Magic: The Gathering,GO TEAM MS!

[Thestatusquo]

That's a valid criticism, fate. I don't think I'll know how big of a problem that is until I play with the deck, but mulliganing is your friend. You'll in general find that most people don't mulligan nearly as much as they should. The difference is that I think this style of deck mulligans way better than a given aggro deck.

Take the extreme example: a burn deck. You almost never mulligan with a burn deck unless the hand is pretty much doing nothing. That is because each card is actually worth about 3 points of damage. With a deck like this it's less of an issue, and the power and tempo of the spells I'm playing could make up for being down a card. I don't know if they do yet, because I haven't played the deck yet, but Delver, the deck that inspired this one for me, mulliganed very well, because its tempo was enough to compensate for having to ship 1/4 openers.

It's a thing to keep in mind, though. Also of note: if I cut any more spells snapcaster becomes pretty bad.

[chamber]

I was already looking at 4 questionably, I think you could go down to 3 already. (snapcasters)

[Fate]

e yeah Iwas afraid to say it and be chatized, but I think the snaps are the weakest part of the build.

for some reason he looks forced here, not to mention he doesnt evolve much when he comes down

[Nuwen]

First FNM in Raleigh and I had an INSANE draft. R/G/W were highly contested colors in my pod and I still managed to pick up a clan defiance, frontline medic, skyknight legionaire, gyre sage, 2x skyjeks, cyclops, haste goblin, gruul charm and enough bloodrush to SMASHSMASH into a 2-0, 2-1, 2-0, 1-2 finish. Gamma took the last set off me but the people I beat previously seeded high so I took first place.

My 8 prize packs contained:
garruk relentless
olivia
bonfire of the damned
terminus
prime speaker of stuff
my 4th delver

Fate also cracked our 2nd master biomancer

[Fate]

yeah garruk and olivia where in the same pack somehow, neither of them are foil

YUPPPP

I would've come in first for my pod but Reck had to go and beat me game 1 so I was 3-1 for the night.

[Thestatusquo]

Played tonight. Went 3-2. Wasn't happy with the performance, but thought the shell had potential. I'm thinking of doing this:

4 cloudfin raptor
4 experiment one
4 strangleroot geist
4 shambleshark
4 wolfir avenger
3 geist of st. traft
3 restoration angel

4 simic charm
3 spell rupture
4 unsummon
2 azorious charm

4 breeding pool
4 temple garden
2 hallowed fountain
4 hinterland harbor
1 glacial fortress
2 sunpetal grove
2 forest
1 island
1 plains

The biggest problem with the deck (aside from the fact that I drew 10+ lands multiple times, and really I only want to get up to 4.) was not drawing creatures. I was hemorrhaging value with turns where I basically did nothing. I really liked Wolfir Avenger, and I was happy literally every time I drew it. Ditto resto. I was pretty much unhappy every time I drew a snapcaster. I was already on the cusp with him, and cutting 2 spells I think pushes him into the realm of unplayability.

The SB I ended up running is

4 crypt
3 negate
4 centaur healers
2 pithing needles
2 oblivion ring.

It was a little slapdash. I don't think any of those numbers are correct besides healers. 4 crypt is too many because you almost never want to side that many in. I think 2 is the correct number. I never wanted pithing needle. I never wanted oblivion ring. The negates should maybe stay at 3. Needs more testing. I didn't bring them in against anything, but I was close a couple times. I just don't know if the format is too creature based right now.

[Fate]

Spell Rupture ftw?

[chamber]

yeah garruk and olivia where in the same pack somehow, neither of them are foil

double faced cards were on their own run, so their rarity is independent of the rest of the pack.

[petroleumjelly]

Have you considered Gyre Sage? I understand wanting to flash in Shambleshark, but I would prefer to have the mana available than the one-time use of Flash. Lyev Skynight also isn't terrible (and I have actually seen somebody with a build like yours play him to fair effect -- it practically always evolves your creatures and it can deal with a problem creature for a turn), and the same can be said for Dungeon Geists as an alternative top to your curve over Resto-Angel (although I would probably prefer Resto in most circumstances).

Against control / Sphinx's Revelation decks you probably want more lasting cards for the sideboard, so you might want to consider a planeswalker of your liking. Also, Rest in Peace is an insane sideboard card, as it stops reanimator, flashback/snapcaster, undying, and morbid/blood artist. Admittedly this works against your Strangleroots and Snapcasters, but sometimes the card itself can beat your opponent, and you can adjust your own deck accordingly through sideboard.

Rapid Hybridization is also an interesting card that I keep wanting to toss into a deck, and it doesn't look like it would be bad in yours (and perhaps it is an alternative to Unsummon, or at least could be a 2/2 split): it can deal with problem creatures on opponent's board, and you can even give yourself a flashy 3/3 at the end of your opponent's turn (by, say, killing your own Strangleroot Geist, targeting your Wolfir Avenger and regenerating it, etc.)

I will note, though, that I avoid playing blue whenever possible, so I am not very versed on the countermagic game that is clearly going on with your deck.

[Fate]

you can't regenerate hypridization creatures

[petroleumjelly]

Ah, true enough; it's indestructible that gets around it. I was going from memory.

[bv310]

4-1 tonight, placed 4th with Omniscience. Verdant Haven over Ranger's Path has paid off a lot in my Aggro matchups. Managed a win against a friend in Round 3 by ult-ing Vraska with Temporal Mastery in hand.

[dramonic]

Ah, true enough; it's indestructible that gets around it. I was going from memory.

That and undying.
It's rather creepy from a flavor PoV

[Thestatusquo]

"so I am not very versed on the countermagic game that is clearly going on with your deck."

All three cards worth???

[petroleumjelly]

"so I am not very versed on the countermagic game that is clearly going on with your deck."

All three cards worth???

And the negates in your sideboard.

[Thestatusquo]

The negates are just there because they're the best answer to planeswalkers/sphinx's revelations/terminus etc. Basically they come in against esper control.

I wouldn't call this deck a counterspell deck.

[Fate]

the negates in his SB are literally his only countermagic is what he's saying...

NINJA POSTING IT ANYWAY

[Thestatusquo]

well, they're not literally.

[petroleumjelly]

The

point

is I generally do not play with a mindset of "I need to keep mana up so I can counter X." So while I am generally fine tapping out on my turns, the deck above clearly is not. As such, I cannot determine whether, say, Shambleshark or Gyre Sage is preferable (as Shambleshark and Wolfir Avenger have flash and lets you act like you have countermagic).

Furthermore, how

much

countermagic you are actually running is not really what is relevant: what is relevant is the impression you are trying to give your opponent. Since thestatusquo

does

run countermagic, and has more countermagic in his sideboard, the gameplan might just be "leave mana up whenever possible to at least

threaten

that I have countermagic."

But thanks, guys: rather than comment on any of my suggestions, you basically hone in a single offhand comment I make to caveat that I am probably not fully understanding how you want your deck to operate.

[Nuwen]

Do any of you NC scummers have a playset of undying evil than I can buy/borrow?

[InflatablePie]

I think I have one. ScumHaus

might

have a playset between the three of us but idk.

Also you guys should swing by at some point before Thursday so I can test my deck (once I get the cards I need from Brock's trunk <_<)

[Fate]

yeah we'll definitely swing by for some playtest group goodness. I still owe Gamma's deck a beatdown too

PM your # Pie

[Nuwen]

http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/grixis-a ... 1-03-13-1/

This is the deck I'll be taking to Standard this week.

Mana is usually tapped before attackers are declared, between the declare block & damage phase, counterspell, and after opponent's 2nd main. One tapout per game is allotted to either Rakdos's return or bonfire.

The damage clocks are: guttersnipe, delver, Olivia, darg0n. Undying Evil is my latest and greatest way of sheltering my delicate threats without neutering their potency. The Evil slot was previously occupied by unsummon, which is a little more versatile but costs a lot of tempo if I'm playing it to save my own creatures. Cackling counterpart worked better as part of a more expensive curve featuring traitorous blood and hypersonic dragons.

Planeswalkers are kept in check by evasive beatdown, snipe, timely izzet charms, and 2-1 dreadbore split between the main and sideboard. My deck walks all over Superfriends.

Aggro decks have trouble punching through Augur and instant speed removal. Monocolored haste like flinthoof boar, ash zealot, hellrider, and a bunch of other stuff get shat on by ultimate price before they can go upstairs. Patience and a poker face are NECESSARY against blood rush and pump decks. Heavy red aspects of my deck make it possible to out-race even the fastest aggro with a nut draw, but the matchup usually requires tight life management on my part.

Against control, I've reserved a lot of sideboard space for slaughter games and duress. I haven't played a lot of traditional control with my deck yet, and I think this might be my weakest area. R/W/U style decks usually spin me around with restos and hellkites, and I'm not running mortars because the speed was too slow against other matchups. Esper control tends to retain more counterspells and answers to my threats than I can fend off/protect, then slowly mills me with drownyards or Jace while I can't keep a wincon down. Needs a lot more testing to figure out what approach my deck should take. Possible answers include Devil's Play finisher/mana dump, Stensia's or other stickier wincons. Upcoming Izzet planeswalker might offer something here.

I ditched essence scatter for an extra counterflux (substitute 1-1 for dissipate in graveyard meta). Originally I had a nuanced sideboard counterspells for different matchups, but hand destruction deals with a wider spread of threats in any matchup.

Having issues finding a secondary boardwipe that comes at the right time. Bonfire is unreliable in a pair. The double-R cost of Magmaquake makes it difficult to get down on curve with 2 & 3 toughness creatures. Temblor is the best thing I've tried so far, but the sorcery speed sometimes comes too slowly or can be played around.

Loxodon smiters. I don't like Loxodon smiters.

[Sudo_Nym]

I like it, but I think I'd rather have Dissipate than Counterflux. Exile is probably going to be more useful than Overload.

[AGar]

Think Twice just feels like a bad card.