[Deck] Imperial Painter

Imperial Painter is a bold, new creation that takes the Painter's Servant/Grindstone combo to a new level. One of the most important aspects of the deck is that it doesn't rely solely on Grinding an opponent's entire library to win the game, but rather plays a slew of control elements that when paired with Painter's Servant can seriously rough up an opponent's permanent foundation. The deck utilizes a certain Portal Three Kingdoms creature (Imperial Recruiter) to tutor for the Servant or any other creature in your deck. This allows for outstanding consistency and the ability to put heat on an opponent early. There have been many incarnations of this unique archetype (including R/u), but the Mono Red version is typically referred to as the 'stock variant.'

For reference:

A 2008 Report from Hadley.
An Original Article about Imperial Painter.

Also, here is the current, most well-performing list for reference:

Imperial Painter as of 08NOV2011
Kim Grymer - G.P. Amsterdam (Top Eight)

[4x] Painter's Servant
[4x] Simian Spirit Guide
[4x] Imperial Recruiter
[3x] Magus of the Moon
[1x] Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
[1x] Phyrexian Revoker
[1x] Phyrexian Metamorph

[4x] Lightning Bolt
[3x] Pyroblast
[3x] Red Elemental Blast

[4x] Grindstone
[3x] Sensei's Divining Top
[3x] Chrome Mox

[5x] Mountain
[4x] Ancient Tomb
[4x] City of Traitors
[3x] Great Furnace
[2x] Wooded Foothills

//Sideboard
[4x] Thorn of Amethyst
[1x] Nihil Spellbomb
[2x] Tormod's Crypt
[1x] Phyrexian Metamorph
[1x] Manic Vandal
[1x] Red Elemental Blast
[1x] Pyroblast
[2x] Koth of the Hammer
[2x] Pyroclasm

This is a strange deck to say the least. It can play like: Combo, Aggro, Control, or a combination of any. With Painter's Servant in play, your Blast effects become instant-speed Vindicates and countermagic at the cost of one red mana. That seems pretty good. Ultimately, if your opponent does run blue, you already have a leg-up in the match. For some people, that might seem risky (running main-deck Blasts). It's important to realize that in essence you are taking a small chance with those cards at face value. But as the games goes on, they become more and more relevant, even if your opponent is in not playing blue.

There are some issues the deck faces, however. The deck plays off the opening hand and your mulligan strategy. This can be risky at times, but the reward can be plentiful. The inclusion of Imperial Recruiter sets your hand up without Painter so you can adapt to the game-state. However, the incredible dollar value of Imperial Recruiter can also be prohibitive to getting all of the deck together too, as they play a key role in the basic structure in which the deck exists. As the years have progressed, the value of this card has increased exponentially due in large part to its scarcity and utility in another archetype abusing its ability: Aluren. If you can get your hands on Recruiters, you can pretty much create this entire deck.

I've had some thoughts about how the deck performs without Painter's Servant. You'd think it plays almost identical to Dragon Stompy, and it does in the sense that you want to deplete your hand and overwhelm your opponent with big creatures. This deck, however, seems to want to setup and establish board position and control more so than the latter. Dropping turn one Magus for a lot of other decks can be the game. It's important to know when to play your threats and the order in which you play them. If you can establish a dominating board presence by using Blast effects to knock off potentially dangerous threats, you can clear a path for the basic combo do 'go off' at any time. However, seriously contemplate when you want to use your Blasts, as those are the cards that completely transform a game because of their versatility with painter's Servant in play. Be careful firing them off just because you can.

Simian Spirit Guide and Pyroblast/R.E.B. seems to be quite an efficient combination. Most opponents would assume that because you are playing all red cards you have absolutely no response to anything they play when you're tapped out (i.e. Stifle for the Dreadnought or storming into Diminishing Returns). This bastardization of Force of Will is certainly effective and can stun your opponent when they think the game is already won.

Consistency is key, and without it, this archetype might not exist if it weren't for Imperial Recruiter. The ability to search through your library and find any creature (in this deck, anyways) that you want is truly powerful. One of the great things about Imperial Recruiter is that he allows you to attack and block. That can be critical when you consider the importance of staving off an early Lackey or stalling for a next-turn win. Your smaller creatures work wonders in staving off large assaults and allowing you to protect your life total and generate more time to find both of your combo pieces. Imperial Recruiter can tutor for every single creature in your deck - sideboard included - so consider what targets are optimal and when they would work best at a given time.

Another interesting thing to take note of is the "three casting-cost" theory the deck uses against Counterbalance. While Imperial Painter already has a suitable amount of counteracting blue-based threats, you play a lot of three mana cards that can really throw off the blue enchantment seeing so much play. This really does help as it pretty much allows for all your creatures to hit the board and cause a variety of damage. You want to be careful, though: Once top hits play, it's important to recognize when to Blast the Balance (i.e. in response to the activation of drawing a card from Top).

Here's an explanation for some key cards included in the main-deck:

Painter's Servant
As the strategy of the deck revolves around this Scarecrow, you want him in play to transform your hand from defensive to offensive, or vice-versa. The basis for which the deck exists.

Grindstone
The "oops, I win" card of the deck. It is not necessary to win with this card alone, but essentially nullifies it from being considered simply a run-of-the-mill (pardon the pun) "Painter's-Grindstone" build. Truly nifty though in certain situations.

Simian Spirit Guide
Suitable for the purpose of either putting threats in play early or disguising your hand in preparation for countermagic activity. He beats, too.

Magus of the Moon
The old adage that "Magus wins games alone" really is true. If you can drop him in play turn one, that spells doom for most decks that run non-basics as their primary source for mana.

Imperial Recruiter
This overly-expensive uncommon from P3K serves you up every creature in your deck. He blocks and beats, and adds a tremendous amount of consistency to a deck which really didn't have any to begin with.

Lightning Bolt
An effective creature-kill card. It knocks off not only early threats, but acts like a finisher in some cases. At one mana, only Swords to Plowshares is better. But the ability to clear the board is too important, especially in the early game.

Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast/Active Volcano
One mana Counterspell/Vindicate with Painter in play. Even without, they still hose blue to the point where it gets annoying. They are simple and effective, especially in a deck which can wash everything the color of your choice, namely, blue.

Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
An extremely potent weapon when it goes online. She has both built in Vindicate and Incinerate at the cost of one and two plus a card, respectively. She serves as a lock component with Painter in play, turning your extra things like land and Moxes into Vindicates. She also gets around and destroys Counterbalance by herself. An absolute house against Merfolk, too.

Overall, the deck seems and plays really competitively. It really has a lot of influence deriving from the current general meta-game. Even against decks that don't run Blue, you have enough permanent destruction and a win-now combo that is proven effective. The archetype has changed over the years, but the concept remains fundamentally intact and just recently performed to a Top Eight appearance at GP: Amsterdam. The deck can truly be frightening in the hands of a skilled pilot, and it looks as though Imperial Painter is here to stay.

I strongly recommend to run 7 moon effects (i. e. 4 Magi and 3 Blood Moon). In addition, more than 8 colour dependent are very clunky without a Painter on the board.

I am testing the following list:
// Lands
10 Mountain
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb

// Creatures
4 Imperial Recruiter
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Painter's Servant
4 Magus of the Moon
3 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

// Spells
4 Red Elemental Blast
4 Pyroblast
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chrome Mox
4 Grindstone
3 Blood Moon

// Sideboard
4 Pithing Needle
4 Shattering Spree
4 Trinisphere
3 Umezawa's Jitte

It seems to me that an SB for this deck should include:
xX Pyrokenisis
xX Pithing Needle
xX Blood Moon
xX Some sort of larger beater.

Also, I was interested in an SDT version that someone was testing. Anyone know how that went?

Some beaters you can get with Recruiter:
Tarean mauler is about it I think.

O ya, Anaba Grunt as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shimster

I strongly recommend to run 7 moon effects (i. e. 4 Magi and 3 Blood Moon). In addition, more than 8 colour dependent are very clunky without a Painter on the board.

I am testing the following list:
// Lands
10 Mountain
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb

// Creatures
4 Imperial Recruiter
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Painter's Servant
4 Magus of the Moon
3 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

// Spells
4 Red Elemental Blast
4 Pyroblast
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chrome Mox
4 Grindstone
3 Blood Moon

// Sideboard
4 Pithing Needle
4 Shattering Spree
4 Trinisphere
3 Umezawa's Jitte

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I have to say that Shimster's list seems strong in a meta that isn't heavily blue. Your SB, though, seems to turn you into Stompy. What MU does that help in? Also, when do you bring in 3Sphere? Against Thresh? Frankly, that seems awful as you run 8 blasts that are already good against Thresh.

Is Jitte the best Gobs hate you could think of? Won't the board in Grips already?

I'm testing Top in this deck recently and it works out pretty great for me. Problems with 2-Mana-Lands aren't that big as you can just look two times in the Top to avoid Manaburn. In addition, Top does not slow you down - if you have the combopieces already, then you don't need to play Top. If you don't have them Top is pretty great in finding them. To use Top to an maximum effect I run 5 Fetchies instead of 5 Mountains. Sure, with Magus on the Board they don't shuffle anymore but that's not a problem. The only disadvantage of Fetchies is that Manadenial in form of WastelandStifle actually gets pretty good against you - but as there aren't that many (the number tends to be 0) TempoTresh/StifleNaught decks in my meta so I don't think that I'll get my fetchlands stifled.

Edit: For reference: I basically run Shimster's list -3 Blood Moon +3 Tops and in the SB -3 Jitte +3 Moon.

First, this deck seems interesting and appears to be able to handle Aggro-Control and Control, but how exactly do you beat combo like Ichorid or TES? It seems like, without sideboarding, that combo would kill before you can really disrupt them. As far as I can see we can only really counter Brainstorm, diminishing returns or Ponder(I believe some lists still run this).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shimster

I strongly recommend to run 7 moon effects (i. e. 4 Magi and 3 Blood Moon). In addition, more than 8 colour dependent are very clunky without a Painter on the board.

I am testing the following list:
// Lands
10 Mountain
4 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb

// Creatures
4 Imperial Recruiter
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Painter's Servant
4 Magus of the Moon
3 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage

// Spells
4 Red Elemental Blast
4 Pyroblast
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chrome Mox
4 Grindstone
3 Blood Moon

// Sideboard
4 Pithing Needle
4 Shattering Spree
4 Trinisphere
3 Umezawa's Jitte

---

I think it's a good idea to avoid the seven Moon effects. Blood Moon isn't really a business spell in the late game and considering you run four main-deck Magus plus Recruiter, that should be sufficient. The original list Okazawa Tatsuya ran had four Blood Moon in the sideboard. I suggest boarding into four more Moons simply because games two and three you typically run into Krosan Grip and it poses an issue whether your opponent wants to expend on Painter or Moon. Magus game one (and into two and three paired with Moon) should be enough I'd think.

As for Ichorid:

Magus shuts down Coliseum and all other resources.
Your Blasts counter Careful Study, Breakthrough, and destroy Narcomoeba and Cephalid Sage.
You play Lightning Bolt.

Seriously, I've played against Ichorid in the majority of my tournament matches and I've never lost a round to it. It's a pretty favorable match even post-board. If they go first and lead off with L.E.D. and Deep Analysis, that can obviously pose an issue unless you have Monkey-Blast.

T.E.S. is another story. It's all about who combos faster. Magus can slow the game down a tad and Blast effects do have some relevance on the important draw spells. Again, you play Lightning Bolt, so assuming your opponent pays half their life in that scenario you can do some damage that way. Just this past weekend I was tapped out against T.E.S. and my opponent was at storm 11 when he proceeded to Diminishing Returns. I Monkey-Blasted it. I'm not saying this happens often, but it shows you have ways of stalling the game and screwing with your opponent's resources in order to win (I ended up winning the round). Bryant and I tested a few times between the decks and it was close to 50/50. But if I'd have to give an advantage I'd say it would go to T.E.S. simply by speed in general. Your sideboard is meta-dependent, so considering my meta has T.E.S. and Ichorid all over the place, you have to adapt. Bryant and I have played this match in tournament action twice, with an even split at 1-1.

And trust me from experience, no matter what you play, when T.E.S. casts Brainstorm, it usually ends bad for you that turn or the next.

Is Shattering Spree shut down by Chalice @1? If so, I am wondering why it is the sideboard artifact hate of choice. If not, I guess I understand.

One other question: has anyone tried different 1-of creatures? I know Shusher can be good. I also like the idea of 1 SB Silent Arbiter and maybe a Grim Lavamancer.

The first copy gets countered, but the replicates go on the stack and are unaffected by Chalice at 1.

Imperial Painter takes Finals at the big Hadley event in Mass.! See the Tournament Reports and Announcements thread for details!

Nice job Legend. I like your list man (maindecking Trinisphere seems awesome and Macabre is really smart).

I have to ask again about Magma Jets in the place of Lightning Bolts. I can't help but think that the Jets' scrying would have helped you in that last game against Survival more than Bolts. And it seems like the Pyrokinesis in the SB could make up for the lost removal ability if needed. Specifically with your newer list, I wonder if more consistent topdecking from Scry in worth giving up one point of burn, especially if Trinisphere will sometimes make both spells cost 3. Obviously you know what you're doing with this deck, so I'm interested in what you think from your experience.

Here's the problem with Magma Jet over Lightning Bolt:

The curve of this deck is very strange: It has a lot of three casting-cost cards which you play off one red and either a Tomb or City, and SSG which is typically pitched. The only two-cost card you play is Painter, which coincidentally costs two colorless. Now, you can obviously play it with two Mountains out, but you want to try and keep a red open at all times unless you're casting a dude (or Painter off the two mana land, leaving red open for REB effects). Lightning Bolt is just way too good to take out, and it really evened things out and got me to the Finals. The fact it costs one is just too good. The scry is important, but I want the third damage and one less mana more so.

EDIT: And seriously, Trinisphere was a last-day decision. It's just ridiculous how good that card is in the format right now, with combo everywhere. You play accelerators that help you get around it, which makes it even better. It also shuts down control, for the most part. And Magus turn one does win games all-by-him-self. He was MVP of my whole tournament.

How do the deck do vs DS? FS? Stacks? Chalice seems to be dangerous.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mordenkaynen

How do the deck do vs DS? FS? Stacks? Chalice seems to be dangerous.

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Chalice for one is not dangerous by any means. You can draw or Imperial Recruiter for Jaya Ballard, Task Mage with Painter out and destroy it. Goblin Tinkerer also does the job post-board. You play accelerators, so again, it's not like you can't win the race. You play 14 three-casting cost creatures, and 4 at two-cost with 16 accelerators.

Plus, dropping a boat-load of creatures and swinging each turn helps too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by A Legend

Here's the problem with Magma Jet over Lightning Bolt:

The curve of this deck is very strange: It has a lot of three casting-cost cards which you play off one red and either a Tomb or City, and SSG which is typically pitched. The only two-cost card you play is Painter, which coincidentally costs two colorless. Now, you can obviously play it with two Mountains out, but you want to try and keep a red open at all times unless you're casting a dude (or Painter off the two mana land, leaving red open for REB effects). Lightning Bolt is just way too good to take out, and it really evened things out and got me to the Finals. The fact it costs one is just too good. The scry is important, but I want the third damage and one less mana more so.

EDIT: And seriously, Trinisphere was a last-day decision. It's just ridiculous how good that card is in the format right now, with combo everywhere. You play accelerators that help you get around it, which makes it even better. It also shuts down control, for the most part. And Magus turn one does win games all-by-him-self. He was MVP of my whole tournament.

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Yeah, I noticed that in your report every time you dropped 3Sphere it would bait a counter, which then would let you drop Servant. However, 3Sphere does seriously shut down blasts. Did that ever create problems for you?

Isn't it time this deck moved to the established forum?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mental

Yeah, I noticed that in your report every time you dropped 3Sphere it would bait a counter, which then would let you drop Servant. However, 3Sphere does seriously shut down blasts. Did that ever create problems for you?

Isn't it time this deck moved to the established forum?

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Not at all. I had no difficulty dropping what I needed. It's funny, Trinisphere almost acts like a pseudo Arcane Laboratory against most decks. It's just I drop 3cc spells off the two mana lands and go for beats. I've Blasted around Trinisphere. It takes a little bit more but nothing too much.

Those SB Shushers help against Chalice too.

Legend, I was wondering about how 4 MD Trinisphere affected your own spells also. After making that last minute decision, would you keep 4 maindecked, or move some to the SB?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DrewliusMaximus

Those SB Shushers help against Chalice too.

Legend, I was wondering about how 4 MD Trinisphere affected your own spells also. After making that last minute decision, would you keep 4 maindecked, or move some to the SB?

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Main-deck Trinisphere all the way. Think of it this way: If you have three mana to get Sphere online turn one, then you have Blast mana then or down the road. Remember, you're not countering anything until turn three or four because of 3Sphere shut-down, so you don't have to worry about it. Plus, turn one 3Sphere, turn two Painter, turn three blow up their land is really solid, especially if you draw into more Blasts.

So with the 3Spheres and Blasts and everything, does the Storm Combo matchup still need Pyrostatic Pillars pretty badly, or are they just to make the matchup "very favorable"?

I'm asking because as I put this deck together, I want to prepare for The Rock and I'm thinking about using SB slots for that.