[Deck] Turbo Depths

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Originally Posted by jdmdave

You need sphere against combo decks like elves

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That's not true. I didn't bring it in vs Elves. Half of their guys make mana, and they run Cradle. I did bring in Mindbreak Trap when I played vs them because I would often lose to Natural Order for lethal one turn before I could kill them, not being able to block enough damage. But Sphere is not very good in that matchup. Thorn would probably be better in general. A reason why you might want Sphere instead is actually the weird decks like Belcher, because Tinder Wall, but realistically I think Thorn might be better.

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Originally Posted by DNSolver

That's not true. I didn't bring it in vs Elves. Half of their guys make mana, and they run Cradle. I did bring in Mindbreak Trap when I played vs them because I would often lose to Natural Order for lethal one turn before I could kill them, not being able to block enough damage. But Sphere is not very good in that matchup. Thorn would probably be better in general. A reason why you might want Sphere instead is actually the weird decks like Belcher, because Tinder Wall, but realistically I think Thorn might be better.

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That's why I was pondering about Glacial Chasm. Thanks to both of you for your thoughts!

Spending two land drops on Glacial Chasm is probably not great, because finding the glacial chasm is likely going to set you back a ton further than trying to combo out immediately.

Additionally, that's about the only matchup where it would do anything at all.

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Originally Posted by DNSolver

Spending two land drops on Glacial Chasm is probably not great, because finding the glacial chasm is likely going to set you back a ton further than trying to combo out immediately.

Additionally, that's about the only matchup where it would do anything at all.

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What does your 75 look like today?

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Originally Posted by ccab

What does your 75 look like today?

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So I have had no reason to change my list. I haven't been playing Depths online much, but that's mostly because I've been finding other unplayable decks fun. My online list and paper list are the same:

4 Depths
4 Stage
3 Urborg
4 Verdant
2 Bayou
1 Blooming Marsh
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Ghost Quarter

4 Thoughtseize
4 Duress
3 Expedition Map
4 Crop Rotation
4 Sylvan Scrying
3 Pithing Needle
3 Sylvan Safekeeper
4 Vampire Hexmage
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lotus Petal

SB:
4 Abrupt Decay
3 Sylvan Library
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Mindbreak Trap
1 Pithing Needle
1 Karakas

DNSolver, why are you playing Blooming Marsh instead of a 3rd Bayou?

I'm not DNSolver, but I can answer that to you.
Naturally drawn(opening hand) its simply better for effecs like "have a forest" for Submerge and friends.
It turns off 2 Landwalks(does not rly matter), but I tutor it over bayou against submerge decks almost all the times to get dual color.
Bonus effect: the look on the face of you opponent, he thinks you are on budget. :D

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Originally Posted by Izza

I'm not DNSolver, but I can answer that to you.
Naturally drawn(opening hand) its simply better for effecs like "have a forest" for Submerge and friends.
It turns off 2 Landwalks(does not rly matter), but I tutor it over bayou against submerge decks almost all the times to get dual color.
Bonus effect: the look on the face of you opponent, he thinks you are on budget. :D

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Haha, ok thanks Izza!

How does everyone sb? Can someone list the matchups and make a guide?

The problem with Blooming Marsh is that a lot of times you need to have a 3rd mana source with depths on board and you have Blooming Marsh. If it was a Bayou you would be able to make the mana immediately for Marit Lage. I used to like Marsh but I went to bayous after losing 1 too many games with blooming marsh like that. The marginal upside vs Submerge isnt worth having the possibility of having another CITP land.

I never had a problem with Blooming Marsh, I ran 4 of them before I got my Bayou. Only occasionally would it come into play tapped, and if it did i just used it for crop fodder into a piece I need. It has never screwed a game up for me.

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Originally Posted by chaosjace

I never had a problem with Blooming Marsh, I ran 4 of them before I got my Bayou. Only occasionally would it come into play tapped, and if it did i just used it for crop fodder into a piece I need. It has never screwed a game up for me.

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Same here, I have never lost a game because of it, but it has won me at least 5 in a turney and countless in private games.

If you don’t like blooming marsh llanowar wastes serves the same purpose

I was watching CardKingdom's weekly Legacy stream this week and a guy playing Turbo Depths had SB Ground Seal, which is a tech I've been using for a while and advocating. Also it has recently become popular in Storm SBs. I'm happy to see it catching on a little in Depths! Anyone else been using it? I have found it incredibly useful. It comes in in several matchups. All matchups in which you expect Surgical from your opponent--especially matchups in which you also expect Edict or some other way to kill a ML token. Lands (stops Loam). Snapcaster/DRS decks. Reanimator/Dredge decks (only stops Dread Return--but we usually only lose to the combo--not the beatdown plan). Finally, the older art for it is great! Curious to hear if anyone else has picked it up.

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Originally Posted by caseyc

I was watching CardKingdom's weekly Legacy stream this week and a guy playing Turbo Depths had SB Ground Seal, which is a tech I've been using for a while and advocating. Also it has recently become popular in Storm SBs. I'm happy to see it catching on a little in Depths! Anyone else been using it? I have found it incredibly useful. It comes in in several matchups. All matchups in which you expect Surgical from your opponent--especially matchups in which you also expect Edict or some other way to kill a ML token. Lands (stops Loam). Snapcaster/DRS decks. Reanimator/Dredge decks (only stops Dread Return--but we usually only lose to the combo--not the beatdown plan). Finally, the older art for it is great! Curious to hear if anyone else has picked it up.

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I just re-assembled the deck and included seal. had a real issue last time i played at CK (though it was not me you saw on the weekly stream) with DRS while playing the Probe/Therapy variant, and have heard nothing but praises from it re:local storm players. it makes pile a real bad deck, and they aren't valuing decay in the combo matchup. I will take it for a spin soon (though i've been loving this Esper Delver list from last week's goldfish legacy article), and chime in.

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Originally Posted by warfordium

I just re-assembled the deck and included seal. had a real issue last time i played at CK (though it was not me you saw on the weekly stream) with DRS while playing the Probe/Therapy variant, and have heard nothing but praises from it re:local storm players. it makes pile a real bad deck, and they aren't valuing decay in the combo matchup. I will take it for a spin soon (though i've been loving this Esper Delver list from last week's goldfish legacy article), and chime in.

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Yeah, it reminds me of what a card like Vendilion Clique is in many SBs--like a key that fits in a bunch if SB plans, very versatile. It's not a bomb of a card, but does enough in enough matchups to earn an important SB slot.

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Originally Posted by chaosjace

I never had a problem with Blooming Marsh, I ran 4 of them before I got my Bayou. Only occasionally would it come into play tapped, and if it did i just used it for crop fodder into a piece I need. It has never screwed a game up for me.

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Originally Posted by Izza

Same here, I have never lost a game because of it, but it has won me at least 5 in a turney and countless in private games.

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do any of you have a land list without bayous?

Anyone else still playing with any Junk lists? I'm still drawn to Junk over straight BG for Knight and Solemnity. Not quite as explosive, but a bit more resilient. Won a small tourney with it yesterday, managed to get through Grixis Delver, Esper Stoneblade and Goblins. The first two being tough matchups with a lot of anti-DD tools. List and manabase are a bit raw but figured I'd share in case anyone else is toying with similar lists.

List:

Lands:
3 Dark Depths
2 Thespian's Stage
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Windswept Heath
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Wasteland
1 sejiri steppe
1 Bojuka Bog

3 Vampire Hexmage
3 Thoughtseize
3 Duress
1 Toxic Deluge

4 Crop Rotation
4 Living Wish
2 Life From the Loam
1 Sylvan Library

3 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Solemnity

2 Sorcerous Spyglass

2 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Mox Diamond


SB/Wish Board
Dark Depths
Thespian's Stage
Vampire Hexmage
Karakas
Maze of Ith
Glacial Chasm
Ramunap Excavator
Sylvan Safekeeper
Reclamation Sage
Ethersworn Canonist

2 Surgical Extraction
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Krosan Grip
1 Pithing Needle


Wasteland will probably be swapped for something else.
Swords will probably just become Abrupt decays with Swords in SB for SnT/Reanimator type decks
Don't really need both Maze and Chasm really. One or the other is probably good enough.
Not Sure if the ESGs are needed. Also not sure what the right prooprtion of Bayou, Scrubland and Savannah is. Probably depends how the list shapes up.

Hi guys!
I just won the Geneva Legacy 10 this weekend, with a list really close to DNSolver’s. I won’t make a precise and full report – partly because I don’t have time nor a good memory, and I didn’t take notes – but here are some informations on how it went.

We were 97 players, so it was 7 swiss rounds + top 8.

Here’s the list:

Maindeck (60):

4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Bayou
1 Forest
1 Swamp
3 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Thespian's Stage
4 Dark Depths
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Bojuka Bog
4 Vampire Hexmage
3 Sylvan Safekeeper
3 Pithing Needle
4 Thoughtseize
3 Duress
4 Crop Rotation
4 Sylvan Scrying
3 Expedition Map
1 Sylvan Library
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Lotus Petal

Sideboard (15):

1 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Sphere of Resistance
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Krosan Grip
1 Karakas
1 Mishra's Factory
2 Sylvan Library


Fun fact: in EVERY single round that I won 2-1, I always lost the first game, winning the two postboard games!

I tried my best to remember how the rounds went, but there may be mistakes and/or imprecisions. Anyway, here’s what I recall.

R1 Show & Tell: 2-1
Nothing fancy here, he was faster g1, and then I won enough time to kill him thanks to discard spells and needle. One funny thing g3, though: I won through Krosan Grip on Blood Moon, after putting in play a "Dark Depths-Moutain" with 0 Ice token on it. Damn, this felt good!

R2 Big Zoo: 2-1
Nothing too hard, but g1 I kept a slow hand, and he led with double Wild Nacatl and some Bolt. Then, g2 and g3, I was too fast for him, as he had almost no way to interact with my combo.

R3 Death & Taxes: 2-0
G1 I had Needle on Wasteland, he had Karakas and some creatures. I discarded a Path to Exil and then copied his Rishadan Port to tap his Karakas EOT, which allowed me to kill him, since he had no flying creature. G2 I transformed thespian stage into another land to avoid his Pithing naming Thespian’s Stage, then I dodge his Flickerwisp bounce on Marit by sacrificing Vampire in response to his Vial activation. I think I also discarded one Sword to Plowshare or something before going off.

R4 4c Control: 2-1
Very close games, Hymn really hurted me. A random Edict lost me game 1 too. Then I somehow managed to win the next games, I think notably thanks vampire killing Jace and I believe Mishra’s Factory to dodge Edict. Can’t remember properly how it went. Sylvan Library is a must here.

R5 Eldrazi Stompy: 2-1
G1 and g2 he had Karakas, which was very annoying to play around because damn, that deck can be stupidly fast! G1 He was too fast indeed. Almost lost g2, killing him with 1 live left, thanks to chumpblocking with Marit and 2 Sylvan Safekeeper that I found thanks to Sylvan Library. G3 he made a huge mistake that allowed me a super fast win: T1 I played Urborg, and a Thoughtseize reveals that he has, among other things, a phyrexian and 2 wastelands. I took the phyrexian, praying for a quick draw into Pithing Needle. I didn’t need that, because, as he saw I had only Urborg and Lotus Petal on board, he got overconfident and didn’t keep wasteland open, instead playing a Mimic. T2 I then played Bayou, Vampire, Crop Rotation thanks Petal, searching for Depths and instantly making the token. He didn’t draw Karakas, and I won right there.

R6 Death & Taxes: 2-1
I am paired down against a 4-1 player, so we couldn’t ID. Even more unlucky, the player is one of my friend, which whom I came to the tournament. Couldn’t go thourgh his many answer g1. G2 I can’t remember how it went, only that I managed to win through 2 Path of Exile and 2 Flickerwisp the turn before he kills me. I think it was thanks Sylvan Safekeeper. G3 he relied too much on a Flickerwisp-bloc to protect himself, and Sejiri got him after I needled his Wasteland.

R7 ID

I was 6-0 at this point, being thus sure of starting all rounds of the top8.

1/4 The Epic Storm: 2-1
Here I though I was screwed for good. I lost the g1 pretty quickly. G2 I led with a t1 Sphere of Resistance, followed by a duress on infernal tutor, which I surgical’ed the turn after. I knew he had a Echoing Truth in his hand, and had to activate my combo knowing he would have to remove the token, thus letting my Sphere into play. He actually managed to combo off anyway, and played Ad Nauseam. The WORST Ad Nauseam I saw in my entire life, revealing very quickly Tendrills, Empty the Warrens and Dark Petition, among other small things. So he went down from 16 to 1. Aouch. He then had enough mana floating to try a desperate Ponder play with the LED he found with Ad Nauseam, but I Krosan Grip’ed his LED, preventing him to get the 3 mana of it. Bah, he was very likely dead anyway. I got very lucky on this one. Last game, we went on additional turns, even though the round last one hour (!), because my brain was melted in my skull at this point of the tournament. Anyway, I had a quick Sphere into play and bought me some time with a Bojuka Bog on his graveyard. He then started to play though my sphere and still managed to create 8 Goblin tokens. But unfortunetly for him, they couldn’t win a race against a 20/20 flying, which killed him in the 3rd additional turn. God…

*** here come the 5 minutes between the quarter and semi finals when I very quickly ran to the toilets, drank a lot of water and ate all the sugar I could find to sustain my brain ***

1/2 Nic Fit: 2-0
A good match-up, I combo’ed rather quickly with discard back-up both time. G2 I have to say he scared me quite a bit with Bitterblossom. Fortunately, Sylvan Library found me a Sejiri ftw.

Finals Infect: 2-1

G1 he out-raced me with ease. G2 discard brought me enough time to win, alongside with a successful bait: I played a Vampire, he dazed and I paid with ESG. That always feels so good! Anyway, G3 I decay’ed one Agent, needled his nexus, and attacked his hand with discard. That bought me enough time to summon our flying friend and win two Tropical Island (Revised) and a bye for the next mkm series tournament!



I was totally exhausted, but happy as fuck, especially knowing I had won 9 rounds in a row, with very varied and interesting match-ups!

I was also very happy with the list (credits go essentially to DNSolver, thank you man for sharing your list!). I wouldn’t play less than 3 Library in the 75, even tough I missed a bit the 8th discard spell. The 1 K-Grip / 3 Decay split felt right to me, but I fought only one Moon-decks, so that would require more testing.


PS: thank you guys for being active on this thread; I wouldn’t have played this deck without you!
PPS: sorry for my sloppy english. ;-)

Well done and thanks for the excellent writeup!