[Deck] Death and Taxes

[raikenxy]

Played in a local tonight where about 15 people showed. Meta game was rather interesting, a few brews and a lot of fringe decks, also noticed grixis delver, infect stompy, miracles, g/w maverick, burn, u/r delver, and scapeshift nic fit. List i ran was

23 Lands

4 wastelands
4 ports
3 karakas
10 plains
1 cavern of souls
1 horizon canopy

creatures

4 mom
4 stoneforge
4 thalia
4 revoker
3 flickerwisp
3 serra avenger
2 brimaz
1 aven mindcensor
1 mangara

instants/equipment

1 jitte
1 fire/ice
1 batterskull
4 swords to plowshares

sideboard

2 enlightened tutor
1 grafdiggers cage
1 relic
2 rest in peace
1 meekstone
1 ratchet bomb
2 cataclysm
2 wilt leaf liege
1 oblivion ring
2 ethersworn cannonist

Round One, 1-2: Played against probably the best player in the room who was on miracles. A good friend of mine and we both have tested this matchup several times so know its gonne be a grind. I win game one as usual since im faored preboard, he can't find enough termini and i eventually get their with a batterskull equipped with a a sword of fire/ice. Game two he wear/tears my ial and i die to angel tokens and game three he stabilizes at 3 life and finds every answer he needs to kill me with angel tokens. Game three i probably could have one had i kept aether vial on two instead of three, i got greedy with a flickerwisp... but the struggles i have postboard with miracles remain lol. any and all help here is appreciated.

Round Two, 2-0: I'm playing against someone i've only seen around the shop a few times, and he's on some black/red brew which i've never seen. Game one I open with a hand containing 3 lands, vial, mom, revoker, jitte. I keep it, he turn one thoughtseizes me and for some reason takes the jitte... i thank god he does and play vial on my turn after drawing a stoneforge mystic. His turn he draws plays a fetch, fetches then plays deathrite then passes. My turn i tick the vial up to one, draw a land and play the revoker naming top. On his turn he jams a lilliana by activating deathrite and forces me to sac a creature. I think about it long and hard and figure he really wants his top active so i activate the vial and drop in a mom and sac the mother of runes. He frowns and passes. On my turn i draw the sword of fire/ice, kill his lilliana.... flash stoneforge in on his turn and he procedes to scoop to a batterskull. Game two brought in most of the cards i reserve for jund just to be safe, my opening hand is swords, jitte, mom, liege, cataclysm, plains, cavern. He turn ones thoughtseizes me again, takes my jitte. I draw a stoneforge then play it going to get sword of fire ice. He plays deathrite passes... then does nothing fthe rest of the games and slowly dies to a stonefogre equiped with the sword.

Round Three, 2-0: I'm playing against thopter combo. Game one i went turn one aether vial, turn two revoker on thopter. Turn three mom and thalia, flashing stoneforge in on his turn and getting batterskull. He simpyl could do nothing. Game two was a lot more difficult, as he was about to stabilize at 2 life and start thoptering me... thankfully thalia had slowed the combo down long enough and i top decked a rest in peace and he scooped.

Round 4, 2-0: Playing against G/W maverick against the second best player in the room in my opinion. Essentially almost a mirror match, our decks function similarly and we both know it's going to be grindy. Game one lasts 35 mins and i eventually am able to get both a serra avenger, and flickerwisp equipped with a sword of fire/ice and jitte and top deck a revoker naming her mother of runes, preventing her scryb ranger shenanigans. Game two I'm able to kill her on turn one of extra turns.

overall happy with the deck, the miracles match-up is odd, as post-board it just feels awful for me. def got a free win against some decks tonight which felt good, being able to just revoke a win condition and trick around with aether vial stole me some games.

[Barbed Blightning]

Played in a local tonight where about 15 people showed. Meta game was rather interesting, a few brews and a lot of fringe decks, also noticed grixis delver, infect stompy, miracles, g/w maverick, burn, u/r delver, and scapeshift nic fit. List i ran was

23 Lands

4 wastelands
4 ports
3 karakas
10 plains
1 cavern of souls
1 horizon canopy

creatures

4 mom
4 stoneforge
4 thalia
4 revoker
3 flickerwisp
3 serra avenger
2 brimaz
1 aven mindcensor
1 mangara

instants/equipment

1 jitte
1 fire/ice
1 batterskull
4 swords to plowshares

sideboard

2 enlightened tutor
1 grafdiggers cage
1 relic
2 rest in peace
1 meekstone
1 ratchet bomb
2 cataclysm
2 wilt leaf liege
1 oblivion ring
2 ethersworn cannonist

Round One, 1-2: Played against probably the best player in the room who was on miracles. A good friend of mine and we both have tested this matchup several times so know its gonne be a grind. I win game one as usual since im faored preboard, he can't find enough termini and i eventually get their with a batterskull equipped with a a sword of fire/ice. Game two he wear/tears my ial and i die to angel tokens and game three he stabilizes at 3 life and finds every answer he needs to kill me with angel tokens. Game three i probably could have one had i kept aether vial on two instead of three, i got greedy with a flickerwisp... but the struggles i have postboard with miracles remain lol. any and all help here is appreciated.

Round Two, 2-0: I'm playing against someone i've only seen around the shop a few times, and he's on some black/red brew which i've never seen. Game one I open with a hand containing 3 lands, vial, mom, revoker, jitte. I keep it, he turn one thoughtseizes me and for some reason takes the jitte... i thank god he does and play vial on my turn after drawing a stoneforge mystic. His turn he draws plays a fetch, fetches then plays deathrite then passes. My turn i tick the vial up to one, draw a land and play the revoker naming top. On his turn he jams a lilliana by activating deathrite and forces me to sac a creature. I think about it long and hard and figure he really wants his top active so i activate the vial and drop in a mom and sac the mother of runes. He frowns and passes. On my turn i draw the sword of fire/ice, kill his lilliana.... flash stoneforge in on his turn and he procedes to scoop to a batterskull. Game two brought in most of the cards i reserve for jund just to be safe, my opening hand is swords, jitte, mom, liege, cataclysm, plains, cavern. He turn ones thoughtseizes me again, takes my jitte. I draw a stoneforge then play it going to get sword of fire ice. He plays deathrite passes... then does nothing fthe rest of the games and slowly dies to a stonefogre equiped with the sword.

Round Three, 2-0: I'm playing against thopter combo. Game one i went turn one aether vial, turn two revoker on thopter. Turn three mom and thalia, flashing stoneforge in on his turn and getting batterskull. He simpyl could do nothing. Game two was a lot more difficult, as he was about to stabilize at 2 life and start thoptering me... thankfully thalia had slowed the combo down long enough and i top decked a rest in peace and he scooped.

Round 4, 2-0: Playing against G/W maverick against the second best player in the room in my opinion. Essentially almost a mirror match, our decks function similarly and we both know it's going to be grindy. Game one lasts 35 mins and i eventually am able to get both a serra avenger, and flickerwisp equipped with a sword of fire/ice and jitte and top deck a revoker naming her mother of runes, preventing her scryb ranger shenanigans. Game two I'm able to kill her on turn one of extra turns.

overall happy with the deck, the miracles match-up is odd, as post-board it just feels awful for me. def got a free win against some decks tonight which felt good, being able to just revoke a win condition and trick around with aether vial stole me some games.

Pithing needle helps the miracles MU an inordinate amount. A good starting point, imo, is to remove 4 stp, Jitte and a mindcensor for 2 e tutor, 1 bomb, 1 needle and 2 cataclysm. Past that, it's your call; I like Brimaz here because he can blow the game apart on his own and is easy to save with Karakas.

[CrazyCatPerson]

Pithing needle helps the miracles MU an inordinate amount. A good starting point, imo, is to remove 4 stp, Jitte and a mindcensor for 2 e tutor, 1 bomb, 1 needle and 2 cataclysm. Past that, it's your call; I like Brimaz here because he can blow the game apart on his own and is easy to save with Karakas.

I like keeping in mindcensor in this matchup because of all the fetchlands, if they run E. tutor, etc.

[Mr. Froggy]

Am I the only one that really loves Aven Mindcensor? I play 2 and I'm never disappointed in drawing one.

[GrimDog]

I haven't had much impact with my mindcensors. Removed them for brimaz and it has been good so far.

[Barook]

Am I the only one that really loves Aven Mindcensor? I play 2 and I'm never disappointed in drawing one.

While Mindcensor is occasionally nice for the blow-outs, it's imho too often too slow or irrelevant. Dying to -1/-1 effects doesn't really help, either. I would rather play cards with consistent high impact.

I'm currently running

4 Flickerwisp
3 Serra Avenger
3 Mirran Crusader

in the creature flexspots and I'm rather pleased with it. Swaping out one Crusader for a 4th Avenger is up to personal preference, but I like how Crusader is immune to Abrupt Decay (BUG Delver is a thing) and how he hits like a truck with equipment.

[prateta]

Am I the only one that really loves Aven Mindcensor? I play 2 and I'm never disappointed in drawing one.

They're awesome. Consistently winning me games against 12Post. Also random fetchland-screwing feels so good. Yo elf player, wanna fetch that Hoof to stomp my head? No way, here, have some censorship!

[Oreia]

Hey guys, i'll be playing a 2k champ in a few weeks and i thought you guys could help me.here is my list:


// Lands
4 [TE] Wasteland
2 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
3 [LG] Karakas
9 [UNH] Plains
4 [MM] Rishadan Port
1 [CHK] Eiganjo Castle

// Creatures
4 [DKA] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
4 [MBS] Phyrexian Revoker
4 [EVE] Flickerwisp
4 [CMD] Mother of Runes
4 [TSP] Serra Avenger
2 [BNG] Brimaz, King of Oreskos

// Spells
4 [DS] AEther Vial
1 [NPH] Batterskull
4 [A] Swords to Plowshares
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [ALA] Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 [RTR] Rest in Peace
SB: 2 [SHM] Wilt-Leaf Liege
SB: 1 [SOK] Manriki-Gusari
SB: 2 [M14] Celestial Flare
SB: 1 [DKA] Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
SB: 1 [SOM] Ratchet Bomb
SB: 1 [SOK] Pithing Needle

I'm not sure about the second O-ring, the flares(they've been performing ok) and the ratchet bomb.
is there anything i should change?(i don't like 2 tutors in my field, there is a lost of Jund)

[Mr. Froggy]

Hey guys, i'll be playing a 2k champ in a few weeks and i thought you guys could help me.here is my list:

// Lands
4 [TE] Wasteland
2 [FUT] Horizon Canopy
3 [LG] Karakas
9 [UNH] Plains
4 [MM] Rishadan Port
1 [CHK] Eiganjo Castle

// Creatures
4 [DKA] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 [WWK] Stoneforge Mystic
4 [MBS] Phyrexian Revoker
4 [EVE] Flickerwisp
4 [CMD] Mother of Runes
4 [TSP] Serra Avenger
2 [BNG] Brimaz, King of Oreskos

// Spells
4 [DS] AEther Vial
1 [NPH] Batterskull
4 [A] Swords to Plowshares
1 [BOK] Umezawa's Jitte
1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice

// Sideboard
SB: 2 [ALA] Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 [ALA] Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 [RTR] Rest in Peace
SB: 2 [SHM] Wilt-Leaf Liege
SB: 1 [SOK] Manriki-Gusari
SB: 2 [M14] Celestial Flare
SB: 1 [DKA] Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 1 [DS] Sword of Light and Shadow
SB: 1 [SOM] Ratchet Bomb
SB: 1 [SOK] Pithing Needle

I'm not sure about the second O-ring, the flares(they've been performing ok) and the ratchet bomb.
is there anything i should change?(i don't like 2 tutors in my field, there is a lost of Jund)

I really like Ratchet Bomb as a 2-of in my SB, I feel it can be so powerful sometimes.

[MrShine]

I really like Ratchet Bomb as a 2-of in my SB, I feel it can be so powerful sometimes.

I've tried it out, and I'm not exactly sure how this is supposed to work in a deck full of 1, 2 and 3 mana permanents that want to stay on the board as long as possible. What I see is the use, similar to Explosives, vs Tokens, be it from Bridge from Below, Empty the Warrens, or Entreat the Angels... and I guess it hits flipped delvers too. Its got value vs Elves as you only have to tick it up once, but am I going in on that plan when it takes out potentially both my Vial and Grafdigger's Cage?

What am I missing?

[Oreia]

I really like Ratchet Bomb as a 2-of in my SB, I feel it can be so powerful sometimes.

Ans what would you remove?
My field is something like this: Reanimator, UWR Delver , Canadian ********, BUG(delver and shardless) , DnT , Storm and Jund

[Barook]

I run a single copy as E-Tutor target, mainly as card vs. Elves and against tokens, although it also comes handy vs TNN and opposing Ensnaring Bridges.

[Mr. Froggy]

I run a single copy as E-Tutor target, mainly as card vs. Elves and against tokens, although it also comes handy vs TNN and opposing Ensnaring Bridges.

I run two, with two E-Tutors. I'm always guaranteed an answer that way.

[SevenInTheQueue]

Anybody heading to the SCG: Seattle in Tacoma?

[Barook]

I run two, with two E-Tutors. I'm always guaranteed an answer that way.

I would probably run two if I had like 20 SB slots, but place in the sideboard is absolute premium.

My current SB looks like this:

2 E-Tutor (needed for consistency)
1 Grafdigger's Cage (T1 GY hate shouldn't be underestimated, also dodges Cabal Therapy, can slow down Elves)
2 Rest In Piece (prime GY hate)
1 Pithing Needle (Miracles is big on Modo right now, also applications in lots of other match-ups)
1 Manriki-Gusari (against every SFM deck)
1 Ratchet Bomb (tokens, Elves, Ensnaring Bridge, maybe TNN)
2 Canonists (Elves, Storm, etc)
1 O-Ring (tutorable removal, S&T hate, probably the most cuttable)
2 Cataclysm (again, Miracles, and other permanent-heavy decks)
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege (BUG Delver and Shardless are a good chunk of the Modo meta)

Since there are so many Anti-TNN decks in the current Modo meta, TNN is one of my lesser concerns, otherwise I would pack 2 Flares.

[Barbed Blightning]

Anybody heading to the SCG: Seattle in Tacoma?

Indeed I will.

Sent from my mobile phone; please ignore spelling errors or grammatical laziness.

[Rogan]

1 Grafdigger's Cage (T1 GY hate shouldn't be underestimated, also dodges Cabal Therapy, can slow down Elves)
2 Cataclysm (again, Miracles, and other permanent-heavy decks)

Our sideboards are exactly the same except instead of a cage I run 1x Leonin Relic-Warder and 2x Celestial Flare.

The only reason I run LR-W over Cage or a 3rd GY hate card is because I have been running into a lot of permanent based combo and SFM lately, and he can be an absolute blow out vialed in against painter or the helm/RiP combo. Also, I have seen next to no dredge, reanimator, etc so packing the 3rd piece seems sub optimal. Does you (or anyone) think we *NEED* 3 pieces of GY hate in the board or can 2 tutor, 2 RiP do the job?

I like the idea of putting in either 2x of Cataclysm or 2x of Celestial Flare but we probably do not have room for both. Have you run both and do you have a preference? I might just have a lack of serious testing with Cataclysm and am really afraid of TNN but both of them seem pretty narrow as far as sideboard slots go. Which match ups are both really good in so I can weigh which 2 I should use?

Flare: Delver decks, TNN decks (any "protect the queen" strategy), Reanimator, Lands, Sneak and Show.
Cataclysm: Miracles, any strategy that involves a lot of permanents in play (I don't know specifically what else, elves?).

[raikenxy]

Our sideboards are exactly the same except instead of a cage I run 1x Leonin Relic-Warder and 2x Celestial Flare.

The only reason I run LR-W over Cage or a 3rd GY hate card is because I have been running into a lot of permanent based combo and SFM lately, and he can be an absolute blow out vialed in against painter or the helm/RiP combo. Also, I have seen next to no dredge, reanimator, etc so packing the 3rd piece seems sub optimal. Does you (or anyone) think we *NEED* 3 pieces of GY hate in the board or can 2 tutor, 2 RiP do the job?

I like the idea of putting in either 2x of Cataclysm or 2x of Celestial Flare but we probably do not have room for both. Have you run both and do you have a preference? I might just have a lack of serious testing with Cataclysm and am really afraid of TNN but both of them seem pretty narrow as far as sideboard slots go. Which match ups are both really good in so I can weigh which 2 I should use?

Flare: Delver decks, TNN decks (any "protect the queen" strategy), Reanimator, Lands, Sneak and Show.
Cataclysm: Miracles, any strategy that involves a lot of permanents in play (I don't know specifically what else, elves?).

as far as needing 3 pieces of graveyard hate, im not sure. however i've always looked at my three grave hate pieces being rip and relic of progenitus. i've always viewed grafdiggers cage as being my main hoser against elves alongside ethersworn cannonist. The fact it also stops punishing fire is a side bonus as well as shutting down dredge turn one.

[Rogan]

as far as needing 3 pieces of graveyard hate, im not sure. however i've always looked at my three grave hate pieces being rip and relic of progenitus. i've always viewed grafdiggers cage as being my main hoser against elves alongside ethersworn cannonist. The fact it also stops punishing fire is a side bonus as well as shutting down dredge turn one.

Does Punishing Fire's ability constitute it as being cast? I didn't know cage stopped that.

[raikenxy]

Does Punishing Fire's ability constitute it as being cast? I didn't know cage stopped that.

wow, i have no idea why i wrote that lol. it certainly doesn't stop punishing fire in any way shape or form lol. Brain crapped out on me there i apologize.