Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
I have a question, since I'm noob to this archetype: is there a loop with Flickerwisp and Mangara or does Flickerwisp just allow you to re-use Mangara once?
Also, has 8.5 Tails ever been played in this archetype or is he less than optimal? He's extremely powerful given enough mana...but Mana can be at a premium at times.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
8.5 tails has been plazed and was considered subpar and to manahungry if i remember right
and flickerwisp does allow you to reuse mangara once, but you have to use vial to get flickerwisp in play in response to mangara activation, othervise mangara will be gone forever, but flickerwisp has a lot of other uses as well
removing blocker, remove opponents attacker, so it has again summoning sicknes, setting the counters of a chalice or a engineered explosives to 0, or setting the loyalty-counters of an opposing planeswalker to their initial value, killing a dreadnought or marit lage ......
i think now you should have a picture of how usefull flickerwisp is
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Well, I came up with this off shoot of Death and Taxes that could best be described as Clerics Tribal:
3 Karakas
11 Plains
4 Rishadan
4 Wasteland
4 Aether Vial
3 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Mother of Runes
3 Planar Guide
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Beloved Chaplain
3 War Priest of Thune
1 True Believer
2 8.5 Tails
3 Master Apothecary
3 Mangara of Corondor
It's frustratingly hard to play against and has multiple ways of locking the combat step, either with Apothecary fogs or 8.5. Planar Guide is roughly equivalent to Flickerwisp as far as Mangara interactions go, though it has the added value of protecting the congregation from deed wrath or spout. So far, it has some promise. It's pretty good against survival, at least.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Planar Guide is not equivalent Flickerwisp in helping Mangara. Using Guide Mangara can't remove another creature, because that creature will be removed by Guide.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Antonius
Well, I came up with this off shoot of Death and Taxes that could best be described as Clerics Tribal
What's the advantage of using these alternative creatures?
Specifically: Master Apothecary, Planar Guide, True Believer, Beloved Chaplin... are you finding them to be better than conventional: Serra Avenger, Jotun Grunt, Stoneforge Mystic, Flickerwisp? It seems like you lose any threat of a clock IE nothing swings for more than 2 and you have no evasion. I guess the creature set up is ok versus agro since you can just attition battle them with a field of protection creatures and damage prevention tricks, but we can beat most agro with the conventional list anyway. Combo and Jace based control seem like a nightmare with such a defensive set up.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Hello everyone! I am a former dreadstill player who just recently started playing this deck, I havent played it in any tourneys yet but frequently playing it on MWS and I have to say, woah, this deck is nothing short of amazing!
I have some thoughts on this deck and I would really appreciate some feedback on them.
First of all, how does this deck fare in a creature-based meta (lots of tribal, especially goblins/merfolk)? My local meta is sprawling with them
How is the Survival MU?
in my brief testing period I've found that running green splash seems to be the way to go. Grunts are replaced with goyfs and then possibly O-ring for qasali and I guess Teeg could be sideboarded as well. What are your thoughts on this? what are the pros and cons with the green splash?
thanks in advance
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
yea D&T is very good aginst trible decks :) så give it a shot and ownd the merfolk and goblin decks ;)
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Hi folks. Some thoughts after reading the last bunch of posts:
1. The deck is and must continue to be tailored to the metagame it is used in. This is true for all decks, but in a deck with something with 10-12 counterspells, not as much since those are catch-all defense. But in D+T the creatures must be accurate for your meta or your disruption will be wrong. Sowhether or not to go WG is included in this decision. The build in the OP atm is for the pre-Vengevine metagame with lots of Lands, Zoo, Dredge, Countertop, and Merfolk. It definitely needs some patchup work. Feel free to let me know how you think it should be mended. I am talking aout the monowhite build, now mind you...
2. I think it is time for me to include a green splash build in the OP. I mean, I guess there could be a new thread, but there is plenty of discussion here for that so please let us see your builds. I have some ideas myself, but they are really just my guesses since I have very little experience with it.
3. The Venge-surivial matchup has received a lot of attention by D+T players, but I have not spoken to anyone who has solid info on how hard it is. In my experience, it is not that tough, but I think my build has something to do with that. Just like with so many matchups, there are a lot of little things that annoy those players. But we have little to say to the crazy openings they can get. I lose those. But I can't even tell you if it is definitely positive or not. We need to know this. I admit that I am not up to date. It's a down time for me and Magic. So solid info would be lovely.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
I think MD 4 Arbiters definitely needs a look...it wrecks so much decks specially when you vial it in, in response to an oppopnent's fetch...i think it fits the mana denial plan of the deck...it also is very good against survivals...
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
@ Jumbo: Arbiter is a true meta call. Mine meta doesn't allow me to run them, at all. Others might.
@ Survival decks: LOL, they need a permanent to go off. Most versions of D+T I have seen have at least 10-12 card slots that handle Survival decks without dedicating time to the archtype itself.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
I find that MD Canonist is also rather handy against Survival. MD Canonist or Arbiter is all a matter of taste. I like canonist more MD, but I still keep Arbiters in the SB.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Quote:
Originally Posted by
from Cairo
What's the advantage of using these alternative creatures?
Specifically: Master Apothecary, Planar Guide, True Believer, Beloved Chaplin... are you finding them to be better than conventional: Serra Avenger, Jotun Grunt, Stoneforge Mystic, Flickerwisp? It seems like you lose any threat of a clock IE nothing swings for more than 2 and you have no evasion. I guess the creature set up is ok versus agro since you can just attition battle them with a field of protection creatures and damage prevention tricks, but we can beat most agro with the conventional list anyway. Combo and Jace based control seem like a nightmare with such a defensive set up.
I havent played a lot of DnT, so I wouldn't know. I'm not sure if this alternative can truly be considered better or worse...just different. I came up with it one day for fun then started playing it and noticed it had potential to be more than just a "fun" deck.
I started with Arbiter, as its a real hoser against survival and the rest of the format that extensively uses fetchlands and tutors. As such, SFM had to come out, because that is very much a nonbo.
I found Master Apothecary to be good as he basically makes the entire board > Firespout (one of two sweepers played in the format, the other being deed) . Guide, i discovered later as a way to protect from deed, although its clearly suboptimal when compared to Flickerwisp as far as Mangara tricks go. Guide's slot was originally Ethersworn Canonists but I eventually cut down then replaced the last one MD for True Believer. The two are interchangeable hate bears vs Combo, but true believer is better vs burn. I do believe that War Priest is good enough to be run main in this meta, cleric or not.
As for threats: well, yeah. The decks is basically a stack of hate bears. The only real threat is Jitte. However, Chaplain carries Jitte with evasion and Tails can provide some evasion too.
Combo: I run a lot of main deck hate bears, so its going to come down to draws. Did they get burning wish or infernal or do they have pocket Ad Nauseam? Active Mom or 8.5 + Canonist (or Arbiter, depending on their hand) seems like an unwinnable board for them. Granted, that's not as fast as going turn 1 chalice for zero, but who runs MD chalices? Also, hate bears still beat for 2.
Control: The only thing I'm afraid of is Deed or EE. Any board with Mom + 8.5 is pretty much unassailable otherwise. Jace can't protect himself from Mom or 8.5, either. So CBtop decks, which mainly only run swords and spout for removal, are pretty easy. Landstill's really tough though.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
@ Finn: I would like to know what are your toughts about the G splash. I have been advocating since long now, and I am intrigued about what the creator of the deck has to say about it. If you want my feedback on the g splash, just ask. Regarding the Vengevine matchup, well, I'd say it depends on your build and on their build:
- To me the UG version is easier than the GW, given that having Vial kinda annuls their counters. GW packs Mother, StP and (usually) Stoneforge Mystic, so it is significantly harder for us to win.
- If you play MD Arbiter and/or Canonist, the matchup should be very winnable. The G splash offers Pridemage, which also helps, as well as Goyf. I do agree that is difficult to win against their nutty hands. Postboard should be a cakewalk, as you'll have access to: Arbiter, Canonist, Pithing Needle...I don't see how we can lose that.
@all: Arbiter is a great card, but as it has been said, very meta dependant. If a significant portion of your meta doesn't use fetchs, i think it better stay on the side.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
I don't think postboard is a cakewalk, since they do have trygon predator if they're UG and qasali pridemage if they're GW.
Arbiter does help a lot though. Without arbiter, even postboard, it's still going to be tough.
Also, whilst shutting down UG is a bit easier than GW, Wonder is very very annoying.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Lorgalis, I think the green splash changes quite a bit. I can see that it has its advantages and just about as many disadvantages. I think that it is asa it appears to be - a valid meta choice. If entering a tournament with D+T, it would be cool to have the cards for both on tap so that you can decide in much the same way you would go about switching out cards like Arbiter and Canonist.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
I'm running a pretty standard GW DnT build:
// Lands
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
1 [IN] Forest (3)
3 [A] Savannah
4 [MM] Rishadan Port
3 [LG] Karakas
3 [IA] Plains (3)
4 [MPR] Wasteland
// Creatures
4 [UL] Mother of Runes
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
3 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
4 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
4 [TSP] Serra Avenger
3 [TSP] Mangara of Corondor
4 [EVE] Flickerwisp
// Spells
4 [DS] AEther Vial
4 [IA] Swords to Plowshares
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
2 [4E] Sylvan Library
// Sideboard
SB: 2 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 3 [10E] Pithing Needle
SB: 4 [MI] Enlightened Tutor
SB: 1 [SHM] Wheel of Sun and Moon
SB: 1 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 1 [SHM] Runed Halo
SB: 2 [FNM] Wing Shards
SB: 1 [FNM] Aura of Silence
I'm pretty happy with how the deck is performing. As you can see, I'm running sylvan library and only 2 equipments which is a little odd perhaps. I am also not sure whether or not my mana base is stable enough. My main concern here though is my sideboard. 4 Enlightened tutor is definately overkill, I very seldomly use them anyway. Running 4 needles seems totally fine so I'll probably make a swap there. Apart from that, I'm wondering what common tools there are to deal with combo decks?
Any other tip would help greatly. My local meta is sprawling with tribal decks such as goblins and merfolks so I should be happy I guess and I'm slowly but surely getting a hang on how to play this deck. I am, however, not satisfied with my sideboard.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Today was the day of the Finnish Legacy Championship. It was rather strange. While there was a lot of Merfolk and Storm, the top 4 decks consisted of Bant Vengevine Survival, GW Death and Taxes, Death and Taxes and UGB oldschool control (Psychatog+quirion dryad).
I played a standard build with 4x MD Arbiter, but couldn't borrow wastelands so meh. I still took 3rd. Too lazy to write a proper report. So here's something:
Round 1: 2-1 against Storm. 1, lost. 2, Opponent deals with hatebears eventually and makes 8 tokens. I win through them. Game 3, he Ad nauseams and flips one of the cards he wished last game, gets game loss.
Round 2: 2-0 Aggro Loam. I deal with his threats and get an Avenger with/without sword to stick. Fairly simple.
Round 3: Eva Green. 2-1. I draw badly and lose due to that.
Round 4; Welder-reanimator thing. 2-1. I topdeck like a lucky bastard and win due to that.
Round 5: Ub Merfolk. 2-0. Opponent misplays round 1 due to no matchup knowledge. Beyond that, usual Merfolk game. Game 2 he has no creatures after removing two to FoWs for Mothers and Mystics.
Round 6: 2-1 Thoptersword. He doesn't know the matchup. Game 1 he gets fast countertop. Games 2-3 I win with fliers before he gets stuff online. He didn't really know what to do.
Round 7: Draw into top 8
Quarterfinals: vs. Storm. He gets bad hands and loses 2-0
Semis: Bant Survival. I misplay it like a moron and lose.
For third place: UGB control thing. I get good draws and win mainly due to them.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
Impressive! what about your list? did you end up with Kotr or just plain W? perhaps post the whole decklist while you're at it!
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
I was playing plain Mono White.
14x Plains
4x Karakas
3x Mishra's Factory
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Aether Vial
3x Oblivion Ring
1x Jitte
1 of each sword.
4x Mother of Runes
4x Serra Avenger
4x Leonin Arbiter
3x Stoneforge Mystic
3x Jötun Grunt
4x Flickerwisp
3x Mangara of Corondor
SB:
1x Jötun Grunt
2x Cataclysm
3x Kitchen Finks
3x Ethersworn Canonist
3x Tormod's Crypt
3x Wing Shards
It was largely a lot of luck. The sacrifices to Tzeentch worked out well. I recommend it.
Re: [Deck] Death and Taxes
i was wondering how the UGB-control list with quirion dryad and psychatog looked like, i would definitely be interested in that list as well, specially since it made top 4