Trickbind has been my pet card for a very long time. I personally favor it for three reasons: split second, having hits in virtually all matches, and the fact that it betrays no information until used. Especially on the play, hitting a fetch against a tempo deck can be back breaking. It's a much more reliable out Game 1 against Storm. It can Time Walk a Sneak and Skill player. It stops Craterhoof Behemoth. And so on. And until it's used, it's an unknown card in your hand that your opponent has to think about.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecstatic_Conch
Of course, Pithing Needle has its advantages too. It can come down early and it just continually stops whatever you need it to stop. Its application isn't quite as broad, but it typically lasts longer. The downside is that it gives your opponent information to play around, and your opponent can also specifically bring in cards to address it.
I'm not you and I don't play like you, but if you find Wasteland to be constantly blowing you out, look at some of your early keeps and decisions. Pithing Needle is much stronger on the draw than on the play against an unknown opponent. If you're slamming Needle on the first turn and blind-naming Wasteland, you're taking a huge risk both in guessing wrong and something like turn 1 Sensei's Divining Top is generally much stronger. Likewise, if you're leading with turn 1 Cloudpost on the draw, you're also making a big mistake, as your opponent can Wasteland you and still develop a board (especially true with BUG). I have a love-hate relationship with Needle in general, but unless you absolutely know your opponent, you probably shouldn't be playing it until your second turn anyway, at which point Trickbind is also live.
There are also considerations on what else is in your deck. As an example, with a Trinket Mage package, Needle is more appealing. Your mileage may vary.
Elephant Grass, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Engineered Explosives (often with Trinket Mage), Maze of Ith, and any sweepers or stalls from Moment's Peace to All is Dust to Ugin, the Spirit Dragon are all considerations. Alternatively, a little extra countermagic can work, as especially RUG falls hard to pretty much any creature you put into play off a Show and Tell.Quote:
Unfortunately there's a lot of RUG delver in my meta and they bring in ancient grudge for needle. I haven't found a good way to win the RUG, and even BUG delver matchups. Relic of Progenitus pulls some weight, but last Wednesday I drew two of them while I got double wastelanded and he flipped 2 delvers. I was super dead. Repeal buys you a turn against delver, and that's not enough so they usually wind up killing me anyway. I've tried dismember but the 4 life loss is liability and you're really just playing into their hands. After that it becomes easier for them to bolt/deathrite you out. Does anybody have some sideboard tech for Delver decks?
I know Tim Harding used to run Ponder alongside Brainstorm, but I can't imagine very many reasons to take out Brainstorm short of running BoozeCube's list. Don't forget that Brainstorm also has synergy with Top: sometimes you don't have to draw those cards again even without a shuffle.Quote:
There's something I wanted to question (I searched the thread but didn't come up with anything about this), and that's the usage of Brainstorm over Ponder. Yes, I get that Brainstorm is the sacred cow of the format and that you have to play it if you're playing blue etc. However, in a deck with anywhere from 8-12 shuffle effects (5 more if you count Primeval titan and eye but that's really stretching it) I've found it to be an underwhelming card. It's usually just draw 3, put two back... then draw those two anyway on your next two turns. That's great if it helps you sequence your turns a little bit better but not as good as ponder in my opinion. Most of the time to get your blue source of mana you have to use your only fetch, so you usually wont have a spare misty for the shuffle effect. Expedition map I would count as a legitimate shuffle effect, but there's no guarantee the time you want to brainstorm coincides with the time you want to crack map. There's reasons for doing one or the other and not necessarily both one after the other for the shuffle. Perhaps you want to wait on cracking the map until you get more information. There's a thousand different reasons for wanting to hold a brainstorm. That brings us to crop rotation. Crop Rotation is a miserable card but a necessary evil. It's something I rarely cast against blue decks unless I know they have no countermagic, I'll win if it resolves, or am responding to a wasteland. Crop rotation is something that usually rots in my hand against blue decks unless I'm about to die and am forced to do something. I don't run crop rotation out there to get two for oned/stone rained just because I wanted a shuffle effect for my Brainstorm.
So I hope I've made a decent case against Brainstorm in this specific deck. Maybe someone could illuminate me as to why it is the cantrip of choice in the deck. Yes, I get there are plenty of clunkers you don't want to draw in specific matchups, but the shuffle effect is not a sure thing a majority of the time.
Also think about the instant-speed aspect of Brainstorm. You can obviously do it on your opponent's turn. You can use it to hide key spells from discard or Gitaxian Probe. Also think about how many blue and green sources you see in a game. You might only have a Locus or two and a single Trop as a colored source in the early game. If you Ponder, your opponent knows your ability to interact that turn is entirely limited to whatever you currently have on the battlefield. Wasteland is now live. Discard probably resolves, or at the very least is going to cost you two cards. For a combo deck, the gates are open, your shields are down.
Your point on Crop Rotation is well-taken, and is actually another really good reason to run Brainstorm, as it's the only way to safely get multiples out of your hand. Nonetheless, here are some other things you can try with the card:
1. With a Show and Tell in hand and an extra colored source, try rotating to see if you can draw out a counterspell. If it resolves, get a locus or Eye. Regardless, try to Show next turn.
2. Try to draw out counters/raise Storm count for a surprise Flusterstorm. Say your opponent casts something threatening. Respond with a Crop Rotation. Depending on the opponent, I've had this response draw out a counterspell. This might mean three Flusterstorms, and if the threat your opponent cast was an instant or sorcery, you may be able to counter both spells.
3. With excess Loci, skip the Titan path and go get Eye.
4. If you're really, really hurting, it's a shuffle effect if you have extra colored sources lying around.
As always, your mileage may vary. In any case, the best bet is to look hard at your opening plays as well as the other cards that are around these other, seemingly innocuous card choices.
