PARFAIT
Introduction
Parfait is a white-based control deck that utilizes [CARD]sLand Tax[/CARDs] to gain card advantage in junction with Scroll Rack to turn that advantage into quality. Scroll Rack also benefits from Land Tax's shuffle effect to shuffle away unneeded cards that are "scrolled" back to the library.
Extended Context
The first known successful iteration of a Tax/Rack deck was piloted by Randy Buehler in the form of White Weenie with the said draw engine:
The low mana curve of White Weenie was perfect with Land Tax as the deck can run with minimal lands on the field. With low land count, Land Tax can be kept active while the opponent keeps playing land so it can cast answers to the Weenie threat. The deck soon became an Extended powerhouse.
1 Kjeldoran Outpost
8 Plains
4 Plateau
1 Savannah
4 Wasteland
2 Gorilla Shaman
4 Savannah Lions
4 Soltari Priest
4 White Knight
3 Disenchant
2 Firestorm
4 Land Tax
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mox Diamond
3 Scroll Rack
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Tithe
Sideboard:
3 Aura of Silence
1 Disenchant
2 Gaea's Blessing
2 Honorable Passage
3 Pyroblast
2 Sand Golem
2 Suleiman's Legacy
Classic Control
Following Tax/Rack Success in Extended, few players tried porting the deck to Type 1. The lists turned from aggro to aggro-control to control. The first known iteration of a control-based Tax/Rack was published by Darren di Batista, featuring a list created by Raphael Caron and Parfait as we know it was born:
Instead of the aggro-base with a draw engine, Parfait used the Tax/Rack engine to efficiently find answer spells or silver bullets that were effective against the meta of its time. The name Parfait came from the word French word parfait which means perfect.Drawing Engine:
4x Land Tax
2x Scroll Rack
1x Jayemdae Tome
Survival Spells/Silver Bullets:
1x Story Circle
4x Swords to Plowshares
3x Aura of Silence
1x Moat
1x Balance
1x Wrath of God
2x Zuran Orb
1x Ivory Mask
1x Ivory Tower
Utility Spells:
4x Abeyance
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Planar Birth
4x Argivian Find
Kill:
2x Sacred Mesa
1x Tormod's Crypt
1x Soldevi Digger
Mana Source & Lands:
1x Library of Alexandria
1x Serra's Sanctum
13x Plains
1x Strip Mine
3x Wasteland
1x Lotus Petal
1x Black Lotus
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Diamond
1x Sol Ring
The Perfect Mix
The original Parfait decks had components that can deal with early, mid and late game.
For the early game, it had answers in the form of cheap and efficient removal and life gain. The removal is self-explanatory. The life gain is there so that the deck can stabilize for the mid and late games.
As the deck stabilize, the mid game of the deck revolves around finding silver bullets against opposing decks either by using the Tax/Rack engine or using Enlightened Tutor. Once the opponent has been effectively controlled, the deck can set up for the late game into a win.
The deck utilizes a comboesque win, using Planar Birth to recur discarded Plains (discarded through the clean up step with extra cards in hand) to power up Sacred Mesa. Parfait was one of the first control decks to have a "I win" button.
Caught in the Split
Back in its time, Tax/Rack was considered one of the best card advantage engine (it didn't just drew cards, it also had a built in card selection). It was considered so powerful that when the Type 1- Type 1.5 split happened (birth of the Legacy format), the combo had to be neutered in the "powerless" format. With this reasoning, Land Tax was banned in Legacy for almost a decade.
Eventually, the power level of the format increased and more two card combos started showing up. This created discussions and arguments on the validity of Land Tax in the format. The DCI finally showed leniency on the card and on June 20, 2012; Land Tax finally became Legacy legal. Now the quest to find the right deck for Land Tax begins.
A lot of players tried adding Land Tax to existing lists such as U/W Miracle Decks. In the end, it did not work out since the requirements to 'break' Land Tax cannot simply be met in a mana hungry deck. To make things worse, the format has become more efficient on spending its mana. With decks that can run and win on 0-2 lands. To make Land Tax work in the format, the list has to be built around the card. Here is where Parfait comes in.
In with the Old
In order to port the old Parfait lists to the current Legacy meta, we have to compare the before and now. Here are the notable changes from the old to the current:
- Aggro creatures becoming more efficient in terms of effect/power vs. mana cost.
- The prevalence of utility creatures.
- The dependence (and abuse) of graveyards.
- The birth of Storm.
- The advent of Planeswalkers.
- Multitude of two-card, game ending combos (both win and lock)
- Cheap and efficient removal
With the knowledge above and the principles of Parfait, it can then be determined on how to shape a new Parfait list.
Parfait Revival
Parfait is a [control] deck that revolves around an engine. In order for it to work, it has to be built around the engine. But in order for it to be successful, it has to work without the engine.
First the engine of the deck:
These cards are the reason why Parfait is Parfait.
Like any engine decks, Parfait needs to be built around to break symmetry and to make it efficient. The old lists achieved this by utilizing the following:
- Run cheap game changing spells (usually in the form of removal).
- Use means to reduce land count to fewer than your opponent.
- Use mana resistors to force your opponent to play more lands than you (and to slow them).
- Use cheap artifact mana sources.
In order for the archetype to be successful, it also needs to work without having Tax/Rack active. This was achieved by using [CARD]Enlightened Tutor[/CARD] (not only to find Tax/Rack pieces but also to find hate pieces). Cards that have X-for-one effects were also used to maximize each use of the cards (such as [CARD]Wrath of God[/CARD]). Scroll Rack can also be used to fix consistency
Primer
The old Parfait lists followed a certain shell:
- Draw Engine (Tax/Rack & Back up) [7-9]: This is where Land Tax and Scroll Rack go in. Back in its Type 1 days, Jayemdae Tome and Library of Alexandria would be used as back up. But with the current card selection Legacy has right now, there are better option that are also legal in the format; Sensei's Divining Top comes to mind.
- Swords to Plowshares [4]: This has been a staple removal in Classic formats, although Path to Exile could be an alternative depending on how the list is tackled.
- Silver Bullets [8-10]: They are cards/permanents that nullify different strategies, whether it be against creatures (Humility/Moat), graveyard strategies (Rest in Peace), spell-based (Trinisphere) among other things
- Tutor/Utility [8-10]: Tutor refers to Enlightened Tutor (although they used to be restricted in Type 1.). Utility refers to non-permanent spells (the ones you cannot tutor for) that help and support either the Tax/Rack engine or compliments to the silver bullets.
- Win Condition [3-5]: Every deck needs to win a legitimate way. These only have a few slots due to the comboesque win conditions used by Parfait.
- Mana Artifacts [5-8]: They reduce the dependence to lands as a means of mana source. This means that Land Tax can be kept active.
- Lands [18-20] (Plains [10-15]): They are still an essential mana source but they can also be used for utility.
The problem with the count between mana artifact and lands is that the Alpha Moxen are banned in the format. Finding the right proportion between the two is currently open for discussion.
Here are a couple of sample lists that can be used as guidelines for building the decks. Most of these are theoretical lists before Land Tax was actually Legacy legal:
Stephen Menendian's Stax-like build
Lands:
11 Plains
1 Mistveil Plains
4 Wasteland
Spells:
1 Crucible Of Worlds
1 Goblin Charbelcher
1 Isochron Scepter
4 Mox Diamond
4 Scroll Rack
1 Smokestack
4 Trinisphere
1 Humility
4 Land Tax
1 Moat
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Rule of Law
1 Sacred Mesa
4 Abeyance
3 Argivian Find
4 Enlightened Tutor
3 Orim's Chant
4 Swords to Plowshares
Stephen Menendian's Suggested List Post Unbanning Circa June 2012
Hatebear-Based Parfait:
(nameless one's) Parfait Revival:
10 Snow-Covered Plains
4 City of Traitors
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Lotus Vale
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Helm of Obedience
3 Pithing Needle
4 Mox Diamond
4 Scroll Rack
2 Humility
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Rest in Peace
4 Land Tax
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Terminus
Sideboard:
4xLeyline of Sanctity
4x Trinisphere
3x Aura of Silence
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Karmic JusticeSelecting the 75
To be continued...
Piloting Parfait
To be continued...
Splashes and Flavors
Here is an excerpt from Stephen Menendian's article concerning splashes:
BLUE
Brainstorm
Brainstorm has natural synergy with Land Tax. The problem with Brainstorm is mana cost. You are going to be knee deep in Blue if you are relying on early Brainstorms. That means your manabase probably has some strange combinations of plains and islands, and perhaps a few fetchlands, and perhaps even a Tundra or two. The awkwardness stems from potentially needing to play both a first turn Land Tax and possibly Brainstorming early, yet having mostly basic lands. The longer the game goes the more value can be extracted from Brainstorm (shuffling away extra lands and digging deeper into an already thinned deck), so keep that in mind when analyzing opening hands and lines of play.
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
If Brainstorm has strong synergy with Land Tax, certainly Jace does as well. It has direct synergy with Land Tax, a pseudo Scroll Rack. Jace is a natural finisher for a control deck of this caliber, and also has the ability of controlling creatures on the battlefield.
Daze
As my teammate Kevin Cron pointed out, Daze is insane with Land Tax, since it works like Zuran Orb, to return the land you already played to hand to guarantee Land Tax triggers.
RED
Blood Moon
Blood Moon is an excellent Tutor target, and highly synergistic in any Land Tax deck. Blood Moon neuters fetchlands, and can singlehandedly win matchups. It is a strong consideration for any W/R Land Tax deck.
Firestorm
Firestorm is an enormously attractive option, just as it was in the Extended decks of old. It’s a great outlet for Land Tax and will clear an opposing board. This is probably a staple for any W/R Aggro deck revival.
Seismic Assault
Fool’s gold in my opinion. Not only is it too difficult to reliably cast, but it’s a poor use of your card advantage compared to putting back into your deck with Scroll Rack or Jace/Brainstorm.Matchups
To be continued...
Outside Information
Here are some articles concerning Parfait:
This is an outdated source. For reference only
Personal List and Explanations:
Manabase:
10 Snow-Covered Plains
4 City of Traitors
4 Wasteland
4 Mox Diamond
3 Chrome Mox
Parfait Engine:
4 Land Tax
4 Scroll Rack
4 Enlightened Tutor
2 Argivian Find
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Zuran Orb
Control Elements:
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Trinisphere
2 Ghostly Prison
2 Terminus
1 Humility
1 Smokestack
Win Conditions:
3 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Batterskull
1 Goblin Charbelcher
Manabase:
Snow-Covered Plains: I was going to use good old Plains but it is Parfait! Has to be frozen. Although regular Plains are just as fine.
City of Traitors : For the longest time, I was using Crystal Veins over this but with the inclusion of Trinisphere in the list, I need to consistently cast my cheaper spells under an active Trinisphere and City of Traitors isn't just a one time use only land. Although I am still contemplating on using 3/3 split between City of Traitors and Crystal Veins.
Wasteland: They get rid of utility lands and lands that will produce more than one mana for the opponent. They're also there to color-screw the opponent. The existence of Crucible in the deck can catch the opponents off guard.
Mox Diamond + Chrome Mox: They somehow help Land Tax trigger by lowering your land count on the field. While theres card disadvantage involved in using these, the Tax/Rack engine helps replenish your hand back.
Parfait Engine:
Land Tax + Scroll Rack: The engine of the deck. Under the right circumstances, you can dig through your library with these.
Enlightened Tutor: Not only they can find Land Tax or Scroll Rack, it can also find enablers for the deck and board control pieces.
Argivian Find: Either your draw engine pieces or board control pieces are bound to be countered or destroyed. These will get those pieces back.
Crucible of Worlds: It has a couple synergies with the cards that you have in the deck. It can replay City of Traitors, Wastelands, or lands that used for Zuran Orb or Smokestacks.
Zuran Orb: Its a good piece that can screw up the combat math. It also helps enable Land Tax.
Control Elements:
Swords to Plowshares: The debate was using this vs. Path to Exile. While Path to Exile helped trigger Land Tax, it also help your opponents work under taxing effects such as Ghostly Prison, Trinisphere and Smokestacks. In the end, I think Swords to Plowshares is still better than Path to Exile in Land Tax builds because if your opponents cannot recover from the mentioned taxing effects, you are still good and ahead of the game.
Trinisphere: It slows the opponents down and helps enable Land Tax (along with Moxen and Sol Lands) by forcing the opponent to play more lands. It is also a great tool against ritual-based combo and decks that run on minimal lands (such as Elves and Tempo-based decks)
Ghostly Prison: It slows swarm-based aggro decks and helps enable Land Tax by forcing your opponents to play more lands.
Terminus: Once the opponent overextended, Terminus is a bomb against your opponent's field. It is essentially the Balance the deck needs. It is also fairly easy to set up its Miracle cost because of Scroll Rack
Humility: This card can shut down a lot of utility and giant creatures in the format. It is also great that its tutorable.
Smokestack: This card helps turn whatever soft lock you've established into hard lock while at the same time enabling Land Tax (by sacrificing your own lands)
Win Condition:
Stoneforge Mystic: This can cheat a Batterskull onto the field. At worst, its a blocker that can reset your Scroll Rack.
Batterskull: For (via SFM), its a great beater. It also works great under an active Humility.
Goblin Charbelcher: Its a great late game finisher, when your deck is running low on lands. At worst, it can reset Scroll Rack.
Sideboard:
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Cursed Totem
3 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Aura of Silence
Cards that need to be addressed:
Solitary Confinement
Tangle Wire
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Just grabbed a nm legends playset for 70$
It actually sounds like the difference is that you need turns to win with entreat where as when I hit my cards I'm basically winning on the spot. Parfait to me is a prison deck. I take advantage of that by forcing other decks to play how I want them to and combo kill with main deck hate.
Also I think you are reading in to much. Path, wrath, O ring, humility, etc... There is no turbo wrath game. Wrath does however permanently deal with threats rather then having to deal with them later. The format is based on efficient spells and I choose to make my opponents spells inefficient. Trinisphere beats decks on its own. Miracle for 3 may as well still be a wrath.
The Parfait Meta-Game
I don't like Belcher as a wincon since it's way too situational. I'm not sure about Runed Halo either - could be a tutorable 1of, I guess.
With Scroll Rack, wouldn't white Miracles be a feasible choice?
Also 4 Mox Diamonds should be a given in this deck.
Yep i am also considering green for loam
Crucible too for loam / mox diamond
But i do not see the gain yet i m focused on uw right now i ll test the rest later
Ya I have a suggestion. Play the real TaxRack deck.
4 Scroll Rack
4 Land Tax
4 Enlightened Tutor
4 Mox Diamond
14 Plains
4 Tithe
4 Grindstone
4 Painter's Servant
3 Rest in Peace
3 Circle of Protection: Red
4 Celestial Purge
4 Argivian Find
4 Abolish
SB: 4 Oblivion Ring
SB: 4 Path to Exile
SB: 1 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Absolute Law
SB: 1 Circle of Protection: Red
SB: 1 Warmth
SB: 2 Refraction Trap
Have fun.
Explanations:
You play Painter's Servant instead of any other jank because you can stay on a 1-3 curve. At 3 mana being your killing point. Maindeck CoP: Red because it nails Jund, Goblins, Burn strategies.. Red cards. ( Everything becomes Red under Painter FYI ). Celestial Purge because it stops.. Red cards and even Black cards!
The engine is self explanatory. You need x4 Tax, Rack, Tutor and Mox Diamond. Tithe is x4. Play it. Maindeck x3 Rest In Peace means we can beat Dredge Game 1, and allow us to win with Painter's Servant while they are playing Elfball with Emralku, or Emralku decks period. (Show and Tell? Sure we'll play Painter combo). Argivian Find means we can beat Control decks that FoW Tax or something. Abolish is x4.
SB?
O.Ring for Show and Tell/Decks that you feel comfortable bringing a 3CMC enchantment against
Path to Exile for Elf or Zoo decks.
Rest In Peace to stomp down Dredge and Deathrite Shaman and Snapcaster Mage some more
Absolute Law to make sure Painter's Servant can stay on the Battlefield.
Another CoP:Red because of Red decks.
A Warmth to tutor up against Burn decks
Refraction Trap for RUG Delver
Pros: You can win mostly any matchup with some practice and skill, some luck helps too.
Cons: You lose if you don't Painter's Servant combo them 2 games out of 3. (Not counting niche scenarios like for example: you beat them down with Painter's Servant, they kill themselves with Ad Nauseam, they die to Dark Confidant. )
Last edited by Shax; 01-18-2013 at 09:17 PM.
Team Shit Sandwich; smelling bad so you don't have to.
How do you beat storm combo? How do you protect painter's servant from getting killed?Pros: You can win mostly any matchup with some practice and skill
Long time usually lurker, starting to post, English not as first lenguaje, you know the drill. I had been playing Mighty Quinn in the past as I only a few cards away from this deck I was wondering if it still could be viable in nowadays meta, full of BGx tempo/control/whatever with maindeck Decays and combo starting to come back, as discussion about this deck seems to be dried quite a bit.
And, pardon if it sounds rude, no opponent in front of you. Firstly, Imperial Painter has blasts and moons, UR Painter has sorted counters and M. Quinn chants into the combo but you have zero ways to protect one of the most fragile creatures as it dies to almost everything: StP, Bolt, Decay, Dismember, Deed, instant Terminus, any artifact hate, Countertop, any hard counter... and with no other relevant targets in your deck your oppenent will be stocking on those. In second games if somehow it gets extracted, even if RIP and Argivian helps againt, its probably gg as you have literally no other wincons apart from Grindsotne standalone mill. Which will be not enough because, secondly, you have no reliable removal or disruption: you will be assembling Tax-Rack engine into card advantage into maybe a painter win or maybe useless cards and redundant pieces while your opponent will be advancing their game plan: combo will outrun you, fast aggro and tempo will probably also outrun you, control and midrange will stock into disruption. This is because, thirdly, while some cards could steal games on their one like CoP:Red againts burn or RIP against dredge, half of your deck is dead most of the time: Argivian is a nombo with RIP, Abolish being without targets, Celestial Purge and CiP:Red being off color without an active Painter, RIP being just dead and Land Tax being played around.
In a Storm-heavy meta, would you ever consider [cards]Silence[/card] or Abeyance in the place of the Refraction traps and the Warmth?
Sorry got the delay with the primer. I've been busy with holidays so playtesting has been limited.
As for the Painter/Stone kill, I find that whenever people see Painter's Servant, it gets killed. It's the only creature you're running and unless your opponent is stupid or out of answers, it will not survive. Also, Emrakul exists.
Why not run Helm of Obedience? You're already running Rest in Piece. Against aggro; Humility, StP, Terminus.
Yes, Humility and Helm costs four. This is why I am running City of Traitors (since Mox option is limited in Legacy).
Against storm, I would usually side in Trinisphere and to some extent Aura of Silence. Aura of Silence slows their mana Mox and Trinisphere explains itself.
Also, Trinisphere is great against deck that can run with less than three mana.
So far, what I have on the primer is history and what to considered for the Vintage meta back in 2000 to Legacy now.
PS. A "combo" deck will not be an established list if it can't win on turn one/two or has a reliable back up plan.
When I was playing tax/rack about 6 months ago, it was in something I built that would create a series of board locks. This is the first time I've tried it in more of a combo strategy. I sleeved it and was unimpressed when I initially looked at it but when a sat to matches with it, Wow...
It isn't as scary as my omni-show but I don't think it is supposed to be. What I like is the ability to catch people off guard and watch the misplays (no, jace can't bounce snapcaster because servant and absolute law are down). Cute goyf, but I'll COP it for now since the servant is down until I draw or tutor a rest in peace.
I play with really seasoned players who can make a variety of decks (New England) and still watch them rib each other when one lets a scroll rack stick.
The ability to Argivian find around counter magic and tutor is certainly powerful.
The weakness I felt the other day was the attempted target of abrupt decay at absolute law. It was keeping the servant safe from a swords at that moment.
It makes me wonder if there is a benefit to greater auramancy. Also thought of Hanna's custody as I play against a liquid metal coating, artifact destruction decks from time to time.
Necro time.
I would like to mingle in this discussion earlier, but didn't play magic for about a year or two. Now I was just browsing the internet and found that Land Tax was unbanned for a year now. This was my cue to come back to the format. I started testing different lists and discussed through private messages with (nameless one).
I've read through the thread and started testing.
I've started with a vintage like build, Something like 14 plains, 4 Wasteland, 7 plows, 7 chants, 4 Enlightened Tutors alot of one-offs ed. The deck failed miserably. I had to few lands and really needed Land Tax to get started and didn't get enough out of Landtax because my curve was higher than other decks. The silver bullets I used weren't the best one either. I started testing and the list from (nameless one) seems like a good start.
Things I found:
Manabase
We need to be able to operate on 2/3 lands max to get the max out of Land Tax. If our curve ends on 4 we can't do it only on lands.
The options found in the thread:
- Change the curve to end on 3 mana
- Serra's Sanctum
- Mox Diamond
- Extraplanar Lens
- Lotus Vale/Scorched Ruins
- City of Traitors/Crystal Vein
Lets look at them closer:
Changing the curve to 3 mana max not seems optimal: White has got some very good 4-mana bombs, Elspeth, Knight Errant/Humility foremost. The only kill-condition on 3 mana is Servant, which isn't easy to protect, especially if you have to cast them over more turns.
Serra's Sanctum gets to late online. I counted the enchantments I had down and only in cornercases It produced 3 mana before I won the game.
Mox Diamond is I think an auto-inclusion. The only problem is that it might be hard to cast early on if you play to few lands. But later it's very solid because it keeps the landcount low, you have enough lands in hand thanks to Land Tax. You do want to play more then 20 lands though.
Extraplanar Lens is similar to Lotus Vale. Make more mana with less lands. I keep Scorched Ruins out of the picture, because the need of coloured sources. Both give x for 1 when destroyed. If you look at the development over the first turns Lostus Vale is better: You got 3 mana on turn 3, while you have to tap out for Extraplanar Lens. In multiples there quite even too. 2 Vales against 2 Lens and 2 plains each give 6-mana. Vale only require extra turns to get in to play.
The next question is removal: Extraplanar Lens is a little easier to remove: it can be discarded and there is some more removal to it then Lotus Vale. Destroying Lotus Vale is a 3 for 1 instead of a 2 for 1.
Looking at the tierdecks I rather play Lotus Vale. I found the third turn to important to tap out for Extraplanar Lens. I also found it easier to protect Lotus Vale (Pithing Needle on Wasteland.)
City of Traitors or Crystal Veins. Also a solid option. In my opinion City of Traitors is superior to Crystal Veins. Being able to tap 2 mana in 2 turns is better. If you don't need the two mana just don't play City of Traitors.
So the manabase should be something like:
3-4 Mox Diamond
3-4 Lotus Vale
13-14 Lands
4 City of Traitors
The lands could be basics combined with Ghost Quarters. I don't like Ghost Quarters but with the new legendary rules it might be needed to destroy some utility lands.
It is very weird for a deck that can work on so few lands you need so many sources. But actually it's 18 lands, because Mox Diamond and Lotus Vale can't be count as lands. On top of that Land Tax main task is to gain card-advantage and not to fix the manabase. Also is it easier to play through land-flood instead of land-screw.
Looking at draw additionaly next to Land Tax-Scroll Rack. The best option is Sensei's Divinig Top. Everybody agree's that. Another option would be to splash blue for Jace, the mindsculptor. Brainstorm isn't a optimal fit in the deck. You lack fetchlands and you want white mana early on.
So let say
4 Scroll Rack
4 Land Tax
2 Sensei's Divining Top
Another discussion I found were the number of Enlightened Tutor. There are two solid points: 1) You have to play 4 because you want to see them every game or 2) You have to play less then four, because multiple sucks. I myself play 4 and would that suggest that. Sure having 2 in the openinghand sucks, but after that you just tutor for Scroll Rack and shuffle the other one away. So the card is never dead in your hand.
4 Enlightened Tutor
Spot Removal
Swords to Plowshare vs. Path to Exile. Another though choice, both are great. Swords to Plowshare always has the same minor drawback. Path to Exile has sometimes a bigger drawback, sometimes no drawback(if the opponent can't/won't find a land) sometimes an advantage. I think the choice depends alot on the decks you will face. Against decks with Vial and cheap creatures Path to Exile is normally better, the opponent can't really abuse the excess in lands. Against aggro-control decks it might be dangerous to give them the mana.
Another pro I find on Path to Exile is that it seems better post-board. Opponents will try to play around Land Tax and Path to Exile can fight this.
So in short:
4 Swords to Plowshare / Path to Exile
3/4 Terminus
I think this is the core of the deck. The rest isn't strict. We have room for some utility and we need to win the game. Lets start with Utility. The best cards are Humility, Pithing Needle and Oblivion Ring. Humility is better than Moat because of al the utility creatures running around. Combined they are really good, but if you can put down one it would be Humility. Pithing Needle is needed to fight Wasteland. Getting your Lotus Vale wasted is sad. But using it on Planeswalker isn't a bad thing too. Oblivion Ring is the best we got as a catch-all. For the rest it depends on your meta, if you want to play Isochron Scepter, Moat, SmokeStack, Rule of Law, Trinisphere, Circle of Protection be my guest. But if you won't know what to expect I would suggest Humility, Pithing Needle and Oblivion Ring. A little metadependent but almost always solid is Rest in Peace. It stops some strategies of top-decks stone-cold, it also give you the option to play Helm of Obidience.
Kill conditions should finish the game fast and are hard to stop. Normaly Goblin Belcher was used with Sacred Mesa. Because we want to keep the mana down, I rather play Elspeth, Knight Errant now then Sacred Mesa. Sure when you can create 6 mana a turn at least Sacred Mesa is solid. But with Elspeth, Knight Errant you just need to spend 4 mana once and you're good to go.
Goblin Charbelcher is still possible. I wouldn't play other utility lands if you want to do it reliable. it costs 7 mana if you're lucky. But sometimes it takes 2 or 3 turns to win and that might be too slow.
If you play Rest in Peace anyway, Helm of Obidience is very solid too. Only problem is that it's kinda bad on it's own. Although I once was lucky with Emrakul.
Painter Servant / Grind Stone isn't for this deck I believe. both pieces are bad on there own. Game one the opponent will likely have a hand for creature removal for creatures. You need Orim's Chant to protect it and 7 mana to pull it off. It also fails to Emrakul.
Other card choices I've seen are Balancing Act or Cataclysm. Both aren't optimal in this deck. Balancing Act is just a weak card in this deck, you have to much permanents. Even if you got a light board of Lotus Vale, Mox Diamond, Land Tax and Scroll Rack it's still quite weak. Opponents just keep 2 creatures and 2 lands and you are still loosing.
Cataclysm is very solid on paper, but in reality not so good. First you don't play creatures, so never can take full effect of it. Lots of deck can live with it, as long as they don't overextend. I'm just afraid I will stare down a Island+Aether Vial+Merfolk or Land+Counterbalance+Sensei's Divining Top or something.
The biggest flaw we might need to adress is the fast combo-matchup. Pre-board it's probably horrible having very few answers for it. Sure you can run cards like Rule of Law or Trinisphere MD but does that really stop them? Post-board they will board in bounce but hopefully we can board enough cards to stop them.
Another weak matchup I found in testing was Counterbalance. Our curve isn't that good against them. Needle on Top helps a little, but need to be played before hand.
If we can shore up our weakest matchups this should be a tier 2 deck at least I think.
Any comments?
So does the new orb of something from dominaria make it into our deck? It's the one that hoses big Mana decks and storm. Also I played a silent gravestone in my legacy deck this weekend and holy hell it was good. It hit snapcaster, Drs, reanimator, etc. Should we throw a one of main board?
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About the new card, I don't really care for it mainly because decks that play sol lands are usually not very good against us (most have no counterspell and thus leave us open to etutor whatever locks them out). I'm also fine letting my opponent cast big eldrazi and stuff only to wrath the board next. Storm isn't the best pre-board but we have enough tools to make it even post-board already. I don't believe it's a matchup that needs more fixing.
Maybe I'm missing something but what does Gravestone do for us that RIP doesn't do better already? It seems like a waste of a slot since I play 7 RIP + 4 chants.
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