[Deck] Nic Fit (GBx Explorer Zenith Control)

[tadiou]

Played a BUG Pod list at a 1k today... And the second physical legacy event i've played with the deck, and third since... well. Survival was a thing.

2 Forest
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Bayou
1 Underground Sea
1 Polluted Delta
2 Tropical Island
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Phyrexian Tower
4 Veteran Explorer
3 Deathrite Shaman
4 Baleful Strix
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Eternal Witness
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Thragtusk
1 Shriekmaw
1 Grave Titan
1 Recurring Nightmare
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Birthing Pod
2 Pernicious Deed
3 Brainstorm
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Acidic Slime
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Varolz, the Scar-Striped
1 Pestermite
SB: 2 Thoughtseize
SB: 2 Arcane Laboratory
SB: 2 Mindbreak Trap
SB: 1 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1 Notion Thief
SB: 2 Golgari Charm
SB: 2 Swan Song
SB: 1 Pernicious Deed
SB: 1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
SB: 1 Glen Elendra Archmage

I can say, the demands of the BUG list are just... tough. I've played a lot of Pod in the past, modern and standard... And this one is no different. Basically I feel that I have to jam an incredible amount of games and board states to further progress (and play vs a lot more stoneblade until I can smell that matchup from start to finish).



The one thing that I know well enough from my previous experience is how to play Cabal Therapy, and I played a lot of combo matches on the day, and the list seemed to play really well vs most of the combo decks. I'm actually pleasantly surprised how well it played without 4 Forces... without having to play 4 Forces. On the play I was usually able to resolve either a Cabal Therapy or Duress and buy enough time to land either another discard spell, Swan Song, or others. Sneak and Show couldn't resolve much on me all day (in 2 matches), ANT wasn't really able to get there either. Normally it was: Cabal Therapy T1, Cabal Therapy T2, Arcane Lab T3 or Glen Elendra... And that was it. Even saw a Doomsday list that couldn't resolve that much. Combo Elves wasn't that bad either after resolving deed t2 with Phyrexian Tower & Explorer (with 1 mana up) and a good golgari charm.

But I seemed to not be able to actually close out games vs the fair decks, which kind of blew my mind, because I felt on the construction of it, it should have of just ate up the fair decks better (hence my disillusion that I went 5-0 vs combo decks and 0-4 vs fair decks). Saw 3 different Stoneblades and 1 UR stifle-delver, U/B Tezzeret and Jund. The Jund matchup felt the best out of all of them, mostly because I felt that Birthing Pod just got so much value. But, I couldn't get enough creatures ever at one time to stick on the field between a bevy of Punishing Fires, Maelstrom Pulses and Liliana's... I was constantly reaching for cards that I could get to just stick on the board when I had a Pod...

But mostly, they all were very grindy, and very close, but felt that I just ran out of gas in each matchup when my opponent didn't. I didn't get a lot of good top decks either (HELLO ALL MY LAND). but can definitely tell where I was lacking in my play and familiarity of the deck (and a bit of the format, as I'm much more accomplished in modern than current legacy), but most of the time felt I was just one or two good draws away from closing out games. Too often I think I wasn't resolving Birthing Pod, just as a critique on my own play... and I think that was what I should have been doing more as I would have accumulated more value from my creatures. I didn't resolve a pod very much at all in many of my matches, and when I did, I usually won, and definitely didn't get top decks like Brad Nelson did in the Semi's of the Cleveland GP (those were nuts). Unlike the Modern lists, I think it's considerably more difficult to win games without an active pod, and that's something I've taken away...

Playing 20 lands with 4 DRS and 3 Veteran Explorers wasn't as shakey feeling as I thought it'd be. I played a single pestermite, and in combination with Varolz, the Scar-Striped was actually not a terrible play. Varolz actually did okay... I needed a sac outlet in one game where I had Murderous Redcap cloned with Phantasmal Image that I put in with Show and Tell, and I was able to copy his Emrakul and win off that on the crackback (by sacing Image to Varolz and copying Emrakul).

The stoneforge matchups were pretty interesting for me... TNN by itself never really bothered me (although one time I did try to get value on a 2 unflipped delver field with Golgari Charm and got there... but then he forced the second charm, and then he drops a second TNN) I was usually able to gain enough life to get there... and SFM wasn't terrifying either. I think I hit maybe 6-7 equipment off of them going SFM -> Equipment, and me going: Cabal Therapy ______ (equipment name). The problems were usually: they had a second equipment in hand, they had a second SFM in hand, they pathed my Explorer at every possible chance and me failing to come back from that. Maybe its that I ran Explorer out there too fast sometimes vs white... dunno.

Figuring it out, but just wanted to share my thoughts after playing it over the past few days.

[jbone2016]

Have we ever thought about Altar of Bone as another sac outlet for Vet/Rector? Seems interesting.

[Koby]

Innocent blood has really impressed me. It gets rid of Marit Large, it kills vet, it wrecks TNN, it can be really effective vs reanimator. And sometimes u even get to kill an Emrakul with it. HUGE Card.

Why not play Fleshbag Marauder then?

[Shoreline]

Why not play Fleshbag Marauder then?

Imo he's to clunky, 3 mana is alot in a format where Wasteland and Daze are staples in alot of the high tier decks. I would play him in the pod versions of the deck, but i dont have the cards for that.

[Shoreline]

Have we ever thought about Altar of Bone as another sac outlet for Vet/Rector? Seems interesting.

Why would u play Altar of Bone instead of Diabolic intent? Anyway i dont think either one of the cards are good enough.

[Zirath]

Has anyone seen this yet?

http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=13164&iddeck=96585

The specific list could use some tuning but in goldfishing a little it seems like a strong shell.

[pfiremc13]

Food chain nic fit :D

I put together a list for a shell like that in this thread a long time ago but no one paid any attention to it

I like the fact that it has pod in it

Unfortunately that means you can't fit in manipulate fate, but you can still exile you griffins with drs and ooze

[jbone2016]

Imo he's to clunky, 3 mana is alot in a format where Wasteland and Daze are staples in alot of the high tier decks. I would play him in the pod versions of the deck, but i dont have the cards for that.

Abyssal Gatekeeper?

[Shoreline]

Abyssal Gatekeeper?

The card got some potentiall but i think 4 Innocent bloods is enough edict effects, and if you feel like you need more i would go with Lilianas.

[KntrellCL]

I played my Junk Pod list last tuesday and did 3-1 losing against MUD.

4 Veteran Explorer
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Eternal Witness
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Restoration Angel
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

4 Birthing Pod
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Pernicious Deed
4 Cabal Therapy

1 Dryad Arbor
4 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Bayou
1 Savannah
1 Scrubland
2 Forest
2 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Karakas
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold

SB [15]

4 Natural Order
1 Progenitus
1 Ruric Tar, the Unbowed
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Aven Mindscensor
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

The deck has shown very strong hands and no mana problems with 20 lands 4 drs and 4 gsz for dryad. I would feel more comfortable with 9 or 10 fetches for the full DRS set, but there's no more space I think. SFM is a beast against tempo and aggro decks. I had some strange feelings with thrun and sigarda in the same list, as they do almost the same thing. May Archangel of Thune can take sigarda's place?

I was really amaze with the SB and how well it worked. Trading 4 Pod almost every game for 4 Natural Order (against goblins, reanimator and show n tell) and get any card suit for the scenario. Against reanimator i fetchd for Ruric tar against Ashen Rider with Animate Dead and against Show n Tell. Progenitus was better against goblins (if I had more creatures, craterhoof would made my victory much quickier). People was playing sideboard against Pod, so all those cards were dead now

The second Ooze and the second Teeg helps me to hit them into the board more consistently against the matchs I need them.

[.Ix]

KntrellCL:

Been following this thread for a while, and I've been thinking of building a list similar to yours. I've been trying it out and it seems to me that Restoration Angel doesn't do that much. Has it been good enough for you to warrant two slots in the main? And is Deed better than Engineered Explosives in this deck?

[KntrellCL]

Im having troubles with decent 4 drops... I played phyrexian metamorph, wickerbough elder, murderous redcap and resto angel, being the last better. It requires just W, skips bolts decay and it is an excellent removal for delvers and other annoying creatures.

[tadiou]

What's the bare minimum basic lands do you feel like your deck can play?

[KntrellCL]

I used to think it was 7... but then i realize that 5 (GGWWB) is the minimum to cast any card of my deck... if you can hit 5 lands you should win, hitting 5+ with veterans is a win more in my opinion. That number also let me to play more fetchs to feed my DRS

[EpicLevelCommoner]

Woohoo! Finally found a Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale, so now my rendition of BUG Fit is complete!

60 Main
4 Veteran Explorer
2 Deathrite Shaman
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Eternal Witness
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Thragtusk
1 Primeval Titan
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
4 Brainstorm
2 Sensei's Divining Top
4 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Diabolic Intent
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Pernicious Deed
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Bayou
2 Tropical Island
3 Forest
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

15 Side
3 Search for Tomorrow
3 Thoughtseize
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Pithing Needle
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Toxic Deluge

[jbone2016]

So, who is going to Milwaukee this weekend?

[ironclad8690]

So, who is going to Milwaukee this weekend?

You guys see that nic fit player lose to an illegal attack? Sam black "tricked" (more like cheated in my opinion) that nic fit player by attacking with a craterhoof and a summoning sick visionary.

[Megadeus]

Seemed like a cheat to me. Counting your men, your library and such over and over again then asking that question seems sketchy. A seasoned veteran like Sam should most definitely have known he had no men on board when the combo began.

[EpicLevelCommoner]

Alright, went 2-2 yesterday at a local Legacy tournament with I believe 10 to 12 people.

Current List (61/15):
4 Veteran Explorer
4 Deathrite Shaman
2 Eternal Witness
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Thragtusk
1 Primeval Titan
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Cabal Therapy
4 Pernicious Deed
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Green Sun's Zenith
4 Brainstorm
2 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Diabolic Intent
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Bayou
2 Tropical Island
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
3 Forest
2 Island
2 Swamp
////
3 Search for Tomorrow
4 Duress
1 Memoricide
1 Cranial Extraction
2 Trinket Mage
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle

Match 1: v T-- [Death and Taxes] - 0-2
This has to be one of the hardest matchups for me to grasp, as the combination of Mom, StP, and fliers galore makes using Veteran Explorers difficult to say the least. Not a whole lot to say here, mostly because I can't tell what to say about what I did wrong this matchup (well, other than forgetting to side in Trinket Mage and Pithing Needle for the various equipment and Moms: could have probably used that more than the Search for Tomorrow).

Match 2: v P-- [UR Delver] - 0-2
To be honest, I expected this to be a lot more like Canadian Delver or Patriot Delver: i.e. not so burn heavy. Game 1, manage to hit an early Tabernacle to slow him down while getting myself a few lands off of Goblin Guide. However, nothing (including resolved Jace 2.0 and DRS) could save me from the double Price of Progress followed by Chain Lightning for Lethal (Price dealt 4 damage each time to me). I side in Search for Tomorrow again, though in hindsight I could have probably gotten away with siding in Trinket Mage and Engineered Explosives since I didn't see any creatures that were not CMC=1. He gets me down to 9 or so with another Goblin Guide and proceeds to cast Chain Lightning twice and Lightning Bolt for lethal.

Match 3: v G-- [RG Budget-Standard] - 2-0
Not much to say here except that a resolved Jace 2.0 wrecks manascrewed and manaflooded decks pretty badly, especially those with limited library manipulation.

Match 4: v C-- [Pauper White] - 2-0
This was against my best friend who offered to give me a ride to the event, and I knew he was either gonna go Pauper White before the tournament started. He's not a bad player per se, but he does need to adopt one key element to his play: knowing when and when not to step on the gas (to be honest, I have the same problem, though being conservative with resources is usually better than being liberal with them). As it was, I Deed his board leaving him with spirit fingers Game 1, and in Game 2 I Therapy triple Squadron Hawk followed by another Deed. Again, library manipulation is a good thing.

Anyhow, things I could definitely do better include proper siding and manipulating triggers (advice from the UR Delver player: I had a Top in play G2 and could have used it against the Goblin Guide triggers). Wouldn't hurt if I could find a suitable replacement for Carpet of Flowers/Search for Tomorrow: honestly I thought that was gonna work out better than it did.

[jbone2016]

So...yeah. 6-2-1 in Milwaukee. 36th.

Deck tonight. Report Later (just drove 6 hours home)

Spells
4 Vets
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Thrun
3 Academy Rector
1 Thragtusk
1 Sigarada
1 Baneslayer
1 Sun Titan
4 Therapy
3 GSZ
1 Diabolic Intent
3 Living Wish
3 Deed
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 StP
2 Decay
Land
3 Windswept Heath
3 Verdnant Catacombs
3 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Scrubland
3 Forest
2 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Karakas
1 Phyrexian Tower
1 Volrath's Stronghold
SB
2 Thoughtseize
1 Batterskull
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Carpet of Flowers
1 Humility
1 Karakas
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Ashen Rider