nationals

I just looked at the first 20 pages of so of top-8's in the last three months at star city, and i saw that george and ben c. finished 1 and 2 in arkansas. also, i saw a surprise--brilliant ultimatum was in some weird esper control, and it made 5 and 6 in a nationals qualifier. kinda weird. polymorph is alive and strong. there were some 1st place finishes for polymorph. no warp world. with super friend and eldrazi conscript and jund and, well, pretty much everything, you need a strong fast deck, or a strong control deck, and valakut-warp world is neither. I didn't see any rw creatureless, but there were a couple of RWU (for denial and jace and spreading seas) with most of the cards you run. basically, take out your big burn and add blue and that is the decklist. those super friends and mythic and conscript decks make me not want to rush out and play fnm anytime soon, in a way, because, well, they are good. but at least it isn't jund jund jund jund jund. that was just boring.

RW Creatureless Control v3.0

1 Baneslayer Angel
3 Luminarch Ascension
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
4 Path to Exile
4 Wall of Omens
4 Day of Judgement
3 Comet Storm
3 Gideon Jura
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Everflowing Chalice

2x Gragoyle Castle
4x Arid Mesa
10x plains
8x mountais

SB:
4x Day of Judgement
2x Baneslayer
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Chain Reaction
1x Gideon Jura

Valakut/Warp World

I've always kinda liked Warped World. And I wanted a chance to use my favorite new creatures--guys that come in with eldrazi tokens! What better way to abuse that than ramping into warp world and playing eldrazi monuments?

You have to just play 1 of each of the legendary guys or else your warp world can really suck. You also have to hope your opponent doesn't do anything for the first seven turns in order for you to get all set up and get off a warp world. That's what makes it so strong.

Or you just turn six a Kozilek and watch your opponent pick up their cards.

I guess technically this deck has removal...you have to hard-cast Ulamog. And obviously Valakut can hit the dome or the dude. But it is such a late-range option it is barely worth mentioning.


4x Nest Invader
4x Harrow
4x Growth Spasm
4x Awakening Zone
4x Emrakul's Hatcher
3x Kozilek's Predator
3x Eldrazi Monument
3x Avenger of Zendikar
2x Warp World
1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre

26 lands
3x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3x Terramorphic Expanse
3x Evolving Wilds
6x Forests
11x Mountain

Bombtastic

This deck sucks.
This deck should not be.
This deck is for timmy-johnny.

4 spellbound dragon
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
4 Terra Stomper
4 summoning trap
4 Joraga Treespeaker
4 rampant growth
3 noble hierarch
2 Realms Uncharted/Momentous Fall/Trapmakers Snare?

4x verdant catacombs
3x scalding tarn
4x misty rainforest
1x island
1x mountain
1x swamp
7x forest
2x raging ravine

T1: Forest Treespeaker
T2: Land, Lvl up Treecaller, Rampant Growth
T3: Land, instant speed Summoning Trap into bomb
Turn 4: Win

Looking at Eldrazi sealed for pre-release

Firstly, any of the Eldrazi cards will get played if they get opened. Even if I have two different (or the same) legendary guys. That said, even the commons and uncommons are really really good. The rare, Eldrazi Conscription, is what I want to open the most. Turn 8 (or less, considering the sac for mana guys readily available) +10/+10 trample, and annihilator 2 as an after thought...Yeah, usually you can put that on anything and swing for the win by turn 8. And if it isn't a win, after combat it looks like a one-sided wrath of god, and then you win next turn. To me it looks like the best Eldrazi card for Sealed or for Drafting, just because it is always playable and you can probably play it before the game is over. Sure, if you actually get an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn into play then you get to win, but 15 mana is more difficult to get to than 8. And watch this, if you have any totem armor, your eldrazi conscription is doubly protected. So Eldrazi cards go without saying.

Anyway, here's cards to play with. If I am undervaluing/overvaluing something let me know. Basically I wanted to do a thorough look at the cards so I'll have a better idea of what to do when I start opening packs at the pre-release, i figured I might as well blog on it.

White commons

Caravan Escort: 1/1 for one that can become a 5/5 first striker with colorless mana.

Dawnglare Invoker: 2/1 evasion for three. For 8 mana you can win the game.

Eland Umbra: Totem armor, +0/+4

Hyena Umbra: one mana, +1/+1 first strike, totem armor

Repel the Darkness: 3 mana, tap 2 creatures, draw a card, instant speed. Looks playable, looks splashable, looks awesome.

Soul's Attendant: if you are playing WG or WB, this soul warden can be abused by the tokens coming into play. Those colors seem to have a lot of them.

Knight of Cliffhaven: 2 to play, 3 colorless to level up. Gains evasion and vigilance

Totem-Guide Hartebeest: a 2/5 for 5 that tutors and aura. Wow, this is a good common, assuming you have a totem armor (or eldrazi conscription) you want to play.

White Uncommons

Kabira Vindicator: 2/4 level upper for 4, pumps your guys slowly, also a good blocker.

Mammoth Umbra: totem armor, +3/+3, vigiliance, for 5

rares//mythic:

deathless angel: evasion, good ability

gideon Jura: yup

Student of Warfare: Kinda reminds me of a not-as-good FOD

Transcendent Master: Kinda reminds me of FOD

White is loaded with great creatures and great enchantments...er...totem armors. It'd be easy to play white with all of these good commons and uncommons. The removal is somewhat limited (usually temporary, or on weak creatures) but it is there and probably playable, if not good. White does have some big-time bomb rares.

Blue Commons

Eel Umbra: 2 to play, flash +1/+1 totem armor. This is an awesome combat trick in a common.

Narcolepsy: acceptable removal

Mnemonic Wall: 0/4 defender that recurs instant or sorcery back to your hand for 5

Regress: 3 mana boomerang. over-costed compared to what we have been used to in the past, but considering into the roil and the like U2 seems right for something that can hit lands.

Sea Gate Oracle: 1/3, reminds me of Court Hussar. Looks good to me.

See Beyond: this is going to be really good for polymorph decks. It seems ok for sealed

Skywatcher Adept: one cost gains evasion and gets big

Venerated Teacher: 3 to play for a grizzly bear that gives all level-up creatures 2 free levels. He isn't a bomb, but if you have five or six level up guys in your deck he is supremely mana-effecient, especially with the level-up commons which seem to take 3-4 mana to level your guys.

Blue uncommons

Crab Umbra: one to play, Horseshoe crab your guy, totem armor

Domestication: this is a bomb uncommon, but it takes double blue so it is limiting in that way, total cost 4 for aura that lets you control a guy as long as his power is 3 or less on your end steps

Drake Umbra: +3/+3 flying totem armor for 5. This is a bomb, and it does splash.

Guard Gomazoa: 1/3 Fog Bank for 3.

Hada Spy Patrol: 2 cost level up, gains evasion and shroud

Merfolk Skyscout: 2/3 evasion for 4, double blue in there, untaps permanent when it attacks or blocks. This is the definition of a blue creature, isn't it? You wouldn't splash for this guy, but its a nice card if you're in blue already.

Reality Spasm: xUU, win the game.

Rares//Mythic:

Coralhelm Commander is double blue, and for 3 more colorless you have a 4/4 merfolk flying lord. Pretty good even without any other merfolk

Lighthouse Chronologist: decent-sized body for cost if nothing else. When he's level 7 (one U per level) you win.

Recurring Insight: This will probably work out to more than 4 cards, with all the level up and/or expensive guys. So pretty much a tidings. It's not a bomb, but it's playable in blue for sure.

Sphinx of Magosi: probably the biggest stand-alone bomb in blue.

Training Grounds: the biggest hypothetical bomb. Makes your common and uncommon level up guys level up quickly.

Blue has a ton of playable uncommons, fewer commons. A couple of the uncommons are bombs. If I had something stupid like Training Grounds, a couple of venerated teachers and some level up guys I'd be easy to choose blue, but too me it seems like blue doesn't have the great commons, so your other color will need to be strong. Blue lacks board removal, but has 1 good counterspell, 1 playable and 2 iffy counters, and the removal is an ice cage kind of effect, so it isn't great.

Black commons

Bloodthrone Vampire: like a cheaper 1/1 version of aristocrat. Looks pretty playable to me. Giving this guy evasion or totem armor or something cool seems good.

Cadaver Imp: a cheaper, smaller, evasion gravedigger. Everything about this card is good.

Dread Drone: expensive 4/1 token makes. Playable if you're light on creatures, or if you ever need tokens or mana to play spells. So, yup, pretty decent.

Essence Feed: life gain, life loss, blah blah blah. Look! Tokens!

Induce Despair: Pretty awesome instant-speed removal.

Last Kiss: playable instant-speed removal.

Uncommons:

Arrogant Bloodlord: a 4/4 for 3 with some silly side effect.

Corpsehatch: destroy non-black, tokens.

Inquistion of Kozilek: thoughseize that doesn't hurt? ok. I like seeing my opponent's hand.

Pawn of Ulamog: this is my favorite black uncommon so far. 3 mana for a grizzly bear, and he has a really good ability. worth the double black.

skeletal wurm: 7/6 for 8, that regenerates for B. Very good in sealed. This guy can block an eldrazi.

suffer the past: I can't quite tell if this is a bomb. And it doesn't really count as removal. And I haven't seen much GY manipulation coming back into play stuff in RoE. So basically it's fireball that only hits a player, but you gain life. When i put it like that it sounds better. I'd play it, but I'm still not sure i could call it a bomb.

Rare//Mythic:

Consume the Meek: good

Consuming Vapors: This looks really good to me.

Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief: this is a black bomb. a 4/4 evasive with built-in creature removal. You gotta play it if you get it.

Guul Draz Assassin: my favorite level-up guy

Nirkana Revenant: bomb, no evasion, can get you to an eldrazi quickly.

Pestilence Demon: a 7/6 flier with built-in pestilence, without the creatures in play clause. If you get this card, and you can play black, you have to play him. Pretty mana intensive, but would be worth it if you have the support.

Thought Gorger: a 2/2 trampler for 4, that is going to make you discard your hand, but then when he leaves (even if exiled) you get to draw your hand back. Yup, I'd play him. Big tramplers are good.

So black has the most rare bombs so far, as well as the best removal in commons (and rares) so far. If I play blue or white, I'll look carefully at making black a second or spalsh color for those common removals. Black also has several playable token generators. Black also has a ton of bad cards. It looks like as bomby as black is, and as solid in removal as it is, it would be much more difficult to play 12 black cards unless you get a great haul.

Red commons

Brood Birthing: tokens! a 3-for-1! This gets you to a Hand of Emrakul really fast.

Emrakul's Hatcher: a 3/3 that makes 3 tokens, for 5. Very mana efficient and card advantageous.

Flame Slash: one little R to deal 4 damage to a creature, sorcery speed.

Goblin Arsonist: 1/1 for one that hits a creature for 1 on the way out. Cool picture, cool flavor text, not a great card for sealed. Probably be better in draft.

Grotag Siege-Runner: a 2/1 for 2, that trades with a Defender for 1. Pretty good.

Heat Ray: x damage to creature, instant speed, very good.

Lagac Lizard: boring but playable

Spawning Breath: instant speed 1 damage, makes a token.

Staggershock: 3 mana to rebound and hit a creature or player for 2. Twice.

Wrap in Flames: I wouldn't say a bomb by any means, but it combines two really bad cards into one playable card. Potential 3-for-1 vs tokens.

Red Uncommons:

Brimstone Mage: a really expensive, bigger-bodied Tim. Looks playable to me, if not great.

Forked Bolt: 2 damage, can hit creatures or players, sorcery speed.

Rapacious One: 5/4 trampler, token generator for 6.

Soulsurge Elemental: with all the tokens red makes, this x/1 first-striker for 4 looks better than i first thought. Pretty dependent on your creature count of your deck, but possibly playable.

Surreal Memoir: red has lots of good instants and sorceries to be getting back

Valakut Fireboar: sits there as a 1/7 until you can find a chance to turn him sideways. Kinda expensive, but playable.

Rares//Mythic


Conquering Manticore: 5/5 flier with a comes-into-play threaten, for 6 mana.

Disaster Radius: bomb removal

Dragonlord: you play red if you get this guy

Lord of Shatterkull Pass: you play red if you get this guy.

Rage Nimbus: pretty awesome 5/3 defender who can make people attack for just 2 mana. This guy would make a nice target for totem armor.

Tuktuk the Explorer: playable.

World at War: this seems really strong, but probably win-more strong. If your opponent has creatures all tapped out this can win the game, so i guess it is red's version of sleep. I would probably play it if i was already in red, but i wouldn't play red just because i saw this card.

Red has lots of really good common removal, like black. Also makes lots of tokens, like black. Also has some good bomb rares, like black. However, the common creatures are barely playable, if at all, and the uncommon creatures are powerful but over-costed. Like black, it looks like you would have a difficult time putting together 12 playable red cards, but it makes a nice splash for removal.

Green Commons

Aura Gnarlid: 2/2 for 3 a decent ability.

Daggerback Basilisk: Really good. Deathtouch Grizzly Bear for 3. If you had three of these guys in your six packs you'd have to feel pretty good about that.

Growth Spasm: Rampant Growth that makes a token and costs an extra mana. Very playable, especially since you are playing GW/r or GW/b, probably.

Haze Frog: He's really expensive and stupid, but I like him. We need more cute animals in magic.

Kozilek's Predator: a 3/3 for 4 that makes two tokens. Are you kidding?

Leaf Arrow: this is pretty funny. Probably maindeckable with lots of evasion creatures in U and B, and a few in R and W. Also, removal is few and far in between except for R and B.

Nest Invader: 2 mana grizzly bear, nice card. Wait, you get a token, too? Are you kidding?

Ondu Giant: more mana fixing in a decent-sized body.

Overgrown Battlement: 0/4 defender for 2, but to make him a llanowar elf you lose out on blocking. But in a format with lots of big expensive spells, very worthwhile. You'd be happy with multiples of this guy.

Snake Umbra: totem armor for 3, +1/+1 and lets you draw cards, maybe.

Spider Umbra: totem armor for 2, gives +1/+1 and reach.

Sporecap Spider: 1/5 reach for...3? Wow.

Stomper Cub: 5/3 trampler for 5.

Wildheart Invoker: the other playable Invoker (the white one was good, the others weren't). a 4/3 for 4, with a nice late game ability.

THERE'S 13 (not counting haze frog) PLAYABLE COMMONS HERE!!! IS ANYONE NOT PLAYING GREEN?

Green uncommons

Beastbreaker of Bala Ged: Grizzly Bear with level up

Boar Umbra: more awesome totem armor, +3/+3 for 3.

Bramblesnap: 1/1 for 2, with tap an untapped creature you control and pump him. Oh and he has trample. Did i mention that there are about twelve playable token generator cards in commons and uncommons?

Broodwarden: 4/4 for 5. Spawns get +2/+1. See the Bramblesnap comments. Very powerful uncommon creature here.

Gravity Well: great card b/c green lacks removal and there are lots of evasion creatures. If you're heavy green this get's MD, if you're heavy on evasion creatures yourself it stays out. Pretty solid ench.

Joraga Treespeaker: expensive llanowar, very nice.

Pelakka Wurm: I thought Skeletal Wurm was good. This guy is amazing.

Look, only 6 playable green uncommons. That means about 20 cards between commons and uncommons will go into any green deck. Again, 95% of the decks will be running green.

Rare//Mythic

Awakening Zone: I'll go ahead and call this a bomb. It kinda depends on what else you pull, but then again it doesn't really. It's virtual card advantage if nothing else.

Bear Umbra: Pretty much the best aura ever. Double green, so not really spalshable, but then again all the decent creatures in common are green, so you're playing green already.

Gelatinous Genesis: Nine mana makes 4 4/4 ooze guys. Seven makes 3 3/3's. I can live with that. Pretty playable in sealed, if you ask me.

Kazanda Tuskcaller: This card looks really awesome, but how are you going to keep a 1/1 guy alive long enough to make a full herd of 3/3 elephants? Hmmmmm....Totem Armor? He's worth putting in your deck, but a 1/1 is a bit weak to get your hopes up. If, for some reason, your opponent can't kill him then you get to win, eventually.

Khalni Hydra: Obviously you can't play this guy. Unless, of course, you can. And if you can then you have an 8/8 tramples for probably less than 8 mana. And if you have that, then you're doing pretty good.

Momentous Fall: Best green card ever. Not great for sealed, I guess, but not bad either.

Mul Daya Channelers: a 2/2 for 3 with cool abilities.

Vengevine: 4/3 haste guy that comes back practically on his own. What's not to like about this guy? I want six of him and I'll be happy.

Green is pretty strong in creatures and bombs, and even produces some tokens. My guess is there will be a lot of GR/b, GB/r, GW/b, GW/r. Pity me, because my best cards will be black and blue, and I won't have the necessary commons and uncommons to have a winning deck. Or I might get twelve Vengevine--6 regular, 6 foil. That'd be something, huh?

The Other Color(less)s

Sarkhan the Mad: turn your turds into dragons. with flying. What's not to like?

Keening Stone: sure, this card can randomly win you the game. Not glamorous, but effective.

The lands look cool. Its like they are all from the same picture.

FNM this week

Looks like I need:

3x Garruk Wildspeaker
1x Jace, the Expensive One
2x Iona, Shield of Emeria

If I can trade/borrow those, I'll be able to play polymorph!

I'm going to quit "fixing" Open the Vaults

So after some reflection my post-FNM attempts to "fix" the deck for Jund and mono-white has pretty much been lame. So I just want to have some random 1-of's, and take out some good cards like Martial Coup and Day of Judgment. And this time I will refrain from using Tainted Sigil. And I won't have Sanguine Bond in the maindeck, or even the sideboard for that matter.

Ok, for real this time.

4x Everflowing Chalice
1x Dispeller's Capsule
1x Executioner's Capsule
1x Courier's Capsule
4x Spreading Seas
4x Pilgrim's Eye
3x Fieldmist Borderpost
3x Mistvein Borderpost
2x Jace, the Cool Guy
4x Sphinx of Lost Truths
3x Scourglass
4x Open the Vaults
4x Filigree Angel

2 Swamp
10 Plains
10 Island

sideboard
2 Magister Sphinx (essentially a late-game combat trick vs people playing lifegain. Play him, swing for more than 10 and win)
3 Executioner's Capsule (this thing is just an unplayed common, but it is pretty good in some match-ups, like RDW--bye bye Ball Lightning--Naya, and anyone playing Iona, cause they will certainly name white.
4 Vedalken Outlander --RDW is my worst match-up (other than the mirror match) so this guy makes some good sense
3 Pithing Needle --it is great vs Grixis Control cause they can't do anything about it. It is good vs jund, until they pulse. But then again, I'd prefer them to pulse this than my borderposts.
3 Identity Crisis -- pretty good against everything in the tier 1 range. This is neccessary for me to win the mirror match. Also, it nerfs unearth, and knight of the rel. Oh, and I guess exiling their hand is ok, right?

Open the Vaults: messing around with bad cards again

4x everflowing chalice
2x dispellers capsule
2x tainted sigil
4x courier's capsule
4x spreading seas
4x pilgrim's eye
3x scourglass
2x sanguine bond
4x open the vaults
4x filigree angel
2x obelisk of alara
4x fieldmist borderpost
4x mistvein borderpost
17 basic lands

4 brink of destruction
3 executioner's capsule
4 vedalken outlander
3 luminarch ascension


Ok so I'm pretty sure the other deck is gonna suck. So here's an idea i have been thinking about. The eternity vessel deck. Of course you can see eternity vessel isn't here. That's because eternity vessel sucks. But the other parts are still pretty good. I want some dispeller's capsules because i get angry when my permanents get o-ringed. I want to test the artifact board-wiper over day and coup, because in theory it is sustainable. I could even have two or three on board just waiting. Oh, and I want brink of destruction to come kill everything and then kill it over and over since it comes back. Good for creatures, good for lands, good for stuff. But pithing needle is probably better. My thing is jund's man-lands destroy me, so i need to stop them. hence exe capsule and brink (or needle, which is what i should use, but is less funny).

Open the Vaults: messing around with good cards

So yesterday at FNM open the vaults went 4-2. I only lost to jund and mono-white. Both games I lost my borderposts were getting hit with pulses and o-rings, and that slowed me down enough to not get my open the vaults online.

Also of note, I successfully traded for two new Jaces. For those of you keeping score at home, Jace > Obelisk of Alara.

So here's how I plan to make changes:

36 spells
4x Everflowing Chalice
4x Tidehollow Sculler
4x pilgrim's eye
2x jace, the mind sculptor
4x day of judgment
4x sphinx of lost truths
4x glassdust hulk
4x open the vaults
4x filigree angel
2x martial coup

24 lands
8 islands
5 plains
2 swamps
2 bojuka bog
3 marsh flats
4 glacial fortress
*I changed the manabase after writing the bottom part--i realized there are some good non-basics to pretty much fix my mana issues. The problem with non-basics is lots of people are using tectonic edge, so before it was a colorless mana and now it actually hits something, but i'm not too worried about that, because by the time i have four lands in play i can cast pilgrim's eye.

sideboard
2 magister sphinx (instead of sanguine bond)
4 hindering light
3 oblivion ring
2 negate
4 spreading seas

this build is going to need some testing. I have 20 artifacts in the maindeck, which seems like enough. Tidehollow may be too inconsistent (with only five black mana sources, two of which come into play tapped) for a turn two, so I'll have to either play him later on, or discard him with the sphinx. Both of those still make him really good maindeck. If I can consistently get a turn 5-6 open the vaults, getting a tidehollow or two into play greatly increases my likelihood of stabilizing. However, it means it is a 2-cost card that I pretty much can't count on till late game. So is it better than spreading seas or hindering light, both of which I want vs jund and vampires? In reality, a turn 2 sculler is pretty much dead as soon as his ability triggers, but a turn seven can get the final piece of removal, putting my opponent into topdeck mode for good. And two or three coming into play all at once on turn six is just brutal. All of that to say I'm not sure he's better than spreading seas--regardless of the island effect, it cantrips--or hindering light--again, cantrip. Sculler is really really good late game, and just ok early game. Testing required, but I think he is good enough to be maindeck. Also, if I take him out for seas or light, i go down to 16 artifacts maindeck, which seems not good.

Jace & coup both work with the synergy of the deck--Jace helps me have a really great topdeck every turn and after I stabilize becomes a win-con. Coup works well with my 4 everlasting chalices to make a bunch of soldiers, but also is an alternate board sweeper. I believe I can consistently cast day on turn 4, but vs jund I will need two more, as well as a way to block or remove raging ravine (spreading seas works nicely). The coup provides me a fifth and sixth board sweeper, very useful for jund.

The problem with the jund matchup is I need Hindering Light (blighting, maindeck, thought hemmhorage & jund charm--gy removal--post sideboard) AND spreading seas (my ONLY way to deal with man-lands, other than playing creatures). So I'm taking out 8 cards for those. I imagine those 8 cards are 4 tidehollow sculler, 4 everflowing chalice--the chalice is great vs fast aggro, not necessary vs mid-range aggro like jund, also it provides a nice maelstrom pulse target. They help out my early game, as well as give me cantrips to help me get to my combo pieces.

So here's my FNM story:



I played vs jund round 4 vs robert forrest.

Game one, I won soundly.

Game two I flashfreezed a turn 3 thirnax, played a pilgirm's eye on my turn three. Turn four he blightning'd me, and I discarded two angels. I played a land and tapped two of them for a chalice with 1, leaving two untapped islands. Next turn I would be able to open the vaults, and get both angels and gain 30 life. He untaps, thinks for a minute, then thought hemmhorages naming open the vaults. I lost three turns later after he pulsed my chalices next turn off a bloodbraid.

Game three, I was holding a sphinx of the lost truths. I had eight lands in play. I was at 4 life. He was at 19. He had no cards in hand at the end of his turn, but he had a bloodwitch in play which was going to kill me next turn. I topdeck an open the vaults. I have 2 pilgrim's eyes and 1 glassdust hulk in the yard. I have enough mana to play open the vaults, or play the sphinx with or without kicker, but not both. I play vaults. He topdecks maelstrom pulse, gets both my fliers, and swings across for four, good game. My top three cards (i looked after the game) were island, angel, negate. If I had casted the sphinx with kicker, i could have played the island and had an angel to play next turn and a negate to protect my sphinx. And since I was playing borderposts I had about four artifacts in play, so I had essentially stabilized.

vs white weanie both games i had decent early game, both games i got my borderpost o-ringed turn three, both games i lost by turn six to elspeth and dread sanctuary. the o-ringing of my borderpost made all the difference.

so i think the new build may be good, but not sure yet
Anyway

Open the Vaults: messing around with bad cards

So my old open the vaults went undefeated at FNM last week. It is fun, and I want to try to improve the consistency of getting a turn 5-6 open the vaults with good stuff in the yard, or otherwise make it more stable so if i don't get a turn 5-6 open the vaults i still have a decent chance of making it to turn eight or nine for a big open the vaults explosion. Here's last weeks deck:

3x Everflowing Chalice
4x Spreading the Seas
3x Journey to Nowhere
3x Day of Judgment
4x Architects of Will
4x Glassdust Hulk
4x Sphinx of Lost Truths
1x Sphinx Summoner
1x Ethersworn Adjudicator
1x Sharuum
4x Open the Vaults
4x Filigree Angel

2x Celestial Colonnade
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Drowned Catacomb
3x Marsh Flats
6x Island
4x Plains
1x Swamp

board:
1x Day of Judgment
3x Oblivion Ring
3x Flashfreeze
2x Negate
1x Sanguine Bond
3x Hindering Light
2x Obelisk of Alara

So now what I want to do is: 1) Fix my mana base. 2). Try to find a way to make it draw better or stabilize easier. 3). Add more jank.

43 spells
4x Everflowing Chalice
4x Spreading Seas
4x Pilgrim's Eye
4x Fieldmist Borderpost
3x Mistvein Borderpost
4x Day of Judgment
4x Sphinx of Lost Truths
4x Glassdust Hulk
2x Sanguine Bond
2x Obelisk of Alara
4x Open the Vaults
4x Filigree Angel

17 lands
7x Island
6x Plains
2x Swamp
1x Mountain
1x Forest


So now I turn one land + borderpost.
Turn two land + everflowing chalice + borderpost.
Turn three land + everflowing chalice for two.
Turn four land 2 pilgrim's eye. Then chump block.
Turn five land + sphinx with no kicker and discard stuff. Maybe play a spreading seas.
...or Obelisk of Alara.
...or everflowing chalice for 3
Turn six play a big open the vaults.
...or hardcast an angel and go back to 20 or 30 life.
...or hardcast another sphinx with the kicker.
...or Day of Judgment and if i hava an obelisk in play then that is pretty good board position.
...or Martial coup for five.

sideboard:
3x Flashfreeze
3x Negate
3x Hindering Light
2x Sanguine Bond
2x Tezzeret, the Seeker
2x Magister Sphinx

the sphinx is great against anyone gaining life.

tez is great against decks light on creatures. play him and activate his +1. Next turn easily swing for lethal with my borderposts.

bond is good vs control and/or people gaining life

hindering light is good against a lot of stuff, especially Cruel Control and Jund.

Flashfreeze is good vs RDW, Jund and Cruel Control.

Negate is good vs BU control, or to get a pesky planeswalker.

Steal your nerd and ooze you in the face with him

4x Ooze Garden
4x Rampant Growth
4x Violent Outburst
4x Mark of Mutiny
4x Momentous Fall
4x Bloodbraid Elf
4x Traitorous Instinct
3x Sarkhan Vol
3x Stone Idol Trap
2x Conquering Manticore
4x Oren-Reif, the Vastwood
4x Raging Ravine
4x Rootbound Crag
1x Forest
2x Turntimber Grove
7x Mountain

Its simple. Play lands. Wait till my opponent plays some guys. Steal them. Turn them sideways, if available. Turn them into a mold. Pretty funny, really. Drok's creatureless deck would pwn me soundly, no doubt, but most people play creatures in their deck.

Rise of the Eldrazai really helps this out quite a bit. Momentous Fail--er, Fall--is pretty much the best way to end the life of a Baneslayer stolen with Sarkhan Vol. After I swing with it, of course. Pretty awesome. Gain life, draw cards, creature goes bye bye.

Traitorous Instict: R + 3 to play. Gain control of a creature, it gets +2/+0 until end of turn. Let's say I steal a 2/2. It becomes a 4/2. I swing for 4. I activate Ooze Garden. I activate oren-rief, the vastwood. For seven mana I hit you for 4 in the face, kill your guy, and now I have a 5/5 ooze. Go.

Stone Idol Trap isn't new, but it's perfect. Either gets me a 6/6 ooze (after blocking a guy as a combat trick and killing him, then swinging trampling for 6), or i can fall it and draw 6 and gain 12. That's pretty good, i think.

The Conquering Masticore is pretty hot. I think. Might be better running a cheapish devour creature, or perhaps explore. Or maybe even a win-con. Like +1 Vol, +1 Trap.

Tuktuk the explore, Magmaw, and splintertwin are all new red cards that fit the theme of this deck. Magmaw gives me an alternate sac source but is expensive and dies pretty easily. Tuktuk gives me a 1/1 mold (bigger with oran-rief vastwood) AND a 5/5 guy. Or if I have 2 or so vastwoods, I can spend 7 mana and end up with a 3/3 and a 7/7 mold, which is pretty funny. It's like a monored not as good version of sprouting thrinax, which is cool cause i don't have black. If I did I could run the thrinax, as well as abyssal persecutor, but it jacks up the mana base.

Splintertwin isn't great because it's an aura and I don't really run any creatures of my own. But if I did, it would be funny. Not really playable for me as is, though. Unlike Tuktuk. And kinda Magmaw, but that feels kinda like a casual player card.

Ok, so watch this. Turn six, I have a vastwood, a ravine, a mountain and two forests, as well as a sarkhan, and my opponent just swung with a vampire nighthawk then played bloodwitch. Sarkhan is at 3. I activate the second ability of vol, targeting the bloodwitch. I play a turntimber grove, giving it +1/+1. I play Violent Outburst, giving it another +1/+1, hitting an ooze garden with the cascade. I swing for 6. I ooze it. Now I have a nearly dead vol and a 6/6 guy. Next turn I can swing with my guy and kill something, and then after combat draw 6 cards and gain 6 life.

It doesn't look anything like a tier 1 deck, but it looks pretty funny to me. I'd play it at FNM. Probably not at a PTQ.

BUW spread em

4 spreading seas
4 convincing mirage
4 esper charm
4 ardent plea
4 kathari remnant
4 day of judgment
3 baneslayer
4 sphinx of lost truths
2 deny reality (jace the mindbender, if i had it)
2 sphinx of jwar isle

2 celestial colonnade
4 glacial fortress
4 drowned catacomb
4 plains
5 island
3 swamp
4 terramorphic expanse

board:
3 identity crisis
4 vedalken outlander
4 kor firewalker
4 zombie outlander

Beat the Meat. I mean Meta.

4 Duress
4 Path to Exile
4 Kor Firewalker
4 White Knight
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Blightning
3 Day of Judgment
3 Baneslayer
2 Identity Crisis

Play some creatures that are good vs jund and RDW (pro black & red guys, baneslayer); play some good discard stuff (duress, THS, IC, blightning) and some good removal (path, o-ring, day). Lots of random good cards all in a RWB control deck. The idea is to build a deck to beat RDW and Jund. I don't know how good it would be. Looks like I'd still do ok to Cruel Control and U/W control with identity crisis and THS. Who knows though.

RW Control Revisited

1 Baneslayer Angel
4 Luminarch Ascension
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Burst Lightning
4 Path to Exile
3 Earthquake
4 Chain Reaction
2 Comet Storm
2 Chandra Ablaze
3 Ajani Vengeant
4 Everflowing Chalice

4x Valakut
4x Arid Mesa
5x plains
11x mountais

SB:
4x Day of Judgement
2x Baneslayer
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Volcanic Fallout
1x Chandra Ablaze

When playing against Zors last night, I found that Mind Sludge wrecks me, just like blightning only worse. I feel that I needed to add some form of a board presence, and Luminarch Ascension should do that.

Chandra Ablaze fills a similar purpose while adding versatility to my deck. When she is down, she can turn any of my red spells into free sorcery speed Flame Javelins, additionally, If I do need new cards I can use the - ability to refill my hand (unfortunately, this could also help my opponent, but I think that most of the times I would need to use it it will probably help me more.)

These two cards will help me some against discard which is just slaughtering me it seems.

I moved the Day of Judgements and the Oblivion Rings to the board and brought the earthquake count back up. This does make me a little more vulnerable to UW skies and other flyer decks but the L:uminarch Ascension hopefully will act as a counter to that.

So now there are two forms of inevitability to the deck, both of which have limited numbers of ways to deal with them (Ascension and Valakut)

Im a little tempted to lose Valakut so that I can make room for a third color, blue, to add a little more versatility and card draw to the deck. For now, Im going to be working on trying to stay as true to my original idea as possible though.

Challenge of the Week: Cloven Casting

I want to ramp to cloven casting then start casting a bunch of cascade spells with my build!

extended day

I somehow borrowed the rest of the cards i needed for lark, and i finished 6th. i made the top eight table and lost game 1 to ben c (living end).

looks like the 17th and 24th of april are the release event days, i think it is saturday and sunday both weekends. $30 entry fee.

Extended Vore!

Well I wanted to try to make something viable since I'm having a hard time getting new cards. This looks pretty good to me. I've tested it a little and I beat scapeshift easily, especially after boarding in blood moon. I played about eight matches with zoo and it went 50/50. I assumed this would be my worst match-up. Then I remembered my worst matchup is probably RDW. I did beat RW weanie aggro 2-1 in a match, but it felt like a fluke because i was at one life for four turns in a row while he couldn't draw a land. I played four times in a row vs. various U-control decks and they stood no chance. I think if i show up with this deck i can win some matches. i hope so, because this is about all i can put together with my card pool, and this is what i wanted to play anyway.

4 ponder
4 treasure hunt
4 spreading seas
3 compulsive research
4 stone rain
4 molten rain
4 fulminator mage
3 magnivore
3 wildfire
3 repeal

8 mountain
5 island
4 steam vents
4 scalding tarn
4 cascade bluffs

board
4 blood moon
3 cryoclasm
2 chain reaction
3 shattering spree
3 pyroclasm

I think it would be better with the new Jace, but since I'm talking about cards I have or realistically think i can get, i won't include him. But i'd have him in the MD instead of repeal. Honestly Repeal may be almost as good for this deck, anyway.

polymorph: the new win

35 spells
4 Ponder
4 Treasure Hunt
4 Spreading Seas
4 Captured Sunlight
2 Jace the Mind Sculptor
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Day of Judgment
1 Ajani Goldmane
3 Polymorph
3 Bestial Menace
2 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Martial Coup
1 Wargate

25 lands
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Terramorphic Expanse
4 Khalni Garden
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Forest
7 Island
5 Plains

I have a decent chance against mid-range aggro (jund, boss naya) but it's the RDW, goblins, RW weanie, vampires, and even RG Valakut that are going to be a terrible match up for me. They kill my 0/1 plant when i try to polymorph, they kill me on turn four or five consistently. My sideboard is gonna focus on that.

2 Solemn Offering -- good for lots of stuff, actually, but only 2 because it is mostly good against decks i can already beat. It hits O-ring, spreading seas, zendikar 7/1 elemental shrine, any of the ascensions, and it helps out vs the boss naya--it kills their equiptments, but also game 2 and 3 they will have boarded in manabarbs, and i have to name white for iona, so if they have lots of creatures and gain life stuff and all i have is iona, i might want to get rid of manabarbs.

2 mind control -- synergy with polymorph. when i play decks with stuff like baneslayer or big dragons or big creatures i want a couple of these. i get their creature and sac him to polymorph. 2 birds with 1 stone.

4 rest for the weary -- 8 life for 2 mana (with landfall) or if i hit it with the cascade, 12 life for 8 mana. I'm not sure this is the best stall tactic I could find, but it is the best thing i've seen so far. Not a long-term solution, by any means, but good enough to get me through an extra turn. This slot is pretty questionable. Might be better to run divination and hope to draw some answers?

4 path to exile -- i need this to get rid of blood ghasts, also good to hit the RDW creatures with unearth.

3 oblivion ring -- good for lots of stuff, especially jund, and i hit it with my cascade.

so it still isn't much help vs. RDW. I might be better off with a dragon's claw than Rest for the Weary. I'd love to run a Kor Firewalker, but not only is my manabase questionable to make it useful by the time i can play it, but i want to hit iona with my polymorph, not a firewalker. iona wins the game vs vampires and RDW and goblins, so my best bet is to hope they tap out on turn four, or else they aren't holding a removal when i polymorph my guy for the win.

I am afraid I still lose a lot to RDW and vampires. Ideas?

Maindeck:

Creatures
4 Sakura-tribe Elder
4 Wood Elves

Instants
4 Cryptic Command
4 Repeal
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Remand


Sorceries
4 Ponder
4 Scapeshift
4 Search For Tomorrow

Basic Lands
4 Forest
4 Island
2 Mountain

Lands
2 Breeding Pool
2 Flooded Grove
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Valakut, The Molten Pinnacle

Sideboard:
1 Echoing Truth
1 Lightning Bolt
3 Negate
3 Ravenous Trap
1 Wipe Away
4 Firespout
2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All



other than the manabase this looks pretty cheap... and with potential.

We have almost every card for this

U/W Reveillark
An Extended Magic deck, by Ryan Benito
2nd place at a Pro Tour Qualifier tournament in San Antonio, Texas, United States on 2010-01-17
As reported at http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/events.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/sanjuan10ptq/0116sanantonio
Click here to see a summary of all decks from PT: San Juan PTQ Season
Maindeck:

Artifacts
3 Azorius Signet
2 Chrome Mox

Creatures
1 Body Double
1 Figure Of Destiny
3 Martyr Of Sands
4 Meddling Mage
4 Mulldrifter
2 Ranger Of Eos
3 Reveillark

Instants
4 Aethermage's Touch
2 Momentary Blink
4 Path To Exile

Legendary Creatures
1 Venser, Shaper Savant

Sorceries
4 Wrath Of God

Basic Lands
8 Plains

Lands
3 Arid Mesa
1 Emeria, The Sky Ruin
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Marsh Flats
2 Tolaria West

Legendary Lands
1 Miren, The Moaning Well

Sideboard:
2 Chalice Of The Void
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
1 Meloku The Clouded Mirror
3 Teferi, Mage Of Zhalfir
2 Ghost Quarter

This is the deck.

Convince Me not to build this:

4x Quest for Ula's Temple

4x Grozoth
4x Inkwell Leviathan
4x Mystic Snake
4x Sage of Epityr
4x Sage Owl

4x Clockspinning
4x Spell Burst
4x Condescend

4x Halimar Depths
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Breeding Pool
4x Flooded Grove
4x Dryad Arbor <- complete proof that this is one of the worst decks
4x Yavimaya Coast

Thopter Depths

This looks like the coolest deck--EVER!

this was a first place finisher somewhere, but lots of similar versions are showing up all over ptq's.

Maindeck:

Artifacts
4 Chrome Mox
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Sword Of The Meek
3 Thopter Foundry

Creatures
4 Dark Confidant
4 Vampire Hexmage

Instants
4 Muddle The Mixture
3 Repeal
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Thirst For Knowledge

Sorceries
2 Compulsive Research
4 Thoughtseize

Basic Snow Lands
3 Snow-covered Island
1 Snow-covered Swamp

Lands
4 River Of Tears
4 Sunken Ruins
3 Tolaria West

Legendary Lands
1 Academy Ruins
4 Urborg, Tomb Of Yawgmoth

Legendary Snow Lands
4 Dark Depths

Sideboard:
2 Sower Of Temptation
1 Sphinx Of Jwar Isle
4 Leyline Of The Void
1 Darkblast
4 Deathmark
2 Exile Into Darkness
1 Dimir Aqueduct

What a fun idea! There are some expensive cards here, but this looks like a budget deck compared to some. I may try this thing out. It looks great.

Vore -- getting extended decks ready for the gran prix

The closest thing I have to an extended deck is vore. Here's my current decklist:

4 Careful Study
3 Devastating Dreams
4 Remand
4 Volcanic Hammer
3 Mana Leak
4 Molten Rain
4 Pillage
4 Compulsive Research
3 Magnivore
2 Fathom Trawl
1 Repeal

2 terramorphic expanse
1 shivan reef
4 steam vents
9 island
8 mountain


my incomplete board:
4 smash
4 cyroclasm
1 repeal

i was pretty sure i had shattering spree's and not smash, but i guess not

cards that do not appear to be extended legal:
--pillage
--devastating dreams
--careful study

cards that might be good to replace those or others:

Treasure Hunt -- this would be the opposite approach as fathom trawl--instead of having five mana and being in a position where all i need to do is get some juice to win, treasure hunt would be instant speed (not helpful to vore) that will hopefully net me a land and a something, and will occasionally give me lots of lands and a something. That could be useful for discarding sorceries. Probably need to go with one of the good sorcery draw cards. I need a cheap draw to replace careful study.

Sphinx of Lost Truths -- this guy's function is to get me cards, and possibly get me cards into the yard. Benefits: he doesn't die to wildfire, he has evasion, he blocks man-lands and lots of other stuff without dying. He would be the only other creature than vore, so maybe good for pulling removal from my opponent's hand, maybe even a sorcery. Negatives: a 3/5 chump blocker for five mana isn't terribly mana effecient. If I'm in a place where i have five or six lands, no cards in hand, and i need a chump blocker then he isn't the best topdeck i could get. I don't see that happening very often though. The other negative is he isn't a sorcery.

Wildfire -- I can't think of anything off hand that works better for me than Wildfire (except devastating dreams). I haven't looked at all my options, but I figure people use this card for a reason.

Something to replace Pillage -- there are lots of ways to get lands into the yard, I haven't looked at any of them yet but i figure this to be pretty easily replaced.

Lots of people go with bounce effects over counterspell effects. Maybe instead of running 3 leaks and 4 remands, I should go with 4 leaks and 4 remands and -1 repeal. (Repeal would be nicer if it was a sorcery).

lands-- i have scalding tarns, that might be better than terramorphic expanse/shivan reef. not sure what else to do there. the simplier the mana base the better, in my opinion.

Board options:

Cyroclasm still seems like a good choice.

Mindbreak Trap and/or double negative might be good for the local meta (naya has bloodbraid elf, and i heard three people say they are playing that, including ben c). Mindbreak also is good vs dragonstorm or tendril of agony or whatever happens to be happening.

Probably some crypt of tormod or some kind of GY hate.

Hopefully everyone will be playing Valakut decks and I'll win really easily.

Mike: if you don't have a deck idea yet, you should look at the Hive Mind/Pact of Negation/Pact of Titans, etc. For some reason I could see you having fun winning games with Hive Mind.

Also, I have 1 tarmagoyf, so if either of you guys are playing green and don't have your playset, you can borrow that one.

BUW reanimator: Open the Vault

I kept seeing people playing this over the last week. I just kinda guessed at how many of whatever card they were running. Maybe could use a tweak. But this thing is a beast. It is super fun to play. It is more fun than empty the warrens combo back in the day, and that is probably the funnest deck I played.

Looks something like this:

4 Architects of Will
4 Courier's Capsule
4 Day of Judgment
3 Everflowing Chalice
2 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Filigree Angel
4 Glassdusk Hulk
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Mistvein Borderpost
3 Open the Vault
1 Sharuum the Hegemon
4 Sphinx of Lost Truths
2 Sphinx of the Steel Wind

4 Arcane Sanctum
2 Celestial Colonnade
1 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Island
3 Plains
4 Swamp

board
3 celestial purge
3 flashfreeze
4 kor firewalker
1 martial coup
4 negate

Challenge of the Week, Revisted: Ooze Garden is strong!

4 ooze garden
4 rampant growth
4 sprouting thrinax
3 maelstom pulse
4 blightning
2 sarkhan vol
4 bloodbraid elf
4 abyssal persecutor
2 bituminous blast
4 stone idol trap

3 forest
3 mountain
3 swamp
3 raging ravine
4 verdant catacombs
3 dragonskull summit
4 savage lands
2 oran-rief, the vastwood

sideboard
4x goblin ruinblaster
4x mark of mutiny
4x jund charm
3x terminate


edited 03.08.2010 300pm

Challenge of the Week: Death's Shadow

Should be easy enough.

Join the Ranks is the best limited card in Zendikar Block

.

Hagra Diabolist

I have a dumb idea. Build a deck on Hagra Diabolist. No back talk, just do it.

Ok, back to the drawing board v4

Ok, I have talked a lot about it but i've never built it so my mana base may be totally messed up, but here goes.

26 lands
6 forest
10 mountain
3 jund panorama
4 terramorphic expanse
3 valakut, the molten pinnacle

10 creatures
4x grazing gladehart
4x rampagin baloths
2x bogardan hellkite

11 engine pieces
4x khalni heart expedition
3x rampant growth
4x harrow

11 keeping it real
3x garruk
2x warp world
4x burst lightning
1x expedition map

sideboard
2x acidic slime
2x siege-gang commander
3x volcanic fallout
3x chain reaction
2x comet storm
3x lightning bolt

so i really don't have much to deal with a baneslayer here. and my secondary focus of LD went out the window, apparently. I'll still be able to remove a land here and there, but I'm more about landfall and manaramping into goodness.

Not sure this is better than the RGB ld ramp, but I think this might be fun, too.

I just have to figure out which is better against the greatest number of decks.

So feel free to offer suggestions to this one or the other one. I obviously have too much free time right now.

BRG ramp

So what happened was I thought the Lotus Cobra engine is amazing when it works, but it isn't consistent enough. I prefer having a turn one land, turn two land + khalni heart expedition, a turn three fetch land and a rampant growth...that gives me a turn 4 seven mana. so with seven mana in mind (or the same scenario, but not having another land in hand to play turn four...six mana...) Or if I only hit one of those pieces I only excel a little bit, but i have color fixing for a soft splash of a third color. Anyway, I guess the bottom line is for my play-style I felt uncomfortable with the explosive but weak cobra, so I'm gonna try this other thing out. Take a look:

the engine:
4x Khalni Heart Expedition
4x Rampant Growth

the good stuff:
4x Acidic Slime
3x Lavaball Trap
4x Rampaging Baloths
4x Roiling Terrain
3x Summoning Trap
2x Violent Ultimadeum

removal:
3x burst lightning
4x lightning bolt

lands:
8 forests
5 mountains
3 swamps
3 savage lands
2 terramorphic expanse
4 verdant catacombs

sideboard
2x chain reaction
4x goblin ruinblaster
3x ricochet trap
4x terminate
2x volcanic fallout

Ok, so there is the rough draft. I didn't go super big mana--I have lavaball trap in at eight mana as a 3 of, then 2 ultimadeums, 3 baloths, 3 summoning traps. So eleven spells at 6+. There are no Terastodon or Bogardan Hellkites. I like both and either, but the only two slots that are negoitable of those eleven are 3 baloths and 3 summonging traps. I think Baloth is better than terastodon, but is harder to hard cast on games when my little engine doesn't work. Same thing with the hellkite, but I think the hellkite is as good (if not slightly better because there is guaranteed five damage happening somewhere). Hitting a hellkite with a summoning trap can be a win con on its own, but hitting a baloth or terastodon are just helping me get where i want to be. The other guy is Ob Nixilis; he is the same cmc as baloth, but 3 black mana isn't what this deck wants to get out. He works better in a more black deck, or with the lotus cobra engine. Lastly is siege-gang. He is a little too underpowered in my mind, but it might deserve a test run in the decklist, or a sideboard slot to help against weanie. Personally, seems like I'm thinking i'll need him to help as removal, so i just need to run some good removal and not use the commander. I did not use shambling mold because I'm using summoning trap, and the mold is only good with the kicker. I don't mind hitting a slime because he's doing something already, but i wouldn't want to hit a mold (or ruinblaster goblin, either). Grazing gladeheart isn't bad for my maindeck, or my sideboard, but i didn't see an easy cut anywhere, so i figured i'd just keep him in mind and look for a place for it.

The engine itself is small and simple. Eight 2-cost ramps, both have some synergy with the baloth if i get them late game. Top-decking a BoP or Lotus Cobra late game makes me want to cry. I'm not saying I want to top-deck a khalni heart expedition when all i need is to do...anything...but it is bad for your morale to topdeck a lotus cobra when you need something else, and it is easy to blame the cobra. It is harder to lose morale and blame an enchantment. But more importantly, I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't have harrow in here. Particularly if I stay with the baloth. But even if I don't, it is good for mana fixing. If i have only 3 forests and a swamp i can trade in a forest for two mountains, or whatever. Not to mention it is cheap (for this deck) and instant speed. Obviously it fits nicely, even as just a 3 of.

The other way I could go with it is Warp World. It randomly wins games, especially if I'm winning with the permanent count, and i have baloths and/or hellkites and/or terastodon (or some other nasty thing that I haven't thought of yet), and it has the potential to randomly change the tide and make a game i'm losing 15 to 2 and i'll die after one more turn into a game i can win. The bad news is that it costs nine mana and it can randomly lose me a game if i happen to get unlucky. On the other hand, it is fun, and that makes it worth considering, and i can always sideboard it out and play the serious version against good decks that i need quick answers for.

Lots of sentences ending in prepositions here.

This looks more like something I would probably play at a FNM than the other decks I thought I might play but realized lotus cobra woes could make for an unfun magical time.

It needs some work. Please offer suggestions.

To recap, the big quesitons:

Gladeheart makes it in?
Baloth or Hellkite
Harrow?
Warp World?
Fix my sideboard 101. For some reason (probably because I don't think about it very much) my rough draft sideboard almost always gets 100% replaced by the final cuts, so I don't expect to see any of these in here soon.

RG ramp combo/LD v2

the mana ramping
4x Birds
4x Lotus Cobra
4x Explore
4x Harrow
3x Garruk

the ld
4x Roiling Terrain
4x Acidic Slime
3x Mold Shambler
3x Lavaball Trap

the win-con
3x Bogardan Hellkite
(garruk counts as win-con, too)

4x Arid Mesa
4x Misty Rainforest
9x Forest
6x Mountain
1x Plains

sideboard
3x Thornling
3x Goblin Ruinblaster
4x Volcanic Fallout
2x Obelisk of Alara
3x Sylvan Bounty

The problem I'm having is 8 mana is one more than 7 mana, and the thornling is more resiliant. So I'll board in the thornling after they see the hellkite and hopefully they won't have path.

This version looks better...the obelisk with a plains helps vs RDW, and I already match up as well as I can vs jund and ultimadeum, since they are 3+ colors and mid-range dependent. Weanie and RDW will be harder to beat.

So what do i need to change?

Dumb Idea #685419 - Creatureless control RW

Removal:
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
4x Burst Lightning
4x Oblivion Ring
4x Volcanic Fallout
3x Earthquake
4x Chain Reaction
4x Day of Judgement
2x Comet Storm
2x Martial Coup

Creature:
1x Baneslayer

Land:
4x Arid Mesa
4x Valakut the Molten Pinnacle
11x Mountains
5x Plains

SB:
3x Banefire
3x Baneslayer
1x Earthquake
1x Martial Coup
3x Ajani Vengeant
4x Pyroclasm

Edit: Pyroclasm has recently replaced Luminarch Ascension

RG mana ramp

4x Lotus Cobra
3x Birds of Paradise
4x Goblin Ruinblaster
4x Acidic Slime
3x Seige-Gang Commander

4x Explore
3x Lavaball Trap
4x Roiling Terrain
4x Harrow
3x Khalani Heart Expedition

24 lands
3x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
4x Teramorphic Expanse
11x Mountain
6x Forest


My original idea was to include black for targeted removal and desecrated earth. Then I kept thinking how I wanted to not use desecrated earth, cause even in ramp it is pretty expensive when really all i care about is killing a land, i might as well just run Demolish. Then I remembered the hasty goblin and I figured I could do worse than that. I wanted to add Ob Nixilis, and it might be the call. I haven't piloted a lotus cobra engined mana-ramp, so i'm not sure if it is likely to get the mana to play ob nix and still have some land fetching to utilize his ability. I went with the seige-gang over the hellkite because it is easier to use if i don't get my ramp going, for whatever reason.

Two colors still seems easier than three, in terms of making my floating mana options easier decisions. Instead of floating a black, red and green, or two black and a green, or whatever, now it'll be float a green and the rest red. Probably. I'm fairly confidant that this deck could run black (or white, or blue) and not have a big problem, but it'll be a little more stream-lined and user-friendly in just two colors.

So no black.

Then I realized this decklist already exists, and it runs the legendary red land that interacts with mountains. This version just has more emphasis on ramping into early LD to help me get to my molten pinnacle centric win-con.

Cards that I like that didn't make it, but maybe should have:
Bogardan Hellkite
Lightning Bolt
Volcanic Fallout
Bloodbraid Elf
Demolish
Burst Lightning
Meteor Storm

a misguided first attempt at making a fun RU roiling ruin

Instead of trying to base it off of UB, I was thinking of starting with RDW and making changes. You're a better UB builder than me, for sure, so you might have better insights to go from that side. But when I had the idea for Roiling Ruin being good with U, I was thinking of how UB can put some cards in the yard.

But I know I'm pretty terrible with building UB, so I thought maybe a RDW variant could be viable.

Something like:

the burn and control part
Lightning Bolt
Burst Lightning
Volcanic Fallout

the LD part
Goblin Ruin Blaster
Roiling Ruin

the jank part
Font of Mythos
Ruin Flare Trap

Cards that seem to fit the theme and might make it more consistent, but look like more lose-sauce:

Jace Beleren
Double Negative
Earthquake

So now that I'm looking down this list of cards it seems like I might need to rethink this. A lot.

I just want to find a good home for Roiling Ruin. I think the ramp-LD deck is a much better fit than this, at least right now. I'm not sure there's anything to salvage from this. Which is a pity, because I love UR.

mana ramp

4x Lotus Cobra
4x Caldera Hellion
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Bogardan Hellkite
2x Thraximundar
2x Wrexial

4x Lightning Bolt
4x Harrow
3x Summoning Trap
3x Explore
2x Comet Storm

24 lands
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Misty Rainforest
2x Verdant Catacombs
2x Swamp
3x Island
5x Mountain
4x Forest

sb
2x thraximundar
2x wrexial
1x summoning trap
4x great sable stag
4x fallout
1x comet storm



I dont know if this ramps fast enough, but now there are more threats and less draw. also, six wrathy type of effects.