[Deck] Solidarity

[abbeyroad]

Solidarity related rules question. I do the BF/FoI trick and i manage to mill enough cards so that i can leave a certain number of BF copies on the stack; however, i mill out all of my BF and cunning wishes. Am i still able to remand the original BF and replay it? This hasn't actually happened but i was thinking what one would do if all BFs and cunning wishes are milled from deck.

[MULocke]

Yes. Just respond to the original brain freeze (plus whatever copies are left) with the flashback, and go find a remand/meditate/good stack. Then continue responding like you would any other spell on the stack (counterbalance, etc.). Spells don't just go away after a certain amount of time, so as long as you're playing instants (hint: you probably are), you can continue to respond indefinitely.

[abbeyroad]

Thanks i was just making sure because i thought maybe the original brainfreeze is the first one to go and that you could not remand a copy of the brain freeze.

[james ribis]

i just wanted to take the time and share my version of the deck as it differs a tad from the copies iv read on this post. i 2 had similar if not pretty damn near same deck as the ones iv read. i didnt like the build one reason inconsistent and i wanted results. i feel the build im going to share is very consistent. i will explain why i play the cards over others:


polluted delta x2
flooded strained x2
scalding tarn x2
misty rain forest x2
islands x10


twincast x1
peek x1
flash of insight x1
opt x2
brain freeze x2
turnabout x3
remand x3
cunning wish x3
peer through depths x3
meditate x3
brainstorm x4
reset x4
high tide x4
impulse x4
force of will x4

cards-60

side board:
meditate x1
turnabout x1
twin cast x1
brain freeze x1
pact of negation x1
cryptic command x1
stroke of genius x1
stifle x1
flash of insight x1
rebuild x1
shadow of doubt x1
wipe away x1
back to basics x3

cards-15


some of the differences in my deck then the others decks iv read are im playing less n boarding more. for example :
-3 meditate rather then 4 i feel u dont need 4 if you need the 4th you can wish it out
-peer through depths-i like this card over 2 cryptic and extra flash of insight because it looks at the top 5 and in certain times if u need that reset or turnabout you can hit it which flash n cryptic may or may not.
-twin cast: i like one main n one board encase, i main one over 4 remands again i feel 4 is over kill 3 is about right
-peek: i like one peek over 3 opt incase u need to look at his hand u have the option to see it another staple

now we go to the board.i play the deck as it is and rely on board of ones for example:
extra meditate,turnabout,twin cast,brainstorm,flash of insight in case u need them .. more then the number i am playing is a lil over kill( yes it can help you but can be dead all in the same time)

-pact of negation and cryptic command are 2 more counters if needed cryptic also gives u the option to bounce tap and or draw very helpful but its not great in the main as stated in some decks as its 4 mana and can be dead draw
-stroke is your win condition of coarse
-stifle is great against the mirror and tendrils
-rebuild great way to end the game on a artifact based deck or just play artifact kill
-shadow of doubt is very underrated but very good at yes it can hurt me but when used to stop there combo is very deadly
-wipe away now iv thought is chain of vapor was better or if wipe is better ones 3 mana overs 1 mana its a toss up but i like wipe in this situation because it cant be countered
-back to basics can single handed win you the game if u are playing against 41 lands or a deck based on dual lands . you are prob thinking well cant u out speed them yes and no but if u cant great way to shut them down

well i hope you like this version of the deck iv found it again consistent and worth playing again in aggressive play. try it out let me know what u think i hope i covered most if not let me know please share your thoughts

[Silent Requiem]

Just a quick tournament summary.

I played in a small local tournament, and I used my standard list (2 FoI, 2 Freeze, 3 Remand). This was actually a last minute change, because I had been testing out a build running 2 Peer, 1 Freeze, 4 Remand. The newer build was far more consistent in goldfishing, but my playtesting in the week running up to the tournament had taught me that the deck was far less resilent. I decided to go with my older build, and I am very glad I did.

In round 1 I played a deck new to my local meta. It was essentially a five colour control deck that attacked the hand and had loads of sideboard hate. I won game 1, but then lost two very close games to multiple Cannonists, mainly because I did not have Echoing Truth in my sideboard (I love the card, but it has not been optimal in my meta for a while now - clearly I shall have to reconsider).

In round 2 I played against Merfolk, and won both games. The games were tight, but I find that, if I work hard enough, I can usually beat Merfolk. FoI is key here, because it gives you pre-combo card advantage, and can fetch a critical counter. It's like having a FoW to cast from you graveyard in many cases.

Round 3 was my nightmare matchup - Countertop. My absolute worst matchup, I assumed I was going to lose this round quite badly. However, it turned into a real nailbiter.

In game 1 I emptied my hand stoping a Natural Order Progenitus from reaching play, and was in topdeck mode. He dropped a Counterbalance before I could refill my hand, but luckily he did not have a top. Two turns later, I tested the waters with an Opt, and he flipped to reveal a Counterbalance (CC2) on top of his library. If I could go off without CC2, I had a shot. I ended up Brain Freezing myself to put 2 FoI into my graveyard. I then used FoI to stack the remaining 20 cards of my deck, and by so doing I was able to combo around him.

Game 2, he dropped all his removal and brought in Meddling Mages and Ethersworn Cannonists. I again had to empty my hand countering his hate creatures, and then only had a turn or two to recover before he was swinging for lethal. I went off, and had barely enough storm to deck him after bouncing all his creatures. He then points out that every time I put Progenitus back into his library it gets shuffled back in - in other words, it increases the number of cards I need to put in the GY by one every time I Freeze it away. It also meant that he would have one turn of drawing Progenitus before actually "dying" for trying to draw from an empty library.

What followed was a very tense turning over of his library three cards at a time, and shuffling Progenitus back in every time I turned it over! Last match, large audience, all good fun! Any way, I did manage to deck him, and he drew Pogenitus, played his creatures, and then died after passing the turn (I had multiple skipped turns due to Meditate).

Overall, this put me in second place. Five colour control (who beat me round 1) took first, and interestingly he lost all three of his game 1s. In other words, he had brought the right sideboard hate for the meta and rode it to victory.

For me, I was glad to go back to FoI, which won me a couple of games. Arguably, Peer could have done the same in some cases, but I find that I enjoy having the additional resource of the graveyard, as well as the card advantage.

-Silent Requiem

[Seraphus]

Finally Madrid!

[Gocho]

Welcome to Spain :D

[cjva]

4 hours delayed in Gothenburg, thanks to snow. And almost the same delay in Italy thanks to French workers going on strike... =/

But finaly! Madrid!

[Ixirawr]

Hi there! =D
Long time lurker here.

I had to make an account an ask: What does everyone's deck list look like for Madrid? Just the standard deck, or, has anything new made it to the list?

[Pelikanudo]

Hello I'm not sure if I'm going to finally play Solidarity or Landstill,

but some points about Sol I'd like to contrast with you

I I'm not worried about Merfolk Match up with my current configuration I've done 5-1 with 3 merfolks lately, c.balence neither worries me.

however is Icho wich most worries and Zoo,

regarding to Icho I'm thinking in putting in 4 relic of progenitus, this also will solve the C.3shold match up which is a little hard, not convinced, I like also the black traps...

regarding to zoo im thinking in how to get a 4th turn win in a way more consistent, well my conclusion is to get more numbers in the side I mean, there are some times I can not reach the numbers for Stroke and thinking in replacing it by something cheaper because 7 is not the same as 5, also Mystical Tutor sometimes has helped me to reach that 4th turn win, so I'll include them. Also mystical gets us Black Trap

Wht do you boys think?

[flrn]

I wouldnt go that far and playing Relic of Progenitus in the board. The most important thing about it, is that it isnt an instant. Ravenous Trap however is a good sideboard card and can be wish'ed with Cunning Wish to get a surprising pre-board win.

I dont think that Zoo is a hard matchup, since they dont have anything to disrupt your combo. Just make sure you get to your combo, when you are gettin in their burn range. I didnt lose against Zoo and had to combo out with three lands in play most of the time. It's a bit hard and you may fizzle due to the fact, that you only have three lands to play spells, but you can make it.

[Pelikanudo]

In my experience playing the deck vs zoo unless you get a 4th turn win you'll loose miserably, I mean you need to win on 4th turn after they get to attack you, that's simple. the same its applied to Gobbos, in this new era zoo is incredibly fast...

I have reach a 3rd turn win with this very few times, of course it's possible, but I prefer not to have in mind this possibility, man Solidarity is a fundamental 4th turn win deck not 3rd¡¡¡

regarding to the 4 relics I'm currently testing 4 relics + 1 Ravenous trap and toggling between 3 R.Traps + 1 mystical + 1(the card that makes both players draw 2 cards) not sure yet...

[richgecko]

Any news from Madrid ? Seems like solidarity players didn't go so well... Can they tell us why ? Good/bad lists choices ? Any kind of report would be so appreciated !

Oh, I was wondering : people always plays 0 FoI and 1 brainfreeze *or* 2 FoI and 2 brainfreeze : why would it be bad to play only 1 of each ? It can save situations, but prevents us from drawing them too frequently - even if it's more likely to brainfreeze ourselves for nothing and fizzle... Could be worth a try ?

[Silent Requiem]

Oh, I was wondering : people always plays 0 FoI and 1 brainstorm *or* 2 FoI and 2 brainstorms : why would it be bad to play only 1 of each ? It can save situations, but prevents us from drawing them too frequently - even if it's more likely to brainstorm ourselves for nothing and fizzle... Could be worth a try ?

Simply put, if you do not run FoI you will never Brain Freeze yourself, so the card is dead until you combo (I am assuming that you meant Brain Freeze when you wrote Brainstorm - all builds run 4 Brainstorm). That being the case, it is more efficient to minimize Brain Freeze in favour of cards that are not dead pre combo (such as another Remand). With a Brain Freeze in the SB, and 3 Cunning Wish in the MD in addition to the 1 MD Brain Freeze, finding your kill card when you need it will simply never be an issue.

Conversely, if you want to maintain Freezing yourself as a strategy, you want to avoid the situation where your lone FoI is on the bottom of your library. Having two copies makes this unlikely (although not impossible, as I have discovered for myself). Similarly, because you may have used a copy of Brain Freeze on yourself, it is wise to have an additional copy floating around.

-Silent Requiem

[kicks_422]

With Counterbalance seeing less play, is Solidarity a good deck choice again?

I've been trying to make Storm decks work with Force of Will, and frankly, everything I've tried sucks compared to Solidarity. It's also the kind of deck that I think I'd enjoy playing.

For reference, a build that I just pieced together for MWS. I'm sure some of the numbers are off, especially in the SB, but I would really love to keep the 4 Peers in the MD along with the 4 Impulse.

// Lands
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
4 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
10 [UNH] Island

// Spells
4 [CHK] Peer Through Depths
4 [FE] High Tide (2)
3 [JU] Cunning Wish
4 [LG] Reset
3 [US] Turnabout
3 [TE] Meditate
4 [RAV] Remand
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [MM] Brainstorm
4 [VI] Impulse
4 [IN] Opt
1 [SC] Brain Freeze

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [UL] Rebuild
SB: 1 [TSP] Wipe Away
SB: 4 [ZEN] Mindbreak Trap
SB: 4 [IN] Disrupt
SB: 1 [DS] Echoing Truth
SB: 1 [US] Stroke of Genius
SB: 1 [US] Turnabout
SB: 1 [TE] Meditate
SB: 1 [SC] Brain Freeze

[anonymos]

With Counterbalance seeing less play, is Solidarity a good deck choice again?

It depends on how often you see the Reanimator. They have a single spell that just shuts you off. Enchantress may or may not be a good match for you depending on how they board for you and how much bounce you play. There's that survival list with Loyal Retainers that'll eat you hard if it lands. I think as a whole, Solidarity is a turn or two too slow now, and this is from someone that played this deck when it was new.

[Vacrix]

CB is seeing less play? I lost to it last weekend..

I've been trying to make Storm decks work with Force of Will, and frankly, everything I've tried sucks compared to Solidarity. It's also the kind of deck that I think I'd enjoy playing.

Spring Tide plays Force too. Look it up in Established.

I own Solidarity IRL. Its sick. I'd play it in an aggro control meta (like my meta).


Try Tolarian Wind in the board. Its an extremely good utility when you find yourself sitting on 8 Islands, 2 Forces and 1 Cunning Wish after chaining D4's together.

[kicks_422]

I know about Spring Tide. Solidarity is just much more awesome.

As for CB seeing less play... Well, at least in the T8's I see on deckcheck.net and the T8 thread here. Not like say a year ago, when T8's consistently had 2-4 CB decks.

[Vacrix]

I think that top8 results are not a good indication of what is being played. Top8 is statistics on what is winning. I think that because Zoo is becoming more popular, CB is getting killed, and now that Zoo is becoming more popular, combo will become more popular, and then we will be back where we were a year ago. :P
Its a loop.

I'm actually looking into changing High Tide into Spring Tide. I have to test it a little but it plays quite similarly, obviously, but its fundamentally a turn faster, and in that sense I won't be losing to aggro as much if I decide to take it to an aggro meta.

[Zinch]

It depends on how often you see the Reanimator. They have a single spell that just shuts you off. Enchantress may or may not be a good match for you depending on how they board for you and how much bounce you play. There's that survival list with Loyal Retainers that'll eat you hard if it lands. I think as a whole, Solidarity is a turn or two too slow now, and this is from someone that played this deck when it was new.

I really haven't playtest extensively the reanimator match-up due to time issues, but I don't see it that hard. In SB I have 3 Speel Pierce and 2 Twincast that can be sided in against it (twincasting a reanimate is one of the coolest things in the wolrd... Lol, but it also can twincast a fow or a thoughtseize). I know this can dilute the combo, but this answers give you time to find more lands and sculpt your hand.

Enchantress is almost a bye: they don't have a clock and don't play Counterbalance, so the only thing you have to deal with is solitary confinement (if they have a Sterling Grove in play you should win in response to it... they can't play it early and hope to keep it eternaly, so it's not that hard).

Finaly, the Bant Survival (with reatiners) match up is like any non countertop threshold but for the fact that if the Retainers resolve, you lose, so maybe the clock is faster, but the counterwall is small, so I think is a favorable MU.

P.S.: Changing to Spring Tide isn't worth it. If you ara going to play it, play ANT instead, is a lot better. Solidarity at least has other advantatges (it can win in response a hate card) and wins the control MU. That without forggeting it's the coolest deck (a deck with only instants and lands and that can win in response to anything? Come on!)