[Deck] Death and Taxes

Hi there,

as much as i like the idea of having access to moon-effects and even more: recruiters, i'm a bit more skeptical about the list. The reasons are following:
- You do NOT always have the aether vial, and even if, it has to ticker to 3 to put in the magus. Until then, most Players will have 1-2 basics in play (exspecially when the red taxes list is no more that new and no more surprise...)
- As Bahra said, there are quite a lot decks that just don't care about the Magus and where the continously mana-denial via ports does hurt them much more.
- D&T is a controldeck with the best goodstuff white can offer. Already now i regret that i don't have 2 slots more to play another Mangara or crusaders... Taking away 5 Slots (that are ALL cc3 and quite clunky) does not rly help there^^
- You cripple your own manabase... One of the best things about d&t has always been, that you DON'T have fetchlands that can be stifled and with 9+ plains you are quite safe from enemy wastelands. That said i think the MU against any tempo-based deck with delvers (exspecially canadian) gets quite worse with no more avengers to stop delver and just more cc3 Drops...)
- You only have 3 basic plains left in the deck... For sure you will most of the time be able to get 1 of them into play before landing the magus but without an active vial you might quite often become stucked with 1-x flickerwisps in your hand (even though Bahra is clearly right with playing the ful playset of them...)

Still i like the idea and i'm going to test the list following list as well (as i'm a big fan of mindcensor i put this guy in the last flexible slot): http://www.mercadia.de/home/page.php.../deck&id=99897

Greetz from Germany,
Marius Hausmann

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wasteland

Hi there,

as much as i like the idea of having access to moon-effects and even more: recruiters, i'm a bit more skeptical about the list. The reasons are following:
- You do NOT always have the aether vial, and even if, it has to ticker to 3 to put in the magus. Until then, most Players will have 1-2 basics in play (exspecially when the red taxes list is no more that new and no more surprise...)
- As Bahra said, there are quite a lot decks that just don't care about the Magus and where the continously mana-denial via ports does hurt them much more.
- D&T is a controldeck with the best goodstuff white can offer. Already now i regret that i don't have 2 slots more to play another Mangara or crusaders... Taking away 5 Slots (that are ALL cc3 and quite clunky) does not rly help there^^
- You cripple your own manabase... One of the best things about d&t has always been, that you DON'T have fetchlands that can be stifled and with 9+ plains you are quite safe from enemy wastelands. That said i think the MU against any tempo-based deck with delvers (exspecially canadian) gets quite worse with no more avengers to stop delver and just more cc3 Drops...)
- You only have 3 basic plains left in the deck... For sure you will most of the time be able to get 1 of them into play before landing the magus but without an active vial you might quite often become stucked with 1-x flickerwisps in your hand (even though Bahra is clearly right with playing the ful playset of them...)

Still i like the idea and i'm going to test the list following list as well (as i'm a big fan of mindcensor i put this guy in the last flexible slot): http://www.mercadia.de/home/page.php.../deck&id=99897

Greetz from Germany,
Marius Hausmann

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I'm glad you are testing the deck as well but I have to disagree with a lot of your points.

I have Æther Vial in 40% of my openers and considering that the game always goes long with D&T, I will have Æther Vial in more than half my games :smile:

Most decks don't have more than 2 basics IF they even have basics. and the type of decks with only 2 basics are not likely to fetch them out against D&T if they don't expect Magus of the Moon. I've played against Miracles a bunch of times now and in most games, Magus of the Moon has been super effective. It's just about playing it right.

About the "good stuff" point, Imperial Recruiter + Flickerwisp is about as much value as you can get in D&T. I've also been vial'ing in Imperial Recruiters to get Stoneforge to get Jitte several times. Giving me an extra body to wear and equipment and just giving me a lot of utility, even though it is slow it has not been a problem for me so far.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wasteland

One of the best things about d&t has always been, that you DON'T have fetchlands that can be stifled and with 9+ plains you are quite safe from enemy wastelands.

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I don't think agree with that at all. There's still plenty of juicy stifle targets in the deck, and having played against RUG Delver 3 times in 9 games it has not been an issue. Being safe from wasteland is easy with so many fetches still and besides, we're an Æther Vial deck, we're basically always safe from Wasteland. I admit that it's better to just run 9 plains when facing RUG delver but that's not the point, the point is that your UWR delver, Deathblade and elves match up improve dramatically from the red splash. Match ups that could be very difficult otherwise.

I have once "screwed myself over" with Magus of the Moon by casting it with no basic plains in play, but that still won me the game. You still effectively has as many plains in the deck as before (actually I have more now) so it shouldn't really be a problem.

I think I managed to disagree with everything here :laugh: but I appreciate the skepticism. But I hope that it will be gone after you try out the deck :smile:

Played the rw version last night to 3-0-1. It felt pretty strong beating shardless, omni tell, and junk. Felt that it could maybe use some tweaking like maybe a flyer that you can get with a recruiter like mind censor or maybe a mangara, but overall was strong.

I went 2-2 today, losing like a bitch to Omnitell, then beating Miracles, then losing my internet due to some kind of outage, expecting to go 1-2 due to that (but luckily, my opponent was 0-2 and gave me a free win), then losing to Storm due to bad hands and being still on tilt from the outage.

From what I've seen so far, the list is good. A good fetchable flyer would be nice, but I'm not a particular fan of Aven Mindcensor because it's slow and clunky. However, the only other flyer that could be even considered due synergy with the deck is Kor Skyfisher, but that seems kinda meh, especially when you're in a pinch. Utility recycling or saving a permanent with Vial would be kinda nifty, though, but I doubt it would be worth a slot.

Going to be playing again tonight, but unfortunately don't have recruiters this time, so it's time for some sweet zo-zu

I was thinking Kor Skyfisher also. Though if you have it, I might include a single Ghost Quarter. That may be getting a bit cute though.

Playtested a 1-off Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit in my deck, I liked it, helped me in a goblin match a lot! Hopefully soon I will be able to test it in more decks

Just let away crappy cards like Anafenza or Zo-Zu (we are NOT an aggro-deck, who cares the dmg from Zo-Zu?)...
Anafenza might even be not SO bad, but the problem is: there are so many better options that you don't need / have no place for her...
I had yesterday the opportunity to test a bit more the red build:
My conclusion is: it's completely meta-dependant, which 1 is better... when facing much bug, deathblade / exotic decks like lands or 10post, magus rly shines. In metas with more canadian, other d&t, miracle straight W seems to be better. Against elves, magus is normally to slow (though it still can shut down cradle), but sudden demise shines (if you can clear the board before Progenitus comes down) => still i would there prefer a combination of containment priests / council's judgement and of course 4 canonists vs. glimpse.
It's just s.t. about your playstyle... I personally love to have avenger and overall 9 flyers in my deck instead of clunky weak-bodied 3drops, though imperial recruiter + flickerwisp was insane in more then 1 game. And i have to correct my last post: the manabase is solid enough, even with the red-splash, but i would recommend to cut 1 port for the 4. plains.
Greetz,
Marius

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Originally Posted by Wasteland

In metas with more canadian, other d&t, miracle straight W seems to be better.

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I'll give you Canadian for obvious reasons. D&T might be true, too, but I haven't playtested against it yet.

But I fail to see how it's worse Miracles. You can fetch your colors to your heart's content, Magus jams their fetchlands (which prevents them from ridiculous amounts of card digging) and Recruiter finds you whatever you need while also providing another body for equipment and generating CA. I think that's worth the trade-off with running less flyers, especially the Recruiters.

Yep you can shut down shuffling - but in most of the games, the mana-DENIAL-plan (not the mana-transmute-plan via Magus) has been much more effective... + with a Magus in Play, Thalia without Karakas is only half as good as before...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wasteland

Yep you can shut down shuffling - but in most of the games, the mana-DENIAL-plan (not the mana-transmute-plan via Magus) has been much more effective... + with a Magus in Play, Thalia without Karakas is only half as good as before...

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But the mana-denial plan hasn't been altered in the slightest. You only play Magus when you think you really need him in play. Otherwise, business as usual.

Thats the plan in THEORIE: But remember, you don't have brainstorms and you have to make the best out of your ressources - there will quite often be the situation, in which you just have to land a magus cause you don't have any other pressure...
What i forgot: Most decks that have basics WILL fetch them against D&T, cause they don't want to be locked out with wastelands. I rly can imagine situations, in which you just WANT to port 1 or even 2 Basic lands and not stabilize their manabase via magus. Now of course you can say again, that you play the magus only when you see great advantage of it, but again: you can't always choose between more options, exspecially when you draw more then 1 magus and the boardssituation isn't that clear...
I rly want not hate the red-splash out, i like the idea very much, but you have to admit: you downgrade the quality of your cards in certain mu's, where magus is only a 3mana grizzly, while an avenger would dominate the board or while a censor would perhaps screw your opponent much more...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wasteland

I rly want not hate the red-splash out, i like the idea very much, but you have to admit: you downgrade the quality of your cards in certain mu's, where magus is only a 3mana grizzly, while an avenger would dominate the board or while a censor would perhaps screw your opponent much more...

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Mindcensor is terrible.

The build is far from set in stone, so people could experiment more. E.g. decrease the number of Magi while increasing the number of Recruiters for more utility.

For example:
MD: 4 Recruiter, 1 Magus
SB: 2 E-Tutor 1 Blood Moon (for match-ups where you really need the effect)

It really depends how much difference that one turn to fetch Magus actually costs you in games. That's a subject to testing. Speed reasons aside, having another source of CA (especially with Flickerwisp) and another tutor effect was something the deck was lacking so far.

Squee, Goblin Nabob could be used as a tutorable, recurrable platform for equipment and annoying blocker vs. anything that neither flies or has trample.

"Mindcensor is terrible."
You ever played the deck?^^ Sry, i rly don't want to troll you, but its by far the best overall hatebear in a meta of elves and storm-combo, which potentially bounces canonist eot but still looses to a censor in rsp on tutor... And in any match that's not Combo he stops fetchlands, blocks delver or just carries the equipment (not to mention exotics like Knight of the reliquary, gamble and so on...)
If you find room for Squee in d&t, you made s.t. wrong... the only big creature-threat for d&t is tnn and there Squee will not block...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wasteland

"Mindcensor is terrible."
You ever played the deck?^^ Sry, i rly don't want to troll you, but its by far the best overall hatebear in a meta of elves and storm-combo, which potentially bounces canonist eot but still looses to a censor in rsp on tutor... And in any match that's not Combo he stops fetchlands, blocks delver or just carries the equipment (not to mention exotics like Knight of the reliquary, gamble and so on...)
If you find room for Squee in d&t, you made s.t. wrong... the only big creature-threat for d&t is tnn and there Squee will not block...

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Mindcensor is generally too slow for what its main purpose is - hosing fetchlands and SFM. Slowness aside, my opponents still found exactly what they needed in their top 4 cards more often than I liked it.

And if your meta is full of Elves, then D&T is a terrible choice.

I also think Mindcensor is terrible, I play the full set of Leonin Arbiter and have since they were released, I love how much they shut down (especially off of vial in resp to a fetch). Yes, they have kept me from using SFM a few times, but they've cause more damage to my opponents than harm to me. I never played with a, E.Tutor board, so that's never been an issue there either.

Obviously when I test out the Red and Taxes idea I am not going to play Arbiter, but I am also not going to add in Mindcensor. I play Mindcensor in a Modern D&T build I created when the format was new (Not to be confused with Hatebears, mono white with Mana Tithe, Arbiters, Mindcensors, Ghost Quarter, Tec. Edge, Managara, Flickerwisp, etc.). So my set of Arbiter is going to be my first cut, and I'll go from there. I've always been a proponent of a full set of Flickerwisp, so I don't need to make a cut for them. I have also not play Serra Avenger in my Legacy version since Mirran Crusader came out, it's just too good, and it gives you another reason to tick the AEther Vials up to 3 counters, which was a small part of why I cut the set of Avengers for 3 Crusader, of which one is sometimes switched with a singleton Brimaz.

I definitely plan on testing out the red in the deck over the coming few weeks. There's a Legacy tournament a little under two hours from where I live that's a monthly and I usually go to that, but there's a Modern at my LGS and no one else wants to Legacy that weekend because of the local, but I may try my Red Mud (decided to call it Ocher) or a Red Taxes build if I test it enough to feel comfortable with it in a 30ish man tourney.

I have gone 13-3 in daily events with the deck now and I'm very happy with it. But my gf returned and I have exams so I won't be able to work on the deck anymore for a little while. Although if GP Lille was tomorrow I would play the red splash for sure. I hope that you guys will continue to work on it while I can't. But even if not, I will be back working on it before long :smile:.

I'm going to work on the red splash again after the weekend. I plan to test the following changes:

-2 Magus of the Moon, +1 Recruiter +1 Mangara
-1 Land +1 Karakas (to set up the Mangara combo more often)
-1 Serra Avenger +1 Kor Skyfisher (BIG maybe, just to see how it works out in this shell as a tutorable flyer with utility; if it sucks, back to Avenger)

And -1 something in the SB, +1 Blood Moon.

I've been playing the deck for about 6 months. I haven't played in anything bigger than an IQ which i managed to top 8. Here's my current list i'm running


4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
3 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
11 Plains

4 Mother of Runes
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Serra Avenger
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader

4 Aether Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

Sideboard:

1 Enlightened Tutor
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Containment Priest
1 Manriki Gusari
2 Council's Judgment
1 Cataclysm
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Circle of Protection: Red

That being said, do you guys think mangara is a card that is super well positioned? I've been trying to find room for 1 of them but i can't figure out where to cut. Mangara also makes vial less consistent with added 3 drops. Also has anybody tried out Masterwork of ingenuity in their boards? It seems good in the mirror/stoneblade matchup

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Originally Posted by Gtlstarbursts

3 Flickerwisp

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3 Flickerwisp needs to be 4 Flickerwisps. And Spirit of the Labyrinth is only really good against Grixis which is a good match up anyways. I would play 0 in the 75.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bahra

3 Flickerwisp needs to be 4 Flickerwisps. And Spirit of the Labyrinth is only really good against Grixis which is a good match up anyways. I would play 0 in the 75.

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Thanks Marc! I've been wondering about spirit. I never get enough of vialing it in in response to brainstorms lol. So cut the other one for a mangara perhaps?

Props to Bahra on the SCG mention here and the Red Death and Taxes (or Boros Death and Taxes or Imperial Taxes or whatever it becomes) onslaught on Modo.

Just played a daily event with


3x Magus of the Moon
2x Imperial Recruiter
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Mother of Runes
4x Flickerwisp
3x Phyrexian Revoker
4x Stoneforge Mystic
2x Serra Avenger

1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Batterskull
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
4x Æther vial
4x Swords to Plowshares

4x Wasteland
4x Rishadan Port
3x Karakas
4x Windswept Heath
2x Flooded Strand
2x Plateau
4x Plains

Sideboard:
3x Sudden Demise
2x Ethersworn Canonist
2x Rest in Peace
2x Council's Judgement
2x Cataclysm
2x Enlightened Tutor
1x Manriki-Gusari
1x Circle of Protection: Red

I didn't drop a game. Only one game out of the 8 was even close. I was running extremely hot, but the deck certainly seems real. I played UWR stoneblade, UR delver with tundra for sb cards, miracles, and esper stoneblade. There were a few games that had the potential to be close, but then magus just ended the game. I only drew recruiter once, and he fetched a sfm that got snap FoWed, and it's hard to complain about a card that eats a force in the midgame and leaves behind value. I just threw the deck together right before the event started and forgot to put a cavern in. I'm not a huge fan of cavern in classic D&T, but I bet it gets a lot better when you add some more humans to the deck and it also becomes fixing.

I wonder how important the scalability of Sudden Demise compares to the instant speed of Electrickery? While Sudden Demise shouldn't hit your white creatures, Elektrickery can hit everything (even stuff like an opposing Mom on T1 if you feel confident about fetching up a Plateau that early), even different-colored creatures at the same time, but fails vs everything with 2+ toughness.

@ hill_giant: Did you instantly slam down those Magi to win the game or do you think it would have been fine fetching them with a Recruiter first and thus playing them a turn later?

Edit: Played a few games with the new configuration suggested earlier by me (3 Recruiters, only 1 Magus, 1 Mangara, Avenger replaced by a Skyfisher).

For those who are testing the red splash, I encourage you to test Skyfisher as well. My first impression so far was pretty positive and I found myself several times fetching for it, since you get an extra activation out of your CiP guys and a decent, flying body. Even with just a Recruiter, it's plain value because you can still fetch another utility creature on the next turn.

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Originally Posted by Barook

I wonder how important the scalability of Sudden Demise compares to the instant speed of Electrickery? While Sudden Demise shouldn't hit your white creatures, Elektrickery can hit everything (even stuff like an opposing Mom on T1 if you feel confident about fetching up a Plateau that early), even different-colored creatures at the same time, but fails vs everything with 2+ toughness.

@ hill_giant: Did you instantly slam down those Magi to win the game or do you think it would have been fine fetching them with a Recruiter first and thus playing them a turn later?

Edit: Played a few games with the new configuration suggested earlier by me (3 Recruiters, only 1 Magus, 1 Mangara, Avenger replaced by a Skyfisher).

For those who are testing the red splash, I encourage you to test Skyfisher as well. My first impression so far was pretty positive and I found myself several times fetching for it, since you get an extra activation out of your CiP guys and a decent, flying body. Even with just a Recruiter, it's plain value because you can still fetch another utility creature on the next turn.

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The scalability is definitely better, I think. While Elves hates to see either cards, Demise also gives you a nice wipe against the mirror, Merfolk, Goblins, Delver variants and anything with Pyromancer or Monastery Mentor (though in this final case I can see elecktrickery doing work as well). Plus, we can use SoFI to selectively save a white of red dude on our side; the same is true with Mom.

Skyfisher seems really clutch, like a cheaper Stonecloaker. Some things to consider: 1) has a big butt, so we can use her to save a weenie from our Demise if need be while she tanks it, 2) we can use her off a vial to save Mangara from himself, 3) cavern can name Kor, letting you push through an SFM and the Skyfisher, who can then allow you to reset it, 4) like the previous point, Skyfisher can also (like Wisp) basically cost one less if you have not had a land drop the turn you cast her.

Seems pretty flexible to me. Not powerful enough in the mono lists, but in this splash, I think it is worth it.

I am going to try electrickery, as I think it's certainly much better in the mirror, while also still being solid against elves. I only drew demise once in 2 dailies (against ur delver), and I used it to kill 2 swiftspears, so it was better than trickery there. I'm not sure how often you actually bring in demise, although it's very powerful when you do.

In the second DE I played, recruiter was outstanding. I had a turn 4 that was tick vials to 2 and 3, cast recruiter for mom, cast mom, block goyf carrying jitte, flicker recruiter to keep counters off jitte, fetch sfm and vial it out on eot for sofi (for those of you not keeping count, that's 2 cards becoming 5 cards, not to mention keeping counters off the jitte, the Bob sofi killed, or the second wisp sofi drew on the following turn). I wound up losing a round to a couple of very strong draws from miracles, but 3-1 is still respectable.

Played the latest DE and lost terribly, partly due to bad luck, partly due to abyssal plays (I really need to get more practice again).

It reminded me rather painfully why I normally don't run Mangara - because it's a slow PoS. I'm most likely going back to the original build with 3 Magus and 2 Recruiter when I enter another DE.

I did like the Skyfisher, though, and would continue to test it in the Avenger slot.

Edit: One thing I'd like to mention, though, is the feeling of always being low on mana. The focus on a slightly increased curved, your lands being more exposed to Wasteland and fetchland-thinning decreasing the number of lands you draw might be a bit much for our 23 land base, but maybe it's just me.

You're starting to sell me on this red splash, Hill Giant. I just dread the prospect of getting Imperial Recruiters (I only play in paper). Please keep posting testing results, everyone trying the red version! If I get the chance to, I will as well.

The other two red cards sounds pretty great though (magus and sudden demise).

I found time to play another daily (had to get up at 4 am. to play it though :laugh:)

Currently 1-0 beating RUG Delver, got to Sudden Demise away a Tarmogoyf and a Nimble Mongoose #Value

Mostly Rest in Peace and Mother of Runes did work though, drawing 4 in the first game and getting 2 of them FoW'd somehow made it so that my opponent had very few resources to try and win the game with. Second game I boarded out Magus of the Moon and this time Imperial Recruiter did work, fetching up a Mirran Crusader and then dealing a few points of damage before getting caught in a Rough \\ Tumble with a Mother of Runes. Opponent had active Library since turn 2 and the game went approximately 15 turns but I was still at 13 when the game ended.

I went 3-1

R1-R4:

Crushed RUG Delver
Crushed UW Stoneblade
Got Crushed by RUG Delver nut drawing me in 2 games (in the words of the streamer that beat me) and he played well too
Crushed Elves (!!) picture is after 1 Sudden Demise :laugh:

http://i.imgur.com/TlBQh27.png


Edit: Played another daily that I streamed and 3-1'd losing to some sort of Grixis landstill and beating Elves again, miracles and Grixis Delver. Lost because of bad hands and drawing 3 Æther Vials but only 1 land only to have the Æther Vials Pithing Needled.

Kor Skyfisher was pretty good this daily.

Great to see the deck putting up results!

I'm not as enthusiastic about recruiter's price tag but I guess replacing them with something else isn't the end of the world. In previous parts of the thread it seems like for a long time the consensus was that any splash wasn't worth it, now with a bit of agreement that it isn't so bad, is it worth considering other colours?

It's hard to find bears that are as disruptive as magus or a sweeper as cheap as sudden demise though. Something like Sin Collector / Tidehollow Sculler and Zealous Persecution / Engineered Plague probably isn't as good as the red splash but maybe some brainstorming could be considered seeing as the thread seems to have lifted the embargo on nonwhite cards.

Have people with the green splash tried out Knight of the Reliquary so far?

The Recruiter thing got me thinking while looking for juicy tutor targets: With 7 fetches and 4 Wastelands, we're almost as effective feeding KotR as Maverick (they run ~8 fetches). It's also a Human, so between a Cavern, 7 fetches for a single Savannah and 4 Aether Vial, we should have plenty of chance getting it into play. What worries me, though, is further destabilizing the manabase (although 1 Savannah for a basic Plains just might be okay).

Teeg and Pridemage would be both interesting options for the 75, but since both aren't Humans, it would stretch the manabase even further. Choke would also be a great sideboard option, but it's a nonbo with Magus.

It might be too greedy, but in theory, 1 Savannah and 1 KotR doesn't sound that bad. How it might play out with the Magus effects and heavy mana denial decks might be a whole different story, though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barook

Have people with the green splash tried out Knight of the Reliquary so far?

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Suddenly it feels like early 2011 all over again :eek:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Barook

Have people with the green splash tried out Knight of the Reliquary so far?

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I really don't think we want to go that route. I don't even think Knight of the Reliquary has much to offer this deck anyways. Sure fetching up Wasteland and Karakas is nice, but it is sooo slow. I would rather have an efficient beater or another taxing body.

IF a splash, then rly the red one... Toolbox, additional screw-plan (with mother-protection!) and massremoval in the board offers just the most... Any other splash does not bring the deck further (and i tested black for confis and green for Knights / Teegs myself...)

Played in a LGS weekly and went 4-0.

2-1 vs. Blue/Red Pyromancer (Lam Phan)
2-1 vs. Reanimator (Kevin)
2-0 vs. ANT (Kris)
2-1 vs. ANT (Richard)

This is what I played (more or less, hope I don't forget something)

4 Mother of Runes
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Flickerwisp
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Mangara of Corondor
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Fiend Hunter

4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Aether Vial
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sensei's Divining Top

10 Plains
3 Karakas
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
1 Horizon Canopy


SB:

2 Armageddon
2 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Rest in Peace
1 Sunlance
1 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Containment Priest
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Council's Judgment


Some thoughts:

- I wanted to try Sensei's. It was meh, I even lost a game where I thought it was an Aether Vial and kept a hand I should have mulliganed otherwise. It wasn't innovation for innovation's sake either, I really thought it would be good. It was not.

- Flickerwisp, still an amazing card. I won against Kris's ANT by hardcasting it to reset the Batterskull after he Abrupt Decayed the germ. Seriously, the card is absurd.

- 2 Mangara, 2 Spirit, 2 Mirran, Spirit won a game in response to a Brainstorm (might have won regardless). It's not overly exciting, but I don't mind 2. Mirran Crusader does what it does, it's an excellent beater, but might not be necessary. I don't own Brimaz's, and they could be Serra Avengers, I don't think it matters. Brimaz surviving Bolt is important, so maybe should get some. Mangara did nothing because I only saw it vs. Lam and he had enough removal to shoot the moon down. Might be trim-able, but the card can be amazing, and was for me in the past.

- 1 Fiend Hunter. Oooooh yea. Did nothing today except get a Lavamancer, but I like it.

Rest is pretty standard. 22 lands, but might put a 23rd in. I got flooded once, and mulled twice (or 3 times) due to no lands in opener.

SB:

- 3 Rest in Peace. Could be 2 and 1 Grafdigger's Cage.
- 2 Ethersworn Canonist. Standard
- 1 Sunlance. Might be useful if I faced Delvers and Deathrites and Bobs. I don't know.
- 1 Phyrexian Revoker. Meh. I don't think they are that useful.
- 2 Oblivion Ring. Always ran 2. Didn't show up at all.
- 2 Containment Priest. It was in my hand against Reanimator, didn't end up mattering. Might be able to cut a Rest in Peace to put more stuff in sideboard because of them. I really like these guys.
- 2 Council's Judgment. Never leave home without them.
- 2 Armageddon. I mostly wanted to show off Beta Armageddons, but I don't really see where they would be useful.


So for future, I would simply go:

MD:

-1 Mangara
-1 Top

SB:

-2 Armageddon
-1 Revoker
-1 Rest in Peace

I wouldn't mind putting in a Elspeth (4cc one) in the SB, she seems good. The rest might be more Elves or All-in Decks (Belcher, etc) hate. I don't know.

I am very happy with the place the deck is at, and I think the printing of Council's Judgment and Containment Priest (which didn't really exist when I was playing it) makes it so much better. I used to hate losing to UWR Delver (trade, then they get Nemesis), but I think Council's Judgment helps a TON.

I will stream the daily 45 min. from now with the Imperial Taxes (D&T with a red splash). I am now testing out 1 Fiend Hunter in the main deck instead of the Kor Skyfisher.

Tune in at:

http://www.twitch.tv/bahra_


:smile:

Saw bahra stream today playing a fiend hunter and no serra avengers and I actually like this a lot. Though originally wanting a flyer that could be tutored I feel like this could be really good, even with serra avenger being a usually strong card.

Finally had a game where I drew sudden demise against elves and WOW THAT CARD IS GOOD. I actually needed to 5-for-1 him twice with them to win the game, but it felt really good. Killing 2-toughness creatures was very important. Taking a match off of elves when they actually have strong draws every game feels pretty awesome (g1 he straight up killed me t2 on the play, and game 3 was still close even after my 2 demises killed 10 creatures and I had an active jitte for 4 turns).