[CaNG - Finalist] Bayou Billy - Gbu Intuition Control

[BreathWeapon]

I doubt it. That was my concern too. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

There's a huge difference between 2 CIP lands and 1 U land in the deck tho', granted Coliseum isn't as good as the CIP lands at drawing cards, but the CIP lands cost space.

That's a trade off that has to be kept in mind when testing both of the Loam engines.

[Pinder]

New list! I'll update the OP as well:


// Lands
2 [R] Tropical Island
4 [U] Bayou
2 [TSP] Forest (1)
1 [MR] Island (4)
1 [R] Swamp (1)
1 [TE] Wasteland
1 [ON] Tranquil Thicket
4 [ON] Polluted Delta
2 [DK] Maze of Ith
1 [ON] Barren Moor
4 [ON] Windswept Heath

// Creatures
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
1 [JU] Genesis
2 [JU] Wonder
3 [LOR] Shriekmaw
3 [FD] Eternal Witness
2 [ON] Gigapede
1 [SH] Spike Feeder

// Spells
4 [AP] Pernicious Deed
4 [LOR] Thoughtseize
4 [TE] Intuition
2 [RAV] Life from the Loam
3 [JU] Cabal Therapy
4 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top


//(Tentative) Sideboard
3 Ground Seal
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Infest
4 Pithing Needle



Notable Changes:

Brainstorm -> Sensei's Divining Top: Yeah, I know, I should have done this already. Top gives you lasting card quality and excellent selection. Also, it puts an artifact in the deck for Tarmogoyf as well. It's not uncommon that I'll be holding a Top in hand with one on the board, so I let the one on the table die to Deed or whatnot. Overall though, with Intuition+Fetches as shuffle effects, this thing can pretty much grab you what you need, when you need it.

2 Forests, 1 Island and 1 Swamp -> 4 Windswept Heaths: When I was doing testing versus Goblins I noticed that I wasn't so much getting mana screwed, but color screwed (this was compounded by active Ports). After a while my friend asked me, "How many fetches are you running?". The issue was soon rectified. Like I mentioned above, they also increase the deck's synergy with tops. And there's still enough basics in the deck to have un-Wasteland-able sources of blue and black, as well as double green for Witness/Gigapede

-1 Maze of Ith: It's good, but it's not that good. It's a land that doesn't produce mana. You can only have so many.

No Garruks: He's spiffy and all, but when he's good you're already winning, and when you're not he doesn't do much to turn a losing game into a winning one. /cry at losing Goyf pump, but oh well.

Eternal Witness++: Good deck plays good cards. I never feel sad to rip one of these off the top, and it's a Regrowth that you can Genesis back.

Wonder++: This is sort of a sketchy decision, but I recounted a lot of games where I would have won if I had had flying, but was unable to get flying in the same turn I cast Intuition because I could only go for Wonder/Gigapede/Other card and pitch it on the next upkeep. I suppose this could also be mitigated by adding things I could pitch cards to and beat, like, oh I don't know, Wild Mongrel, but the issue there is that this requires 1 slot, where the Mongrel plan (though attractive, and not entirely discounted) needs me to dedicate 4 full slots in an already tight list. Also, Mongrels require you to have one on the board for this to work, whereas the double Wonder plan means all you have to do is resolve Intuition and you're guaranteed a Wonder in the yard.

Gigapede++: Tarmogoyf + Deed = not so much synergy. However, Goyf is necessary in that it comes down early to muddle up the board or provide early beats. More and more, though, I've taken the 'Get Gigapede/Blow everything up but Gigapede/beat face with Gigapede' route to victory in the late game against control. This is especially relevant against certain one mana white instants that make graveyard recursion difficult. Another bonus that Gigapede not dying to Deed has is that I don't have to keep skipping turns for summoning sickness in order to beat face like I do when I'm recurring Goyf. All around it makes an excellent finisher against slower decks, and is more than just a graveyard trick here.

Spike Feeder!: He's back! This deck really needs a way to stall Aggro (Goblins specifically, as it's the only Aggro MU I've tested as of yet). Throwing this guy out to trade with Piledriver/draw out Incinerators while you gain 4 life every turn is really pretty savage. And he makes your Goyfs bigger, which has been discussed. Might turn into Ravenous Baloth, which does essentially the same thing while being able to beat face, but recurring the bastard is mana intensive enough as it is, so I'm going to err on the side of caution and see if that really makes a difference.

A sideboard!: Yeah, it's about time. This is a rough idea mind you, but it addresses some of the weaker matchups I've found in testing.

3 Ground Seal: Extirpate is bad for you. Real bad. So are other cards that remove your Graveyard. Does nothing against Crypt, but we'll get to that in a second. Pros: Has the added bonus of essentially turning off Breakfast until they find a way to deal with it, as well as the Ghoul plan from Ichorid. Cons: Turns off Witness .

4 Leyline of the Void: Beats Ichorid, and Breakfast. And, um....other graveyard based combo strategies. Might be able to turn into something else, but you're pretty humped if Ichorid turn 1's you. Or turn 2's you. Or some-turn-before-you-can-resolve-Deed's you.

4 Infest: So you don't really notice at first, but Goblins has a wide range of costs between their dudes. It's usually really hard when fighting though Wasteland and Port to get Deed down and activate it for enough to actually clear enough of the board to stabilize before you're low enough that a stray fanatic and some Siege-flinging will kill you. What the deck needs in G2 is a spell that clears the board right when you resolve it. Has the added bonus of not killing Tarmogoyf like Deed does. Might turn into Damnation, but again the extra mana might be an issue here.

4 Pithing Needle: There are just so many things you can Needle. Crypt, Wasteland, Port, Vial, en-Kor guys, Survival, um....Shackles, manlands, etc.

The sideboard slots are highly malleable right now, and it might not be necessary to run 4 of some of them. But that's what I've got right now.

edit - Oh yeah, and I should probably fit Grips in there somewhere. Because they're Grips.

[C-Aleric]

I'm bad at reading. So the content from this post was removed.

However, the part where I state that this is my favorite deck in the competition so far can stay.

Decks with Loam, Deed, Therapy, and Intuition deserve to be good, and I think this list is just full of pretty tricks. Congrats.

[Pinder]

Sakura-Tribe Elder was considered, but the fact that he only grabs basics is sort of an issue, since you only run four of them. I realize that's probably the number of STEs you'd run, but it leaves little incentive to recur it because eventually you'll run out of basic lands. Ultimately it just seems like you'd run out of utility with the guy.

[Soto]

The list looks great, I'm trying it out as we speak, but I would like to know what the single Wasteland is for. It seems like it is something you're going to tutor for but late game Wastelands are meh, right?

[Nihil Credo]

The list looks great, I'm trying it out as we speak, but I would like to know what the single Wasteland is for. It seems like it is something you're going to tutor for but late game Wastelands are meh, right?

Not against Landstill, especially 4C.

[Soto]

Not against Landstill, especially 4C.

But even then, they will probably have alot of lands in play and maybe even crucible.

[Nihil Credo]

I hear hitting a manland every turn is sexy, even mid-to-lategame (T3+, really). As for Crucible, it's usually a two-of compared to your four Deeds.

[Pinder]

Wasteland is in the deck because it's really good. It's a one of because it's really good in certain situations. Sure, Landstill has Crucible or whatever, but if that's the case you either wait till you can get rid of the Crucible or maybe you just don't use it at all. It's a one of for the Loam/Cycling Land/Wasteland Intuition stack. It's not always relevant, but when it is it can be game winning. It's pretty terrific against decks with low land counts and lots of nonbasics (see: Threshold, some combo), and decks which abuse lands (see: Landstill, 43Land, etc.). Notice that your opponent missed a land drop and is riding one basic and two duals? Whip out the Loam/Waste-lock and keep them out of the game. Sure it eats your land drops, but they're not always going to drop something for you to Wasteland every turn. Once they stop hitting lands, you can feel free to continue on your merry way while they try to piece together their board.

Basically, Wasteland is there so you can pull it out in the situations where having a Wasteland every turn would be gamebreaking.

edit - Against Landstill, another cool thing is that animated lands have a CMC of zero, and Deed doesn't say 'nonland' anywhere.

[Illissius]

What about Dust Bowl? Dust Bowl interacts better with Loam (you only have to skip every third draw), while Wasteland is better with Crucible. Wasteland, however, is probably better when you just randomly draw into it.

[Pinder]

Quick update before I go see Cloverfield:

• Goblins matchup: Still bad.
• Testing Cabal Therapy -> Hymn (results inconclusive as of yet)
• WTB more land kthx?
• Thresh matchup: Still good.

[Pinder]

Double post for the bump.

Got another round of testing in today against Goblins, and while G1 is still pretty horrible short of a miracle, postboard things get a lot easier if you bring in a single card: Propaganda.

The main difficulty that you have against Gobs is that they can get off to a fast start while simultaneously denying you resources that you need to set up and stabilize. Propaganda single-handedly solves both of these problems by disrupting their resources (Piledriver is a lot less scary when they can only attack with 2 creatures a turn instead of playing guys, for example). It generally gives your opponent a choice between developing their board or attacking (whereas normally they would do both), which gives you precious time to stabilize via Deed or Genesis/Shriekmaw or what have you. Also, between Propaganda and Maze of Ith, you can make it very hard for them to push through damage. There's some slight dissynergy with Deed, but if you're Deeding for enough to take out Propaganda, that's a blessing in and of itself because you've likely cleared their entire board. It's not that hard to play around, and if you play it smart you can have another ready in hand or a way to get Witness to bring back the one you killed.

In the 6 postboard games versus Gobs I ended up 4-2, which is an incredible improvement over the 1-9 or so record this deck has preboard with the little red men.

Another consideration is Engineered Plague, which is actually more on color, and has the potential to lock them out of the game via double Plague. It doesn't keep them from swinging right off the bat, though, and they can still push through damage if you can't find a second one. Overall it seems like Propaganda is a lot harder for them to fight through, which is important because you've likely taken some damage before Propaganda even comes down.

And I realized Ground Seal turns off Genesis, so there are slots in the board just waiting for them.

Also:

-Still testing Hymn over Cabal Therapy, and I'm liking it so far. Can't really say definitively which is better, as there are always times when I wish I had Therapy or vice versa, but second turn Hymns are great.
-I'm considering a Tabernacle maindeck. It seems like it would pose a similar problem to Aggro as Propaganda (develop your board or keep your board), and in combination with Propaganda makes it all but impossible to attack. Can be Wastelanded, but also recurred with Loam.

[Pinder]

Triple post for contest entry. Just wanted to let the judges know that the most current list (now with sideboard!) is up there. The sideboard might still change, but it will be set before the end of Friday the 8th.

[Peter_Rotten]

Quick post just to say - OUCH! Leyline is a B-TANG against this deck :shock:. It actually made me lose to a mono-green Uktabi Wildcats deck on MWS. I whupped him game one and then game 2 and 3 multiple Leylines stole the day. However, Maze-ing Molimo was fun... until Desert Twister ripped Maze a new one

[Pinder]

Quick post just to say - OUCH! Leyline is a B-TANG against this deck :shock:. It actually made me lose to a mono-green Uktabi Wildcats deck on MWS.

This is compounded by the fact that I seem to have totally forgotten to put Grips in the board in my latest update, Leyline being why they were there in the first place. Contest entry is over, so do what you will, but those Labs should probably be 3 Grips and 1 Gigapede. But whatever. Maybe you'll win more against combo now.

Still though, Leyline is tough either way.