[Deck] RGB Survival Advantage (current builds)

Well, when I had it in there, it just felt clunky so many times. I would have it in my hand and it would do nothing because Survival really pulled me out of situations that were bad. I also wanted to add more beaters like Mongoose because it has been pretty awesome.

I do have another question though, when going against a deck like Stax, is it better to go turn 1 Bird or turn 1 Thoughtseize? I guess it depends on what is in my hand. But what if I had a Survival, I did this once against Black Stax and he goes turn one Tangle Wire. This slowed me down a ton and he was then able to lock me out of the game with Braids and Wires.

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Originally Posted by Jak.

I would have it in my hand and it would do nothing because Survival really pulled me out of situations that were bad.

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Ah, but when you don't have Survival, topdecking BWish is incredible. At worst, you spend 1RB to destroy a Tarmogoyf. Otherwise, you blow up your opponents lands, wipe their critters, shred their hand, etc.

For cutting one card, cut a land. I run the following landbase:
4 Taiga
3 Bayou
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Bloodstained Mire
5 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Mountain

Two fewer fetchlands, more basics, and fewer land overall. I would cut one or two of the fetches you run to bring the land down to 21.

I do see what you are saying. I will keep trying the Burning Wishes.

I know people were wanting more threats, like Nimble Mongoose, so are you okay with just having Goyf as you beat down critter?

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Originally Posted by AngryTroll

Re: Di's GBWrSA

I've put your list together and I've been playing it some, but wanted to ask for some more advice on it.

Does Nimble Mongoose pull its weight? Without a Survival, it seems like Mongoose will be stuck at 1/1 until well into the lategame. An untargetable 1/1 is still solid enough, I guess, but you only run 8 spells (the Swords and Therapies) and 8 fetches, and Therapy doesn't always stay in the yard. Is Mongoose better than Mogg Fanatic, a couple of Loxodon Heirarchs, Indrik Stomphowler, etc? 4 slots is a ton of options, and Mongoose feels pretty underwhelming.

The land base also caught my eye. You have 5 forest, 8 fetches and 7 duals. What about any other basics? I understand that they are a pain because they don't tap for green, but is the resilience to Wasteland and Blood Moon worth it?

In RBGSA, I've been very happy with
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Taiga
3 Bayou
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
5 Forest

I've been trying to come up with a manabase with some more basics for your version, but there really isn't a great way to do it. Has the landbase been great, alright, or is it a problem?

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Sorry for responding to this slowly, I didn't notice it until now.

@ Nimble Mongoose

In all honesty, I view him as much of a threat, if not larger a threat, than Tarmogoyf. I run Mongoose because he fulfills that secondary beater slot, but more importantly, he really shines in the control matchups. Although my meta is plagued with a high amount of control, I don't believe that slot to be meta-dependant. It is true I don't hit threshold very early often. But I am not expecting to really. If I don't have Survival, then I'm most likely not going to win the game quickly, and it will be pulled into the lategame. By then, I will have Threshold. Between StP, Therapy (maybe), fetchlands, and countered/destroyed spells, it will be there by the mid-lategame in that scenario. If I have Survival, achieving threshold is a non-issue. But I'll admit there are more times where I grab Nimble Mongoose than Tarmogoyf because in many cases 'goyf will only be a 3/4, and it's much easier, not to mention cheaper, to just grab a pair of 3/3 geese and go to town. For 4 mana, I can have a pair of 3/3 beaters, or a single 3/4-4/5 beater (sure he'll be bigger on occasion, but generally he's that range). I'll take the multiple threats and damage any day.

Plus, a huge reasoning for Nimble Mongoose is (still) Goblin Lackey. I designed the deck to specifically deal with aggro matchups, and it's where my list truely shines. Since I've played this version of the deck, I've lost only once to Goblins, and have never had a Lackey trigger connect. Ever. Plus, between the heavy amount of removal, along with Tarmogoyfs themselves, I win the Tarmogoyf mirror 9/10 times. Having Mongoose back him up is huge.

Something like Mogg Fanatic is ok, but doesn't give you the damage push you're looking for given how aggressive the deck is. Loxodon is far, far too slow to even compete, as is Indrik. The only thing that really compares is Werebear given the p/t to cc ratio, and that is outclassed by Tarmogoyf at the 2cc slot already.


@ Manabase

When I originally played the deck I had a basic Mountain and Plains in it. I figured they'd be good in theory due to Magus and high fetchland count, but it failed in practice. The non-green lands really bothered me, and I got stuck in games with only a single green source with an active Survival and suffered because of it. I won't object to others running them, because they aren't bad to use, but I really dislike the idea of having lands that can't function with the core of the deck.

For what it's worth though, I've never had an issue with Blood Moon either. I only run 7 nonbasics, same as you, plus an additional fetchland. I don't have the extra basics and I run one fewer land, but it hasn't been a concern of mine yet. Typically if I'm going to casting a Magus of the Moon, it'll screw the opponent harder than me. If I'm against a deck running them, then I just need to develop a strategic placement of my fetchlands and when to crack them. I'm not too worried about it though considered I designed the manabase around Magus.

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Originally Posted by Jak.

Well how much life gain is enough then? Is just Spike Feeder or Darkheart enough? They do help against burn and fast aggro which do scare me.

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I'm not sure that they are... I got kinda lucky that I drew enough life to win a match against Tarmosleigh. I also think I need a 4 cc life gainer. Counterbalance seems to have trouble with that amount.