[Deck] Affinity

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Originally Posted by Asmahasmalaria

May i ask how many creatures you run and which? Personally i feel like less than 24 creatures is to less and there is not much space, when you need
3 Tezzeret and a playset each of Thoughtcast, spingleaf drum, mox opal and platings. Which card do you cut for Revoker and why?

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Here's my current Affinity list:


// Lands
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Ancient Tomb

// Creatures
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Vault Skirge
3 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Etched Champion

// Spells
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas

// Sideboard
SB: 1 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 4 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt
SB: 4 Oblivion Ring
SB: 4 Whipflare


So I'm running 23 creatures, that's acceptable I guess.

Note that I'm not on a "swarm plan" but more on an "alpha strike plan", where Champion and Ravager become more important then Pest and MoE.
Basically, my list plays Revoker in place of Pests, and prefers Ravager to MoE. The rest of the maindeck is pretty standard.
I prefer to have some control element on my opponent instead of simply going "all in", which is a tactic I never liked on any deck (that's why I could never play something like Belcher for example). The deck stays very fast even without Pests or MoE and a turn 4 (or even 3, but that's very rare) kill has more or less the same probability to happen.

Revoker is good/great in almost any matchup except Canadian, so I'm happy I play a 3-of maindeck. Of course I prefer them over Needle 'cause, even if they are more vulnerable (but in a world of Decays every cheap permanent seems vulnerable as well), they also provide a body, which is crucial in a deck with Plating.

The main issue maindeck is the n° of Tezzerets, because sometimes I feel like I wanted the third copy...
...but maybe 2 is just the right number: they are pretty clunky, you never want to see 2 in your starting hand, and imho the best scenario is drawing them after a couple of turns, when your opponent has already used most of his defensive resources trying to slow you down: for that scenario to happen as often as possible, I think playing 2 copies is the best choice.
If I had to play 3 copies, I'll probably cut a Springleaf or a Memnite, I don't know for sure.


However, I have to say I change up my Affinity list quite often, so it's not like I consider this version as definitive.

Hey guys, I've been reading the threads for a little while now, but only recently have registered to post. I wanted to put up my current deck list (which changes constantly), and ask some questions about why some people prefer some cards over other cards, or the effectiveness of certain other cards.

Main deck:
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest (Shawon, I know you're not a fan, but I've taken a liking to Pest, been using it awhile now)
4 Etched Champion
4 Vault Skirge
3 Master of Etherium
2 Arcbound Ravager
2 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Thoughtcast
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
3 Springleaf Drum
2 Tezzeret
1 Jitte

4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Darksteel Citadel
1 Buried Ruin

SB:
1 Batterskull
3 Rest in Peace
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Revoker

(sorry, don't know how to tag cards)

On SFM: I didn't initially use it, and thought it didn't belong, but decided to give it a try after seeing it on the boards for so long. After playing with it at 2 of, I love it. I think it works in the deck fantastically. Haven't experimented with more than 2 of yet, but I like where it's at right now.

I'm only running 2 of Ravager because I've found that the all in strategy can sometimes hurt you if you don't know how to work it - though I'm willing to admit this might be because I'm not yet experienced enough with playing to make him a longer game-winning plan. The decrease of Ravager is only recent, though, so I'm seeing how I like it.

Final Fortune mentioned that Vault Skirge isn't as impressive, but I, personally, think it's one of the best cards in the deck, along with Champion. Skirge flies and gets there with lifelink, which has been very relevant in a lot of match-ups. And Champion shores up the fair deck match up. I went to Chantilly and played pretty much nothing but fair decks, and every time Champion landed, my opponent was in trouble. It's an easy side out for combo, but I think we want to be focusing on being more brutal towards our good match-ups, instead of watering down in the hopes that our bad match-ups will be better. Several of my Jund/Maverick/Junk friends have told me that Champion is the only thing that they're scared of in the deck.

What do you suggest between Buried Ruin and Academy Ruins? I agree with Shawon, I don't like Tundra at all, it doesn't do anything for the deck. But I've found that I really like the interaction of Buried Ruin and I've been playing with it for awhile. I was wondering if placing it in your hand was better than wasting a draw to get the card you want. The obvious plus to Academy Ruins is that you can keep doing it without losing a land, but I've had some of my friends point out that Buried Ruin putting it in your hand can be crucial. Thoughts?

Thoughtseize has been bounced around a few times, but why not Cabal Therapy? Against the match-ups you don't like, call the one card you're afraid of, then sac the Ornithopter to get rid of the other one. One time I beat a Sneak and Show by naming Show and Tell, got two of them, then sac'd Thopter to get 2 Brainstorms, giving him a three card hand with no way to play the Griselbrand in his hand. Needless to say, I crushed him that game. I also used to run Surgical Extraction, which I liked a lot with Therapy, but I've taken that out in favor of more Canonist. Because Canonist.

I tried out the Chalice and the Ancient Tomb and didn't like either card in the deck. I found that I'd much rather have the artifact land instead of the additional mana to help out Opal, Plating, and Tezz. I figured Tomb was only really in the deck for Batterskull and Chalice, with an added benefit making it easier to cast Tezz. And while Chalice does hurt a lot of decks more than ours, I just found that I would much rather be playing some kind of beater, or putting more threats on the board. I notice that not as many lists are running Master, but I like Master over Chalice. Yeah, it's slower, but it not only turns on Thopters, but it's a threat that the opponent has to deal with. If they don't, they die. And, hey, if you want to Swords my 8/8 beater, that's fine with me. You've just given me more time to kill you.

Thanks for the input,
~Will

Glad to see you put some thought and effort into your list, and even better that you took the time to research this thread to come up with your questions, Will. Welcome to The Source.

I don't hate Signal Pest, but I did have to make the case that it is bad to support running Stoneforge Mystic over Pest in that Esper list. Though, now that I've running Inkmoth Nexus, I have been noticing from calculating that the I can hit for usually as high up to 9 Infect damage if I go all-in on Inkmoth as early as I can, which makes me think of how I would've been able to hit for 10 infect had I had Signal Pest. I still think Vault Skirge is better in my list, but I do think of Signal Pest in the back of my mind even though I disapprove of running it. But hey, you're running both Stoneforge Mystic and Signal Pest, so I'm not going to argue with you since you also endorse Mystic.

I don't feel the need to give you advice on what numbers to run specifically of each card, because I feel that those numbers you reached have been based on your own play experience. I think you exhibit sound reasoning for running 2 Ravager because you are indeed correct that going all-in on Ravager is a line of attack that is hard to perform correctly without enough experience. Just keep testing and you'll figure out the build that's suited for you.

I actually thought about Buried Ruin while walking my dog (I sometimes get a lot of ideas for Affinity while walking my dog). I like that Buried Ruin can rebuy an artifact and let you cast it on the same turn, and its ability costs only colorless mana. However, Ruins has recurring value, and I think putting the artifact on top of your library has ONE big advantage over Buried Ruin in that you have a way to survive a Jace TMS ultimate. I have beaten Miracles like this before. That's something to consider.

I'm glad you brought up your dislike of Chalice MD, because that's how I feel about devoting a section of the MD for techy cards typically meant for the SB. I always feel like a weaker aggro deck as a result.

My approach is different. (Aside, I'm removing my habit of posting decklists only to spawn little to none feedback or dialogue, so I'll be very infrequent with posting decklists unless I'm reporting my tournament performance.)

Esperblade Affinity (Inkmoth Edition)

Mana
12 Artifact Lands
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Drum
4 Opal
1 Mantle

Creatures
8 Cheeri0s (I typically use "Kobolds," but seeing the Cheeri0s thread in N&D forum, I like it better)
4 Vault Skirge
4 Ravager
4 Champ
3 SFM

Business/Etc.
4 TC
4 Plating
3 Tezz
1 Batterskull

SB:
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pithing Needle
2 Thoughtseize
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Relic of Progenitus



If I could sum up what my variation of Affinity is trying to do, it's to increase the win percentage significantly by reducing the number of mulligans and giving myself more ways to win. My creature count is technically 23, but if you count the 4 Inkmoth, Batterskull, and still exclude Tezzeret as a creature even though it's a threat, I'm effectively running 28 creatures in my deck. That's higher than probably any other Affinity deck out there that is tuned to fight the current meta.

The problems I aimed to solve with making my current iteration of Affinity was the propensity of Affinity to draw weak hands, and just lose gas into the mid- or late-game. I feel that I have solved these problems as best as I could with my current MD. I've said it over and over like a broken record how Stoneforge Mystic adds a stronger, more resilient lategame, while reducing the variance of opening hands that fail to draw into Cranial Plating. Also, by running a healthy number of mana sources, I actually mulligan a lot less; plus, unless I choose to keep a bad hand, I am able to survive well if my opponent tries to grief me instead of winning.

Regarding my SB, since I made the decision to cut Ancient Tombs for Inkmoth, I felt that Chalice became much weaker for me to use as a SB card. However, my goal with SBing for Affinity has always to devote the SB to fighting combo, and I intend to do that. However, with less emphasis on beating Storm really well, I have decided to try a heavy discard package so that I can really pound Show and Tell decks while still not scooping to Storm. I don't feel that graveyard decks are something to worry about, but I am trying my graveyard hate package to see if it lopsides my Reanimator matchup. I still run 2 Relic alongside the 3 Crypt so that I can use Relics against something like RUG or Jund.

The Pithing Needle is there instead of Revoker because I really, really, really, want to stop Umezawa's Jitte. I don't believe Phyrexian Revoker is a safe answer to Jitte, because unlike Death & Taxes, you don't have any complimentary strategies that make it more inconvenient for the opponent to get rid of Revoker (i.e. Thalia, Mother of Runes) besides applying pure aggression, so I want to be able to place my trust on a card that provides more certainty against the one card that potentially devastates my deck.

hmm, i have to admit i never thought of buried ruins before, could be really intresting, specially since we depend on plating a big time

on the other hand the arguement for academy ruins to survive jace ultimate striked me hard, never thought of that as well, lovely interaction, really

cabal therapy is really awesome in this deck, but i think its performance is even better in the non-SFM builds, because there are a lot more cheap threats (generally i love cabal therapy, its the most potent discard spell if you know how to play it right..... yes even better than thoughtseize IMO)

one thing i was wondering about is that i do not see anyone using frogmite anymore, what would be your reason to not use him, i actually think he is still very good, specially if you also run ancient tomb
he surely is not the best threat we can run, but he still is really good for the aggro-plan of the deck and will mostly land on 1st turn

what are your thoughts on frogmite, and what cards would be best running together with frogmite (pest and master come to my mind to make him more of a threat)

the other thing that i have been wondering is, why so few people use master anymore, well yes he is a dumb beater unlike ravager, but he is still powerfull, specially in the swarm-style affinity builds


last thing i was thinking about is if it would be possible running cabal therapy and chalice in the sideboard even if they really do not like each other
what matchups is cabal therapy better, what matchups is chalice better
against storm it is possible to use both, if you use chalice on 0 but outside of that i do not feel like there is a matchup you would want both, or am i wrong (have to admit i did not test both at the same time, and the use of cabal therapy in this deck is a bit different from using it in Junk/Rock, which is the deck i play the most)

I really like the idea of Tidehollow Sculler, so I think I might try him out, myself. You get to strip whatever you want from their hand, without having to name it beforehand, and it's another artifact to boost what you've got. Useful against both Storm and Show and Tell. And I agree about the combo hate in the SB - I commonly bring in at least 10 cards, if not more, for any given combo deck. And I do agree with making the Show and Tell match a little better - I've found that I want to bring in more, but there's nothing else left in my side. But I also love Canonist a lot, and she can also be useful in other match-ups, randomly, so I'll play around with Sculler and figure out where to fit him. Apparently there's a legacy tournament in my area this weekend, so I'll try out Sculler and let you know what I think.

I don't think you need 5 pieces devoted for gy hate, though. Like you said, I don't think gy decks right now are that much to worry about, and I think choosing either Relic or Crypt is sufficient. I played with Relic for a long time, and I preferred that over Crypt, primarily because it replaces itself, but I'm working with RiP right now, because it just seems so good. A gy deck HAS to deal with that first before continuing any part of their win plan, whereas for Crypt and Relic, they can bait. RiP just seems more solid and reliable. And much more crippling.

I keep going back and forth between Revoker and Needle, myself, but I also return to Revoker. Having an extra body is pretty nice, even if he is a target for a lot of removal. And also, my Revokers are foil and my Needles are not. That's a good reason, right? Right? Although, to be fair, two more reasons I keep going back to Revoker: LED and Deathrite.

Frogmite - I can't decide on what I think about that guy. I ran it for a little bit, and it was kinda neat to be on more a swarm plan game one, and then I figured he was an easy side out games two and/or three. Supposedly, he's a free 2/2 in our deck, making him a little better than Memnite, but I found he was often too inconsistent. And I'm pretty sure I replaced him straight up with Signal Pest, which is, in my opinion, absolutely the better card. Whether you want to run Pest or SFM (or both, in my case) is another thing, but I think Pest is definitely the better choice between it and Frogmite.

As I said in my previous post, I love Master. If he isn't answered, he will win you the game. I've considered going up to a fourth Master, as I saw a lot of older decklists had done, but at the end of the day, he's just as vulnerable to things like Ancient Grudge or, you know, that bad card called Abrupt Decay.

Tidehollow Sculler was the reason I beat Sneak-Show in my top 8 at the Newington GPT. After he main phased Brainstorm, I draw a mox Opal, make four mana, cast Ravager, cast Sculler, first trigger on stack, sacrifice Sculler to Ravager, second trigger resolves, first trigger resolves. Show and Tell is exiled forever :cool:.

Leaving A Legacy: Affinity At #SCGOAK, by Ian Anderson:

http://www.starcitygames.com/article...At-SCGOAK.html

Ian Anderson's article is great, hopefully we will see him post a result in Vegas this weekend.

Anyway, how I think about affinity is that the goal is to beat the fair decks, which are very popular right now. I want to build affinity in such a way that cards like TNN, goyf, lightning bolt, plow, daze, and other format staples have a minimal impact. Affinity is soft to combo and sweepers. Given a little hate I think combo is winnable matchup. However, if TNN takes off and people start putting lots of sweepers in their decks and things like RUG disappear, then affinity is going to have a tough time. That said people have posted a lot of stuff since I was last in here so I'll post some quick thoughts on cards given my perspective on the deck.

SFM: Still don't like it. It seems like we are pretty firmly in two camps here so I'll just say a really important consideration when playing affinity is your cheap artifact count. Whenever you add non-artifact spells or expensive spells you increase your risk to mulligan. In addition, with only 4 colored artifact lands, 4 opal, 4 drum, and maybe one other colored source you definitely aren't guaranteed to hit your mana.

Disciple of the Vault: I think this guy is pretty terrible. Sure with ravager you can sometimes shorten your clock a turn. Without ravager he does nothing. Galvanic blast would be better. In addition he has no evasion so he can't carry plating well, he'll run into goyfs or TNNs all day. He doesn't turn on opal and you can't cast him off an ancient tomb. I want my cheap guys to fly at the least. Also he's the goggles against a terminus.

Inkmoth Nexus vs Ancient Tomb: I really think it is vs because I think you need 12 artifact lands. One thing people don't talk about is using ancient tomb to play around daze or spell pierce. It of course really helps casting Tezz or Chalice on 1, but it's pretty powerful to have a card that essentially blanks daze, helps vs a thalia, and maybe even let's you get by spell pierce on plating.

Land Counts: I think 17 land is optimal, 16 is cutting it a little tight. If you run well and can put less land in your deck good on you, but I think with anything less than 16 lands and 8 accelerants you're just going to mulligan too much.

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Originally Posted by jseed

SFM: Still don't like it. It seems like we are pretty firmly in two camps here so I'll just say a really important consideration when playing affinity is your cheap artifact count. Whenever you add non-artifact spells or expensive spells you increase your risk to mulligan. In addition, with only 4 colored artifact lands, 4 opal, 4 drum, and maybe one other colored source you definitely aren't guaranteed to hit your mana.

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I've been on both camps, just so you know. If you really dig back 20 pages back in 2012, I ridiculed people who brought up SFM, you know, like "Why not just play Steelshaper's Gift LOL?" I sounded like an idiot back then. Then Abrupt Decay & Deathrite Shaman came along, I tried a 1-of SFM, then a 2-of... and you know the rest. So I understand exactly why you think Stoneforge Mystic is bad, because I was sitting in your chair a year ago.

That said, nothing you have said is really accurate once you start playing with SFM. You are grasping at straws saying the deck runs into problems casting SFM. The only negative impact Stoneforge Mystic has on your own mulligans is not being able to chain Thoughtcasts on turn 1 or set up a Zerg rush on turn 2, both of which scenarios are usually idealistic "nut hand" scenarios. Other than that, Stoneforge Mystic actually improves your mulligans, even if you only run Plating as your only Equipment, because it removes your dependency on just drawing Plating naturally to make use of your hands. It gets even better when you include more targets for SFM, because those Equipment can either assist you in casting your cards (Mantle if you have no access to :u:, happens a lot) or just force your opponent to address SFM (Batterskull) as a red herring to distract attention from whatever creature you are going to equip with Plating. You say you don't want to worry about Lightning Bolt? SFM helps you do this, much better than Signal Pest.

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Inkmoth Nexus vs Ancient Tomb: I really think it is vs because I think you need 12 artifact lands. One thing people don't talk about is using ancient tomb to play around daze or spell pierce. It of course really helps casting Tezz or Chalice on 1, but it's pretty powerful to have a card that essentially blanks daze, helps vs a thalia, and maybe even let's you get by spell pierce on plating.

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That's really only it. Ancient Tomb makes your broken hands more broken, and it's a beast against Daze/taxing effects, everyone knows this. But sometimes the speed of Tomb doesn't matter in the long run against games that take it to the lategame, like any midrange deck. I want to be able to stay in the late game long enough, which is why I like upping my threat density. Plus, I also want to be able to steal games against combo or against any opponent who thinks the only way I can use Ravager is if I'm going for an alpha strike, which is why I like Inkmoth over Ancient Tomb. It's so easy to dismiss Inkmoth because Wasteland exists, which makes it more surprising for your opponent, and more rewarding for me, when I'm able to win with an Infect kill.

Hi all, I'm relatively new to the site and the format but have taken a particular interest in Affinity and the Rock. I've built a deck based on a lot of the information you have all presented here. Just for the record, I'm currenly pro-SFM and am running 4 copies. I agree that the increased access to plating and/or batterskull has really stood out, at least in the short time I have been playing the deck. I had cut pest to fit SFM.

Just had a thought today and wanted to see if it had been previously considered and get your opinions. Has anyone tried running STP in a version of Affinity? I'm think it could be good for a few reasons: 1) its cheap, 2) good defensive weapon and most importantly 3) we could use it on our selves as a way to facilitate on the fly transfers of counters from ravanger to skirge or champion. Attack with a champion or skirge sac a bunch of artifats to ravanger then STP it. Has anyone experimented with someting like that?

We have Dispatch instead of STP.

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3) we could use it on our selves as a way to facilitate on the fly transfers of counters from ravanger to skirge or champion. Attack with a champion or skirge sac a bunch of artifats to ravanger then STP it. Has anyone experimented with someting like that?

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Why would you want to ever do this?

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Originally Posted by Shawon

Tidehollow Sculler was the reason I beat Sneak-Show in my top 8 at the Newington GPT. After he main phased Brainstorm, I draw a mox Opal, make four mana, cast Ravager, cast Sculler, first trigger on stack, sacrifice Sculler to Ravager, second trigger resolves, first trigger resolves. Show and Tell is exiled forever :cool:.

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Nice technique, but just because i am curious: Why did you need that play?

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Originally Posted by Asmahasmalaria

Nice technique, but just because i am curious: Why did you need that play?

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I didn't need to sacrifice Sculler at all, because he didn't even SB against me. I did need Sculler to get that Show and Tell out of my opponent's hand, though, so I could freely put him on a two-turn clock next turn. The point is, all any combo deck has to do to get the card, exiled from Sculler, back is to remove Sculler. The trick with Sculler precludes the opponent from ever getting their exiled card back. It's nice to have, but it's not the justification for why Sculler is in the SB.

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Originally Posted by Shawon

I didn't need to sacrifice Sculler at all, because he didn't even SB against me. I did need Sculler to get that Show and Tell out of my opponent's hand, though, so I could freely put him on a two-turn clock next turn. The point is, all any combo deck has to do to get the card, exiled from Sculler, back is to remove Sculler. The trick with Sculler precludes the opponent from ever getting their exiled card back. It's nice to have, but it's not the justification for why Sculler is in the SB.

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Ok so you didnt know wheather he boarded a pyroclasm (or whatever) or not and you wanted to make sure the show and tell stays gone?

Exactly.

i was thinking about the following thing

what would our changes be to the deck if more and more decks in the format start using golgari charm or something likely to get rid of TNN be, because golgari charm/zealos persecution almost singlehandedly kills of all our small dudes

ravager is a natural answer to that, but still i think that this is not going to be enough in the future once the format changes into anti X/1 spells
stoneforge should be fine as well here, but what other options do we have?

IMO it may become necessary to look into Master of Etherium again and maybe also frogmite even if both do not have evasion
but what would the cuts be? signal pest? skirge?

what do u guys think?

I don't think we're at that point yet. Regardless, I've dealt with Zealous Persecution before, such as last year when Esper Stoneblade packed Lingering Souls. Cards like Zealous Persecution are good reasons why Signal Pest makes Affinity very vulnerable when it tries to go for a swarm plan, which is why I feel Signal Pest shouldn't be bothered with because it's very easy for your opponent to counter that plan.

Why wouldn't Ravager be enough? Ravager -> Champion is still a powerful play. Tezzeret, too. Then again, it's like I said, I think having a higher threat density is more important than more explosive hands if midrange decks like Esper Stoneblade or Bant push back tempo decks, which is why I think Inkmoth Nexus is better for the deck than Ancient Tomb, only if you know how to use Ravager with Inkmoth sufficiently.

sure ravager is awesome in that specific situation, but still, ravager can sometimes be a bit suicidal if the opponent knows exactly what he is doing and forces you to use ravager to get a bit of value out of that situation, and if our opponent abuses that situation it can blow us out of the game

signal pest is surely not a card i like a lot, and yes i think signal pest makes the deck a lot more vulnerable to hate
stoneforge mystic is in fact really good in this slot, but arent there other options aside of mystic?

I don't think Sculler is a good idea, mainly because you're putting all of your anti-combo eggs into the discard basket. I think cards like Meddling Mage or Phyrexian Revoker could be better in addittion to Cabal Therapy, mainly because if you're already mini Mind Twisting them you should probably be protecting yourself from their top decks.

Golgari Charm isn't a big deal, I think you just have to be careful about over commtting with the swarm plan, tho' I don't know if that makes the whole Scourge/Champion builds any better really. Also cough, Disciple cough.

Our deck shouldn't be too afraid of anti-X/1 spells. In fact, I put some Zealous Persecutions in my own board, which in itself is answer to a Zealous Persecution/Golgari Charm. But all of our big guys don't care. And if your guys are going to die, just sac them all to Ravager or something. I also play Masters (2), though, because I just think his threat level is too good to be ignored.

I top 8'd at the tournament yesterday with quite a few changes to the deck. Went back up to 4 Ravager, dumped Signal Pest, added Ancient Tombs, went up to 3 Tezz. Tried Persecution and Sculler in the board. I liked Persecution and brought it in for a good amount of match-ups, didn't need Sculler that much, so I can't really say how much I like him or not. I went 4-1, drew in to top 8. Beat Death and Taxes, Lands, Merfolk, and Shardless BUG. And lost to Infect? I didn't even think that was a deck. Death and Taxes and Merfolk should be in our favor anyway, but the three of Tezz definitely helped against Lands, so in that respect, I like the Ancient Tombs. Shardless BUG is always a competitive match-up, but again, Tezz helps and after side we should have a leg up, as long as you have good gy hate for Goyf and Deathrite, the only real things we're scared of in that deck. Don't know if he had Tombstalker in his deck or not. Lost to Elves first round in Top 8, but I lost game 2 to my own dumb mistake, who knows how game 3 would have gone.

I really like one of Jitte main board, by the way - helps shore up the fair matches. Against Merfolk game one, I landed a SFM, searched up Jitte, resolved Champion, and next turn when I attacked he just scooped. Jitte just kills so many other decks, I definitely prefer that over a mainboard Batterskull.

I mainly just need to learn when to go all in and when to play it safe, but overall, I'm not disappointed yet by going back up to 4 Ravager and dumping the Signal Pest.

Also, while the card itself may be retarded, I kind of like what TNN has done for the format. The number of fair decks has been significantly increased, and our deck is generally really good, or at least very competitive with, fair decks.