[Deck] Imperial Painter

My old UR build is as follows:
4 Imperial Recruiters
4 Painter's servant
4 SSG
4 Magus of the Moon
3 Goblin Welder
4 REB
2 Pyroblast
4 Grindstone
3 Chrome Mox
4 Lightning Bolt
3 mental Misstep
2 Blood Moon
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
4 Arid Mesa
2 Volcanic Island
4 Mountains

Side
4 Show and Tell
4 Intuition
4 Inkwell Leviathan
3 Koth

Overall i really enjoyed the deck and it was strong against zoo and early Jace decks. Once they adopted red the build lost strength and zoo has really fallen off the map. I don't get to play much but I would no longer play this deck in the current meta. I have switched to a white splash now and I actually took third today.

The differences from the above list are as follows:
-1 SSG
-2 Volcanic Islands
-3 Mental Missteps
-1 Lightning Bolt
+1 Plains
+4 Stoneforge Mystic
+1 Batterskull

Obviously the board changes with the keys being 3 Koth and the rest of the pyroblasts
3 Koth
2 Pyroblast
3 tormod's crypt
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 mental Misstep
1 Jitte

The deck was awesome and to be honest I like the stoneforge better as it serves the same role as the show and tell package, yet you have far fewer hands with duplicate combo pieces from different combos. The land count had to go up to stabalize the deck. I had to cut a SSG and a Lightning Bolt to make room, but so far testing has been great. My only loss was to hive mind and I had to mull each game without really getting strong hands. I think Crypts are needed as Reanimator decks are strong right now. I might want to add three cards to help out the Hive Mind match up, but that deck seems to be on the down swing. I'm not sure if that should be Enlightened Tutor, Active Volcanoes, or something else that I haven't thought of yet. Overall I say give the updated deck a chance as it is really strong and i think you again have the advantage against Merfolk as they have added a bunch of strong cards. And the deck crushes stoneblade variants. Any questions or more info, I'm happy to help.

Seth

Hey Seth,

You missed a few cards I guess ... ;-)

The differences from the above list are as follows:
-1 SSG
-2 Volcanic Islands
-3 Mental Missteps
-1 Lightning Bolt
+1 Plains
+4 Stoneforge Mystic
+1 Batterskull
+2 Plateau

Yes you are correct. There should be a dual land that produces red and white in that spot.

Seth

And If we would go for a white splash that Mentor of the Meek looks really interesting

I have thought about the card. I'm not sure where it fits though. I do not think it is strong enough to maindeck. Maybe in the side for attrition wars. I'll def pick a couple up and test with them, but it might also be a win more card. I doubt you would ever want to tutor it and I'm not sure what crd it is stronger than. Worth testing for sure but I think once you try the stoneforge package you will realize enough card advantage that is of high quality.

Seth

Quote:

---

And If we would go for a white splash that Mentor of the Meek looks really interesting

---

Imo id rather play Auriok Salvagers then Mentor of the Meek :)

Quote:

---

The deck was awesome and to be honest I like the stoneforge better as it serves the same role as the show and tell package, yet you have far fewer hands with duplicate combo pieces from different combos. The land count had to go up to stabalize the deck. I had to cut a SSG and a Lightning Bolt to make room, but so far testing has been great. My only loss was to hive mind and I had to mull each game without really getting strong hands. I think Crypts are needed as Reanimator decks are strong right now. I might want to add three cards to help out the Hive Mind match up, but that deck seems to be on the down swing. I'm not sure if that should be Enlightened Tutor, Active Volcanoes, or something else that I haven't thought of yet. Overall I say give the updated deck a chance as it is really strong and i think you again have the advantage against Merfolk as they have added a bunch of strong cards. And the deck crushes stoneblade variants. Any questions or more info, I'm happy to help.

Seth

---

Have you thought of playing Sundial of the Infinite in bord? it stops the pacts and emrakul in the GY :)

Kim

@Kim. You might be right that it is the beat available card. Unfortunately we would need to run 4 copies for it to be truly effective. Right now the side is very tight but I def will be testing it out. I haven't really looked at the meta in general, but is Hive Mind still putting up results. I mean even though I lost to it, the deck isn't hard to beat. I had two mulls to ok hands and he had the Fow but even still I was a turn away from winning each game. So I felt like I was in it as we have a bunch that interacts with them.

Seth

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sroncor1

I have thought about the card. I'm not sure where it fits though. I do not think it is strong enough to maindeck. Maybe in the side for attrition wars. I'll def pick a couple up and test with them, but it might also be a win more card. I doubt you would ever want to tutor it and I'm not sure what crd it is stronger than. Worth testing for sure but I think once you try the stoneforge package you will realize enough card advantage that is of high quality.

Seth

---

I do see your point. It's not exactly the silver bullet we were looking for. However, I consider the card to be similar to dark confidant. Even if you don't want to actually tutor for it, just running 4x maindeck will give you a good chance of getting this draw engine. From there, you can almost be drawing twice as many cards as normal. It doesn't solve any specific problem, but it makes everything run a little smoother.

Also, it might be worthwhile to tutor for this guy first as a type of investment. If he sticks, then you have a much better chance of winning later. Even if you fail to go off next time, you can recycle most of your lost card advantage with the mentor. This seems to lead to a slower playstyle, not dissimilar from the red/blue build. You would have to remove some of the acceleration cards in order to have more consistency. Perhaps that isn't such a good idea after all considering that people are having some trouble with the hivemind deck.

@malchar- He would be a great card advantage machine except for the fact that he requires mana so it isn't as consistent or tempo oriented as Bob. Overall I think it is worth trying, maybe in the Lightning Bolt spot. I do not recommend cutting the speed elements. Where the format is you really need the speed. In the most recent event I honestly always had cards in hands once I adopted the Stoneforge package. This change really uses your mana in different ways.

About Hive Mind to be honest that was the first time I ever played against it. I don't think the matchup is that bad. I personally just haven't tested it much. I still think the deck is sort of trash as it shouldn't beat a competent Merfolk or BUG player. I am thinking now that more aggressive mulligans are needed and I just have to figure out the best way to attack it with the tools we already have.

Seth

I agree with Seth on the speed element and am going to test the Stoneforge Mystic package.

Btw I send you a message ;-)

@jelmerz77- I got your message and figured I would post the reply here for everyone to read. I really think you need at least 6 moon effects mAindecked. This really holds true in random metas as so many people build shitty mana bases. 3 Blood Moon may actually be better than 4 Magus of he Moon. And 3 Goblin Welders really should be play in the first 60. He actually works great in the MM era, which may be counter intuitive but you can either run more one drops or less. He makes your opponent have to decide. They basically can't let him resolve or else he invalidates counters. 3 feels like the right number to me. I love Koth, but I feel like right now 3 are better in the board. He is really strong against control decks but he isn't as strong vs aggro and rock, at least compared to Stoneforge. I can't argue with the 3 Duals. It is something I have thought of but I have never made the jump, but it could very well be the proper land base. I hope the following statement does not come off as an asshole, but if you are going with the white splash I really do recommend my list. I've put a lot of time into testing and that is the best I could come up with. Hope this helps.

Seth

I tested the R/W build not 100% your liste but close too.. and i realy didnt liked it cus i had problems findein the white mana.. i vent 3/3 on a 6 round standing..
When i play the red build (i dont play with welder) then i use to go 4-2 or better every time..
i will test alot of versions of the deck.. cus im going to GP amsterdam and i think il play it there.. but i still need to test the blue splash and with welder.. :)

sorry for my english lag :/

-Kim

I really haven't experienced the mana issues. You just have to think turns ahead an not back yourself into a corner with blood moon. Try upping the dual count maybe as wastelands aren't as popular. To be honest the blue build is more uneven with mana, at least that is what I found. What decks did you lose to?

Seth

Why do you include a Jitte in the board? for a specific MU? or just as an overall utility equip against aggro?

Quote:

---

What decks did you lose to?

---

hmm i lost to:

NO BUG (with hulk combo)
Red Deck Win
Reanimate

@Grymer- Are you running Crypts in your board? That with 8 blast effects and Moon effects, modern reanimator list should not be hard to handle. NO BUG also should be fairly favorable, although I will admidt you want moon effects, blast, and the combo in that match up. Stoneforge into Batterskull does have a hard time racing protection from everything. RDW is just a rough match, sort of like burn, although Batterskull does change things there as an early batterskull can keep you alive long enough to combo off. Try to be more aggressive in your mulligans and I can discuss some hands and modes of attack of these decks if you would like. But you should be favored, the key is finding the right way to approach the matchup. That has always been the hardest part for me, but I'm glad to share it with you guys if you want.

Seth

my sidebord in the R/W build:

1 Manic Vandal
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Enlightened Tutor
3 Mental Misstep
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Blood Moon
1 Sundial of the Infinite
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Umezawa's Jitte


Il post my Red build also (:

Creatures
4 Imperial Recruiter
1 Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
3 Magus of the Moon
4 Painter's Servant
3 Simian Spirit Guide


Spells
3 Lightning Bolt
3 Mental Misstep
3 Pyroblast
3 Red Elemental Blast


Enchantments
2 Blood Moon


Artifacts
3 Chrome Mox
4 Grindstone
3 Sensei's Divining Top


Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Arid Mesa
4 City of Traitors
9 Mountain


Planeswalkers
2 Koth of the Hammer



My Sideboard from last time i played the list:
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Manic Vandal
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Firespout
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Blood Moon
3 Sundial of the Infinite
2 Trinisphere

@glimmer-Trinisphere should be a 4 or 0. Any other number doesn't make sense as you basically have to land it first turn. Against Tendrils decks it's enough to buy a couple turns and it completely crushes Belcher, but that deck is trash. I also don't like using Enlightened Tutor to find our sideboard answers as your are opening MM as a stopgap. The reason Crypt works so well is the fact that Reanimator decks can't stop it without Fow which allows you to force through your own combo. Give these changes a chance, I think you will like what you see.

Seth

I'm thinking that laboratory maniac (Innistrad) is a decent sideboard candidate (1 of tutorable) for any deck that has blue. If the opponent has wheel of sun and moon, emrakul, the aeons torn, or even something like leyline of sanctity, you can just tutor for the maniac and mill yourself to victory.

Back to the general discussion, I'm a huge fan of leylines as sideboard tools. Leyline of Sanctity is actually great against storm, belcher, and opposing grindstone decks. Also, I personally use Leyline of the Void in my sideboard to combat reanimator, dredge, and anyone with an emrakul in their deck. As with the trinisphere argument, all that matters is getting it out turn 1. With leylines, that means that you don't have to be able to cast it normally. Compared to trinisphere, they both have to come out turn 1, except the leyline costs 0. Granted, leylines aren't quite as good as trinisphere/tormod's, but you don't lose tempo when casting them, which is important for a speed deck like ours. You can continue to build your combo at full speed.

Goblin Welder should certainly show up in the monored build. It's extremely good against any deck using artifacts, which many do post-board. I've won many games by simply welding the opponent's cards together thus wrecking their board position. Also, it's a great tutorable one-of for situations where you have a recruiter and painter but your grindstone is in the yard, or you just want some insurance. Another great play is having painter, grindstone, and welder in play, and then if you grind, and they kill the painter in response, you can weld the grindstone into the dead painter with the grindstone ability still on the stack and proceed to win anyway.

At the very least, it's a pretty good reusable artifact "destruction" tool against decks with multiple artifacts.