[Deck] Deadguy Ale (B/w Confidant)

To answer point by point:
1) I've never had problems needing white, even with the maindeck Swords. Although since I haven't tested it, I'll give it a try. Probably low enough chance of getting Field with no swamp it may be worth it (8% according to Workshop). Also I tend to sit on fetches habitually until absolutely neccesary, I rarely run out white until it's needed.

2) I had Verdicts, Shortfang is better. Often I have problems actually ending the game once I've thrown the initial disruption out. Shortfang turns that initial disruption into an actual threat to end the game. Generally the turn he flips he deals 3 on their upkeep, and then swings in for 3 since they're busy blocking the Shade. Are you playing him for instant speed discard or for the rack effect? Flipping him is some good in this deck from my experience. What exactly was meh in your tests? Or was it just not good enough? One more, how often are you aiming Verdict at yourself for the lifegain?

3) There's a R/W that I've played every time it's shown up, and a Mono Red (4 Bolts, 4 Grenades, no Ports or Wastelands). Oh and there's my build as well. Not an overall strong presence thus I dropped the Darkblasts. The trade was for the Perish.

4) I've tried 3 Perish, but 2 has always been enough for me. Against Survival and Threshold both Confidant can be played freely, and his card advantage makes it seem like I'm running 3. Also the low number of Threshold and Survival in the meta make 2 a fairly solid number for me.

5) Scored 4 Needles at $18 each from online retailer... 2 weeks later he said he sold them all at an event and would honor the price when he gets more. Still hasn't got more = I have no needles. The list I posted is the list I play, not the optimal list.

6) I'll try it since I haven't really. I assume it's used to protect your board unless its a lethal spell? I'll test it.

I suppose I am rather conradicting myself by being so paranoid over red decks and still dropping Verdict. Shortfang really has been better for me on the whole though and has brough my overall win percentage up.

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Originally Posted by Kadath128

6) I'll try it since I haven't really. I assume it's used to protect your board unless its a lethal spell? I'll test it.

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It's basically virtual (or real) card advantage. Burn's biggest failing is that it runs out of gas and has trouble picking up the slack in the lategame. Along with Duress and Hymn and Verdict and Hyppie it's yet another card that says: you just wasted a Burn spell. It speeds up your clock, costs them a card, and can protect one of your threats.

I think Kadath may be onto something with Shortfang. 1-2 Perishes should be more than enough. Gro/Mono green decks are already heavily in our favor anyways. I've found that warmth is a superior choice over cop: red, as somebody said earlier burn decks run needles, also; the deck gains advantage from having excess mana available. People often question why I run 2 seal of cleansing in my sb seeing as how there's no particular threat I should worry about. The thing is just about any jank can defeat ale with a little luck, the added versatility is a major bonus. I also still adamently stand by having 1stp maindecked as an excellent source of backup. I'll have to do some extensive testing with Nezumi Shortfang, sounds good.

Current design:
//NAME: Deadguy Ale
1 Tainted Field
2 Polluted Delta
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wasteland
4 Scrubland
9 Swamp
1 Swords to Plowshares
2 Gerrard's Verdict
2 Engineered Plague
2 Cursed Scroll
3 Nantuko Shade
3 Dark Confidant
4 Sinkhole
4 Dark Ritual
4 Hypnotic Specter
4 Vindicate
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 1 Darkblast
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 1 Perish
SB: 2 Engineered Plague
SB: 2 Warmth
SB: 2 Seal of Cleansing
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 3 Withered Wretch

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Originally Posted by James Bond

Gro/Mono green decks are already heavily in our favor anyways.

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This isn't accurate. Gro may be favorable, but certainly not heavily so. If it were heavily favorable, Deadguy would certainly have T8ed Lille. 2 Perish may be enough, but in a field with a strong Gro presence, I would absolutely run 3.

I would most certainly not call the Gro matchup heavily in your favor. It seems to be fairly even to me. If there is a heavy Gro presence (which seems like it will be the norm for now) then 3 Perish seems worlds better than 2. Keep in mind that Gro plays counters, and although you've got a lot of hand disruption, you still might need to cast 2 Perish to resolve one of them.

I'm maybe 4-0 against Gro thus far, it's always seemed to be an easy match for me. Luck perhaps??

Probably not entirely luck. They're right that it's not a bad matchup, I just don't know that with the current testing I'd say it's heavily in favor of Pikula. It depends on a few factors, not the least of which being the skill of both players. It also depends on which build of Thresh you're playing against, as we said earlier. The Red version should have a much better game against you than the white (read: MUCH better game)

Apologies for both reviving a thread on moratorium and for saying something (possibly) dumb, but has anyone considered the possibility of Nether Void in this deck? With all the disruption going on, it seems like a fairly good idea to me. Not 4, obviously, but maybe a couple. A well-timed one after several disruption spells and a critter on the board could really set your opponent back for a couple of crucial turns.

I think I'm going to try it.

Nether is anti control and this deck has a good matchup against it in the first place. And it costs 4.

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Originally Posted by BLODORN

Nether is anti control and this deck has a good matchup against it in the first place. And it costs 4.

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Hmm, that's true...but I'm going to try it anyway. Never know, it might actually work. :cool:

My main concern with Pikula Black was that...

a) the cursed scroll slots are really slow and weak.

b.) the engineered plague slots are very limited in what they help against.

c.) Both slots are also very mana intensive and ineffective finishers considering their mana requirement.

d.) And Pikula's deck has a hard time with fast aggro decks, especially nongoblin based ones.

I want to improve those problems, find better cards for these slots. And to improve the fast aggro matchups.

Here's are some of the other cards I'm consider trying for BW. I would love to hear your opinions on which of these cards have the most potential in BW.

Chalice of the Void

Perhaps replace 2 Duress with 2 Gerrard's Verdict, and you end up being able to Chalice for 1 consistently. That's a play that can wreak havoc on a lot of decks.

Swords to Plowshore

There's really no explanation needed. But it's also just a 1 for 1 trade.

Exalted Angel

Not disruption but many seem to think Pikula's deck would benefit from some fat/life gain. It also helps stabilize from fast weenie rushes.

Jitte

A much better finisher than Cursed Scroll. And a better way to deal with weenies. But you run too few creatures so this really can't be run.

Blight

BB, Enchant Land
When target land becomes tapped, destroy at end of the turn.

The only reason I bring these card up is because land destruction is perhaps Pikula black's biggest strength and the means through which it wins so often. Almost every deck is very vulnerable to them. But so many games in which I lose, it feels like if I could have had one more land destruction spell, I would have certainly won the game.

So lets discuss other disruptive cards that might fit these slots better and hopefully complement the land destruction strategy that in my experience, win most of the games anyway.

Now clearly, the card is no where near as powerful as sinkhole. It lets your opponent get one last use of the land, and it can be countered with a disenchant.

But it is a 2cc land destruction spell, one that can be powered out along with duress first turn with a dark ritual. And one that along with the Wastelands, Vindicates and Sinkholes, would allow you to utterly decimate opponents mana bases even more consistently.

Rain of Tears/Choking Sands (can't target swamp though and the mirror match is getting popular)/Befoul (higher cc but more versatile)

For the same reasons just mentioned. It's 3cc so it's slower, but it helps smooth out a curve that's mostly 2cc. Its comparable in speed to Blight since Blight lets them get one last use of their land as well.

Crucible of Worlds

Running a lone copy couldn't hurt. But it also useless against most monocolored decks.

Night's Whisper/Skeletal Scryin

With all the lifeloss from DC, this probably is just overkill.

Pithing Needle

This is going to be an obvious response. Assuming you know that your opponent is running fetchlands and which fetchlands your opponent is running four of, and assuming it hits play early enough, it's probably the best option. And it's very versatile in what else it can hit. But purely as a land destruction spell, it's very conditional. Of course, it's still by far probably the strongest choice because of it's versatility.

More Discard - ie. Gerrard's Verdict, Cabal Therapy

Sensei's Divining Top

This is not a disruption slot, but it improves card quality especially if used with fetchlands and can help you get that last critical land destruction spell that much faster. It also minimizes Dark Confidant damage.

Here's the deadguy list I'm thinking about to address these weaknesses as I think these slots are faster than Cursed Scroll.

18 Land
4 Wasteland

4 Dark Ritual
4 Duress
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Sinkhole
4 Vindicate
2 Gerrard's Verdict

4 Hypnotic Sceptar
4 Dark Confidant
3 Nantuko Shade
3 Spectral Lynx (Could be Phyrexian War Beast or Exalted Angel)
1 Jitte
1 Swords to Plowshore

Spectral Lynx seems like a solid inclusion. It eats up a lot less mana than Cursed Scroll, regenerates so it can chump block massive guys including tramplers (pro green), and pro green is actually very strong as most every creature in this meta with toughness greater than 2 is pro green anyways, and thus, this guy will very rarely be blocked. And the pro green also means you don't have to hurt tempo to regenerate him as often. Yes he can be taken out by swords, but I would rather swords take him out so that you can play your Shade or DC or Hippie without fear of swords. Can you guys explain to me why you never decided to run it or Exalted Angel?

Exalted Angel and Phyrexian War Beast are solid here too.

Nantuko Shade works well as a 3 of. You only want to see one per game, and later on in the game anyways. Early to mid game, Spectral Lynx is beter.

Jitte - Yes, I know 1 ofs are bad. But it works perfectly as a 1 of here. You run too few creatures to run more than 1. But as 1, it's way better than cursed scroll at dealing with threats. With 14 creatures, you would have to admit that Jitte is stronger than Cursed Scroll.

Swords to Plowshore - I've never regretted drawing it. But then again, the other cards are better so I wouldn't play more than one.

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Originally Posted by Zelyon

Can you guys explain to me why you never decided to run it or Exalted Angel?

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Because the manabase can't consistently produce BB and WW, and because Angel is outside the curve in general.

In my experinece, it can easily support 2 Exalted Angel on turn 3 with as few as 6 fetchlands.

The angel uses up the same curve as the 2 cursed scroll activations it replaces, and gains you 4 life in that time as well as dealing four damage.

and it gets much better from there.

also, you didn't even mention spectral lynx. it can regenerate which means it can neutralize most every legacy threat including green tramplers and kill most goblins and other annoying creatures. it's also unblockable by threshold. and it deals damage, and lets you play 1 jitte. and it eats up a heck of a lot less mana than cursed scroll.

i don't see how any of that is bad.

it seems that pikula should be running one of these creatures.

Umm lame question..?

Dont you still take trample damage since your suppose to divy enough combat to the creature that 'would' kill it? I cant believe I dont know this.. Just remembered the old days of Mother of Ruins vs Rancor.

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Originally Posted by Zelyon

In my experinece, it can easily support 2 Exalted Angel on turn 3 with as few as 6 fetchlands.

The angel uses up the same curve as the 2 cursed scroll activations it replaces, and gains you 4 life in that time as well as dealing four damage.

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Apparently you live in a world where Wasteland and Lightning Bolt never existed.

Also, kindly capitalize your posts. Proper grammar is a requirement on these boards.

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Originally Posted by bane_of_the_living

Dont you still take trample damage since your suppose to divy enough combat to the creature that 'would' kill it?

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Yes, green tramplers will still deal you combat damage. Protection from a color reduces all damage dealt to that creature from that color to 0, but it doesn't prevent the additional damage that would spill over to the player.

For example, if your Spectral Lynx blocks a Rancored Troll Ascetic, it would live and not need to be regenerated, but you would still take 4 damage (Troll's 5 minus 1 for Lynx's toughness).

Having the angel in play, attacking and gaining you life is nice and all, but revealing her with DC...

In my experience Jitte is very slow, maybe as slow as a scroll. I don't run those cards. If I run into a deck with pro-black creatures I side in StoPs.

Playing more creatures could open a slot for Cabal Therapy. If you know your meta, therapy is much better than duress. But playing with more than 14 creatures changes the deck considerably. Who would want to cut any of these cards: Duress, Sinkhole, Vindicate, Dark Ritual or Hymn to Tourach for creatures?

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Originally Posted by GodzillA

For example, if your Spectral Lynx blocks a Rancored Troll Ascetic, it would live and not need to be regenerated, but you would still take 4 damage (Troll's 5 minus 1 for Lynx's toughness).

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This wasn't always the case though (I think... I didn't play back with the old rules) so that's why you may be confused. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

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Originally Posted by Lego_Army_Man

This wasn't always the case though (I think... I didn't play back with the old rules) so that's why you may be confused. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

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I think it's always been the case. At least it was when urza's came out (tample over that mom-ma).

What's up with people not liking Cursed Scroll? It gives the deck reach, it's repeatable creature removal, it's a cheap threat against just about anything and it gives you something to do with all your mana when your Confidant gets blasted. 'Repeatable colorless damage without needing the attack phase' just sounds good to me. Perhaps it's just me and perhaps all the decks which've used the card in the past have actually sucked, but I think this deck is actually amazingly similar to Sligh, with everything from efficient creatures to land control present. Cursed Scroll allows you to win those long games where all creatures just die.