Magic: The Gathering,GO TEAM MS!

[Shanba]

http://imgur.com/OUZwIU2

I really enjoy this format

[xyzzy]

I'm playing in a sealed PPTQ in 12 minutes; wish me luck, I'm probably gonna suck, whatever, nbd

[Thestatusquo]

Open avacyn.

[Untrod Tripod]

okay fine I'll start playing mtgo again

[Natirasha]

No more modern pro tours

I don't give a fuck about Modern GPs since it really needed to be done, but holy shit gutting the Platinum/HoF Appearance Fees seems like the literal worst thing they could have done.

[Thestatusquo]

it kills professional magic.

And doing it effective immediately absolutely FUCKS everyone who spent time/money/effort getting to plat this year.

[xyzzy]

Open avacyn.

I blew all my "open Avacyn" luck at a prerelease where I constantly forgot what her actual abilities are since I was using a checklist card (the checklist cards really need to come with a giant "remember, Avacyn has flash, it's a complete mistake to not take advantage of that" reminder on them for people who are bad at remembering basic facts...)

[Natirasha]

Wild Guess: Magic will die within the next 7 years unless they massively restructure the whole game from the ground up.

I feel it in my bones.

[Thestatusquo]

http://mtgcast.com/mtgcast-podcast-show ... positivity

Craig Wescoe references Mafia wrt SOI limited at about 8:30 lol.

[InflatablePie]

been tinkering with a BW Control/Kitty deck in Pauper after I found a cool list on reddit (and I've played against similar decks once or twice). has a ton of cool interactions.

List

- Mind Raker is surprisingly okay. yes, it dies to bolt. but the deck plays so many exile effects that you're almost always getting a discard out of your opponent. also, you can Journey/O-Ring something, Mind Raker the creature to the GY, then pick the enchantment up with a Skyfisher for free.
- Not sure how to feel about Vulturous Aven. 4th Read the Bones or another Angelic Purge might be better. Purge also makes Auramancer better, allowing you to sac Raked Journeys/O-Rings. [edit] yeah, dropped an Aven for a Purge.
- One MB Nihil Spellbomb as a free exile effect against most decks, but puts in work against decks like Teachings and Tron.
- I like Ruin Processor, but maybe I want something that works better in the midgame. Honestly, have only played about 10-15 games with the deck so far and haven't drawn/played it often enough to determine how good it is here.
- Still playing with the manabase. Lots of taplands is kind of awkward, might only want one Secluded Steppe.
- Also still tweaking SB. Mostly self-explanatory though. 'Worst' slots are probably MesFiend and the second Font. [edit] trying a 4th Castigate and a Vessel of Malignity over MesFiends.

[Gammagooey]

Wild Guess: Magic will die within the next 7 years unless they massively restructure the whole game from the ground up.

I feel it in my bones.

if magic dies, it'll die in the same way world of warcraft has 'died' i think- a slow-medium sustained drop in the playerbase that ocassionally spikes back up for expansions that are particularly interesting. honestly it's too big to just flatline, and the professional scene potentially dying out won't actually matter to the tons of casual players who already don't give a shit about it.

[Shanba]

That pauper list looks very sweet, but glacially slow. Are the bojuka bogs really necessary with all your other exile effects? I would try trimming those, if possible, but if not I would definitely drop down on orzhov basilica. Bouncelands play really awkwardly with other taplands, and a hand with basilica+tapland means you're spending your first three turns down a mana. That's painful.

Against delver and green stompy the w/r boroskitty deck has 8 1 mana removal spells, and that's how it gets the tempo back to enable it to durdle with ichor wellsprings. Your deck has only 3 dead weights as 1 mana removal, 3 journeys at 2 mana and then the other 4 spells are 3 mana. That is definitely expensive. The lifegain I'm sure helps, and the removal suite looks good at dealing with big creatures - I wouldn't be surprised to hear you had a good affinity matchup - but I'd be worried about the random tiny dude flood the board decks just running you over while you fumble with taplands and struggle to reach 3 mana.

Have you considered a maindeck kor sanctifiers? It has applications in lots of matchups, and in the ones where it isn't great a 2/3 body is often surprisingly relevant.

For the sideboard I'd work out which of shrivel or crypt rats was better and just play 4 of that. I suspect it is crypt rats.

Erase is a weird one. Is that for bogles? I think just more edicts is better in that matchup for a deck like this that wants to go long - a tempo-ey fast deck can get away with just picking off a key enchantment and win while the bogles deck tries to recover, but I think control really needs to get on top of everything the bogles player is doing. Like, erasing an ancestral mask is ok, but then you need to deal with the next ancestral mask or ethereal armour where a player playing a faster deck possibly doesn't. If the erase is for some other matchup then fair enough. Perhaps other kitty style decks with journeys and such are the targets? In which case, fair enough.

I think mesmeric fiend might just be better as duress. Most of the decks you want that effect against are decks that pack a lot of removal anyway. I understand the synergy with your mind rakers, but I don't think that interaction is earning you enough to justify the slower, easier to answer alternative that is the mesmeric fiend.

Anyway, sweet deck and I'm glad thraben inspector is starting to see play as it is very much a sweet card.

[InflatablePie]

I'll respond when I get home but thanks for the input

more of yall need to play pauper

also iirc I'm testing 4th Castigate and a Diabolic Edict over the MesFiends.

[Klazam]

i have no pauper scene in my area or i would

[InflatablePie]

First off: Current List. Now on mtggoldfish instead of screenshot.

Also, this deck is stupid cheap, with over half the cost being in the two Crypt Rats (on paper, the two Chainer's Edict is just under half the cost). I highly recommend trying the deck out if you have the cards, but if you don't, you're not spending much.

That pauper list looks very sweet, but glacially slow. Are the bojuka bogs really necessary with all your other exile effects? I would try trimming those, if possible, but if not I would definitely drop down on orzhov basilica. Bouncelands play really awkwardly with other taplands, and a hand with basilica+tapland means you're spending your first three turns down a mana. That's painful.

Bojuka Bog and 2 Nihil Spellbombs allow you to completely run over graveyard-based decks, notably Tortured Existence and UB Teachings. The latter of which makes me really want two in the main, since I have a lot of dead/mediocre cards against them, especially game 1 and if they're full-on creatureless (SB plan is something like: -3 Dead Weight, -2 Journey // +1 Spellbomb, Erase, Font, Castigate).

I could maybe see going down to 1 bounceland. I was running 3 and that was way too many, but two seems to be the sweet spot here. I haven't found the slow manabase to be

too

much of an issue, but I could maybe see dropping one for a Plains or maybe an Orzhov Guildgate/Evolving Wilds. I do like that they allow me to re-use Kabira Crossroads/Radiant Fountain and Bojuka Bog without having to 'waste' a Skyfisher trigger (bouncing Thraben Inspector feels so goooood).

Against delver and green stompy the w/r boroskitty deck has 8 1 mana removal spells, and that's how it gets the tempo back to enable it to durdle with ichor wellsprings. Your deck has only 3 dead weights as 1 mana removal, 3 journeys at 2 mana and then the other 4 spells are 3 mana. That is definitely expensive. The lifegain I'm sure helps, and the removal suite looks good at dealing with big creatures - I wouldn't be surprised to hear you had a good affinity matchup - but I'd be worried about the random tiny dude flood the board decks just running you over while you fumble with taplands and struggle to reach 3 mana.

I need to test more against aggressive decks, but with the right draws, it's not too bad. The plan for game 1 is usually to aggressively trade/block, since Inspectors replace themselves, Missionaries lifegain helps a lot, and Skyfishers can block well. By the time turn 4-5 rolls around, if I'm not dead, a Mind Raker can pluck one of the last cards or two from their hand and I can begin to get back in the game. Provided I can stop the bleeding quickly, it's not too difficult to find the one Font of Return to refuel my hand.

And again, it could be variance, but I really haven't had a problem getting to three mana.

Have you considered a maindeck kor sanctifiers? It has applications in lots of matchups, and in the ones where it isn't great a 2/3 body is often surprisingly relevant.

I could consider it. O-Rings and Purges seem to work alright for now.

For the sideboard I'd work out which of shrivel or crypt rats was better and just play 4 of that. I suspect it is crypt rats.

I like Shrivel against x/1 decks (Elves, Goblins) because it only costs two mana. On turn 4-5, it's a lot easier to just Shrivel the board and play another card, than Crypt Rats. I usually only have ~2 black mana available that early, and playing Rats a turn too early against, say, Goblins, can just get it bolted. And I don't want to up the black mana count because I need white for t1-2 Thraben Inspector. I do like Rats in matchups where I want mass removal but Shrivel doesn't cut it. Or against decks where I have a million dead cards (so far, TurboFog is the only example I have).

Erase is a weird one. Is that for bogles? I think just more edicts is better in that matchup for a deck like this that wants to go long - a tempo-ey fast deck can get away with just picking off a key enchantment and win while the bogles deck tries to recover, but I think control really needs to get on top of everything the bogles player is doing. Like, erasing an ancestral mask is ok, but then you need to deal with the next ancestral mask or ethereal armour where a player playing a faster deck possibly doesn't. If the erase is for some other matchup then fair enough. Perhaps other kitty style decks with journeys and such are the targets? In which case, fair enough.

Yeah, the guy I got the decklist from said the matchup he's most worried about is Bogles (hence the CoP Green, two Chainer's Edict, and now a Diabolic Edict). It does come in against them, and Journey/O-Ring decks, but I also like it against UB Teachings as a 5th removal spell for Curse of the Bloody Tome.

I think mesmeric fiend might just be better as duress. Most of the decks you want that effect against are decks that pack a lot of removal anyway. I understand the synergy with your mind rakers, but I don't think that interaction is earning you enough to justify the slower, easier to answer alternative that is the mesmeric fiend.

The original deck had Cloudshifts, Angelic Renewal... as I said above, I dropped the Fiends. They were okay, there are just better cards.

I've considered a Duress in the 75, but I'm not sure if that should replace Castigate (exile so good) in the board, or if there's a subpar card I can cut it for. 4 Castigate and 4 Mind Raker is probably enough discard though?

Anyway, sweet deck and I'm glad thraben inspector is starting to see play as it is very much a sweet card.

I've fallen in love with Thraben Inspector. That and Castigate are my new favorite cards right now.

The card I'm most hesitant on in the main at the moment is Ruin Processor. It provides another process effect, and uncounterable 5 life is nice, but the few times I've drawn it, I've just had better things to do with my mana. I dunno, still needs more testing.

[InflatablePie]

also, not that it's going to come up practically ever, but Erasing my O-Ring/Journey with trigger on the stack is cute

[edit] oh, Bojuka Bog also does work against Tron, helping mitigate Haunted Fengraf

[InflatablePie]

i have no pauper scene in my area or i would

MTGO?

[Axxle]

http://mtgcast.com/mtgcast-podcast-show ... positivity

Craig Wescoe references Mafia wrt SOI limited at about 8:30 lol.

Love Craig Wescoe, we go to the same church.

The Church of Mill Crab

[Klazam]

Can't stand mtgo. Clunky interface and so impersonal

[Shanba]

For the graveyard hate, I agree it's great against those decks (though, as an unreformed tortex player, relic of progenitus is a much bigger beating than just a bog or two <.<) but I just don't see those decks very often. Teachings from time to time but I can't even remember the last time I played against tortex. And against teachings, you're basically only hitting the backside of mystical teachings and possibly a think twice if they're even running it.

That said there's also that u/b gurmag angler deck I'd forgotten about, so maybe it is worth it anyway.

I like the changes to the mana base.

The suggestion for kor sanctifiers was in case you wanted a more midrangey option over the ruin processor that has applications against bogles, affinity, curse of the bloody tome, enchantment removal and a bunch of other things, which you can also rebuy with skyfishers or font of return if you need to. I haven't played your deck, but I was always impressed with it in u/w kitty.

[InflatablePie]

Some UB Teachings run Accumulated Knowledge over Think Twice. Also Chainer's Edict.

Might try a few games with Sanctifiers over Processor. Also testing -1 Basilica, +1 Guildgate for a bit.

[InflatablePie]

Wondering if Relic of Progenitus is better than Nihil Spellbomb?

Pros: can cycle off white mana, only costs one mana instead of two for an exile effect for Mind Raker kinda (I almost never skip paying black mana unless I desperately need to crack it, especially when I just need a Raker target), double Relic post-board seems real good against gy decks, constant exiling instead of a one time effect

Con: anti-synergy with Font of Return and Auramancer

I'm thinking the pros outweigh the con since I can somewhat play around exiling my own important cards but idk.

[Shanba]

Wondering if Relic of Progenitus is better than Nihil Spellbomb?

Pros: can cycle off white mana, only costs one mana instead of two for an exile effect for Mind Raker, double Relic post-board seems real good against gy decks

Con: anti-synergy with Font of Return and Auramancer

I'm thinking the pros outweigh the con since I can somewhat play around exiling my own important cards but idk.

I can definitely see that. You only have one font and one auramancer in your latest version. It's really nice to be able to nuke the yard once (with bojuka bog say) and then drop a relic to stop them rebuilding.

Test it out and see if it causes you issues.

Maybe the thing to do is one spellbomb maindeck and 1 relic in the board for matchups where their yard is more important than yours?

[InflatablePie]

Yeah, I was also considering 1:1. I'll keep tinkering.

Appreciate all the help/someone to bounce ideas off of.

[Shanba]

I love pauper and I love a sweet brew, so you're talking to my interests here