So, after taking a look at the previous deck,
I realized it could be done fairly easily on a budget. Cutting out the
Mythics is the most obvious first step. After that, removing the duals
lands hurts our constancy, but gnaws off about a quarter of what’s left
in the price. Normally I’d toss in Evolving Wilds to replace them, but
with it in the deck already and all the X-spells I plan on running, I
figure it’s better to cut Wilds and run Shimmering Grotto for fixing and
let some basic land fill the dual-land gap.
Now what to fill these remaining holes with? Well, I like the redundancy of White Sun’s Zenith, especially with our drawing powers, so I’m upping it by one. I’d bring it to four, personally, but I have the dual-lands to support that WWW converted mana cost. It won’t be so easy here either, I think, but even if this deck lacks specific searching, it knows how to draw into things. Like land. And additional copies of something we probably shouldn’t be playing four of anyway. In also comes a Blue Sun’s Zenith, for additional card advantage. I figure it wouldn’t hurt off of a rewind, or any dead turn. Our third hole filler is a Darksteel Sentinel. He’s not the most impressive 6-drop out there, but the ability to flash in and survive most removal gives me some reason to give him a shot on the B-Team. I also ended up cutting a Day of Judgment in effort to budget up a bit more. The replacement for that was either a Divine Deflection or an Elixir of Immortality. I erred on the side of potential win-card, but won’t knock the other card’s ability to restock counterspells and life points.
I was tempted to throw in Intangible Virtues, but their lack of Instant-flavor detracted me. Here’s where I note that with Midnight Haunting and Lingering Souls around, one could easily go the token theme route. The reason I didn’t do that originally, at least the last time I played a physical variant of the deck, was because I tend to play heavy mass-removal (At the time, 4 Day of Judgment and 2 Phyrexian Rebirth). This deck is far from that, so it could work out. I guess I’m just not fond of seeing 1/1s all game long.
More Budgety Draw-Go
—Instant Speed (26)—
1 Darksteel Sentinel
1 Blue Sun’s Zenith
4 Dissipate
3 Divine Deflection
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
4 Rewind
3 Think Twice
3 White Sun’s Zenith
—Sorcery Speed (10)—
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Day of Judgment
4 Ponder
—Land (24)—
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Shimmering Grotto
10 Island
8 Plains
Strategy: It’s Draw-Go. On your turns, draw a card, and say go. On theirs, be a dick and slap counterspells on anything they try to do that seems important. Deviate from this plan to play 1cc’s if you can spare the mana, or to nuke the board. Savvy?
Now what to fill these remaining holes with? Well, I like the redundancy of White Sun’s Zenith, especially with our drawing powers, so I’m upping it by one. I’d bring it to four, personally, but I have the dual-lands to support that WWW converted mana cost. It won’t be so easy here either, I think, but even if this deck lacks specific searching, it knows how to draw into things. Like land. And additional copies of something we probably shouldn’t be playing four of anyway. In also comes a Blue Sun’s Zenith, for additional card advantage. I figure it wouldn’t hurt off of a rewind, or any dead turn. Our third hole filler is a Darksteel Sentinel. He’s not the most impressive 6-drop out there, but the ability to flash in and survive most removal gives me some reason to give him a shot on the B-Team. I also ended up cutting a Day of Judgment in effort to budget up a bit more. The replacement for that was either a Divine Deflection or an Elixir of Immortality. I erred on the side of potential win-card, but won’t knock the other card’s ability to restock counterspells and life points.
I was tempted to throw in Intangible Virtues, but their lack of Instant-flavor detracted me. Here’s where I note that with Midnight Haunting and Lingering Souls around, one could easily go the token theme route. The reason I didn’t do that originally, at least the last time I played a physical variant of the deck, was because I tend to play heavy mass-removal (At the time, 4 Day of Judgment and 2 Phyrexian Rebirth). This deck is far from that, so it could work out. I guess I’m just not fond of seeing 1/1s all game long.
More Budgety Draw-Go
—Instant Speed (26)—
1 Darksteel Sentinel
1 Blue Sun’s Zenith
4 Dissipate
3 Divine Deflection
3 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Mana Leak
4 Rewind
3 Think Twice
3 White Sun’s Zenith
—Sorcery Speed (10)—
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Day of Judgment
4 Ponder
—Land (24)—
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Shimmering Grotto
10 Island
8 Plains
Strategy: It’s Draw-Go. On your turns, draw a card, and say go. On theirs, be a dick and slap counterspells on anything they try to do that seems important. Deviate from this plan to play 1cc’s if you can spare the mana, or to nuke the board. Savvy?
- Divine Deflection can easily be creature removal. Especially if they’re playing with Cavern of Souls. Watch out for those
communistssmarter opponents that cast things after combat! - Unless Sentinel’s having a good day, most endgames will come down to White Sun’s Zenith. Before then, feel free to sacrifice kitties in combat. Remember, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll draw the card again.
- If you don’t have Rewinds, Cancel should suffice.
- There’s very little early game solutions for Strangleroot Geist here. Be prepared to take hits, or sideboard accordingly.
