Printable View
So, I think someone has to finally start this topic^^: What do you guys think about Grafdiggers Cage in RUG? When youre playing Snapcasters you obviously want to play Extractions. But what about the Mongoose lists? Has anyone tested the card already?
I'm running 2 cages in sb. Looks pretty nice against gsz + kotr and I like that. Also, is a fair choise against Reanimate (or less played dredge, NO, etc.).Quote:
Originally Posted by royal
Edit: Double post.
A question for all RUG players: in matchups where you are playing against a mono-colored deck with no non-basics and no opposing land pressure (eg. no Wastelands of their own), do you ever sideboard out the Wastelands?
This might seem crazy, but bear with me: you're going to mulligan until you get a colored source anyways, and the curve is so low that you typically don't need another colorless source unless you're going for a turn 2 Tarmogoyf. Additional lands can also be a liability against a deck like Burn who is going to look for value in casting Price of Progress.
I realize there aren't too many decks like this in Legacy, but Burn is one example of this and is a deck that's on the rise recently.
Maybe a crazy idea, I haven't personally tested it, but let me know what you think.
I sometimes side out a Wasteland or two. Never all four. Most decks have at least one nonbasic anyway, and going down to 14 land seems pretty risky too.
Snare is so damn good against Burn (I guess they are pretty much unable to board out Marauders, PoP's and Rifts, maybe even Hellsparks) that you really could spare them for non-PoP's because you can keep its effect off by Wasteland and Daze.
Keeping this in mind I would not recommend to board out more than 1 because of getting screwed and it's ability to somehow neuter PoP, plus owning random Barbarian Rings.
Maybe a stupid question but I want some input: How does one sideboard with the Counterbalance SB? Let's take Hatfield's build: http://scg.im/d43731
Against burn, taking out Stifles and Snapcasters.
Stifle does mostly nothing in the matchup, and Snapcasters demand 3+ mana, which is a luxury in this matchup.
+ a lot of Burn players board out Rift Bolt's anyway and all versions without Grim Lavamancer shouldn't play Fetches.
I am not sold on Delver beeing a counterspell to Chain/Bolt sometimes, while it can be ignored completely if it doesn't flip early on (or at all). To be honest, I really do hate this MU, especially when piloted by better players who won't play right into everything.
Maybe it's time to pack some Jitte's, as bad as that seems at first glance.
Gerry T had an interesting snippet on RUG in his SCG article today. He offered a list that was somewhat unusual (basically, playing a full set of Mongeese and Thought Scour to attain fast threshold). I don't think his list was really optimized, and perhaps I miscounted but it looked like it was running over 60 cards. However, the biggest change to his list was dropping Stifle in favor of Spell Pierce.
I have been a proponent of running MD Spell Pierce for awhile now, and even started a SCD topic discussing it in the Format Discussion board. The card is fantastic right now, and fights the cards that give RUG the most problems (resolved planeswalkers, game-breaking enchantments/artifacts, GSZ for KotR, a resolved combo finisher, etc.)
I am not entirely sure if dropping Stifle entirely from this deck is a great move, because in addition to punishing 'bad' players, it also protects YOU from getting blown out by Wasteland. That said, I would agree with moving Spell Pierce into the main in some number.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wcm8
So the plan is to scour cards in the gy to bump Nimble faster. Seems to me, dumping a Tarmo in the yard right into a surgical after board could be a bad idea. Hard to argue with a "pro" but I think this might be a little to cute. Nimble works mostly well in the control matchups and tbh, we can wait a few turns to build Nimble up.
I do like your idea on pierce and keep finding myself wanting to remove stifles completely but have yet to pull the trigger. I've reduced them to 3 md and am really wondering if cutting them completely will even matter. I'm almost wondering if it isn't time to evolve back into the Next Level Thresh builds for the current meta. Cut the cute Snappy tricks, bring back Grim + Collar for good times.
This is how RUG should probably just function in essence, and I agree that Thought Scour/Mental Note are bad in comparison to just running Ponder. If you REALLY want a value card to help attain threshold faster, I would run Predict, but that card is also in danger of being a 'cool thing'.Quote:
Originally Posted by ImpinAintEasy
I think we can probably just cut Stifle, let 'good' players play around a ghost card that's not even in our deck, and add a basic island to the mix (19 lands total) to reduce Wasteland blow-outs.
I don't think 'Next Level Thresh' is all that great. Either you go full-on tempo with RUG Canadian, full-on control with UW Blade, or if you want to hybridize the approach you play UBG Team America. Without a solid removal spell, RUG doesn't seem like the best option for trying to go for the long game.
Totally agree with most of your post. I've been running 18 lands with the singleton Island and think it is an absolute must. I'm gonna try your idea and cut stifles and do some serious testing this weekend on MTGO.Quote:
Originally Posted by wcm8
I was talking to a friend last night and I really feel RUG is starting to get stale in the current meta and usually when that happens game/match wins start to become harder to achieve. I've been playing RUG for many years and have been testing heavily for the GP Indy on MTGO for months. Lately though, I find that I feel I'm missing something.
The meta seems to be shifting and I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I feel we need to seriously think about changing up the decklist, maybe cutting stifles is that change which is needed.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but do you ever get the feeling there is a card out there you should be playing and you can't quite put your finger on which one it is?
Legacy has a funny way of cycling through the years. It looks like we're back to the point where EE for 0/1/2 is going to be King of the Hill again. It's also been the time where AEther Vial decks start to make a comeback to slow roll the creature threats while maintaining mana superiority with Port and Wasteland.
RE: This current metagame - play Fire/Ice. It stops a lot of the cards that are a nuissance in this metagame right now (Maverick, Elves, Delver, wins Goyf wars, taps KotR, extra mana denial etc). Also, play 4 Spell Snare (obv).
Agree with Fire/Ice as I stated a few posts ago. I am currently running 3x MD and 4x snare. I still feel as though something is lacking, like I said, can't quite put my finger on it. I guess Paranoia will Destroy ya!Quote:
Originally Posted by rukcus
EE does seem good which is why I agreed with your thoughts on NLT last night. Without utilizing Trinket for EE, I'm not sure running it MD is a wise option, probably best suited for the board anyways if I'm running F/I.
I've been so desperate to put my finger on this missing puzzle piece I seek that lately I've been testing crazy ideas like Noxious Revival and Animar. Maybe I just need a drink!
Hi guys! What are the common strategies vs the mirror? In addition to REBs, do you guys board in more removal (submerge,mind harness, sweepers) or go for surgical extractions vs the mirror?
Surgical on their Dual Land is pretty rough, I usually bring that inQuote:
Originally Posted by cheerios
Today I won a medium-size tournament (43 people) with my beloved Canadian Threshold.
Here are the MUs.
2-1 mirror
2-0 combo elves
2-0 uw stoneblade
2-0 nic fit
ID reanimator
ID hive mind
top8
2-1 punishing maverick
top4
2-0 hive mind
finals
2-0 nic fit
Going undefeated till the end is always a great satisfaction :wink:
List? Congrats on the finish! Any advise on the Nic Fit matchup? That one seems like it's pretty difficult for a tempo deck.Quote:
Originally Posted by spartan117
@wcm8: I totally forgot to also post the decklist :tongue:
3 nimble mongoose
4 tarmogoyf
4 delver of secrets
4 force of will
4 daze
4 stifle
4 lightning bolt
4 brainstorm
4 ponder
3 spell snare
2 fire/ice
2 dismember
4 wasteland
4 volcanic island
4 tropical island
3 scalding tarn
3 misty rainforest
side
1 red elemental blast
1 pyroblast
3 spell pierce
2 submerge
2 mind harness
2 rough/tumble
2 grafdigger's cage
1 krosan grip
1 ancient grudge
Pretty stock MD, but with a new interesting sideboard. I was expecting lots of GSZ-based decks, as well as some reanimator/dredge, so grafdigger's cage seemed a really good option to have. Rough/tumble is simply devastating against maverick and other decks which see less play such as elves, burn, goblins and stuff like that.
Even though I went 2-0 against both NicFits, I still think that this MU is an uphill battle. The best strategy against them is to mulligan in search of delver/tarmogoyf because they suffer early pressure a lot, especially if backed up with a couple counters/stifles. Grafdigger's cage is very useful agains them, locking up their GSZs and Recurring Nightmare. Spell snare is also an easy side-out for me, spell pierce does everything simply better, also letting you keep the pressure up by protecting your early beaters from removal.