16km
04-24-2017, 03:10 PM
Manacles is my pet UG Control(?) deck.
It's based on wanting to troll my LGS with some chance of winning. It works (or trys to) by either stalling an opponents combo, stealing a combo, or pulling off it's own combo.
I think it currently crams too much into 1 deck. It runs Show n Tell and Dark Depths as main deck Win Cons. It has Commandeer and Song of the Dryads + Vesuva to steal your opponents Win Cons.
Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Dark Depths
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Thespian's Stage
2 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
2 Vesuva
Enchantments
2 Burgeoning
3 Counterbalance
2 Imprisoned in the Moon
2 Mirri's Guile
4 Mystic Remora
2 Rhystic Study
1 Sylvan Library
2 Song of the Dryads
Creatures
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Progenitus
Spells
2 Commandeer
4 Crop Rotation
4 Force of Will
4 Ponder
3 Show and Tell
Sideboard (constantly changing)
2 Arachnogenesis
1 Argothian Enchantress
1 Bane of Progress
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Gilded Drake
2 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Flusterstorm
1 Karakas
2 Song of the Dryads
Other considerations: Propaganda, Arcane Laboratory, Fatal Push, Dread of Night, Engineered Plague, Seal of Removal, Defense of the Heart
Main Card Choices
Burgeoning: How we ramp mana. It might be worth trying Cloudpost/Glimmerpost if lifeloss from Ancient Tomb is a concern.
Mystic Remora: This is how we deal with overly fast combo. Tin Fins, Storm, and Show n Tell need to cast a lot of non-Creature spells. The oracle text is "Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays {4}." so you can draw into Force or Commandeer.
Rhystic Study: Kind of like Mystic Remora, but no cumulative upkeep, and it's all spells. We can beat storm, elves, and a lot of other "draw more blah" cards with this.
Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads: These are our removal spells. Song of the Dryads hit any permanent, including lands. It's green. Imprisoned in the Moon is similar, but it's limited to Creatures, Lands, and Planeswalkers. With 4 Song of the Dryads, we struggled to get the number of blue cards to pitch to Force of Will and Commandeer.
Vesuva: Vesuva combos really nicely with Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads. You opponent has a Chandra? Imprison it in the Moon. Drop Vesuva, get your own uncounterable Chandra. It also has some decent synergy with Burgeoning, get an extra land.
Dark Depths and Thespian Stage: a backup combo. We're running Burgeoning, Ancient Tomb, and some Crop Rotations, so why not have Dark Depths. Thespian Stage does work with Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads, but only on non-Planeswalkers. If you copy a Planeswalker, you're gonna have a bad time.
Show and Tell and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn are our own combo we can draw into.
Commandeer: These are like FoW numbers 5 and 6. They also let you steal an opponents Combo. Reanimate or Animate Dead, it's yours now. Natural Order? That's why we have Progenitus. If you Commandeer a Crop Rotation or Natural Order, sacrificing the land/creature is part of the casting cost, so you don't need to sac anything. Commandeering a Reanimate, the life loss is on resolution, and you'll lose the life.
Mirri's Guile and Sylvan Library: Filter our draws, catch up on draws. If you have a fetch, it's worth having both on the field. Mirri's Guile -> no like, fetch -> Sylvan Library -> New Card Choices.
Counterbalance: Mirri's Guile + Counterbalance is all about knowing the matchup. What does your opponent need to win? What do I need to win? Float a FoW for protecting from FoW. Float a 3 drop to counter Reclamation Sage for protection of Song of the Dryads. Float a 1-drop against burn or elves.
Crop Rotation: We have a lot of utility lands, and land tricks. Vesuva lets us copy a land or something we've enchanted. We can get out Dark Depths. Post sideboard, we can get Bojuka Bog or Karakas for Graveyard hate or agaist another Emrakul/Marit Lage.
Ancient Tomb: We are running a limited about of 1 drops, or removal and answers are usually 3+ mana. It also lets us activate Thespian's Stage with 3 lands on the board.
Progenitus: For our elves matchup. If we Commandeer a Natural Order, we want something to fetch.
Ponder, no Brainstorm: Brainstorm tends to be more for drawing cards, which Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study already do for us. We really want to be able to shuffle our deck when needed. Brainstorm + Burgeoning do have positive Synergy though. Being able to tap out, drop a blue land on your opponents turn, and brainstorm at the end of their turn is pretty nice. Brainstorm can be used in response to the Counterbalance trigger, so more testing will have to be done.
Side Card Choices
Karakas: Removes the Grissels, Opposing Marit Lages or Emrakuls. Can let us git rid of a Thalia so we can cast our spells.
Bane of Progress: How we beat Enchantress, Affinity, MUD, or Tezzerator.
Arachnogenesis: Another answer against elves or Empty the Warrens, or just to fill the board. Generates a bunch of 1/2's with reach, that stick around for another turn. So it's like 2 fogs for 3 mana. Against Empty the Warrens, it clears your opponents board.
Gilded Drake: A backup plan against Show n Tell, Reanimator, and Dark Depths(?). It let's us take an opponents creature. It is a 3/3 flier, so a goyf might not be worth taking.
Green Sun's Zenith: More for our utility pieces. Get an Enchantress, get Bane of Progress.
Argothian Enchantress: We cast a lot of enchantments, and we may have to restock our hand as we go.
Flusterstorm: More combo hate.
It tends to fall to taxing effects like Thalia, or Thorn.
Why not just play Show n Tell/Lands/12-Post/Enchantress? I really want to play some cards that I like that'll not traditionally see play in legacy. Song of the Dryads + Vesuva is something I really like to do, even if I lose. Rhystic Study is just a cool card to have. Commandeer is also dumb fun when it works.
Matchups:
Death n Taxes: Depending on our starting hand, we're almost a bye for them. Our win-cons are legendary, so we have to Song of the Dryads or Imprison in the Moon their Karakas if they get it. They also have Containment Priest which shuts off Show n Tell. Thalia taxes all of our spells. Post-board, we get Karakas and more Song of the Dryads, but we need Burgeoning and lands to mana ramp pretty quickly.
Storm: Actually in our favor. Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora pretty much let us draw what we need. Watching them Crack LED, then forcing the Infernal Tutor feels cruel.
Tin Fins: Mixed. Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study give us a chance. FoW and Commandeer are okay, especially if they're running the Reanimate build. After siding, Karakas is pretty good.
Elves: Poor at the moment. I haven't been able to cast Arachnogenesis. With no small creatures, we die to a bunch of 1/1's. Defense of the Heart is probably good depending on the meta. Save Commandeer for Natural Order or Glimpse of Nature.
Aluren: Mixed. Rhystic Study is pretty good in this matchup. Dark Depths seems to be the desired approach to handle this. Save blue cards for FoW. They run FoW though. Keep track of the number of cards in the opponent's hand. Defense of the Heart side let's us have a 4-drop to hopefully use Counterbalance against Aluren. Never commandeer Aluren, you're gonna have a bad time.
Reanimator: Mixed. Gilded Drake and Commandeer shine in this match-up. It's just a matter of getting them in hand and resolving off the stack.
Burn: Mixed. Counterbalance + Mirri's Guile + float a 1-Drop is pretty good. Swiftspear tends to be good against a creatureless deck even if the spells are countered. Price of Progress is pretty bad. They can't stop our combos, so if we can resolve them before we die, it's pretty good. Mystic Remora and Rhystic Studies are may triggers. You can choose how to stack the Counterbalance and draw triggers, so it's important to remember what's on top of the deck from Mirri's Guile.
Show n Tell: Mixed to Poor. Game 1, we catch them off guard. Game's 2 and 3, they'll go for Sneak Attack over Show n Tell. They run FoW, so our Commandeer's probably won't resolve, and having FoW + Blue Card and Commandeer + 2 Blue cards seems unlikely.
It's based on wanting to troll my LGS with some chance of winning. It works (or trys to) by either stalling an opponents combo, stealing a combo, or pulling off it's own combo.
I think it currently crams too much into 1 deck. It runs Show n Tell and Dark Depths as main deck Win Cons. It has Commandeer and Song of the Dryads + Vesuva to steal your opponents Win Cons.
Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Dark Depths
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Thespian's Stage
2 Tropical Island
1 Underground Sea
2 Vesuva
Enchantments
2 Burgeoning
3 Counterbalance
2 Imprisoned in the Moon
2 Mirri's Guile
4 Mystic Remora
2 Rhystic Study
1 Sylvan Library
2 Song of the Dryads
Creatures
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Progenitus
Spells
2 Commandeer
4 Crop Rotation
4 Force of Will
4 Ponder
3 Show and Tell
Sideboard (constantly changing)
2 Arachnogenesis
1 Argothian Enchantress
1 Bane of Progress
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Gilded Drake
2 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Flusterstorm
1 Karakas
2 Song of the Dryads
Other considerations: Propaganda, Arcane Laboratory, Fatal Push, Dread of Night, Engineered Plague, Seal of Removal, Defense of the Heart
Main Card Choices
Burgeoning: How we ramp mana. It might be worth trying Cloudpost/Glimmerpost if lifeloss from Ancient Tomb is a concern.
Mystic Remora: This is how we deal with overly fast combo. Tin Fins, Storm, and Show n Tell need to cast a lot of non-Creature spells. The oracle text is "Whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, you may draw a card unless that player pays {4}." so you can draw into Force or Commandeer.
Rhystic Study: Kind of like Mystic Remora, but no cumulative upkeep, and it's all spells. We can beat storm, elves, and a lot of other "draw more blah" cards with this.
Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads: These are our removal spells. Song of the Dryads hit any permanent, including lands. It's green. Imprisoned in the Moon is similar, but it's limited to Creatures, Lands, and Planeswalkers. With 4 Song of the Dryads, we struggled to get the number of blue cards to pitch to Force of Will and Commandeer.
Vesuva: Vesuva combos really nicely with Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads. You opponent has a Chandra? Imprison it in the Moon. Drop Vesuva, get your own uncounterable Chandra. It also has some decent synergy with Burgeoning, get an extra land.
Dark Depths and Thespian Stage: a backup combo. We're running Burgeoning, Ancient Tomb, and some Crop Rotations, so why not have Dark Depths. Thespian Stage does work with Imprisoned in the Moon and Song of the Dryads, but only on non-Planeswalkers. If you copy a Planeswalker, you're gonna have a bad time.
Show and Tell and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn are our own combo we can draw into.
Commandeer: These are like FoW numbers 5 and 6. They also let you steal an opponents Combo. Reanimate or Animate Dead, it's yours now. Natural Order? That's why we have Progenitus. If you Commandeer a Crop Rotation or Natural Order, sacrificing the land/creature is part of the casting cost, so you don't need to sac anything. Commandeering a Reanimate, the life loss is on resolution, and you'll lose the life.
Mirri's Guile and Sylvan Library: Filter our draws, catch up on draws. If you have a fetch, it's worth having both on the field. Mirri's Guile -> no like, fetch -> Sylvan Library -> New Card Choices.
Counterbalance: Mirri's Guile + Counterbalance is all about knowing the matchup. What does your opponent need to win? What do I need to win? Float a FoW for protecting from FoW. Float a 3 drop to counter Reclamation Sage for protection of Song of the Dryads. Float a 1-drop against burn or elves.
Crop Rotation: We have a lot of utility lands, and land tricks. Vesuva lets us copy a land or something we've enchanted. We can get out Dark Depths. Post sideboard, we can get Bojuka Bog or Karakas for Graveyard hate or agaist another Emrakul/Marit Lage.
Ancient Tomb: We are running a limited about of 1 drops, or removal and answers are usually 3+ mana. It also lets us activate Thespian's Stage with 3 lands on the board.
Progenitus: For our elves matchup. If we Commandeer a Natural Order, we want something to fetch.
Ponder, no Brainstorm: Brainstorm tends to be more for drawing cards, which Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study already do for us. We really want to be able to shuffle our deck when needed. Brainstorm + Burgeoning do have positive Synergy though. Being able to tap out, drop a blue land on your opponents turn, and brainstorm at the end of their turn is pretty nice. Brainstorm can be used in response to the Counterbalance trigger, so more testing will have to be done.
Side Card Choices
Karakas: Removes the Grissels, Opposing Marit Lages or Emrakuls. Can let us git rid of a Thalia so we can cast our spells.
Bane of Progress: How we beat Enchantress, Affinity, MUD, or Tezzerator.
Arachnogenesis: Another answer against elves or Empty the Warrens, or just to fill the board. Generates a bunch of 1/2's with reach, that stick around for another turn. So it's like 2 fogs for 3 mana. Against Empty the Warrens, it clears your opponents board.
Gilded Drake: A backup plan against Show n Tell, Reanimator, and Dark Depths(?). It let's us take an opponents creature. It is a 3/3 flier, so a goyf might not be worth taking.
Green Sun's Zenith: More for our utility pieces. Get an Enchantress, get Bane of Progress.
Argothian Enchantress: We cast a lot of enchantments, and we may have to restock our hand as we go.
Flusterstorm: More combo hate.
It tends to fall to taxing effects like Thalia, or Thorn.
Why not just play Show n Tell/Lands/12-Post/Enchantress? I really want to play some cards that I like that'll not traditionally see play in legacy. Song of the Dryads + Vesuva is something I really like to do, even if I lose. Rhystic Study is just a cool card to have. Commandeer is also dumb fun when it works.
Matchups:
Death n Taxes: Depending on our starting hand, we're almost a bye for them. Our win-cons are legendary, so we have to Song of the Dryads or Imprison in the Moon their Karakas if they get it. They also have Containment Priest which shuts off Show n Tell. Thalia taxes all of our spells. Post-board, we get Karakas and more Song of the Dryads, but we need Burgeoning and lands to mana ramp pretty quickly.
Storm: Actually in our favor. Rhystic Study and Mystic Remora pretty much let us draw what we need. Watching them Crack LED, then forcing the Infernal Tutor feels cruel.
Tin Fins: Mixed. Mystic Remora and Rhystic Study give us a chance. FoW and Commandeer are okay, especially if they're running the Reanimate build. After siding, Karakas is pretty good.
Elves: Poor at the moment. I haven't been able to cast Arachnogenesis. With no small creatures, we die to a bunch of 1/1's. Defense of the Heart is probably good depending on the meta. Save Commandeer for Natural Order or Glimpse of Nature.
Aluren: Mixed. Rhystic Study is pretty good in this matchup. Dark Depths seems to be the desired approach to handle this. Save blue cards for FoW. They run FoW though. Keep track of the number of cards in the opponent's hand. Defense of the Heart side let's us have a 4-drop to hopefully use Counterbalance against Aluren. Never commandeer Aluren, you're gonna have a bad time.
Reanimator: Mixed. Gilded Drake and Commandeer shine in this match-up. It's just a matter of getting them in hand and resolving off the stack.
Burn: Mixed. Counterbalance + Mirri's Guile + float a 1-Drop is pretty good. Swiftspear tends to be good against a creatureless deck even if the spells are countered. Price of Progress is pretty bad. They can't stop our combos, so if we can resolve them before we die, it's pretty good. Mystic Remora and Rhystic Studies are may triggers. You can choose how to stack the Counterbalance and draw triggers, so it's important to remember what's on top of the deck from Mirri's Guile.
Show n Tell: Mixed to Poor. Game 1, we catch them off guard. Game's 2 and 3, they'll go for Sneak Attack over Show n Tell. They run FoW, so our Commandeer's probably won't resolve, and having FoW + Blue Card and Commandeer + 2 Blue cards seems unlikely.