Freecard
07-09-2016, 05:25 PM
I’ve been testing out a hybrid and it appears to have some legs. The idea was to find a better place for the Misthollow Griffin and Food Chain combo. While I love the combo, I’ve always found the deck to be lackluster in testing. What I did was smash Miracles and Food Chain together. Before I hear this is just a bad Miracles deck, I get that. It isn’t meant to be Miracles per se. My take on it is that it is simply a different flavor of Miracles much like there are multiple delver and Tarmogoyf variants. Anyway, here is the list of the deck We've dubbed Chain Mail.
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Manipulate Fate
3 Counterbalance
1 Counterspell
3 Rest in Peace
1 Food Chain
1 Monastery Mentor
4 Misthollow Griffin
3 Terminus
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Force of Will
1 Tidespout Tyrant
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
4 Island
2 Plains
1 Forest
1 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Savannah
1 Karakas
A Few Things to Note:
It may appear strange to only have one Food Chain in the list since it is the combo I am trying to run. The problem with Food Chain is that it is terrible in multiples. I originally ran different lists with 3, then two, then one. Food Chain acts much like Entreat the Angels. You don’t want it until you have a number of Misthollow Griffins removed from the game and after establishing control of the game. Unlike other Food Chain lists that want to jam Food Chain as early as possible, this deck only wants it later in the game. A singleton Enlightened Tutor helps to mitigate the single Food Chain as well as find Counterbalance and Sensei’s Diving Top.
Yes, there is no Jace. I would love to run Jace, but sacrifices had to be made. There just is no room.
A big strength of the deck is the main deck triple Rest in Peace. The card in my experience is essential to make the deck work. Misthollow Griffin will often find itself in graveyard during games. Rest in Peace helps to reset your Griffins. On the plus side, Rest in Peace hoses quite a few decks. I won’t go through all the pros. I will say the deck doesn’t work without it. Two at the minimum.
While the deck parts with Ponder, Manipulate Fate does a good impression by reshuffling the deck to get a fresh batch of cards on the top. Later in the game, it still cycles and reshuffles the deck.
Is it better than Miracles? I would say it is different. In testing, there have been matches that I would have rather been playing Miracles. In other matches, I windmill slam Rest in Peace for the game. While it plays like Miracles, it does play differently. The deck doesn’t always have to control everything. Misthollow Griffin can be dumped into play again and again to block Nimble Mongoose, Delver of Secrets and so on. The deck doesn’t always have to rush to find a sweeper or counter magic. Misthollow Griffin can do a good job of clogging up the board. If you sweep your own Misthollow Griffins, you can always use Manipulate Fate to go find them again.
Access to Tidespout Tirant can’t be completely ignored. Often, it is pitched to Force of Will. However, there are games that are completely lost until I get the combo of Misthollow Griffin and Food Chain. Wiping their entire board has won me a few games that I shouldn’t have won. Tidespout Tyrant and Sensei's Divining Top loops can be effective by themselves. Top, bounce, Top, bounce.
Well, those are my notes. Feel free to comment. It is still a work in progress, but I feel more confidant playing this than traditional Food Chain decks.
4 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Brainstorm
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Manipulate Fate
3 Counterbalance
1 Counterspell
3 Rest in Peace
1 Food Chain
1 Monastery Mentor
4 Misthollow Griffin
3 Terminus
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Force of Will
1 Tidespout Tyrant
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
4 Island
2 Plains
1 Forest
1 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Savannah
1 Karakas
A Few Things to Note:
It may appear strange to only have one Food Chain in the list since it is the combo I am trying to run. The problem with Food Chain is that it is terrible in multiples. I originally ran different lists with 3, then two, then one. Food Chain acts much like Entreat the Angels. You don’t want it until you have a number of Misthollow Griffins removed from the game and after establishing control of the game. Unlike other Food Chain lists that want to jam Food Chain as early as possible, this deck only wants it later in the game. A singleton Enlightened Tutor helps to mitigate the single Food Chain as well as find Counterbalance and Sensei’s Diving Top.
Yes, there is no Jace. I would love to run Jace, but sacrifices had to be made. There just is no room.
A big strength of the deck is the main deck triple Rest in Peace. The card in my experience is essential to make the deck work. Misthollow Griffin will often find itself in graveyard during games. Rest in Peace helps to reset your Griffins. On the plus side, Rest in Peace hoses quite a few decks. I won’t go through all the pros. I will say the deck doesn’t work without it. Two at the minimum.
While the deck parts with Ponder, Manipulate Fate does a good impression by reshuffling the deck to get a fresh batch of cards on the top. Later in the game, it still cycles and reshuffles the deck.
Is it better than Miracles? I would say it is different. In testing, there have been matches that I would have rather been playing Miracles. In other matches, I windmill slam Rest in Peace for the game. While it plays like Miracles, it does play differently. The deck doesn’t always have to control everything. Misthollow Griffin can be dumped into play again and again to block Nimble Mongoose, Delver of Secrets and so on. The deck doesn’t always have to rush to find a sweeper or counter magic. Misthollow Griffin can do a good job of clogging up the board. If you sweep your own Misthollow Griffins, you can always use Manipulate Fate to go find them again.
Access to Tidespout Tirant can’t be completely ignored. Often, it is pitched to Force of Will. However, there are games that are completely lost until I get the combo of Misthollow Griffin and Food Chain. Wiping their entire board has won me a few games that I shouldn’t have won. Tidespout Tyrant and Sensei's Divining Top loops can be effective by themselves. Top, bounce, Top, bounce.
Well, those are my notes. Feel free to comment. It is still a work in progress, but I feel more confidant playing this than traditional Food Chain decks.