[Deck] 43 Lands

[barcode]

Take it down, OneBigSquirrelGod! Really hoping to see you in a feature match.

LOL no, why would they do that? It's the Todd Anderson show!

[Countertoplol]

LOL no, why would they do that? It's the Todd Anderson show!

Heaven forbid we watch something other than deathblade play.

[OneBigSquirrelGod]

Good luck Bobby! I'm always happy when someone top8 a big tournament with our monster of a deck! Writing this when you are in semifinals, seems to be only pretty nice matchups left :)

Please argue for Barbarian Ring and Trinisphere in the board afterwards, imo the latter is too slow sometimes and I like Sphere of Resistance. Also, please give your thoughts on Abrupt Decay vs Krosan Grip, I like the former more but I see that you haven chosen the opposite.

I wouldn't have won round 1 if I didn't play barb ring. It also killed a death rite at an opportun moment in round 6, which helped me win the match. It was between that, cabal pit, or 60 cards, and I'm not about that... Lol

Trinisphere was for omniscience. It would stall the game, and lets face it... If they get omniscience out, they're probably not hurting for lands, and sphere allows them to cast multiple spells. Not a better choice IMO.

The only card abrupt decay is better against in legacy ATM is Lilliana of the veil and magus ofvthe moon. I'd rather drop 3sphere, and Krosan Grip omniscience. They both do nothing in your yard, and I'd rather rely only having a single green for the blood moon.

Let the argument begin... Now! Lol

[barcode]

I wouldn't have won round 1 if I didn't play barb ring. It also killed a death rite at an opportun moment in round 6, which helped me win the match. It was between that, cabal pit, or 60 cards, and I'm not about that... Lol

Trinisphere was for omniscience. It would stall the game, and lets face it... If they get omniscience out, they're probably not hurting for lands, and sphere allows them to cast multiple spells. Not a better choice IMO.

The only card abrupt decay is better against in legacy ATM is Lilliana of the veil and magus ofvthe moon. I'd rather drop 3sphere, and Krosan Grip omniscience. They both do nothing in your yard, and I'd rather rely only having a single green for the blood moon.

Let the argument begin... Now! Lol

Here's a list to the decklist so people can argue!

How is Oblivion Stone treating you? I've cut it from my list but I also haven't top 8'd any events with it. I always found it too slow and preferred Engineered Explosives or the slower grind.

BTW I want to thank you, Bobby, for turning me onto Lands last year It's been a heck of a deck to play.

[Zynque]

I wouldn't have won round 1 if I didn't play barb ring. It also killed a death rite at an opportun moment in round 6, which helped me win the match. It was between that, cabal pit, or 60 cards, and I'm not about that... Lol

Trinisphere was for omniscience. It would stall the game, and lets face it... If they get omniscience out, they're probably not hurting for lands, and sphere allows them to cast multiple spells. Not a better choice IMO.

The only card abrupt decay is better against in legacy ATM is Lilliana of the veil and magus ofvthe moon. I'd rather drop 3sphere, and Krosan Grip omniscience. They both do nothing in your yard, and I'd rather rely only having a single green for the blood moon.

Let the argument begin... Now! Lol

First and foremost, congratulations to an awesome performance, well done! I saw in the standings that you were undefeated after round 5 (Your name is easy to associate with my pet deck) and I begged for a feature match on camera. However, either randomness or biased tournament directors prevented that :(

Playing 61 cards is fine, I do it all the time since there is so many uncuttable slots now. My 61st card is a singleton Gamble atm, which I have grown very fond of and it increases the consistency of the deck so its not too bad. I do love me a Barbarian Ring but I can't really justify its spot since we have Punishing Fire, in addition I think I gave up on the threshold lands a while ago since they don't do much the early turns, where the games are most intense, they suck out your life too!! :) It is nice it did some work for you but I am not convinced...yet.

I agree that Trinisphere is much better than Sphere against Omniscience (and perhaps a few others), the only thing I feel is that Sphere is much more flexible, better than Trinisphere in more matchups, and it costs one mana less which is very important against the faster combo decks. I guess Trinisphere is more of a meta call (and a wise one) but for me, who mostly plays in tournaments not of SCG magnitude where the meta doesn't shift as quickly, Sphere of the Resistance will do more work.

Regarding Krosan Grip and Abrupt Decay, sure if you just compare which combo pieces and hate cards they can hit, KS might be better in certain metas and Omniscience is indeed much scarier than a Liliana of the Veil, but IMO it once again comes down to flexibility. Abrupt Decay can hit creatures. Creature-decks are generally good matchups sure, but sometimes they have a really good draw and having Abrupt Decay postboard increases the number of hands you can keep by a lot, it is better in more matchups. The only times where i wished I had a Krosan Grip instead is vs the nowadays rarely occurring Leyline of the Void. That said, I have not met very many Omniscience decks. A big arguement is that Krosan Grip only costs a single green which helps against Blood Moon, but then again Abrupt Decay only costs two mana which helps in other situations. A matter of preference I suppose.

I have been thinking a lot around the artifacts of the deck. I have found that I am not very satisfied with Crucible of Worlds, most often not very happy to see it when I draw it. What does it do? Is nice when your Loams have been extracted, but it is not very easy to find without Enlightened Tutor and there is also much more other types of graveyard hate these days where Crucible does nothing. If you just want a 5th Loam, Gamble is better imo, and it gives you more of everything! :) What do you think of this matter?

Ensnaring Bridge is another card which puzzles me. Going from one of the best cards in the deck to feeling more and more mediocre. This of course has a lot to do with metagame shift and printing of Abrupt Decay (most decks before didnt play main deck artifact/enchantment-hate). Many times I don't need it, it is very good against tribal decks, Reanimator and Sneak & Show though, and therefore I will not cut it. Still, it bothers me, probably because I have been spoiled with Enlightened Tutor before, finding it whenever I want, now it is more random. I don't know.

Oblivion Stone is really a pet card for me, and it really shines sometimes. However some other times its just expensive and slow. Since I convinced myself that 2 Engineered Explosives is the way to go, I have been having a hard time to find room for this gem. I sometimes have one in the board though. Please tell me of its merits for you, I want to play it, but I just can't.

[Wanderlust]

Playing 61 cards is fine, I do it all the time since there is so many uncuttable slots now. My 61st card is a singleton Gamble atm

I like this idea a lot, actually - I'll be trying this out! I haven't considered Gamble in a while, but with Punishing-Grove, it can act as a 4th Punishing Fire once Grove is out, something I've been craving lately.

Sphere is much more flexible ... and it costs one mana less which is very important against the faster combo decks. I guess Trinisphere is more of a meta call

Totally agree that it's a meta call. In my area, in which there is always TES, Sphere of Resistance is crucial. However, Trinisphere does seem better for the Open Series meta since there seems to be more OmniTell than TES.

I have been thinking a lot around the artifacts of the deck.

I've been thinking along similar lines, and your reasoning backs up the inuition (badum ching) I've been having about them. I've been working on the Stage-Depths addition, and the only obvious place to cut for that is in the artifact department.

[cuthbertthecat]

Congrats on the finish, Bobby! However, I've never agreed with 61 cards in a deck like this that needs to get an engine of very specific cards going as soon as possible to be able to win. I understand the upside of adding more silver bullets to a shell with so many tutors, but the extra variance in a deck with a good amount of variance already is a bit too much for me. I would say cut the o stone, 2nd explosives, the bog, or the manabond, but aside from that, the list does look pretty sweet for today's metagame.

[OneBigSquirrelGod]

Congrats on the finish, Bobby! However, I've never agreed with 61 cards in a deck like this that needs to get an engine of very specific cards going as soon as possible to be able to win. I understand the upside of adding more silver bullets to a shell with so many tutors, but the extra variance in a deck with a good amount of variance already is a bit too much for me. I would say cut the o stone, 2nd explosives, the bog, or the manabond, but aside from that, the list does look pretty sweet for today's metagame.

I agree with the oblivion stone. The novelty of destroying planes walkers is easier solved with punishing fire. I think I will still add a 61st, not too sure yet.


You need to run crucible and bridge. As long as this is a control deck, the 4 main silver bullets need to stay. Intuition would be 100x worse without these cards. I have contemplated a chalice md, as well as a trinisphere, so you don't just bend over to combo. Plus they can help with the waste lock. Very impressed with the decks performance over the past weekend, and I am writing a tournament report in the meantime.

[Zynque]

I very rarely Intuition for those cards, it happens, but the only time I really want to search for Bridge is against Sneak & Show and Reanimator.

To search for those 2 artifacts is definitely not among the prime tasks of Intuition (since there are so many other things you can search for which solves the same problem, more reliably and for less mana) so I don't agree that the absence of the artifacts makes it many many times worse. When would you ever Intuition for a Crucible with the exception of after being extracted of Loams? If there are no other situations then Crucible is not merited imo, since Surgical Extraction is at an all-time low since its printing. Maybe MAYBE one in the board.

I will keep the Bridge since it has its powerful uses but probably cut it when i try out Stage/Depths (which might not be very good but fun to test at the very least) but the Crucible is already gone, try it out! :)

[KaNcEr]

I've been running without bridge or orb in the md for a while. Honesty don't miss either in the average MU. They are in the SB for certain situations however.

I could make a good argument for keeping crucible in what with DRS being so popular, but I could see running without it. In fact I'm contemplating very hard about cutting it post depths, but I'm still unsure.

[Phelix]

i think bog has never been less important, so its a possible cut imo.

I dont run 2 EE(just the one), but that could be a meta thing.

[cuthbertthecat]

i think bog has never been less important, so its a possible cut imo.

I dont run 2 EE(just the one), but that could be a meta thing.

I agree that bog is the best cut. The dredge matchup is super easy anyway.

Also, Kancer, I would never cut zuran orb. It's so important in our close matchups like RUG Delver where we often just need another turn or two to take over the game.

[Serbitar]

Let the argument begin... Now! Lol

Maybe you could elaborate a bit on why you decided against Stage/Depths (I take it this tourney was after the rules change?). Just unneeded? Inconsistent? No time to test it?

EDIT: Nvm, I'm stupid. Somehow thought the change was effective JUNE 13th... And I was already wondering why nobody talked about it...

[hjalte]

Maybe you could elaborate a bit on why you decided against Stage/Depths (I take it this tourney was after the rules change?). Just unneeded? Inconsistent? No time to test it?

Considering that the rules change is effective from July 13, it is probably because it sucks to have 2 dead cards in the deck.
linky: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazin...y/feature/248e

[Wanderlust]

Below is what my testing of Stage/Depths Lands has led to. My meta is very combo-heavy, thus the focus on that in the board. Somewhat surprisingly, I haven't been missing the Dark Confidants. Going all-in on combo hate in the board may be correct even for a larger field, given that this deck is now really strong against just about all non-combo. Rest in Peace, Blood Moon, Back to Basics, and Price of Progress are really the only non-combo things I fear these days, and they aren't too prevalent.

4 Life from the Loam
4 Exploration
2 Manabond

3 Intuition
3 Punishing Fire
1 Engineered Explosives

4 Mox Diamond

2 Dark Depths
2 Thespian's Stage

4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
1 Ghost Quarter

4 Maze of Ith
1 Glacial Chasm
1 The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
1 Karakas
3 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Academy Ruins

4 Tolaria West
1 Tranquil Thicket

1 Forest
3 Tropical Island
1 Taiga
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard:
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Sphere of Resistance
2 Trinisphere
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Zuran Orb
1 Crucible of Worlds
2 Krosan Grip

[OneBigSquirrelGod]

4 mazes is not the right number when running punishing fire. Drop one for something more useful g1, such as Zuran orb... It help retain the lock when dropping to a low life, price of progress especially.

[Wanderlust]

4 mazes is not the right number when running punishing fire. Drop one for something more useful g1, such as Zuran orb... It help retain the lock when dropping to a low life, price of progress especially.

Cool, I'll try that. For my own edification - why is 4 Maze is wrong with P Fires?

[Megadeus]

You probably just dont need so many mazes as creature control when you have recurrable creature control... Fires allows you to mow down the little guys that formerly you may have needed multiple mazes to fight off.

[Wanderlust]

You probably just dont need so many mazes as creature control when you have recurrable creature control... Fires allows you to mow down the little guys that formerly you may have needed multiple mazes to fight off.

Fair enough. I'm just always happy to see Maze, even in multiples - in many situations, it's a much less resource-intensive answer than P Fires, allowing the deck to keep it's life total high while channeling its resources into up an unstoppable late game. But I'll try going to 3 to see how it feels.

[OneBigSquirrelGod]

Fair enough. I'm just always happy to see Maze, even in multiples - in many situations, it's a much less resource-intensive answer than P Fires, allowing the deck to keep it's life total high while channeling its resources into up an unstoppable late game. But I'll try going to 3 to see how it feels.

I've always been a fan of 4, but when I added the groves, it felt like it was the right call. Megadeus nailed it