My current deck, and some lists for after NPH is out.
I've been lax in my FNM reporting lately, but life has a way of getting in the way. I'll do a little summation. I've played Emeria white, Venser U/W, and Tezz U/B infect in the last month. I haven't shown up to FNM with the same deck two weeks in a row in about two months now.
I did fairly well with all of them, but haven't posted reports because I have been dropping to play my legacy tezzfinity list. Can I say I suck at legacy... Cause I am horrible. Just so bad. My opponents perk up when they see me. No joke. Oh well. I'm getting better.
Back to standard.
I've been trying to find a list I like. I have 90% of Caw-Blade. The 10% I'm missing is the planeswalker suite, JTMS and 2 Gideon. Let me tell you Caw without JTMS is not as good.
And that right there is my problem with current standard. I don't own Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I'm not making any argument about Jace being overpriced, or how he should be banned, or anything like that. He's powerful, but doesn't need to be banned. He's expensive but it's a perfect storm of things that worked together to make it so. But it comes down to this: since I can't plop down the cash to outright buy him, I'd have to trade for him. Most people I know who have him, aren't getting rid of him, and those who are willing to trade put about 100$ into him and want to get that money back in trades. Now I have enough trade fodder to get up to 300$ or so, but I'd decimate my collection and consolidate it into three cards which will probably lose much of the investment I put into them. I don't expect Jaces to stay at the 90-100$ price range they currently enjoy, although I don't expect them to drop below 60$ either. However until he rotates out, his price will stay high. That means I'd have to lose money getting him, and only play him for the five months he'll be legal. Doesn't seem worth the investment.
So I make due.
I'm lucky enough to have a few friends with Jaces who don't mind me borrowing when they aren't being used.
This is really nice of them, and I'm honored to be trusted so much by my community of gamers. It's a nice feeling.
So I play baby-jaced Caw Blade, or Sun Titan Caw, or Emeria, etc. I got to play an esper-walkers list that ran Jace TMS, but most of my time is spent sans the big man on campus.
Then I found a list played by Jonathan Sukenik (@Watchwolf92 on Twitter) to a top 4 and a nationals qualifier. The list I had seen before, but hadn't had the Tezzerets or Jace TMS to run it. The list was designed and championed by J Smitty of 60cards.com (@smi77y on Twitter) who named it Tezz, the Mind Hammer after it's suite of PWers. Now that I have a full 4 Tezzerets and can borrow Jace TMS on occasion I thought I just had to build it.
Here's the list they put together:
Planeswalkers:
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Koth of the Hammer
Creatures
1 Grave Titan
1 Inferno Titan
2 Wurmcoil Engine
Artifacts (non-creature)
4 Sphere of the Suns
3 Everflowing Chalice
4 Tumble Magnet
2 Contagion Clasp
Sorceries
3 Slagstorm
Instants
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Go for the Throat
Lands
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Drowned Catacombs
7 Mountain
2 Island
First thing I was told when I started trading for the missing cards for this list was that it is really hard to play. This is not a deck you can just pick up and play to good results without practice. Little mistakes kill you. There is little to no room for error here.
That being said, this deck can do some of the most powerful things in standard, and does so faster than Caw-Blade.
I'm not going to pretend I know how to play the deck yet, although I have been doing some testing. So if you have questions about it, I suggest you direct them towards the pro's @smi77y and @Watchwolf92 or read about the deck here.
So there's my standard list currently. I won't be able to make any Nationals qualifiers near me due to prior engagements, but I'll be rooting for those who are.
Now on to really fun stuff.
COMBO'S!
There are two infinite combo's in standard when NPH releases.
With an Exarch all Splinter Twinned up, you can tap your Exarch to make a hasted Exarch copy, which untaps the original exarch. Rinse & repeat this for whatever arbitrarily large number you like, than attack with all of them for the win. This is a rehash of the Pestermite Splinter Twin combo which got some play in extended. I think it is a bit more likely to be successful in standard for a few reasons. First, counterspells are not getting much play at the moment. That's going to change. Mark my words. The second reason is Spellskite.
This card does everything the Splinter Twin deck wants. It holds the ground from fast creature strategies. It redirects targeted spells like doom blade away from the Exarch long enough for the Exarch to pick up a Splinter Twin and win from there. Surprisingly the worst enemy for the combo is Tumble Magnet, which taps down the Exarch in response to the Splinter Twin, but luckily the Spellskite can take care of that as well. Pack in some removal and counters and draw spells and you've got a deck.
Twin Destinies - by Mike Beckwith
4 Deceiver Exarch
4 Splinter Twin
4 Spellskite
4 Spell Pierce
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Slagstorm
4 Foresee
4 Scalding Tarn
10 Island
10 Mountain
This is a good base to start your testing.
And then we have these.
How does this one work? With an active Ascension on the board anything that makes the opponent lose life (damage, spells, payments, etc) will trigger the Mindcrank and put that many cards from the top of their library into their graveyard. That will in turn trigger the Ascension and drain them for 2, triggering the Mindcrank again and creating an infinite loop. This will, without intervention on the opponents part, deck them in one go. It might also kill them first by draining, depending on how many cards are left in their library. Either way a Blue Sun's Zenith or simply passing the turn and letting them be unable to draw their card, kills them.
This deck doesn't need another color for the combo to work, so I'm trying to figure out a way to keep this mono black for consistency's sake. I also want to get the Ascension online as fast as possible, so I'll include some proliferate.
Vampire Crank Calls - by Mike Beckwith
4 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Mindcrank
3 Throne of Geth
4 Perilous Myr
4 Hideous End
3 Contagion Clasp
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Sign in Blood
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Inkmoth Nexus
10 Swamp
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
Overall these are untuned but good starting lists for combo in standard.
Hope you like them.
Mike (@Rogueinsight on Twitter)
I did fairly well with all of them, but haven't posted reports because I have been dropping to play my legacy tezzfinity list. Can I say I suck at legacy... Cause I am horrible. Just so bad. My opponents perk up when they see me. No joke. Oh well. I'm getting better.
Back to standard.
I've been trying to find a list I like. I have 90% of Caw-Blade. The 10% I'm missing is the planeswalker suite, JTMS and 2 Gideon. Let me tell you Caw without JTMS is not as good.
And that right there is my problem with current standard. I don't own Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I'm not making any argument about Jace being overpriced, or how he should be banned, or anything like that. He's powerful, but doesn't need to be banned. He's expensive but it's a perfect storm of things that worked together to make it so. But it comes down to this: since I can't plop down the cash to outright buy him, I'd have to trade for him. Most people I know who have him, aren't getting rid of him, and those who are willing to trade put about 100$ into him and want to get that money back in trades. Now I have enough trade fodder to get up to 300$ or so, but I'd decimate my collection and consolidate it into three cards which will probably lose much of the investment I put into them. I don't expect Jaces to stay at the 90-100$ price range they currently enjoy, although I don't expect them to drop below 60$ either. However until he rotates out, his price will stay high. That means I'd have to lose money getting him, and only play him for the five months he'll be legal. Doesn't seem worth the investment.
So I make due.
I'm lucky enough to have a few friends with Jaces who don't mind me borrowing when they aren't being used.
This is really nice of them, and I'm honored to be trusted so much by my community of gamers. It's a nice feeling.
So I play baby-jaced Caw Blade, or Sun Titan Caw, or Emeria, etc. I got to play an esper-walkers list that ran Jace TMS, but most of my time is spent sans the big man on campus.
Then I found a list played by Jonathan Sukenik (@Watchwolf92 on Twitter) to a top 4 and a nationals qualifier. The list I had seen before, but hadn't had the Tezzerets or Jace TMS to run it. The list was designed and championed by J Smitty of 60cards.com (@smi77y on Twitter) who named it Tezz, the Mind Hammer after it's suite of PWers. Now that I have a full 4 Tezzerets and can borrow Jace TMS on occasion I thought I just had to build it.
Here's the list they put together:
Planeswalkers:
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Koth of the Hammer
Creatures
1 Grave Titan
1 Inferno Titan
2 Wurmcoil Engine
Artifacts (non-creature)
4 Sphere of the Suns
3 Everflowing Chalice
4 Tumble Magnet
2 Contagion Clasp
Sorceries
3 Slagstorm
Instants
4 Galvanic Blast
2 Go for the Throat
Lands
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Drowned Catacombs
7 Mountain
2 Island
First thing I was told when I started trading for the missing cards for this list was that it is really hard to play. This is not a deck you can just pick up and play to good results without practice. Little mistakes kill you. There is little to no room for error here.
That being said, this deck can do some of the most powerful things in standard, and does so faster than Caw-Blade.
I'm not going to pretend I know how to play the deck yet, although I have been doing some testing. So if you have questions about it, I suggest you direct them towards the pro's @smi77y and @Watchwolf92 or read about the deck here.
So there's my standard list currently. I won't be able to make any Nationals qualifiers near me due to prior engagements, but I'll be rooting for those who are.
Now on to really fun stuff.
COMBO'S!
There are two infinite combo's in standard when NPH releases.
With an Exarch all Splinter Twinned up, you can tap your Exarch to make a hasted Exarch copy, which untaps the original exarch. Rinse & repeat this for whatever arbitrarily large number you like, than attack with all of them for the win. This is a rehash of the Pestermite Splinter Twin combo which got some play in extended. I think it is a bit more likely to be successful in standard for a few reasons. First, counterspells are not getting much play at the moment. That's going to change. Mark my words. The second reason is Spellskite.
This card does everything the Splinter Twin deck wants. It holds the ground from fast creature strategies. It redirects targeted spells like doom blade away from the Exarch long enough for the Exarch to pick up a Splinter Twin and win from there. Surprisingly the worst enemy for the combo is Tumble Magnet, which taps down the Exarch in response to the Splinter Twin, but luckily the Spellskite can take care of that as well. Pack in some removal and counters and draw spells and you've got a deck.
Twin Destinies - by Mike Beckwith
4 Deceiver Exarch
4 Splinter Twin
4 Spellskite
4 Spell Pierce
4 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Slagstorm
4 Foresee
4 Scalding Tarn
10 Island
10 Mountain
This is a good base to start your testing.
And then we have these.
How does this one work? With an active Ascension on the board anything that makes the opponent lose life (damage, spells, payments, etc) will trigger the Mindcrank and put that many cards from the top of their library into their graveyard. That will in turn trigger the Ascension and drain them for 2, triggering the Mindcrank again and creating an infinite loop. This will, without intervention on the opponents part, deck them in one go. It might also kill them first by draining, depending on how many cards are left in their library. Either way a Blue Sun's Zenith or simply passing the turn and letting them be unable to draw their card, kills them.
This deck doesn't need another color for the combo to work, so I'm trying to figure out a way to keep this mono black for consistency's sake. I also want to get the Ascension online as fast as possible, so I'll include some proliferate.
Vampire Crank Calls - by Mike Beckwith
4 Bloodchief Ascension
4 Mindcrank
3 Throne of Geth
4 Perilous Myr
4 Hideous End
3 Contagion Clasp
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Sign in Blood
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Inkmoth Nexus
10 Swamp
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
Overall these are untuned but good starting lists for combo in standard.
Hope you like them.
Mike (@Rogueinsight on Twitter)
I really like your mindcrank idea, but you need some work on the other 52 cards. way too many proliferate effects, and too many just bad cards. I'd cut perilous myr hideous end and throne. You can keep clasp if it ends up working out. Maybe Jinxed idol +bloodghast is a good way to get the ascension active... i think blue is a good idea for preordain to find the right pieces of the puzzle, and halimar depths to go with it.... maybe try that angle?
ReplyDeleteOhh I like the Halimar Depths idea. Not sure a 3 color list can support them (the next one I posted is 3 color) but a 2 color one can for sure!
ReplyDelete