I haven't posted recently, and for that I'm sorry. I haven't had much to say. I've been getting highly involved in the EDH/Commander scheme and didn't feel I had any decks to share with my readers that you guys would be interested in. But now I'm back, with Grixis Delver Tempo.
Delver of Secrets has been singlehandedly redefining Legacy. A 3/2 flier for 1 mana? It's almost silly how powerful he is in this context. Here's the list I've been messing around with:
4 Azure Mage (may test Izzet Guildmage)
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Sedraxis Specter
4 Brainstorm
4 Cry of Contrition
4 Dismember
2 Firespout
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
4 Terminate
4 Crumbling Necropolis
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Darkslick Shores (I anticipate these going for less than $1 post-rotation)
3 Island
3 Mountain
Sideboard:
2 Firespout
4 Duress
4 Spell Pierce
2 Unearth
3 Diabolic Edict
The main is geared heavily to crush the aggro matchup. Against control decks, it plays an aggro role. Post-sideboarding, heavy discard and counterspells protect your creatures as you race the opponent. Your creatures are really good against their defenses.
I currently haven't tested with the Guildmage, but I would like to. He works well here except he can't copy Dismember. The best solution would be to try out Vendetta instead of Dismember, but I don't know how effective the deck will be after a large change like that.
I'm also looking, admittedly less thoroughly, into Esper Delver:
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Meddling Mage
4 Esper Charm
4 Brainstorm
4 Mana Leak
4 Cry of Contrition
4 Path to Exile
3 Dismember
3 Go for the Throat
4 Gerrard's Verdict
4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Plains
3 Swamp
Sideboard:
4 Duress
3 Day of Judgment
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Unearth
4 Spell Pierce
The game plan is the same as for Grixis Delver, but Esper Delver has Esper Charm for a lot of late-game power. Access to Day of Judgment gives the deck some power against aggro. I'm not sure that this build is better; time will tell.
Until next time, play on.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Building a Sideboard
Here's another "how to" article, this time about my process for building sideboards. I'll use my RDW deck throughout. For reference, here's the decklist:
4 Goblin Guide
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Slith Firewalker
4 Arc Trail
4 Burst Lightning
1 Chain Lightning
3 Flame Javelin
2 Howling Mine
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
17 Mountain
4 Teetering Peaks
So here's how I built the sideboard:
1) The first step is to look at obvious cards that hose the deck, anything that an opponent can side in that you have absolutely no way to win against. I can burn my opponent to death through a Mark of Asylum eventually, but a Kor Firewalker is almost impossible to win against. How do I beat it?
I first looked at potential options and my first thought was Ghostfire. After abandoning that idea, I decided to use four Pyrite Spellbomb and maybe 2 other cards that would kill the Firewalker.
2) Is there a type of card that makes it hard to win? The answer I found was in the form of cards like Perimeter Captain and Wall of Omens. They generally result in a lot of lifegain and are troublesome to kill. Since most Walls that cost a reasonably small amount have four toughness, I decided to add the fourth Flame Javelin to the side and four copies of Dismember.
Yes, I put Dismember in a deck that has tons of killspells in the form of burn. Why? Consider this: Flame Rift hits both players for four damage and costs two mana. A Wall will absorb at least four damage, if not much more. Dismember kills it instantly and costs one mana. In short, it's a one-mana Flame Rift that also kills a creature. Admittedly, it's a niche role, but one that the deck needs. It is also a plausible answer to Kor Firewalker.
3) Is there a deck that gives you trouble? In the case of the red deck, I have problems with decks that can play tons of creatures faster than I can burn them off or kill the opponent. Arc Trail in the main helps, but I needed another "Arc Trail" in the sideboard. Perilous Myr came in. Sweepers also help; I chose to devote two spots for sweepers, a Slagstorm and an Earthquake (I only own one Slagstorm, otherwise I would run two).
Here's where we stand:
4 Dismember
1 Earthquake
1 Flame Javelin
4 Perilous Myr
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Slagstorm
4) Once the sideboard is complete, look at how you can use cards in against it in different matchups. For example, I noticed that I had both Perilous Myr and Pyrite Spellbomb as reasonable answers to Kor Firewalker. I really don't need eight cards against him; it was possible to cut one Spellbomb since it's useful in less matchups.
SB: 14
5) Analyze how you side against various decks. With regards to RDW, against some decks, I increase my curve significantly (for example, against creature-swarm, I take out Rift Bolt for Perilous Myr and the Mines for my sweepers). There are other decks I increase my curve against; for this purpose, I thought adding another land would be prudent. Barbarian Ring became my go-to land of choice since it is yet another option to kill Kor Firewalker, though Smoldering Spires contested this spot for a while, both equally powerful in their own aspects. I chose the Ring since it enters untapped.
Final sideboard:
1 Barbarian Ring
4 Dismember
1 Earthquake
1 Flame Javelin
4 Perilous Myr
3 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Slagstorm
6) Repeat the above steps as necessary until you get a final sideboard.
Here's how the process worked for my Tempered Steel deck.
1) Nothing specific really hoses me, other than cards like Creeping Corrosion. Spell Pierce was my chosen answer.
2) Day of Judgement-esque cards are incredibly powerful against me--and they're all sorceries. Maybe more anti-sorcery counters would be useful. +2 Negate. Burn spells can hurt me too. +3 Mark of Asylum, since the rest of the build works for this purpose.
3) 3/3s can be a pain to defend against. I chose Porcelain Legionnaire for this purpose.
4) At this point, I realized how useful counterspells would be. I changed the lineup from:
4 Spell Pierce
2 Negate
To:
4 Spell Pierce
3 Envelop
1 Negate
5) Here, the sideboard was complete, step six was unnecessary:
3 Envelop
3 Mark of Asylum
1 Negate
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Spell Pierce
That's just how I do it, but it works well for me.
Until next time, keep playing.
4 Goblin Guide
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Slith Firewalker
4 Arc Trail
4 Burst Lightning
1 Chain Lightning
3 Flame Javelin
2 Howling Mine
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
17 Mountain
4 Teetering Peaks
So here's how I built the sideboard:
1) The first step is to look at obvious cards that hose the deck, anything that an opponent can side in that you have absolutely no way to win against. I can burn my opponent to death through a Mark of Asylum eventually, but a Kor Firewalker is almost impossible to win against. How do I beat it?
I first looked at potential options and my first thought was Ghostfire. After abandoning that idea, I decided to use four Pyrite Spellbomb and maybe 2 other cards that would kill the Firewalker.
2) Is there a type of card that makes it hard to win? The answer I found was in the form of cards like Perimeter Captain and Wall of Omens. They generally result in a lot of lifegain and are troublesome to kill. Since most Walls that cost a reasonably small amount have four toughness, I decided to add the fourth Flame Javelin to the side and four copies of Dismember.
Yes, I put Dismember in a deck that has tons of killspells in the form of burn. Why? Consider this: Flame Rift hits both players for four damage and costs two mana. A Wall will absorb at least four damage, if not much more. Dismember kills it instantly and costs one mana. In short, it's a one-mana Flame Rift that also kills a creature. Admittedly, it's a niche role, but one that the deck needs. It is also a plausible answer to Kor Firewalker.
3) Is there a deck that gives you trouble? In the case of the red deck, I have problems with decks that can play tons of creatures faster than I can burn them off or kill the opponent. Arc Trail in the main helps, but I needed another "Arc Trail" in the sideboard. Perilous Myr came in. Sweepers also help; I chose to devote two spots for sweepers, a Slagstorm and an Earthquake (I only own one Slagstorm, otherwise I would run two).
Here's where we stand:
4 Dismember
1 Earthquake
1 Flame Javelin
4 Perilous Myr
4 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Slagstorm
4) Once the sideboard is complete, look at how you can use cards in against it in different matchups. For example, I noticed that I had both Perilous Myr and Pyrite Spellbomb as reasonable answers to Kor Firewalker. I really don't need eight cards against him; it was possible to cut one Spellbomb since it's useful in less matchups.
SB: 14
5) Analyze how you side against various decks. With regards to RDW, against some decks, I increase my curve significantly (for example, against creature-swarm, I take out Rift Bolt for Perilous Myr and the Mines for my sweepers). There are other decks I increase my curve against; for this purpose, I thought adding another land would be prudent. Barbarian Ring became my go-to land of choice since it is yet another option to kill Kor Firewalker, though Smoldering Spires contested this spot for a while, both equally powerful in their own aspects. I chose the Ring since it enters untapped.
1 Barbarian Ring
4 Dismember
1 Earthquake
1 Flame Javelin
4 Perilous Myr
3 Pyrite Spellbomb
1 Slagstorm
6) Repeat the above steps as necessary until you get a final sideboard.
Here's how the process worked for my Tempered Steel deck.
1) Nothing specific really hoses me, other than cards like Creeping Corrosion. Spell Pierce was my chosen answer.
2) Day of Judgement-esque cards are incredibly powerful against me--and they're all sorceries. Maybe more anti-sorcery counters would be useful. +2 Negate. Burn spells can hurt me too. +3 Mark of Asylum, since the rest of the build works for this purpose.
3) 3/3s can be a pain to defend against. I chose Porcelain Legionnaire for this purpose.
4) At this point, I realized how useful counterspells would be. I changed the lineup from:
4 Spell Pierce
2 Negate
To:
4 Spell Pierce
3 Envelop
1 Negate
5) Here, the sideboard was complete, step six was unnecessary:
3 Envelop
3 Mark of Asylum
1 Negate
4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Spell Pierce
That's just how I do it, but it works well for me.
Until next time, keep playing.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
How to Build
I've posted a lot of decks without describing the exact process by which I come to those decks. It's something that I feel I should share. Here's (my) set of steps to deckbuilding:
1) Find an angle to build around. Sometimes a decklist can start with a single card. In my case, I wanted to build a control deck based around Whispering Specter. The list feel into place from there.
2) Figure out how to support that angle. In the above case, I started by trying to splash blue to give me Corrupted Resolve and Blighted Agent. I naturally looked at other options at this step too, and I found Fallen Ferromancer. Coupled with Flame Slash, I would have great removal in UR. I was now stuck; UBR, UR, or UB?
3) Look at your options. Maybe you like the deck, but the mana is impossible. Maybe there's a way to substitute another color to improve mana and give you more options. In the case of my Infect Control deck, I rejected UBR and UR for the manabase. I was stuck in UB, though I wanted to play Fallen Ferromancer.
4) Step back, take a break, and look again a while later. I looked at it again and realized I was hyping the blue too much; I wanted to build around Whispering Specter, not anything blue. I decided to try BR.
5) Fill in the gaps. Firstly, decide what style the deck is; control, aggro, tribal, ramp, or combo. Different land counts fit different styles. Keep this in mind and add cards until you hit the amount of blank spots you need for mana. Then add the manabase, keeping the deck's colors in mind.
6) Look at the final list, then re-adjust the balance of cards. Maybe you added a ton of high-cost creatures and want to add more land? Maybe the reverse? Do you want a 4-3 split of Llanowar Elves to Joraga Treespeaker or 3-4?
7) Shuffle it up and look at what hands you get from random shuffling. Evaluate your land count, what cards were the most useful, which were least. Re-adjust your deck until you're happy.
8) Play it out against a variety of decks. Re-adjust your deck based on what you see and how cards function in reality rather than a vacuum (for example, removal and discard are useless in vacuum but incredibly powerful in real games). Find your bad match-ups.
9) Build a sideboard for these bad matchups. For example, my red deck has problems with swarm decks than can put tons of blockers out in front of Slith Firewalker or Goblin Guide. To account for this, my sideboard includes a set or Arc Trails, an Earthquake, and a Slagstorm.
10) Innovate and adjust as each new set comes out.
That's all I have for you today. This is how I build decks; other styles have their merits, this one has just proven more consistent for me.
Until next time, play on.
1) Find an angle to build around. Sometimes a decklist can start with a single card. In my case, I wanted to build a control deck based around Whispering Specter. The list feel into place from there.
2) Figure out how to support that angle. In the above case, I started by trying to splash blue to give me Corrupted Resolve and Blighted Agent. I naturally looked at other options at this step too, and I found Fallen Ferromancer. Coupled with Flame Slash, I would have great removal in UR. I was now stuck; UBR, UR, or UB?
3) Look at your options. Maybe you like the deck, but the mana is impossible. Maybe there's a way to substitute another color to improve mana and give you more options. In the case of my Infect Control deck, I rejected UBR and UR for the manabase. I was stuck in UB, though I wanted to play Fallen Ferromancer.
4) Step back, take a break, and look again a while later. I looked at it again and realized I was hyping the blue too much; I wanted to build around Whispering Specter, not anything blue. I decided to try BR.
5) Fill in the gaps. Firstly, decide what style the deck is; control, aggro, tribal, ramp, or combo. Different land counts fit different styles. Keep this in mind and add cards until you hit the amount of blank spots you need for mana. Then add the manabase, keeping the deck's colors in mind.
6) Look at the final list, then re-adjust the balance of cards. Maybe you added a ton of high-cost creatures and want to add more land? Maybe the reverse? Do you want a 4-3 split of Llanowar Elves to Joraga Treespeaker or 3-4?
7) Shuffle it up and look at what hands you get from random shuffling. Evaluate your land count, what cards were the most useful, which were least. Re-adjust your deck until you're happy.
8) Play it out against a variety of decks. Re-adjust your deck based on what you see and how cards function in reality rather than a vacuum (for example, removal and discard are useless in vacuum but incredibly powerful in real games). Find your bad match-ups.
9) Build a sideboard for these bad matchups. For example, my red deck has problems with swarm decks than can put tons of blockers out in front of Slith Firewalker or Goblin Guide. To account for this, my sideboard includes a set or Arc Trails, an Earthquake, and a Slagstorm.
10) Innovate and adjust as each new set comes out.
That's all I have for you today. This is how I build decks; other styles have their merits, this one has just proven more consistent for me.
Until next time, play on.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Red Metal
So, here's a deck I've been thinking on that uses some of the new spoilers from New Phyrexia.
Molten-Steel Dragon: (4) (R/P) (R/P)
Artifact Creature--Dragon
(R/P) can be paid with either (R) or 2 life.
Flying
(R/P): ~ gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
4/4
Slag Fiend: (R)
Creature--Construct
~'s power and toughness are each equal to the number of artifact cards in all graveyards
*/*
These two cards give us a strong base in metalcraft/artifact sacrifice. Now to round out the list (time crunch, so I won't be able to include card links):
4 Atog
3 Greater Gargadon
4 Iron Myr
4 Kuldotha Phoenix
4 Molten-Steel Dragon
4 Myr Sire
4 Perilous Myr
4 Slag Fiend
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Great Furnace
2 Crystal Vein
4 Darksteel Citadel
2 Smoldering Spires
9 Mountain
I haven't done any testing with this list, but it looks fun to play. Sacrifice artifacts and do tons of damage! Rather quick route to winning, but looks like it could be fun. A turn two Molten-Steel is fun (double Crystal Vein) but turn 3-4 is more reasonable. Have fun with it!
Until next time, play on.
Molten-Steel Dragon: (4) (R/P) (R/P)
Artifact Creature--Dragon
(R/P) can be paid with either (R) or 2 life.
Flying
(R/P): ~ gets +1/+0 until end of turn.
4/4
Slag Fiend: (R)
Creature--Construct
~'s power and toughness are each equal to the number of artifact cards in all graveyards
*/*
These two cards give us a strong base in metalcraft/artifact sacrifice. Now to round out the list (time crunch, so I won't be able to include card links):
4 Atog
3 Greater Gargadon
4 Iron Myr
4 Kuldotha Phoenix
4 Molten-Steel Dragon
4 Myr Sire
4 Perilous Myr
4 Slag Fiend
4 Ichor Wellspring
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Great Furnace
2 Crystal Vein
4 Darksteel Citadel
2 Smoldering Spires
9 Mountain
I haven't done any testing with this list, but it looks fun to play. Sacrifice artifacts and do tons of damage! Rather quick route to winning, but looks like it could be fun. A turn two Molten-Steel is fun (double Crystal Vein) but turn 3-4 is more reasonable. Have fun with it!
Until next time, play on.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The So-Called "GodBook"
All of New Phyrexia was just spoiled. I was going to post a monogreen infect deck later tonight, but my entire deck theory is now invalid.
Here's the file for the download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8cbw97bf6w9pdbn
The password is case-sensitive: Magic
I see so much fun stuff. Etched Monstrosity is amazing, Myr Superion is going to be well-loved in casual (turn 3 off of a Vedalken Engineer), Jor Kadeen will soon inspire an EDH deck. Oh, and there's a 1-drop infecter. I'm excited.
Edit: And I just heard that the full list might have been stolen, not released. Some confusion about that online. Shenanigans may ensue, dunno.
Here's the file for the download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?8cbw97bf6w9pdbn
The password is case-sensitive: Magic
I see so much fun stuff. Etched Monstrosity is amazing, Myr Superion is going to be well-loved in casual (turn 3 off of a Vedalken Engineer), Jor Kadeen will soon inspire an EDH deck. Oh, and there's a 1-drop infecter. I'm excited.
Edit: And I just heard that the full list might have been stolen, not released. Some confusion about that online. Shenanigans may ensue, dunno.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Spoilers Abound!!!
I'm sorry I haven't posted much recently. I've been pretty busy with various things and I finally got a chance to go home last weekend, so I didn't get to post because I was busy spending time with my family. To make up for it, here's a really cool deck I whipped up based around the card Puresteel Paladin.
Puresteel Paladin has been spoiled for New Phyrexia. Within five minutes of seeing the card text, I knew what I needed to do to make a good list for him.
Before we begin, here's the card:
Puresteel Paladin WW
Creature--Human Knight
Metalcraft--Equip costs you pay cost 0.
Whenever an equipment enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.
2/2
Right after I saw him, I thought of a deck my brother has that plays Accorder's Shield. Hmmm. To cast it draws you a card and you can equip it for nothing if you have enough artifacts in play. And if you have two, you can play both for 0 each and draw two cards. Hmmm. Grapeshot, anyone?
This list is less cheap than the ones I usually post due to the presence of four Mox Opals. They are easily replaceable with more land, so don't worry about them if you don't have them (I don't).
4 Puresteel Paladin
4 Riddlesmith
4 Vedalken Archmage
4 Accorder's Shield
4 Bone Saw
4 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
3 Grapeshot
1 Lightning Greaves
4 Lotus Petal
4 Mox Opal
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Sigil of Distinction
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Glimmervoid
4 Seachrome Coast
It's really luck dependent, but with "twelve" Glimpse of Natures, its ability to combo out may, in the end, rival some of the lower-end Elf Storm builds.
You can Storm out really quickly (on the first or second turn) and win with Grapeshot or go the alternative route; cast a ton of equipment, stick them on the Paladin along with a Lightning Greaves and Golem-Skin Gauntlets, and bash in for lethal. To that end, I'm contemplating Neurok Hoversail for evasion instead of haste because most decks can chump for a while. Not sure which'll make the cut in the end.
Until next time, play on.
Puresteel Paladin has been spoiled for New Phyrexia. Within five minutes of seeing the card text, I knew what I needed to do to make a good list for him.
Before we begin, here's the card:
Puresteel Paladin WW
Creature--Human Knight
Metalcraft--Equip costs you pay cost 0.
Whenever an equipment enters the battlefield under your control, draw a card.
2/2
Right after I saw him, I thought of a deck my brother has that plays Accorder's Shield. Hmmm. To cast it draws you a card and you can equip it for nothing if you have enough artifacts in play. And if you have two, you can play both for 0 each and draw two cards. Hmmm. Grapeshot, anyone?
This list is less cheap than the ones I usually post due to the presence of four Mox Opals. They are easily replaceable with more land, so don't worry about them if you don't have them (I don't).
4 Puresteel Paladin
4 Riddlesmith
4 Vedalken Archmage
4 Accorder's Shield
4 Bone Saw
4 Golem-Skin Gauntlets
3 Grapeshot
1 Lightning Greaves
4 Lotus Petal
4 Mox Opal
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Sigil of Distinction
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Glimmervoid
4 Seachrome Coast
It's really luck dependent, but with "twelve" Glimpse of Natures, its ability to combo out may, in the end, rival some of the lower-end Elf Storm builds.
You can Storm out really quickly (on the first or second turn) and win with Grapeshot or go the alternative route; cast a ton of equipment, stick them on the Paladin along with a Lightning Greaves and Golem-Skin Gauntlets, and bash in for lethal. To that end, I'm contemplating Neurok Hoversail for evasion instead of haste because most decks can chump for a while. Not sure which'll make the cut in the end.
Until next time, play on.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
FlickerLark
Reveillark is an incredibly powerful and versatile card. It almost always provides tons of card advantage, especially when paired with Mulldrifer, Wall of Omens, or any of the many other weak creatures of today that draw cards. Note that its ability triggers when it leaves the battlfield--so Mistmeadow Witch is an excellent source of disruption, tempo, and card advantage.
Now look at the Witch with Nevermaker. When it leaves play, you can bounce a nonland permanent to the top of an opponent's library, locking an opponent out of either:
1) Drawing new cards.
2) Playing cards for you to bounce.
Here's a rough list I've thrown together, admittedly without much testing. Also note that its more expensive than lists I usually post; this is just my example of how to build a unique control deck.
2 Body Double
4 Galepowder Mage
3 Mistmeadow Witch
4 Mulldrifter
4 Nevermaker
4 Reveillark
4 Riftwing Cloudskate
4 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Wall of Omens
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Azorius Chancery
3 Cloudcrest Lake
3 Terramorphic Expanse
6 Island
7 Plains
It's a very different deck to play than most common aggro decks. Worth some messing around with.
Until next time, play on.
Now look at the Witch with Nevermaker. When it leaves play, you can bounce a nonland permanent to the top of an opponent's library, locking an opponent out of either:
1) Drawing new cards.
2) Playing cards for you to bounce.
Here's a rough list I've thrown together, admittedly without much testing. Also note that its more expensive than lists I usually post; this is just my example of how to build a unique control deck.
2 Body Double
4 Galepowder Mage
3 Mistmeadow Witch
4 Mulldrifter
4 Nevermaker
4 Reveillark
4 Riftwing Cloudskate
4 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Wall of Omens
4 Everflowing Chalice
4 Azorius Chancery
3 Cloudcrest Lake
3 Terramorphic Expanse
6 Island
7 Plains
It's a very different deck to play than most common aggro decks. Worth some messing around with.
Until next time, play on.
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