[Deck] Nic Fit (GBx Explorer Zenith Control)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Qweerios

@Siiig,

3rd Huntmaster, really? How many games have you won only because you managed to resolve 3 and how many games have you lost because your deck couldn't resolve more than 2? My guess is that only 1 side of this equation has been observed, the other has been ignored. Also, 3rd Decay, 2nd Sakura, 2nd Thragtusk, and 24th land are all numbers you can safely reconsider without dimming the redundancy of your 4 GSZ, 4 Therapies, 4 Explorers, and 4 Burning Wishes.

---

I'm in the same boat as Arianrhod in saying that I'm far from a statistician.

To answer your comment, I don't think there are ever games where SEEING a hunt master, or looking down at 5 mana with a GSZ and knowing he's there has been a bad thing. That being said, I don't personally run 3 huntys, I actually run a singleton Ooze--but this slot gets changed on a... game(ly?) basis.

That's... well... that's pretty much it. Having a card in my deck that I can tutor for but never see feels awesome to me, and I don't feel the deck to be impacted significantly...but I've also only been playing this deck for about 3 weeks haha.

Isn't Wall of Blossoms straight up better than Sakura-Tribe Elder?

What do you guys think of Blitz Hellion as a GSZ-able answer to Planeswalkers for Scapewish?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Qweerios

Isn't Wall of Blossoms straight up better than Sakura-Tribe Elder?

What do you guys think of Blitz Hellion as a GSZ-able answer to Planeswalkers for Scapewish?

---

Wall of Blossoms and Sakura have a completely different role in the deck?

Blitz Hellion is pretty narrow, but if you really want a decent answer to Planeswalkers i suppose it's a good card :)

Probably the worst idea ever but what about Stensia Bloodhall to get people from 20 to 18 with Scapewish if they haven't cracked enough fetches. Just an idea because the stronghold has been bad.

The problem here is that all lands enter tapped when brought into play via scapeshift, you would need another turn to activate it. Barbarian Ring would be better (there should always be 7 cards in the graveyard after scapeshifting) as it can be tapped for red and can shoot gaddok teeg if needed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Viridia

Wall of Blossoms and Sakura have a completely different role in the deck?

Blitz Hellion is pretty narrow, but if you really want a decent answer to Planeswalkers i suppose it's a good card :)

---

Isn't this fundamentally the same as say Groundbreaker or Timbermare in practice?

I have discovered something that this archetype will have trouble beating, regardless of the deck it faces.

An old relic called the mana sink has given me more trouble than id like to admit when playing against my friend's rebels (casual of course). It also coincides with our trouble against Miracles.

Mirror Entity, Entreat the Angels, Bonfire of the Damned, Chalice of the Void, etc. All get better with more mana while staying effective with little mana.

Having said that, I feel as though Miracles is our single worst fair matchup for this reason alone, and a metagame consisting mostly of other fair matchups will be the prime metagame for Nic Fit and variants.

I had time to play again so I participated in the Magic League Legacy Invitational. Here is my report:


// Lands
3 [B] Forest
2 [B] Swamp
2 [B] Island
2 [B] Underground Sea
2 [B] Tropical Island
2 [B] Bayou
3 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
3 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [US] Phyrexian Tower

// Creatures
3 [WL] Veteran Explorer
2 [M13] Thragtusk
3 [P12] Baleful Strix
1 [WWK] Terastodon
2 [CMD] Eternal Witness
1 [M11] Sylvan Ranger
1 [EX] Spike Weaver

// Spells
4 [JU] Cabal Therapy
3 [AP] Pernicious Deed
4 [IA] Brainstorm
3 [WWK] Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 [PLC] Damnation
2 [EX] Recurring Nightmare
4 [MBS] Green Sun's Zenith
3 [RTR] Abrupt Decay

// Sideboard
SB: 4 [LRW] Thoughtseize
SB: 3 [US] Carpet of Flowers
SB: 2 [M11] Negate
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 2 [PLC] Extirpate
SB: 2 [UL] Engineered Plague


card choices:

2 Recurring Nightmare: During testing Nightmare had been insanely good after the addition of Thragtusk. DR Shaman was not a big problem because of all the removal in the deck. I wanted to draw it a bit more regularly so I went up to two.

3 Baleful Strix: Not bad, not impressive, has some synergy. I haven't fully made up my mind yet.

1 Terastodon: 8 (9 with GSZ) mana is a lot but it is only meant for the very late game and there is no better card for that. You have enough ways to deal with creatures in the lategame and Terastodon kills the other stuff including Planeswalkers, Equipment and Lands. Alternatively you can just blow up your own lands and get four creatures with 18 power and 18 toughness which is an overwhelming amount.

1 Sylvan Ranger over 1 Sakura Tribe Elder: I was happy with that change. It happens far more often that I want to have an EtB effect so I can use it with Therapy (or get a bit value with Nightmare) than that the ramp matters. Having a sac outlet against Dredge would be nice, but I don't expect many people to play Dredge in the current Deathrite Shaman Meta.

1 Spike Weaver: I felt a bit weak against swarm strategies so I added it. It also has great synergy with Jace TMS (fogging while drawing, then bounce reset if still necessary) and the two Recurring Nightmares.


Trial: Before you can play in the master you have to get an Invitation for it by top4ing a Trial. I played a Trial before but the list for it had been completely unrefined. After a bit more random MWS testing I came up with above list. So when I saw that the last Trial was starting I gave it a shot.


Trial

Round 1: opponent no shows


Round 2:
Steveman with his own Staxx variant:

G1
I Therapy him and see 2 Elspeths and an Oblivion Ring. I flashback Therapy on Elspeth and he naturally rips a third one. Next turn he draws Humility which gives me a rough time. He also plays an Ensnaring Bridge which creates interesting interactions later. I GSZ for Spike Weaver because he enters the battlefield with 3 Counters anyway so he can't attack me without chump attacking into the Weaver (because of his own E Bridge he can't jump the tokens with Elspeth). I get Jace going but he ticks his Elspeth up and ultimate would mean gg. Barely in time I manage to reset the board with Deed and do damage to Elspeth. The game goes on a bit, I take out this Elspeth and then the fourth Elspeth too and another Humility. Terastadon then cleans up.

SB:
- 2 Damnation
- 1 Recurring Nightmare
- 1 Thragtusk
+ 2 Krosan Grip
+ 2 Negate

G2
He goes Ancient Tomb, Mox Diamond, Crucible and then taps 4 Mana during his next turn. But fortunately it was only a Moat that I didn't care about and not Elspeth again. He has nothing of relevance, I Jace and Deed and win.

2-0
1-0


R3: XJudicatorX with UW Rest in Peace

G1
I get a Deed out that kills Counterbalance and RiP and win easily because after playing first, E Tutoring and getting two for oned with Deed and Therapy he just does not have enough cards left. Terastodon ends the game as an EtB effect.

SB
- 4 Therapy, - 1 Eternal Witness, - 2 Recurrring Nightmare, - 3 Veteran Explorer, - 2 Damnation, - 1 Spike Weaver
+ 4 Thoughtseize, + 2 Extirpate, + 2 Krosan Grip, + 2 Negate, + 3 Carpet of Flowers

G2
I side out Damnations and everything except one Witness that is bad against his 4 RiP (+ Enlightened Tutor). For the first time ever I go to 0 Veteran Explorer but without Therapies I can't sacrifice them. I play Thoughtseize + Extirpate on RiP on turn 2 and when I see his deck he only has Helm hardcast modus, 1 Luminarch Ascension and 1 Jace left to win. I felt overconfident and Negated an irrelevant Helm and punted when I gave him back a Sensei's Top that I wanted to steal from the top of his deck with an Extirpate on Counterbalance. Because of that I then also lose both Thragtusks to Porphyry Nodes + Humility and my only Witness was also already gone.
But I topdeck a Jace as a reward for my two bad plays so I win.

4-0
2-0

R4: CalebD with 4C Delver/DR Shaman

I keep 2 G/B Lands, Therapy, Abrupt Decay, Deed, Brainstorm and Jace. Imo a clear keep. He forces an Explorer and plays Jace (off 4 Lands) before I find blue Mana. He fateseals away all Lands and I scoop when Jace has enough counters for his Ultimate.

+ 3 Carpet of Flowers
- 1 Cabal Therapy
- 1 Recurring Nightmare
- 1 Spike Weaver

G2 he actively searches for one of his two Jaces with Ponder/Brainstorm because they are his only realistic win option. He finds one, but this time I have no spells instead of no Mana. He handles two Thragtusks with bounce + Discard + trade with Mongoose and wins one mindgame with Fateseal vs. Fetchland. Overall I had four or five unfatesealed draws, one was a Witness that he forced and the others were Mana, Removal and finally the lone Recurring Nightmare without a creature. Jace hits 13 and I scoop.

4-2
2-1

Getting to the finals was enough to qualify me for the master.


Master


R1: Milano Lawyer with RUG Delver

G1
I keep 1 Forest, 2 Therapy, Sylvan Ranger, Explorer and a Jace.A risky hand but clearly no mulligan. Any land is insane and as a backup plan I have Explorer if he attacks on the ground. Explorer resolves, I draw an Island, Sylvan Ranger resolves and he gets annihilated by double Explorer + double Therapy into Jace + Deed. Sometimes it is fun playing unfair.

- 1 Recurring Nightmare
- 1 Terastadon
- 1 Cabal Therapy
+ 3 Carpet of Flowers

G2
I Mulligan an otherwise great 1 Island + Carpet of Flowers into a mediocre 6, but topdeck Explorer which is good. He flips a T1 Delver which I Abrupt Decay. I have enough Lands for the moment and bait his Stifle with Explorer/Tower so that my Deed can kill another Delver (I have another Deed in hand). He plays Goyf + Delver and I kill both, but have to take 8 from them because I am on 4 lands. I draw the third Deed, he Brainstorms and Bolts me to 6 life and plays a Goyf. I play Jace off a Carpet of Flowers and bounce his Goyf. He Snapcaster/Bolts Jace dead. I topdeck Therapy in the last turn it matters and get the Goyf out of his hand. I take one hit from Snapcaster, then I have to kill Carpet + Snap to stay on 4 not get into Bolt range.
I have another Carpet and otherwise we both play from the top of our decks. Carpet is freaking insane this game. In the meanwhile he had wasted me down to two lands but I can still play everything. He plays a fourth Island and wants to take it back immediately but I don't let him. Usually I don't play so strict but the game felt very tight and the tournament is called a master after all. He didn't complain at all and it was his only misplay during our match.
I kill some more of his stuff, get Jace online and once Thragtusk hits the board my opponent scoops. It was quite close because of good draws on both sides.

2-0, 1-0 (6-2, 3-1)


R2 Belcher

G1
I win the only way you can win G1, by blocking the Empty the Warrens tokens with an Explorer and nuking his board with a Deed.

- 3 Abrupt Decay
- 2 Recurring Nightmare
- 2 Damnation
- 1 Terastodon
- 1 Thragtusk
- 1 Forest
- 1 Baleful Strix
- 1 Green Suns Zenith
+ 4 Thoughtseize
+ 2 Extirpate
+ 2 Negate
+ 2 Krosan Grip
+ 2 Engineered Plague

G2
I keep Explorer + Therapy + Thoughtseize and perfect Mana but he has T1 14 Tokens, I find no Deed or Plague in the top two cards of my library.

G3
On the play I keep Tropical, Brainstorm, Deed and Thoughtseize, but no black mana. If he doesn't have it turn 1 I can find black Mana for my Discard and if he only has Emtpy the Warrens I can repeat G1. He kills me T1 with Belcher. Fun.

1-2, 1-1 (7-4, 3-2)


R3 checoso with Merfolk

G1
I mulligan a terrible 1-lander into a bad 1-lander (1 Island with 2 Strix and a bunch of green stuff). I keep because I think drawing black or green mana and winning from there is more likely than winning with 5. He plays Island Vial, Wasteland, I dont draw land. He has Cursecatcher and double Master. The game ends before i find any land.

- 1 Therapy
- 1 Terastodon
- 1 Baleful Stix
+ 3 Carpet of Flowers

G2
I survive the early aggression with a Deed while he draws cards with Standstill. But then I manage to get Spike Weaver + Jace going, and even though I draw a bunch of lands there was still enough gas in all these Jace activations to win handily.

G3
I keep Island, Underground Sea, Phyrexian Tower + Strix and Explorer and other good stuff. I draw a Fetch for green Mana the second turn. He has Vial Wasteland but no second land. A few turns later I make a blunder when he attacks with a Merrow Reejerey, a Silvergill Adept and a fresh played Master. I declare blockers even though I obviously cant block with Islands in play. I am not used to play Nic Fit and having to watch out for that. He is nicer than me in my last match and lets me undo and we go back to the declare attackers step and I abrupt Decay his Master. Thragtusk blocks a 2/2 Reejerey and Sylvan Ranger trades with Silvergill Adept. He redraws a few cards with Standstill but can't recover from that blowout.

2-1, 2-1 (9-5, 4-2)


R4 bugaga with GBu Aggro

G1
I keep 2 land explorer therapy. I dont t1 explorer because I want to Explorer/Therapy on turn 2. But he thoughtseizes me and takes Expolorer, fml. I therapy on Hymn, he has Confidant online. He then decays my deed. Gets Jace and Liliana online. I try to set up Nightmare which gives me a small chance but he draws another Decay with Confidant.

No SBing

G2
After some early game exchanges I try to set up Recurring Nightmare with Witness but he has Decay in hand so I keep the Nightmare in hand and not in play. He draws thougthseize and I have to discard it. We both have nothing. I draw GSZ, decide for Witness on Nightmare instead of Thragtusk but he draws his second Decay. The next turn he draws Jace. Had I gone for Tusk this would not have been a problem. I draw two more lands. After 2 acitvations i draw my own jace. He has no additional planeswalkers, only Goyf + Shaman, I topdeck Witness for Deed. Back into topdeck mode. Witness beats him to one, but he finds Decay. I topdeck GSZ for Terastodon, which is more than enough.

G3
He mulls to 5. I keep 2 Lands, GSZ. He starts with DR Shaman into Confidant. Strong but he has no Thoughtseize for my Deed so I nuke his board and Therapy his hand. He draws nothing and loses to a random dork. Barely avoided KO in G2.

2-1 3-1 (11-6, 5-2)


R5 Haldir with Goblins

G1
I win die roll, start with GSZ into Explorer vs Lackey. Perfect hand. Damnation, Jace, Witness, Therapy, everything. He makes some Matron/Ringleader things but it just didn't matter.

+ 2 Plague
- 1 Terastodon
- 1 Baleful Strix

G2
I die with a pretty good hand. I have no chance to cast my Plague because he has a Chieftain in play. He was simply to explosive.

G3
We both Mull but it becomes a great game with good draws on both sides. This time I get Plague into play but he again has Chieftain ot negate the effect. I play solid but then accidently make a really great play: I Therapy him and he knows I know he has Gempalm Incinerator. So in response he tries to kill my Spike Weaver. In responde to that I Decay his Relic of Progenitus so I can Recurring Nightmare the Weaver back into play. I only saw it in the last moment but it totally looked like I had the whole 8-mana turn planned out for that moment and I pass the turn with exactly one mana up for the Fog. The game ends shortly after because this had set up Jace+Weaver and I find the second Plague to which he is cold.

2-1, 4-1 (13-7, 6-2)


R6 vs pg8 with UWB Stoneblade

G1
We bot Mulligan to 6 and trade bad draws. I have 4 Mana and Jace but no second blue. He gets out of it first with SFM into Jace. He makes a couple of punts that allow me to comeback into the game. He stops me from getting Terastodon into play twice with Discard. I evetually Witness back the Terastodon and blow up a Jitte and a Batterskull with it because he was tapped out despite knowing what would come. He was very frustrated with his play.

- 2 Explorer
- 2 Damnation
- 1 GSZ
- 1 ???
+ 3 Carpet of Flowers
+ 3 Thoughtseize

G2
He has no chance to redeem himself because I have a beast draw. Double Thoughtseize into Therapy + Explorer into Jace into everything vs Mana Flood on his side.

2-0, 5-1 (15-7, 7-2)

RO8
G1
He keeps me on one Forest forever but I have Explorer in play. I finally get it going and think I can't lose. But he has 2 Forces and double Daze for my big spells while he picks at me with a Mongoose. I think I make a mistake when I run with a GSZ on 5 with 6 Mana into a Spell pierce. With his last hand card, a Stifle on a Fetchland, he keeps me from casting Witness and kills me exactly with a Goose.

- 3 Cabal Therapy
+ 3 Carpet of Flowers

G2 is won through Nightmare + Thragtusk but I cause an MWS error. In the same second that I put my Jace in the yard he tapped two lands and claimed he also targeted my Jace. It literrally happened at the same time. My opponent either has the hand speed of a Korean Starcraft Progamer or he made the thing up. But in the end it was my fault and I have no proof so I go with the progamer theory. Either way, it sucks to lose a won game like that.

1-1, 5-1 (16-8, 7-2)

RO4 would have been Maverick which I think is a positive matchup for this list so I think I could have made it to the final. Oh well.


The list felt really good. I don't think I would change a card. Though I randomly did not draw more than 4-5 Baleful Strixes during the entire tournament so I have no idea how good they actually are. For Terastodon I knew it was the card I wanted to have in the deck to finish games but it performed even better than I expected.
Spike Feeder was good. It won me two games against the Tribal decks that I would have lost if it wasn't in the deck.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Tao

G2 is won through Nightmare + Thragtusk but I cause an MWS error. In the same second that I put my Jace in the yard he tapped two lands and claimed he also targeted my Jace. It literrally happened at the same time. My opponent either has the hand speed of a Korean Starcraft Progamer or he made the thing up. But in the end it was my fault and I have no proof so I go with the progamer theory. Either way, it sucks to lose a won game like that.

---

What exactly happened here?

Nice report! I like your list aswel.
Strix's have been performing great for me in the past, just try testing with them a bit more to see if you like them :)

MWS sometimes causes errors when both player try to click/move an object at the same time and I tried to move my Jace when I was not supposed to. I have some doubt that it really caused an error on his side (because he tapped his lands that were far away from my Jace at the same time) but I have no prove and it could also have been a lag at a bad time. It just felt very odd.
Either way it was my mistake, and I got punished. But this is one of the reasons why Modo and RL tournaments are always better than Magic League.

For Baleful Strix: Good to hear. I always liked Wall of Blossoms in this type of deck and one that can trade with things and ping Planeswalkers can't be too bad.

Could use a little inpout on a couple changes I'm considering to my list (GBw Rector). I just got a Primeval Titan and was considering running him with Treetop Villages. Is it a waste of time or does it mess up the mana base too much? Also, I have a playset of Abrupt Decays. So I'm gonna try to squeeze 2 or 3 of those in too, probably for a couple Vindicates or something. I also got 3 Deathrite Shamans, are they worth running a couple since I can Green Sun's Zenith into them or are they just too slow and not synergistic with Pernicious Deed?

Thanks guys. And Happy New Year!

@ PrimeTime: I'm a fan of him, but not of Treetop. I'm actually using Mishra's Factories right now with him as well as the Two Towers (Volrath's Stronghold+Phyrexian Tower).

@ Decay: Depends on how prominent countertop is in your meta. If it's light, use Deeds/Pulses instead. If it's heavy, use Decays over Pulses.

@ DRS: 2 is a good number to run. Just because you can kill it with deed easily doesn't mean it doesn't pull its weight before or even after it hits the GY. 4 is too much with our love for Deed though.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TerribleTim68

Could use a little inpout on a couple changes I'm considering to my list (GBw Rector). I just got a Primeval Titan and was considering running him with Treetop Villages. Is it a waste of time or does it mess up the mana base too much? Also, I have a playset of Abrupt Decays. So I'm gonna try to squeeze 2 or 3 of those in too, probably for a couple Vindicates or something. I also got 3 Deathrite Shamans, are they worth running a couple since I can Green Sun's Zenith into them or are they just too slow and not synergistic with Pernicious Deed?

Thanks guys. And Happy New Year!

---

Run Deathrite Shaman, it's 3 mana on turn 2, it's a way to get to the kill if you're at a stalemate or just cannot attack, it's a 1st turn blocker against Goblin Lackey / a 1/1 mongoose, etc & doesn't die, & it gain's life too for those times when you actually want it. There is also the fact that it eat's RUG's creatures, shrinks opposing Knight of the Reliquaries, & eats Dredge/Reanimator targets. The card's utility alone is just outrageous!

As far as Primeval Titan / Treetop Village goes, I don't have an answer for that one!

Solid answers gang, thanks. I was thinking of just two DRS as well, so we're on track there. I don't have Pulses yet so that one will be a later add/change, still trying to get there. I hadn't thought of Prime-Time tutoring up the Towers like that, good call there. That might actually nudge me to drop back to a single Tower instead of running two, then I can up my green mana land count a bit too. Some times it seems like I can't find one early for soem reason. I don't have any Factories so that isn't really an option. That's why I was thinking the Villages. But maybe the Man-Land plan isn't that big a deal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TerribleTim68

Solid answers gang, thanks. I was thinking of just two DRS as well, so we're on track there. I don't have Pulses yet so that one will be a later add/change, still trying to get there. I hadn't thought of Prime-Time tutoring up the Towers like that, good call there. That might actually nudge me to drop back to a single Tower instead of running two, then I can up my green mana land count a bit too. Some times it seems like I can't find one early for soem reason. I don't have any Factories so that isn't really an option. That's why I was thinking the Villages. But maybe the Man-Land plan isn't that big a deal.

---

What's your land base like? Might be able to help.

I think right now it's -
2 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Forest
2 Swamp
2 Plains
4 Bayou
1 Scrubland
7 Fetches

Oddly, I've had random openers where I don't find a green source for a couple turns. Hard to believe but it seems to happen here and there.

Edit - The random Scrubland is simply because I have it and don't have any Savannahs. If I did, I'd swap it out, but I don't.

-1 Tower
-1 Forest (you'll see why here in a sec)
-3 Bayou

+2 Treetops/Mishra's/other manlands (I consider these to be utility lands as opposed to mana lands)
+1 Savannah
+1 Fetch (I recommend a 4/4 split of Verdants and Windswepts to help ensure you get a green mana source first turn)
+1 Other (not just land: it could be a business spell as well)

EDIT: this works best in a Wasteland-heavy meta, not necessarily a Stifle-heavy or 50/50 meta.

Thanks for the reply. The Savannah isn't an option, as I stated I don't have one and really can't afford one right now. I'll think the rest of it over.

I have been lurking for awhile now and thought I would share my list and see if anyone had any insight into improving it or suggested changes. I have chosen to play Punishing Fire Nic Fit. I feel like it has a good BUG and RUG matchup, and is also solid vs. the fair decks in the format. My sideboard should help out in the combo matchups.

Here is my current list-

4 Veteran Explorer
2 Birds of Paradise
1 Dark Confidant
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Bone Shredder
2 Eternal Witness
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Acidic Slime
1 Grave Titan
1 Terastodon
3 Green Sun’s Zenith
3 Punishing Fire
3 Sensei’s Divining Top
4 Cabal Therapy
1 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Garruk Relentless
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Volrath’s Stronghold
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Bayou
1 Badlands
1 Taiga
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Mountain

Sideboard-
2 Slaughter Games
1 Red Elemental Blast
1 Pyroblast
1 Duress
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Garruk Relentless
4 Natural Order
1 Progenitus

Thanks for looking, and I'm open to any tips or advise. I'm really liking this style of deck.

Anybody else eyeballing the cyclops in Gatecrash.