[Deck] BUG "Shardless" Control

[btm10]

Has Thirst for Knowledge been tried, before or after Cruise?

I've been using it in casual (I know..) next to cruise and it's been pretty sweet. Instant speed allowed me to hold up counters, fill the yard by three while filtering, then cruise@1 a short time later. Unlike Thought Scour or other terrible cards, this has a reason to fill the grave; and with Shardless (and maybe Strix) you could easily toss an artifact and gain CA here.

It's a bit slow in a deck laden with 3 drops, but again, it's synergy with Cruise + semi-desirable artifact seems good while Shardless won't cascade into it (probably good.)

Thirst for Knowledge is the exact opposite of what we want. It's expensive, it's only conditionally good, and it's not Cascadeable. I'd rather run Manipulate Fate or Mana Severance, or another card that does something.

[Pastorofmuppets]

Thirst for Knowledge is the exact opposite of what we want. It's expensive, it's only conditionally good, and it's not Cascadeable. I'd rather run Manipulate Fate or Mana Severance, or another card that does something.

"I'd rather play Storm Crow than T4K"
-btm10

Has anyone tried Icefeather Aven? Maindeck S&T hate, cascadeable, pitches to Force, and it has evasion.

[infiniteJ]

So is Shardless actually dead?

[Klobster]

So is Shardless actually dead?

http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=15254

No not at all.

[btm10]

"I'd rather play Storm Crow than T4K"
-btm10

Has anyone tried Icefeather Aven? Maindeck S&T hate, cascadeable, pitches to Force, and it has evasion.

It's pretty bad. Strix is also maindeck S&T hate (and is MD S&T hate unconditionally), is cascadeable, pitches to Force, has evasion, is an unusual card type, and is card advantage.

http://www.tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=15254

No not at all.

Glad to see this. Thanks for posting it.

[infiniteJ]

So is Shardless actually dead?

Played Shardless today in Atlanta. The deck is solid still.

2-0 vs infect
2-0 vs jund
2-0 vs TES
2-1 vs Enchantrass
2-0 vs UWr stoneblade
2-0 vs Lands
0-2 miracles (Win and in)
1-2 miracles (Win and in)
ID last round

The deck felt very smooth. I punted g3 of my last win and in. Hardcast force instead of pitching my second force to it. It was an autopilot play.

-IJ

[btm10]

Played Shardless today in Atlanta. The deck is solid still.

2-0 vs infect
2-0 vs jund
2-0 vs TES
2-1 vs Enchantrass
2-0 vs UWr stoneblade
2-0 vs Lands
0-2 miracles (Win and in)
1-2 miracles (Win and in)
ID last round

The deck felt very smooth. I punted g3 of my last win and in. Hardcast force instead of pitching my second force to it. It was an autopilot play.

-IJ

Sorry it didn't come together for you, especially dropping favorable matches in the win-and-ins. Do you mind posting your list?

[infiniteJ]

Sorry it didn't come together for you, especially dropping favorable matches in the win-and-ins. Do you mind posting your list?

4 shaman goyf agent
4 vision force brainstorm decay
2 jace
3 lily
2 deluge
1 pulse
1 sylvan
1 cruise
3 waste
1 tarpit
Forest swamp 10 fetch 6 dual

I used to run meddling Mage but wanted to fit in chills so sb:
2 chill
4 thoughtseize
2 duress
1 spellbomb
1 cage
1 needle
1 clique
2 disfigure
1 night of souls betrayal

I hate md discard. The clique was a flex spot and prob will go. The md pulse is a godsend. The sylvan and cruise were both solid to gamebreaking.

[SilkyPimP]

4 shaman goyf agent
4 vision force brainstorm decay
2 jace
3 lily
2 deluge
1 pulse
1 sylvan
1 cruise
3 waste
1 tarpit
Forest swamp 10 fetch 6 dual

I used to run meddling Mage but wanted to fit in chills so sb:
2 chill
4 thoughtseize
2 duress
1 spellbomb
1 cage
1 needle
1 clique
2 disfigure
1 night of souls betrayal

I hate md discard. The clique was a flex spot and prob will go. The md pulse is a godsend. The sylvan and cruise were both solid to gamebreaking.

Good job, I love this deck right now. I played it in ATL as well.I love the delver/maverick/D&T matchups ( E plague is awesome right now) I went 5-3-1 drawing first round against miracles in a looooong game 3. Beat 3 Delver decks/MUD/Miracles.
Losing to Hightide/S&T (mainboard blood moon) and a BUG loam/stifle/smallpox deck.

I think I spoke to you after your match with Chi Hoi. I have been running echoing truth in the board against Entreat/Marit Lage/Walkers/Etc. I played so many games in testing where I only lost because of a entreat/ Lage EOT

I also ran discard in board only.

So was the cruise good all day?
Is NOSB worth running over E plague?

Good luck in the future!

[infiniteJ]

It was great to meet you. Sorry I was way out of it after that long g1 and may not have been talkative. I think I played poorly g2 as a result too (not to mention having quite a bit of life total confusion). I too still think the deck is strong. I have not played the UR delver matchup though but it sounds like you've had good success there. Echoing truth certainly solves the angel problem nicely, but I want to try to find something more proactive. If I could just end the game a turn or two earlier each time... Maybe we need to run Thrun or Garruk or something but those seem so terrible.

Cruise was excellent every time I drew it. It used to be a ponder which I always hated. Ponder was good in theory and terrible in practice. I was very close to cutting the cruise for a 23rd land. Maybe that was right-too small a sample size to know for sure. What I do know is that a singleton cruise is not out of line in the list.

As to Night vs Plague. I much prefer night. It's a turn slower and hits your own men, but can completely lock out certain decks. UWR decks now needs to equip an 0/1 stoneforge or bolt you to do damage. It can hit v clique, tnn, and snapcaster. It's much better vs infect and it has added reach vs elves (hitting arbor and insects). I also like in theory that it hits the elementals AND the young pyro. I'm not sure I'll ever play enough to know for sure which is better though.

Good job, I love this deck right now. I played it in ATL as well.I love the delver/maverick/D&T matchups ( E plague is awesome right now) I went 5-3-1 drawing first round against miracles in a looooong game 3. Beat 3 Delver decks/MUD/Miracles.
Losing to Hightide/S&T (mainboard blood moon) and a BUG loam/stifle/smallpox deck.

I think I spoke to you after your match with Chi Hoi. I have been running echoing truth in the board against Entreat/Marit Lage/Walkers/Etc. I played so many games in testing where I only lost because of a entreat/ Lage EOT

I also ran discard in board only.

So was the cruise good all day?
Is NOSB worth running over E plague?

Good luck in the future!

[SilkyPimP]

It was great to meet you. Sorry I was way out of it after that long g1 and may not have been talkative. I think I played poorly g2 as a result too (not to mention having quite a bit of life total confusion). I too still think the deck is strong. I have not played the UR delver matchup though but it sounds like you've had good success there. Echoing truth certainly solves the angel problem nicely, but I want to try to find something more proactive. If I could just end the game a turn or two earlier each time... Maybe we need to run Thrun or Garruk or something but those seem so terrible.

Cruise was excellent every time I drew it. It used to be a ponder which I always hated. Ponder was good in theory and terrible in practice. I was very close to cutting the cruise for a 23rd land. Maybe that was right-too small a sample size to know for sure. What I do know is that a singleton cruise is not out of line in the list.

As to Night vs Plague. I much prefer night. It's a turn slower and hits your own men, but can completely lock out certain decks. UWR decks now needs to equip an 0/1 stoneforge or bolt you to do damage. It can hit v clique, tnn, and snapcaster. It's much better vs infect and it has added reach vs elves (hitting arbor and insects). I also like in theory that it hits the elementals AND the young pyro. I'm not sure I'll ever play enough to know for sure which is better though.

Like wise, I totally know how that can be no explanations needed. Was so happy to see another shardless deck doing well. Hate how the entreat can just pull them out of losing after grinding them out so hard. I really like your duress/thoughtsieze out the board, I feel discard is really bad right now main. Hymn as much as I love it, I am unsure about it "feeding" treasure cruise Vs Taking the cruise with it/ We all know how mean Hymn and deathrite on turn 2 can be.
In Dallas I ran 3 thoughtseize/2 hymn/3 Lily main when true name was released. Now I am more Blue based lol.


This is my current list I am thinking of running at the invitational.

4 Shardless Agent
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Baleful Strix
2 Toxic Deluge
3 Ancestral Vision
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Sylvan Library
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Brainstorm
1 Bayou
2 Tropical Island
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Force of Will
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Treasure Cruise

Cards I am playing with sideboading
SB: 1 E plauge.
SB: 1 Night of Souls Betrayal
SB: 1 echoing truth
SB: 1 Vendilion Clique
SB: 1 Liliana of the Veil
SB: 1 Garruk, the Veil-Cursed
SB: 2 Flusterstorm
SB: 1 Disfigure
SB: 1 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 2 Golgari Charm
SB: 2 Thoughtseize
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 1 Hymn to Tourach
SB: 2 Nihil Spellbomb
SB: 2 Seal of Primordium
SB: 2 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 chill

[Requiem2]

Took down a local, and split the last round. Deck felt strong against Delver and stoneblade variants. Visions got sided out nearly every g2/g3. The deck feels right with 2 disfigures, however it did sometimes make me play differently with agents. The 2 krosan grips have been really good agaisnt stone blade, infect, mud/post and omni matchups.

14 Creatures:
2 strix
4 tarmo/drs/agent

24 Spells:
4 bs/ad
3 av/fow
2 tc/disfigure/thoughtsieze/liliana
1 jace/toxic deluge

22 Land:
1 swamp/forest/tarpit
3 waste
9 fetches
7 duals

SB:
1 vendilion clique
1 fow
1 toxic deluge
1 inquisition of kosilek
1 graffdiggers cage
2 golgari charm
2 thoughtsieze
2 disfigure
2 krosan grip
2 nihil spell bomb

R1 rug delver 2-1
G1 I keep 1 lander with 2 drs, they get burned and I get wasted. G2/g3 drs/nihil keep him off thresh. Abrupt decay/lily with a strix wall get me there.

R2 Zombardment 2-1
T1 shaman into t2 agent into goyf get me there fast. G2 I miss land drops and get wasted out. G3 Early agents into double goyfs close it out.

R3 shardless bant 2-0
We trade counters and I disfigure his sfm, and decay equipment. Agents get me strix and he plows. Lily hits the board and clears his hand, then tarmo beats get me there. G2 Grindy, he casts sfm, and I remove them. He removes my tarmos. Abrupt decay deals with sfm, I have 2 krosan grip in hand and get his skull, he gets another sfm and gets a second skull which gets thoughtsiezed.

R4 death and taxes split

[hobart]

I'm really at odds with Treasure Cruise in this deck. It's obviously a bomb most of the time, and we usually have no problem filling the graveyard, but I just don't like the idea of having more graveyard dependent cards. Rest In Peace Blanks at least 8 of our threats (the main ones), so I don't really want it to blank some of my card draw tools as well. I think Shadless is actually well positioned right now in a sea of Cruise decks because it doesn't rely on the card that everyone is gunning for. I feel like if we're not paired against a Cruise deck (and I already like our match up against those by the sheer power of our spells) then we're almost guaranteed to be playing against either Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace, Relic of Progenitus, or something like it. Am I being irrational here with my fear of graveyard removal?

[btm10]

I'm really at odds with Treasure Cruise in this deck. It's obviously a bomb most of the time, and we usually have no problem filling the graveyard, but I just don't like the idea of having more graveyard dependent cards. Rest In Peace Blanks at least 8 of our threats (the main ones), so I don't really want it to blank some of my card draw tools as well. I think Shadless is actually well positioned right now in a sea of Cruise decks because it doesn't rely on the card that everyone is gunning for. I feel like if we're not paired against a Cruise deck (and I already like our match up against those by the sheer power of our spells) then we're almost guaranteed to be playing against either Leyline of the Void, Rest in Peace, Relic of Progenitus, or something like it. Am I being irrational here with my fear of graveyard removal?

I think you're being a little irrational. Miracles is the only major deck that runs Rest in Peace at this point and it's both a favorable matchup and one where you'll likely have unconditional artifact and enchantment removal postboard. I'm not particularly scared of Leyline because it's asymmetric - you can still work out of your opponent's graveyard, and no one is going to mull to it against Shardless unless they're playing in all-in Leyline/Helm deck. As for Relic, it's pretty marginal. It can counter DRS activations, but can't blank Goyf for more than a single attack step. If we can beat Rest in Peace (and we clearly can), beating Relic is easy.

[tons of fun]

Creature:
2 true name
4 shardless agents
4 strix
4 deathrite

Spells:
2 thopter foundry
1 sword of meek
3 thoughtseize
2 liliana of the veil
2 jace the mind sculptor
2 dig through time
4 force of will
4 abrupt decay
4 brainstorm
2 ancestral vision

Lands:
1 creeping tar pit
4 under seas
3 tropical
2 bayou
2 verdant
2 misty rain forest
4 polluted delta
1 forest
1 island
1 swamp

Sideboard:
2 chills
2 brain freeze
3 flusterstorm
2 leyline of the void
2 toxic deluge
2 maelstrom pulse
2 golgari charm.

this is the list i swept a tourny with

[tons of fun]

Creature:
2 true name
4 shardless agents
4 strix
4 deathrite

Spells:
2 thopter foundry
1 sword of meek
3 thoughtseize
2 liliana of the veil
2 jace the mind sculptor
2 dig through time
4 force of will
4 abrupt decay
4 brainstorm
2 ancestral vision

Lands:
1 creeping tar pit
4 under seas
3 tropical
2 bayou
2 verdant
2 misty rain forest
4 polluted delta
1 forest
1 island
1 swamp

Sideboard:
2 chills
2 brain freeze
3 flusterstorm
2 leyline of the void
2 toxic deluge
2 maelstrom pulse
2 golgari charm.

this is the list i swept a tourny with

r1 2-1 sneak and show
r2 2-0 mavrick
r3 2-1 mavrick
r4 2-0 poison stompy
r5 id
r6 id

top 8
R7 2-1 mavrick
then slip top 4 took first at final resaults

[tescrin]

I've been toying a bit with Shardless Thopters. I stuck in Tezz for Jace (with a couple of Tops to meet the artifact demand for his +1) and I enjoyed it. I just have a hard time with the limited amount of removal.

How do you feel against D&T. I've been having an issue with a large influx of them between my decks; not necessarily losing; but grinding super long games and dealing with Voltron.

[tons of fun]

I've been toying a bit with Shardless Thopters. I stuck in Tezz for Jace (with a couple of Tops to meet the artifact demand for his +1) and I enjoyed it. I just have a hard time with the limited amount of removal.

How do you feel against D&T. I've been having an issue with a large influx of them between my decks; not necessarily losing; but grinding super long games and dealing with Voltron.

thats y i have the charms and the daluge plus the jitte
they wreck face pretty hard against thos decks

[nossirag]

thats y i have the charms and the daluge plus the jitte
they wreck face pretty hard against thos decks

I cant see a jitte in your list.
Did you play tarmos before switching to thopters?
Oh and I count 61 cards maindeck is that intentional?

[tons of fun]

I cant see a jitte in your list.
Did you play tarmos before switching to thopters?
Oh and I count 61 cards maindeck is that intentional?

Sideboard:
3 chills
2 brain freeze
3 flusterstorm
2 leyline of the void
1 toxic deluge
1maelstrom pulse
2 golgari charm.
1 jitte

sorry that was the older sideboard and yes 61 was intentinal