I'm a little confused by your post, but I think what you are trying to say is that cutting stifles from the maindeck now makes the deck a non-tempo deck, so why even run RUG then. If this is the purpose of your post, I couldn't disagree more.
You are still representing a RUG Tempo deck and a good opponent will be playing around stifles. You can gain tempo advantage with Daze and Wasteland and having access to spell pierce maindeck just opens up so many other options. Just because we cut stifles doesn't make us an aggroburn deck, we have access to heavy beaters like Tarmo. In the current meta, Stifle is the weakest card in the deck atm.
Shuffle up RUG without Stifles, you will not be disappointed.
Last edited by ImpinAintEasy; 02-15-2012 at 02:08 PM. Reason: Used the word still way to many times!
13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
-Member of Clan Magic Eternal-
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Isn't it an option to just run a singleton or 2-of Stifle? If you hit them with it in G1, they'll always play around it after that, and that will slow them down.
If you didn't draw it in G1 but draw it later, you can use it at that point to hit them with a surprise Stifle if they don't see it coming.
Pretty much the same reason you could also run a singleton/2-of Daze. Mostly psychological advantage (scaring the opponent into more defensive play) without putting a 4-of in your deck if you don't really like the card.
Spell pierce is just so vastly superior to stifle right now, playing the card stifle, no matter the number, is a waste. The psychological edge is minuscule compared to the advantage gained in countering an STP, planeswalker, or burn spell. If you really like stifle that much, then play the three. It's late game application is ok at best, but if it late game in G1, chances are that you have lost.
I think not playing stifle is not the right way to go. Stifle is one of the core cards for Canadian. By not playing Stifle your Wastelands and Dazes get much worse. Besides that being able to protect your own lands is very important in the current metagame.
You say that all the good players are able to play around Stifle? Well, thatīs true, a good player knows the tricks to minimize the effects of Stifle but he will never be able to completely negate it. Just playing land, go while getting beaten by Delver doesnīt win you the game. Thatīs where Stifle shines, turning your Dazes on and preventing the opponent from reaching too much mana.
If you want to play Spell Pierces instead of Stifle Iīll join Phillip and think itīs better to develop a new approach to the deck, perhaps something like NLT for example.
Last edited by Spike; 02-16-2012 at 11:12 AM.
In all honesty, when I was playing stifle, I was never sold on it. Sure, there are games where you can blow somebody out by stifling their fetchland and landscrewing them, but stifle has no way to get you back into games when you are losing. Stifle almost always ends up as a dead card in your hand and topdecking it after turn 1 or 2 is just terrible.
One of the main reasons that spell pierce fits into this deck so well is because it protects your early threats from removal like StP and bolt allowing them to actually get in for some damage. Pierce also has more relevance later in the game, countering cards like Jace, problem cards in combo decks. It also helps you win counter wars. Spell pierce helps you keep the pressure on early, while not completely falling off in the mid game.
Also, if you are concerned about protecting your lands from wasteland without stifle, try running a basic island in your list, it has helped me out in quite a few situations, and you can actually grab a land if your 'goyf gets pathed.
Spell Pierce IS a great card.
Its good at protecting your creatures.
Its good at winning counter-wars.
Its good at killing planeswalkers and other non-creature-threats.
You could build a great deck with Spell Pierce and some threats - but this wouldnt be RUG Tempo - honestly. This ist just another deck-type. Some sorts of BlueZoo are built like this - at least my version of BlueZoo looked like this.
Even though you might be pissed off from a topecked Stifle you still have games where it goes Stifle--> Waste-->Win. And you wanna negate all this matches by playing a card that doesnt fit a gameplan per se?
Sorry but youd be better discussing this in NLT - as this really is a NewLevel - wether its better or not- I cannot say here and now.
Greetings
I strongly disagree, Thresh is evolving at an alarming rate since the release of delver and snapcaster, right now, I believe Thresh has now evolved to incorporate a way to one for one key cards that stifle could not do. Snapcaster is really good pierce too, 3 mana for a 2/1 and countering a jace can turn a game around.
Cutting stifle for pierce is an option,but IMHO you make the deck weaker.The argument about good players playing around stifle is a bit strange.Sure any1 who hasn't been living under a rock will most likely be aware of stifle when they see volc/trops etc,but that doesnt make it bad.U can't completely play around stifle cause in doing so ur not developping ur own gameplan most of the times.Also many times ur opponent has to crack his fetch and if u stifle its such a tempo swing. It also has other functions like protecting ur own lands(not like 18lands no basics is a lot...). I think many pple forget that stifle is a VERY skill intensive card to play correct and thus dislike it, because they don't play it to its full effect.Dont get me wrong pierce is really good too,but I think u should really consider cutting stifles...I know I'd never ever cut them in rug(and I even play them in NLT to great effect...)
To somewhat settle this whole Stifle VS Spell Pierce argument (I've tested both), they are both fine, and it should be a meta call. I play Stifle main, and 3 Pierce in the board. My board is currently:
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Submerge (Considering cutting another card for the 2-2 Submerge/Mind Harness split)
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
3 Spell Pierce
1 Tormod's Crypt
I would rather have Stifle as a 'blowout' for game 1, or at least something to still keep me in the game versus decks like Zoo/Maverick. Spell Pierce main against those decks only hits removal/burn, and unique cards like Library and Green Sun's Zenith. Meanwhile, Stifling Knight of the Reliquary, Mother of Runes, Grim Lavamancers, Fetchlands, Scryb Ranger, equipping, etc. is a lot better than "Oh shit, I played my land, can't Pierce this Maverick players Stoneforge Mystic, he goes and gets Batterskull/Sword of Fire and Ice, and now I proceed to die." Also boarding out Stifles is very awesome because your opponent is basically forced to play around Stifle (not saying they won't fetch until you're tapped out, but they won't necessarily keep that one/two land hand if they're both fetches and you're on the play).
I find the decks where I board in Pierce, Stifle is very strong as well (Storm combo, UW Stoneforge, general control matchups, etc). Pierce shines in the Storm matchup, but this deck basically has that matchup in the bag, between Delver/Goyf/Mongoose clock, recurring Lightning Bolts, Dazes, Force of Wills, Stifles, Spell Pierces, Spell Snares, the potential for Counterbalance/Sensei's Divining Top post board (I don't play that version, but it's a force nonetheless), that matchup is baby town frollics.
I played in a 20-man tournament yesterday, and here's my report based on my best attempts at remembering what happened without any notes.
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Nimble Mongoose
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
1 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Fire / Ice
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Snare
4 Spell Pierce
4 Volcanic Island
4 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Flooded Strand
4 Wasteland
Sideboard:
2 Mind Harness
3 Counterbalance
2 Submerge
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Pyroblast
2 Sensei's Divining Top
Round 1: GWB Treefolk Rock
Game 1: He opens with Murmuring Bosk, so I know I'm in for an interesting and untested game. Turn two he throws out a Skinshifter, which I Snare. I throw down a couple Mongeese and a Delver, which get to work. Eventually I see Treefolk Harbinger into Doran. Interesting deck, bro. The rest of the Junk shell was the same (Vindicates, Swords to Plowshares, etc). Eventually I end up Snapcasting a Lightning Bolt for the win. I think I Forced a Deed in there somewhere as well.
Sideboarding: +2 Mind Harness, +2 Submerge, -3 Fire/Ice, -1 Spell Pierce.
Game 2: This game is more of the same, except with more Treefolk Harbingers. Fortunately I'm able to keep Doran off the table, so he's got a bunch of stupid 0/3s, and on one turn he taps out for an Elspeth, which I counter, and then the next turn kill his unprotected Skinshifter with a Lightning Bolt. I get there a few turns later.
Thoughts: Just play junk, bro. This deck with neither Green Sun's Zenith nor Stoneforge Mystic is just way worse. Also you play Treefolk Harbinger. In general, though, I'd say that this was an interesting enough match-up. Just protect a Delver or keep the path clear for a Mongoose, and the rest is pie.
1-0.
Round 2: UW/r Thopter Sword (red for sideboard options and Engineered Explosives, it seems).
Game 1: Things just mostly go my way this game. I don't remember exactly what happened, I know that Spell Pierce was a boss and Wasteland was worthless.
Sideboarding: +3 Counterbalance, +3 Pyroblast, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, -2 Ponder, -2 Force of Will, -3 Fire/Ice, -1 Lightning Bolt.
Game 2: Everything this game went right, then everything went wrong. I fan open a sweet hand with Top, Counterbalance, Force, blue card, and 2 lands. I'm golden. Turn 1 Top, Turn 2 CB which goes unopposed, except that in response he plays Enlightened Tutor for Blood Moon. He goes land, pass. I untap and pass. He plays a land and Blood Moon. I Force (with zero 3 cmc cards in the deck), and he fires back with Flusterstorm. What a freaking beating. I sit there with Counterbalance looking like a chump, and a couple turns later I scoop it up to his Jace.
Game 3: He's stuck on only blue lands, and I make pretty short work of him. I beat him down with Delvers, and at the end of the game he fans open a hand with double Swords and Firespout.
Thoughts: If he had used any combination of cards besides Blood Moon and Flusterstorm game 2, I'm quite confident I would have ridden CB-Top to victory. I feel much better about the match-up against other blue decks with Counterbalance in my sideboard.
2-0
Round 3: Nic Fit (GWB Veteran Explorer)
Game 1: It's pretty even for a while, and at one point he plays Therapy out of the bin, sacrificing Veteran Explorer. The triggers happen too fast for me (I was pretty much just not ready for it), and when I move to Spell Pierce, he just taps his two fresh new untapped lands. He rips out the two Delvers of Secrets that he knows I have, and ends up killing me 10 turns later. I'm pretty mad about the misplay, but am determined not to let it get to me.
Sideboarding: +2 Mind Harness, +2 Submerge, -1 Spell Pierce, -3 Fire/Ice
Game 2: We go back and forth for a while, both ending up relatively low on cards. Eventually he lands a Phyrexian Arena, which turns out to be huge trouble. 20 turns down the road, he has me fully buried in card advantage. I try to mount a counterattack, but Academy Rector into Moat is enough to seal it up.
Thoughts: This is the only match-up of the day which I feel was made worse by my lack of Stifle. And by "made worse," I mean in this case that it went from probably positive to incredibly negative. This deck is nothing without its triggers and activated abilities.
2-1
Round 4: Alex with Reanimator. (Epic team kills)
Game 1: I keep a hand full of countermagic and pretty much nothing else. He goes for it on turn two, but Spell Snare, Spell Pierce, *and* Force of Will turn out to just be too much. He draws another reanimation spell a few turns later, which I again counter, and I finish him off a few turns later.
Sideboarding: +3 Counterbalance, +3 Surgical Extraction, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, -2 Ponder, -2 Nimble Mongoose, -4 Lightning Bolt
Game 2: I keep a hand which gets me to double counter in time for his reanimation attempt on turn 2 or 3. He later tries again, but I have Surgical while tapped out. Good stuff.
Thoughts: Counterbalance would have been a ridiculous beating against this deck if I had ever drawn it. Otherwise, it's probably not the greatest of match-ups because of his high density of threats.
3-1
Round 5: ID.
3-1-1
Top 8: Merfolk
Game 1: He gets turn 1 Aether Vial, which is bad news. I'm able to hold his board down with some well placed burn spells (including two-for-ones by bolting a Lord of Atlantis during combat). Eventually we stall out, and he has 2x Reejerey, 1x Phantasmal Image on Tarmogoyf. I have 2x Tarmogoyf, 1x Nimble Mongoose. Neither of us can really get through, but eventually he just throws a Reejerey in there assuming he had a Lord of Atlantis in play. I block for an easy kill and finish him off 2 turns later.
Sideboarding: +3 Couterbalance, +3 Pyroblast, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, -3 Ponder, -2 Nimble Mongoose, -2 Spell Pierce, -1 Spell Snare
Game 2: This is a pretty brutal beating. Suffice to say, he had the Wasteland tri-laser, so I could never get a chance to Fire/Ice his dudes or even chump with Snapcaster.
Game 3: I keep a hand with Counterbalance and some form of counterspell, probably Spell Pierce. I play a land and pass, and he goes for the turn 1 Aether Vial, which I'm able to counter. At this point, life is pretty good. I toss out Counterbalance with no protection, knowing that if he had a counter he would have used it for his Vial. I draw Top soon enough, and get to work countering every spell he plays for about 10 turns. By that time, I have enough burn to deal with his 3-drop merfolk as well, and I ride on to easy victory.
Thoughts: I hear Counterbalance is pretty good when your opponent can't resolve an Aether Vial. Normally in this match-up I would side out some or all of my Forces of Will, but since I'm on the Counterbalance plan, I think I have to keep them in to fight Vial.
Top 4: Pat with TES (another epic team kill).
Game 1: He keeps a turn 2 hand with Silence and Rit, Rit, Ad Nauseam, but I had Spell Pierce for the Silence and Force of Will for the Ad Nauseam. At this point, he has no cards in hand, and the Delvers go to work. He concedes with 4 Gemstone Mines in play.
Sideboarding: +3 Counterbalance, +3 Pyroblast, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, -2 Ponder, -2 Nimble Mongoose, -4 Lightning Bolt.
Game 2: Not much of a game. He mulls to 5, whereas I keep a 6 with turn 1 Delver, turn 2 Counterbalance.
Thoughts: Counterbalance is a complete shalacking against TES, but blue already had a pretty reasonable match-up there.
Finals: Tempo RUG pseudo-mirror.
I say pseudo-mirror, because he was playing Stifles and no Counterbalance. I've seen what I'm up against since his previous round took probably 80 minutes, and I'm pretty sure I'm an underdog in this match-up. The Dazes and Stifles could turn out to be a big problem.
Game 1: He gets a couple Delvers online more quickly than I can deal with them. He had a counter for my Fire/Ice on one of them, and a burn spell for my chump blocker.
Sideboarding: +3 Counterbalance, +3 Pyroblast, +2 Sensei's Divining Top, -2 Ponder, -4 Force of Will, -2 Spell Snare.
Game 2: I keep a hand with a Counterbalance and a few other spells which I figure should be roughly relevant, although no usable counters. I play Delver on turn 1, Counterbalance on turn 2. He only had one Tropical Island on the field, and having seen his play style, put him on no responses but a Brainstorm. I was right, but believe he drew the Force of Will. Regardless, Counterbalance hits the bin, and he has a couple Wastelands waiting for me. He has my mana-base beaten, and so he has me beaten.
Thoughts: I should have been a little pickier about my opening hands, especially game one. I knew going in that this was the kind of match-up where if I had 5 lands in my hand, I would probably keep. Hell, if I had 6 I would consider it. Instead, he Wasted my face off and I didn't have a thing to say about it. Game two, I was super excited about resolving Counterbalance, but didn't have any action if it didn't resolve. Also I was again open to Wastelands. Without Stifle and Daze to protect myself, I think I'm at a pretty reasonable disadvantage. As I said, Counterbalance would have been awesome if it had resolved, but I wasn't so fortunate. Also, if my plan was just to resolve one card and ride it home, I probably should have left some or all of my Forces of Will in my 60.
All in all, I'm very happy with how I did and how my deck performed. Having Spell Pierce maindeck was excellent, and I'm not sorry at all that I cut the Stifles. I didn't particularly miss Daze either, which is probably largely a factor of my opponents not getting their fetch lands Stifled. Cutting the Stifles also made Wasteland a lot worse.
These factors all lead me to believe that what I actually wanted to be playing today was Next Level Thresh. I wanted basics instead of Wastelands, I wanted Counterbalance in the main, and I didn't want stifle or Daze. Maybe it's time to make a change and test it out.
I should also say that even though I was excited about playing Fire/Ice again, it didn't really do anything all day. It would have been sweet to flip one to counter a Jace or Elspeth or something, but really it could have been better. Perhaps Dismember to have a 3-cost to flip to CB.
Played 4 Nimbles for the first time in a small tourney 2 weeks ago, and I have to say that its the shiznit. I didnt have the Snaps but it didnt really matter as the early pressure that the Geese gave was enough. I will, however, try to cut my singleton Dismember and another card for 2 Snapcasters instead of those lists that run 4 SCMs which I really think screws up the tempo.
Although I see the benefits of having Spell Pierce main, I'm reluctant to replace Stifle because blowing up fetchlands is one of my favorite things to do in the whole world. I think your sideboard looks really good, mind posting your whole list?
I have to agree with you, I used to run 3 nimbles without snaps, but removed them when I aquired the snapcasters. I have to say I regretted it big time. I missed the early pressure of nimble and delver combined, and had to watch my delvers die while my snaps where sitting on my hand. I'm now planning on playing the popular 4 goyf, 4 delver, 3 nimbles, and 3/2 snaps build also. I think that configuration can push enough pressure in the early game and can also pull of some nifty tricks in the lategame. By the way try playing sylvan library as well, it's been awesome so far.
I made 12th place at Charlotte this weekend with the following list: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...p?DeckID=44085
These are the match-ups I played:
R1- U/B Control 2-0
R2- Zombies 2-0
R3- Punishing Maverick 0-2
R4- Reanimator 2-0
R5- Goblins 2-0
R6- U/R Delver 1-2
R7- Stifle Dreadnought 2-0
R8- Enchantress 2-0
The deck was very strong all day, and the Chain Lightnings provided the extra reach which was vital.
Congrats! So is the Counterbalance package the right way to go? How did you SB with the package in your matchups?
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Gratz and its good to see a STIFLE-RUG winning^^
Im new to the deck and just built it a few days ago, still I tested alot earlier(proxed).
Considering the Counterbalance-Package... in what MU does it shine?
What I think is: (please prove me wrong/right)
Reanimator/Stormcombo: A CB-lock is the win - but it may be too late + we have already an pretty positive MU
Maverick: CB doesnt help at all
Stoneblade: Didnt test yet
Mirror: This is where I'd think that Counterbalance shines. Cause all of their cards are in our curve - as we play the same cards.
So what about this thoughts? Im looking forward to your answer :)
Greetings
Counterbalance was important to my success. This is a list of the way I sided based on memory:
U/B control
+5 CB/Top package, +2 Krosan Grip
-3 Daze, - 3 Stifle, -1 Chain Lightning
Reanimator
+5 CB/Top Package, +3 Crypt
-4 Lightning Bolt, -2 Chain Lightning, -2 Nimble Mongoose
U/R Delver
+5 CB/ Top Package
-2 Chain Lightning, -3 Daze
Stilfe Dreadnought
+5 CB/Top, +2 Krosan Grip, +1 Ancient Grudge
-4 Lightning Bolt, -2 Chain Lightning -2 Spell Snare
Against the control deck I was able to counter many of his removal spells and use burn to finish him off. I never drew the Counterbalance against the Reainimator he just lost to not finding a creature in time and me having double Delver that both flipped quickly. Against U/R delver it is like the pseudo mirror so it won me a game and the other game I got mana screwed. Against Stifle Dreadnought I assembled the lock by turn 4 and he had used all his resources to try and keep me off mana so his had was so depleted he couldn't do anything relevant and decided to scoop.
What is important to note is that this is just a rough plan, the idea is to take out whatever cards are worse in that particular matchup.
The Counterbalance package shines in all the matchups you mentioned ( storm, the tempo mirrors, some control decks, Reanimator etc.)Originally Posted by Philipp802
You would likely want to bring in the Counterbalance package against Stoneblade Decks to shut off the infinite Swords to Plowshares. You would again just board out the worse cards for that matchup.
I've been doing heavy testing online and CB shines in several matchups.
Mirror Obv
U/W Stoneblade is pretty much an auto win
ADN
Elves
Maverick - not good
U/R Delver
Burn
These are the ones that come to mind right away.
13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
-Member of Clan Magic Eternal-
-Find me on MTGO (NarrowGate) -
Considering your statements...why dont we totally move the package to the mainboard? As the MUs where its good are obv. quite a large percentage of the field to be honest.
Do we have enough balls to do that? Shouldnt we up the lands to at least 19 then?
Greetings
I run 19 lands already. As far as your first question, maybe, but I doubt it. I find myself typically siding out forces (some or all) and usually daze, so shifting it maindeck would make it more of a controlling deck game 1 and I believe you are really looking to commence the beatings with Delver Game 1. Game 2 you are going for the surprise factor, not to mention doing a better job of protecting your dudes with CB lock. If you show them a Nimble game 1, they are more likely to bring in Relic or gy hate, making your nimbles less effective, this is where CB shines, helps protect your more vulnerable creatures like Tarmo and Delver.
If people start catching onto the CB lock, we will see more Grip hate. I'm completely cool with them wasting slots on it tbh.
Here is my list for clarity (fairly stock)
Lands (19)
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Tropical Island
3 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
1 Island
Creatures (13)
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Nimble Mongoose
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Snapcaster Mage
Spells n Stuff (29)
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Daze
3 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Chain Lightning
1 Sensei's Divining Top
Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Submerge
3 Counterbalance
2 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Ancient Grudge
I'm not convinced on the Leylines, I'd really like to just run Tormod's, which I will probably do. I'd like to fit Grip in the board and Mind Harness. Maindeck, the only card I've been unhappy with lately is Snapcaster Mage. I cut it down to 2, only because It lacks in the early game imo.
One final observation I think we need to be careful of. Lately, RUG decks are getting away from Dismember, which I think is fine at the moment. However, due to this, I'm worried we might see an emergence of Tombstalker. It might be wise to keep a singleton in board, just for a raining day.
My 2 cents!
13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
-Member of Clan Magic Eternal-
-Find me on MTGO (NarrowGate) -
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