[Deck] Nic Fit (GBx Explorer Zenith Control)

@rukcus - I would dearly love to get a Gifts version running again. I just don't think that the meta is quite right for it at the moment, and there's a lot of R&D to be done on it anyway.

@Nelumbo - welcome to the thread! I actually like your list a lot. Why Wickerbough and Qasali both? I'd think that Qasali with Titan, Deeds, and Pulses should be sufficient. I find your lack of Recurring Nightmare ... disturbing. With Tops and shuffles, you should be able to find it by the point at which it matters, and with both Grave Titan and Deranged Hermit, you've got plenty of ways of abusing it. Since you're running Relentless, you might want to give Master of the Wild Hunt a shot -- he can do some pretty disgusting things, especially once Garruk flips.

I'd probably test -1 Wickerbough +1 Master, and -1 Swords +1 Recurring Nightmare. My thought is that you should have enough removal without the 4th Swords main, especially with Witnesses to recur them. This is even more the case considering that your sideboard will probably have more spot removal (targetted or sacrifice).

Speaking of which, what are you thinking for a preliminary sideboard? I know you said N/A, but have you thought about it at all?

Thanks for complimenting the list. I honestly believe it's one of the better versions I've seen of the deck. Someone, please provide a Donate for my Illusions of Grandeur ;)

The reason I play with both Pridemage and Wickerbough is becaus there's a lot of Stoneforge in my meta. Perhaps it's a bit overkill, but I've felt Wickerbough/Deed is a bit too slow at times (often) to handle the problem/problems. Perhaps I'm pushing it way too far, but I don't believe so sadly, since I'd like that spot for something else.

I really, REALLY want to run Recurring Nightmare and I might be wrong when I dismised it as a way to often dead draw. I've considered to give it another run in the deck and I'd be really happy in case if turned out positive.

Yeah, Master of the Wild Hunt seams awesome in this kind of version. He was actually an unknown card to me, prior to seeing it in your decklist. The main reason why I haven't given him a spot is becaus I don't own one. I'm doing some playtesting on saturday, so I'll give him a chance. MotWH was a actually

I'll consider give your suggestions (those are highly appriciated!). I'm a bit skeptic towards removing the 4th StP, but the more I ponder upon it I must confess it seams rather logic actually.

This is the SB I used during last tournament where I participated:
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Path to Exile
1 Deed
2 E Tutor
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Pithing Needle
2 Engineered Plague
1 Thrun (Didn't run one in the maindeck then. A huge mistake! Lost on game because of not being able to handle my opponents Thrun)
1 Skeletal Scrying
4 Leyline of the Void (Mainly because it was a evening tournament and I was tired so it felt like a nice nobrainer, instead of a - most likely better - and more flexible choise of graveyard hate.)

Edit: Oh, I totally forgot to mention that a huge problem that I faced during the last tournament was the 40 min games, since it always went to time. A bit frustrating to loose/draw against decks that I'm confident that I could beat with some more time.

Qweerios: Broodmate Dragon is one of the better suggestions regarding fatties I've seen! He seams like a very good reason to try red. The only disadvantage I can think of would be that he might be slightly worse than Grave Titan if you have to go the defensive path.

Hmm -- your meta is infested with Stoneblade, but you don't have any Krosan Grips in your board?

I actually like Leyline of the Void a lot going forward. Many of the graveyard decks are actually SALIVATING at Cage being printed, because it doesn't actively kill them like Leyline does (Lands and Aggroloam come immediately to mind). I like Surgical/Extripate a lot personally, since you can screw up peoples' topdeck tutors and Tops with them, while stripping away threats and acting as general graveyard hate. But I do think that Leyline has gained a ton of value going forward.

If you have access to a Chains of Mephistopheles, I would highly recommend it. It's done a lot of good things for me, and although I don't board it in as much as I used to since adopting Phyrexian Arenas over Top, it still does good work for me (I used to board it in vs almost anything that was blue, now I reserve it for Stoneblade and storm decks....if you can stick it, High Tide literally can't win).

I'm going to say this generally for all of us, but it applies for you as well: going forward, I think Tragic Slip is a card we need to consider. It can ping away Delvers immediately, and oftentimes it can kill damn near anything, due to the amount of creatures that usually die with our deck. It's certainly much better than Dismember for us, and better than Darkblast as well, I would say.

From what I can infer of your meta, I would suggest something like the following:

3x Leyline of the Void
2x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Enlightened Tutor
2x Engineered Plague
1x Chains of Mephistopheles
1x Choke
1x Kitchen Finks
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Xantid Swarm
1x Pithing Needle

I could see the Plagues as spot removal instead, Slip, 4th Swords/1 Path, Innocent Blood, etc...there's a lot of options. But it depends on what the Plagues are there for, really.

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Originally Posted by rukcus

I second the name change to "Veteran Rock" or "Explorer Rock".

@ DukeDemon
I could see a Blue Rock build using Gifts Ungiven and Snapcaster Mage to do some heinous things. You only need 2 Snapcasters in such a build too.

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Dora Rock!
http://images.paraorkut.com/img/pics...lorer-5243.jpg

Also "four little ******s"?? Jesus man, like I'm not embarrassed enough to say the deck name.

Edit:
Also Donner Party is kind of fitting...

Also what the hell Dora, get a shirt that fits!

I was considering Grip, but didn’t feel it would have enough value since I’ve access to two Disenchant-guys, two Pulse and three Deed in main. I’m rather certain they’ll be able to do the job and at the same time be more flexible. Also, I don’t believe there’s enough space in the SB for ‘em, as that would be on the expense of more important cards over all.

Totally agree regarding Leyline vs Cage, because of the reason you stated. What I’d play over 4 Leyline would be something like 2 Crypt (or something similar) and 2 Extirpate/Surgical for a more flexible game against decks that isn’t that graveyard dependent but take advantage of it.

Is Chains really that good? Seems like one of those cards that are nuts in theory but so-so in practice and too often a dead card. So far I’ve never had any real problems with Jace (the major reason to use it, right?), as Dungrove Elder and Thrun as really hard for those decks to handle. I can somewhat see the point an Academy Rector list though. Must say I’m very tempted to try a build with her. Well, actually did copy on of your old lists in the past and wasn’t impressed at all. In retrospect it’s indeed possible (or rather is a fact) that I was a lousy helmsman with the deck in the beginning. Suppose it’s hard to not be, as it’s way more tricky to play then most decks.
I'll give your latest version of the deck a try :)

Phyrexian Arena looks like a great addition to the deck! I’ve only tested it in my rather traditional The Rock build and so far I’m extremely impressed with it verses Dark Confidant.

Wasn’t aware of Tragic Slip. A really cool and maybe usefull removal without a doubt. Can’t see a reason to play it though, unless your plain g/b. Regarding Dismember, I felt it was way too slow or extremely dangerous to take 2-4 damage in order to play it during the early game.

I like the idea to only run 3 LotV in this deck, due to the fact that it can mulligan hard (and often have to) without being punished like a lot of other decks. Doubt I’d come up with that idea myself.

Xantid Swarm must be splendid in some match ups. I actually bought one to try in the board, so I’ll give it a try. How has it performed in your deck?

Richard Cheese: Haha! Dora Rock is a really good name!

"Also "four little ******s"?? Jesus man, like I'm not embarrassed enough to say the deck name."
Haha! I think it's a rather funny name, unless there's someone around that (by obvious reasons, unless you know him/her could be offended) ;)

Xantid has been performing quite well. I have a lot of random control decks and a High Tide in my local meta, so it's been quite an allstar at getting a piece of hate in vs High Tide or landing a bomb vs control.

I tend to agree regarding Slip, but it pays to be aware of stuff like that. It's much more of a toy for the G/B version with no splash.

RE Leylines: don't forget, too, that this deck is eminently capable of hardcasting the damn things. Between that, and the E.T.s, you don't -want- more than 3, I would say, let alone -need- the 4th. You might be able to safely trim to 2x, in fact.

I don't usually bring Chains in for Jace, because most monkeys sit there and +2 him all day errday. I do bring it in for Brainstorm IF Snapcaster is present (and/or Ponder), because those types of decks are usually built to rely completely on the CA granted through flashing back Brainstorm after Brainstorm after Brainstorm in conjunction with shuffles. Chains completely shuts them down. It's much more of a combo hate card than a control hate card, though. All Storm decks utilize 10-12 cantrips to set up and sculpt, which they have to do repeatedly vs us because of our disruption through Therapies (and in some cases Hymn). High Tide in particular gets demolished by it, because they MUST remove it before even trying to go off. Otherwise, Time Spiral reads 4UU: Untap 6 lands, mill 7 cards.

As far as the name goes, let's not use Dora. It brings to mind Dora(n) Rock, which is a completely different type of deck. Probably out only hope for a witty name is to come up with some clever name for the synergy between Explorer and Therapy, since that's the one synergy that ALL versions of this deck are built around, regardless of whatever else people run alongside it.

Bertoncini Rock?

Actually I still like Donner Party, and I don't think IBA's vampire deck with the same name ever went anywhere, so it should be available.

Could also just name it after any famous explorer...Sir Francis Drake and his minions?

I have to register this thing at a GPT coming up, if we can't figure out a good name I'm just going to put nonsense in there.

For the Burn matchup: (Like P Fire suggested by Rabrab):

Tree of Redemption should be the gamechanger people want. Gains 10+ life

With the White splash, running Aegis of Honor is within reason, provided there's a reliable way to find it. Zuran Orb too.

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Originally Posted by Richard Cheese

Actually I still like Donner Party, and I don't think IBA's vampire deck with the same name ever went anywhere, so it should be available.

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I can confirm this.

Also you people should really cut GSZ for Living Wish, it lets you move a lot of shitty situational cards like Ooze and Finks and Grave Titan to the board, and lets you run more good cards as four ofs mainboard. Also lets you get Bojuka Bog/Karakas, I dunno what else. I was tinkering with this deck a bit but got discouraged recently. Although Grim Backwoods seems like it might be good.

Living Wish could work well as a 2-of or 3-of, it's just a GSZ that costs 1 more mana and can black creatures and creatures when you can't cast them until next turn. Slower than GSZ when you have tons of mana, but faster when you don't.

What do you guys think about a couple of Batterskulls without any SFM? Seems to me like it could replace Grave Titan quite beautifuly. It is near-indestructible once you are able to keep 3 mana open, and I think that's what matters the most. Batterskull in a deck with deck sweepers is somewhat similar to a Fleeting Image in a control deck, it never gets dealt with.

I would prefer Baneslayer Angel at the 5 mana mark.

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Originally Posted by TheInfamousBearAssassin

Also you people should really cut GSZ for Living Wish, it lets you move a lot of shitty situational cards like Ooze and Finks and Grave Titan to the board, and lets you run more good cards as four ofs mainboard. Also lets you get Bojuka Bog/Karakas, I dunno what else. I was tinkering with this deck a bit but got discouraged recently. Although Grim Backwoods seems like it might be good.

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Living Wish sounds honestly amazing. Never really considered it. GSZ is way stronger in a vacuum but in this Wish might just be better. The Wishboard would probably be like Genesis, Disenchant guy, Shriekmaw, 1-2 Yardhate guys (Ooze, Macabre, Bog), Lifegain guy (Tree of Redemption).

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Originally Posted by Tao

Living Wish sounds honestly amazing. Never really considered it. GSZ is way stronger in a vacuum but in this Wish might just be better. The Wishboard would probably be like Genesis, Disenchant guy, Shriekmaw, 1-2 Yardhate guys (Ooze, Macabre, Bog), Lifegain guy (Tree of Redemption).

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another interesting thing about wish, is applications if grafdigger's cage ends up being played everywhere. cage turns off zenith, but not wish - the deck could still play a very effective game with cage out and living wish (or even just tutor for a disenchant dude or whatever).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TheInfamousBearAssassin

Also you people should really cut GSZ for Living Wish, it lets you move a lot of shitty situational cards like Ooze and Finks and Grave Titan to the board, and lets you run more good cards as four ofs mainboard. Also lets you get Bojuka Bog/Karakas, I dunno what else. I was tinkering with this deck a bit but got discouraged recently. Although Grim Backwoods seems like it might be good.

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I don't really think the situational cards are shitty. Cards like Scavenging Ooze and Thrun are usually just pretty solid. Kitchen Finks can be underwhelming, but can also come out in games 2 and 3. The titans are sort of slower to get out, but having them MD at least doesn't add 2 mana to the cost of getting them out. The GSZ package opens up Dryad Arbor for additional acceleration. Living Wish just seems too mana intensive/clunky in a deck that's already slow/very mana intensive. GSZ also encourages the deck to run optimal numbers of Veteran Explorer and Eternal Witness MD, while giving you an additional 4 copies when they're needed to the point they're worth their cost +1.

Green Sun's Zenith also has the perk of being shuffled back into the deck when it resolves, that combined with Explorer/Fetches increases the decks threat density as the game continues.

Grim Backwoods doesn't strike me as very good at all. By the time you hit 5 mana you've got better things to do than tap all of it to sac a Finks or Explorer to draw a card. It seems worse than Phyrexian Tower #2 and/or running a 1-of Volrath's Stronghold. I don't think the deck has room for more than a couple colorless mana sources unless it wants to start cutting into spell slots, and even then Grim Backwoods looks like a Jayemdae Tome, for 5 mana I'd rather be getting something like Skeletal Scrying or Garruk, Primal Hunter.

For all the cute stuff you can do with Wish here, I think it has a few major disadvantages over GSZ.

First, Spell Snare is everywhere. Second, if your bomb and utility creatures only exist in your board, you depend entirely on resolving wish, and some of those guys are most critical in the control matchup. Or, possibly worse, they just counter your bomb, and then you're pretty boned. Third, a lot of those utliity guys are just fine to draw into. Finally, it's like explorer 5-8.

Couldn't Wish complement GSZ. You run a bunch of 3-ofs main (the green creatures you REALLY want to resolve: Veteran Explorer, Scavenging Ooze, Thrun) with GSZ. You replace your bombs in the main with Living Wish. That doesn't sound too terrible...

+1 for Richard Cheese on Living Wish vs. GSZ.

There is no point in playing Wish over GSZ when one puts creatures into play for cheaper while the other puts creatures into your hand for twice the cost. Also, when confronted with a blue deck, they tend to side out FoW in favor of Spell Snare once they see Hymns and realize we are a control deck hellbent on card advantage. Slowing down our GSZ and opening them to Spell Snare is definitely a bad idea.

As for Batterskull vs. Titans/Planeswalkers, I think that choosing something like Baneslayer Angel over a Bskull completely misses the point. Angel is vulnerable to creature removal, Bskull isn't. The size of Bskull and lifelink is not an issue when the purpose of the "bomb" is to reliably finish your opponent. In the same way that Hermit Druid is often better than Grave Titan, the harder it is for your opponent to stop your finisher, the better it is. Bskull is relentless and extremely hard to remove once you have lots of mana floating, its lifelink ability is the cherry on the sundae.

I actually like BSkull. Qweerios has some good points. I don't think it's something that I'll do, but the concept seems solid theoretically.

Also, I also +1 Richard Cheese. Wish is stupid good when the meta is right for it, and that is definitely not now. Maybe in a non-Snare dominated meta, Wish would be worth running as a 2-of or so in addition to GSZ, but definitely -not- as a replacement to GSZ. Besides, there's something to be said for just drawing our bombs naturally in the course of a game without having to Zenith for them. Moving them to the sideboard for Wish means that we don't have that ability anymore.

I've been wondering about the mirror. Wich version is the best against the mirror? I guess it's the bgw because of the recurring nightmare loop and academy rectors but I'm not sure.

I think the match would tend to favor the White splash list, but I think it probably comes down to what kind of action each player gets more-so than specific builds. IE Cabal Therapy/Hymns, Witnesses/GSZ, SDT, Planeswalkers and bombs (Rec Nightmare, Skeletal Scrying) seem like defining cards of the match up and are available to both GB and GBw.

There are a lot of deadish draws in the mirror - Deed, Explorer, one's Disenchant guy, for the GB version - GftT and Dismember are pretty lacking, etc. If one player lands an early Sensei's Divining Top I feel the game swings pretty heavily in their favor.

Postboard Extirpate/Surgical Extraction and Pithing Needle seem like good additions, again available to both variations. Perhaps one could out tech the mirror boarding Sylvan Library, giving that player the option to Needle Top and hope the opponent has skimped back on their Deed count.

In the mirror, a version with StP vs. a version without is heavily favoring the white splash. There is a lot of value out of being able to exile creatures continuously as opposed to destroying them. All of the mirror matches I've played so far revolve around early discard and who can find a Top first.

For those playing Rector, would Lethal Vapors be any good? It looks pretty good with Thrun.

Lethal Vapours + Needle, obviously :P

-Matt

I'd say at first blush that Lethal Vapors looks like the danger of cool things, but honestly I'm not gonna sit here and pretend to be any kind of expert on the Academy Rector version of this deck.

Actually, could someone who uses Rector extol its virtues to me? Like, what matchups does it help with, and what cards/strategies is it weak to (besides StP :wink: ) And what does your main deck Rector toolbox look like?

first of all i want to thank Tao, TheArchitect, Qweerios and Arianrhod for their help on page 23, it helped me a lot and i've since had great success against burn, counter burn and jace.dec (pretty much the mtgo meta).

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Originally Posted by DukeDemonKn1ght

I'd say at first blush that Lethal Vapors looks like the danger of cool things, but honestly I'm not gonna sit here and pretend to be any kind of expert on the Academy Rector version of this deck.

Actually, could someone who uses Rector extol its virtues to me? Like, what matchups does it help with, and what cards/strategies is it weak to (besides StP :wink: ) And what does your main deck Rector toolbox look like?

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im by no means an expert on this deck, not even close. i have tho played dozens of games with this deck against all the type of decks (MTGO), and im still learning (i think this deck has a pretty high skill cap) but ill share what i know:

i run the BWG version mainly because of swords to plowshares, and ive played both versions with and without birthing pod and i got to say, i dont know how people can play this deck without it, it just wins games by itself many times the turn it comes into play. also doesnt require to keep the toolbox heavy on the green creatures and MOST important it gets academy rector

before birthing pod, rector was just sub-par because i didnt have any way to get it, being a singleton it was really hard to get it when needed so it seemed really weak (i even tried removing it and adding a 4th pernicious deed).

i also ran 16 creatures, and in my opinion this is too low, i feel this deck is a zenith creature control as in the creatures are the spells that provide the control (besides being threats), i was on top deck mode mos of the games and most of the time i never drew the right creature.

i feel the minimum amount is 18 creatures, no matter what version you're running, i run 20 creatures on the birthing pod version and ive been having really great results, i feel that most of my losses are due to some kind of missplay by me and not by having a weak deck.

also academy rector + birthing pod made rector go from a sub-par card to one of the most importants in the deck, my rector toolbox is:
1 recurring nightmare
2 pernicious deed (yes 2, now that i can get the rector so easily i dont need more than2 , also with 20 creatures every slot is precious).
1 oblivion ring this guy usually gets out for Faith's Fetters, still cant decide which one to keep on MD

sd:
1 circle of protection: red
2 leyline of sanctity
1 Faith's Fetters

there are a lot of other cute enchantments (read broken) that can be abused with rector, but most of the time they're just win more cards so i feel like these are good for now.

birthing pod its really insane btw, gets titans (sun titan is so awsome, especially if you run liliana of the veil such sinergy) and its an easy card to sideout against burn or something.
living wish is bad imo, its slow doesnt do anything by itsel, just awful at least for this deck. birthing pod made me go from 2 to 1 phyrexian tower, before i was really sick of not getting a sac outlet and/or a creature "searcher", im just having way better results with it!

awsome deck!

EDIT: is sensei's divining top really necessary? i only run 2 but i find myself sideboarding it out so many times, also (once again) birthing pod seems to do a good job replacing it.
EDIT2: what about the new creature Strangleroot Geist for a 2cc spot? its fast, can be sacced all day to recurring nightmare and/or birthing pod.

Rector's main strength is that it gives the deck an additional avenue of attack, while synerigizing with what the deck wants to be doing in the first place (Recurring Nightmare, especially). It also gives us more things to sacrifice to feed Therapies and Towers, as well as Garruk Relentless (which is much stronger in a Rector version, as it provides another solid way to flip him). My maindeck Rector targets are as follows (with 3 Rectors):

3 Deed
1 Recurring Nightmare
2 Phyrexian Arena
1 Moat
1 Faith's Fetters

This allows Rectors to turn into sweeper, OP engine, card draw, ****aggro, and spot removal. Fetters in particular is amazing, since it shuts down Jace in a way that few cards can. It also comes in attached to the permanent, which means that if they do not bounce batterskull in response to the trigger, they don't have another opportunity. Likewise, Rectoring in a Fetters stops Emrakul, which is another problem that the deck has. Having access to Moat is a wonderful thing, because although Delver exists now, and Maverick is a deck, Moat still kolds a lot of the format. Moat also stops Geist, which is proving increasingly relevant to the format. I don't think I need to say anything about the other enchantments, although I will say that I believe 3 Deeds is the correct number, even with the additional tutoring of Rector.

Rector also helps with sideboard hate. Blue decks really hate it when you Rector in a Choke, for example. In that light, it functions as an Enlightened Tutor, but one that isn't vulnerable to counterspells. At the point at which Rector resolves, it's going to do something that they don't like. And considering how much of the deck is must-counter, they're probably going to be out by that point.

The only real weakness of Rector is graveyard hate in response to its trigger, assuming that you're playing it carefully with regards to Swords (ie, having a Therapy at the ready, or a way to kill it that turn if they're tapped out//if the way is clear through discard). Most decks don't seem to have any way of really stopping it, and sometimes it performs as copies 2-4 of Moat, since many players simply will -not- attack into it, just in case.

Also: I think that Lethal Vapors is vastly too cute. Half the time, they'll accept the Time Walk because they don't have anything else going on anyway, or a blue deck will just laugh and sit on their counters and brainstorms.

@ Sap: Would you mind posting or PMing a decklist? You've sold me pretty well on pod; I'm interested to see exactly what you're running.

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Originally Posted by guelahpapyrus

@ Sap: Would you mind posting or PMing a decklist? You've sold me pretty well on pod; I'm interested to see exactly what you're running.

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sure thing:


Creatures (order by CMC):
1 dryad arbor

4 veteran explorer

1 qasali pridemage
1 scavenging ooze

2 eternal witness
1 bone shredder
1 kitchen finks

1 academy rector
1 thrun, the last troll

1 deranged hermit
1 reveillark (this guy.. maybe win more but when it works its GG)
1 shriekmaw

1 grave titan
1 sun titan

Other Spells:
2 sensei's divining top (under testing, seems to be sidedout every game..)
4 cabal therapy
3 swords to plowshares
2 pernicious deed
1 recurring nightmare
3 birthing pod
4 green sun's zenith
2 liliana of the veil

Lands:
1 savannah
2 windswept heath
2 marsh flats
1 scrubland
2 bayou
4 verdant catacombs
2 plains
2 swamp
4 forest
1 phyrexian tower

Sideboard (under constant tweaking):
1 swords to plowshares
1 duress
3 extirpate
1 ethersworn canonist
1 gaddock teeg
1 maelstrom pulse
1 phyrexian metamorph
2 damnation
1 faith's fetters
1 circle of protection: red
2 leyline of sanctity

keep in mind im no PRO, i just feel this build is the best so far against the MTGO meta (burn, jace.deck, counterburn).
also i try to keep a balanced CMC of creatures (because of birthing pod CMC + 1 thingy), even tho the 2cc slot is lacking.

Death and Taxe with Ghost Quarter, Leonin Arbiter, and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is a pretty rough matchup. Along with Wastelands, StP, Fiend Hunter, and Mangara, getting lands into play or an explorer to trigger is complicated stuff...

Good thing that Virtue's Ruin exists then. Why play fair, when you can just hose them? [also hits all the relevant Maverick creatures, for the same low cost as Deed]

Spell Snare is the only practical reason to run GSZ over Living Wish I've heard.

OTOH ripping out the mediocre GSZ targets clears up more room for removal and discard so you should be crushing the decks running Spell Snare anyway.

The problem with GSZ in a deck like this is that all of your targets are basically mediocre Grizzly Bears and Trained Armadons with abilities, and you're not Maverick. You don't have the semi-aggressive game plan to pull off and you don't have equipment to make everyone relevant.

Wish also lets you play cards that exploit Explorer's mana accel, like Grave Titan, without raw-drawing them when they're dead cards in hand.

And as I said it lets you run 4x Top, 4x Hymn etc. which you really want to do.

Also either Grave-shell Scarab or Gigapede seem a lot better in this deck than Batterskull, since they don't eat it to counters, discard, removal, Krosan Grips, etc.. Batterskull is decent without SFM but suboptimal and worse than other options available.

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Originally Posted by Tao

Living Wish sounds honestly amazing. Never really considered it. GSZ is way stronger in a vacuum but in this Wish might just be better. The Wishboard would probably be like Genesis, Disenchant guy, Shriekmaw, 1-2 Yardhate guys (Ooze, Macabre, Bog), Lifegain guy (Tree of Redemption).

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My last Configuration:

4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Polluted Delta
3 Bayou
4 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Treetop Village
3 Twilight Mire

4 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Veteran Explorer
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Cabal Therapy
3 Innocent Blood
2 Darkblast
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Living Wish
4 Pernicious Deed
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Eternal Witness
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter

SB:

2 Cabal Therapy
Wish Targets:
1 Grave-Shell Scarab
1 Grave Titan
1 Shriekmaw
1 Thrashing Wumpus
1 Wickerbough Elder
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Karakas
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Wasteland
1 Maze of Ith

I think you're still underestimating the importance of 3-4 more copies of Explorer in the deck, and of having the option to draw into your threats, especially in a deck already running 2-3 Tops. The deck has slow starts as it is, and personally I think the difference between 0 and 1 extra mana and guaranteed 2 extra could be a big deal. Maybe a GSZ/Wish split, but then you're getting away from the whole purpose of freeing spots up.

That could just be me though, as I've said before I don't really want my whole plan to hinge on getting an Explorer in the yard, so I've tried to keep my list to creatures that I can cast somewhat reliably without them.

If I could run any number of Explorers I might run an additional two. It can be really painful to accelerate your opponents' planeswalkers/equipment, so it is indeed a double edged tool, although its benefits outweigh it gains; and it is after all a mana slot.

Obviously GSZ offers a bit more flexibility, but at the cost of diluting your maindeck. I've yet to see a list of the deck that ran an acceptable number of good, solid staples to give it early game; things like 2 or 3 of Top or Hymn seem common, or under 4 early removal, or even less than a full set of Deeds.

Like Caleb's Invitaitonal list clogged up a full 8 slots with situationally weak or dead cards that might've been the other two tops, fourth Hymn, fourth Deed and and four more slots yet to play around with. 9 including Dryad Arbor which is fucking terrible for this deck's strategy.

I mean the greatest strengths over Wish are an extra shuffle effect for Top and dodging Spell Snare, but I don't think that's sufficient to run such an inconsistent list. I notice this in Maverick too. A lot of players that aren't running Brainstorm and Ponder and Jace are entirely too fond of running a lot of one ofs and random cards they can't control drawing or not, and then don't even run what non-blue draw manipulation is available to them as a full set.

Draw manipulation is really good, people! Run more of it! And make your deck more consistent while you're at it! I don't know if it's gambling addition or what but people are acting like they expect the Norns to be all about them drawing exactly the right cards at exactly the right moment.

IBA, you've got no Thrun in the Wishboard. Thrun>Grave-shell scarab. Second, you only play 2 Therpay maindeck and zero Phyrexian Towers but just Innocent Blood, Dorkblast and Deed to kill your Explorers? Interesting.

how can u witness for a resolved wish :O?