I decided the Internet needs one more Magic: The Gathering blog. So, here we go. A bio is forthcoming, but decklists are an important part of any Magic blog anyway, so I'll let this beauty serve as the vanguard to my first foray into the M:tG blogosphere.
Why doesn't this deck exist already? And which factors keep this from being "tier one"?
My Creation:
Lands (26)
5 Forest
4 Mountain
4 Island
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Raging Ravine
Creatures (22)
4 Vengevine
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Plated Geopede
4 Lotus Cobra
3 Lorescale Coatl
3 Cunning Sparkmage
Spells (12)
3 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Spreading Seas
2 Basilisk Collar
Sideboard (Rough Draft)
1 Cunning Sparkmage
1 Lightning Bolt
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Mold Shambler
3 Deprive
2 Momentous Fall
2 Mind Control (fixed!)
Hey, really liked the list, it is quite interesting. I will try it here too and make some changes and such to see how it looks, but I think I should not need. I'm the guy from Brazil who played against you this morning. I'll show another friend of mine, both because we're living professional players of Magic and such. Well, I hope we play against again! Bye, kisses.
ReplyDeleteCritique:
ReplyDeleteCouple of things I'd worry about:
1. Sparkmage is a lot worse when you don't have a way to fetch Collar. It's still good against mana dudes and Lotus Cobra, but it's really the Collar that turns it into a house, and you don't have a reliable way of getting one.
2. Your Vengevines are a lot weaker than the ones in other decks because you don't have Birds/Hierarchs to help with getting them back. Bloodbraid only goes so far, and this deck has a reduced chance of hitting a second creature off of it, anyway (9/23). Relatedly...
3. Coatl is *a lot* better on turn 2 rather than turn 3. Jace is a lot better on turn 3 rather than turn 4. This deck is begging for Birds as a 4-of.
4. Birds also help the manabase a great deal. As it stands, this deck is pretty reliant on t2 Cobra t3 fetchland to solve mana issues.
But really, what it comes down to is: what does this deck do better than the existing top-tier archetypes? And I'm not really seeing what that is. You're not as fast as Vengevine Naya, and you're not as reliable at getting back your Vengevines. You're not as midrange-y as Next-Level Bant or Mythic Bant. While sticking a ton of good cards into a deck sometimes works, this strikes me as a case where it's not quite there.
Oh, and Control Magic isn't Standard-legal. ;-)
I have to agree with the above post, with the added mention of Ranger of Eos. Unfortunately making a change to white would probably be just enough to warrant switching to the well-known route.
ReplyDeleteNot going down that route, I'd sideboard the Seas and Bolts in favor of either Birds or Hierarchs (depending on how badly you consider that red mana relevant). My real reason for this is to up Bloodbraid's chance of pulling an actual creature. Returning a Vengevine is generally more annoying than 3 to the face in my opinion. With the three slots still open, how about something left fieldy, like Tuktuk? Or just four-of the Sparkmages and Collars. The pair aren't as fun when the other doesn't show up, after all.
Lastly, huzzah for blocks of text!
Thanks for the feedback you guys. I agree about the need to add a set of one-drop mana dudes. I'm leaning in favor of the Hierarch because I'm fine on red sources and those extra points of damage can really make a difference.
ReplyDeleteI added the bolts mostly to take out opposing mana dorks in the Mythic match-up (which is horrible for this deck unless I luck into an early Sparkmage with a Basilisk Collar close on its heels). I suppose those would be a good candidate to move to the sideboard.
Control Magic, Mind Control...whatever the kids are calling it these days I just call it a necessity for such a removal-light deck, which, like any deck, would be very happy to borrow a Baneslayer Angel.
My instincts tell me that as awesome as Jace is (especially when brainstorming results in a gigantic snake while simultaneously setting up the perfect bloodbraid cascade), on a card for card basis, this deck just isn't as good as Vengevine Naya (its closest analogue).
This deckbuilding exercise actually started out with me looking for a Jund alternative that can stand up to Spreading Seas and even benefit from it. I was inspired by the Jund builds that put Sedraxis Specters and one Island in their sideboards, and I thought how disgusting it would be to be able to manage double-blue in that kind of deck to run Jace. Jace + Bloodbraid Elf, a match made in heaven! But 4 colors seems too greedy, so I'd have to cut black. That gets rid of my removal, but I've seen successful Jund players who move their removal to their sideboard in favor of Vengevines, which is another card I want to run anyway. It gets rid of Putrid Leech and Sprouting Thrinax, but the fetchland-based manabase this deck demands makes Plated Geopede an auto-include, and Lorescale Coatl makes a decent showing here.
Anyway, for any games I play in real life, I'm sticking with my Jund deck. It's not very fancy, but I know it works and I like the way it plays.
I would like to be the kind of deckbuilder who creates Tier 1 decks out of the nothingness, but so far I think my attempts just lead to really good "tier 2" decks.
I used to run the Specters (plus an island and a full set of Crumbling Necropoli) in my Jund deck, mostly aimed at mirror matches. It worked, but not enough for me to warrant staying four colors, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteOf course, lack of Pulses helped ensure that no matter what route I take, it's removal light (sideboarding my Bolts for Jund Charms didn't help either).