Thank you for catching that. I guess dystopia remains our sole way of getting rid of troublesome enchantments on the battlefield.
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Thank you for catching that. I guess dystopia remains our sole way of getting rid of troublesome enchantments on the battlefield.
I recently ran into Death and Taxes and, believe it or not, this matchup was somewhat hard. He had a recursion engine with Sword of Light and Shadow and if i would let him sacrifice a creature, it would be the Stoneforge Mystic which he would return a turn after, just to play it and tutor again :/
I boarded in Dystopia Game2, which helped a lot but got beaten down by a Mishra´s Factory that he equipped (again and again) whith Sword of Light and Shadow.
Essence of this: Sword of Light and Shadow can be a huge problem IF your opponent can play around all the removal you have (e.g. with Manlands :( )
I start to think whether i hop on the "Smother" train too - that could have got ridden of manlands
BTW:
Got my 2 Boxes of "From the Vault: Relics" just yesterday.....man ..... theese boxes are THE shit :D
I know what you mean about the sword of light and shadow. I guess it's just one of the hazards of running a single color. I also played DNT on multiple occasions. While not the best match-up in the world (especially when they have first turn vial and second turn rishadan port), I could hang on by active removal and discard. My sideboard strategy was: +3 dystopia, + 3 Pithing Needle, -1 innocent blood, - 1 duress, -1 cabal therapy, and three other cards that I don't really remember. I think it's extremely difficult to know which cards to take out because the deck is so tight, and this is part of the reason I am really looking forward to Hollywood's MU analysis in addition to other people's input. Second game went alright until the DNT player powered out 3 flyers (flickerwisp and avenger), then I topdecked a dystopia to subsequently win the game. Pithing needle can shut down manlands, vial, karakas, jitte, sols--the list goes on and on against DNT. I agree that smother is pretty versatile in a more diverse/unknown meta (ie MWS). But again, I often find saving 2 mana for a possible smother slightly precarious, because it impedes your play on your turn.Quote:
I recently ran into Death and Taxes and, believe it or not, this matchup was somewhat hard. He had a recursion engine with Sword of Light and Shadow and if i would let him sacrifice a creature, it would be the Stoneforge Mystic which he would return a turn after, just to play it and tutor again :/
I boarded in Dystopia Game2, which helped a lot but got beaten down by a Mishra´s Factory that he equipped (again and again) whith Sword of Light and Shadow.
Essence of this: Sword of Light and Shadow can be a huge problem IF your opponent can play around all the removal you have (e.g. with Manlands :( )
I start to think whether i hop on the "Smother" train too - that could have got ridden of manlands
Not sure if you noticed but it is 0 to equip.Quote:
Originally Posted by pippo84
Yes, but it costs :3: to actually get the card into play, and then you can't move it around between your creatures without having to kill them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Top Deck
Ok so this is the list I personally run and I feel I could use some solid opinions, I'm trying to splash white for vindicates and swords. The reason is they are both ways i can remove Abyssal Persecutor or other dangerous things. The reason for the rather large amount of discard is my meta is made of alot of combo unfortunately and alot permission, and I find the best way to deal with both are increased amounts of discard.
Creatures 18
4 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Dark Confidant
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Stoneforge Mystic
Spells 19
4 Swords to plowshares
4 Vindicate
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Cabal Therapy
Artifacts 3
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 sword of light and shadow
Lands 20
4 Scrubland
4 Swamp
4 Tainted Field
3 Wasteland
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
I played around with a white splash too..... imo it isnt TheGate anymore then.
But ok:
Why no Bitterblossom? Its an awesome card that also is defining TheGate in someway, by winning control matchups easily
Why Urborg? Why not just more black basics and fetchies?
Why Tainted Field? (you have 6 cards that need one white mana each, the 4 Scrubland + 2 Basic Plains + 6 to 8 Fetchies should do)
Why 2 Jitte+1 SoLaS instead of 1SoLaS+1SoFaI +1Jitte ? Adding the SoFaI adds a huge basis of tooling
Why no Marsh Flats? (and also: Why no Basic Plains as a 2-off backup) ?
With 4 Swords to Plowshares, 4 Gatekeeper and 4 Vindicate....WHY inquisition over Duress?!
I dont like your list .... the way it is at the moment
Well, that's exactly why I wrote :3: mana.. The cost to play it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Top Deck
As for the list with the white splash: I understand and see why you would like a splash, to have answers to everything. It's a good thought, but I have to say that the deck you posted isn't "The Gate" any more.
Blossom is a crucial slot for this deck.
Back from some testing, here are my thoughts:
After a countless number of games, i am totally convinced by Deathmark now too. I had smother in for some days - i think 2 mana is way too much. Its a very important factor to have a removal for 1 (aside from innocent blood). I might test out vendetta, though i think the loss of life is too crucial.
Also, i have chosen to play Jitte, Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice now. I think 3 is the right number of equippment and the sword (instead of jitte 3) gives you some variety. It might seem random as a one off, but i prefer it over a third jitte (mainly because jitte is legendary). Sword on Nighthawk - many opponents conceded to this ;)
Hymn to tourach is something, im still freaking unsure about whether to play 3 or 4. On one hand, it seems important to me, to have a Hymn early in the game. On the other hand, its annyoing to draw one on lets say, turn 4...many times he either has no hand by then (aggro decks) or you are in other trouble (lets say a jace, chalice or something else). The question is if i put a third bitterblossom or a fourth Hymn in.... im really unsure about this.
Sword of Light and Shadow still is annoying like hell. I had an opponent playing something of a mix between Death and Taxes and WhiteWeenie, the jist is that he had Kor Duelist with Sword of Light and Shadow on it....damn....is it cruel :D
G2 , with Dystopia in, it was an ok match, but preboard he raped me hard. I still have the feeling, that TheGate has problems with fast aggro decks and burn stuff....maybe im playing kinda wrong....but i find theese matchups to be very hard :(
Tainted Field is a bit iffy. While it will often act as an unfetchable Scrubland 5-8, leaving yourself open to wasteland/sinkhole/vindicate on a Scrubland, shutting down two lands (until you find another swamp), probably outweighs the positives.Quote:
Originally Posted by sporenfrosch1411
I dont understand your last point. Swords to Plowshares is the best removal in the format. Vindicate is probably second best, as it deals with Jace and other permanents and can Stone Rain them if they are tight on mana. Gatekeeper is in every list so I dont know what you are trying to get at.
Inquisition Vs Duress isn't a clear cut decision. They both have very clear positives and negatives and neither can be said to be clearly better than the other. i.e. You want Inquisition Vs aggro decks, but hitting FoW/Jace may be more relevant Vs control.
Urborg lets wasteland tap for black, which makes a lot of bad hands keepable. eg: 2 Wasteland, 1 Urborg can make BB on turn 2 for a Hymn and BBB for a Gatekeeper.
If you aren't playing any basic plains then Marsh Flats is just another black fetch. But i agree the deck probably wants at least 1 plains, which then makes Marsh Flats the correct choice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sporenfrosch1411
Honestly, I'm not running bitterblossom simply because i feel like trying to use stoneforge mystic
Urborg is there so that i can tap non basics for black should I not need to use them right away
the reason I'm running the equipment I am is because I very much so value the utility aspect of jitte, its not to say I'm unwilling to test other equipment
No marshflats because no basic plains, I do own them and will add them if I add plains, which I probably should
I understand that with alot of removal it seems kinda silly to use inquisition over duress but I've just found I've been happier to make them discarding there tarmogoyfs etc if they have them.
I hope that explains some of my reasons.. The land set up is something I know I have to work on so no arguments there.
Updated the opening post with some insight on detailed match analysis and side-boarding strategies.
The sideboard is always in flux so I didn't give any specifics as to what you should and shouldn't exactly board in and out versus a specific archetype, but rather an idea what could work well in given circumstances.
Just curious - no matchup analysis for Zoo?
Yeah, I noticed that; I'll have it up by tonight. I must have forgot to include that from my drafts. Apologies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Esper3k
My headache while sideboarding: side-out or not side-out Dark Confidant for Spinning Darkness. I usually do this against Zoo, because they are very fast and we don't want additional life loss. But against Merfolk... I don't really know.
What do we do about Iona? Has anyone considered Diabolic Edict?
How can Edict help? You won't be able even cast it. Your friend is gravehate.Quote:
Originally Posted by worsel
?!
What would Edict do, that Innocent Blood (or in the case of Iona) Deathmark wouldnt do :D :D?
I think your missing the point, that it will be "black", what your opponent would name as the color you cant play spells anymore of.
Ehm, well......if you let him resolve Iona....i think you pretty lost. But hey, thats what gravehate is for -.-
@ Dark Confidant + Spinning Darkness in Merfolk MU:Quote:
Originally Posted by Osmin
2 scenarios:
1) Bad one: you flipped Darkness with Bob and killed a fish, i.e.
:0:: destroy target merfolk, lose 3 life.
2) Nice one: you drew Darkness and obv. killed a fish. Now it's
:0:: destroy target merfolk, gain 3 life.
Even the bad one is actually quite good (check Snuff Out) and it's only 4 cards of your 50 left in library (assuming you landed turn 2 Bob on draw and there's no Darkness in your hand).
So -3 Deathmark, +3 Spinning Darkness is the first thing I do in game 2 vs Merfolks.
Bob carries Jitte. Merfolks have no removal to deal with him and no reach to capitalize on Bob's life loss.
You only need to deal with creatures, i.e. draw enough removal in appropriate time. And Bob helps you alot.
Tried a few matches against Loam, Merfolk and Goblins.
Loam and Merfolk are quite easy to beat in my opinion, but Goblins is just terrible! Really, 5-1 in Goblins favour. Well, possibly 4-2 because Goblins had an empty hand and topdecked the only card that would let them win. Anyways a tought MU.
And I didn't think Merfolk were a piece of cake.