The echo chamber of The Source is the reason you're not getting TNN...I guess you can do that.
Printable View
The echo chamber of The Source is the reason you're not getting TNN...I guess you can do that.
I personally can't wait for alternative art. This art is lame. I like zack's show and tell art but this lacks in focal point and lighting.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Well, it's better than op goyf art, but still nothing special.
I want to talk about Jace and his current lull in the only format it's legal and played in. If it is in fact no good these days, does it belong in the sideboard for the heavy control matchup? What should take its place if in fact it is unnecessary? Is liliana a good card for us? I see several lists running multiple Verdict's in the main. Is this to combat faster TNNs in a mirror/UWR Delver? Is it working? Lots more to come, but let's start with this.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
I've been thinking of going down to 2 Jace main and up my Verdict count to 2 main (currently 1 main, 1 sideboard). But Jace is really good in all the games they don't draw TNN whereas Verdict is obviously better in the games they do. It's a tough call, as that's one more dead card in the combo matchups too. I'll do some testing, but I suspect that 2 maindeck Verdict may be too much; running 4 StP, 3 Snapcaster maindeck. Might just cut a StP for the Verdict, ugh, don't know.
2 Jace / 2 Verdict is probably the right call. You really don't want to be sitting pretty against an opposing TNN. Have more Jace and TNN in the side if you want: pitch your verdict to FOW if they are useless in your current matchup. Because you lack enough ways to interact with TNN pre-board, Jace will almost certainly be DOA if the opponent has TNN. I think counting on them to NOT have TNN or not draw into him is a bad idea atm. Unless you see a lot of Storm combo I wouldn't worry too much about it.
@Secretly.a.bee: If we want black, then we're Deathblade. I personally prefer the U/W version of True Blade because DnT is also on the rise and Wasteland is nasty when they draw multiplies. Basics are important in ensuring you can cast those Verdicts and Jaces.
I agree with most of what you said here until you go and say that black means DeathBlade. That's incorrect. It means Esperblade. GREEN is what makes it DeathBlade. You can argue with that all you want but that is my concensus after playing it for almost as long as esperblade. Esperblade is also a control deck and DeathBlade is a midrange. I have a small black splash for discard, but I also run 5 basics (2 plains, 2 island, 1 swamp). I play against Wasteland 1 out of every 2 decks I play against on average and thus far haven't had a problem with my current lineup. Black gives me access to information via discard and post-board I have more options sideboard than just plain white blue does and if I need to I can board out black. I'm not sure when I would ever do that but it's there.
I'm already at (have been for about 2 weeks) 2 jace, I took the 3rd one out for an Elspeth and haven't looked back. I don't know if this will be better, but I won't be able to tell if I don't test it.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
It isn't just Wasteland though, it's having pull out a basic Swamp turn 1 while your discard still matters, then having to fetch a basic Plains turn 2 for SFM, then on turn 3 you fetch Island, which leaves you unable to cast TNN, Counterspell (if necessary), etc.
UW can just fetch basic Islands and Plains and not have to worry about not having UU or WW (Veridct) on the critical turns it's needed.
I see your points and opinions, I just don't agree so far. I play often against DnT and I do just fine.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
I switched to Esper Trueblade as my primary deck about a month ago, and it's been running extremely smoothly. Team America is the one deck that has given me problems, mostly because of Liliana wrecking my board and stripping me of my removal, so I'm wondering if I'm "doing it wrong". True-Name Nemesis has dramatically improved my matchup against the field, but compared to Lingering Souls (which it replaced), it is a huge liability against Liliana.
My maindeck runs 11 creatures, including 4 flash creatures (Snapcaster Mage, Vendilion Clique, Venser), which I find to be the best answer against Liliana. Ideally, I'd be able to stick a Batterskull to reach the long game, or land a Jace, but I only run two, which makes it hard to land against a tempo deck that also runs Hymn. I have 4 Force, 2 Counterspell, and 3 discard spells in the main.
In my sideboard, I like boarding in an extra Venser, a Path to Exile, a Supreme Verdict, and two copies of Rest in Peace. I've experimented with boarding out all the countermagic, particularly on the play, keeping all the discard in to deal with cards like Krosan Grip; I've also tried boarding out all the discard, leaving all the countermagic in, with the intention of stopping their bombs, but this is quite weak against Thoughtseize/Hymn into Liliana. I've also tried boarding out both discard and countermagic and upping the threat count with Meddling Mages, which are primarily there as a 2/2 body (since it doesn't really help much in terms of disruption) to better pressure Liliana.
I'm not having much success with this though. I find that my best games come when I can stick a quick Batterskull without being wrecked by discard/Grip, or if I can play a Jace against an empty board. Do you guys have any advice on how to approach this matchup?
I run both in Esper, 3 TNN and 2 Lingering Souls as Souls covers a lot of TNN's weaknesses.
Has anybody tried out the back to basics list that Joe Bernal top 8'd with? It looks interesting with all the tri color delver decks and lands variants running around, I think it's a pretty strong hate card in the format right now. I can't find a deck tech or any real information about it. If someone could help me out I would be very appreciative.
As I'm on straight UW, I've been running 2 Spell Snare and have been loving it. I may even consider cutting my 1-of Counterspell and upping my Snare count to 3, it's just that good right now in the meta. The only matchup I really dislike it in is Sneak & Show, but it hits major, relevant targets in SFM + TNN decks and Reanimator, which are major meta players right now.
Indeed, my counter - suite is 4 FoW, 1 Counterspell, 1 pierce, 1 snare. I love it. I've been debating going to 2 snare but my meta is weird and I need to be able to counter trinisphere and other non current legacy decks often. I'm on esperblade.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Been playing this deck a lot recently.
Recently went 2-2 at a weekly event. Meh.
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 True Name Nemesis
1 Vendillion Clique
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
2 Spell Snare
1 Counterspell
2 Ponder
2 Jace, the Mindsculptor
1 Supreme Verdict
4 Thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Marsh Flats
1 Karakas
4 Tundra
2 Underground Sea
1 Scrubland
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
Board
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Flusterstorm
1 Path to Exile
3 Rest in Peace
1 Humility
2 Meddling Mage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Manriki-Gusari
1 Virtures Ruin
And here is what I played against, In a not very detailed match report.
Match 1: Nic Fit/Explorer Pod/EDH deck in legacy
Game 1: No idea what im playing against. End up getting True Name out, however a Thragtusk comes out of nowhere and does work with other big derpy stuff.
Game 2: He fills up the board with creatures, I eventually draw Humility, but it is ripped out of my hand by Cabal Therapy and got smashed by Thragtusk again.
0-2
Match 2: Sneak & Show
Game 1: Emrakul comes out with his noodle like arms and kills me. Not much to say about this one.
Game 2: Show and Tell revealing Humility is pretty solid. Oh and Karakas was there too. GG.
Game 3: Game comes down to him needing to draw a land to be able to cast Sneak Attack. But a well timed clique with a Feast and Famine beatdown ensures Tentacruel and Grizzlebees dont show up.
2-1
Match 3: RUG Delver
Game 1: Get killed by a turn 1 delver. Delver didn't get to go farming either.
Game 2: EE @ 1 + Thoughtseize revealing that he has no counters led me to land True Name and bring the beats.
Game 3: A very well timed clique from his board grabbing the rest in peace lead to the Goyf beat down.
1-2
Match 4: Grixis Delver (Young Pyromancer stuff)
Game 1: Batterskull & True Name Bring the Beats
Game 2: Turn 1 delver goes farming. And then Zealous Persecution laughs in the face of all the creatures in his deck. Batterskull brings the beats.
2-0
So far I like this list.
Spell Snares are the flex slot.
Might go back to Spell Pierce instead of Snare.
Virtues Ruin is in the board because there is quite a bit of Death and Taxes in my meta.
I would Really would like to squeeze in another Counterspell and a Diabolic Edict.
I also had Sword of Fire and Ice in the prior to this,but I really like having Feast and Famine more.
Jace has been pretty underwhelming. It might have been the matches I played against though.
I think since you have access to 1cc discard, running Spell Pierce over Spell Snare is reasonable. Spell Snare is really there to stop SFM (and other 2cc creatures/spells, but mainly SFM right now). As UW doesn't have discard, I need to actually stop SFM from ever happening whereas Esperblade can let SFM resolve if they want, then just 1cc snatch the tutored Equipment.
Esper Players: What do your sideboards look like? What are your problem matchups? I'd like to go into the matchup analyses much more in depth than I can find to simply read about online. We don't have a lot posted in this thread about esper in games 2 and 3.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Hey all.
I'm an UWR delver player currently, but I've started considering to play straight UW stoneblade, as my local meta punishes greedy manabases a lot.
That said, I'd like to hear opinions on a list I've put up. I'm not really sure if it plays smooth (didn't have the opportunity to test yet), but it looks like the mana base is pretty resilient and even allows for cute shenanigans like back to basics (loved that recent list that used 3 b2b maindeck, but opted not to include it yet).
So, what do you think?
Thanks in advance!
Land (23)
1x Academy Ruins
4x Flooded Strand
5x Island
1x Karakas
2x Marsh Flats
3x Plains
1x Riptide Laboratory
2x Scalding Tarn
4x Tundra
Artifact (4)
1x Batterskull
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Umezawa's Jitte
Instant (16)
4x Brainstorm
2x Counterspell
4x Force of Will
2x Spell Pierce
4x Swords to Plowshares
Creature (13)
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Stoneforge Mystic
4x True-Name Nemesis
1x Vendilion Clique
Sorcery (1)
1x Ponder
Planeswalker (3)
3x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sideboard (15)
2x Disenchant
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Humility
4x Meddling Mage
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Pithing Needle
2x Rest in Peace
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Vendilion Clique