I would. Especially if it's a jace. A turn-3 unanswered jace gets you ahead your opponent already,be it a brainstorm or a fate sealQuote:
Originally Posted by jedi_gof
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I would. Especially if it's a jace. A turn-3 unanswered jace gets you ahead your opponent already,be it a brainstorm or a fate sealQuote:
Originally Posted by jedi_gof
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
@combo_rules
My list varies week to week depending on who shows up. What I like about Esper Deathblade is it is so customizable depending on what you expect to face. If I don't see too many combo players I moved Forces to the Board. If I see all the burn and red blue delver players showed up I will put Leyline of Santity in my siideboard. I don't usually play Deathblade in larger events cause I dislike playing fair decks for 10 rounds rather play combo and be done with my match quickly. Might not play combo for SCG Somerset at the end of the month since it seems like the decks to beat right now are BUG Delver and Miracles both of which are hard match ups for combo decks.
Dark Confidant is really good against fair decks. Its actually not to bad against combo post board either just preboard your blue count for Force is low if you even have Force main deck.
Combo hasn't been placing at SCG events so I think combo is trending down so maybe can move Forces to the board. This really helps with Dark Confidant damage. Not a huge fan of Liliana since it stresses the mana base wanting 1W on turn 2 for a Stoneforge Mystic and either BB1 or UU1 turn 3 for Liliana or True name. Only issue is I could use a second answer for True Name. Engineered Explosives still provides an answer to True-Name. Liliana doesn't necessarily kill True-Name because they may have another creature.
This is the list I ran last week. Might actually run something pretty similar for Star City. There was multiple dredge players so I put in the Rest and Peace instead of the Cage and 2 Surgical Extractions. Might make that a permanent change.
Artifact (4)
1 Batterskull
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Umezawa's Jitte
Black (6)
4 Dark Confidant
2 Thoughtseize
Blue (15)
4 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
2 Jace the Mindsculptor
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Spell Peirce
2 True Name Nemesis
1 Vendillion Clique
Multicolor
4 Deathrite Shaman
White (9)
1 Entreat the Angels
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Swords to Plowshares
Land
1 Academy Ruins
1 Creeping Tarpit
3 Flooded Strand
1 Island
1 Karakas
1 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
3 Polluted Delta
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
1 Tropical Island
3 Tundra
3 Underground Sea
2 Wasteland
Sideboard
3 Force of Will (combo)
1 Liliana of the Veil (miracles, true-name decks)
1 Manriki-Gusari (equipment mirror matchs)
3 Rest in Peace (dredge, loam, punishing fire, rug delver)
1 Supreme Verdict (creature decks)
1 Swan Song (combo)
1 Sword of Feast and Famine (combo/control)
1 Vendillion Clique (combo/control)
1 Thoughtseize (combo)
2 Zealous Persecution (decks with lots of X/1s, True-Name)
Might cut Entreat for a Liliana of the Veil but I been liking the miser's Entreat the Angels as another threat out of nowhere that many fair decks can't really deal with it. It is annoying if it sits in your hand that you need to draw a Brainstorm or Jace to put it back since casting it is difficult.
Rest in Peace is the win against Dredge. It also is really good vs RUG. Against Dredge, Surgicals and Cage don't reliabily get there without help from Deathrite Shaman and Snapcaster Mage. Loam Decks can also use cycle lands to get past Surgical. Rest in Peace just locks them out till they kill it.
Might go Disenchant, Detention Sphere or Vindicate instead of Mariki-Gusari since it is more versatile but is really good in equipment mirrors. Detention Sphere gets hit by Abrupt Decay but its decent against Entreat the Angels Tokens and pitches to Force. Would be nice to have a Pithing Needle or may Abrupt Decay against Miracles as well.
@Deckerator
I dislike Geist of Saint Traft. Against other creature decks, I rather have True Name Nemesis or Lingering Souls since Geist just gets blocked, where True Name has protection and Lingering Souls tokens fly. Against combo Gaist is an amazing clock but I really don't want to be tapping 3 mana main phase to cast Geist. Meddling Mage or Vendilion Clique are better vs combo since they disrupt as well as providing a clock.
If you want a more aggresive deck look at BUG or RUW delver. 4 color just is pretty greedy for an aggro deck.
Stoneforge is fine for aggro and goes well with True Name Nemesis and can fetch Batterskull.
@ranc0r
Dark Confidant does not make the deck more aggressive. Dark Confidant gives you more card drawing at the cost of life. Doesn't mean you are attacking with Dark Confidant because they might have creatures in the way. What is your list with both Lingering Souls and True Name? That sounds interesting.
Secretly.A.Bee
There isn't a really compelling reason to play Tarmogoyf and make your mana requirements worse. Stoneforge Mystic for Batterskull is your Tarmogoyf and gains life too. Green really is just a splash for the remove creature ability of Deathrite in certain match ups and if you want Abrupt decay out of the board if you face alot of Miracles.
I also prefer running some basics because Price of Progress and Bloodmoon are cards I do not like losing to. There are times where you want a wasteland though against problem lands or for more Deathrite food though.
Jace isn't what makes your Miracles match better. It can be difficult to resolve a Jace against Miracles. Dark Confidant, Engineered Explosives, Pithing Needle and Abrupt Decay are what make Miracles match up better. Dark Confidant just wins you the game if Miracles can not answer it in a timely fashion. Engineered Explosives is just such a good catch all against Miracles and insane if you can get it back with Academy ruins you can play it for odd numbers to get past Counterbalance and it answers Entreat the Angels tokens. Abrupt decay kills Counterbalance. Creeping Tarpit threatens their Jace which is huge. Pithing Needle on Top is also nice if you can find room in the board for it.
Not sure Liliana is where you want to be against Miracles either, since if you are hellbent they can just float an Entreat on the top of their deck and your sunk. If they have a Top they will top deck better then you do. Pitching a card to Liliana and then having them end of turn a Vendilion Clique or Snapcaster is annoying as well.
@FrostSurf
Sword of Fire and Ice is pretty nice if you do want a 3rd Equipment. I would probably run that over Inquisition. I dislike Inquisition since it misses some pretty good cards. Unless you are running Dark Confidant not a very good reason to run it.
Not really a fan of 4 Wastelands since you are not playing the mana denial game with Stifles and aren't running Daze.
Don't like Submerge if you want extra targeted removal go with Disfigure or Path to Exile
Board really varies depending on your local meta metagame.
How is maindeck Detention Sphere working out for you? I tried it and it got hit by Abrupt Decay a bit to often and I had the same permanent in play as my opponent a couple times.
Don't usually have too much issue with Elves. Zealous Persecution does alot of work so you probably should have 2 of these if you really hate elves you could go with Marsh Casualties since that gets rid of their x/2s too but is double black so harder on the manabase. Meddling Mage on Natural Order is good too as is extra point removal like Disfigure or Path to exile as you want to kill Wirewood Symbiote asap. Supreme Verdict is good too. The problem I have against elves is finding stuff I actually want to take out to bring stuff in since you actually want all your counters and removal, and discard isn't shabby and true name gets past their guys.
@The Duck
2 Zealous is definitely good because you want to kill opposing True Name and its really good against Death and Taxes and Elves. Supreme Verdict is really good versus Jund and Merfolk. Jace is too good not to run couple Brainstorms with Jace puts you way ahead and is another win con in the face of things like Ensnaring Bridge.
@jedi_gof
Congrats on your finish. How do you like no Wastelands? Did it ever come up that you wanted a Wasteland to hit a cradle against Elves or for more Deathrite food?
Don't like Inquisition of Kozilek outside of Dark Confidant builds where the life loss from Thoughtseize on top of Dark Confidant damage hurts quite a bit. Even then I don't like it. I've had Inquisition be game losing often enough (I couldn't take their Natural Order, Sneak Attack, Dreamhalls or Griselbrand) that unless your running Dark Confidant you really should be running Thoughtseize or if its in the sideboard and you don't want life loss, Duress.
Really depends on your meta, Dark Confidant makes you much better against the fair decks but hurts game 1 against combo.
I kinda agree with you that Liliana isn't where I want to be pitching cards and going hellbent.
It seems you misunderstood my post. I completely agree with your line of thought, or rather, my line of thought. I was saying that Tarmogoyf is bad in this shell because of the reasons I made mention of. I basically said that Tarmogoyf in here in the fashion the individual I was replying to was trying to advocate was basically a much worse version of BUG. I am glad we can now be on the same page.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirika
-ABC
After taking a hiatus from playing in local tourneys and writing here, I can no longer resist the urge to play my favorite deck again.
I think adding bobs in the main deck is a good idea especially if your meta, (not only scg ) is slow.
I didn't get the chance to play at armada game's weekly legacy event last night ( home store of Brennan decandio and Kennan haas, the guy who made jund depths) but I did play with my play group, went 4-0 against uwr delver, bug delver, uw miracles, and mirror.
Here's my updated list;
4 drs
4 sfm
3 tnn
3 bob
2 snap caster Mage
4 brainstorm
4 swords to plowshares
3 fow
2 spell pierce
2 thoughtsieze
1 inquisition of kozilek
2 jtms
2 liliana
1 batterskull
1 jitte
4 flooded strand
2 polluted delta
2 marsh flats
1 misty rain forest
2 tundra
2 underground sea
1 scrubland
1 tropical island
1 savannah
1 island
1 plains
3 wasteland
1 karakas
Sideboard:
3 meddling Mage
1 fow
1 tnn
2 surgical extraction
2 tormods crypt
3 pitching needle
3 abrupt decay
Obviously the sb is a meta call
Went 3-0 today in local small tournament, facing bw-tempo, ur-delver and affinity. Have question to other deathblade players: haven't seen meddling mage played a lot in sideboards, do you play it and if so, have it been better than other cards you want against combo? Saw it played a lot more in UWR, do they just play it just because they don't have access to discard spells? Now playing this list: http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/16570#233531
Also surgical extraction how it has been working for you?
How do you play against BUG delver?
Playing strategies ? Sideboarding?
Tell me everything you know
Going to stick with combo for large events and just play Deathblade locally. Starcity Somerset was pretty miserable going to time most rounds and getting a couple draws. A bit to grindy for my taste when playing 10 rounds although I do like the deck.
My losses were to Jund and Shardless Bug. I think for the Jund match I would like a second Supreme Verdict sideboard. Not sure if I want to keep Spell Pierce since its good early against Hymm and Liliana but bad if they draw none of these. Matchup is pretty high variance because sometimes they destroy your hand with discard and hit key lands with Hymm followed up by wasteland or resolve a Dark Confidant you don't have the answer for. If this is common want 2 Supreme Verdicts and additional removal like Path to Exile. Shardless is pretty annoying with all the card advantage and Liliana is rough to deal with plus they have Null Rod for your equipment. Council of the Absolute or running more Green for Abrupt Decay might be in order here. Miracles was a match up I drew that is miserable to play but I think is decent if you can stick a Dark Confidant. Liliana in the miracles matchup seems to be a mixed bag. Not sure if hellbent is where I want to be if they can miracle an entreat the angels. Lost to this in one game. Although Liliana Ultimate is really good against Miracles.
@Deadpool09
Congrats. Like the main deck other then Inquistion misses to much for my liking but you want to save on life so maybe run Duress or a Clique. Do you miss not having a basic Swamp? I was considering droping the basic Swamp for a second Green source. How you liking 2 Liliana main? I just hate discarding good cards to it and sometimes Miracles just floats that entreat on top trumping your Liliana. Does 2 Surgigal and 2 Tormod's Crypt get there vs Dredge? Have to try adding more green source for Abrupt Decay but I think its kinda greedy 4 colors. I see where it is doable if they don't run Wasteland.
@Atog
Depends on how much combo you expect to see and what type what cards you want to board. I have boarded a Meddling Mage or two before. Meddling Mage is best when comboed with discard since you can see what they got before you name something with Mage. Meddling mage is good vs combo decks where preventing them from resolving a key card like (Burning Wish, Infernal Tutor, Show and Tell) shuts off a major part of their combo. Just make sure to have your Force of Wills and Flusterstorm/Spell Pierce in addition to Mage. Surgical Extraction is actually good versus combo to hit their key spell after you counter it or to remove all the Life from the Loams or Griselbrands.
I don't think Surgical Extraction gets there consistently enough against Dredge without some help from Deathrite Shaman and Snapcaster mage or some mass graveyard removal spell. Its a Nonbo with Deathrite and Snapcaster Mage but I feel you want Rest in Peace for the Dredge match up if you expect to face it. Rest in Peace is also prefered against recursion decks (Loam/Punshing Fire) because they usually have an instant way to get their Loam (cycle lands) or punishing fire (multiple grove) back. Although I drew a match with Dredge since I couldn't finish out game 3 with a Rest in Peace in play swinging for 1 with a Deathrite shaman. Surgial is nice against combo match ups to lock them out once you counter a combo peice.
@Deckerator
BUG is about 50/50 who ever wins the die roll has an advantage since their Daze is worse if your playing and you can land a Deathrite or Top if your on the play with out fear of Daze. If they go first they can get out that Delver first turn and you don't want to run your Deathrite into their Daze and have to hold up Pierce if you have it for Hymm/Liliana. You really need to play around Daze and hope Hymm doesn't hit your lands in conjunction with Wastelands since having no mana sucks. Spell Pierce can be decent if drawn early to hit Hymm or Liliana. Creeping Tarpit and Vendilion Clique are especially good to threaten their Liliana and Jace. As far as sideboarding: Extra removal like Disfigure, and Path to Exile are nice if you can afford the slots because things like Dark Confidant have to be killed immediately. Rest in Peace is actually quite good against the Tarmogoyf/Tombstalker version but the version I am worried about runs 2-3 Dark Confidant instead. Pithing Needle if you have tSupreme Verdict is great if you can actually get to 4 mana to cast it. Vendilion Clique is nice to threaten Liliana.
What's you list? Can you share it? Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirika
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
@ the duck:
You would play the jace - fair play to you mate. I wouldnt invest 4 mana in any spell basically that dont win on the spot.
Thats just my style, and whatever brings you succes, go with it - to me it is a do nothing play in many cases, and doesnt help on any other MU than the mirror or miracles imo.
My take on planeswalkers are pretty clear, but i might be biased as i am playing in a fast meta. Should your meta alow for a slow version, it might be correct to reinclude the jaces, but i am pretty far away from that idea atm.
Regarding discard spells:
I think by now its clear that TS is the option for us, inq. just misses too often and gets worse when rebought through snappy... only if goinig to 5 1cc discard would i reinclude it.
Snappies should be played over most other non std creatures imo, i just provides insane amounts of value while keeping open mana.
@Wastelands:
I would play either wastes or basics, not both. Thats just wrong.
Imo wastelands belong in a more aggressive deck than ours, often we like the mana our selves and i feel pressed by the mana requirements of the deck.
But i can see the argument for playing them, they are just not my cup of tea in the current meta.
Played 5 rounds at a small local tournament weeks ago. We had about 25 players.
Ended 3:2 (#7-9)
I played the following list and i really liked it. Will nothing change :smile:
1x Karakas
1x Scrubland
1x Bayou
1x Plains
1x Island
1x Swamp
1x Tropical Island
1x Marsh Flats
2x Underground Sea
2x Tundra
2x Misty Rainforest
2x Flooded Strand
3x Wasteland
4x Polluted Delta
4x Deathrite Shaman
4x Stoneforge Mystic
4x True-Name Nemesis
1x Vendilion-Clique
2x Snapcaster Mage
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Force of Will
4x Brainstorm
3x Thoughtseize
1x Vindicate
2x Jace, the Mindsculptor
2x Liliana of the Veil
1x Batterskull
1x Umezawa’s Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
Sideboard:
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Vendilion-Clique
3x Swan Song
1x Toxic Deluge
2x Zealous Persecution
2x Rest in Peace
3x Meddling Mage
2x Abrupt Decay
Round 1 against Imperial Painter:
I know what he was playing and i wasnt really happy to play against him in the first round.
We kept our 7 and he won the die roll. So he started.
Turn 1 he played City of Traitors, exiled Simian Spirit guide and played Magus of the Moon. At this point it was over. Had no counter and couldnt draw my few basics. Had many fetches (mountains :tongue: )
The second game i could do more. Played Stoneforge into Batterskull and attacked him a few turns. He played Magus of the Moon and Blood moon and later he had his combo on the table and killed me protected by an Ensnaring Bridge
0-1
Round 2 against Sneak&Show
The first match he got a game loss because of deck check and he forgot to write one or two cards on his list.
Second match i played stoneforge
In his third turn he combos off. Sneak into Emrakul whipe my whole board. Shuffle his graveyard into his library.
At this point i was at 5 life :cool:
I could rebuilt my board and attack him down with Snappy equipped with SoFaI to zero life.
After his fast beginning i havent seen anything. He played ponder, Brainstorm and shuffles but did not draw any creature.
1-1
Round 3 against Deathblade
He played with spell pierce and 3 TNN. The rest of his deck was similar to mine.
I had two TNN in this match early. They did a lot of pressure on him. We both had two Deathrite Shamans. He often forgot to activate or to respond on an activation.
At the end of his turn he activated his Deathrite two exile a sorcery in my graveyard. I responded to him and he lost two life.
At my turn he took again four damage of my Deathrite Shamans and was dead.
In the second match he didnt draw no hate to fight TNN and they won me the match really fast.
2-1
Round 4 against U/B Tezzeret
This round was really easy and i would have won both matches if i would be more experienced with "The Abyss"
Game 1 i had really fast TNN on the table. He played The Abyss and said my TNN will be affected by the ability. I wasnt sure but i believed him and that was my fault. Couldnt put any creature on the table and lost to Thopter Foundry.
Game 2 i had again really fast two of my TNN on the table. I countered his ensnaring bridge and after that he played again the Abyss and "destroyed" my TNN.
Now i know that TNN will not be affected by The Abyss". :rolleyes:
2-2
Round 5 against Burn
I played jitte early in the game attacked and won both matches. Exiled his Goblin Guide and Lavamancers
Dont know much about this match up
Won both rounds
3-2
Yup, the oracle text makes it much clearer that it does not affect TNN.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deckerator
I have Miracles built and UWR... So I realized that I essentially have all the cards necessary for Stoneblade. Figured I would start working on a list since this deck will forever be a solid deck and is very versatile in the way it can play out. Here's the current decklist I'm thinking about:
It's fairly stock for the most part. Any oddities in count that is off by 1 would be due to what I currently own over what I would rather have (4th Tundra over Underground Sea, 3 TNN, etc). Any feedback would be great.Quote:
Lands (23)
4x Polluted Delta
4x Flooded Strand
2x Marsh Flats
4x Tundra
3x Underground Sea
1x Scrubland
1x Tropical Island
1x Creeping Tar Pit
3x Wasteland
Creatures (14)
4x Deathrite Shaman
4x Stoneforge Mystic
3x True-Name Nemesis
2x Snapcaster Mage
1x Vendilion Clique
Spells (18)
4x Brainstorm
3x Swords to Plowshares
3x Force of Will
3x Thoughtseize
2x Spell Pierce
1x Ponder
1x Council's Judgement
Artifacts (2)
1x Batterskull
1x Umezawa's Jitte
Planeswalkers (4)
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2x Liliana of the Veil
Sideboard (15)
3x Meddling Mage
3x Surgical Extraction
2x Zealous Persecution
2x Rest in Peace
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Force of Will
1x Spell Pierce
Also, since there isn't a lot of information in the primer... What are matchups like? With this deck being as versatile as it is... In what scenarios are you wanting to play the control role over the aggro role and vice versa? What has caused Lingering Souls to drop off the playable list for this type of deck? Thanks (:
This is my current list, it has two wastelands in the manabase with no basics FYI...Quote:
Originally Posted by Secretly.A.Bee
4 Sword to Plowshares
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Brainstorm
4 True Name Nemesis
4 Force of Will
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Thoughtseize
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Sideboard:
4 Pithing Needle
4 Meddling Mage
4 Rest in Peace
3 Supreme Verdict
The biggest threats in my current meta are Miracle, Death and Taxes, and Goblins. That said, I'm considering whether or not I should take out the Delvers and put in 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor and 2 Vendilion Clique, or taking either the Meddling Mage or Pithing Needles out of my sideboard and putting JTMS and Clique there instead. Let me know what you think about this, or let me know if you have any other suggestions.
Thanks
I think that is a good idea simply because of how low your instant/sorcery count is. Your sideboard needs serious attention, also.
20 Instants and Sorceries isn't enough? That's half my spells, or one third of my deck if you include lands. How many do you think you need to effectively run Delver?Quote:
Originally Posted by Secretly.A.Bee
I believe 23 is the lowest you should play but most people don't like less than 25.
Can confirm, I run 24 in my BUG Delver and my flips are fucking atrocious sometimes. I can't even imagine what it is like with only 20.Quote:
Originally Posted by Secretly.A.Bee
I think you should play UWr Delver instead.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor Hammer
Well... RUG runs 30, BUG runs like... 25-27. Uwr runs 28'ish. Do the math. You have 33% to blind flip a t2 delver, which is just not good enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor Hammer
I took Deathblade to SCG Portland yesterday, ending up 6-3-1. I won't give a detailed tournament report, but let's just say I played against D&T five times (overall record, 3-1-1), and by now I'm more familiar with the matchup than I wanted to be. I only recently switched to Deathblade from Esper Stoneblade, and I've found the D&T matchup to be *much* better than with Stoneblade, primarily because of Deathrite.
My other matchups were UWR Delver (loss), RUG Delver (somehow went to time, but my opponent graciously conceded as I had a slight board advantage and we both already had a draw); some weird Ensnaring Bridge/Metalworker deck with Mishras, Inkmoths, Thespian's Stage, and Thopter Assembly (!) (win); and Greg Mitchell's '1-Of Good Stuff' BUG Delver (loss).
Anyway here was my list:
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Dark Confidant
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 True-Name Nemesis
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Counterspell
2 Force of Will
3 Thoughtseize
1 Ponder
1 Council's Judgment
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Tropical Island
1 Scrubland
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
1 Karakas
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Wasteland
// Sideboard
2 Spell Pierce
1 Flusterstorm
2 Force of Will
1 Thoughtseize
1 Vendilion Clique
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Supreme Verdict
The main deck is relatively stock, except for the 2 Bobs. I added these (going from 3 FoW+1 SB to 2+2) after a few fruitless matches against Miracles and I've really liked them. So far, I think 2 is a good number, and I like having the 2 FoW main. I believe this gives a chance against fast combo, but against slower combo starts, the Bob is so value for card advantage. That being said, I didn't face any non-elves combo at the SCG open. Combo is just not as prevalent in the NW as some other regions.
I'm also a big fan of Snapcaster Mage, so I like have those 2 in there too (especially against creature-based matchups like Elves where flashing back StP just feels so good.
You may have heard from some quarters that True-Name is not good. Those quarters are wrong: True-Name is good. Sure, some decks have answers to it, and it's not as good against combo as, say, Geist of St. Traft. But TNN is a more reliable beater in general and serves as a great wall when you need one. TNN's particularly good against D&T; without him I think the matchup would be infinitely more difficult. The fact that decks have to pack answers to him speaks volumes. That being said, I do like having the one of Clique in the main and another in the board, as I tend to board out at least one TNN for the 2nd Clique against Combo and Miracles (for Elves I leave all the TNNs in and bring in the 2nd Clique because all 5 can reliably connect with a Jitte).
The Abrupt Decays in the SB are primarily for Miracles. The Seattle area is filthy with Miracles, and although I didn't end up facing any in Portland (despite being in the draw bracket since round 2), I'm willing to bet it was over-represented there as well. I generally only bring them in against matchups in which I'm confident I can keep my Tropical Island, so that's mostly Miracles, and maybe some fringe decks like MUD. For example, Decay would be great against D&T too, except that there's a good chance you won't be able to cast it when you want to. If I wasn't expecting as much Miracles, I'd probably put something else in there, and I still might (e.g. Pithing Needle, etc.).
I agree with these statements. Interestingly, the SCG commentators remark in the broadcast on how lots of people are playing combo, so it seems that combo performed very well early in the day and then got largely pushed out (three combo decks in the Top 8 but only four out of the Top 16). Someone told me he counted 19 Miracles decks at the Super IQ the previous week, but I didn't see the same representation at the Open. I didn't get to scan the room much during SCG Portland, so I don't have a great idea of overall trends, other than the fact that far more people were running Burn than normal. I heard from another player that Death and Taxes was everywhere, but I didn't see many copies on the occasions when I was free to roam the room. I myself didn't get paired against the deck once, although I faced Miracles twice. I saw a few more Elves decks than I had expected to see, and Sneak and Show seemed to be on the upswing as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by matunos
Edit: Incredibly varied Top 16, by the way: 14 different decks. One copy of Death and Taxes, one copy of Miracles. Maybe the bulk of those decks were pushed down to the middle tables?