponents with hand disruption and board sweeping from deed as well as single removal in the shape of Abrupt Decay. With Diabolic Intent we have a great way to get that silver bullet needed for a particular situation (often a deed, sometimes a jace or a liliana, sometimes some life in games 2 or 3 such as Thragtusk or Kitchen Finks). The Baleful Strix are also great at buying us time, protecting Jace as well acting as potential sac target for Therapy/Intent.

Challenges:
I've had some less than great results against combo decks at the last two tournaments I've been at, losing 1-2 to T.E.S. and 0-2 to Sneak and Show. If there is a lot of combo in the meta I'd consider choosing a different sideboard strategy including some Thoughtseizes and/or Duress.

One particular problem I've encountered elsewhere have been in situations where I've made it far enough to clear the board but am at low life against a tempo deck. Sometimes I haven't been able to put enough counter pressure on my opponent - if, for instance, I've been unable to find one of my fatties or a planeswalker, or if they've top decked an answer to my threat. Then the game has slipped out of my control again due to them (usually different versions of Delver decks, be it BUG, RUG or UR) top decking new threats faster than I can keep up. My sideboard plan of 2x Kitchen Finks as well as Thragtusk do a good job most of the time though. Even so, I'd like to find a way for the deck to end games faster.

All in all though I feel like the strengths out weigh the weaknesses, but would love some constructive criticism on these issues :)

[Mr. Safety]

Try playing Kitchen Finks, theya re great with Cabal Therapy/Diabolic Intent. I also like Sylvan Library better than Phyrexian Arena, but I understand you really want raw card draw rather than card quality (Brainstorm and Jace do that nicely.)

My suggestion to you is to drop Tombstalker for Snapcaster Mage, squeeze in 1-2 more lands, and consider playing Unearth. Unearth is amazing with ALL of your creatures and becomes bonkers with Snapcaster Mage.

[Viridia]

Your version really is just a BUG Version of Nic-Fit to be honest ;) I've been playing a version much like yours for quite awhile, except i dont have any beefy creatures, like Tombstalker, and rely fully on Jace+Garruk+Karn to win.
I've never had more then 1 GSZ in any BUG version of the deck

[EpicLevelCommoner]

This seems like a Team America X BUG Nic Fit hybrid than a straight up Nic Fit list. Though, I have to say, there are a lot of similarities between this list and my own in terms of removal spells and win-cons.

[nevilshute]

Try playing Kitchen Finks, theya re great with Cabal Therapy/Diabolic Intent. I also like Sylvan Library better than Phyrexian Arena, but I understand you really want raw card draw rather than card quality (Brainstorm and Jace do that nicely.)

My suggestion to you is to drop Tombstalker for Snapcaster Mage, squeeze in 1-2 more lands, and consider playing Unearth. Unearth is amazing with ALL of your creatures and becomes bonkers with Snapcaster Mage.

I like the Kitchen Finks idea. Have a few coming by mail and will try them out in some fashion or other. I'm thinking that the life gain is mainly a sideboard element, in particular against decks like mono red burn, but also against a lot of aggro decks in general. I currently am running 1 Thragtusk in my SB for this purpose. Dropping Tombstalker in favour of something like Snapcaster Mage feels too controley for me, but it's a perfectly reasonable suggestion.


Your version really is just a BUG Version of Nic-Fit to be honest ;) I've been playing a version much like yours for quite awhile, except i dont have any beefy creatures, like Tombstalker, and rely fully on Jace+Garruk+Karn to win.
I've never had more then 1 GSZ in any BUG version of the deck

In terms of type then I'd agree that this deck is a deck that is very much inspired by Nic Fit. But I'm honestly a little unsure as to what exactly makes a deck a 'Nic Fit' deck. Some seem to think that the term covers any deck that includes 4x Veteran Explorer and 4x Cabal Therapy. If that is the case then yes, this is a Nic Fit deck that splashes blue. Others seem to feel that the term 'Nic Fit' includes cards such as GSZ and Recurring Nightmare.

And again, I get why you'd want to push the control aspects of the deck, but I'd really like it to not rely solely on locking people down and then ticking up jace counters towards inevitability.


This seems like a Team America X BUG Nic Fit hybrid than a straight up Nic Fit list. Though, I have to say, there are a lot of similarities between this list and my own in terms of removal spells and win-cons.

How are you liking playing it? Have you taken the deck to any tournaments?

Another card I'd like to try out in the sideboard is Massacre Wurm. Testing, I had a hard time against a generic Goblins list finding the 2 maindeck Pernicious Deed simply not enough to stop the onslaught. Also the Engineered Plagues seemed just underwhelming with 2 needed on the board at the same time to really stop the gobbies.

[BlackMetalSheep]

I'll try Ancestral Vision or Sensei's Divining Top instead of Phyrexian Arena, because of the presence of Shardless Agent in the deck, any thoughts??

[nevilshute]

I'll try Ancestral Vision or Sensei's Divining Top instead of Phyrexian Arena, because of the presence of Shardless Agent in the deck, any thoughts??

I agree that both of those cards would make Shardless Agent better. With that said, though, I'm only running 2 agents and haven't really felt like making this into a 'cascade' deck per se. I will even say that the agents are kind of a 'maybe' right now. I like playing them but will need more testing to see if they warrant spots in the deck.

With the mana ramp the deck offers I've chosen Phyrexian Arena over Bob. I like the raw card drawing that they offer.

[Mr. Safety]

I like the Kitchen Finks idea. Have a few coming by mail and will try them out in some fashion or other. I'm thinking that the life gain is mainly a sideboard element, in particular against decks like mono red burn, but also against a lot of aggro decks in general. I currently am running 1 Thragtusk in my SB for this purpose. Dropping Tombstalker in favour of something like Snapcaster Mage feels too controley for me, but it's a perfectly reasonable suggestion.

I was viewing Finks mostly in terms of using Unearth and Snapcaster Mage. Those three cards can win you a lot of games together, along with your other elements (Jace, Deed, Decay, etc.) I can't think of a better synergy to use with a mid-range BUG setup. Unearthing a Snappy is just INSANE, and Unearthing Kitchen Finks after gaining 4 life and using it for Cabal Therapy? Possibly twice? Just insane. It's not just good against fast aggro or burn, it's good against ANYTHING aggro (goblins, maverick, merfolk, Canadian/RUG.) It can even put you out of Tendrils range against some combo decks. The principle is to be able to grind out games much better than other decks.

My thoughts on a rough list:

4x Veteran Explorer
4x Kitchen Finks
2x Snapcaster Mage
2x Deathrite Shaman

2x Diabolic Intent
4x Cabal Therapy
2x Pernicious Deed
3x Abrupt Decay
4x Brainstorm
4x Hymn to Tourach
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Liliana of the Veil
1x Unearth
1x Worm Harvest

4x Wasteland
2x Bayou
2x Underground Sea
1x Tropical Island
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Misty Rainforest
2x Forest
2x Swamp
1x Island


That's 22 lands, enough to feed your mana-hungry deck. What was missing was a mana-intensive bomb to finish off. Enter: Worm Harvest. That card, used over and over, will give you inevitability. I think Grave Titan would also be pretty good, or even Primeval Titan along with man-lands (like Mishra's Factory and Treetop Village.) Playing one is just fine considering your Diabolic Intent engine.

[phazonmutant]

So what does your deck do well versus other BUG or Nic Fit decks? It seems like getting access to insanely powerful cards like Vision, Jace, and Shardless agent is the reason to be blue. So playing more of those seems important.

Also, Explorer isn't strategically the best right now because Miracles has more basics than you, so your "symmetrical but not" benefits them more than you like. So powerful cards like Jace and Worm Harvest allow you to take the initiative with your ramp.

I would probably start by cutting the Snapcasters and at least one Diabolic Intent because (respectively) you mostly want to be a creature and planeswalker deck, and because you don't want to have dead cards in hand that when they're live don't even immediately win you the game.
Also, intuition is sweet. Super super sweet, every BUG deck should play it. I might be crazy though.

[Greenpoe]

Baleful Strix is what you want. Protects walkers via deathtouch, cantrips and flies. That's really, really good.

[Koplinchen]

I am not sure if this is the right thread but we were working on a deck that Caleb brought up.

We wanted to play Shardless Agent. You can do that with 1) suspend 2) equipment 3) Cabal Therapy.

I tried the first two combined in bant deck but it was not very stable.

Then we changed Caleb deck from one of the SCG into:

3 Pernicious Deed
4 Veteran Explorer
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Brainstorm
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
2 Bayou
2 Island
4 Forest
1 Swamp
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Baleful Strix
1 Grave Titan/Cons. Sphinx
3 Shardless Agent
3 Force of Will
1 Batterskull
1 Vendilion Clique
SB: 1 Pernicious Deed
SB: 2 Counterbalance
SB: 1 Nether Void (a lot of combo here in Prague)
SB: 1 Vendilion Clique
SB: 2 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Abrupt Decay
SB: 2 Nihil Spellbomb
SB: 1 Force of Will
SB: 2 Maelstrom Pulse
SB: 1 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1 Liliana of the Veil

It is a great fun to play this deck. It is very stable and many cards are pure CA. Therapy+Jace+Deed make a great deck.

Against "fair" deck you are near unstoppable. Maverick is almost no fun to play against, Rug and merfolks are more challenging, but you are the boss here.
Against "unfair" you have Cabal Therapy (you know what your frinds are up to, dont you?), fow, possibly ooze and a lot in SB. I played against ANT a lot and it is pretty close - good news for this kind of deck.

Very challenging was rug since you really want to see both - Explorer and Therapy. So we added Abrupt Decay. That card is 1) anticounterbalance 2) antiRUG.

As we all know Veteran Explorer is usullay a bit weak against Jace decks. That's why Pulses, Clique in the side. I played Miracles twice and it is pretty tough. Jace and Top are the biggest enemies. Volrath's Stronghold is very good here. Miracles have very hard times against resolved Jace. Jitte is also good since it allows you not ot overextend.

Combo match is very interesting and you must play well. Last Thursday I mulled into 4 - 2lands, thereapy, Ooze. Started with cabal on Infernal Tutor, discarding one and stopping him form killing me NOW. Then I drew Baleful Strix - Therapy again. Then I played Ooze stopping his Past in Flames. ...
Perfect is TOP+Fow or after side TOP+Flusterstorm.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to comment.

[goblinsplayer]

volrath's stronghold i think will be a fine choice. Probably cut the tombstalkers with something a little immune to removal. Or at least a creature that you get some value out of before it gets removed. Primeval titan for example. Simic sky swallower will also be good because it has hexproof.

[nevilshute]

volrath's stronghold i think will be a fine choice. Probably cut the tombstalkers with something a little immune to removal. Or at least a creature that you get some value out of before it gets removed. Primeval titan for example. Simic sky swallower will also be good because it has hexproof.

Heya. Volrath's Stronghold is a good fit and could definitely have a place in the deck. I've just updated the deck primer as I've made quite a few changes to the deck in the mean time. On thing that I've left out now are the Tombstalkers. I'm instead running 1x Grave Titan and 1x Consecrated Sphinx now as "blow out" win cons as well as more Jaces now to supplement this. Even so I'd like something more consistent. The Sky Swallower seems very good, but at 7 mana it might just be one too expensive. I'm tempted to try it out though.

[drfontaine]

This is my latest brew with this archetype! You could ofc replace devastation tide with pernicious deed and replace the counterbalance with something else preferably blue, to improve your tempo matchup. But i've played lots of games with tide to reluctantly replace it. It's so superstrong in control mirrors and still most of the times good enough vs tempo, and just a general answer to most things annoying, while same time adds blue count and easily pitches to force in early game! And the synergy with counterbalance is nice! Meanwhile Jace just get so much stronger with counterbalance!

Explorer decks in general also really suffer vs combo, therefore MD force is such a nice addition to the archetype, it also gives opportunity to wait until firing off cabals to reduce miss chance, which i like vs unknown decks.

Rapid hybridization is a new card that fits the DEED/TIDE/explorer archetype since it forces your opponent to attack into your explorer if they wanna make use of the token! The token is also easily handled with Tide/deed which you pretty much have to fire off in order to to win with this archetype anyways! It also adds bluecount and is recastable with snappy!

Future Sight is such an amazingly broken card if it manages to stick and also so amazingly fun to play with, that it gets one slot, its also tutorable with diabolic intent which can be recast with snappy!

Concerning SB i've added lots of cards for living wish however i feel the deck plays slowly and has a hard time winning a series after losing g1, therefore i find it better to maximize your g1!

Duplicant might seem strange but with the devastation tide path, its nice. It's mostly there vs Jund type of decks where they land couple of threats including goyf, it just has great impact when your are far behind on board state. BBE is so very strong vs jace, that you need something particulary strong to counter it. Removing opposing goyf while growing far beyond bolt range and a blocking champ vs BBE etc is great, the fact its colorless also aids casting!

Glen Elendra is just MVP vs control mirror, and seals alot of games in those matchups. She also just wins if you manage to disrupt combo enough to drop her! Goyf is just cheap wall, thats hard to remove by bolts etc. rest is kinda obvious inclusion!

Shackles is your best bet vs creaturearcheypes ;)


4 Cabal Therapy
3 Veteran Explorer
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Diabolic Intent
2 Rapid Hybridization
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Future Sight
4 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Thoughtseize
3 Living Wish
3 Counterbalance
3 Devastation Tide
1 Vedalken Shackles

5 Island
2 Forest
2 Swamp
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island

SB: 1 Glen Elendra Archmage
SB: 1 Veteran Explorer
SB: 1 Duplicant
SB: 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
SB: 1 Tarmogoyf
SB: 1 Magus of the Future
SB: 1 Karakas

SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Pernicious Deed
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Vedalken Shackles
SB: 1 Rapid Hybridization

[jlindy]

This is my latest brew with this archetype! You could ofc replace devastation tide with pernicious deed and replace the counterbalance with something else preferably blue, to improve your tempo matchup. But i've played lots of games with tide to reluctantly replace it. It's so superstrong in control mirrors and still most of the times good enough vs tempo, and just a general answer to most things annoying, while same time adds blue count and easily pitches to force in early game! And the synergy with counterbalance is nice! Meanwhile Jace just get so much stronger with counterbalance!

Explorer decks in general also really suffer vs combo, therefore MD force is such a nice addition to the archetype, it also gives opportunity to wait until firing off cabals to reduce miss chance, which i like vs unknown decks.

Rapid hybridization is a new card that fits the DEED/TIDE/explorer archetype since it forces your opponent to attack into your explorer if they wanna make use of the token! The token is also easily handled with Tide/deed which you pretty much have to fire off in order to to win with this archetype anyways! It also adds bluecount and is recastable with snappy!

Future Sight is such an amazingly broken card if it manages to stick and also so amazingly fun to play with, that it gets one slot, its also tutorable with diabolic intent which can be recast with snappy!

Concerning SB i've added lots of cards for living wish however i feel the deck plays slowly and has a hard time winning a series after losing g1, therefore i find it better to maximize your g1!

Duplicant might seem strange but with the devastation tide path, its nice. It's mostly there vs Jund type of decks where they land couple of threats including goyf, it just has great impact when your are far behind on board state. BBE is so very strong vs jace, that you need something particulary strong to counter it. Removing opposing goyf while growing far beyond bolt range and a blocking champ vs BBE etc is great, the fact its colorless also aids casting!

Glen Elendra is just MVP vs control mirror, and seals alot of games in those matchups. She also just wins if you manage to disrupt combo enough to drop her! Goyf is just cheap wall, thats hard to remove by bolts etc. rest is kinda obvious inclusion!

Shackles is your best bet vs creaturearcheypes ;)


4 Cabal Therapy
3 Veteran Explorer
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Diabolic Intent
2 Rapid Hybridization
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Future Sight
4 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
2 Thoughtseize
3 Living Wish
3 Counterbalance
3 Devastation Tide
1 Vedalken Shackles

5 Island
2 Forest
2 Swamp
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
2 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island

SB: 1 Glen Elendra Archmage
SB: 1 Veteran Explorer
SB: 1 Duplicant
SB: 1 Thrun, the Last Troll
SB: 1 Tarmogoyf
SB: 1 Magus of the Future
SB: 1 Karakas

SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Pernicious Deed
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Vedalken Shackles
SB: 1 Rapid Hybridization

I am working on a similiar list. I don't have countertop package...it seems like a nonebo with deed. I find deed to be a stud right now. I will post my rough list tonight. I think this list has some game to it...a hidden gem.

A couple difference is that I am playing a loam wasteland package. My win con other then jave is is consecrated sphinx.

Good stuff I like the thrun and needle.

Qty Name
// Lands
4 Wasteland
1 Swamp
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Polluted Delta
2 Bayou
2 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Island
3 Forest
//\\
// Creatures
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Consecrated Sphinx
4 Veteran Explorer
//\\
// Spells
1 Innocent Blood
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Diabolic Intent
2 Thoughtseize
1 Spell Pierce
4 Brainstorm
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Life from the Loam
3 Counterspell
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Force of Will
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
//\\
// Sideboard
1 Spell Pierce
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Damnation
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Spell Snare
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Batterskull
1 Innocent Blood
1 Life from the Loam
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Everything is still a work in progress. I found the Jund match up heavily favored. I will be testing control tonight and combo later in the week. Let me know what you think. The sideboard is more for testing purposes. Try and help me figure out the right numbers for the main board. My current considerations are Gitaxian probe instead of thoughtsieze. Nets the same information and card +/- but cost less life (we don't HAVE to take damage from it) and is easier to cast of Snap caster and can be pitched to force.

I am open to feedback, I was working on this list before stumbling on this sight. I added the thrun and the diabloic intent on the above advice. Haven't tested it yet, but I am excited.

[drfontaine]

I am working on a similiar list. I don't have countertop package...it seems like a nonebo with deed. I find deed to be a stud right now. I will post my rough list tonight. I think this list has some game to it...a hidden gem.

A couple difference is that I am playing a loam wasteland package. My win con other then jave is is consecrated sphinx.

Good stuff I like the thrun and needle.

Qty Name
// Lands
4 Wasteland
1 Swamp
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Polluted Delta
2 Bayou
2 Underground Sea
1 Tropical Island
2 Misty Rainforest
3 Island
3 Forest
//\\
// Creatures
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Consecrated Sphinx
4 Veteran Explorer
//\\
// Spells
1 Innocent Blood
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Diabolic Intent
2 Thoughtseize
1 Spell Pierce
4 Brainstorm
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Life from the Loam
3 Counterspell
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Force of Will
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
//\\
// Sideboard
1 Spell Pierce
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Damnation
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Spell Snare
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Batterskull
1 Innocent Blood
1 Life from the Loam
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Everything is still a work in progress. I found the Jund match up heavily favored. I will be testing control tonight and combo later in the week. Let me know what you think. The sideboard is more for testing purposes. Try and help me figure out the right numbers for the main board. My current considerations are Gitaxian probe instead of thoughtsieze. Nets the same information and card +/- but cost less life (we don't HAVE to take damage from it) and is easier to cast of Snap caster and can be pitched to force.

I am open to feedback, I was working on this list before stumbling on this sight. I added the thrun and the diabloic intent on the above advice. Haven't tested it yet, but I am excited.


Cool list! I am however abit worried about your manabase, and wanted to ask questions about you finding the right mana sources for your early game. I am currently trying my list with some counterspells but am worried about double U when i need cabal and veteran mana vs tempo decks or just wasteland in general :/. You also play 4 wastelands of ur own which makes it even more unreliable, how did that go so far? You truly must've had some issues vs RUG delver for instance no?

btw this is my deed version of the deck, however i do belive that Tide might be better although winning the games with tide+cb etc is however very strong also very time consuming...

SB needs more testing

3 Sensei's Divining Top

3 Veteran Explorer
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Thragtusk
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
2 Eternal Witness

4 Brainstorm
2 Curfew
2 Counterspell
3 Force of Will

4 Cabal Therapy
3 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Pernicious Deed

4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

4 Island
3 Forest
1 Swamp
2 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Bayou
1 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
3 Verdant Catacombs

SB: 1 Maelstrom Pulse
SB: 2 Abrupt Decay
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction
SB: 3 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 Force of Will
SB: 3 Counterbalance
SB: 1 Skeletal Scrying
SB: 1 Pernicious Deed
SB: 1 Damnation

[jlindy]

Mana has not been an issue, but I have not tested a stifle deck. Playing through waste is doable. I like to vet therapy on 2 and get 2x island for counter spell. I have had issues with junk and miracles. I find if the vet is symmetrical the match up becomes challenging. I need to find a hard to kill win con...preferably blue.

[drfontaine]

3 Sensei's Divining Top

4 Brainstorm
2 Curfew
2 Force of Will
2 Far // Away

3 Counterbalance

4 Cabal Therapy
3 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Reap Intellect
4 Devastation Tide

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

1 Vendilion Clique
2 Eternal Witness
3 Veteran Explorer
1 Thragtusk

1 Tropical Island
1 Bayou
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
3 Forest
4 Island
1 Swamp
2 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs

SB: 1 Notion Thief
SB: 2 Thoughtseize
SB: 2 Negate
SB: 2 Force of Will
SB: 2 Pernicious Deed
SB: 1 Curfew
SB: 2 Abrupt Decay
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 1 Deathrite Shaman
SB: 1 Gaze of Granite

Hey!

Just wanted to share some ideas that came up with the release of Dragons Maze. Think this could be kinda intresting anyways. Feel free to comment any ideas you might have. SB iu just kinda threw together, not really knowing what's gonna be needed. Im just kinda curious however Reap Intellect could be used effectively.

Enjoy fellaws!