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@bobmans- I really want a treetop somewhere in the list playing courser and prime time. Id probably slot it in over the fourth grove. Didn't look to see how it would affect your red sources tho.
Running Treetop Village could be a serious consideration. If i where to replace it with a land in this current i would consider either:Quote:
Originally Posted by uncletiggy
Grove of the Burnwillows - the question is, will it lose consitency with the Pfire/Grove interaction. Grove is often the target for Wasteland and people seem to hold Wasteland back cus they try to hold back PFire loop. Running means you van afgord to loose one.
Forest - switching from green to green wouldn't hurt the manabase (expect it coming tapped into play). But a 5 basic manbase with 4 Veteran Explorer maindeck seem excessive. Perhaps it would work better in my previous setup running 3 Vet and 4 Deathrite Shaman.
Phyrexian Tower - altough you'd loose solid interactions and the two tower + eternal witness loop i would say that this would be the safest choice. T1 VetEx into T2 Phyrexian Tower + bomb is good, still pretty random.
Yeah I almost always want one with prime time running around its very tempting to play two but I believe its wrong. I could see testing over the grove or the tower I hold the same reservations about cutting another basic. If your playing sixty I could see going up to sixty one.
Putting 1 slaughter games in the board and ditching garruk from the board is an option to.Quote:
Originally Posted by uncletiggy
Also the REB's havent been performing as i hoped so i am considerin of cutting those.
Been quietly trolling this thread for a couple months now after a friend recommended Nic Fit as a first Legacy deck. So far having a blast with it. Very interactive and fun stuff to do. I'm playing Junk right now b/c its the cheapest entry point for me (sharing duals with my Karador EDH deck and have several cards from playing Modern).
This is my deck as it currently stands. So far testing on Cockatrice I feel like I'm 50/50 or maybe 55/45 in match ups. Just played a guy that said "nice brew" after beating him twice. Wish I could say I brewed this myself :)
My friend plays Lands, 12 Post, and Infect. Both Lands and 12 Post are silly hard to beat. I get so close to beating him often then he comes out of no where and wins. Any tips on beating those 2 match ups? I have a few more cards to acquire before I can go to my LGS, which I'm looking forward to doing with this.
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Eternal Witness
1 Grave Titan
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Siege Rhino
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Thragtusk
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
4 Veteran Explorer
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Hymn to Tourach
2 Innocent Blood
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Bayou
4 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter (Eventually will be a Wasteland, just here to deal with Maze, Karakas etc)
1 Overgrown Tomb (Instead of a 2nd Bayou, money and all that. Working out OK so far :/)
1 Phyrexian Tower
2 Plains
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
3 Swamp
3 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
Sideboard:
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Dryad Militant
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Golgari Charm
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Toxic Deluge
Yeah, a couple Tops would be nice here, but again, starting off with a cheaper budget and will move up into more things.
I haven't played this deck in a year or two, but I remember those as being some of the tougher match ups since you don't attack the mana base of either (to prevent 12 post from making a million mana and to stop Lands out of nowhere win). I'm not sure if 12 Post is really a deck that you can make into a winnable match up barring you like playing Sowing Salts or something. I think a lot of the time you will just have to play tight and hope they stumble
What's the card that destroys all nonbasics lands? Ruination? Could just run that.
-Matt
Both of those are good ideas, but would require red, which pushes me towards Punishing Fit unless I get a Taiga or just throw in a basic mountain (or another shock land).
You could play Armageddon, but only use it once you have established a threat (Titania ideally).
That is actually quite hilarious. I might try this.Quote:
Originally Posted by ironclad8690
Armageddon nukes us. Try ruination.
Just picked up my punishing list on mtgo today.. going to start jamming games heavily with it.. hope to get some dailies in, within the next week. Will post updates.
Nice list! I gave it a try and it has been impressive, those SG main deck helped in many unfavorable MUs...Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobmans
A thought: what about a Kessig Wolf Run MD? with a lot of mana it might be usefull for a "single" winning attack.
a question I couldn't find an answer: what is the purpose of the Vraska? is it there for the ultimate only?
thanks for sharing!
Thnx, glad you like it. Slaughter Games is awesome. It justs wrecks a number of MU's (if your able to fire it of).Quote:
Originally Posted by monaco.errante
Some people love Kessig Wolf Run, i have tried the card in the past and it seemed like a win more. Next to this it often just clogged in my hand or was just a mana land and it ability was not the effect i was looking for. I find both Volrath's Stronghold and Phyrexian Tower having more value to the deck. Both cards synergies well with the decks main strategy. On one hand it wants to ramp saccing Veteran Explorer enabling really sic plays T2 or later. Stronghold is really good in the grindy/attrition game. On top of they complement each other when you have both in play.
Vraska the Unseen is a house. I must honestly say that i value her more in this deck then Liliana of the Veil. While 5 mana is a lot it is perfectly doable in this list. Plus most games tend to go long. Having a PW that puts on a clock is really nice. The nice thing about Vraska is the psychological impact on the board. If you + her she basicly has deathtouch and her ultimate just takes 2 turns to reach. Will your opponent try to stop her or just attack you to try and race you before she is relevant? Thats just mind games man. It would surprise you how often she rides you to victory, with or without her ultimate. Sometimes you just want to get rid of Batterskull or some other shit (Emrakul could also be that). Having her after -3 the + ability makes that she must be dealt with and that really complements the strategy. Often you will start to gain advatage during mid or lategame and then she helps to reach critical mass. PFire starts to loop, zenith fetches bigger creatures and top keeps floating answers to threats that can show up. Vraska has surprised both me and my opponents often. Yesterday for example i played vs Patriot. G1 he has the advantage, but i was able to stabilize at 7 life and drop her. He only has a Stoneforge Mystic left, while i Therapied a bunch of cards. He decides to race my while i +1 her, not seeing any reason to -3 the SFM. I decayed the SFM when i hit 5 lifepoints. The turn i could Ultimate her i cast a Therapy and naming Stifle. Hit, he casted a TNN the turn before and he untapped as his only out was a Lightning Bolt. He didnt draw it (or ponder/brainstorm) and i won while he still was at around 19 lifepoints.
May I ask why you guys play Primeval Titan over Grave Titan? I see that it can be tutored for, I just do not get why getting two more lands matters more to you than getting 2 creatures. I am confused since there are no "fancy" lands to get ( Dark Depths + Stage or you name it)...
Please... Teach me :)
You can't tutor for grave titan.. but I am going to be honest.. Primetime feels like crap to me.. almost all the time. Most the time he just feels like a 6/6 trample. He only felt semi worthwhile when i could snag a wolfrun with him. then obviously have a ton of land for him to crush in. But I feel like wolfrun is just a winmore lately.. like someone said previously.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom
One of the biggest reasons I've enjoyed the junk variant so far is not having primey in there... I may burn mine soon.
It really depends on the build, back when I was playing punishing regularly the utility lands would be a kessig wolfrun, phyrexian tower, volrath's stronghold and all the groves. Primeval almost always got some combination of those. If you aren't playing any utility lands then I think broodmate dragon is a better choice.
Primetime just doesn't make the impact on the board as you would wish. Getting more utility lands out can be good, but lately i have been trying out different creatures. Rampaging Baloth is decend. It complements Courser of Kruphix, Veteran Explorer and fetchland. But i am not sold. I also tried Charnelhoard Wurm, when it connects it is awesome. But cmc 7 is pushing it. The problem with Broodmate is that is does not add utility. In the end it is just a double 4/4 flyer. You'd want some double role like all other creatures provide like Thragtusk or Huntmaster. Like i said before Ruric Thar might add some value, but it can conflict with the high amount of non creatures in the deck. Is 6/6 reach vigilance enough to punch thru while punishing the opponent for casting? I had hope for a Red Green something creature out of the last set(s) but nothing shocking was printed. Still in pursuit of the perfect Green (plus red and/or black) 6 drop...
Depends on the version, as is typical of nic fit in general. In Scapewish, Primeval is basically sacrosanct. Myself and a couple of the other older nic fitters tried to cut Primeval from scape a couple of years back, and were immediately and swiftly punished. It doesn't seem like it does a lot, and it frequently comes up in the discussion of where to make room....but it WILL win you games that no other card in the game can win. It always comes through in the end, and it definitely has earned its slot in that version.
Outside of Scape, though, it's definitely lackluster, and I don't generally recommend running it unless you're trying to do something specific with it. The common problem is that the various splash 6s are all better than the mono-G or mono-B options. Sun Titan and Consecrated Sphinx make it really hard to justify running any other 6-drop, imo, when you're in their respective colors. This is if you even choose to run a 6-drop, which is arguably not as mandatory anymore as it used to be due to the proliferation of 5s. I like to have a curve-topper or two at 6, but that's more personal preference than required these days. Red is notably absent from the listing -- the two primary red variants are Scape (which runs Primeval, as mentioned), and Punishing, which frequently doesn't run any 6s at all...or if it does, usually runs something like Broodmate, which isn't mono-R.
The card's not great, so I cut it. Never looked back.
-Matt
Cutting the 6 drop out of this deck (pfire) felt wrong. Not being able to go for something bigger was kind of a anticlimax. I will be keeping a 6 drop in. Or i will again look into a 7 or maybe even 8 drop.
On another note: Back in the days there was this Green Stompy deck running Weatherseed Treefolk. Pretty scary back then. Offcourse is Siege Rhino in (almost) any way better, but in non white version of the deck it might be pretty good. Anyone have experience with this guy? Costs (2)GGG and it's oracle wording says:
"Trample
When Weatherseed Treefolk dies, return it to its owner's hand."
i may give weatherseed treefolk a try today on modo, see how it goes!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobmans
Does anyone try out Titania at all or has it been dismissed as not good enough already? Seems fine and you can get back dead Groves too if you really need to.
5 mana for a 5/3 that doesn't die when it comes back to the most common thing that can hit it (STP)? I don't think this will be quite good enough.
Titania is fine, but needs to be built around (well, you need Safekepeer). Problem is, how many fetches are you playing to reliably support her? I've seen her do work with Knight, but is Knight where you want to be right now? Hard to say.
Titania's "sac all my guys and make Juggernauts EOT. Get you?" is poo-poo'd by Miracles instant speed Wrath of God. I still go to sleep wondering if Kamahl, Fist of Krosa is good enough. Think of Kamahl, Fist of Krosa and Deed, or in response to Terminus, etc. Seems decent. The issue is this: the 6 drop has to be good to pay 7 mana for it. It has to win you the game. The problem? None of the cards we're going for do that. So, in that case, I'd almost rather have more Thruns, Sigardas, etc. and lower the curve. The inherent problem with the deck is if you do not fire off your 2 card combo, which does NOT win you the game, you have to play the "Land, go" game for turns while your opponent builds up countermagic to your one threat a turn.
The Siege Rhino build tries to get around this by playing a reliable, good threat that can come down Turn 2 with acceleration, but at Turn 3/4 is still very solid, and has effects later in the game due to CITP abilities.
-Matt
Yeah I was looking for more options within the pfire build. I played about 6-8 games with the 4 color version.. and having the red seems like a must with all the miracles / omni on mtgo. So figured I would get back down to the pfire build and just work on that for awhile.
Slaughter Games is eminently splashable by any version. Just throw in a Taiga, maybe sideboard a mountain if you're paranoid, and away you go. Alternatively, don't forget that Carpet of Flowers makes colored mana, so you can also generate red for that if you're vs something like miracles (where you side explorers out...at least 3 of them).
Per my memory, Broodmate is the only relevant 6-or-higher bomb in red that is actually playable. Soul of Shandalar is close enough you could test it out if you wanted to; Inferno Titan is not good enough. There may be something new that I'm unaware of, I'm not sure. But as of when I was current on the card pool, Broodmate was the best you were going to get, and it was frequently debated if Broodmate is actually good enough, even.
Titania is a fine card, but imo she's held back by Deathrite's existence -- Deathrite dis-incentivizes you from playing Knight of the Reliquary. As Matt noted, obviously Terminus is also a grade A problem. I'd say it's worth having a copy of Titania in your binder somewhere, but I don't think the meta is currently correct for her.
Here's a checklist of things to look for since the bomb debate is going on:
-) Needs to have a strong etb/leaves-play trigger -OR- be hexproof.
-) Needs to have at least a 4 on the ass if not hexproof.
-) Bonus points if it brings an extra body(ies) to the table, either via recursion or tokens.
-) Bonus points if it has haste.
-) Bonus points if it has lifelink or vigilance.
-) Bonus points if it is GSZ enabled.
Sun Titan clears 4 of these. Sigarda clears 3. Thragtusk clears 3. Rhino clears 3. Amusingly, Consecrated Sphinx only clears 1...but its effect is so ludicrously powerful that we forgive it anyway.
But yeah. Most staples and (nic fit) playables clear 3 or sometimes 4 of these categories. If you're looking for a bomb, try to check as many of these boxes as you can. If it only hits two or fewer boxes, either something else about it needs to be extraordinary (see ConSphinx) and thus it is an exception, or else you just flat out shouldn't be playing it.
You know, I had the problem of not finding a suitable 6-drop for Punishing Nic Fit, too. After weighing the pros and cons of each usable card carefully, I've came to a conclusion:
Building my list with 1 or 2 Manlands, to get the best value from Prime Time. I'm liking Raging Ravine as Manland, as it gets bigger and nastier every attack and produces R for Pfire. But Treetop Village might be better, especially when playing with Wolf Run.
My reason for building around Prime Time this way is: When I have a big Finisher, I want it to be able to get around all the commonly played Removal. So we have Swords to Plowshares, Abrupt Decay, Lightning Bolt, Liliana of the Veil and Terminus. And of course, I want it to end the game quickly and easy to be found.
Which leaves me with only one Creature that fulfill all of these:
Primeval Titan
Since I'm "building around" Prime Time (if you call 1 or 2 Slots building around) I find myself playing the control route until I can zenith for him. Then I get Treetop and Wolf Run, and start bashing with Prime Time. If he gets removed, I've still got a sizable body. If Treetop gets removed, I've normally cast any other creature, which is still a threat through Wolf Run. And if everything goes wrong, I already have lots of lands and with 4 Groves, I should have drawn one to slowly PFire my opponent to death.
You could make a point for Sigarda, Host of Herons if you have Karakas, since it's her only way to evade Terminus. But sometimes I'm even happier with her in the Deck so my opponent can't counter her.
Batterskull is in a similar boat as Sigarda. The minus is that it can't be zenithed and it doesn't get behind a Goyf.
AEtherling may be a good Finisher in BUG, btw.
Thragtusk - I don't see it as this inevitable Finisher, as it's easily traded with. Yes, you get lots of value from it, but as it "just" trades with Goyf (leaving a 3/3 behind nonetheless, but this is also easily dealt with).
Bonus Points for Siege Rhino - but it doesn't get past a Goyf reliably and leaves nothing behind versus Swords, Liliana and Terminus.
Broodmate Dragon, Titania, Protector of Argoth and Rampaging Baloths die to Terminus without leaving anything, and Miracles is a really tough Matchup for the non-PFire Nic Fit versions. Even Punishing Nic Fit can be out-controlled by Miracles (as they need fewer lands to do their good things), so the argument "but Miracles is a good Matchup, anyways" doesn't count for me.
Like sdematt, I also try to lower the curve - which brought me to a Stoneforge build instead of a Rhino Build. I'm completely abandoning the idea of a beefy 6-Drop in a Junk version. Jund, on the other hand, with its focus on having more lands, can make perfect use of Prime Time.
A side note for khamal. If you are looking to play a junk equipment list do not fall for the four stoneforge trap. Play two ladys and three equips alongside rhino he'll push in the swords and jittes for counters and they'll usually do a good job controling the board for you in midrage mirrors. Stoneforge is just early ca and sac fodder for tower or therapy not your win condition. Batterskull also has felt like a trap for me I always wanted a sword never the skull.
Thank you for the input about Stoneforge, uncletiggy :)
I also think that Rhino is a good starting point for pushing through with the equipment, although I just have cut it down to 1 to make room for Garruk Relentless. I've got some Miracles in my area, and those players always tell me that they're not afraid of Siege Rhino at all.
For my Setup, I've already seen that four Stoneforges is too much, so I settled down at three and Jitte + Skull. Feast and Famine in the Board. I've had some really different experience with her - I always find myself searching for Skull or Jitte (Deed is likely to influence the decision) and none of the Swords do it for me. Feast and Famine is in the board for Combo to have repeatable Discard, that's all. If I think about it, I've come to quite a similar list to the recent one that James Hammes used.
I just like Skull because it's a fine thing to push the initial aggro through without even needing the Explorer ramp, that can frequently benefit my opponents, and has a lot of staying power. And if I have the ramp - fine! I'm very comfortable hardcasting it without the need of Stoneforge.
The way to beat Miracles is walkers and your evasive threats - Thrun and Sigarda. Fires is obviously way good, but not generally run in the same shell.
-Matt
Stoneforge JUNK fit of whatever. I have been toying around with a list around the time Rhino got released. Looking at that list and tweaking it with the comments here this is what i would probably play:
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Veteran Explorer
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Courser of Kruphix
2 Siege Rhino
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sun Titan
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Swords to Plowshares / Path to Exile
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Savannah
2 Bayou
1 Scrubland
2 Forest
2 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Karakas
SB: 1 Krosan Grip
SB: 1 Golgari Charm
SB: 1 Diabolic Edict
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Extirpate
SB: 2 Thoughtseize
SB: 1 (combat walker) Elspeth or Garruk
SB: 1 Cranial Extraction
SB: 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
SB: 4 (white hatebears)
Sun Titan is just so good. Just to have Pernicious Deed lock this would be the sole reason to run JUNK. I really think that this kind of tech boils down to the core of NicFit. That being said, to completement Sun Titan running CMC =< 3 equipment is the thing to do here. Also you could run SoLaS to have a pseudo Recurring Nightmare tricks with Siege Rhino.
@Bobmans: This is the direction I'm debating about playing Nic Fit. I go back and forth on wanting SFM + toys or just a critical mass of bigger dudes. I agree with Sun Titan. He's downright brutal in Junk variants.
@Arianrhod/anyone: I really like that list of criteria for "what creatures can Nic Fit run?" Do you think Wurmcoil, Thragtusk, and Ruric Thar reach MD criteria?
Thragtusk is def maindeckable depending on your build. Especially if your in jund. Wurmcoil is good in bug list that take emphasis off zenith and focus more on reccuring nightmare or deadeye. And ruric I have no clue on honestly he may be winmore. I'm not sure which match ups he improves generally victories versus combo come from discard and bears slowing them down enough to get some random beats in doesnt really matter whats turning sideways the top of the curve is almost completely irrelevant.
@bobmans my list is five cards from yours -1titan -1courser -1pulse -1 witness -1 deed +2 rhino +1 rec sage + 1nightmare +1 g charm
I don't think Kessig Wolf Run is overkill. If you play prime time around 6-7 and gets kessig and other land you can attack for at least 11 if the oppenment don't do somrthing ofc. It also makes all your creatures a bigger threat. Even explore is dangers and usally really bad at the end game. I have won matches beacuse I could wolf run a wolf for 6 when the oppent have to kill huntmaster.
Why has the Scapeshift build fell out of flavor? That's actually the only list I used to play of Nic-Fit, and I absolutely loved it. Winning through hardcast Primetimes or just randomly comboing people out with Scapeshift, while allowing me to run old nostalgic cards like Wood Elves. Decks I used to build at the kitchen table with my buds (we had a box of 12,000 cards from Alpha onwards and would just make casual decks and have giant 8v8's. Probably some of the most fun I've ever had in Magic) used to always run green mana guys, Wood Elves being my premier three-drop most of the time.
Well, let's run it through.Quote:
Originally Posted by Warden
-) Needs to have a strong etb/leaves-play trigger -OR- be hexproof.
-) Needs to have at least a 4 on the ass if not hexproof.
-) Bonus points if it brings an extra body(ies) to the table, either via recursion or tokens.
-) Bonus points if it has haste.
-) Bonus points if it has lifelink or vigilance.
-) Bonus points if it is GSZ enabled.
Thragtusk I already did.
Wurmcoil passes 2, 3, and 5.
Ruric Thar passes 2, 5, and 6.
I consider creatures passing three categories to be playable. At that point it comes down to choosing what creatures you want to run for your specific list. Bear in mind that Ruric's ability can hurt us as well as the opponent.
@Kanti: I'm sure plenty of people are still playing it. Keep in mind that the thread cycles between versions frequently depending on what versions the more vocal posters are currently working on. Just because nobody is talking about it does not mean that it's out of favor :)
I like Ruric in my Pfire! He's mostly like a "double rhino" against decks with white.
Red decks usually needs two spells to deal with him.
Black and blue needs one spell but... how many bounce opp could draw? TEAM can Snuff him but 10 life hurts, he's abow dismember.
And palyed at 3-4 turn against combos often gives us at least turn and virtualy 12 damage. That gives 7-9 cards from Ad nauseam untill draw removal.
Hoveawer he's mostly weak against tribals so it's small drawback to play just after deed!
It's always depending on Your playstyle ;)
EDIT: And he is zenithable!
Arian, would you post a recent decklist of it please? Last I see is one from 2013, which in all likelyhood is probably still pretty good as Scapeshift is more combo, and linear decklists don't always change all that much. Can someone shed some light on the 3 DRS/3 Vet split? Would this be better for Scapeshift, or do I want more Vets to get more lands?
Also is Slaughter Games in the main really needed? Seems a bit more of an sb card to me. Here's a list off the top of my head, tell what you guys think;
24
4 Taiga
2 Stomping Ground
3 Badlands
2 Mountain
2 Bayou
1 Wooded Foothills
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Forest
2 Swamp
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Dryad Arbor
13
4 Veteran Explorer
2 Wood Elves
2 Huntmaster of Fells
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Thragturk
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Primeval Titan
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Burning Wish
4 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Pernicous Deed
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Scapeshift
15
3 Carpet of Flowers
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Thoughtsieze
1 Duress
1 Massacre
1 Toxic Deluge
1 Maelstorm Pulse
1 Slaughter Games
1 Pyroclasm
1 Scapeshift
2 ???
There some posts about Scape not to long ago in this thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanti
Back to Punishing Fires:
Slaughter Games maindeck improves MU against Both Storm as Show and Tell based decks. Plus that while Miracles is weak against the card it is not bad against any MU. But it is a meta call. I wouldn't do that if your meta is infested with fair.dec
I recently played with Ruric Thar in the 6 drop slot. I was able to resolve it once vs DnT. And at the time i casted it (thru GSZ) i would have been able to block a Flickerwhisp with both Jitte (0 counters) as SoLaS, but he topped a SoFaI. My only out was a PDeeds (which was revealed on top with Courser after i shuffled from the GSZ) and i was @ 6 life with no sacrifice outlet for Ruric.....
The other games i played was ANT 4-1 record in 2 matches (2-0 / 2-1, different opponents). All of the games where decided before i was able to cast Ruric Thar. In all the MU's the combination of discard, extraction and Slaughter Games where what won me the games. Where the latter sealed it. You basicly win if your able to stall the game until you reach the point to cast Slaughter Games. Thragtusk closed the games fast to. Gaining 5 life vs storm is a thing and a 5 beater is nothing to sneeze at. DRS and Scooze are miracle workers here to.
The other matches i played with Ruric was Reanimator and Necrotic Ooze combo. 1-2 loss vs Reanimate. G1 t1 on the play he goes petal, land, entomb, reanimate, GBeez, sjees, scoop.
G2 i won thru therapy/veteran into GSZ Scooze and with some solid backup on hand + liliana. G3 i had T1 GSZ, he went t2 GBeez. On my T2 i played PNeedle naming GBeez. He activated 2 times in respons. He didnt draw counters, but he was able to outrace my T3 Liliana and followon REB on Sphinx with a total of 4 monsters...
Vs Oozing i played 0-2. He had magical Christmas going T1 combo and T2 combo... If your meta is infested with Oops, TinFins and this kind of stuff i would suggest adding 1-2 Surgical Extraction to at least have some interaction...
So conclusion for Ruric (for now), while it would have sealed the games against combo it is to slow (nothing new here) and vs non-combo i preferred to have Broodmate Dragon instead (well at least in that specific situation). I still would like to find out how Ruric goes vs Delver, Stoneblade and Miracles.
Kessig Wolf Run + Treetop Village + Primeval Titan. Versus fair.dec: At first glance it looks solid, but why do i want more beaters when i already have beaters? The thing i want is utility. PrimeTime could deliver utility in the form of fetching more Groves/Red mana, or the Two Towers, but often at that point i already have 6-7 lands. What i want to add to the deck is utility to achieve full board control. A Kessig Wolf Run to have 8/4 Thrun with Trample that wins the game when a 4/4 Thrun cannot is not what i am trying to achieve with the deck. The real question for me is: why is a 4/4 Thrun not winning the game and how do i solve that situation?
Volrath's Stronghold can keep you in the game while recurring stuff like DRS, Thragtusk or Eternal Witness, which eventually leads to a board state where your opponent can't possibly win from. We could replace Phyrexian Tower for Treetop Village. While i can see Treetop function in the deck, the thing that sometimes is relevant vs combo is Phyrexian Tower. Doing the ultimate T1 Cabal Therapy/Thoughtseize/REB, into T2 Tower, Veteran Explorer, Slaughter Games happens.