UW Sanctuary (Helm/RiP combo)

[Koby]

the best part in the fun of playing this deck is how many players are not prepared to deal with enchantments at all..

This is true. Watch out for Krosan Grip tho.

[gkraigher]

This is true. Watch out for Krosan Grip tho.

Tranquil Grove was always underrated in my opinion. But in all seriousness, I am going to add at least 1-2 back to natures into my RUG Delver Sideboard for this deck and Enchantress.

Hopefully the Red Green Charm will destroy an enchantment and do something else good.

[Griselpuff]

I don't think RUG needs any more toys to play with...

I played a match against UB Tezzeret and it's actually a pretty tricky matchup and made me want more Pithing Needles. Since they're good in general, I decided to have 1 MD and 2 SB.

I also completely agree about Energy Field as a 4 of now. So many decks just straight up scoop to E Field + RIP that it's silly not to play 4. I'm also playing RIP as a 4 of, after running into too many Abrupt Decay decks (BG Pox and BUG). That means that the Swords are either being taken out entirely, or going to the board. I think that Porphyry Nodes is actually a lot better than people give it credit for (it can kill shroud creatures!)

I also like Cursed Totem, but I'm not sure I want 4 Needle effects. I also decided to add a Karakas to the board since there are MUs where the 23rd land is wanted, but I want the MD to have a strong B2B plan with minimal nonbasics.

[Spigore]

Hey all,

From testing it seems the deck has a problem facing an opposing Jace. This has also been said by Carsten.
Detention Sphere is a good way to get rid of him. However, when CB is up, tutoring a Humility/Helm is a solution as well.
Adding Needle to the side seems a good addition to shut him up.

Next to that Humility nullifies Teeg and other hatebears (Yes, with Teeg out, you can't play Humility). Also Humble might be something, but in my Humble opinion "No!".

Going for a 1-3 split on Porphyry Nodes and Plowshares seems fine, but dropping the Plowshares entirely? If you wanna go there, 2 Nodes will be needed to at least have a possibility go get rid of creatures. Give or take a singleton Supreme Verdict or Humility. But the Verdict or Humility won't be allowed by mr. Teeg.

Playing a single Helm a possibility?

My latest pile for testing;

1 Seat of the Synod
8 Island
1 Plains
2 Tundra
4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
2 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Karakas
2 Helm of Obedience
4 Energy Field
4 Rest in Peace
2 Detention Sphere
4 Counterbalance
4 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Back to Basics
1 Pithing Needle
2 Porphyry Nodes
3 Enlightened Tutor
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce

SIDEBOARD
1 Detention Sphere
2 Flusterstorm
1 Porphyry Nodes
1 Arcane Laboratory
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Luminarch Ascension
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Humility
2 Pithing Needle

[Poron]

after some match Luminarch Ascension is a 2x MD.

it is the alternate WC we need. it doesn't suffer to Null Rod and if they play Pithing Needle they have Top and Helm before. Or even if we distract the opponent on ascension, it has already done its job.

Also, it accompanies just too well with our 4 Energy Field MD not to be considered.
Overall it helps a lot with our bad matchups (BUG, miracle control, etc.)

Also Moxes are needed here, in place of sol lands. a turn 1 Luminarch, sometime, makes the opponent even waste his FoWs..

the only problem with Moxes is card disadvantage.. and that with 4 Tutors start to hurt.

[Spigore]

I don't see why you would want to play Chrome Mox or Mox Diamond to power out Luminarch Ascension. Early game I think the focus should be on safely establishing CounterTop, RiP/Field and fiend off early discard.

[Poron]

the moxes are not for Luminarch alone. a T1 Counterbalance + turn 2 top (activable in the same turn) has a whole different power.
or even a turn 0 RiP
these are all moves that a sol land doesn't allow..

but yes, moxes are big card disadvantage so.. we're probably tossing them

I keep my opinion on Luminarch. In many matches I find myself with a EF and nothing to win. to play a Luminarch gives the opponent a good pressure (and a good diversion from RiP/Field/CB)

LA is just good, any time it lands

[Spigore]

It's a good alternate win indeed. I don't see any MD slots which could be substituted. The problem is actually, I'm stuggling quite hard to pack a solid 60. My testing next Saturday should give me a lot of info.
Care to share your list with the rest, Poron?

[Griselpuff]

Spigore, if you're going the 4 CB route, PLEASE PLEASE play 4 E tutors. Here's mine:

// Lands
8 [UNH] Island
2 [B] Tundra
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
1 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
2 [UNH] Plains
1 [MR] Seat of the Synod

// Spells
2 [AL] Helm of Obedience
3 [US] Energy Field
3 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
4 [RTR] Rest in Peace
2 [RTR] Detention Sphere
4 [ARE] Enlightened Tutor
4 [COM] Brainstorm
4 [CS] Counterbalance
4 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
4 [AL] Force of Will
1 [US] Back to Basics
2 [PLC] Porphyry Nodes
1 [RTR] Pithing Needle

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [US] Energy Field
SB: 1 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
SB: 2 [RTR] Detention Sphere
SB: 1 [RTR] Pithing Needle
SB: 3 [WWK] Jace, the Mind Sculptor
SB: 2 [COM] Flusterstorm
SB: 1 [MI] Cursed Totem
SB: 1 [US] Arcane Laboratory
SB: 1 [ZEN] Luminarch Ascension
SB: 1 [LG] Karakas
SB: 1 [MM] Energy Flux


I've decided cards like Humility, Ensnaring Bridge and Moat aren't needed with the E-field combo. You have 4 D-Spheres for S&T, making it a really favorable MU. I'm not convinced Luminarch is good MD because Angel tokens go to the GY, making you lose E-field unless RIP is out, which is just win more.

[Poron]

there are many conditions where Luminarch is not win more.
Chalice of the Void@1 locking your E-tutors
an opponent's Counterbalance (with the same effect)
a Meddling Mage on Detention Sphere.
a Null Rod locking your main WC

a cc2 is a good alternate WC it also avoids big part of the hate

RiP+Field is a "tempo gainer" not a combo.
tempo which is sweet to be spent getting the proper mana + Helm or a Luminarch for a few turns. A "charged" Ascension is 2x 4/4 fliers every turn.. that's gg

anyway here's my list

4Energy Field
4Rest in Peace
1Helm of Obedience (I don't really want to see this more than 30 seconds before the win)
2Luminarch Ascension
3Stifle (I owe this guy a lot, really. Qasali Pridemage, EE@2, many tricks)
3Counterbalance
4Sensei's Divining Top
3Swords to Plowshares
4Force of Will
2Spell Pierce
4Brainstorm
1Detention Sphere
1Pithing Needle
3Enlightened Tutor
3Wasteland
4Tundra
4Flooded strand
2Polluted Delta
1Windswepth Heat
2Plains
6Island

Wasteland + Stifle are just great for the tempo strategy with Luminarch. It just.. works fine (not great, but fine)

[gkraigher]

akatsuki,

Your list is really starting to look good now, I wasn't a huge fan before, but this one I like. I like that you cut down the non-basic lands in your deck. I know you swear by seat of the synod, but I would like to see that go. You've mentioned the games where you had to e-tutor for it, I would have just mulliganed. I am not affraid to mulligan, and this deck has a lot of ways to fight back, even with a 4 card starting hand. Love the addition of the 1 energy flux.

[Greenpoe]

I agree with gkraigher. Your list looks really good except the Seat of the Synod should be an Island. Enlightened Tutor for Seat of the Synod in a 1-land hand would be occasionally useful, but consider that you're going through card disadvantage just to get a land...which can easily be Wastelanded. Then they've seriously hurt you - you're down a card and lost a land and now stuck with 1-land. Plus, since you have 8 Islands, if you have a 1-land hand, there's a fairly good chance that you won't even be able to cast your E-tutor. If you have 2 or more lands in your opener, then you shouldn't need E-Tutor to get a third land - you'll usually have Brainstorm/Top for that, or just draw into more lands naturally. Plus there's other random hate you might run into (Null Rod would stop Top and your Seat; Deed wipes away the land) and its bad with the Back to Basics as well.

[Koby]

Tutoring for Seat with a 1-lander means you have access to , which is a total of 3 lands in the deck.

[Griselpuff]

Hmm, I like the Wasteland argument... I'm starting to agree more. I guess the only thing is there are certain CMC 0 spells out there running around, but that's a pretty minor point.

A couple other cards I decided to try in the SB:

Warmth <--- for burn
Aura of Silence <--- for Affinity/Tezzeret/Enchantress etc.

[gkraigher]

If you like seat of the synod because you can tutor for it, why not play 1 land tax instead? You can e-tutor for that and get a much better effect. And its an easy card to sideboard out on the play.

[TkDodo]

I agree with gkraigher. Your list looks really good except the Seat of the Synod should be an Island. Enlightened Tutor for Seat of the Synod in a 1-land hand would be occasionally useful, but consider that you're going through card disadvantage just to get a land...which can easily be Wastelanded. Then they've seriously hurt you - you're down a card and lost a land and now stuck with 1-land. Plus, since you have 8 Islands, if you have a 1-land hand, there's a fairly good chance that you won't even be able to cast your E-tutor. If you have 2 or more lands in your opener, then you shouldn't need E-Tutor to get a third land - you'll usually have Brainstorm/Top for that, or just draw into more lands naturally. Plus there's other random hate you might run into (Null Rod would stop Top and your Seat; Deed wipes away the land) and its bad with the Back to Basics as well.

Totally agree. Your hand must be perfect to keep a 1-lander with E.Tutor for the land. If you are willing to accept the -1 from card from E.Tutor, you can just as easily take the mulligan and not loose a turn where you cannot play Top or Spell Pierce or your T2 play because you need to invest to find your land.

Tutoring for Seat with a 1-lander means you have access to , which is a total of 3 lands in the deck.

I count 13 sources, but whatever. It's still not a good play.

[Koby]

I count 13 sources, but whatever. It's still not a good play.

I was excluding fetches, but yes. I'm only ever likely to keep a one-lander when it's just basic Island. It's too vulnerable to Wasteland otherwise.

[tsabo_tavoc]

Hmm, I like the Wasteland argument... I'm starting to agree more. I guess the only thing is there are certain CMC 0 spells out there running around, but that's a pretty minor point.

A couple other cards I decided to try in the SB:

Warmth <--- for burn
Aura of Silence <--- for Affinity/Tezzeret/Enchantress etc.

If the slot is meant for a 0cc Tutor target, I'd go with Engineered Explosives; If a 0cc mana source is needed, I'd put in 1 Chrome Mox.

[gkraigher]

Warmth <--- for burn
Aura of Silence <--- for Affinity/Tezzeret/Enchantress etc.

Warmth isn't needed for burn because you have energy field. Its a sub par choice to Chill anyway, as warmth is only good vs. burn; chill is good vs. burn and charbelcher.

Aura of Silence is good enough to add to the board. Its useful against against multiple decks, and in the mirror.

Speaking of the mirror, Detention Sphere is an interesting card. You want to be able to pitch it to force of will. At the same time, you want to be able to target opponent's detention spheres. Maybe you want to keep the 2 main deck, cut the two from the board and add Aura of Silence and Oblivion Ring. Any deck where you will want more Spheres, you will be reluctant to pitch them to force of will anyway.


8 [UNH] Island
2 [B] Tundra
4 [ON] Flooded Strand
1 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
2 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
3 [UNH] Plains


// Spells
2 [AL] Helm of Obedience
3 [US] Energy Field
3 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
4 [RTR] Rest in Peace
2 [RTR] Detention Sphere
4 [ARE] Enlightened Tutor
4 [COM] Brainstorm
4 [CS] Counterbalance
4 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
4 [AL] Force of Will
1 [US] Back to Basics
1 [PLC] Porphyry Nodes
1 [RTR] Pithing Needle
1 Land Tax

// Sideboard
SB: 1 [US] Energy Field
SB: 1 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
SB: 1 Oblivion Ring
SB: 1 Aura of Silence
SB: 1 [RTR] Pithing Needle
SB: 3 [WWK] Jace, the Mind Sculptor
SB: 2 [COM] Flusterstorm
SB: 1 [MI] Cursed Totem
SB: 1 [US] Arcane Laboratory
SB: 1 [ZEN] Luminarch Ascension
SB: 1 [LG] Karakas
SB: 1 [MM] Energy Flux

[lochlan]

I've decided cards like Humility, Ensnaring Bridge and Moat aren't needed with the E-field combo.

Humility is absolutely neccessary. I'm not running it for attackers, where you seem to imply it is best. It's for problematic utility creatures like Pridemage, Mangara, etc. (And, in particular, for decks with a critical mass of utility creatures, like Maverick and D&T) Pithing Needle helps fill this role but isn't enough IMO.