Honestly, that's a poor reason. :p Being a former Stax player myself(both in 1.5 and Vintage), I'd say playskill isn't nearly as big of a factor with this deck as people think it is. In Vintage that's a little different, but in Legacy, Stax can run on fucking autopilot. As long as you have half a brain and a small sense of the stack, you can win. I mean, there aren't really that many decisions you have to make considering the nature of the deck. If this was a Survival deck or Solidarity then playskill could be factored in, but decks like these don't make choices like that.
The biggest reason the deck isn't represented in most environments is because it has a great tendency to lose to random shit. Ask Mr. Nightmare about that and his time in Philly.
Btw, Sylvan Library and Uba Mask is the fucking tits. I'm now on a quest to make as many decks as possible with this engine.
Yup. I got smashed by SuiBlack and Elves.
Dibbs on this deck, Syracuse.
I think Angel Stax does have some difficult decisions in the early game. Stax has a bad matchup against random aggro that has a lot of permanents and some average utility, which is why it doesn't usually perform well - but people choosing not to play it (it being underrepresented, like I said) is also due to the different strategy required to understand the deck.
Mmmh I was just wondering if Covetous Dragon would be a possible or even a good choice. It would give you a nice and particularly fast kill option. If there is a softlock with say CoW and Wasties + 3sphere you could power out one and win the gane fast, so that you don't give your opponent the chance to recover.
In addition I would like to know (@Machinus) if you feel this version of Stax could mean sort of a breakthrough for Stax and could perform with a higher/better constancy than Angel Stax. After all it has a solution for probably the most serious problem, namely topdecking.
@emidln
Were there any other cards you considered when building this deck which now seem better than any in this deck? Were there cards that sort of disappointed you and that you would like to replace?
Bye UbaStax! Sun Tower was more fun...
Last edited by emidln; 08-24-2006 at 10:02 PM.
BZK! - Storm Boards
Been there, tried that, still casting Doomsday.
Drawing my deck for 0 mana since 2013.
I know the feeling too well alsoOriginally Posted by Mr. Nightmare
Ok, this may sound silly because it's just a minor change but have you thought about -1 Taiga +1 Wooded Foothills ?
With either Crucible or Library (without Mask) out it cannot be bad.
Yes, adding the draw elements of course gives the deck more strength in the late game, but Stax's biggest weakness is to board development in the early game. Angel Stax focuses on minimizing card disadvantage by making every spell useful in as many situations as possible (for example, only running three Trinispheres). That means it will have a more consistent game, and a higher synergy between cards that you draw, but a lower power level when the deck is functioning at full capacity. I believe this is the best design strategy if you assume you are going to encounter disruption elements.
Emidln notes that this deck can't lose to blue. I have found that Stax synergies in general have that strength, which is why I have focused so much on the aggro matchup with my deck development.
As far as viability, if this deck can perform as well as it did, I would strongly consider playing a newer version of my Wildfire Stax. It is a different deck, and I have already talked about it, but I think it takes advantage of some of the same metagame properties. I like Wildfire enough to sacrifice design freedoms to support it.
Ok, this might be slightly off topic but is here a thread anywhere that deals with "Wildfire Stax"? I'm eager to get to know more versions of Stax, since I quite like the decktype, but I couldn't find any.
Wow. I can't believe no one has ever thought of that before (or at least, that I hadn't heard of it). It was already a free Brainstorm every turn, but once you get the Mask it's a free Ancestral every turn. Plus, it forces people to play things the turn they draw them, which prevents people from holding countermagic.
On a completely unrelated note, since I'm currently working on Friggorid, I was wondering how Sylvan Library interacts with Dredge. If the replacement effect works the same as it does with the Mask, I have a few new ideas. Also, how does Mask interact with Dredge. Since they're both replacement effects I'm assuming the player can choose which one, but I'm not quite sure of the details. [/tangent]
Anyway, not much to contribute, just wanted to say how awesome this deck looks.
Team Info-Ninjas: Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
My Videos: Chiron Beta Prime, Flickr, Re: Your Brains
Hmm...one thing stands out to me when talking about the ensnaring bridge...grafted skull cap. You can replace the sylvans with it. I do understand that uba mask and sylvan is like an ancestral a turn but the cap gives you 2 cards a turn, as opposed to a choice of 1-3 but at a higher although with a brown CC.
From Saturday School on Wizards.com:On a completely unrelated note, since I'm currently working on Friggorid, I was wondering how Sylvan Library interacts with Dredge. If the replacement effect works the same as it does with the Mask, I have a few new ideas
In short, yes, you can replace Sylvan draws with dredge effects and not pay life. Note that this has been suggested and tried since the Dredge mechanic was spoiled.Q:If I have a Sylvan Library in play and I choose to replace one or more of the draws with dredge, do I then pay 4 life for each card that I don't put back on top of my library? --Earl W.
A:If you draw any cards and use Sylvan Library, you'll have to put back or pay life. If you draw for the turn then dredge for the Sylvan and draw for the Sylvan, you'll have two cards you've drawn this turn-- put them back or pay. However, you could draw for the turn and dredge both the Sylvan draws and return or pay for only the one card. Or, if you have enough dredge in your graveyard and cards in your library, you could replace your regular draw and the Sylvan draws with three dredges and not have to pay anything.
As for its role in Friggorid, I'm not sure it's actually better in that deck than the available alternatives (Winds, etc.), because it's relatively slower.
In any case, this is off topic here, so feel free to continue this aspect of the discussion in the Friggorid thread.
Here is an older version of my Wildfire Stax deck. I can start a new thread if people are interested.
I think in this instance, having 1G by turn 2 isn't that much of a problem for the deck (I could be wrong, but it seems that way). The fact that Library comes out on turn 2 (or even 1) probably gives it the edge over Skullcap in this case.
Team Info-Ninjas: Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
My Videos: Chiron Beta Prime, Flickr, Re: Your Brains
I played your list while Granite Shard was in it. This list looks much better. I would consider Goblin Welder again. He really needs a home in Legacy Stax and since your not playing CotV maindeck I strongly suggest him. Recurring Tangle Wire will. win. the. game.
A+ for Mask and Lib.
On another stax note Ive been working on a blue stax list Ill try to have it up soon. I want to make sure I have something solid to work off of.
Now playing real formats.
Not to seem like a newb. But could someone please explain the uba mask/ library interaction to me. That would help, thanks
@ GOLDFISH_OF_DOOM
At the beginning of your draw step Sylvan Library triggers and then, using Uba Mask's replacement effect, you replace all three draws (1 from your draw step, 2 from Library) and remove the top three cards of your library from the game. Because you have not drawn any cards this turn, in particular Sylvan Library doesn't detect any that you've drawn from it, so you mustn't pay any life. But, any of the three cards you don't play this turn are removed from the game for good (a feature, not a bug; hurts the opponent more than you, most often, because this deck was build for it).
So, there you go. A masterful card advantage engine.
I am a huge fan of that "combo". I once made an elvish/stax deck also featuring Abundance... That makes the combo even more crazy...
Anyway, I think your deck looks good, but I would play 2 md tabernacles, and maybe some kind of faster win-condition...
- meanee
My win condition was too slow. Withdrawing the deck. Play Lands!
Last edited by emidln; 08-24-2006 at 10:03 PM.
BZK! - Storm Boards
Been there, tried that, still casting Doomsday.
Drawing my deck for 0 mana since 2013.
I totally agree, your wincondition is good, hell not long ago Goblin Welder was the wincondition or Platinum Angel in monobrownstax, and from there just deck your opponent( because attacking wouldn't work due to bridge.) The only reason Vintage Staxx uses Titan is because they can play it turn 2/3 with workshop and Tinker.
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