same answer as stuuch allready had given, creeping tar pit is able to stabalize your mana-developement, our options do the opposite
but still, it is not wrong to run a man-land, i have done so for a long time, but neither of the listed ones are the one i would suggest... the one i would run if i definitely want a manland is nantuko monastery, even if it is a bit situational and grave-dependant it gives the best options for a manland in our deck (even if not able to kill a planeswalker like creeping tar pit) because it can block and kill a batterskull and still live
allthough i will have to mention, that a manland in our deck would be most beneficial only if knight of the reliquary would be used as well, but in this case i think that the stage+depths combo would be even better to build around. as it is able to close the game immediately.
i really loved damions post about this one, that neither option is wrong to run
the reason i love this deck so much is that compared to most other decks running arround, you actually have to build your own deck, and not just run the stock list and still do well
the way i see it, is that, to fully understand this deck you will have to test all the possibilities and decide for yourself, depending on your playstyle and maybe metacomposition what you want to run
this is mostly the reason why this deck does not really have a "57-cards-core" compared to other deck. This deck at most has a "40-card-core" of the most unconditionally good spells, and the rest is up to personal preference and expirience, and its all about your own decision where you want to take the deck, hence all the different decks
all cards viable in this deck come with a certian package to them, where most of the provide a toolbox or are able to give us an edge in the matchups we either face the most, or have the most trouble with, and all of these packages have synergies to any other one and highly influence how the deck is running
my personal opinion on top vs. library actually is not that much different of anyone on this thread, meaning i lean towards library, but for a a few specific reasons
- library is able to win the games where top would just be a filter for searching answers and still struggle (vs. miracles, UWR, RUG, to name a few)
- gives you card advantage and selection compared to multitime-selection
- i do not run knights anymore so the multitime-selection of top is not as effective anymore
but the most important one, at least for me is, that it changes the gameplan/way the deck works
in any strategic game the one player that is playing proactively tends to have a slight edge over the reacting player, and that is the main difference between library and top.
library lets you pressure your opponent just by being there, being able to get you more cards for "only life" and no mana, and advancing your gameplan at the same time WITHOUT spending extra mana which in a midrange deck is more important for the early and midgame
top on the other hand really shines in the lategame or in a deck where you have mana to spare, which is not the case for most of the lists in this thread
but there are still some downsides to library, where the most important ones for me are:
- the manacost of 1G (=2) which makes it necessary to have G on turn 2 (which also makes hymn to tourach less consistent or harder to cast, therefore the 6-7 1-CMC discard spells)
- the CMC of 2 in a deck full of 2-drops, making it sometimes hard to decide which road to choose
allthough i have to say that in a decklist running hymn to tourach instead of the 6-7 1 CMC discard-spells i might be favoring top over library
it has become quite a long post now, just to underline Damians statement from before, which i want to apologize for, but i just had to add my two cents :tongue:
have a nice day everyone