Could you please elaborate on the matchup against Tron? It looks impossible on paper at first glance. How are the games playing out?

Oh, and I’ll also add–Blessed Alliance is not something that needs to be checked out. It just needs to be sleeved up. By the end of the weekend I should be at over 100 MATCHES with it in the 75, and I have to say it’s excellent at covering some holes in the sideboarding plans for esper that have plagued us, particularly when dealing with the MODO metagame. I’m trying to decide if I want to go in for Japanese foils, or just stick with English ones.

Mathew, you should probably also mention your list and your GP record with the deck–you are in fact one of the “good results” the shell has put up.

We’ll still have to continue to agree to disagree about leyline–I’m of the opinion that it’s an excellent card for the archetype, but NOT IN THE SIDEBOARD; I’ve run it as a 2-of mainboard for about 8 months now, and I have to say anybody who hasn’t played over a good period of time with them as a part of your long-term game one plan is missing out. At two copies, you find one in most matchups that go long enough for it to be relevant, and you get a decent number of “free win” game one’s with it in the opener, with very few “auto loss” games from drawing too many, since there’s only at most one redundant copy.

It’s just weaker. Gifts has never been a bad deck, but it’s never put up *any* results, whereas the pure draw-go style has put up at least a handful. You open yourself up to too many dead draws. Losing raw numbers on board wipes, Cryptics, and Think Twice isn’t worth the extra 4 mana+ cards. You do get the very rare auto win on t5 with Elesh Norn or Iona, but even those bombs don’t seem to be what they used to be. You’ll lose too many games to spending all your resources on getting one out and watching it be Path’d or your opponent just not caring.

2 Engineered Explosives, 2 Dispel, and some number of spot removal I definitely agree with. Those card are the most efficient at what they do. They are broad, simultaneously niche enough to be SB while being broad enough that you would bring them in vs. a huge % of the format.

2 Leyline and 2 Thoughtseize I absoultely disagree with. These are the kinds of cards that you put in your SB because you want to see them in your opening hand. They are both much weaker as the game goes on. With only 2 copies of each, you won’t see them consistently enough when they are strong. True, you do mitigate your chance to draw them later somewhat, but it seems like you’re on the wrong end of a trade-off. I’d really like to see these cards at 3 of’s or none at all. Vendilion Clique is also an alternative to Thoughtseize in the match ups where you really want it (Tron and Combo), while also being more live against aggro.

I don’t understand why Rest in Peace is here either. Dredge is not a real deck. Tier 3 decks aren’t worth worrying about when you play an entirely reactive deck. The few enough that hit on axes (axises?) that higher tier decks don’t can get there, but you just don’t have the slots to prepare for them alone (looking at Dredge, Lantern Control, and U-Tron when I make this comment). Beyond Dredge, you bring in RiP vs. what? Grixis? Leyline shuts Grixis down harder than RiP if you’re on that plan. Beyond that, Grixis is favorable (though your Spell Snare number likely needs to be higher). I don’t know of any other match up where I’d want the enchantment. Your deck is hurt more by RiP than the vast majority of high tier decks. (losing Logic Knot, Think Twice, and Snapcaster shenanigans may not be much individually, but together, it adds up).

Finally, I don’t understand why only 1 Spell Snare is here. It’s the cleanest answer in the format to Snapcaster, Thalia, Eidolon of the Great Revel, and Cranial Plating. It also hits Bob, Goyf, Remand, the list goes on. The only decks in tier 1/2 that I don’t want to see it against are Eldrazi/Tron. Vs. everything else, it’s live if not great.

Cheers.

1) I agree with, although the card is admittedly mostly untested. Blessed Alliance does seem good. It is certainly better than Tribute to Hunger.

2) is just wrong. The mana base does not want to support Shambling Vents and Creeping Tar Pit has wider applications. See my other comment.

#1 3 mana is too much. Blessed Alliance is new and mostly untested (admittedly it looks good) but edict effects have never been the greatest. I’d prefer Devour Flesh, To the Slaughter, or Far // Away if I was looking for an edict and nothing else, as the decks I want an edict, I don’t care about life as much (Thrun, albeit fringe, and Infect decks come to mind).

#2 Tar Pit is a possibility. Colonnade number 4 is the best manland that the above list is not running (which I disagree with, but that’s another story entirely). 5 taplands is probably too many. I used to run a 5th, which was the Tar Pit. It is the next best option. This is for 2 reasons: 1) The mana. The deck is very color intensive with Logic Knot, Esper Charm and Cryptic Command. You need as many blue sources as you can get. 2) The 3 power and unblockability is far more relevant than the lifegain on Shambling Vent. You can sneak kills on planeswalkers or race better with Tar Pit than you can with Vent.

#3 Timely Reinforcements is definitely a possibility in lieu of Leyline. Leyline is at it’s best vs. Burn, Jund, Grixis, Ad Naus, and Scapeshift. The Grixis, Scapeshift, and Jund match ups are already fine enough that it doesn’t seem necessary. If you do stand by the Leyline plan, 2 is too few. It’s a 3-4 of or none kind of card in my opinion. 2 is just too inconsistent. But I digress. Timely is fine vs. Burn and aggro decks. I’ve been meaning to try it again. The biggest reason people don’t run it is that the card is perhaps most relevant vs. Burn, but you often find yourself at risk of tapping out at sorcery speed into an Atarka’s Command or Skullcrack, which is enough to lose the game. Timely is definitely the best anti-Burn card against other aggro decks. Blessed Alliance may replace it though, due to it’s ability to be strong vs. those style of decks, in addition to being better against stuff like Infect and t3 decks like Bogles.

I can answer you 1&2 😉

1) Blessed Alliance is better, since it is more flexible and cheaper. Against hyper Aggro, the +4 life is most often a time walk, against Fish like decks, the edict effect is the important factor and most often not the life.

2) Instead of Tar Pit, Shambling Vents is a petter pick, since Burn has a more difficult time vs it (it trades positive vs close to all their spells).

Greetings,
Kathal

That should be a Timely Reinforcements, not a Lingering Souls, in the maindeck.

1 Unburial Rites
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Cryptic Command
2 Disfigure
4 Gifts Ungiven
3 Serum Visions
4 Esper Charm
1 Lingering Souls
2 Secure the Wastes
2 Spell Snare
4 Path to Exile
3 Mana Leak
2 Remand
3 Celestial Colonnade
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Drowned Catacomb
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Watery Grave
1 Breeding Pool
1 Ghost Quarter

2 Dispel
1 Countersquall
1 Raven’s Crime
3 Stony Silence
1 Life from the Loam
1 Detention Sphere
1 Lingering Souls
1 Celestial Purge
1 Mystical Teachings
2 Thoughtseize
1 Sphinx’s Revelation

Visions does not follow the draw go gameplan. Draw go has mana sinks for lands and universal answers – raw card count is usually more valuable than card selection (you do want to have counters up when you start colonnading) and instant speed is crucial to optimizing your mana and making land drops.

So yeah – disagree with visions here. Charm think remand cryptic revelation and snapcaster are plenty enough card draw – you need higher answer density (eg spell snare, runed halo, hallowed moonlight). Singleton lingering souls isn’t bad though.

Thoughtseize hasn’t been super effective for me, mostly because it’s dead in the late game, doesn’t protect you as much as another counter or removal spell, and feels inferior (as far as discard is concerned) to Esper Charm. I could see it being good at stripping problematic Planeswalkers or other permanents like Cranial Plating out of the side, but if you board in Lingering Souls and are careful with your counterspells you can usually get the job done anyway. I’m probably missing something important about it, though. What do you think about its merits?

William,

We had two Hallowed Burial as extra sweepers, obviously Supreme Verdict is better in the matchup due to being cheaper and uncounterable, but eventually they were cut to fit in other things and I felt my matchup against creature decks were solid. I think my matchup against Merfolk is already a little poor, and the 4th Supreme Verdict won’t sway things enough to be worth the spot. I’ve beaten Merfolk the few times I’ve played it, but in theory I should be behind in the matchup.

1. What do you think of a card like Tribute to Hunger? It’s a bit off the beaten path, but I’ve seen Grixis employ it to good effect in the “big stuff” matchups to surge ahead.

2. Would Creeping Tar Pit ever be a possibility? I can see the downsides (soft to Bolt, yet another tapped land), but I feel like the ability to put some pressure on in the midgame (when you have 6-7 lands) might be worth your while.

3. Would you consider Timely Reinforcements to be a suitable replacement for Leyline of Sanctity if you’re mostly worried about Burn? I would think that with Dispels added to your counter suite that Ad Naus is only a problem if they rip a T4 combo attempt and you happened to not have the counterspell ready.

very valid, i just think that the four paths and the three snap caster, to flash pack path might be too little. Supreme verdict can get some massive 2-1’s but it can be too slow against aggressive decks. so i guess the real question i should be asking is how to make this deck even better against aggressive decks.

Cryptic doesnt really stay in hand. Esper charm, visions and think twice all dig deep for land, and esper can prolong the game to a point where 4 mana is easy to cast. Adding removal might make its matchup against ad naseum even worse. Taking out cryptic is bad also because it is great in any matchup (almost). It can counter a spell, cantrip, fog, or just bounce a huge permanent, and then do another mode as well. It’s versatility makes up for its high cost.