Which cards do you have exactly in your mind speaking of “several different situational solutions”?Don't you think "strong draw engines" should benefit better of running several different situational solutions and finding then instead of several 4-ofs?
I don’t have tutors; that’s why I hesitate to reduce their numbers.3 Nevinyrral's seems too much in the mono-u version, and 3EE seems too much in the MUbwC too... you probly should go Kegs...
MUC is not quite great in the format these days, but if I would run it, I would probably go to a 2~3 B2B version with at least 1~2 Kira MD since it's faster than MorphlingYou may refer to that version which runs Kira in order to protect Sower of Temptation and solely rely on FoF as its draw-engine.I like MUC to me more of a Tempo delayer until and after you get a finisher, which can be morphling or anything else... that's why I would run strong draws, some board solutions against rushs, and couters which are the deck objective... And I would prefer Kira over Morphling cos it's easier to do the tempo role...
Well, Sower of temptation is faster than Morphling, but through Vedalken shackles, I think, I’m just as fast.
I personally prefer to play this deck heavily controllish having the ability to go aggro with shackles.
Morphling as a finisher is okay, but what I don’t like about him is that he is dead in the early game. I wish I could run 4 Eternal dragon^^, since he can be cycled.
What do you think of drifting djinn? However, he is bad finisher.
Shall I cut Brainstorm? Honestly, I’m not very impressed by Brainstorm. Moreover, loosing a land to stifle or wasteland is very crucial.
In my MUC deck, I run 1 Rainbow Efreet and 1 Call the Skybreaker.
If you can survive long enough, Call the Skybreaker becomes an unstoppable win condition, as long as it isn't Extirpated. Rainbow Efreet is the backup plan, alongside 3 Shackles.
I'm afraid I find your post confusing. On one hand you complain that morphling is dead in the early game, and an the other you say that you are disappointed with brainstorm. It would seem to me that the one solves the other quite handily.Originally Posted by Tea
Brainstorm is not just about drawing more cards so that you always have counters available. It is also about throwing away cards that you don't need right now. Put morphling back on top of your library and crack a fetchland.
Given that this option is available (or pitching morphling to a FoW early on), I don't see why you would want to switch out the morphling. You don't run many threats in MUC, so you need them to stick around. Superman is very flexible, and very hard to remove.
I appreciate that I play Solidarity rather than MUC, but I suspect that many of our (pre combo) principles are very similar. Brain Freeze is "dead" in my opening hand, but I have never wished that I had a cycling version.
-Silent Requiem
This is why I have added Brainstorm. I have been playing too many high CC cards and Morphling is just one of them. At the moment I don’t want to cut any of these high CC cards, but I would like to find a way to smooth the deck out a bit. If Morphling had cycling like Eternal dragon, I would have found a way. Remember that you can get Eternal dragon back in the lategame.On one hand you complain that morphling is dead in the early game, and an the other you say that you are disappointed with brainstorm. It would seem to me that the one solves the other quite handily.
Unfortunately, Brainstorm doesn’t work out as I want it to.
It is very important to drop a land each turn up to turn 5. However, if I play 2/3 fetchlands at the beginning (up to turn 5), it seems that the deck-thinning effect is contra-productive, because I really have to draw those lands. Moreover they can be stifled and if I fetch the tundra to play a StP, wasteland becomes another problem.
I very much understand where you are coming from on the land drops, because my deck HAS to make the first 4 drops or it folds to anything with a fast clock.
That said, I do feel that 8 fetchlands are too much. They are open to Stifle, and you may often find that you are taking too much self inflicted damage. I find 6 to be pretty optimal, but then I am not having to fetch off colours the way that one of your builds is.
With regards to "over thinning", this is a risk, but less so if you can avoid breaking them right away. Or, include fewer of them. Note that even though Solidarity needs lands almost as much as you, we only run 18. You have a 5 land advantage on us that may not be necessary.
Now, one thing that stands out to me is that my Solidarity build runs far more draw than MUC (duh), and that MUC exchanges this draw for counters. The logic is pretty solid, but I do wonder if you couldn't smooth out your decks by running more draw. Perhaps Impulse. It's cheap, grabs lands, and digs deep.
Looking at your draw suite more closely, I can't say that I particularly like it. FoF is clunky, but at least in generates card advantage (you can't abuse Meditate the way I can). Think Twice also generates card advantage, but for one more mana on the first cast, and one less on the second cast, you could get the far more powerful Flash of Insight.
Opt is also stellar, as it is cheaper than Think Twice, and it digs deeper (no card advantage, though). It could be really useful for grabbing those early lands. You might consider reducing the number of lands you play and increasing your cheap draw. Opt can be cast on one land at the end of your opponent's turn, and digs 2 deep.
-Silent Requiem
Listen... as far as draw engines go, all you need are either 4 Ancestral Vision or 4 Thirst for Knowledge, depending on your preferences and your build, and 2-3 Fact or Fiction.
Presto, you have a the perfect draw engine for MUC.
Thirst for Knowledge actually sucks. It's way too slow, and +1 CA is hardly impressive.
You want 4 Fact or Fiction in every MUC variant.
I don't see the problem with:
4 Ancestral Vision
4 Fact or Fiction
or
4 Brainstorm
4 Fact or Fiction
After that, I personally use 2x Jace Beleren (meta is pretty control oriented, slower aggro). What problems are people running into with those draw suites?
I just had an interesting thought--has anyone experimented with running MUC built around Ancient Tomb/City of Traitors and Chalice of the Void?
Whoa whoa whoa.
TfK suck? I don't think so. That's why I said "depending on your build". As long as you run 2-3 Academy Ruins, and 12+ artifacts (Disks, Chalices, Tops, Relics, Shackles, Explosives, whatever), it's +2 CA for 3 mana at their EOT.
4 Fact or Fiction is too slow. You DON'T want 2 of these in your first 3 turns.
I suck at drawing land, so the main problem I have with 4 AV + 4 FoF is when keeping a 3-land hand, I miss my 4th and 5th land drops really consistently (yes, I run 24 land) and lose. Plus, although Ancestral Vision is ridiculous, I've found it to be too easily countered (either my opponent forces through a Counterbalance or the fact I don't want to have to tap lands on my turn). The card is broken good when it resolves so I've really wanted to add 2x in order to give me virtual Fact or Fiction 5 and 6. (As an aside: Why won't they print an instant speed, 5cmc, draw 3? We have Inspiration, instant, 4cmc, draw 2; Opportunity, instant, 6cmc, draw 4)
As for the Brainstorm, it's only good with a shuffle effect. Personally, I go with no fetchlands and Impulse. This is for many reasons I have stated previously, with the biggest being Stifle. Impulse may not improve my hand as much as Brainstorm, but in most games, the cards in my hand are not completely dead against my opponent anyway. Being able to dig 4 cards deep into a pile of relevant cards and grab the one I need has been really good to me (whether it be a land, or Shackles, or Back to Basics, or a counter)
Jace is really awesome too if you know you're going to be facing control decks. If not, it's less exciting than Think Twice would have been in that spot.
End of turn...Morphling
Team OMRIAIGTWYFEWARTCAE
Yes I do.
End of turn...Morphling
Team OMRIAIGTWYFEWARTCAE
So you like 4 mana draw spells clogging up your hand in the early game when you're getting beat down by dudes?
Fact is not the only thing you have in hand the first 3 turns. You probably played some counters/shackles/propaganda/etc. to shut down the beatdown from some dudes.
I also dont mind having 2 facts in the beginning, if you survive it to turn4(which is likely with the other cards you play) youre gonna be loaded with Card Advantage.
team HASTE!
We are talking about the first three turns, right? Since when is 2 out of 7 "clogging up" my hand? How do they have so many guys in play? Do you refuse to counter anything until after you've played Fact or Fiction? If you didn't counter anything, where's your Powder Keg? Or your Vedalken Shackles? It seems highly likely out of the other cards in your hand, at least ONE of those should be applicable.
End of turn...Morphling
Team OMRIAIGTWYFEWARTCAE
If I see 2 FoF, Keg, Prop, 3 Islands, I'll keep that and ride it to victory. One resolved FoF is tough for your opponent, 2 in a row is almost a guaranteed win. Even if you're down to 10 life by turn 4, 2 eot FoFs should be able to pull you out of any jam.
The key is surviving.
Can you say Turn 1 AEther Vial? FoF is way too slow to deal with some of the aggro decks in the format.
It's a great card to solidify your lead mid-game, of course, and that's why I would never run more than 3 in a MUC deck. You definitely want to see it mid-game after you've stabilized, in which case a FoF or two will push you over the top, but you don't want to run out of counterspells/removal early-game and be staring at 2 FoFs with only 4 lands in play and your opponent is casting/vialing even more stuff in.
My opinion, anyway.
Control has almost always had problems with lightning fast aggro decks. Running 2 less FoF in your deck will not change this, but it will severely weaken your aggro-control and control matchups.
I think 4 Keg, 4 Shackles, 4 Props + 8-12 countermagic spells should be enough to survive until turn 4 versus the large majority of decks. If the aggro player draws the nuts, then he draws the nuts. Again, running 2 less FoF isn't going to dramatically increase our chances of keeping up with T1 Vial/T1 Lackey, T2 Siege Gang + Piledriver, etc...
I have tested a bit. These are my conclusions:
MUC completely depends on shackles, Disk, and FoF. If you can’t seal the game with them, you are lost. These cards are very expensive. So you have to drop a land each turn, because you are absolutely not able to deal with threats otherwise. You have counters, but only 12-16 and sometimes you simply don’t draw them.
I suck at drawing, too. If I run 23 lands, fetchlands and brainstorm, I’m often forced to play my brainstorms to assure the landdrops.
24 island (no fetchlands) seems to work perfectly, however, I don’t have access to StP, thus I have to rely on shackles and Disk. This is risky.
Moreover, sometimes, my hand tends to be very clunky; and the only thing I can do is dropping a land (even with 16 counters)
I have some questions.
How many Morphling/CtS shall I run if I don’t run Brainstorm? 2 or 3?
How good is propaganda?
What can I do against krosan grp? Maybe Sower of Temptation as an alternative to shackles postboard?
I'd run 1 Morphling and 1 Call the Skybreaker, or 1 Rainbow Efreet and 1 Call the Skybreaker, personally.
Also, another question for the MUC gurus: Powder Keg or Nevinrryal's Disk? I used to run 4 Powder Keg main, and it is nice vs. alot of decks, but in many situations I wanted to sweep enchantments away, or hit creatures with higher CCs, or a variety of different CCs. I like Disk's "finality", i.e. it just wipes away EVERYTHING. Of course, the price you pay is that it costs so damn much and has to survive a turn before it can be activated.
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