I've been playing UWR Delver in Legacy lately and the one thing I did was give it a touch of Stoneblade by adding a Vendilion Clique and Karakas. I like the synergy those two cards have together and its nice being able to bounce an opponent's Tasigur. But at the same time I can't help but think I'm trying too hard here. Is Karakas a good idea in Delver? I feel the deck is really picky about its mana but with that said Karakas has yet to screw me in the mana fixing department. What are your thoughts on this?
Hey Andrew. It's me, allergybiscuit from MTGO! I just wanted to say that you look great in your pic. If you want a rematch, I added you on MTGO as a friend!
Here are some thoughts -
I've never been a fan of Gleeful Sabo - rather than run it, I'd try Quiet Disrepair - it gains you 2 life constantly...one of those cards that looks lame, but in gameplay you're VERY happy to see it...if you are using gleeful in sideboard - try swapping them out and see if you like it. One active vs. burn and it's GG. Seriously, it's that lopsided. Make sure you have bonesplitter and Imp in case you need a target other than their curse. Try and get up to 12 artifacts - if you really want to go 'all in' and never lose to burn, run 4 artifact lands too - not too hot with Q.Ranger out, but if your meta is burn heavy - it's a solid out.
Less consistent, but best life/buck is NOURISH.
Additionally, the Slyvok Lifestaff is amazing, but Stompy's generic build isn't good at ditching its own critters.
Cliffnotes: Your favored, it's close. Quiet Disrepair.
I've been thinking and writing about this subject a lot recently. I agree with you totally. I've noticed that I don't really tilt when playing my buddies, but randos seem to set me off more. What I've done, is try to start a short conversation, and that helps put things at ease, on my side at least.
I'm the type of person that would rather like everyone instead of disliking people. So, I've tried to be the same way in-game as I am in real life.
So far, it's working out. Keep up the good work and positive attitude, it's contagious!
Most of the articles I've read from pro's rate the BG deck as the worst deck. Might be interesting to look back and see if this has been the case in previous formats.
I very much agree with you about staying open and the enemy color pairs. I've found this format rewards you for specifically committing to one color early and holding off on committing to a second as long as possible. There seem to be three reasons for this:
1. There are very powerful and splashable rares and uncommons in DTK, and they're often far and above the power level of any other card early in a pack. Passing a Draconic Roar, let alone Ultimate Price, in pack two because you've already committed to two other colors is much worse than sacrificing power level for consistency late in pack one.
2. If you don't wind up with a multicolor dragon bomb after the first couple picks of pack 2, you have incentive to move in on an enemy color pair for the multicolor commons in FRF, which all tend to suit their specific archetype very well.
3. There are even more bomb rares in FRF thank DTK, but the difference is many aren't splashable. That means taking a shot on any the usable filler in the most open looking colors during pack 1 can pay off big time in pack 3, even if you feel like you have incentive to go a different route. For example, if you're at pick six or seven in pack 1, you're base red but also second picked Epic Confrontation, and you see Dromoka Warrior, Lightwalker, Tread Upon, and a bunch of unplayables, I'd take a white card. There's a decent chance there's only one other white drafter within five seats to your left, and if they wind up abandoning white, there's a great chance you wind up with a monster pack 3, possibly getting passed a true bomb along with all the Sandsteppe Outcasts and Sandblasts you could want. Its not uncommon to be passed any of the following pretty late in FRF if no one within a few seats on your left is in the color: Citadel Siege, Mastery of the Unseen, Supplant Form, Sage Eye Avengers, Archfiend of Depravity, Palace Siege, Mob Rule, Flamewake Phoenix, Temur War Shaman, Wildcall. There is almost no deck that runs these colors that doesn't want these cards. And that's just the high quality intensive non-mythics.
I also feel like green is criminally underrated in this format. A lot of bad filler and unplayables from FRF got upgraded in DDF (Ainok Guide, Feral Krushok) and the fact that Temur Sabertooth costs GG and is getting opened in pack three instead of pack one is huge. The more important reason, though, is that the green commons in DTK seem to perform well above their pay grade. A lot of them look mediocre, but turn out to have high floors overall and then way overperform in certain matchups (i.e. Conifer Strider can shut down aggressive removal plus Heelcutter decks) or in certain decks (Glade Watcher in GR, Servant of the Scale in GW), making them deceptively better than they appear.
Part of this is also that I've had a lot of success with creature heavy decks. In other recent formats, I've found decks with 16+ creatures had ceiling caps, because you're now thin on removal and other efficient value spells. The most consistent way I've found that I have decks overperform in DDF is to zig against this instinct and build streamlined, low curve, aggressive creature decks, often with around 17 creatures. I've won a number of eight mans with decks like this that I thought were fairly mediocre, but worked way better than I realized they would.
I've come to suspect that the reason for this is that the four key creature mechanics in DTK--Bolster, Formidable, Dash, and Exploit--all do different things and can work in different strategies, but all four also overlap in this one area. Between +1/+1 counter synergy and just the nature of the mechanic, you obviously want efficient threat diversity to leverage Bolster effects. Formidable rewards you for critical mass of power, but there are plenty of common cheap and/or efficient high power creatures that allow you to diversify threats and make it more of a value mechanic (Glade Watcher, Dragon Scarred Bear, Ainok Aerialist, Stampeding Elk Herd, Qal Sisma Behemoth). The Dash guys function as modal cards that can either generate tempo (usually early) or apply immediate pressure (usually later to finish) without sacrificing much efficiency, and Kolaghan Forerunners is an underrated uncommon that gets better in go-wide strategies. And Exploit lets you take your early aggressive threats and cash them in for value if they become obsolete in the late game. The only deck that likes all of these abilities is a streamlined creature deck.
Usually slower midrangey and controlling decks can find ways to stabilize against the aggressive, low curve decks, but Bolster, Formidable, and Exploit all allow you to scale up your early plays later in the game, and Dash means big life swings are always possible unless the control deck is uber conservative.
Given this, I've actually had the most success with WG and WR decks that can provide early pressure, trade efficiently, and generate value without leaning too heavily on removal. RB and GR I've also found solid for similar reasons, but going with the traditional "threats plus removal good stuff" doesn't seem as good in this format as it usually is. It's more important that you curve out and punish slow draws with these archetypes. UG is probably the most underrated color combo as well, as they're the two weakest colors on paper and don't have any inherent mechanical synergy, but there are as many rewards as ever for just going with an aggressive tempo strategy that wants to close the game with evasion.
Black is powerful enough that any black deck can also work, though I definitely think UB and BW are overrated and BG probably underrated. I've also been underwhelmed by UW (perhaps because they have the least access to the creature mechanics noted above and want you to play more spells to trigger the Prowess-type abilities), but it can work. UR is the only strategy I both haven't seen work and can't really envision how it would work. I've had UR decks that I thought were excellent, but still required nut draws to really function like I hoped.
1 - I wouldn't expect the match-up to be that one-sided, but I do rate Esper Fae as a strong favorite versus most control decks, due to the deck's ability to sculpt its hand with draw spells and take one huge turn that overloads the control deck's ability to respond. Esper Fae/Familiars probably has the strongest late game in the format and decks that can't put a clock on are in real trouble. Maaybe mono-blue with lots of card draw can out-counter it.
2 - The last three columns in that table are a catch-all for "all other decks" split into aggro, control, and other (mid-range/combo). In this particular sample, the most common control decks were blue-black (various builds, including Teachings-based decks and Trinket Mage-based decks), RUG Tron, blue-red (mostly the builds using beetleback chief), and white-red aka Boros Kitty. There was also a new black-red control deck and some others. Only one mono-blue control - not sure why that deck has fallen off the radar.
3 - Skirge is mainly for Stompy mirror matches and I think also for Goblins and Hexproof - anyone without flying blockers where you expect to race. It's also great if you expect COP: Green to come into play, for example against Tron decks. Not sure if stompy runs the skirge out against burn or not - would be glad to hear from any stompy players. (It also gets a lot worse once Gut Shot is in the format).
4 - Stompy has a pretty strong game vs. Burn with just the base deck - it kind of comes down to who wins the die roll and/or floods out, but stompy probably has the edge in the race. With this deck, depending on whether skirge is good (I have no idea), you might just side out the prey upon and shinen and put in a couple scattershots to have more bodies. (Nourish) is a plausible sideboard card if you really want to side for the burn matchup, or you could run (Mtenda Lion) to play for the straight race, especially since (Electrickery) is pretty bad vs. Stompy usually.
Great article. I love your Table of Matchup results.
Esper Fae defeated Control 8-1! Wow!
My questions are:
1. Did you expect the matchup for Esper Fae vs Control to be such a blowout?
2. In your category of "Control" decks, what color(s) control decks are you referring to here?
3. What is the purpose of 4 x Vault Skirge in the sideboard? Against whom is this matchup designed for? (My first thought was Burn for the lifegain, but then the Burn player can simply burn the Vault Skirge and he has 2-for-1'd you because you have paid the Phyrexian mana to cast Skirge).
4. What weapons would a Green Stompy player typically bring in against Burn post-board? Surely there is something better than Vault Skirge?
That's what I did, exactly! I don't blame anyone for playing standard, if I was able to seriously devote my time to attempting to qualify for the Pro Tour again, then Standard makes perfect sense, it's the go-to format for Premiere-Level play.
I decided though, that since I won't be playing in such events, I should just play what I want to. So, I sold my Mutavaults that I paid 25 tix for, and took the 12 tix that bots were offering at the time, and started building my Modern collection even more. Eventually, I worked my way into Legacy and Vintage, and I couldn't be happier.
I get to play a very competitive and skill-intensive format, but I can play it when it fits into my schedule. It's the most fun I've ever had playing Magic, other than the gone-by days of casual Magic in highschool.
Thanks for reading. If you want to test against stax, martello, metalworker, delver, mentor, or any storm decks, just message me. I have a small clan for eternal format players, and we all test together.
Good luck with your shops decks! And your analysis of magic is insightful, you should really consider writing an article.
Thats why I love this standard, so much diversity, and I understand you getting out of it after rotation. Unfortunately for me, Standard is a necessary evil because I want to take my game to the next level.
In regards to Shadowspear the dash is pretty important making him a very decent 1 or 2 drop in this deck. Everytime he attacks they lose 1 which means he could be blocked and still get damage through. I understand what you mean though about wanting removal or wanting to get through 3/3s but with mono black aggro you just want to power through because if they have the time to cast all of their bigger threats, chances are you won't be winning anyway.
I'm not a fan of the deck either. It's not bad to play but playing against it is frustrating; I never like to lose before I really get the chance to play Magic. And don't get me started on Burn as an archetype.
I have around a 60/40 win rate against Mono Red Aggro with my various Green/White or Abzan decks.
However, this is the only deck which causes me to feel downright ANGRY and in a state of HIGH DUDGEON when I lose to it. I always end up throwing insults at my computer screen when I lose to the Basic Mountains. I shout at my screen and say "What cheap tactics you use!!" I invariably end up hurling insults at my Arashin Clerics, shouting at them "Where the #&@& were you!!. I shout at my Fleece-Nyx Rams and say to them "Even you couldn't save me from going to zero? Thanks you stupid rams!". I shout at my 3 x Drown in Sorrows and say "Where the hell were you!!! Why didn't you show up in time!" The difficulty when playing against Mono Red is that you don't have much time to find the answers you need, so even with 6 or more cards coming in from the sideboard, often you do not draw them in time.
And the Mono Red opponent never gives you free from timing out, whereas it does happen from time to time with control decks.
I am forced to admit that this deck is something to reckon with, and heaven help you if your red opponent gets a God opening hand.
I am enjoying the current standard, the format is very diverse and this means that not only are games generally more interesting and varied, but everyone can choose to play a competitive deck in keeping with whatever style of play you like.
You like control? Good for you, there are at least 4 tried and tested control decks which are viable. Even more so with aggro and midrange which have a tonne of deck choices. Even combo is represented, with the pure combo deck of Jeskai Ascendancy (and many other hybrid combo/synergy decks such as Deathmist Raptor decks, Collected Company, Hornet Nest, UW Heroic, Whip of Erebos etc).
That Mono Black Aggro deck looks fun. My suggestion: Marcus, wouldn't it be better to remove the Mardu Shadowspears and add more potent choices, such as the much-needed additional removal such as 2 extra bile blights main deck, cos otherwise this deck will be held to ransom by all the 3/3s in this format. The full complement of BILE BLIGHTS are also important to ensure that the Pain Seers do not die in combat. You want to block my Pain Seer with your Courser of Kruphix? Go ahead, but please be prepared to face a Bile Blight on your Courser, and prepare for me to untap with my Pain Seer next turn to draw more cards and more removal to rinse and repeat.
However, unless the prices of packs increase (and EV increasing as a result), I think that post-rotation I will no longer continue to play Standard, but will focus instead on Eternal Formats, Draft and constructed Player Run Events, to take advantage of the fact that these are usually more enjoyable and drafts are reasonably priced given the low value of packs on the secondary market nowadays.
Shops is the only Vintage deck I own. I have enjoyed playing it so far, and I plan to enter Vintage Dailies after the current Standard rotates out. I hope to keep this deck for life.
I have been experimenting with Crucibles main deck, a copy of Ghost Quarter main deck, and two Expedition Maps to be able to more frequently combo off with Crucibles. I don't know if this is the most competitive build but it sure is great fun! This plan works well against the mirror, and against several other decks in the format which cannot cope with losing a land each turn. It also is very effective against opponents who attempt to use Wasteland or Ghost Quarter your Mishra's Workshop. Plus, post-board Expedition Maps help me tutor for Tabernacle against creature-heavy opponents like Delver/Young Pyromaster/Mentor decks.
The biggest downside to the deck in my opinion stems from its very nature: It is essentially a Johnny-style "Lock-You-Out" deck, and could be described as the "Mother-of-All Mana Denial Decks". It reminds me of that Johnny from down the road who always turns up with a Red/Green Land Destruction deck and takes glee in sitting across from an opponent who has become a toothless tiger due to a complete inability to resolve any meaningful spells. As a result, I have felt a bit awkward playing this deck casually in the "Constructed Open" rooms. Why? Because many people there want to play a great Vintage game which goes back and forth, with fireworks going off from both players, as opposed to a match where one person says "I either lock you out, or you win. Good Luck!". In addition, usually the Shops player will not be able to play out games to the end. Either your opponent will concede the moment he/she feels too buried in lock pieces, or you will stumble in assembling your pieces and will be completely wiped out by an opponent in short order.
For the health of the Vintage format, given this deck's nature as a mana denial deck, I hope that one day it becomes a fringe archetype (for example, like Merfolk or Boggles or Infect is in Modern at around 5% of the field), rather than a highly popular and competitive Tier One deck.
The editor checks for grievous amounts of typos and spellcheck requirements, and makes sure you aren't bullying anyone or cussin' your face off, but Josh isn't going to edit deck lists. Sometimes the jamuraa deck editor isnt perfect but once its pasted intot he article editor you can move arond the links by copy and pasting.
Hi Alex. I love Coiling Oracle, and will probably have to give that deck a spin solely for that reason. You might want to see if a puremtgo editor can edit those decklists to put all the lands in the right place - looks like jamuraa's auto-deck creator doesn't recognize the gain lands as lands.
I drafted MM2015 twice today (that was 80 bucks BTW) and I was surprised at how bad the packs were. In one pack I opened the best card in it was a non-foil Evolving Wilds. That's sad. I opened six packs in the two drafts (and I won a pack) and the accumulated cash value of the contents of those packs is approximately twenty-five bucks. A bunch of people at the store canceled their preorders. Really, I was shocked at how bad the packs were. Out of all the drafts at the store and all the packs that were opened in said drafts the store saw ONE Tarmogoyf get opened. On the plus side it was foil.
Having said that, as for draft archetypes I found that Graft + Proliferate was really good and so was the Bloodthirst deck.
One more thing: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE BANEFIRE!
I've been playing UWR Delver in Legacy lately and the one thing I did was give it a touch of Stoneblade by adding a Vendilion Clique and Karakas. I like the synergy those two cards have together and its nice being able to bounce an opponent's Tasigur. But at the same time I can't help but think I'm trying too hard here. Is Karakas a good idea in Delver? I feel the deck is really picky about its mana but with that said Karakas has yet to screw me in the mana fixing department. What are your thoughts on this?
Hey Andrew. It's me, allergybiscuit from MTGO! I just wanted to say that you look great in your pic. If you want a rematch, I added you on MTGO as a friend!
Usually you win this race, but it's always close.
Here are some thoughts -
I've never been a fan of Gleeful Sabo - rather than run it, I'd try Quiet Disrepair - it gains you 2 life constantly...one of those cards that looks lame, but in gameplay you're VERY happy to see it...if you are using gleeful in sideboard - try swapping them out and see if you like it. One active vs. burn and it's GG. Seriously, it's that lopsided. Make sure you have bonesplitter and Imp in case you need a target other than their curse. Try and get up to 12 artifacts - if you really want to go 'all in' and never lose to burn, run 4 artifact lands too - not too hot with Q.Ranger out, but if your meta is burn heavy - it's a solid out.
Less consistent, but best life/buck is NOURISH.
Additionally, the Slyvok Lifestaff is amazing, but Stompy's generic build isn't good at ditching its own critters.
Cliffnotes: Your favored, it's close. Quiet Disrepair.
I've been thinking and writing about this subject a lot recently. I agree with you totally. I've noticed that I don't really tilt when playing my buddies, but randos seem to set me off more. What I've done, is try to start a short conversation, and that helps put things at ease, on my side at least.
I'm the type of person that would rather like everyone instead of disliking people. So, I've tried to be the same way in-game as I am in real life.
So far, it's working out. Keep up the good work and positive attitude, it's contagious!
Most of the articles I've read from pro's rate the BG deck as the worst deck. Might be interesting to look back and see if this has been the case in previous formats.
I very much agree with you about staying open and the enemy color pairs. I've found this format rewards you for specifically committing to one color early and holding off on committing to a second as long as possible. There seem to be three reasons for this:
1. There are very powerful and splashable rares and uncommons in DTK, and they're often far and above the power level of any other card early in a pack. Passing a Draconic Roar, let alone Ultimate Price, in pack two because you've already committed to two other colors is much worse than sacrificing power level for consistency late in pack one.
2. If you don't wind up with a multicolor dragon bomb after the first couple picks of pack 2, you have incentive to move in on an enemy color pair for the multicolor commons in FRF, which all tend to suit their specific archetype very well.
3. There are even more bomb rares in FRF thank DTK, but the difference is many aren't splashable. That means taking a shot on any the usable filler in the most open looking colors during pack 1 can pay off big time in pack 3, even if you feel like you have incentive to go a different route. For example, if you're at pick six or seven in pack 1, you're base red but also second picked Epic Confrontation, and you see Dromoka Warrior, Lightwalker, Tread Upon, and a bunch of unplayables, I'd take a white card. There's a decent chance there's only one other white drafter within five seats to your left, and if they wind up abandoning white, there's a great chance you wind up with a monster pack 3, possibly getting passed a true bomb along with all the Sandsteppe Outcasts and Sandblasts you could want. Its not uncommon to be passed any of the following pretty late in FRF if no one within a few seats on your left is in the color: Citadel Siege, Mastery of the Unseen, Supplant Form, Sage Eye Avengers, Archfiend of Depravity, Palace Siege, Mob Rule, Flamewake Phoenix, Temur War Shaman, Wildcall. There is almost no deck that runs these colors that doesn't want these cards. And that's just the high quality intensive non-mythics.
I also feel like green is criminally underrated in this format. A lot of bad filler and unplayables from FRF got upgraded in DDF (Ainok Guide, Feral Krushok) and the fact that Temur Sabertooth costs GG and is getting opened in pack three instead of pack one is huge. The more important reason, though, is that the green commons in DTK seem to perform well above their pay grade. A lot of them look mediocre, but turn out to have high floors overall and then way overperform in certain matchups (i.e. Conifer Strider can shut down aggressive removal plus Heelcutter decks) or in certain decks (Glade Watcher in GR, Servant of the Scale in GW), making them deceptively better than they appear.
Part of this is also that I've had a lot of success with creature heavy decks. In other recent formats, I've found decks with 16+ creatures had ceiling caps, because you're now thin on removal and other efficient value spells. The most consistent way I've found that I have decks overperform in DDF is to zig against this instinct and build streamlined, low curve, aggressive creature decks, often with around 17 creatures. I've won a number of eight mans with decks like this that I thought were fairly mediocre, but worked way better than I realized they would.
I've come to suspect that the reason for this is that the four key creature mechanics in DTK--Bolster, Formidable, Dash, and Exploit--all do different things and can work in different strategies, but all four also overlap in this one area. Between +1/+1 counter synergy and just the nature of the mechanic, you obviously want efficient threat diversity to leverage Bolster effects. Formidable rewards you for critical mass of power, but there are plenty of common cheap and/or efficient high power creatures that allow you to diversify threats and make it more of a value mechanic (Glade Watcher, Dragon Scarred Bear, Ainok Aerialist, Stampeding Elk Herd, Qal Sisma Behemoth). The Dash guys function as modal cards that can either generate tempo (usually early) or apply immediate pressure (usually later to finish) without sacrificing much efficiency, and Kolaghan Forerunners is an underrated uncommon that gets better in go-wide strategies. And Exploit lets you take your early aggressive threats and cash them in for value if they become obsolete in the late game. The only deck that likes all of these abilities is a streamlined creature deck.
Usually slower midrangey and controlling decks can find ways to stabilize against the aggressive, low curve decks, but Bolster, Formidable, and Exploit all allow you to scale up your early plays later in the game, and Dash means big life swings are always possible unless the control deck is uber conservative.
Given this, I've actually had the most success with WG and WR decks that can provide early pressure, trade efficiently, and generate value without leaning too heavily on removal. RB and GR I've also found solid for similar reasons, but going with the traditional "threats plus removal good stuff" doesn't seem as good in this format as it usually is. It's more important that you curve out and punish slow draws with these archetypes. UG is probably the most underrated color combo as well, as they're the two weakest colors on paper and don't have any inherent mechanical synergy, but there are as many rewards as ever for just going with an aggressive tempo strategy that wants to close the game with evasion.
Black is powerful enough that any black deck can also work, though I definitely think UB and BW are overrated and BG probably underrated. I've also been underwhelmed by UW (perhaps because they have the least access to the creature mechanics noted above and want you to play more spells to trigger the Prowess-type abilities), but it can work. UR is the only strategy I both haven't seen work and can't really envision how it would work. I've had UR decks that I thought were excellent, but still required nut draws to really function like I hoped.
Thanks for the comment/questions. In order:
1 - I wouldn't expect the match-up to be that one-sided, but I do rate Esper Fae as a strong favorite versus most control decks, due to the deck's ability to sculpt its hand with draw spells and take one huge turn that overloads the control deck's ability to respond. Esper Fae/Familiars probably has the strongest late game in the format and decks that can't put a clock on are in real trouble. Maaybe mono-blue with lots of card draw can out-counter it.
2 - The last three columns in that table are a catch-all for "all other decks" split into aggro, control, and other (mid-range/combo). In this particular sample, the most common control decks were blue-black (various builds, including Teachings-based decks and Trinket Mage-based decks), RUG Tron, blue-red (mostly the builds using beetleback chief), and white-red aka Boros Kitty. There was also a new black-red control deck and some others. Only one mono-blue control - not sure why that deck has fallen off the radar.
3 - Skirge is mainly for Stompy mirror matches and I think also for Goblins and Hexproof - anyone without flying blockers where you expect to race. It's also great if you expect COP: Green to come into play, for example against Tron decks. Not sure if stompy runs the skirge out against burn or not - would be glad to hear from any stompy players. (It also gets a lot worse once Gut Shot is in the format).
4 - Stompy has a pretty strong game vs. Burn with just the base deck - it kind of comes down to who wins the die roll and/or floods out, but stompy probably has the edge in the race. With this deck, depending on whether skirge is good (I have no idea), you might just side out the prey upon and shinen and put in a couple scattershots to have more bodies. (Nourish) is a plausible sideboard card if you really want to side for the burn matchup, or you could run (Mtenda Lion) to play for the straight race, especially since (Electrickery) is pretty bad vs. Stompy usually.
thanks for tryin!
i wish there was something we could do, but this is not an MTGO problem... its a human greed and selfishness problem.
mtgo users can't even use personal morals or logic to find the difference between "just for fun", "getting serious" and "tournament practice".
WIN A.S.A.P. AT ALL COSTS TO MAKE MYSELF FEEL BETTER AND MAKE SOMEONE ELSE FEEL WORSE! (read sarcastically)
'MURICA!
jc
Thanks for this helpful advice.
Great article. I love your Table of Matchup results.
Esper Fae defeated Control 8-1! Wow!
My questions are:
1. Did you expect the matchup for Esper Fae vs Control to be such a blowout?
2. In your category of "Control" decks, what color(s) control decks are you referring to here?
3. What is the purpose of 4 x Vault Skirge in the sideboard? Against whom is this matchup designed for? (My first thought was Burn for the lifegain, but then the Burn player can simply burn the Vault Skirge and he has 2-for-1'd you because you have paid the Phyrexian mana to cast Skirge).
4. What weapons would a Green Stompy player typically bring in against Burn post-board? Surely there is something better than Vault Skirge?
That's what I did, exactly! I don't blame anyone for playing standard, if I was able to seriously devote my time to attempting to qualify for the Pro Tour again, then Standard makes perfect sense, it's the go-to format for Premiere-Level play.
I decided though, that since I won't be playing in such events, I should just play what I want to. So, I sold my Mutavaults that I paid 25 tix for, and took the 12 tix that bots were offering at the time, and started building my Modern collection even more. Eventually, I worked my way into Legacy and Vintage, and I couldn't be happier.
I get to play a very competitive and skill-intensive format, but I can play it when it fits into my schedule. It's the most fun I've ever had playing Magic, other than the gone-by days of casual Magic in highschool.
Thanks for reading. If you want to test against stax, martello, metalworker, delver, mentor, or any storm decks, just message me. I have a small clan for eternal format players, and we all test together.
Good luck with your shops decks! And your analysis of magic is insightful, you should really consider writing an article.
Thats why I love this standard, so much diversity, and I understand you getting out of it after rotation. Unfortunately for me, Standard is a necessary evil because I want to take my game to the next level.
In regards to Shadowspear the dash is pretty important making him a very decent 1 or 2 drop in this deck. Everytime he attacks they lose 1 which means he could be blocked and still get damage through. I understand what you mean though about wanting removal or wanting to get through 3/3s but with mono black aggro you just want to power through because if they have the time to cast all of their bigger threats, chances are you won't be winning anyway.
Thanks for the comment.
I'm not a fan of the deck either. It's not bad to play but playing against it is frustrating; I never like to lose before I really get the chance to play Magic. And don't get me started on Burn as an archetype.
Nice article, thanks.
I have around a 60/40 win rate against Mono Red Aggro with my various Green/White or Abzan decks.
However, this is the only deck which causes me to feel downright ANGRY and in a state of HIGH DUDGEON when I lose to it. I always end up throwing insults at my computer screen when I lose to the Basic Mountains. I shout at my screen and say "What cheap tactics you use!!" I invariably end up hurling insults at my Arashin Clerics, shouting at them "Where the #&@& were you!!. I shout at my Fleece-Nyx Rams and say to them "Even you couldn't save me from going to zero? Thanks you stupid rams!". I shout at my 3 x Drown in Sorrows and say "Where the hell were you!!! Why didn't you show up in time!" The difficulty when playing against Mono Red is that you don't have much time to find the answers you need, so even with 6 or more cards coming in from the sideboard, often you do not draw them in time.
And the Mono Red opponent never gives you free from timing out, whereas it does happen from time to time with control decks.
I am forced to admit that this deck is something to reckon with, and heaven help you if your red opponent gets a God opening hand.
This needed to be said and i'm glad you did.
I love this article.
I am enjoying the current standard, the format is very diverse and this means that not only are games generally more interesting and varied, but everyone can choose to play a competitive deck in keeping with whatever style of play you like.
You like control? Good for you, there are at least 4 tried and tested control decks which are viable. Even more so with aggro and midrange which have a tonne of deck choices. Even combo is represented, with the pure combo deck of Jeskai Ascendancy (and many other hybrid combo/synergy decks such as Deathmist Raptor decks, Collected Company, Hornet Nest, UW Heroic, Whip of Erebos etc).
That Mono Black Aggro deck looks fun. My suggestion: Marcus, wouldn't it be better to remove the Mardu Shadowspears and add more potent choices, such as the much-needed additional removal such as 2 extra bile blights main deck, cos otherwise this deck will be held to ransom by all the 3/3s in this format. The full complement of BILE BLIGHTS are also important to ensure that the Pain Seers do not die in combat. You want to block my Pain Seer with your Courser of Kruphix? Go ahead, but please be prepared to face a Bile Blight on your Courser, and prepare for me to untap with my Pain Seer next turn to draw more cards and more removal to rinse and repeat.
However, unless the prices of packs increase (and EV increasing as a result), I think that post-rotation I will no longer continue to play Standard, but will focus instead on Eternal Formats, Draft and constructed Player Run Events, to take advantage of the fact that these are usually more enjoyable and drafts are reasonably priced given the low value of packs on the secondary market nowadays.
Great article, I loved it!
Shops is the only Vintage deck I own. I have enjoyed playing it so far, and I plan to enter Vintage Dailies after the current Standard rotates out. I hope to keep this deck for life.
I have been experimenting with Crucibles main deck, a copy of Ghost Quarter main deck, and two Expedition Maps to be able to more frequently combo off with Crucibles. I don't know if this is the most competitive build but it sure is great fun! This plan works well against the mirror, and against several other decks in the format which cannot cope with losing a land each turn. It also is very effective against opponents who attempt to use Wasteland or Ghost Quarter your Mishra's Workshop. Plus, post-board Expedition Maps help me tutor for Tabernacle against creature-heavy opponents like Delver/Young Pyromaster/Mentor decks.
The biggest downside to the deck in my opinion stems from its very nature: It is essentially a Johnny-style "Lock-You-Out" deck, and could be described as the "Mother-of-All Mana Denial Decks". It reminds me of that Johnny from down the road who always turns up with a Red/Green Land Destruction deck and takes glee in sitting across from an opponent who has become a toothless tiger due to a complete inability to resolve any meaningful spells. As a result, I have felt a bit awkward playing this deck casually in the "Constructed Open" rooms. Why? Because many people there want to play a great Vintage game which goes back and forth, with fireworks going off from both players, as opposed to a match where one person says "I either lock you out, or you win. Good Luck!". In addition, usually the Shops player will not be able to play out games to the end. Either your opponent will concede the moment he/she feels too buried in lock pieces, or you will stumble in assembling your pieces and will be completely wiped out by an opponent in short order.
For the health of the Vintage format, given this deck's nature as a mana denial deck, I hope that one day it becomes a fringe archetype (for example, like Merfolk or Boggles or Infect is in Modern at around 5% of the field), rather than a highly popular and competitive Tier One deck.
Michelle
I actually normally fix the decklists, but this is the first time I've noticed the gainlands being in the right place.
I'll message jam and see if a fix can be into place for that.
Thanks for bringing it up!
The editor checks for grievous amounts of typos and spellcheck requirements, and makes sure you aren't bullying anyone or cussin' your face off, but Josh isn't going to edit deck lists. Sometimes the jamuraa deck editor isnt perfect but once its pasted intot he article editor you can move arond the links by copy and pasting.
There is certainly a big advantage to not using fetchlands/duals in terms of protecting your life total.
If you put in your own title, it is less awkward.
Alex: What are your thoughts on Radiant Fountain?
And that isn't an awkward automatic comment title.
Hi Alex. I love Coiling Oracle, and will probably have to give that deck a spin solely for that reason. You might want to see if a puremtgo editor can edit those decklists to put all the lands in the right place - looks like jamuraa's auto-deck creator doesn't recognize the gain lands as lands.
And they still don't have the Alpha art for Birds of Paradise online. Is Mark Poole clutching that copyright to his chest or something???
I drafted MM2015 twice today (that was 80 bucks BTW) and I was surprised at how bad the packs were. In one pack I opened the best card in it was a non-foil Evolving Wilds. That's sad. I opened six packs in the two drafts (and I won a pack) and the accumulated cash value of the contents of those packs is approximately twenty-five bucks. A bunch of people at the store canceled their preorders. Really, I was shocked at how bad the packs were. Out of all the drafts at the store and all the packs that were opened in said drafts the store saw ONE Tarmogoyf get opened. On the plus side it was foil.
Having said that, as for draft archetypes I found that Graft + Proliferate was really good and so was the Bloodthirst deck.
One more thing: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE BANEFIRE!