After some time off I went 2-2 yesterday at a local.
2-1 Reanimator
0-2 Turbo Eldrazi
2-1 Affinity
0-2 Elves
Really not impressive but I had overall bad draws on the day with some nutty top decks from my opponents.
"eggs... why'd it have to be eggs"
I misread your list. I thought I saw 4x Cabal Therapy and confused Veteran Explorer with Sylvan Safekeeper. My bad.Originally Posted by .Ix
Brainstorm Realist
I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner
Between DRS, KotR, Lili, and SDT we are fairly vulnerable to Pithing Needle. But so far, all they've ever named is SDT against me (but it was pretty crippling). I think I'm going to turn my 3rd top into 1x Sylvan.
Anyone else have trouble with Needle or Revoker?
Referring to the art on Stasis:
Nope. Last time I saw a Pithing Needle, it was a Reanimator deck trying to stop Crypt/Relic.
The other decks I encounter never play that stuff. But maybe that's a Dutch meta thing.
I see a lot of Revokers on Liliana, DRS, and KotR in that order (and Deed out of the side) when up against Death and Taxes. Typically the first hatestick either calls what is on the field already (DRS) or they blind call Liliana. I'm largely not too concerned unless they call on DRS when I'm low on mana resources since we run so much creature kill...although that gets nixed by active Moms. Hence, KotR for Cabal Pit
Cabal Pit is a really good call. I should try to make space for that in my list. It makes Crop Rotation and Life from the Loam a lot better.
Just so I know for sure: the targeting from Cabal Pit is colorless, right? So I can kill Mom's with it easily?
Brainstorm Realist
I close my eyes and sink within myself, relive the gift of precious memories, in need of a fix called innocence. - Chuck Shuldiner
Yes. It is a colorless effect... unless something else gives it a color.
Tinkering with some crafting theory. Here
I honestly actually really like some of this list. Souls from the side instead of the main actually doesn't seem bad at all. I mean i would make changes like keeping the Maze main. But the list seems solid.
I have results to discuss, I've just been super busy with a family member in the hospital.
-Matt
Sorry to hear that, hope all is well :/.
On Asthereal's list, the main board seems okay, although you may be overdoing it for removal with 4 STP, 3 Lili, 3 AD, 2 MP, and I think the general thread's consensus is to get some Sylvan Libraries to sub in for some Tops. I also feel the lack of utility lands in the main (Maze, Bojuka) hampers the use of Knight for anything than a dumb beater, which you already have in Goyf - although I guess you can just fetch Wastes all day long...
Your sideboard, in my opinion, needs to diversify the combo/control hate. You're going to run headlong into Leyline of Sanctity or Brainstorms to hide key pieces, not to mention Misdirection on your Hymns, which sees play due to Abrupt Decay.
I would suggest
-1 MP
-1 AD
-1 IoK
+3 Hatebear (Thalia, Ethersworn Canonist)
MP and AD get redundant, especially when considering your main board removal suite. I presume MP is to take down Jace, but Lingering Souls helps in that matter as well.
I'd also like to see Golgari Charm, but not sure where to put them. Ideally you'd put Maze/Bojuka in the main to free up the sideboard and toss in 2 Golgari Charm so you can destroy Rest in Peace and Leyline of Sanctity (or Omniscience if you're lucky) as well as have a regen shield for Supreme Verdict against Esper Deathblade and a sweeper for Souls tokens and Goblins.
--
On Thespian Depths - I haven't had much time to test this due to family health issues as well, but I might get some time this week. I think it would go best in a Loam Rock or Devastating Loams deck, but I'm going to try it here. I did get my copies of the cards earlier this week, but CSI sent a non-foil Thespian instead of the Foil that I ordered...
I'll be joining our local tournament this weekend. I would like to hear your suggestions about my main deck
Creatures (16)
4 Dark Confidant
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
Non-Creature Spells (21)
4 Thoughtseize
3 Hymn to Tourach
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Sylvan Library
Lands (23)
3 Scrubland
2 Bayou
1 Savannah
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Wasteland
4 Marsh Flats
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Maze of Ith
I'm including Elspeth because she wins games with her 2nd +1 skill.
What is your sideboard and do you have an expected meta?
Additional card manipulation in either another Sylvan Library or Sensei's Top would be good, perhaps in place of the 4th Liliana.
So after some fine testing, and more testing will be required, Esper Deathblade now looks more like a mirror match instead of a control vs. aggro matchup.
With the removal of Lingering Souls from the Esper decks, and a move towards Deathrite Shaman and Dark Confidant, it's much more of a mirror match, but in UWb instead of BGW. So, we have to see what they gain from being blue where we're green. In terms of parity, we both have:
Deathrite Shaman
Dark Confidant
Swords to Plowshares
Hand Disruption
Possibly Wastelands
Both play 15 creatures
They've got Brainstorm, we've got Sylvan Library.
They have Jace (or a big finisher), we need something like that.
They have Supreme Verdict out of the board, we need something to combat it or something that goes around it.
They might being in Geist, Zealous, Perish, or possibly Sword of Feast and Famine. We need to combat this.
Because this is a mirror match of sorts, they bring out maindeck counters if they have any, and if they don't, hand disruption. Same for us. I was playing and talking with a long, long time Esperblade player and he said that after a few matches, this is what it came down to. It's a total mirror match, except, Jace is a better long game card and Equipment helps win the creature war. Seems good. So we need to either next level them and win the creature war, or cut off certain lines of play.
90% of the Esperblade gameplan can be played under a Gaddock Teeg. This isn't the old Esperblade anymore. Creatures are still just darn good enough to win.
What do we need to do to win? Kill Dark Confidant and SFM on site, prevent Equipment from connect, watch out for sweepers.
I think the suggest for Tower of the Magistrate was a good idea. People aren't expecting it (also, fewer Knights are in the format) and it works wonders. Is it better than Maze of Ith #2 though? I think for this matchup, yes. Nantuko Monastery might be worth considering due to the first strike. Thalia is so good in this matchup because not only the tax effect, but the first strike as well. Finding more creatures with shroud/first strike is probably a good line of play for us. Perhaps Vampire Hexmage? Sounds silly, but keeping a Jace off the board and being a 2/1 First Strike is a thing. I'll be testing her.
I think we need a good finisher against Esper as well. Sorin and Relentless still seem like the best option since giving your guys trample is good, or being able to kill a Jace is also good. Ideally I'd also like to play a card like Pyroclasm so it burns out all their guys (since they're all X/1 or X/2's), whereas all of our guys will stay alive.
Or, crazy suggestion: we bring in our own Jitte. If we're on the assumption all their guys are X/1's, why not hook our own guys up with Equipment and just beat them at the Equipment game? First strike is especially good.
I know, more ranting, but in the Esperblade matchup, is it worth keeping Green Sun's Zenith in? I know it's good, don't get me wrong, but I'm just wondering if it'd be possible to go with a more streamlined plan with less creature tutoring, and just more impactful cards on the board. Not being able to tutor for Knight might be a little poor, but most people aren't even running the package anymore anyway; slimming the package down postboard while squeezing in more X for 1's against the deck seems fine.
So if our sideboard was something like:
2 Teeg
3 Thalia
2 Pernicious Deed
2 Golgari Charm
1 Tower of the Magistrate
2 Sorin/Jitte/mirror breaker
3 Extra hand disruption/Hymn/whatever
I'd want to have against Esper: Thalia, Tower, Sorin/Jitte/whatever.
Maybe I'm just rambling nonsense, but in short, I feel like the Esper deck is good because it has Dark Confidant/DRS, but we can be the better deck doing that, so let's go out and fuck them up.
-Matt
Hi everyone!!!
I haven't played for a long while but yesterday I went to a tournament (around 40 people). Went 2 -2 - drop facing 2 RUG decks (2-0 and 2-1), bug (1-2) and gw maverick (0-1, time issues).
I ran the following list:
3 thoughtseize
2 cabal therapy
3 sword to plowshares
3 abrupt decay
1 maelstrom pulse
1 sylvan lybrary
3 green sun's zenith
4 deathrite shaman
3 stoneforge mystic
3 dark confidant
2 tarmogoyf
3 knight of the reliquary
3 lingering souls
1 umezawa's jitte
1 batterskull
2 liliana of the veil
3 wasteland
4 marsh flats
4 verdant catacombs
2 bayou
3 scrubland
1 horizon canopy
1 karakas
1 forest
1 swamp
1 maze of ith
1 dryad arbor
sideboard:
1 life from the loam
1 gaddock teeg
1 sigarda, host of herons
3 hymn to tourach
1 bojuka bog
1 extirpate
1 surgical extraction
2 oblivion ring
2 zealous persecution
2 pernicious deed
overall I liked the feel of the build, stoneforge would help a lot against burn, goblin and rug decks wich arerampant in here (however I only cast it once and it was a win-more). The third zenith made me able to use less lands, i liked it. I missed the top and maybe another piece of hand disruption. If someon could impart suggestions on that list, I'd be really grateful. Another thing, a friend of mine was playing deathblade, and it really felt like a mirror match, except when he cast jace, started brainstorming and won games that were lost to him (we were playing a bit before the tournament). I think that while this list I used presents threats that must be answered right away, it lacks a little bit in the response department...
I also found I can't abuse life from the loam's dredge unless I have sylvan out OR my board position is already far superior. Agaisnt but, my opponent had a shaman and a stalker, I did a blind dredge and dropped stp, teeg and pulse, the three cards I wanted to draw.... :( pretty unlucky.
Both Sorin and Vampire Hexmage are proactive answers to Jace AND threats on their own. A Planeswalker that poops Lifelinkers and creates Emblems and a First Strike creature that kills Jace seems good to me.
-Matt
if you are running hexmage, it seems like depths is a 1 of toss in cause of knight of the reliquary. I would also imagine that dorin should see play just cause he's big, and can be t2'd with DRS. Hes bigger than batterskull every time which is a + and only maybe 2 of him.
Play 4 Card Blind!
Currently Playing
Legacy: Dark Depths
EDH: 5-Color Hermit Druid
Currently Brewing: [Deck] Sadistic Sacrament / Chalice NO Eldrazi
why cards are so expensive...hoarders
I agree with the Depths is easily added in, replacing maybe Maze or something, but not so sure about Doran...
-Matt
I was testing the Vampire Hexmages in place of 1 Ooze and 1 GSZ, and they were really fantastic. The first strike is great, especially with Emblems, and the "kill your Jace/Liliana/Elspeth" factor was pretty nuts. It gives us a ton more game since it's a pre-emptive answer and also a threat, unlike Maelstrom Pulse.
-Matt
Since there's a lot of burn and aggro decks in my meta (burn worries me more) I don't feel at ease without stoneforge OR hymn to tourach.
So since monday I've been testing this (an alternative to the list I played last saturday):
4 thoughtseize
3 hymn to tourach
4 swords to powshares
3 abrupt decay
1 maelstrom pulse
1 sylvan library
1 sensei's divining top
4 deathrite shaman
3 dark confidant
4 tarmogoyf
4 knight of the reliquary
3 lingering souls
2 liliana of the veil
4 verdant catacombs
4 marsh flats
3 scrublands
3 bayou
4 wasteland
1 horizon canopy
1 karakas
1 maze of ith
1 forest
1 swamp
sideboard (basically the same)
1 umezawa's jitte
1 life from the loam
2 gerrard's veredict
2 duress
2 oblivion ring
2 zealous persecution
2 pernicious deed
1 extirpate
1 surgical extraction
1 bojuka bog
My considerations: even with less lands the manabase of the previous list felt more secure (maybe that turn 1 zenith gives some feeling of safety?), however I was able to win grindy games with souls even without stoneforge. I have less tutoring now (in fact no tutoring at all) without gsz and sfm.
Since the games usually tend to drag, discard is not that terrible in the late game.
Pernicious deed is being a must against most aggro decks (along with zealous) and some random stuff like stax. It also kinda woks good against deathblade.
I still cant make up my mind on either of the 2 lists I posted...
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