[Deck] It's the Fear - Control in the new Era

It's the Fear is a bit of a difficult deck to describe. It's capable of controlling the game in a similar manner to Landstill, but it's also capable of winning the game with counter backup in a quick manner similar to Threshold. It's capable of answering a wide variety of threats and it's also capable of drawing a tremendous amount of cards. In addition to all this, the deck is rather versatile about how to approach matchups.

The decklist is pretty simple. I'll start with the one that I'm playing now, and then show how it evolved from the one that I played to a Top 8 finish at the NoVA Legacy Draft.

4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Counterbalance
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Counterspell
1 Life from the Loam
4 Intuition
3 Pernicious Deed
2 Vedalken Shackles
1 Eternal Witness
4 Force of Will
2 Engineered Explosives

4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Island
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Academy Ruins

The deck that I played at the NoVA Legacy Draft was similar, but had a few differences that markedly changed it's strategy. Here's that one.

4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Counterspell
3 Counterbalance
1 Life from the Loam
4 Intuition
3 Pernicious Deed
2 Vedalken Shackles
2 Psychatog
1 Eternal Witness
4 Force of Will
2 Engineered Explosives

4 Polluted Delta
4 Tropical Island
3 Flooded Strand
3 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Academy Ruins

There were a couple of different thought processes that went into the creation of the first one. It's important to note here though, that Dan (nitewolf9) sent me a PM asking me about Psychatog. I responded with "I hate that guy, and he sucks." So, he kept on pestering me about him until we came up with a list. That list turned into other lists, and so on and so forth down the line. We arrived at the second list above after a few weeks, and decided that I would play that, while Dan would play Eva Green.

However, there are problems with the deck above. The first and primary problem is the lack of the fourth Counterbalance. That card is so ridiculously amazing against so many decks in the format, that it shouldn't matter if you kill a draw. After all, even if you draw a second, it's not a big deal because the first one stuck. Secondly, Psychatog is incredibly terrible in this current format. He costs more than Tarmogoyf, and doesn't do as much as Tarmogoyf does. Third, basic Swamp is awful. The deck wants mana fixing.

So, after realizing all these problems, I came to the conclusion that these were rather egregious problems that needed fixing. Thus, the first decklist came about. Eight fetchlands, more Counterbalance, more versatility.

The sideboard is a matter of some concern as well. Ichorid is a beating. Not going to lie about that one. The other problematic matchup is Dragon Stompy. However, you will want to keep cards like opposing Counterbalances in mind when creating your sideboard. Even though I would say that It's the Fear is ahead against Threshold, I would also say it's by a slim margin, probably only by 60% tops. Threshold can still do it's thing and kill you (just like it can to every deck in the format), by countering all your spells and killing you with retarded Tarmogoyf. Thus, it's something to keep in mind when building a sideboard. Now, my current sideboard is still in the air. My metagame is pretty wonky, so I have to have a wide variety of cards to deal with. However, the base nine that I like are these:

4 Leyline of the Void
3 Krosan Grip
2 Life from the Loam

Leyline is very powerful against Ichorid (of which possibly one or two show up) and Krosan Grip is great against opposing Counterbalances. Life from the Loam is there as we usually have an Eva Green deck or two every week. Even though there is a Goblin deck just about every week, I usually don't board too much for Goblins. It's a matchup that with tight play, is pretty favorable for you. Post board, they get access to Krosan Grip for your Counterbalances/Shackles, but it's still not really enough. Especially if I chose to put Plague in my board for that day. However, some prospective cards for the sideboard are as follows:

Spell Snare
General purpose. Strong against Threshold, Eva Green, and some combo decks, Spell Snare is wide variety choice that allows you to customize the deck to fight the decks that rely on quick plays and tight curves.

Blue Elemental Blast
Anti-Red. Very strong against Goblins, and marginally strong against Dragon Stompy. Mildly useful against some combo decks. It's a strong choice for the Goblin matchup. But that's a matchup that I'm not tremendously worried about. Dragon Stompy is a hassle, but Blue Elemental Blast does nothing to answer Chalice of the Void. Trinisphere is irritating, but Chalice of the Void will shut off my most powerful removal.

Pernicious Deed
Anti-Permanent. Very strong against decks like Dragon Stompy and occasionally combo (but very rarely, I would only consider sideboarding it against Belcher if at all). Strong against Threshold, but weakened by the knowledge that they're going to bring in Krosan Grip. That diminishes the power of dropping it and then using the time that it gains you to rebuild your hand. I've considered adding this card to the sideboard for awhile now, but every time I do, I remember that this card is just not what you want for the sideboard. It doesn't do what you need it to do for a sideboard card. It's still very powerful in the maindeck, but sideboard slots are at a premium and this would be a waste.

Vedalken Shackles
Anti-Creature. Strong against Goblins. Strong against other Aggro decks. However, it has the same weaknesses that Pernicious Deed has. Your sideboard should generally not include cards that you have in the main. MOST of the time, that's a sign of poorly thought out sideboard strategies. Thus, it's unlikely that it's a good sideboard choice.

Engineered Plague
Anti-Goblins. Insane against Goblins. Relatively useful against Cephalid Breakfast. Unfortunately, I think with sideboard space being such a premium, and this card costing too much to affect the Ichorid matchup, that this card is relegated to not being stellar enough to fit the board.

Yixlid Jailer
Anti-Graveyard. This was originally in my sideboard for the NoVA Legacy Draft. However, I'm reasonably certain that Leyline of the Void is actually better. The fact that Leyline can come down significantly earlier and also the fact that it affects opposing Tarmogoyfs (mine are irrelevant, I want to make sure that they CANNOT win first), means that Leyline of the Void suits my aims better. Similar issue with Tormod's Crypt.

Generally, your strategy will remain pretty simple in most matches. Drop a Counterbalance, and prevent your opponent from playing Magic. In situations where that doesn't happen, then use the deck's versatility to set up powerful board positions. Volrath's Stronghold and Academy Ruins are both insanely powerful, and should be noted accordingly. One thing that I cannot stress enough, is the fact that the deck is versatile. Know all the cards in the deck. Remember them well. Odd Intuition piles have won me quite a few games. Knowledge is one of your best weapons, so use it to the fullest.

However, there are quite a few areas left open for discussion.

1) The sideboard. I haven't found much that I'm satisfied with in the last six slots.

2) Are there better Intuition targets? I've done a pretty thorough search, but I'm not certain yet.

3) Numbers on Deed/Explosives. Explosives plays fantastically well with Ruins, and Deed isn't very partial to Counterbalance/Tarmogoyf. Does this mean that the numbers should be switched? Deed is stronger in it's capabilities and usually requires as much if not more mana than Explosives would. It's a difficult call.

Anyway, some general matchup analysis that I've compiled while playing the deck.

Threshold: Generally favorable. Possibly as high as 60-40. Not higher than that. Threshold is still the standalone best deck in the format, and it plays as such. Ideally, you prevent them from landing a Counterbalance while sticking your own. However, in situations where that doesn't happen, Deed and Explosives are necessary. This match will more likely than not, revolve around Counterbalance.

Sideboard: Krosan Grip
Side out: This is difficult. With there being many different incarnations of Threshold, it's difficult to say. A decent guideline would be to side out Shackles. However, if they seem creature heavy than board out Counterspell. It's a judgement call that has to be made given the information you have about your opponent's deck.

Goblins: Pretty favorable. Probably around 65%. This strategy is simple. Counterbalance is important here in order to stop Warren Weirding. However, Shackles ENDS this matchup. Warren Weirding loses to Shackles, and so does most of their deck. That card, combined with Tarmogoyf and Swords, will generally seal this matchup.

Sideboard: Nothing as of now.
Side out: This is dependent on the six slots chosen for your sideboard. However, cards like Intuition take a long time to function here, and may be worth boarding out. Don't take out too many three casting cost cards though, it's important to maintain Counterbalance's efficacy.

Ichorid: Complete beating. Probably around 25%. Probably lower. This strategy is simple also. Pray to whatever gods you hold dear. Swords, and a quick Tarmogoyf could theoretically steal it with abundant countermagic.

Sideboard: Leyline of the Void
Side out: Shackles, and Intuition. In game two, your trump card is Leyline. Protect it. They cannot win with that card in play. I highly recommend mulliganing for it. Even though they could have the bounce spell, you're putting the burden of winning on them. THEY MUST HAVE IT. Additionally, the longer you get to consolidate your position, the better it is for you. So, go for the long game.

Dragon Stompy: Pretty poor. Probably around 30%. Moon effects are something that you're going to have to deal with. In exchange for playing remarkably powerful cards in many different colors, you have to trade something. In this scenario, it's trading power for susceptibility. You have a weakness to Moon effects. There's no great answer here, so I'd recommend living with it.

Sideboard: Krosan Grip possibly something else depending on your board.
Side out: Shackles is a good card IF YOU'RE WINNING. Since you should be trying to first consolidate your position, THEN win, I'd say it's a good target to board out. Counterbalance is also a decent card to board out. Since they have a funky curve, maintaining a lock with Counterbalance will be difficult. However, it's not impossible. These are however, just ideas. I haven't done as much testing as I should against Dragon Stompy.

Landstill: Pretty amazing. Probably around 65%. Counterbalance is amazing in this matchup. You can do everything they can do, but better. This matchup is all about outplaying your opponent. Turn 2 Standstill is going to be difficult, but not the end of the game. Try to build up your manabase underneath it (hopefully with the help of a Top or something). Then break Standstill when you're prepared to start the game with enough lands in play to fight on equal terms. Preferably breaking Standstill with an end step Brainstorm (so they have to discard) is going to be best.

Sideboard: Krosan Grip might be decent but is an unlikely choice. Life from the Loam may be a good choice if they are running Wasteland.
Side out: Explosives and Deed are good choices to side out. You should still leave some way to deal with Enchantments/Artifacts in the main though. Getting surprised by a Moat would be unfortunate, but not game breaking. Also, Shackles is amazing in this matchup. Don't forget about it.

That's most of them. If anybody else has questions about it, feel free to post here.

Looks good. How's it's combo match-up?

I can honestly tell you that I don't know. Haven't finished running it through the gauntlet yet.

However, it IS important to note that it does qualify for Deck to Watch status which is why I made this thread.

I should have finalized percentages on most matchups soon. Probably within a week or two.

What is your second Intuition pile? I can see the first, but after that do you just go for like... three Artifacts? Seems kind of underpowered.

Also, I feel like a second Witness might be helpful for general utility when you don't have the Stronghold engine online to fool around with Intuition.

You could easily improve the D Stompy MU by a simple 4-6 BEB/hydroblast in the board. Not that it would make it favorable but it would bring it up to at least 50% I would think

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Originally Posted by lonelybaritone

What is your second Intuition pile? I can see the first, but after that do you just go for like... three Artifacts? Seems kind of underpowered.

Also, I feel like a second Witness might be helpful for general utility when you don't have the Stronghold engine online to fool around with Intuition.

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I think his first intuition pile would be Loam and Ruins+Stronghold. Then his second Witness + cards.

Looks pretty similar to this: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...?t=6230&page=7

However, there are some differences.

The biggest difference I see right now is that you fit in Counterbalance. Counterbalance is obviously a very strong card. I personally find that Deed and Intuition -> Engines replaces the need for it... but it's still solid nevertheless.

Other than that, I'm confused by the lack of Genesis. Volrath's Stronghold costs the same amount of mana as Genesis to recur a guy (3 lands)... but it doesn't create card advantage like Genesis does. You do need Cephalid Coliseum to get him in the yard, though... and I'm guessing your 1st Intuition pile consists of Loam, Stronghold, and Academy Ruins whereas mine consists of Loam, Coliseum, and Genesis. I guess it really depends on the situation... but I find Genesis to be much stronger overall since it provides actual card advantage... and I find recurring EE's is typically unecessary most of the time when I have the ability to recur Shriekmaw (I tested Ruins/EE at 1 point throughout development and I didn't find it very effecient).

I also tried the 4c splash at 1 point in development for MD StP and SB Gaddock Teeg. I eventually came back to the 3c list... I just didn't find StP worth the mana instability.

Last but not least, I really think either Thoughtseize, Duress, or Cabal Therapy needs to be in the maindeck... possibly in the Counterspell spots? Counterspell, to me, is extremely lacking in comparison to everything else in the deck. The mix of proactive disruption with reactive disruption is very, very strong. Plus, the ability to know what the opponent has in hand is invaluable.

Other than that, it looks solid. Personally, I prefer the build in my signature, simply because of the way it transitions from early game to late game better (more Threshold elements, less control elements). Yours is more control oriented, though, which is going to improve other control matchups. Therefore, it's going to be metagame dependant as to which decklist would be better.

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Psychatog is incredibly terrible in this current format. He costs more than Tarmogoyf, and doesn't do as much as Tarmogoyf does.

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Psychatog is to this deck as Mystic Enforcer is to Threshold. He's there as a finisher. I cannot tell you how many games I've won simply because I cleared the table, dropped Tog, and swung for lethal the following turn. Your list doesn't quite feed the yard as well as my list due to the lack of Cephalid Coliseum... but Tog is still wicked strong. The other option is to run Tombstalker in those spots, which looks alot better in your list anyway since you don't run Wonder. I suppose that between Goyf and Shackles, you can get away without a finisher... and I suppose that with all the removal you run, you should be able to connect with the evasionless Goyf... but I still recommend a finisher. Like I said, there's been games where I pull a win out of my ass and just win out of nowhere, games where I should have lost, simply because I dropped Tog (with Wonder in the yard) and my opponent didn't topdeck an answer.

@Hanni: Counterbalance is so much stronger than Deed. ESPECIALLY when you have cards that fit the curve from one to three.

Genesis is not what I'm looking for. The upside to Volrath's Stronghold is that it taps for mana. It also doesn't depend on being in the graveyard. Also, it does things when you don't have creatures to bring back. Genesis would be better if I had more creatures. It was in the original build of the deck, but we decided that Stronghold would be better because we had few creatures.

Also, my Intuition piles are never standard. They always fit the situation. Occasionally, it's three Deeds. Sometimes, it's Shackles, Shackles, Witness. Other times, it's Counterbalance, Counterbalance, Counterbalance. I use Intuition to fit the situation, not to set up a situation.

Thoughtseize is not sufficient in the Counterspell slot. Dan and I went over this quite a bit and we both came to the conclusion that you can't really pay the life, nor do you really want something like that. Counterspell is much more of a "pick and choose". Most of the other cards in your opponents hands can be nullified by a fair portion of your deck. It's hitting the important topdecks that can't be stopped by Counterbalance that you should be looking for. However, even though Thoughtseize stops Krosan Grip (sometimes), it's not good enough for all the other situations that need stopping. Don't get me wrong though, we considered it for quite awhile. We just came to the conclusion that Counterspell fit the aims of the deck better.

@undone: I tried that. The fact that Blasts can't stop Chalice from happening is a big deal. I'm currently looking into better answers for Dragon Stompy and I'll definitely let you know when we come up with something good.

@Lonelybaritone: We used to have a second Witness in the board for situations like that (against control decks and Threshold). I decided that it was not the best choice for space that's on a high premium. I could however, go back to it. I've been thinking about it quite a bit. However, the second Witness in the main I wasn't happy with. The double green in the casting cost you might want to be a bit leery of. Even though the manabase is stable, if you use fetchlands poorly, you could still screw yourself out.

Vs Dragonstompy you really need to have 8 Turn 0 counterspells or need more island/forest. I think that the next best actual counterspell is sadly.... Foil, which is pretty bad. But if you think that you HAVE to do something better then BEB thats probably the next best card as it can counter set up peices, and threats during a lock. But seriously if any deck in the format loses the roll, and they go first turn moon if you dont have force you need a 1 mana answer that can be played off a single basic.

Also Wierd thought Shattering spree, its funny under a moon....( JUST KIDDING PLEASE DONT ACTUALY USE THIS)

What are your thoughts on Vindicate? It's a pretty underrated card right now, and I think running it with Swords, EE, Deed would be kinda good. Thoughts?

How often are you pitching to Force? It seems you're a little low on blue cards so I'm curious as to how that's been working out. Is 3 Counterspell right, or can you just not find the space for a 4th?

I don't think Vindicate is the right card for this deck. Deed/Explosives can hit multiple permanents, and Swords costs a great deal less. I think it's underrated because it's just not as good as it used to be. It's too expensive to hit things in this "faster" Legacy. With things focused so much on tight curves and efficiency, Vindicate is using more mana to destroy a card than the card took to cast. That's too inefficient.

I'm not having any problems pitching to Force. Usually, I'm only using Force very early, when I still have a decent hand size, and using Counterbalance/Counterspell later where having the other blue card is irrelevant. As the game goes on, there are usually better/more answers to problematic spells than Force.

Three Counterspell is definitely a good number. I don't want to have my hand glutted with them, but I do want to see one a game. I don't really want to try to fit in the 4th either.

Nice summary.

1) Can you harp a bit more on what the usual purpose of Intuition is? The obvious stuff is Loam tricks, Witness tricks, and 3x of a card you really really want. What about the non-obvious uses?

2) Landstill matchup. I assume you refer to 4C Landstill? If so, have you tested against UWb lists?

3) A playset of Propagandas looks fairly attractive for those last SB slots. They own Ichorid if you can make it alive to turn 3 and they give fits to Goblins and random aggro, especially when paired with a Tarmogoyf in defence. On the other side, they do very little against Dragon Stompy except in multiples, or on the top of your library to counter Moons.

19 blue cards are plenty to support FoW....

I have found that propaganda is better at stalling against agro in decks like these, as that is all that plague does nowadays, stalls. Goblins wins through one plague and has grip for the second, most of the time it is a stall for deed/shackles...

Propaganda/ghostly prison both do this better (they only attack with max 2-3 guys a turn and have to tap out to do so)... then you deed/shackles... or even just block with goyf.

The blasts don't seem like too bad of an idea, you do have 5 ways around challice, add in the fact that challice @ one doesn't do too much, as it leaves you with your sweepers, countermagic, and blockers.

The real threat in that MU is the moon effects (as stated earlier), which should have priority for board space (they have 8 moons, 4 challice, odds they'll see moon B4 challice... blast works).

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Vs Dragonstompy you really need to have 8 Turn 0 counterspells or need more island/forest. I think that the next best actual counterspell is sadly.... Foil, which is pretty bad. But if you think that you HAVE to do something better then BEB thats probably the next best card as it can counter set up peices, and threats during a lock. But seriously if any deck in the format loses the roll, and they go first turn moon if you dont have force you need a 1 mana answer that can be played off a single basic.

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The Dragonstompy matchup is easily fixed by dropping the white splash, running a couple more basics, and running Daze + Thoughtseize. My list actually has a very solid Dragon Stompy matchup.

If Dragonstompy is big in a particular metagame, BEB is exactly what you want in the sideboard for that matchup.

@Nihil: Those are most of the tricks for Intuition, however, the non-obvious uses that I like are pretty simple as well. Shuffle effect, getting triple Brainstorm for Counterbalance purposes, getting Goyf, Witness, Shackles to set up the win very quickly, and things like that.

Also, most of my testing was against 4C Landstill. I'll get to testing UWB Landstill when I have time. Although, it should be noted that it's NEVER played down here. If there is Landstill (which is dwindling), then it's usually 4C.

Propaganda is rather interesting. I'll definitely see if that's going to be a good fit. Thanks.

@Freakaccident: Yeah, the blasts might be a good call, but Dragon Stompy doesn't see too much play down here either. I might do that if it picks up and just hope for the best.

@Hanni: You're seriously downplaying how powerful Swords to Plowshares is. That card is hands-down the best removal in the format. Daze + Thoughtseize are pretty good cards, don't get me wrong, but I don't think that this deck AS IT STANDS NOW is going to be the best fit for them. Those cards work much better in THRESHOLD, and not in this deck.

Dave - We've had this discussion over PM, but It's the Fear is very similar to the Vorosh deck I've been tweaking for ages. From what I gather, both decks are the evolution of Psychatog for us.

For reference:

"Vorosh"
U/b/g Landstill with Counter-Top / Goyf
by Bardo

4 Brainstorm
4 Standstill
3 Sensei's Divining Top

4 Force of Will
4 Counterspell
3 Counterbalance

3 Pernicious Deed
3 Engineered Explosives
2 Diabolic Edict
2 Crucible of Worlds

4 Tarmogoyf

4 Mishra's Factory
3 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
2 Island
1 Breeding Pool

Sideboard
4 Engineered Plague
3 Hydroblast
3 Exirpate
3 Duress / Thoughtseize
2 Krosan Grip

In relation to the deck above it seems like ITF is essentially trades Standstill for Intuition + Witness / Stronghold and tricks with Academy Ruins; otherwise, these decks are both trying to do the same thing: control the board, counter some shit and then with a large Tarmogoyf over 3-4 turns.

Having logged a ton of hours with my ITF-variant, here's where I'm at:

* Ubgw vs Ubg, for me, comes down to StP vs. Wasteland / stable mana. The same thing strikes me about ITF.
* Academy Ruins is insanely slow in all but the mirror. Recurring EE with Ruins is theoretically sweet as hell, but in practice, it's a ton fucking mana and takes a depressing amount of time to actually set up. Though, vs. Thresh, an EE in the yard and Ruins on the board is often enough to elicit a scoop, so it can sometimes auto-win, albeit against an already favorable match.
* I've tested every funky land known to MtG-playing man (Maze of Ith, Tolaria West, Academy Ruins, Tabernacle, Treetop Village) and am pretty certain you don't need the ones that can't kill your opponent or tap for blue mana, Wasteland excepted. From my experience testing Ubg Tog, long, long ago, Stronghold + Witness is an awesome synergy on paper, but like Ruins + EE, is very slow. I've dropped them all in favor of just having good, reliable mana and haven't missed tricks with Ruins, though I'm not running Intuition, which I'll agree adds more punch to the card.
* You might want to splash a Breeding Pool in place of a Trop. I'm not sure how often it's comes up for you, but Wasteland / Extirpate on a Trop is often an auto-loss.
* Vedalken Shackles is insane once active. Who doesn't love beating someone to death with their own stolen Tarmogoyf? But it's often 1-2 turns too slow to make a difference. I've been all over the place with the Shackles slot and think Diabolic Edict, does pretty much everything you want that card to do, quicker and for less hassle. The 3s are sometimes nice for CB, other times you just want to kill a Nimble Mongoose; though you do have the awesome StP backing up your removal. In that case, I would wonder how much you really need Shackles on top of your removal packages. They were overkill when I was running 4 StP + EEs & Deeds in 4c Landstill.

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1) The sideboard. I haven't found much that I'm satisfied with in the last six slots.

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Extirpate! That card does so much for so little.

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2) Are there better Intuition targets? I've done a pretty thorough search, but I'm not certain yet.

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You've out-ruled the Lonely Sandbar trick? I love Intuition and haven't found the magic-combo either. Have you tested Standstill in their place in this deck?

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3) Numbers on Deed/Explosives.

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I split the difference on 3/3, since both function similarly at different phases of the game. Quoting myself in the Ubg / Ubgw Landstill thread:

Here's how I see it. Once the game is underway, I would typically -- though not always -- want to have Deed, since it cleans up more and can best maximize the card advantage that can be gained by the sweepers. There may be some fringe reasons for wanting EE over Deed on turn 6 or so, but they're pretty minimal.

Turns 1 - 4, I almost always want EE, for the following reasons:

1) Can clear the board of all ETW token on turn 2 with any two lands in the deck

2a) Can be played and activated for 1 with only a basic Island + Wasteland + Factory. (etc.) That is, less acrobatics with your mana to produce the same effect.

2b) Doesn't force you to produce two different kinds of dual lands if you don't want to (e.g. you can nuke CBs, Goyfs, Confidants, 'what-have-yous' with just an Island + Trop + Factory)

3) In general, a turn faster ({C}{D}{E} + 2 activation; vs. 1BG [3] + x) vs. everything.

4) Picture of a bunch of elephants being detonated is just awesome.

5) [Fringe] Deed more likely to be Needle'd / Mage'd.

Again, Deed has many relative advantages over EE at different points of the game; but many other times I would rather be holding an EE (esp. the early game). Hence, the 3/3 split in my lists.

The card type diversity is also important to support Tarmogoyf.

Anyway, this is a cool deck and a nice write-up. I like it.

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@Hanni: You're seriously downplaying how powerful Swords to Plowshares is. That card is hands-down the best removal in the format. Daze + Thoughtseize are pretty good cards, don't get me wrong, but I don't think that this deck AS IT STANDS NOW is going to be the best fit for them. Those cards work much better in THRESHOLD, and not in this deck.

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I know that StP is the best spot removal spell in the format, I wasn't disputing that. I was just saying that I personally did not like the manabase instability that came with it. Plus I play Genesis, which makes Shriekmaws amazing.

The other thing I was getting at was that Daze + Thoughtseize are great vs Dragonstompy and not that Daze would be a good choice in your build, because it wouldn't. My build is way more like Threshold while yours is way more like Landstill, like I mentioned earlier. Your matchup vs (board) control decks is going to be better than mine... in the same vein, my combo (and Dragonstompy) matchups should be better than yours.

OK, well couple of things here.

Academy Ruins also supports Vedalken Shackles in this deck. That's huge. Also, with Intuition backing it, it takes a great deal less time. Remember, that while Vorosh-still may approach it with similar cards, It's the Fear approaches it with a completely different mindset. Intuition and Standstill are vastly different cards and allow for vastly different approaches to things.

Also, you have SEVEN lands that don't tap for colored mana. I have two. You rely on your lands to help you win the game (attacking). I don't. All mine need to do is tap for mana. That's it. I argue that the miniscule amount of damage that they do to your manabase is well worth it. Don't forget, you use Crucible of Worlds to get back your attackers. I need to use Stronghold to make sure that I can do the same thing.

I'm not going to do that. Wasteland + Extirpate will beat me, sure. Whatever. I honestly do not care. That doesn't happen down here. Additionally, Shackles makes for a great win condition.

Vedalken Shackles vs. Diabolic Edict is an entirely different classification. While they both DO fit into the realm of "creature-control" Vedalken Shackles is ALSO card advantage. That's important. Also, Vedalken Shackles is a great foil to Goblins and Aggro strategies in general, while Diabolic Edict helps against ONE creature. I'll take the tradeoff.

I've never been happy with Extirpate. That card does so little. I really don't think that this deck compares well with Landstill. The aims are just different. It's the Fear is significantly more versatile in its approach to controlling and winning the game that it's like talking about apples and oranges.

I DO appreciate you taking time to talk about this though, but I'm reasonably certain that the decks are different enough to warrant a different look as opposed to looking at it through the Landstill players lens. No offense.

Also, the Lonely Sandbar trick is bad. THAT DEFINITELY takes too much time. The danger with Intuition is definitely the Danger of Cool Things. I've tried to keep it as focused as possible while still maintaining that versatility.

EDIT: @Hanni: My argument is that the sheer power of Swords to Plowshares is worth the slight manabase instability. I can tell you with a great deal of certainty that the manabase is much stronger than it looks. Also, Genesis + Shriekmaw requires a pretty fair bit of set up. Additionally, Shriekmaw just doesn't help against some things. Swords being instant speed and not worrying about other things like color is a great boon to what I'm trying to do.

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Also, the Lonely Sandbar trick is bad. THAT DEFINITELY takes too much time. The danger with Intuition is definitely the Danger of Cool Things. I've tried to keep it as focused as possible while still maintaining that versatility.

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Cephalid Coliseum is much better. The lonely Sandbar trick requires multiples, Coliseum requires 1. Now I do agree that wasting the land drop for the turn to use its card advantage is definitely a drawback, its not something that needs to be done every turn. In my build, it also fills the role of getting both Genesis and Wonder in the yard, so I find its inclusion to be well deserved.

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I DO appreciate you taking time to talk about this though, but I'm reasonably certain that the decks are different enough to warrant a different look as opposed to looking at it through the Landstill players lens. No offense.

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I know this was addressed to Bardo... but I think its only going to strengthen the topic by listing and explaining similar decks. At the end of the day, the only thing that really matters is if the deck wins or not. There's going to be multiple different ways (decklists) to do that. The topic at hand is exactly what your topic header says... control in the new era.

For reference, I'll just go ahead and list my decklist on here as well:

U/G/b DAT Thresh (or TAT if you'd prefer, Thresh-a-Tog)

Lands (19)
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Tropical Island
2 Underground Sea
1 Bayou
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Wasteland

Creatures (15)
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Psychatog
1 Wonder
1 Genesis
3 Shriekmaw

Spells (26)
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Intuition
1 Life from the Loam
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Thoughtseize
3 Pernicious Deed

Sideboard (15)
3 Cabal Therapy
3 Extirpate
2 Krosan Grip
2 Pithing Needle
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Pernicious Deed
1 Stinkweed Imp
1 Gigapede

Wow, so this finally is in the DtB-forum? I'll take credit for that =)
My teammate Marius and I played this deck to a top8 finish at a local 40 man tourney (and I won another small tourney with it) and I have to say: This deck is really brilliant!
But there're some points I don't like about it:
1.) The white splash. In my Metagame Stax and AggroLoam are a real force and the manabase of this deck is shaky at best, when confronted with multiple Wastelands (and you're unable to resolve an Intuition) and/or Blood Moon effects. I don't think the raw power of Swords (which I'm not questioning at all) is worth that.
2.) The lack of carddraw. This deck doesn't need the carddraw, if you're able to resolve a CB, but without it, there aren't really any opportunities for this deck to generate cardadvantage. There were some situations, where I wished I had access to real carddraw not just Brainstorm (mostly against control.decs).
3.) The name. This name is terrible - no offence intendet. Make it cooler =)

Anyway, after much deliberation with my teammate Clemens "der_imaginäre_Freunde" I came up with the following list:

The Glenlivet

4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
4 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Academy Ruins
1 Wasteland

3 Dark Confidant
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Psychatog
1 Eternal Witness

1 Engineered Explosives
3 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Vedalken Shackles
4 Counterbalance
3 Pernicious Deed
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
3 Intuition
4 Smother
1 Life from the Loam

Sideboard:
4x Extirpate
4x BEB
4x Plague
3x Grip

Clemens doesn't like the Bobs (he opted for AKs) but so far, they have been treating me well.

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Originally Posted by Deep6er

Academy Ruins also supports Vedalken Shackles in this deck. That's huge. Also, with Intuition backing it, it takes a great deal less time.

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2U [Intuition] + 2U [Ruins] + 3 [Shackles] + 2 [activation] = 9UU. Sayin'. You could play Sway of the Stars for less mana. :)

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Remember, that while Vorosh-still may approach it with similar cards, It's the Fear approaches it with a completely different mindset. Intuition and Standstill are vastly different cards and allow for vastly different approaches to things.

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I thought about this. Agreed, in my mind almost immediately, and then I went to make some Tomato soup and am now going to disagree.

Both Vorosh are ITF are control decks with quasi-combo elements; CB+Top and Crucible / Wasteland (Vorosh) or Intuition / Ruins / Stronghold (ITF). In other words, I wouldn't confuse tactics with strategy. Standstill is trying to do a similar thing as Intuition: getting what you need to mitigate some problem (some form of menacing permanent [creatures, etc.] or something dangerous coming from your opponent's hand) that Deed/EE/StP or CB, CSpell, Force can provide.

Intuition is gaming to set you up with the tools you need; Standstill is gaming to draw you into a similar set of tools. I do agree that Intuition is much more subtle and has a lot more room for customization, at the cost of being slower.

Anyway, I would argue that Standstill and Intuition are performing similar roles here. Neither specifically do anything on their own or directly have any effect on the game; they're catalysts for other parts of the deck that do have an affect.

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I really don't think that this deck compares well with Landstill. The aims are just different. It's the Fear is significantly more versatile in its approach to controlling and winning the game that it's like talking about apples and oranges.

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Just to continue the thought above, and not wanting to get into some pointless semantical debate, I think Vorosh and ITF are more similar than you realize. Both are -- as I said above -- about controlling the game through some means (Deed, CB) and then winning with Tarmogoyf.

(Don't let the Factories throw you off. Back in the day, I had a 1-of Factory as an alt. win condition with Intuition + LFTL in Tog, before Tarmogoyf was printed. With Standstill being added, it seemed natural to just max the card. Truly though, 4/5 games are won with Mr. Goyf. Factory mainly has some nice synergy with other parts of the deck.)

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Also, you have SEVEN lands that don't tap for colored mana. I have two. You rely on your lands to help you win the game (attacking). I don't. All mine need to do is tap for mana. That's it. I argue that the miniscule amount of damage that they do to your manabase is well worth it.

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I definitely agree here. Supporting four colors with only two lands that tap for colorless is a hell of a lot different than supporting four colors with 6-7 lands that tap for colorless. This is a valid point.

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Vedalken Shackles vs. Diabolic Edict is an entirely different classification. While they both DO fit into the realm of "creature-control" Vedalken Shackles is ALSO card advantage.

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Definitely, I've argued the same point from your side too. Shackles is card advantage for 2.5 the investment as Edict. If it's worth the cost, and you're in a match where you have the time to pull it off, it's definitely worth it, since it totally dominates the board once active. Though it does cost 3+2 instead of 1B.

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I'm reasonably certain that the decks are different enough to warrant a different look as opposed to looking at it through the Landstill players lens. No offense.

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Not to be redundant, but I'm trying to look at these things from the control player's perspective, not as a "Landstill player" or something.

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Also, the Lonely Sandbar trick is bad. THAT DEFINITELY takes too much time. The danger with Intuition is definitely the Danger of Cool Things. I've tried to keep it as focused as possible while still maintaining that versatility.

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Agreed again. It's certainly a fun once it's up and running, but it's slow as hell and not really any better than a Fact or Fiction for a lot less effort.

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2.) The lack of carddraw.

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In Dave's defense, I'd argue that Intuition serves as the deck's draw.

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3.) The name.

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Dude, this is the guy who brought us "Solidarity," a monoblue storm combo decks. It should be no surprise. Though, I totally agree. :)

I am with bardo on this one his Vorosh and ITF are very similiar decks. However playing Tarmogoyf and then playing standstill is one of the most broken plays you can possibly do. I do like both decks and I wouldn't mind taking either deck to a big event.

Spirit of the Wretch: Really like your list... There can't be anything wrong with playing DC ever... I am 100% convinced he is the best black spell in the format. One suggestion though. To further enhance the utility of Volraths Stronghold you cold replace one smother with 1 shriekmaw or have you tried this out before?

That was also my reaction. Shriekmaw seems like a natural fit with Stronghold, and allows for Intuition piles like Loam/Stronghold/Shriekmaw.

Tombstalker also seems like a good fit for the deck, as Hanni mentioned. Was it ever considered, perhaps as a replacement for Tog?

How much thought has gone into the creature base? I'm fully aware of the power of Goyf, Tog, etc. But I'm curious as to how much, is too much, or too little. I'm playing a deck somewhat similar - by similar I mean Ubg Control that isn't Landstill - and found that 4 Goyf wasn't enough. I'm running 4 Goyf, 3 Stalker and to say the least Stalker is busted good. Getting around EE, Deed and all the other mass removal is great, and along with BalanceTop you can basically play around STP or other removal like Edict.

As for the Sideboard, you almost definitely, without a doubt, want BEBs, in some of your worst matchups; Burn, Goblins, DStompy, Beb is amazing.

Confidant with EE and Deed seems iffy at best, like Clemens I opted for AK with Intuition and It's worked out "decent" I'm not exactly comfortable with it, but I can't find anything else thats better.

If someone wants the list, say so, I don't want to spam the thread with a list.

This is definitely an interesting deck, and if you finally found a way to make Intuition.dec competitive, I commend you for it.

My initial reactions are:

- This seems very top-heavy. You have a whole ton of late game card advantage engines which require a pretty big mana investment and don't help you much in the early game: Intuition, CounterTop, and Shackles (and Deed). Any one of these is often enough to lock up the game after you've stabilized early. Accordingly, I would expect the deck to have an amazing late game (meaning it smashes Threshold and most other control), and to have trouble against an early offense; but your testing doesn't seem to bear this second part out. 65% against Goblins? Seriously? Does Goblins autolose to any deck with both Tarmogoyf and Swords to Plowshares in it?

- I counted the lands. There's 21 of them. Is that remotely enough? (Especially with all the mana intensive late game cards, as above). This also ties in to the three versus four colors discussion you're having with Bardo: his deck has 6-7 colorless lands to your 2, but it has them with 24-25 lands total. Doing the math, you're only ahead 19 colored mana sources to his 18.

Being a sucker for Intuition/Gifts engines myself, here's some cards the deck doesn't include but could: Dust Bowl, Maze of Ith, The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, Cephalid Coliseum, Shriekmaw, Tormod's Crypt, Nevinyrral's Disk, Mindslaver, Darkblast, Moment's Peace. In fact, it shouldn't include most of those, but it's a list to look at if you wanted one.

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This seems very top-heavy. You have a whole ton of late game card advantage engines which require a pretty big mana investment and don't help you much in the early game: Intuition, CounterTop, and Shackles (and Deed). Any one of these is often enough to lock up the game after you've stabilized early.

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When I originally saw this thread, I thought the exact same thing. I've been working off and on with my decklist ever since Lorwyn was released (sooner than that really, since I used to run Wild Mongrel in the Goyf spots, almost 2 years ago). The biggest issue the deck always had was that it was way too slow. That's the reason why I'm so biased towards my decklist... it takes all the tempo elements of Threshold and blends in mid-late game control engines. Personally, I think running Intuition + Loam, Deed, CounterTop, and Shackles in the same deck is overkill. Dave's deck has performed well at tournaments though, so the deck is obviously strong. It's been my personal opinion ever since I started posting in the TarmoTog thread that this archtype is easily the best deck in the format. Intuition Thresh, basically.

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Originally Posted by mackaber

Spirit of the Wretch: Really like your list... There can't be anything wrong with playing DC ever... I am 100% convinced he is the best black spell in the format. One suggestion though. To further enhance the utility of Volraths Stronghold you cold replace one smother with 1 shriekmaw or have you tried this out before?

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I also thought of Shriekmaw but hesitatet, because this deck is already pretty mana hungry (so you won't be hardcasting that guy very often) and he neither synergie with CB nor with DC. But being able to kill a creature each turn sure seems tempting. Maybe I'll give it a try at our local tourney this WE.

Btw you aren't Alex Mack by any chance, are you?

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Originally Posted by spirit of the wretch

Btw you aren't Alex Mack by any chance, are you?

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In fact I am. Servuz.

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Originally Posted by Deep6er

Pray to whatever gods you hold dear. Also, don't forget about Shackles. Stealing their Ichorid and then removing their Bridges at the end of the turn is KEY.

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I've read this a couple of times now but I fail to see how this would work. When Ichorid is sacrificed at the end of the turn, it goes to its owner's graveyard and never even looks in the direction of yours, and creates tokens like it always does.

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Originally Posted by Deep6er

I've never been happy with Extirpate. That card does so little. I really don't think that this deck compares well with Landstill. The aims are just different. It's the Fear is significantly more versatile in its approach to controlling and winning the game that it's like talking about apples and oranges.

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Really? Extirpate either ruins or severely hapmers any deck you would want to board it in against.

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Originally Posted by spirit of the wretch

Shriekmaw : being able to kill a creature each turn sure seems tempting.

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Doesn't Ruins + EE do exactly the same thing but without taking up a slot? For sure it's slightly more mana hungry (most of the time costing :2: more) but by the time you're going for recursion engines, you should already be in the late mid- to early lategame where the more powerful effect will surely make up for the extra mana you have to pay.

Also, here's my list:

Code:

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/// Maindeck (60 cards)

// Lands (23)
    1 Academy Ruins
    1 Volrath's Stronghold
    1 Wasteland
    1 Lonely Sandbar
    4 Polluted Delta
    3 Flooded Strand
    4 Tropical Island
    1 Breeding Pool
    3 Underground Sea
    3 Island
    1 Swamp

// Creatures (5)
    1 Psychatog
    4 Tarmogoyf

// Removal (8)
    2 Smother
    1 Chainer's Edict
    1 Vedalken Shackles
    3 Pernicious Deed
    1 Engineered Explosives

// Card Advantage (16)
    3 Sensei's Divining Top
    4 Brainstorm
    4 Accumulated Knowledge
    1 Life from the Loam
    1 Eternal Witness
    3 Intuition

// Permission (8)
    4 Counterbalance
    4 Force of Will

/// Sideboard (15 cards)
    2 Duress
    1 Stinkweed Imp
    1 Yixlid Jailer
    1 Tormod's Crypt
    3 Extirpate
    2 Trygon Predator
    2 Hydroblast
    3 Blue Elemental Blast

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Curve:
cmc :1: - ||||||| - 7
cmc :2: - |||||||||||||||| - 16
cmc :3: - ||||||||| - 9

Blue Card Count: 20
Average Converted Mana Cost: 2.32

Let me explain some choices:

• No White Splash and 23 Lands - I always felt that the 20-21 landcount of the original version is way too low, especially since some of your lands are utility lands and because this deck thrives if it has more mana as the recursion engines and your removal package (Deed) are all pretty mana intensive.
• Lonely Sandbar over Cephalid Coliseum - while Coliseum is the stronger effect when you have a Loam-Engine going, I was told by Stefan that the deck in practice only has two ways towards victory: Waste-Lock and Balance-Lock. Now Lonely Sandbar doesn't eat your landdrop every time you want to draw cards which is especially important when you want to Waste-Lock your opponent as without Sandbar you'll be missing your draw every turn to Dredge Loam giving your opponent time to draw into stuff to recover while you stay with the same board state (no more lands, no more cards than before starting the lock) which is bad. Also, Sandbar fits in rather nicely into the Waste-Lock Intuition pile (Lonely Sandbar, Wasteland, Life from the Loam) and is pretty nutty in conjunction with Tog in the lategame where you can just Cycle+Dredge 'n' times to get your Tog up to lethal Grave+Hand count more quickly than with Coliseum (or at least more quickly in one turn).
• Only one Vedalken Shackles - while Shackles is a busted effect and very potent, it is just too slow especially since this deck already has a formidable lategame. I'll rather take some hard removal over it (Smother, Edict) and see what's next than have the opportunity to go nuts two turns later. Also, with 5 non-Island lands (21.7% of total manabase) you won't be able to consistently stop that Tarmogoyf on turn4. I've kept one in for more lategame brokenness and Intuition piles.
• Accumulated Knowledge over Dark Confidant - first of all, Accumulated Knowledge is a Blue Card giving a necessary boost to your blue card count... although you don't need to counter a lot because you play Pernicious Deed (aka. answer to everything), you still want to be able to to so consistently and all the time throughout the game. This obviously isn't the main reason to play Accumulated Knowledge, but it's a point that shouldn't be overlooked. Also, I've tested Dark Confidant, he's broken and all, but the aggro matchup already is bad enough as it is so that we should avoid making it even worse. I've often found myself in midgame situations where I didn't want to cast Dark Confidant because I was on quite low life despite desperately needing cards. Now Accumulated Knowledge fixes this. Also, Dark Confidant isn't that good in the lategame in general: as mentioned above you tend to be quite low on life making him slightly shacky but also Dark Confidant is slower than Accumulated Knowledge in the lategame. In addition to this, Dark Confidant does also have a gigantic 'target' sign on his front meaning that your opponent's removal now isn't semi-dead any more which isn't exactly what you want (you normally only drop a beater when you have Balance + Top down to protect them due to you not playing infinite of them). Lastly, Dark Confidant isn't exactly synergistic with neither Pernicious Deed nor Engineered Explosives. Now I know that this won't happen often as if you're popping a Deed/Explo while blowing up some of your own stuff you're still making a profit out of it, but I don't want to make such a vital part like my Card Advantage Engine more vulnerable than you absolutely need.
• The sideboard is pretty random, but I really like both the Blue Blasts and the Trygon Predators, at least for the South West Germany Meta. The lone Stinkweed Imp is additional removal that can be thrown into an Intuition pile and has its merits.

Playing some manlands seems techy - better Landstill Matchup and more critters is always nice, I don't have a clue how to include them currently as the manabase is bad enough as it is already.
I still don't know if Eternal Witness is worth it... for sure the 'recur everything' trick is pretty nice, but Witness is on the high side of the curve and on the bad side colour wise making it always rather clunky.

Isn't Dust Bowl preferable to Wasteland for Intuition/Loam piles, if you only run a singleton? Admittedly Lonely Sandbar is a workaround for this issue, but otherwise Loaming Wasteland forces you to skip your draw every turn, whereas with Dust Bowl you only have to skip every third draw to recoup the lost lands.

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Originally Posted by Deep6er

Not true. The Ichorid touches your graveyard (triggering their Bridges) and then immediately checks state based effects and transfers it to your opponent's graveyard.

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I think you're wrong.

217.1a If an object would go to any library, graveyard, or hand other than its owner's, it goes to its owner's corresponding zone. If an instant or sorcery card would come into play, it remains in its previous zone.

I'm pretty sure cards you didn't own never hit your graveyard, your hand, or your library (I think Wizard's reasoning for this is to avoid people accidently walking off with other people's cards). I think you're thinking of "goes to the graveyard from play" triggers, for instance if you Shackle'd an Academy Rector, you'd control the trigger since it triggers from in play instead of in the graveyard.

I think people are very much underestimating the white splash in this deck, or swords to plowshares I should say. Having practically unconditional efficient removal is invaluable in a control deck like this. You have plenty of power in the mid/late game, it's getting there that's the problem. You can't just hope your opponent isn't playing black creatures, or things like mystic enforcer/tombstalker (also black but more importantly immune to deed/smother). There is no effective substitute for swords to plowshares. No other removal spell comes close.

Life from the loam also does a very good job of fixing your manabase, trust me. I've playtested eva green against this deck and it's much closer than I thought it would be (probably right at 50%). The only real issue is an early blood moon, and that resolving would be a big problem for the 3 color builds as well. Like Dave said, you have to make some compromises if you want to play all of the best spells. Is it worth it? If your meta is over 40% or so Dragon Stompy, maybe not. Otherwise, I think so.

Additionally I think more people should test their decks against good threshold lists/pilots. You'll be surprised.

On a side note: two questions

1) Why wouldn't you want to run a evasive finisher like Mystic Enforcer? I understand the aversion to Psychatog (lackluster win-con is lackluster, and it doesn't do anything until it swings for lethal), but considering that Enforcer is hard to remove and omnoms face in a rapid fashion when you need it to, I don't see why you wouldn't want to run it.

2) More LtfL in the SB? I understand the reasoning, but with Intuition you have 5 copies in the MD. Is it because you don't think you could/ havn't been able to reach 3 lands on a consistant basis?

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Originally Posted by Deep6er

It's the Fear is a bit of a difficult deck to describe. It's capable of controlling the game in a similar manner to Landstill, but it's also capable of winning the game with counter backup in a quick manner similar to Threshold. It's capable of answering a wide variety of threats and it's also capable of drawing a tremendous amount of cards. In addition to all this, the deck is rather versatile about how to approach matchups.

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It just came to me that perhaps the words you are looking for are "Good-Stuff Deck".

I actually like Clemens build considering you have more options to choose from with intuition. I will just name a few of those options.

-Accumulated Knowledge: I always liked accumulated knowledge with intuition. I think it's still a powerful draw engine as a whole in the current environment in my opinion. The ability to filter out cards and still draw several cards gives any control deck advantages. Considering you can draw what you need in a consistent and a reasonable time frame. Also accumulated knowledge has multiple use in this deck besides drawing a good chunk of cards.

-Chainer's Edict: I like this edict better then diabolic edict considering it's flashback cost can be a invalueble asset via intuition.

-Eternal witness:I'd say the more options you can grab with intuition the better eternal witness becomes in a direct proportional way. I mean since witness costs double green you should make the most out of it since it can be stressful on your manabase.

-Life from the loam: Now with Ak you can actually bring back your loam much more rapidly which is a great asset. Sometimes it's just better to do it now then later.

OK, well Freakish was right. I saw two conflicting rules for this from a long time ago, and upon confirmation (of a sort, with Star City), it seems I'm wrong. Sorry about that. Anyway, on to the other replies.

@Bardo: Counterbalance + Top is NOT a combo. It's a soft lock. That's vastly different. If we were racing to combo those cards, we would both be playing things like Ponder and things of that nature. Looking at Counterbalance + Top as a combo is overemphasizing one aspect of the deck. Yeah, it's good, don't get me wrong, but it should not be the sole aspect of the deck. Also, since it doesn't outright win you the game right there, it's not nor can it be considered the end-all of a game.

I really don't think that you can call Intuition slower than Standstill. Sure, Standstill costs one less, but it's never been my experience that they break it immediately. More often than not, they wait 2+ turns before breaking it. Which actually puts it as slower than Intuition.

While I can grant that they are similar, I think Intuition is a better card than Standstill. It doesn't force you into slowing the game down, and is a dead topdeck in fewer situations than Standstill is. Additionally, it means that you're probably going to run Mishra's Factory which I think is a poor land/creature. Intuition doesn't put constraints on deckbuilding. In fact, it does the opposite. It's so versatile as to almost embody the principles of the Dangers of Cool Things. Standstill cannot do that.

Also, thank you. Intuition DOES serve as the deck's source of card advantage and this IS the guy who brought you Solidarity. What's wrong with the name? I like it a lot. As do two of my other friends who've helped me with the deck from the beginning. Isn't that the important part?

@b4ron: Tombstalker was originally considered in what came to be Tarmogoyf/Psychatog's spot. I was unhappy with him because of the EXTREME lack of synergy between Delve and recurring cards. However, originally there was a Regrowth (which was terrible), so I might consider looking into him now. I don't know what I'd cut for him, or even if I need him, but I'll look into it.

@Raharu: Why do I need an evasive beater? Shackles answers everything except for Nimble Mongoose and for that I have Deed/Explosives. Honestly, the best evasive finisher I can run is Shackles.

Life from the Loam in the sideboard means that I DON'T have to Intuition for it. It means that I'm free to get other cards that I boarded in and have them be just as powerful. Or, it allows me to reduce the number of maindeck cards in certain matchups because it allows me to not be forced into getting Life from the Loam to set up engines. Also, it's a great card. Fantastic for fighting mana denial strategies.

@DIF: I'm going to have to post replies to you and Spirit of the Wretch's build later. I gotta go. Sorry.

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Originally Posted by Deep6er

@Raharu: Why do I need an evasive beater? Shackles answers everything except for Nimble Mongoose and for that I have Deed/Explosives. Honestly, the best evasive finisher I can run is Shackles.

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A valid question, but I'll answer this question instead and hope the answers overlap: Why would you want to play Mystic Enforcer, specifically in this deck?

It synergizes with your Intuition/ Life from the Loam stacks/ engine. It has evasion on a 6/6 body. While Tarmogoyf is generally a 4/5 in most circimstances, Mystic Enforce has merit in comparison because you can lay it turn four or five, throw your opponent on a 3 turn clock (in most cases) that is immune to any and all spot-removal not named Swords to Plowshares. Basicly, it's a threat that doesn't have to be babysitted, doesn't need to have it's path cleared for it, and doesn't leave much time for a solution to be found. Most decks have played 2 fetchlands by turn 4 or 5. So, that means Mystic Enforcer is a 3 turn clock after it hits the table. 3 natural draws to, in short, find a Swords to Plowshares. Deed generally can't touch it (another reason that it's good in the deck), if it takes a Wrath of God you're most likely going to be happy because it's a 1-1 trade that you're most likely to get back (Voltath's Stronghold), and not much else answers it after it comes down. As a one-of, I can't see why it wouldn't make the deck that much better by giving the deck a threat and a finisher that does something before it swings for lethal (i.e. not Psychatog).

Well, I'm done :]