[Deck] Nic Fit (GBx Explorer Zenith Control)

@Qweerios -- I guess you're luckier with your opponents than I am, then, because my opponents always make me play it out even when I have the game completely wrapped up. I actually glossed over PHunter...he is in fact quite beastly. I'm starting to think that him and Ooze are arguably the two greatest strengths of running straight GB, as a tricolor list can't reliably support either of them. That said, I still prefer the way the tricolor lists play, and the increased range of options that they have ... but GB does have things going for it as well. I still say it's mostly personal preference, and there isn't really a difference of viability from color to color.

@litenkatt -- Stack-based combo decks can't really tolerate having their things extracted through various means. Discard -> Extirpate is brutally good vs those decks, as long as you know what to prioritize taking.

IMO if you put in Empath, put in a Kokusho as well for the combo with Nightmare. It's a lot more useful than most give it credit for, especially since you can punch for 5 and then drain for 5 to surprise-kill people sometimes. Also of relevance is that Kokusho's drain is life loss, which means it gets around Glacial Chasm, Solitary Confinement, etc...corner cases, I'll grant, but they add up. That said, I don't think you really need to worry about Empath -> Kokusho. The way your list is set up, you should be fine with the two Titans.

I don't like the one E.Tutor + 2 Top configuration. I get that you don't probably want a 3rd Top because you can just Tutor for it, but I'd rather not use your one-of Tutor for a Top. Top's just so good in this deck that I really think you want 3...and then you still have your tutor for Batterskull, Nightmare, or emergency Deed.

Dryad Arbor is awful in most lists. We aren't Maverick who can abuse the living hell out of it with Scryb Ranger. It dies to Deed constantly, and for every instance where Zenithing for 0 is correct (why the hell wouldn't you save it for an Explorer instead, exactly?) there's another instance where it's in your hand or you draw it, and it comes into play tapped, screwing you out of a play that turn. Replace it with an actual land IMO.

Thrun and Ooze have both disappointed me constantly whenever I tried them. Your individual mileage may vary, but I'd keep a close eye on Ooze in particular. Thrun is at least good vs blue control since he can't be countered. Ooze is a trap for tricolor Nic Fit decks IMO, since you're rarely going to have the green mana to take advantage of him, and he dies to common Deed activations -- esp. in your list with the full playset of Deeds +1.

I also personally think that the full playset of Swords is a little bit much, but it depends on your expected meta. If there's going to be tons of Maverick and Delver of various types, go nuts. I'd rather have more threats, more sweep, or more tutoring as opposed to spot removal, but having one or two main can definitely come in handy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Qweerios

EDIT: Would evoking Shriekmaw then flashing Angel grant you 2 removal and 2 evasive bodies for 6 mana?

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Yes, if you flash in the Angel with the Sacrifice trigger on the stack it does.

So i've been tinkering with the GWB Rector list and i'm thinking about taking it to a GPT this weekend, here's my list for reference:


// Deck file for Magic Workstation

// Lands
2 Phyrexian Tower
2 Marsh Flats
2 Windswept Heath
2 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Bayou
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
3 Forest
4 Verdant Catacombs

// Creatures
3 Academy Rector
4 Veteran Explorer
2 Fierce Empath
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
1 Sun Titan
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Eternal Witness
2 Fleshbag Marauder
2 Baneslayer Angel
1 Grave Titan

// Spells
3 Green Sun's Zenith
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Pernicious Deed
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Humility

// Sideboard
SB: 1 Leyline of the Void
SB: 3 Carpet of Flowers
SB: 1 Choke
SB: 1 Moat
SB: 4 Thoughtseize
SB: 3 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Swords to Plowshares


I'm still tinkering about a solid killcon, that can be easily fetched, atm i'm running 2x Fierce Empath + 3x GSZ to find them, so i can chain into either Kokusho for combokill, Sun Titan for board control or Grave Titan for a hard to get rid off kill-con, but i'm wondering if it's really needed to play 3 6-drops and/or if there are any other viable killcons, that are solid finishers, but relatively easy to find.

Also on the sideboard, there are 3 extra Rector targets:
Moat - for the aggro matchup
Choke - for the blue matchup
LotV - for the graveyard matchup
+ 3 Carpet of Flowers for the blue matchup

aswell as extra discard (4 + 4 MD) vs combo
surgical vs graveyard/combo
and some extra removal just in case i run into some decks that really have too many threats (Zoo, Maverick, more low costed removal vs RUG)

The suspected Metagame is probably a fair amount of RUG, a couple reanimators, a few Sneak & Shows, a decent amount of Stoneblade and Maverick, and possibly some Merfolk + more random decks.

Any idea's for some last changes?

Okay --

First of all, don't make the same mistakes I have. Let's start here:

1: Moat. Move this maindeck. I tried it in my board for the GP, and was really, really disappointed in that decision. Some matchups like RUG and Maverick you can't just run it out there and win the game, but if you're smart with it, it's an incredibly powerful tool. Ie if RUG has a Goyf or two and a Goose, Moat is absurdly good. If they have Delvers, obv. you don't go for Moat in that case. There will be too many times you want this main for you to have it in the board. Switch it with Humility. Humility is a total blowout vs Sneak/Show and Reanimator, while also being useful vs elf combo and Maverick as long as you have a way to break the parity of the card (ie assembling the combo with Curse of Death's Hold, though this is hard to do). Think of it this way -- you're a creature deck at your core. People will probably board Humility in VERSUS YOU. Don't next-level yourself by playing it maindeck. Your deck is dramatically more broken than most other fair decks as far as its creatures go. Only bring in Humility when you're crippling your opponent worse than it's crippling you.

2: No Recurring Nightmare. In a build with Rector and Kokusho, this is absurd. Cut the Grave Titan for it. Nightmare is every bit as bomby as Grave Titan is.

3: You only need one Fierce Empath ever. You go for Sun Titan as your first Empath target, and then sac it to Therapy, Nightmare, or Tower, then drop Titan, bringing back Empath to grab Kokusho. Cut the 2nd copy. Add a 22nd land with it -- I'd recommend a Plains. Sometimes you'll be going nuts with Explorer + Tower and you'll have a Plains in hand, which will lock you out of dropping a t2 Baneslayer or Sigarda. Also, Rishadan Port is a card, as is Wasteland. Having extra white sources in a build that's running Sigarda and Baneslayer is important.

4: You don't need a solid wincon. You have plenty already. Baneslayer and Sigarda will win you probably 2/3s of your games by themselves, with the rest being Deed blowouts, Titan, Kokusho looping, and so on. Elspeth + anything becomes a solid wincon when you need it to be, although if there's any question at all, focus on grinding your opponent out by making babies and ulting her. Elspeth emblem + Deed = won game vs almost any fair deck in the format.

5: I'd recommend adding a Leyline of Sanctity to your board in place of the Moat. You don't want to lose to some random asshole playing burn, and Sanctity has other uses vs most combo decks, Pox, Deadguy, and other fringe decks. It's not really an allstar vs the tier decks, but it does enough vs the tier two decks that it's worth including. You can also board it in vs SneakShow to nullify their Misdirections on your discard.

6: I'd shave the Leyline of the Void and 1x Thoughtseize for 2x of any combination of Cranial Extraction and/or Memoricide. Extraction effects are good vs Sneak, Reanimator, and Stoneblade, as well as any kind of grindy attrition-control deck like ThopterSword. Being able to take your opponent's best card out of the equation is pretty awesome. Stoneblade without Jaces is much, much less scary, for example.

7: Maybe. I would at least consider shaving the Choke in favor of a Chains of Mephistopheles. Chains is the nut high vs reanimator, Sneak, and HighTide, while still having utility vs other decks (especially blue ones with Brainstorm). It can sometimes be awkward due to how we tend to use Top lategame (essentially cheating on our next draw step), but if you hold extra lands in your hand you can get around that. Your mileage will vary -- I like it personally, but it's a little meta dependent, and it requires you to play it in a specific way. Depending on when your GPT is you might have trouble finding one and/or learning how to use it.

Some valid points, i mainly figured a mainboard Moat would've been overkill, but you're probably right.

I really thought i had a Recurring Nightmare in the deck, i'll change that right away.
Also, good point on the Empaths, aswell as the sideboard matters, problem is i have some leyline incoming next week, but probably too late for this weekend. Chains i will probably not be able to get in time either, but i can give it a shot.

I'm not actually to fond of the Cranial Extraction/Memoricide plan, but i suppose i can give it a shot, against what exactly would you board them in? Control MU's with Jace as main kill-con? Non BurningWish combo decks?

This would bring the Mainboard to:
-1 Fierce Empath
-1 Grave Titan
-1 Humility
+1 Recurring Nightmare
+1 Moat
+1 Plains

and the sideboard to
-1 Humility
-1 Leyline of the Void
-1 Thoughtseize
+1 Leyline of Sanctity (if i can find it)
+1 Memoricide
+1 Chains of Mephistopheles (if i can find it also)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Arianrhod

@Qweerios ...I actually glossed over PHunter...he is in fact quite beastly. I'm starting to think that him and Ooze are arguably the two greatest strengths of running straight GB, as a tricolor list can't reliably support either of them. That said, I still prefer the way the tricolor lists play, and the increased range of options that they have ... but GB does have things going for it as well. I still say it's mostly personal preference, and there isn't really a difference of viability from color to color.

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Primal Hunter is indeed a great plus for running two colors, however, I don't think card selection is the greatest selling point of BG Nic Fit. 2 colored lists don't get their manabase disrupted by RUG or Maverick, tricolored do. Wastelands only slow me down, they don't knock half of my hand out. The main strength of BG is that Maverick, RUG, DnT, Goblins, Merfolk are not favorable matchups, they are byes. I think I could easely add Fierce Empath + Kokusho to my list and get an even better engine going when my Titan fetches Volrath Tower. However, I don't really see the point since my opponent usually doesnt have much of a board or a hand by the time I get to GSZ for 5 or 6.

I think that if you are going to play GBw, do it for the Rector package in the same way that you would play GBu for Gifts, not for the Baneslayers, not for the Sun Titan, and not for all the other appealing jank...

I have played GBw Nic Fit for nearly half of my Nic Fit playtime and I have a question for the forum:

What do you need a third color(white) for? What does the third color solve that BG cannot?

@Qweerios: I'm playing GBW and that is for swords and Sigarda, but I latelely agree that straight GB would be more consistent and white doesn't solve the same problems GB have.
Now I'm testing the blue version, and I have to say that is the most exciting of qll nic fit combinations I have tested. I don't like Gifts too much, just being more graveyard dependant and hateable. The card advantage that blue offers is just sick. Coiling Oracle and Baleful Strix, for ramping and stalling, then brainstorm and fact or fiction for a real card quality and advantage, and Jace, absolutely nuts in Nic Fit. Then, consecrated shpinx, just stops almost all flyings (except for emrakul and griselbrand), and the card draw it offers is the most broken thing you can play. It is so easy to find the correct piece or answer with the blue version that I am going to put it on work.

@Qweerios

Well I've played with the Gbw list for quite some time and have topped 8 with it... but have never played Gb since, honestly speaking, I'm never comfortable without white in any list...As I am also a junk/deadguy and maverick player.White is my color as well..

My main purpose for white was swords to plowshare and versatility.. Rector added some help and utility...and again, swords to plowshares is a must in my list...I also ran 2 ee. just to add versatility of mass removal, to avoid needles...

However it is true that if you want consistency Gb might be the best way to go... I have constantly beaten RUg with 3 color.. its quite an easy matchup, Maverick is a different story, since both maverick players I test with have 3 mindcensors maindeck..which can be quite annoying for fetch lands as well as explorers, and zeniths..

But I will avoid my stereo typical "need" of white and test Bg...

@Viridia -- I forgot that we were switching the Moat and Humility, so I didn't take that into consideration like a derp. You definitely want the Humility in your board -- ignore the Cranial/Memoricide and just put Humility there. That's my bad. And yeah, if you can't find a Sanctity or a Chains in time, don't worry about it too much. They're very powerful tools to have, but they can be substituted.

@the Blue Version -- Fact or Fiction is much better than Gifts is in that deck. I didn't want to believe it since Gifts is literally one of my favorite cards ever, and I really wanted it to work...but Fact is just better, sadly. I'd like to say that Consecrated Sphinx is a main reason to play blue, since drawing 6 off their Brainstorm is hotttttt. But if I'm being honest, it's -still- Fact or Fiction. It's just too good -- and people are idiots when making piles, because that's a forgotten skill. Nobody's used Fact in so long now that people don't remember how to do it. And sometimes the deck just gives you a lose-lose pile where no matter how they do it you're winning.

@Qweerios -- I'm going to make one or two quick comments before the color discussion. You don't need Empath/Kokusho at all. Your list is set up to do different things, and that's fine. One question though: as I looked over your list again, why no Karakas just for utility/the ability to save Kodama when shit goes south? Seems like your list could get away with Karakas more so than the tricolor lists.

Okay, color time.

GB: the "stock" list -- the green/black list follows the oldest traditional Rock decks in that it aggressively disrupts, then drops a hard-to-deal-with threat and rides that threat to victory.

Modus operandi: Discard all the things, remove some of the things, win with Kodama, PHunter, Primeval->twin towers.

Strengths: This is my perception, as I haven't played it. RUG, Maverick, Storm depending on board, probably Reanimator depending on board, Merfolk

Weaknesses: This is my perception, as I haven't played it. Burn, Sneak/Show, Stoneblade, maybe U/R Delver, maybe U/W Miracles, maybe Goblins, Storm depending on board, Reanimator depending on board (but probably not).

The way I see it, the GB version is weak to a lot of random shit that isn't very popular, and is very strong against the two most popular decks, and the board very likely makes you favored vs storm and reanimator. I would think Gobs would be a bad matchup for you, though, since you can't really use your sacrifice removal effectively vs them, and they can just "go off" with Matron or Ringleader after you've discarded their hand. I might be wrong though -- as I said, this one is just theoretical by me, as I see things. Although I didn't add it to the list as it's more of a random matchup that isn't common, DnT is probably a hard match. Revoker on Deed is a blowout, and again sacrifice removal isn't very good due to their swarm. Your version is also heavy spell-base, so Thalia is more effective than any of us would like to admit.

GBW: the popular girl -- the white splash list plays more like modern rock decks, but with less disruption and more prison effects.

Modus Operandi: Modicums of discard and removal, with a multitude of prison effects and big threats. Win with Kokusho, Sun Titan, Elspeth, Baneslayer, Sigarda, or just through prison via Moat, Leyline of Sanctity, Humility, Chains, etc.

Strengths: RUG, Storm, Zoo, Merfolk, Gobs, Burn, U/R Delver, Stoneblade.

Weaknesses: questionably Reanimator and Sneak/Show, Maverick is borderline depending on their build, maybe U/W Miracles but I'm guessing not (haven't tested it), 12post is unwinnable (lol).

The white version doesn't enjoy Aven Mindcensor at all, because Rector builds use a secondary tutor engine beyond just Green Sun. It's stronger vs tribal and some of the random matchups just because it's doing more powerful things, and if you can survive long enough vs Reanimator and Sneak, you're pretty much a lock to win. The White is stronger than G/B lategame, but G/B stands a better chance at getting to that lategame -- kind of a conundrum. The RUG matchup isn't a bye like it used to be, but it's still heavily in our favor. Grindy control matches are where the White is most at home -- it can grind Stoneblade and BUG out no problem, and my GUESS is that Miracles is probably favorable, but since I haven't tested it I put it down as questionably negative for the sake of argument. The White dies to fast reanimator and Sneak hands, along with aggressive draws from Maverick usually including at least one Mindcensor, and aggressive RUG draws involving 1-land-hands. It also is somewhat vulnerable to Wasteland, although smart play can lower the chances of a blowout (ie basic Swamp, Cabal Therapy, check for wastelands to see how you develop your board).

GBU -- the upstart. People seem to really like the BUG version. The Blue will literally drown your opponent in value and card advantage.

Modus Operandi: value, value, value. Primary win conditions include Jace TMS, Kokusho, Consecrated Sphinx, Grave Titan, and having literally 10 cards left in deck compared to your opponent's 30.

Strengths: Storm, Reanimator, Sneak/Show, Maverick, maybe Elves, RUG, Stoneblade.

Weaknesses: Merfolk, questionably U/W Miracles, Enchantress, Burn and U/R Delver depending on the number of Sulfuric Vortexes, maybe Goblins.

The Blue is the combo killer of the family. Outside of Enchantress, I don't think I've run into a combo deck it can't beat reliably yet. Generating value while chumping leads the way to stomping Maverick and RUG, while drowning everyone out with card advantage is just generally good vs everyone else. Having 3 6-drops alongside Jace leads to one of the most powerful endgames out of the archetype, and the Blue sports greatly increased stability to get there with Brainstorm and a backup ramp engine in the form of Coiling Oracle + Recurring Nightmare. Nightmare is arguably more broken here than in any other color combination, since you have Baleful Strix and Coiling Oracle alongside the usual suspects. The Blue also runs a 3rd Eternal Witness to set up that loop more easily.

GBR: the outcast. Jund had a brief moment of popularity, but that seems to have disappeared now.

Modus Operandi: a bit more ramp-oriented, with a Burning Wish engine that fuels a Scapeshift kill. Alternatively, Huntmaster of the Fells is absurd in legacy, and some lists sport Punishing Fire to machine gun tribal and Maverick's weenies.

Strengths: Merfolk, maybe Goblins, RUG, Maverick, Burn (somehow), maybe U/R Delver, most random decks.

Weaknesses: maybe Stoneblade, Storm, Reanimator, Sneak/Show, questionably Miracles but probably not.

The problem here is whether the list runs Burning Wish or not. With Wish, the Red can pull wins out of its ass because it can blow people out with specific, targeted hate cards in g1 scenarios. Burning Wish for Virtue's Ruin is a nightmare for Maverick. For Tsunami is pretty much better than Stoneblade and Miracles. For Scapeshift, well, you win against everything random (and sometimes vs tier decks that have stumbled). It can race Burn. At the same time, the Punishing Fire versions without Scapeshift or Wish are much more stable, and much better equipped to deal with tribal decks. I just kind of combined the two sub-sub-versions in the strengths/weaknesses -- I feel like although Wish can supplement otherwise bad matchups and make them at least 50/50, that doesn't mean they suddenly become strengths. At the same time, I'll also mention that my experience with the red version is currently limited as I haven't been putting time into it. I just picked up a set of Taigas at Atlanta, though, so I actually have the mana base to work on it now. I do feel like the red version is currently the weakest, though, unless Tribal becomes more of a force than it currently is.

To summarize, I feel that the biggest thing that the third color adds is a backup engine. White: Rector. Red: Wish. Blue: Brainstorm/Fact/Oracle/Strix (blue adds a lot of them, lol). Red is the fastest and the most flexible, Blue is the most stable, White is the most powerful.

I feel like straight G/B occupies the center region -- it has elements of each of the three splashes in balance, but doesn't go to any one extreme. It doesn't have a backup engine, but it's stable by default. It doesn't have much speed, but it's fairly flexible based on its board and GSZ targets. It doesn't have many win conditions, but it does have one particularly powerful one. And so.

I'm not going to make any value judgments here -- I'll leave that to the replies. You asked what I think a third color brings, well, there's a summary for you.

Wow, quite an essay you wrote there. I too think that the blue splash is the most prominent because Jace is such a beating (imagine alongside Lily and Garruk, what a team!). Brainstorm looks like a great tool with all the shufflers we have as well. I fail to see, however, how Fact or Fiction is superior to Gifts. Fact is limited to the top cards of your deck while Gift allows you to make impossible piles and leaves you with 2 quality cards at worst.

Also, I don't think StP is better than Innocent Blood in this deck. If I were to go back to the white splash soon, I probably wouldn't play StP over Blood either. Blood has much more synergy with the rest of the deck and fetching a Plains is the last thing you want to do with your opener.

Oh yeah, Karakas doesn't work with Kodama. He's Shrouded, not Hexproof.

Oops, forgot about that RE Kodama. Derp.

I like having some number of instant-speed removal postboard to supplement Deed because Gilded Drake is a savage beating, especially for the white version. If RUG can take our Baneslayer or Sun Titan, things get really, really ugly. I do like Innocent Blood a lot since it's both an enabler for our deck and can really put the opponent on their backfoot in the proper situation, but that's just it -- it's situational. I won't say that Drake isn't, but a lot of times Maverick post-Deed will drop like a Knight and a Hierarch or Mom that they've been sandbagging, making Blood useless. I generally like a 1-of removal suite with the archetype (regardless of color) because Eternal Witness grants us a lot of options. It's weird -- for as much as people love their Snapcasters, I'm surprised that they haven't realized how good the original Snapcaster still is. I think we can safely agree that the full 4 StP is wrong. Ideally I think I'd like something like a 2/2 split with Blood between main and sideboard, but opening slots in my list is like pulling teeth at this point.

The biggest problem that I have with Gifts is that it's slow as tar. Most savvy players are going to grant you the "recursion" cards because that will make it take more mana for you to get what you want -- for example, in a pile of Consecrated Sphinx, Recurring Nightmare, Eternal Witness, and Regrowth, you're going to get Witness and Regrowth. Now, at EoT this is closer to fine, esp. in the blue list since it has a backup ramp engine. However, consider the following: you have 8 lands in play, no cards in hand. your opponent is similarly out of gas. You rip Gifts Ungiven off the top. You make a pile of like 6-drop, Witness, Empath, Nightmare. You have 4 mana left, and he gives you Witness Empath. You're still not in a BAD spot, but there's a lot of things your opponent can rip to make your life miserable. Now in the same situation, let's say it was a Fact or Fiction instead. You drop FoF into the open board, 4 mana left. FoF flips.....let's say GSZ, Strix, Jace, land, land. No matter what way he makes the pile, you're going to do something awesome. Even in the WORST CASE, you hit 5 lands and those are 5 lands you aren't drawing. With the deck thinning of Explorer, though, this is very unlikely. IMO you're still further ahead in the same situation than Gifts. Gifts also requires you to run a lot of situation 1-of splits to be able to take advantage of it properly, which can lead to sloppy deck construction.

Probably the two most damning arguments vs Gifts, though, are the following:

1) The 2nd Gifts is ass. You only ever want one Gifts, because it's going to get the 4 best cards in your deck (or 2 best + 2 recursion, or whatever). If you Gifts for Nightmare, 6-drop, Witness, GSZ (probably the best "win the game" pile you can make in the abstract, pending board state), what the heck do you do with subsequent Gifts?

2) You don't have access to the best cards that go with Gifts: Sun Titan and Unburial Rites (for different purposes). Witness/Nightmare/Titan/[situational creature] is disgusting and degenerate. The problem is that given the core shell is GB, you would need a double splash to make this happen -- one of which needs to accommodate a WW cost. Even more irritating is that we have the mana to actually abuse Gifts -> Unburial+target in legacy, but, again, the colors are problematic.

My proposed solution is that if we really feel like messing with Gifts, we try the impossible and attempt to make some kind of bastardized 5cc fueled by the Explorer engine probably backed up by Reflecting Pools. God only knows what this would look like, and I'm really not sure that the lure of making an effective Gifts deck is actually worth the time that would be spent attempting R&D.

I'll end before I write another essay with the disclaimer that I actually tried to shoehorn blue (for Gifts) into my GBW list like 6 months ago, and when it worked, it was disgusting...but it didn't often work. And that I originally had a 2/2 split of Gifts/FoF in the blue version, but Gifts underperformed in testing every single time. I really, really like it -- I just haven't gotten it to work, to the point where I've despaired of actually being able to.

@ Arianrhod - Yeah the Humility will be in my SB, aswell as a Leyline, however i won't be able to find the Chains in time, atm that spot is filled with the 4th Thoughtseize, but i',m not sure if there isnt actually something better.

Maybe put Faith's Fetters in the board? With the resurgence of Maverick and the decline of Sneak, I think that O-Ring is going to switch back. Fetters really is better for the deck overall, since it is a more solid answer to planeswalkers, is over the average Deed hump of x=3, gains 4 life (more relevant than one might think), and also stops problematic lands like Maze of Ith, Academy Ruins, etc. At Atlanta I found myself digging for my Vindicate for Maze of Ith a lot, and that got kind of annoying. O-Ring's better if there's a lot of Show and Tell around, which it sounded like there is in your meta, so I'd leave Ring in main, and put Fetters in the board for Maverick, Burn, Blade, and RUG. Don't forget that if you Rector it into play, you can put it on Nimble Mongoose despite Shroud.

Yeah last tournaments there was an average of 2 s&t in the top 8 including a mirror final, so i'll keep the o-ring mainboard and the fetters sideboard then.

My main reasons to play the BUG list are:
Jace + Deed + Mana acceleration due to Explorer. Most fair decks just can't beat that. Brainstorm indeed increases the stability of your draws to an absurd level. Strix and Oracle are doing exactly what they are supposed to do: Generate infinite value and protect Jace really well (especially Strix). They also pitch to your SB'd FoW. Playing U but no counters maindeck is super-fun, as long as you can play the bluffing game well. And I like the colors. :D

Merfolk is indeed a weak matchup. I tested vs. a list with the new M13 Lord and relying on islands was utterly devastating for me. The single game I've won I never played or fetched a blue mana source, so my value creatures could actually block something. Islandwalk and the fact that they are playing so many lords so quick is a real concern.

I also tested vs. a Counterbalance Miracles list, and I'd say BUG (or "Valuetown" as I came to call it) is favoured. You simply draw more cards than them. Granted, they can counter our Sixes with Terminus off Counterbalance (yes, that happened), but that's a losing proposition. FoF is very valuable here, since you can EoT bait a counter and then cast Jace. The only difficulty is the fact that you can't control the top of their deck.

On FoF vs Gifts: Gifts is just so slow. And with 3 Witnesses and lots of value creatures, there are barely 5 cards you can do nothing with. I was always happy when I could cast FoF. You have less control about what you get, but overall, the card seems a lot faster. Plus, people really are that bad at dividing FoF-cards. And with 3 Witness, chances are that you already have one in your hand. And then, FoF becomes utterly ridiculous.

SB:
Extirpates were really good for me as of yet. I changed the Duresses to Thoughtseizes, to be able to discard Griselbrands etc. It appears you only need the additional discard in non-aggro matchups.

So why Stryx when we have access to Wall of Blossom?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Qweerios

So why Stryx when we have access to Wall of Blossom?

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Deathtouch + Flying blocks/kills anything. Walls living through a couple ground pounders is a lot less relevant.

Flying AND deathtouch is a huge difference, especially considering that we are short on removal. Having the possibility to block and kill Griselbrand, Sigarda, delver, and all non-flying creatures is the difference.

It is not comparable, when you play Strix opponent is afraid of it, and not as a simple wall that just blocks.

Edit: HoneyT has won me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by soiber2000

Flying AND deathtouch is a huge difference, especially considering that we are short on removal. Having the possibility to block and kill Griselbrand, Sigarda, delver, and all non-flying creatures is the difference.

It is not comparable, when you play Strix opponent is afraid of it, and not as a simple wall that just blocks.

Edit: HoneyT has won me.

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I think the bug version is worth a try, so I went back to the last list , is this considered a starting point for bug or are there any other lists to look at?
Cause I find some choices a little bit confusing and not really fitting.

Thanks in advance

Arianrhod, can you post your current BUG list? I really want to test it :)