1 Reply by jettjj

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I would have thought something a little more along the lines of a TurboFog

4 Fog
4 Gatecreeper Vine
4 Greenside Watcher
4 Fog Bank
4 Divination
4 Unexpected Results
4 Tree of Redemption
4 Urban Evolution
2 Staff of Nin

2 Azorius Guildgate
2 Boros Guildgate
2 Dimir Guildgate
2 Golgari Guildgate
2 Gruul Guildgate
2 Izzet Guildgate
4 Maze's End
2 Orzhov Guildgate
2 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Simic Guildgate

play lands, draw cards, drop walls, play lands, fog, play lands, play lands, play lands, win.
Though you do still need to have 10+ lands in play to win the game. At that point, it is easier to win with just about any other win condition in the game.

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2 Reply by jettjj

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

The biggest issue I found with Worldslayer is living long enough to cast a indestructible creature, cast Worldslayer, equipment Worldslayer and attack unblocked once. I think you really need to hit it all at once in order to get it through. Nothing casts 10+ mana in 1 turn like an infinite mana combo:

3 Path to Exile
3 Spell Pierce
2 Steelshaper's Gift

4 Gold Myr
4 Mana Leak
3 Silver Myr

4 Myr Galvanizer
4 Palladium Myr
3 Oblivion Ring

4 Wrath of God
2 Gideon, Champion of Justice

2 Darksteel Sentinel
2 Worldslayer

4 Glacial Fortress
4 Azorius Chancery
4 Azorius Guildgate
4 Island
6 Plains

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3 Reply by jettjj

(2 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

So the board state is you have a Fiend Hunter, Burning-Tree Emissary, Undercity Informer in the yard, then either hardcast or reanimate an Angel of Glory's Rise, use the aforementioned pieces to combo and mill yourself until you have all 4 Biovisionaries in your yard and reanimate them with the Angel to win.

If you can infinitely mill with the above combo pieces, why add the Biovisionary at all? You can just mill your opponent for the win. Wouldn't those 4 slots for the Biovisionaries be better spent on things that add consistency? Cathedral Sanctifiers could add some lifegain while you work towards the combo win (Huntmaster of the Fells does so too plus tokens, but that adds R mana you would otherwise not need), Tracker's Instincts for more ways to fill the yard (if you do add R then faithless looting is better).

Adding Biovisionary just seems like a win more.

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4 Reply by jettjj

(10 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Prior to Gatecrash I tried out a Grixis Control deck. Let me just say it floundered horribly. I was amazed how much my Scars-Inn UB Control deck relied upon Black Sun's Zenith. Creature decks are running amok and Mortars + Temblor just didn't cut it for me. I was hoping that GTC would add some good mono-black or dimir sweepers, but alas they must yet again foul my dark existence with White mana. Tapping Plains really does make me feel all warm and fuzzy, and that's just gross.

I think you will need some Mutilates, but in order to make that worth it you will also need more Swamps. More swamps means either a full playset of the black shocklands or hitting the RRR of an overloaded mortars gets impractical. Also Killing Wave sucks in a deck like this. As a control deck, their life total never really matters until you have won the game. So the decision will never be tough for them. I would recommend dropping both the Mortars and the Wave and getting a 3-of both Temblor and Mutilate. You will want to shift the focus more toward Swamps more, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

More Swamps so adds a few additional win conditions. Army of the Damned is my favorite black-based control win condition. You play it, untap, kill and blockers and attack for the win. If they have a way around it, flash it back and repeat. Another potent option is Griselbrand. Just make sure you have more than 7 life when you play him, as getting the big demon into play and not being able to draw any cards is very depressing.

Beyond that, I like hard counters more than Syncopate. Essence Scatter, Negate and Dissipate would be my preferences. If there is parity or they are a ramp deck up on mana, Syncopate will just be useless. Also late game it is an aweful top deck, and being a slow control deck you will want the game to always go late. Hard counters are your friend. Izzet Charm is the only soft-counter you should need.

Lastly, Augur of Bolas is a find replacement for the Broker. I don't mind a looter when running flashback spells, but without the option to flash them back I would rather have card selection than blind card draw.

But that's just me. Playtest it and let us know how it goes.

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5 Reply by jettjj

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

TyWooOneTime wrote:

Hey Jettjj,

I'd suggest making a new post in the decks and deckbuilding forums to increase the visibility of the deck so that you can get more feedback.  I have some thoughts, but I'll wait until you post there to sit and type them out.

Done. Thanks. I thought it would have been better to keep both lists in the same thread, though while they have some similarities, they do diverge rather quickly in play style.

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6 Topic by jettjj

(1 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I have been working on a BUG Tempo deck. Instead of trying to evolving huge dudes I went with trying to overwhelm with some resilient small dudes. It was inspired by the BUG list that Frank Lepore put on tcgplayer, though I went stronger into the Zombie theme. My list is below:

4 Gravecrawler
2 Deathrite Shaman
3 Lotleth Troll
3 Zameck Guildmage
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Dreg Mangler
2 Duskmantle Seer

3 Rancor
2 Rapid Hybridization
1 Tragic Slip
3 Essence Scatter
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Golgari Charm
2 Spell Rupture
1 Dimir Charm
1 Simic Charm
1 Ultimate Price

3 Breeding Pool
3 Overgrown Tomb
3 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Grim Backwoods

The list is still really rough. The primary angle of attack is as a BG Zombie deck: Gravecrawler into Troll into Mangler. Even with the all dual mana base, I am still hesitant to run Messenger. Shaman and Seer are primarily just reach in a long game. Snapcaster and Guildmage are card advantage, again for the stalled long game. And yes the Guildmage can only draw cards off a Troll, salvaging a Mangler or most commonly its own first ability. Maybe Strangleroot Geist and Experiment One are better options than the Gravecrawler?

I am really not sure on the proper proportions of charms. Golgari has been the best in testing. Dimir gives a hard counter to miracles and Simic an out to Reanimator, though both may just be better in the sideboard. I guess it depends on what climbs to the top of the meta-heap for which charms are best to run. The same goes for the spot removal.

I really need help with a sideboard. I suck at creating sideboards. BUG is extremely versatile in sideboard cards, but the wealth of options kind of has me scratching my head. Also the meta hasn't solidified yet so I am really not sure what to expect from my opponents. A RDW variations, a Hexproof variation, a Thragtusk variation, and a Reanimator/combo variation would be my guesses.

Advice on a sideboard for the common expectation would be most appreciated.

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7 Reply by jettjj

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

At 23 lands, I don't really think Mortars is the best option for you. Until you get to 6 mana, it is just a poor removal spell. I don't really think that is a good sweeper unless you are playing a control deck with 26+ lands. I know it is expensive, but Bonfire of the Damned is better in this role in just about every way. Even without the miracle, 5 mana should be enough to kill the majority of blockers letting your team push through.

You don't have enough ETB triggers to make Cloudshift worth-while. It can maybe get an extra counter to your Champion or soulbond another dude with your Paladin, but otherwise it looks like the only real use is to bounce a guy and dodge removal. While that is a fun ability, Boros Charm also helps survive removal and has other options too. You would lose the ability to play Aurelia, attack bounce her attack again and then attack a third time. As awesome as that is, most opponent will be so crippled after attack #2 that if you haven't won the game you would have all but won the game. Don't try to win bigger when you can win more consistently.

Blind Obedience is a decent sideboard card for the mirror, but in most game 1s you don't want to be dropping that on turn 2. You should want your turn 2 to buff your Champion, or throw another beater down and attack. If you don't like Ash Zealot (you really should as all the abilities rock) then I would consider more Lightning Maulers. Haste is very important in an aggressive deck.

So thus far:
-3 Mizzium Mortars
-3 Cloudshift
-2 Blind Obedience
+2 Bonfire of the Damned
+2 Lightning Mauler
+1 Boros Charm

That should leave 2 spots. Skullcrack in the main deck can be a life saver. The goal of your deck should be to get the opponent from 20 to 0 life as quick as possible. Very few things interfere with that more than life gain. Normally that isn't a huge deal because generally life gain sucks. Unfortunately this is not a normal time as large life gain is attached to a 5 mana 5/3 beater that replaces itself or couples with draw X cards. So since lifegain is quite prevelent, you will want a way to counter that. Skullcrack isn't the best option, but it is really the only option available in Standard.

So +2 Skullcrack should round it out.

I am not going to suggest making any adjustment to the two angels. I would rather run 4 Hellriders than both of them, but it seems like you are deadset on keeping to the theme so that's cool.

I hope this helps.


Though the comments elsewhere in the thread have me really wanting to try a Turn 3 Silverblade Paladin into Turn 4 Spark Trooper.

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8 Reply by jettjj

(6 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

I have been trying to work on a deck along a similar vein, though a bit of a different direction. Instead of trying to evolving huge dudes I went with trying to overwhelm with some resilient small dudes. It was inspired by the BUG list that Frank Lepore put on tcgplayer, though I went stronger into the Zombie theme. My list is below:

4 Gravecrawler
2 Deathrite Shaman
3 Lotleth Troll
3 Zameck Guildmage
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Dreg Mangler
2 Duskmantle Seer

3 Rancor
2 Rapid Hybridization
1 Tragic Slip
3 Essence Scatter
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Golgari Charm
2 Spell Rupture
1 Dimir Charm
1 Simic Charm
1 Ultimate Price

3 Breeding Pool
3 Overgrown Tomb
3 Watery Grave
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Woodland Cemetery
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Grim Backwoods

The list is still really rough. The primary angle of attack is as a BG Zombie deck, Gravecrawler into Lotleth Troll into Dreg Mangler. Even with the all dual mana base, I am still hesitant to run Messenger. Shaman and Seer are primarily just reach in a long game. Snapcaster and Guildmage are card advantage, again for the stalled long game. And yes the Guildmage can only draw cards off a Troll, salvaging a Mangler or most commonly its own first ability. Maybe Strangleroot Geist and Experiment One are better options than the Gravecrawler?

I am really not sure on the proper proportions of charms. Golgari has been the best in testing. Dimir gives a hard counter to miracles and Simic an out to Reanimator, though both may just be better in the sideboard. I guess it depends on what climbs to the top of the meta-heap for which charms are best to run. The same goes for the spot removal.

I really need help with a sideboard. I suck at creating sideboards. BUG is extremely versatile in sideboard cards, but the wealth of options kind of has me scratching my head. Also the meta hasn't solidified yet so I am really not sure what to expect from my opponents. A RDW variations, a Hexproof variation, a Thragtusk variation, and a Reanimator/combo variation would be my guesses.

Advice on a sideboard for the common expectation would be most appreciated.

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9 Reply by jettjj

(3 replies, posted in Decks and Deckbuilding)

Hanna, Ship's Navigator has way more potential to be just annoy the **** out of a table. Hanna + Mindslaver = one opponent just stops playing. Hanna + Phyrexian Metamorph = kill all commanders. Plus UW has the really hated Stasis lock which Hanna can regrow, the Pickles lock, Erayo + Rule of Law, etc. There are a lot of really really bad artifacts and enchantments to abuse and Hanna allows you to abuse them over and over again.

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