[SCD] Leovold, Emissary of Trest

[UseLess]

That list looks pretty smooth. I love the Dark confidant suggestion, it's my favorite card so I'll definitely try it out. I'm quite busy this week but I'll try to update the OP in the weekend.

[paulnatta]

Here is my initial list for Leovold's Puzzle Box.

4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Cephalid Looter
3 Leovold, Emissary of Trest
3 Notion Thief

3 Engineered Explosives
4 Abrupt Decay
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Spell Pierce
2 CounterspellI wa
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
1 Temple Bell
2 Teferi's Puzzle Box

1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Creeping Tarpit
2 Wasteland
9 Dual Lands
8 Fetch Lands

Leo & Thief both shine with puzzle box and will most likely get a scoop up. I wanted to get the combo out quickly, but have other effect to abuse Leo & Thief anti draw. I really liked Cephalid Looter and Coliseum as an instant discard, but can dig too to find missing pieces. I initially had 3 looters and 1 Cephalid Broker, but it would be too heavy at the 4 drop. Other "blue discard" include Wistful Thinking and Careful Consideration.

Since our creatures are mostly above 3cmc i thought EE would be an efficient sweeper in addition to Abrupt Decay and Liliana of the Veil. Bounce is also insane with Puzzle Box, so, Vapor Snag, Silent Departure, Boomerang or Cyclonic Rift would be good.

[UseLess]

To start with a note: I have played notion thief in Nic Fit. It sucks. Ass. Hairy and sweaty ass. Yes it's great on a brainstorm when not killed/countered. But most of the time it just sucks. Four mana is a world of difference compared to three. And a 3/1 body dies to everything so you can't ever attack with it.

I did some very brief testing. A version with Gurmag Angler was terrible, never managed to cast it, also 4 Leovold was too much. Sucks to draw him in multiples and makes opening hands awkward. Now having a version with Tarmogoyf and GSZ and two veteran explorer. Works much better, but not really thanks to Leovold :/. This is in 3(?) games of testing, but still better than nothing. I still love the card, so I hope to find the right shell for it.

[MaximumC]

To start with a note: I have played notion thief in Nic Fit. It sucks. Ass. Hairy and sweaty ass. Yes it's great on a brainstorm when not killed/countered. But most of the time it just sucks. Four mana is a world of difference compared to three. And a 3/1 body dies to everything so you can't ever attack with it.

I did some very brief testing. A version with Gurmag Angler was terrible, never managed to cast it, also 4 Leovold was too much. Sucks to draw him in multiples and makes opening hands awkward. Now having a version with Tarmogoyf and GSZ and two veteran explorer. Works much better, but not really thanks to Leovold :/. This is in 3(?) games of testing, but still better than nothing. I still love the card, so I hope to find the right shell for it.

I feel like Leo is more at home in Vintage, where he's a turn 1 or 2 play and he messes with everything Gush wants to do. In Legacy, he's coming down after they've had plenty of time to play with their Brainstorms and Ponders and so on.

[johanessen]

Arcane Denial is the nuts here.

[Finn]

Just want to point out that Arcane Denial is also good with Cavern of Souls for a nifty Ancestral Recall impersonation.

[Fox]

Just want to point out that Arcane Denial is also good with Cavern of Souls for a nifty Ancestral Recall impersonation.

I've run the card [Arcane Denial] before, but it's not the most playable. Leovold is a cool card, but there is a lack of Lotus Petal decks willing to run Arcane Denial (settling on no backup value plan, self-countering mid/late-game Petals), no Shardless decks run it alongside cascade (counter your own Agent but draw 3 while benefiting from additional countermagic), and it's much easier to really get someone with Denial and Notion Thief.

You have to be competing on a pretty degenerate axis to dust off a card like Arcane Denial - this isn't a card that goes with generically good BUG cards being played straight-up. When you start to care about the implications of stacking the two distinct upkeep draw triggers, whether or not you're the AP or NAP, then you're in the market for Arcane Denial. The effect of counter and draw is generically good [unimaginative, but good]...on a card that is generally bad (and not used for that reason).

[Cambriel]

I realize this is the SCD thread and there's a proper deck thread for this, but has anyone just tried jamming Leovold into Food Chain? Seems like a better choice than that eldrazi exile guy, Shardless, or maybe even Clique.

I've been on a Tezzerator / Daretti kick or I'd sleeve it up and try it.

[ashent]

---

Alright, so I'm a Shardless and BUG Delver player primarily, and I didn't believe in this card when it was spoiled, but I picked two up anyway and have been working on him a little bit.

First thing was just trying out 2 copies in a grindy BUG midrange list with Daze to back him up. Since we're cutting Shardless Agent, we get a lot of space to play more counter magic (with even more jammed into the board like Flusterstorm and Mindbreak Trap especially) and just win off our reactive spells and good creatures. One of the worst parts about being a Shardless player is feeling like such a dog to dedicated combo decks. Leo seems like a perfect way to combat this.

Originally I wanted 2 LotV and 1 JtMS as the top-end, but I ran into the same problem I always do when trying to play reactive spells in the same shell as Liliana: we want to hold cards but we also want to tick her up. Jace may end up still working out, but I ended up cutting the Planeswalkers and making a more creature-centric list. I am well aware that the Snapcasters are likely not going to find a lot of support here but I am trying it, allowing the hand disruption package, the Brainstorms, Disfigures, the Dismember, the Ponder, and the Abrupt Decays pull double-duty if necessary, especially since Leo is hopefully drawing us cards and we're making good land drops. Initial list:

Lands: 20 (started at 22 but I cut a Creeping Tar Pit and a Wasteland) - this manabase is likely completely incorrect, just what I came up with by feel. Note: Possibly cut down to 2 Wastelands and fit a basic in here? Maybe a Swamp and a Forest and shave a fetch)
2 Bayou
3 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Wasteland

Creatures: 15
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Leovold, Emissary of Trest (3?)
2 Baleful Strix
2 Snapcaster Mage (pet card - cut for more instants, too mana hungry, not what 'goyf deck wants to be doing)
1 True-Name Nemesis (pet card, likely not good, this could easily just be another Strix)

Instants / Sorceries: 24

1 Ponder
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Hymn to Tourach
2 Thoughtseize
2 Disfigure
1 Dismember
4 Abrupt Decay

Others: 1

1 Sylvan Library

Sideboard: 15 (It's difficult to come up with a solid sideboard as I appreciate when people have a solid maindeck and a real plan with their sb, instead of just a pile of good cards. Because of that, I spent very little time on this)

2 Flusterstorm
2 Spell Pierce
2 Krosan Grip
2 Dread of Night
1 Dismember
1 Baleful Strix
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Garruk Relentless
2 Grafdigger's Cage

[H]

[HR]Alright, so I'm a Shardless and BUG Delver player primarily, and I didn't believe in this card when it was spoiled, but I picked two up anyway and have been working on him a little bit.

First thing was just trying out 2 copies in a grindy BUG midrange list with Daze to back him up. Since we're cutting Shardless Agent, we get a lot of space to play more counter magic (with even more jammed into the board like Flusterstorm and Mindbreak Trap especially) and just win off our reactive spells and good creatures. One of the worst parts about being a Shardless player is feeling like such a dog to dedicated combo decks. Leo seems like a perfect way to combat this.

I posted an experimental list over here in the Team America Midrange Thread. I don't know that I'd want Daze in the same deck as Leo, but I haven't been able to get in any games in over 8 weeks due to real-life stuff. The idea of the list is really to use GSZ to keep the stream of threats coming, from Deathrite early to 'Goyf and Leo later.

[Secretly.A.Bee]

I'm having a lot of success with him as a 3-4 of in BUGStill. With a Leovold and a Standstill out, if they try to kill him, you draw 4(!) cards, and with DRS you can play him turn 2, or on curve through daze. He turns off Standstill for your opponent if for some reason you have to pop it. For the storm matchup I play 2 Flusterstorm and 2 Mind Break Trap, so that when they Tendrils or Grapeshot you, you draw a bunch of cards and have a high percentage chance of drawing an answer. Between that and 3/3 split on FoW and Thoughtseize, 2 CB main (1 board) and 3 Top and a single Counterspell, I feel really good about the storm combo matchup. I love this version I have built. Oh, and my Miracles matchup is really good so far.

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[non-inflammable]

Would anvil of bogardan be good with Leo?

[Secretly.A.Bee]

I doubt it. I don't understand why you guys think a combo list is the way to go. Only having access to 4 of a certain effect is pretty lousy as far as a continuous effector is concerned, ask aluren. And then pair that with it dying to every removal spell ever and you have a fringe list that *might be* "fun to play."

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[H]

I played 2 Leo in my BUG Midrange deck with 2 Green Sun's Zenith on Friday. I am pretty convinced he is the real deal. He was an absolute house versus Miracles and even great versus Burn. If you are in BUG I think you want to be playing some number of him, no doubt.

[mgrinshpon]

I'm having a lot of success with him as a 3-4 of in BUGStill. With a Leovold and a Standstill out, if they try to kill him, you draw 4(!) cards, and with DRS you can play him turn 2, or on curve through daze. He turns off Standstill for your opponent if for some reason you have to pop it. For the storm matchup I play 2 Flusterstorm and 2 Mind Break Trap, so that when they Tendrils or Grapeshot you, you draw a bunch of cards and have a high percentage chance of drawing an answer. Between that and 3/3 split on FoW and Thoughtseize, 2 CB main (1 board) and 3 Top and a single Counterspell, I feel really good about the storm combo matchup. I love this version I have built. Oh, and my Miracles matchup is really good so far.

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I came here just to post about how Standstill seems like a good shell. Would you mind posting your list?

[Secretly.A.Bee]

I suppose.

4 DRS
4 Leovold

1 JTMS (was MisD)
1 Garruk Relentless
1 LftLoam
1 Sylvan Library
3 Standstill
4 Brainstorm
3 SDT
2 CBalance
1 CSpell
3 FoW
3 Thoughtseize
3 ADecay
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Deed

2 Wasteland
2/3 Factory
1/2 CTPit
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Bayou
2 Trop
3 USea
3 Delta
3 Misty
3 Verdant

Board
1 Needle
1 Grafdigger's
2 MBT
3 Surgical
1 BEB
1 Hydroblast
2 Flusterstorm
1 CB
2 Reality Shift
1 Deluge

Edit: Don't everyone comment at once, now; take turns...


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