Soul-Scar really just needs to be treated as Taylor Swiftspear 5-7
Originally Posted by B88
Will likely be streaming UR tomorrow night. Haven't played the list in a few weeks. Has Soul Scar become a staple?
Based on our local two UR players yes. Also I just talked about it with one of them and his insight was that if he starts the game with ponder he just loses some games. And that the deck with Bedlam seems like a different deck from his perspective.
A few months ago whenever I faced an UR player I felt like I was guaranteed to win whenever they started with ponder go. So his analysis is probably correct.
Generally I think swiftspear is much better with the UR prowess gameplan..Soul Scar from my perspective is being played more as an additional T1 threat than a replacement for swiftspear. Wither can have its advantage but its biggest benefit is being a T1 prowess creature.
Turn 1 ponder is slow but, it's not the end of the world. I feel like even without a turn 1 creature the deck does fine, the local player could just be playing it sub-optimally. The deck feels very balanced with the creature count at 13 and although it may become a staple later on, i think it's to soon to mark it as one.
Hmmm, tempted to try soul-scar out and see how it does. Have noticed I'm seeing a return of Goyfs and also more Gurmag Angler recently so it could be decent if the meta shifts towards those sort of cheap but large threats.
Did anyone see Mengucci's latest UR list from channelfireball? He tested 2 Cryptic Serpent and 2 TNN to moderate success in a mtgo daily event.
I, too am eager to try out Soul-scar though I will say that even though Stormchaser costs a whole extra mana the only time I really find that relevant is in the combo matchup where I really need 1-drops followed by interaction. Otherwise the fact that it flies, has 3 toughness, and is blue to pitch to FoW are all relevant.
If Serpent was a 6/6 I would be totally sold, as it would beat Goyf (usually), Reality Smasher and Angler in combat. As a 6/5 though it only trades with those cards, which is much less appealing.
I am not a fan of Serpent, Bedlam Reveler or TNN in this deck because I prefer threats that can be deployed quickly. To this end I think Soul-Scar Mage is definitely worthy of extensive testing, despite not having haste he's basically a Kird Ape or better for the deck, which is actually not bad. The fact that he has Wither (and gives it to all your spells) is actually relevant, too, as it makes attacking into big creatures not as bad and also interacts really well with Rough//Tumble out of the board.
Nobody plays Legacy anymore, the tournaments are all too crowded
He doesn't have wither, the -1/-1 counters are only from non-combat damage, so attacking into large creatures is still bad unless you can bolt/chain them first.
Oh, I must have misread that...good catch.
Still, I think the fact that you can attack into an Angler with a bolt and actually have your soul-scar survive is quite nice.
Nobody plays Legacy anymore, the tournaments are all too crowded
Yeah there is definitely good potential for combat step tricks with it. Also as you note, it goes well with rough or pyroclasm.
I notice Andrea Mengucci had dropped Sulphuric Vortex completely in his side. Anyone else trying this? I liked it a lot vs miracles, less sure now, but it still seems good vs any kind of control deck that might wear down our board and hand.
I honestly always found Sulfuric to be about the second most scary card in Burn decks when I'm opposite them. Turning off Jitte, DRS, BSK, Scooze, Centaur-man, and any other life-gaining trick is a pain, and right now a lot of enchantment hate is being cut (decays) because they are less necessary; instead opting for either x2 or Kolaghans, or nothing.
Yeah, I feel like we are not so dissimilar from burn in our approach, we want to be aggressive, send bolts to the face as much as possible, and wrap the game up fast. Opponent's gaining life can very easily put them out of range which is why I've kept 2x vortex in the side so far.
A interesting UR "Tempo" list featuring YP, Stifle, Snapcaster Mage and some other interesting choices from the japanese Big Magic Open.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles...se-tournaments
A MTGO 5-0 list today had 2X Cryptic Serpent, FYI.
I find it interesting how many "top end" cards have been printed for us lately. First it was True-Name, then Stormchaser, then more high CMC options in Bedlam Reveler and Cryptic Serpent. Honestly I think I like Serpent the most. It pitches to Force, tussles with most things in the format and doesn't make you discard your hand like Reveler does.
The creature over the years have really helped the deck tremendously imo. When I first tried to put UR together I remember besides Delver the other main creatures were 4x goblin guide, some grim lava mancers and SCM and ran more counterspells. The newer builds feel much more explosive and pro-active at closing the game out which I like.
I haven't given Serpent a try yet but it is intriguing.
Does anyone else beside me not hate Stormchaser Mage? I have seen quite a few UR players have distaste for him. I understand the points of why many don't like him, but I have won so many games off the keywords flying + prowess that despite his shortfalls l have become a fan.
I absolutely love stormchaser being a 1/3 makes it very tricky to kill with bolt and flying has just been so amazing in so many games. I have seen so many board states where i have a TNN holding the fort on the ground and stormchaser winning me the game in the air.
Been testing a bit with cryptic serpent, it's pretty good.
My only concern with Cryptic Serpent is it's antisynergy with Lavamancer.
I love my pesky Lavamancer too much to cut him from my board and he is such an easy swap for the single Reveler against Decks where you need additional Removal like Elves for example.
However, a creature suite like this looks good to me:
4 Delver
4 Swiftspear
2 Soul Scar Mage
//
3 Stormchaser Mage
1 Bedlam Reveler
Or:
2 Stormchaser Mage
2 Cryptic Serpent
Guess i will just pick up some copies of Soul Scar Mage and Serpent as they are very cheap atm and start some testing.
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