Originally Posted by
DeathwingZERO
A few things here.
First off, with or without LED, you have 8 lands that can CAST Therapy before it hits the yard. This alone nullifies your argument for LED being useful to dump them, because now TES has to deal with you casting AND recasting them. I'd say it's well worth ditching a counter or taking a hit for that kind of power.
Second, check the lists that have been doing well recently, especially the one Anwar is piloting. It's got Unmasks, and he swears by the card. Many times it will remove a dredge spell, an Ichorid, or even Therapy. But it doesn't matter, because it doesn't whiff, where Therapy is typically just used to sac a creature (once it's hit the yard), and tends to be useless until it finds it's way there or you find a mana source. Those two factors tend to play pretty big to Unmask's inclusion.
Third (and part of second) my list I'm working on with a friend DOES include Street Wraith. We've come to the conclusion that Breakthrough tends to just suck. It's ONLY good with a land out, is always a must-counter, and nearly always comes with the same conclusion as LED: ditch the entire hand to pitch the select cards. Why not just do the same with Imp, AND have something to go along with it that's not an all-or-nothing play each game?
Street Wraith has been included over Breakthrough in my build for several reasons:
1- Ichorid recursions +4/Grave Troll size +4. Works really well, especially in games 2 and 3 where you rely on them because you've sided out the combo.
2- Doesn't require mana, and is instant speed. This is crucial. Dredging whenever is cool, especially in cases where you can't cast the Breakthrough, but have the LED up. It's also fun on the upkeep for being able to bring back Ichorid AND allow you to dredge, which will tend to surprise opponents who thought they were safe that turn.
*And there's gonna be a number of games where you can cycle this guy 2-3 times if you see them, because your life means nothing until you are dead. This, DA, lands and LED breaks into nothing seem to be a lot of life loss on paper, but I've yet to go to a game where it's ever been a risk. This version hasn't lost any speed that I've noticed, a half a turn at most.
3- Unmask inclusion. There's a number of black cards in the deck that can be tossed aside, but you tend not to want to. If you already are on an explosive start, he can be pitched so you don't have to.
4- Uncounterable. This is clutch here. Breakthrough is the biggest bomb in the deck, and ultimately tends to get hit way more often than LED by good players. While you aren't drawing 4 right away, you ARE going to draw that one, because chances are they won't waste a Stifle on this guy.
5- Games 2 and 3. I tend to leave him in. Most games I'm not going to side in all 15, and between LED, DA, and combo pieces, I've usually got my 11 spells covered. That means this guy can stick around, and I'll have better chances of drawing into my answers. It's not much, but playing a 56 card deck when you NEED to hit answers is better than a 60.
And yes, removing the combo pieces (this includes DA and LED in most cases) is the typical move for games 2 and 3. They are so hellbent on stopping you from explosive combos that usually nuking their answers and Ichorid beats is all you need.
I would suggest at least trying Street Wraith in testing. I'm still not sold on entirely cutting Breakthrough, but at the same time, we're not running Study either, so I may make room for that. I personally still think DA is the worst blue spell in the deck, because a majority of the time you just can't cast it. I'll be doing more testing on which spells to cut, and when the list is doing more of what I want it to (less killing itself randomly), I'll probably post it.
