Topic: Reckoner/Blasphemous Act Assist

DBers, I have had this deck up and running for a little while now and for some reason, even through the tweaks, it feels like it's missing something.

Problem 1: Typically have no more than 4 mana on the board at any given time. (Even after adding a couple lands and shuffling very thoroughly.

Problem 2: My wife's mid-range Simic deck has been tweaked to the point where this deck barely squeaks out victory (if at all). (Note: I built both decks and have spent more time tweaking hers than mine, perhaps I've just made it where that one is specialized against mine...)

Problem 3: I don't think this would compete well at FNM... at all...

So, my question is this.. Is Reckoner/BA a lost cause combination? Fun to watch happen but too slow to depend on?

or

Am I just missing something in my deckbuilding process that could make this competitive?

Appreciate your insights and here the link http://deckbox.org/sets/326262.

Re: Reckoner/Blasphemous Act Assist

Solution 1: You've only got 22 lands for 3 four-drops, 1 five-drop, and 2 X-spells. You can increase that to at least 24-25 lands, probably by cutting the stuff that doesn't directly advance your plan (I'm looking at Skullcrack)

Solution 2: You've almost definitely over-tweaked hers; have you tried running any of these decks against anything else?

Solution 3: That depends on your FNM, but you'll see a lot more variety and a lot of high powered decks based on what's won the latest GP or SCG Open.

In general: It's a valid combo, and in fact is one of the key components of Act 2, the Standard WRB deck that's been making pretty good numbers lately.

The immediate problem I see is that your deck is going in two different directions; you've got a bunch of aggressive creatures Battalion creatures, but you've also got the Reckoner/Stuffy Doll/BA combo, so every game you have to decide which plan to pursue. Are you an aggro deck? If so, you should cut any of your high drops and double-down on playing aggressive guys on curve. Are you a combo deck? If so, you don't need to be attacking at all.

If you want to go all-in on the Reckoner/BA combo, you're best served by stripping out the aggro components (1-drops, Tajic, Firemane, etc) and trying to play a more grindy controlling game, with the ability to just win out of nowhere by dropping BA. Act 2 does this by using the synergies of morbid and creature sacrifice outlets, and running Skirsdag High Priest and Blood Artist to clog up the board and chip away at your opponent's life total.

The coverage/list here is a good starting point: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/a … /deck/1209

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Re: Reckoner/Blasphemous Act Assist

Interesting... I haven't seen that build. I kinda like it...

I enjoy decks with multiple WinCons (who doesn't) and that definitely seems to be the case w/ Act 2.

For kicks and giggles, here is my wife's deck... I've updated it a bit and fixed the mana problem quite well... It seems capable of performing against my deck and I think it's the better of the two builds. http://deckbox.org/sets/325827

Amazing how much Arbor elf changes the complexion of a deck. :-)

Re: Reckoner/Blasphemous Act Assist

Krash wrote:

Interesting... I haven't seen that build. I kinda like it...

I enjoy decks with multiple WinCons (who doesn't) and that definitely seems to be the case w/ Act 2.

For kicks and giggles, here is my wife's deck... I've updated it a bit and fixed the mana problem quite well... It seems capable of performing against my deck and I think it's the better of the two builds. http://deckbox.org/sets/325827

Amazing how much Arbor elf changes the complexion of a deck. :-)

When is comes to playing with Simic Manipulator, you NEED to play with Agoraphobia.  It lets you bring their larger creatures down into range to steal while otherwise just acting as a pretty solid soft-removal spell.

Re: Reckoner/Blasphemous Act Assist

Never even considered that.... Wow. great thought.. What in the heck do i remove from the deck to make room for it though... i've already whittled that one to what i'd consider the absolute must haves...

Re: Reckoner/Blasphemous Act Assist

The prime options, at least as they appear to me, would be Bioshift, Redirect, and potentially Cloudfin Raptor.  Obviously you're going to know the sorts of things you'll run into more than I, but given your total lack of removal or any way to deal with major threats, I can see where Bioshift would be the easiest to pull.  Redirect is a great sideboard card, but if the opponent isn't doing all that much meaningful targeting, then it's essentially a dead card.  Similarly, Cloudfin Raptor can be epic if played on turns 1-3, but any time after that and it's unlikely to be more than a chump blocker.