My bad, I missed 2 cards when listing out the pool: 1 Terramorphic Expanse and 1 Scourge of Kher Ridges.
I went RG splash black, but obviously it was a mistake as I always sided in more swamps and black cards; I feel the correct build to be RB splash green (for tromp)
I didn't do so well, probably because I misbuilt. I went 3-3.
To be honest, other than removal, the black seems subpar. If I were to splash, I think I'd go for blue. It gives you access to Errant Ephemeron and Infiltrator il-Kor, both of which are really good creatures, as well as Pongify and Snapback. Blue requires less commitment to a splash color, and is more easily fixed thanks to the Chronotog Totem.
I definately wouldn't have played RB, as neither have a very deep creature base. I'd probably go something like this.
I chose to go with a Swamp over the Kher Keep because of Sedge Sliver and Tromp the Domains. A Swamp not only will give all our Slivers +1/+1, but it will add another +1/+1 when we Tromp. Another reason I didn't choose the Kher Keep is because our deck if fairly aggressive, and we probably won't be able to activate it much within the timeframe that we're hoping to win by. We also have the plan of powering out a Scourge of Kher Ridges if our quick guys + Tromp the Domains fall through.
Thoughts?
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I thought about blue as well, but having Errant Ephemeron doesn't appear attractive to me as a splash with only one island and a totem, as the odds of suspending on turn two go down drastically.
Your build looks really good though, I wish I had tried it. All those black removal cards are really tempting though.
I thought about blue as well, but having Errant Ephemeron doesn't appear attractive to me as a splash with only one island and a totem, as the odds of suspending on turn two go down drastically.
Your build looks really good though, I wish I had tried it. All those black removal cards are really tempting though.
You also have the Gemhide Sliver to help with the splash. Also, remember that Sealed is often slower than draft. While the Ephemoron is at its best when you suspend it turn two, that doesn't mean that its bad a little later.
I don't like your blue splash at all...Ephemeron, Infiltrator and Pongify as splash card..sorry but they are all good in blue decks but i would never splash for them.
instead i would increase the black splash and add Sooth (great splash if you are allready red), Rattle, Withering and Kher Keep/Sparkspitter or Henchfiend
Splashing for blue gives you access to evasion that the deck lacks. Pongify can not only serve as removal, but it also serves as a way to replace one of your creatures that is about to die.
As far as removal goes, you already have four good removal spells that are on color (Rift Bolt, Dead // Gone, Orcish Cannonade, and Shivan Meteor). I really don't see why you'd splash a third color just for removal, when you already have an abundance available.
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While the two blue suspend creatures are awesome, scourge of kher ridges is just an insanely broken bomb who will almost automatically win you the game if he comes down. You have an insane amount of removal, and should be able to deal with almost any threat he puts down (except, say Akroma). The build would look something like this:
You are correct in evaluating the pool as RB splash G The only green card I would splash is tromp I would play R/B you have plenty of playables to make a consistent deck with lens and 1 forest to splash tromp. Green has less playables then black red is clearly your main color and sedge sliver/soot are stronger when you don't play green as a main color, green doesn't offer much besides a small thallid theme some fat and tromp, black offers an excellent removal suite to go with yoru already strong red. You have the Giant cockroaches to make it work very effectively as a tempo deck.
Blue splash is insanity nothing of worth there and anyone suggesting a three color build thats ridiculous he could have a perfectly consistent, strong two color deck without risking autolosses from mana screw
You are correct in evaluating the pool as RB splash G The only green card I would splash is tromp I would play R/B you have plenty of playables to make a consistent deck with lens and 1 forest to splash tromp. Green has less playables then black red is clearly your main color and sedge sliver/soot are stronger when you don't play green as a main color, green doesn't offer much besides a small thallid theme some fat and tromp, black offers an excellent removal suite to go with yoru already strong red. You have the Giant cockroaches to make it work very effectively as a tempo deck.
Blue splash is insanity nothing of worth there and anyone suggesting a three color build thats ridiculous he could have a perfectly consistent, strong two color deck without risking autolosses from mana screw
I think you are very wrong with making it a B/R deck with a green splash. For starters, all the black creatures are horrible, and there aren't enough good red creatures to make up the difference. The only playables that black has over green is the removal, and I really don't think its a good idea to play crappy creatures just to have some good removal. Green offers some great creatures in the form of Giant Dustwasp, Durkwood Baloth, and the Saproling producers. Green also offers a better curve than black because the green creatures curve out. Black just has a lot of bad four-drops. Green also gives you some acceleration and fixing in the form of Gemhide Sliver, which also has synergy with the abundance of red Slivers.
Also, I find it hard to believe that the deck I posted above would have mana issues. Blue is the easiest color to splash because it also gains the Chronotog Totem in addition to the Gemhide Sliver, Prismatic Lens, and Terramorphic Expanse, so mana screw should never be an issue.
I still stand by the decision that blue is a good splash to make. The only black card really worth splashing is the Strangling Soot. Sudden Death relies too heavily on black, as does Dark Withering without madness outlets. Death Rattle may be decent, but I haven't been too impressed with it during all the TPF limited I've done. In the end, though, I definately know that R/G/x is way better that B/R/x.
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I think you are very wrong with making it a B/R deck with a green splash. For starters, all the black creatures are horrible, and there aren't enough good red creatures to make up the difference. The only playables that black has over green is the removal, and I really don't think its a good idea to play crappy creatures just to have some good removal. Green offers some great creatures in the form of Giant Dustwasp, Durkwood Baloth, and the Saproling producers. Green also offers a better curve than black because the green creatures curve out. Black just has a lot of bad four-drops. Green also gives you some acceleration and fixing in the form of Gemhide Sliver, which also has synergy with the abundance of red Slivers.
Also, I find it hard to believe that the deck I posted above would have mana issues. Blue is the easiest color to splash because it also gains the Chronotog Totem in addition to the Gemhide Sliver, Prismatic Lens, and Terramorphic Expanse, so mana screw should never be an issue.
I still stand by the decision that blue is a good splash to make. The only black card really worth splashing is the Strangling Soot. Sudden Death relies too heavily on black, as does Dark Withering without madness outlets. Death Rattle may be decent, but I haven't been too impressed with it during all the TPF limited I've done. In the end, though, I definately know that R/G/x is way better that B/R/x.
Good removal is twice as valuable as quality creatures in Sealed. Also, The creatures you consider "good" while good, are nothing compared to the awesome removal in this sealed pool. Sudden death kills Every single creature you named, even if all I blocked baloth with was an Augur of Skulls Soot kills 2 dustwasps, or any two thallids. Plus, thallid germinator is the only truly quality man of the fungus lot. No sprout swarm, less then ten playables, green is out. Slivers in limited are only as good as they are by themselves. Thus, only bonesplitter and sedge make the cut. The chances of you having more then one sliver out at a time with neitehr dying are abysmal.
Cyclopean Giant may be a terrible creature, but when I have pthises, dark withering, sudden death, soot, dead./gone, rift bolt, and cannonade, He's a 4 power beatstick. You clearly underestimate the ability of the worst creatures ever to get there when they are unopposed.
Chronotog totem is garbage and blue is out of the question entirely because the only card worth splashing is Mystical teachings and we already have tromp so no reason to dilute the mana base any further, I guess if you wanted to get greedy you could but there are a lot of double casting cost red and black spells in the archetype and suspending pthises is generally a bad idea.
I will admit Iceman your deck will not have mana problems, mostly because its not playing black, which is the second strongest color in the pool. My deck will have less problems then yours, mathematically, by splashing 1 off color land instead of two and 1 off color card instead of 3(+sedge and totem) , despite gemhide sliver.
hmm. I may have to throw the pool together to see if it has enough creatures for tromp or if mystical teachings would be a better splash. no care. the RBx version smashes your version anytime when you mulligan to 6 by drawing chonototem X)
Good removal is twice as valuable as quality creatures in Sealed. Also, The creatures you consider "good" while good, are nothing compared to the awesome removal in this sealed pool. Sudden death kills Every single creature you named, even if all I blocked baloth with was an Augur of Skulls Soot kills 2 dustwasps, or any two thallids. Plus, thallid germinator is the only truly quality man of the fungus lot. No sprout swarm, less then ten playables, green is out. Slivers in limited are only as good as they are by themselves. Thus, only bonesplitter and sedge make the cut. The chances of you having more then one sliver out at a time with neitehr dying are abysmal.
Cyclopean Giant may be a terrible creature, but when I have pthises, dark withering, sudden death, soot, dead./gone, rift bolt, and cannonade, He's a 4 power beatstick. You clearly underestimate the ability of the worst creatures ever to get there when they are unopposed.
Chronotog totem is garbage and blue is out of the question entirely because the only card worth splashing is Mystical teachings and we already have tromp so no reason to dilute the mana base any further, I guess if you wanted to get greedy you could but there are a lot of double casting cost red and black spells in the archetype and suspending pthises is generally a bad idea.
I will admit Iceman your deck will not have mana problems, mostly because its not playing black, which is the second strongest color in the pool. My deck will have less problems then yours, mathematically, by splashing 1 off color land instead of two and 1 off color card instead of 3(+sedge and totem) , despite gemhide sliver.
hmm. I may have to throw the pool together to see if it has enough creatures for tromp or if mystical teachings would be a better splash. no care. the RBx version smashes your version anytime when you mulligan to 6 by drawing chonototem X)
You keep justifying your argument by exclaiming 'Black has removal! Who cares if its creatures are bad??!!' As I said before, every single black creature (With the exception of Dauthi Slayer) in this pool is horrible, and should only be played if there were nothing better.
You also argue that there aren't enough green playables, yet black has even less. Lets compare.
Black has five playables:
Strangling Soot (Removal)
Sudden Death (Removal)
Dauthi Slayer (Aggressive Beater)
Mind Stab (Possible Card Advantage)
Auger of Skulls (Possible Card Advantage)
(I say possible because they both rely on you getting them early enough to make a difference.)
Dark Withering is out because you have no discard outlets, and Dark Banishings that cost 4BB are bad. Phthisis will usually just be garbage, unless you suspend it, because the 3BBBB cost is outragous. Death Rattle is useless against an early threat because of the horrendous cost, and is only marginally better in the late game. Cyclopean Giant, Brain Gorgers, and Cutthroat il-Dal are all horrible creatures, and will usually only make the cut if you're short on creatures. They'll also trade with just about any decent 2 mana creature in the format, which means your opponent will be dealing with your 'threats' for cheaper than the 'threats' cost.
Green gives you eight playables:
Gemhide Sliver ( Mana Fixing and acceleration)
Thornwield Archer (Aggressive beater and pseudo removal)
Thallid Germinator (Creates creature advantage/Semi-Aggressive Beater)
Citanul Woodreaders (Card Advantage)
Giant Dustwasp (Aggressive creature with evasion)
Durkwood Baloth (Cheap Fat or Aggressive late-game creature)
Wormwood Dryad (Semi-Aggressive Beater/Possible evasion)
Tromp the Domains (Bomb/Game Winner)
The cheap, efficient green creatures (When combined with some of the efficient red creatures) will be able to lower your opponent's life total faster and earlier, making it easier to win when you drop your Scorge of Kher-Ridge or Tromp the Domains.
If you attempt to play a heavy black/red deck, you'll be easily out-tempoed by the more aggressive creatures of your opponent while you sit back and try to protect yourself with your abundant removal. Yes, you may be preventing them from winning the game, but at the same time, you're not doing anything to win the game yourself.
Time Spiral block limited has been proven to be a format about tempo. Using your removal to provide your own tempo is all well and good, but it won't mean a thing if you can't capitalize on it. Cheap, aggressive beaters will be what wins you the most games, and Grizzly Bears will beat Giant Cockroach all day long. Red/Green will win you more games because it offers more tempo and a better mana curve than Black/Red, while still offering you good removal. And my stance isn't based on some inflated sense of ego that I have, but on facts that have been proven many times. Just take a look at the Top 8 of Grand Prix: Stockholm or Pro Tour: Geneva (Not a Sealed event, but a good idea of what a limited deck should look like).
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-1 removal for +1 mystical teachings is probably okay. Not enough creatures to play tromp though.
Not playing Death rattle, Dark withering, and Pthisis would probably knock your playabales down, yeah. Luckily, its easy to recognize that Pthisis wins games; and this deck has the tools to get you to that long game. Also luckily for me, since I chose B/R in this pool, Sedge Sliver and Hencfiend of Ukor are both solid, consistent creatures for me. The things I am most diappointed with in this build are Cutthroat Il-dal and Ib halfheart, still better then playing 3 off color cards, two-headed sliver, and chronotog totem I guess.
The easy way you just throw out "TS block limited is about tempo" without distingiushing draft and sealed is ridiculous. It is sometimes the right call to choose to draw in sealed; In draft its not even something to take into consideration most of the time.
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I'd like to hear people's opinions on this TPF sealed pool I opened. How would you build it?
Thanks!
1 Gemhide Sliver
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Thallid Germinator
1 Citanul Woodreaders
1 Giant Dustwasp
1 Durkwood Baloth
1 Tromp the Domains
1 Durkwood Tracker
1 Cyclical Evolution
1 Wormwood Dryad
1 Savage Thallid
1 Thallid Shell-Dweller
1 Psychotrope Thallid
1 Llanowar Augur
Red
1 Dead/Gone
1 Rift Bolt
1 Orcish Cannonade
1 Basalt Gargoyle
1 Coal Stoker
1 Two-headed Sliver
1 Bonesplitter Sliver
1 Sedge Sliver
1 Shivan Meteor
1 Gathan Raiders
1 Henchfiend of Ukor
1 Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
1 Shivan Wumpus
1 Fury Charm
1 Sparkspitter
1 Scourge of Kher Ridges
1 Death Rattle
1 Strangling Soot
1 Sudden Death
1 Dark Withering
1 Augur of Skulls
1 Pthisis
1 Mindstab
1 Call to the Netherworld
1 Cyclopean Giant
1 Sangrophage
1 Bad Moon
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Mindlash Sliver
1 Brain Gorgers
1 Melancholy
1 Snake Cult Initiation
1 Cuthroat il-Dal
Blue
1 Snapback
1 Pongify
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Errant Ephemeron
1 Bewilder
1 Truth or Tale
1 Wistful Thinking
1 Gossamer Phantasm
1 Merfolk Thaumaturgist
1 Infiltrator il-kor
1 Sarcomite Myr
1 Pentarch Ward
1 Gaze of Justice
1 Detainment Spell
1 D'Avenant Healer
1 Pull from Eternity
1 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
1 Resurrection
1 Dust Elemental
1 Poultice Sliver
1 Saltskitter
1 Patrician's Scorn
Others
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Kher Keep
1 Harmonic Sliver
1 Chronatog Totem
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Edit: Added the missing cards.
Creatures
Gemhide Sliver
Thornweald Archer
Thallid Germinator
Thallid Shell Dweller
Durkwood Baloth
Giant Dustwasp
Citanul Woodreaders
Two Headed Sliver
Bonesplitter Sliver
Sedge Sliver
Basalt Gargoyle
Coal Stoker
Gathan Raiders
Henchfiend of Ukor
Removal
Rift Bolt
Shivan Meteor
Dead//Gone
Death Rattle
Strangling Soot
Dark Withering
Sudden Death
Tools
Tromp the Domains
Prismatic Lens
Land
5 Mountain
7 Forest
6 Swamp
I wouldn't play the Kher Keep, cause you will probably have a little mana problems as is, but with Gemhide and Lens, hopefully you can pull this off.
The only thing I see you missing is Land search, ala Search or charm.
Very nice pool though, I would be very happy.
[html]http://www.magictraders.com/reflists/TheDragon.html[/html]
I collect Foil Dragons and Foil Angels. Got one for me?
I went RG splash black, but obviously it was a mistake as I always sided in more swamps and black cards; I feel the correct build to be RB splash green (for tromp)
I didn't do so well, probably because I misbuilt. I went 3-3.
I definately wouldn't have played RB, as neither have a very deep creature base. I'd probably go something like this.
1x Terramorphic Expanse
7x Mountain
7x Forest
1x Island
1x Swamp
Creatures (15)
1x Durkwood Baloth
1x Giant Dustwasp
1x Gemhide Sliver
1x Thornweld Archer
1x Thallid Germinator
1x Wormwood Dryad
1x Citanul Woodreaders
1x Two-Headed Sliver
1x Sedge Sliver
1x Bonesplitter Sliver
1x Coal Stoker
1x Gathan Raiders
1x Scourge of Kher Ridges
1x Errant Ephemeron
1x Infiltrator il-Kor
1x Prismatic Lens
1x Chronotog Totem
1x Tromp the Domains
1x Dead // Gone
1x Rift Bolt
1x Orcish Cannonade
1x Shivan Meteor
1x Pongify
I chose to go with a Swamp over the Kher Keep because of Sedge Sliver and Tromp the Domains. A Swamp not only will give all our Slivers +1/+1, but it will add another +1/+1 when we Tromp. Another reason I didn't choose the Kher Keep is because our deck if fairly aggressive, and we probably won't be able to activate it much within the timeframe that we're hoping to win by. We also have the plan of powering out a Scourge of Kher Ridges if our quick guys + Tromp the Domains fall through.
Thoughts?
Your build looks really good though, I wish I had tried it. All those black removal cards are really tempting though.
You also have the Gemhide Sliver to help with the splash. Also, remember that Sealed is often slower than draft. While the Ephemoron is at its best when you suspend it turn two, that doesn't mean that its bad a little later.
Splashing for blue gives you access to evasion that the deck lacks. Pongify can not only serve as removal, but it also serves as a way to replace one of your creatures that is about to die.
As far as removal goes, you already have four good removal spells that are on color (Rift Bolt, Dead // Gone, Orcish Cannonade, and Shivan Meteor). I really don't see why you'd splash a third color just for removal, when you already have an abundance available.
Green (9)
1 Gemhide Sliver
1 Thornweald Archer
1 Thallid Germinator
1 Citanul Woodreaders
1 Giant Dustwasp
1 Durkwood Baloth
1 Tromp the Domains
1 Durkwood Tracker
1 Thallid Shell-Dweller
RED (10)
1 Dead/Gone
1 Rift Bolt
1 Orcish Cannonade
1 Basalt Gargoyle
1 Coal Stoker
1 Two-headed Sliver
1 Bonesplitter Sliver
1 Sedge Sliver
1 Shivan Meteor
1 Gathan Raiders
1 Scourge of Kher Ridges
BLACK (2)
1 Death Rattle
1 Strangling Soot
ARTIFACT (1)
1 Prismatic Lens
LANDS (17)
7 Mountains
7 Forests
2 Swamps
1 Terramorphic Expanse
Blue splash is insanity nothing of worth there and anyone suggesting a three color build thats ridiculous he could have a perfectly consistent, strong two color deck without risking autolosses from mana screw
I think you are very wrong with making it a B/R deck with a green splash. For starters, all the black creatures are horrible, and there aren't enough good red creatures to make up the difference. The only playables that black has over green is the removal, and I really don't think its a good idea to play crappy creatures just to have some good removal. Green offers some great creatures in the form of Giant Dustwasp, Durkwood Baloth, and the Saproling producers. Green also offers a better curve than black because the green creatures curve out. Black just has a lot of bad four-drops. Green also gives you some acceleration and fixing in the form of Gemhide Sliver, which also has synergy with the abundance of red Slivers.
Also, I find it hard to believe that the deck I posted above would have mana issues. Blue is the easiest color to splash because it also gains the Chronotog Totem in addition to the Gemhide Sliver, Prismatic Lens, and Terramorphic Expanse, so mana screw should never be an issue.
I still stand by the decision that blue is a good splash to make. The only black card really worth splashing is the Strangling Soot. Sudden Death relies too heavily on black, as does Dark Withering without madness outlets. Death Rattle may be decent, but I haven't been too impressed with it during all the TPF limited I've done. In the end, though, I definately know that R/G/x is way better that B/R/x.
Good removal is twice as valuable as quality creatures in Sealed. Also, The creatures you consider "good" while good, are nothing compared to the awesome removal in this sealed pool. Sudden death kills Every single creature you named, even if all I blocked baloth with was an Augur of Skulls Soot kills 2 dustwasps, or any two thallids. Plus, thallid germinator is the only truly quality man of the fungus lot. No sprout swarm, less then ten playables, green is out. Slivers in limited are only as good as they are by themselves. Thus, only bonesplitter and sedge make the cut. The chances of you having more then one sliver out at a time with neitehr dying are abysmal.
Cyclopean Giant may be a terrible creature, but when I have pthises, dark withering, sudden death, soot, dead./gone, rift bolt, and cannonade, He's a 4 power beatstick. You clearly underestimate the ability of the worst creatures ever to get there when they are unopposed.
Chronotog totem is garbage and blue is out of the question entirely because the only card worth splashing is Mystical teachings and we already have tromp so no reason to dilute the mana base any further, I guess if you wanted to get greedy you could but there are a lot of double casting cost red and black spells in the archetype and suspending pthises is generally a bad idea.
I will admit Iceman your deck will not have mana problems, mostly because its not playing black, which is the second strongest color in the pool. My deck will have less problems then yours, mathematically, by splashing 1 off color land instead of two and 1 off color card instead of 3(+sedge and totem) , despite gemhide sliver.
hmm. I may have to throw the pool together to see if it has enough creatures for tromp or if mystical teachings would be a better splash. no care. the RBx version smashes your version anytime when you mulligan to 6 by drawing chonototem X)
yeah eventually I get bored of making sarcastic jokes that nobody understands...
You keep justifying your argument by exclaiming 'Black has removal! Who cares if its creatures are bad??!!' As I said before, every single black creature (With the exception of Dauthi Slayer) in this pool is horrible, and should only be played if there were nothing better.
You also argue that there aren't enough green playables, yet black has even less. Lets compare.
Black has five playables:
Strangling Soot (Removal)
Sudden Death (Removal)
Dauthi Slayer (Aggressive Beater)
Mind Stab (Possible Card Advantage)
Auger of Skulls (Possible Card Advantage)
(I say possible because they both rely on you getting them early enough to make a difference.)
Dark Withering is out because you have no discard outlets, and Dark Banishings that cost 4BB are bad. Phthisis will usually just be garbage, unless you suspend it, because the 3BBBB cost is outragous. Death Rattle is useless against an early threat because of the horrendous cost, and is only marginally better in the late game. Cyclopean Giant, Brain Gorgers, and Cutthroat il-Dal are all horrible creatures, and will usually only make the cut if you're short on creatures. They'll also trade with just about any decent 2 mana creature in the format, which means your opponent will be dealing with your 'threats' for cheaper than the 'threats' cost.
Green gives you eight playables:
Gemhide Sliver ( Mana Fixing and acceleration)
Thornwield Archer (Aggressive beater and pseudo removal)
Thallid Germinator (Creates creature advantage/Semi-Aggressive Beater)
Citanul Woodreaders (Card Advantage)
Giant Dustwasp (Aggressive creature with evasion)
Durkwood Baloth (Cheap Fat or Aggressive late-game creature)
Wormwood Dryad (Semi-Aggressive Beater/Possible evasion)
Tromp the Domains (Bomb/Game Winner)
The cheap, efficient green creatures (When combined with some of the efficient red creatures) will be able to lower your opponent's life total faster and earlier, making it easier to win when you drop your Scorge of Kher-Ridge or Tromp the Domains.
If you attempt to play a heavy black/red deck, you'll be easily out-tempoed by the more aggressive creatures of your opponent while you sit back and try to protect yourself with your abundant removal. Yes, you may be preventing them from winning the game, but at the same time, you're not doing anything to win the game yourself.
Time Spiral block limited has been proven to be a format about tempo. Using your removal to provide your own tempo is all well and good, but it won't mean a thing if you can't capitalize on it. Cheap, aggressive beaters will be what wins you the most games, and Grizzly Bears will beat Giant Cockroach all day long. Red/Green will win you more games because it offers more tempo and a better mana curve than Black/Red, while still offering you good removal. And my stance isn't based on some inflated sense of ego that I have, but on facts that have been proven many times. Just take a look at the Top 8 of Grand Prix: Stockholm or Pro Tour: Geneva (Not a Sealed event, but a good idea of what a limited deck should look like).
1 Rift Bolt
1 Orcish Cannonade
1 Shivan Meteor
1 Basalt Gargoyle
1 Coal Stoker
1 Bonesplitter Sliver
1 Sedge Sliver
1 Gathan Raiders
1 Henchfiend of Ukor
1 Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
1 Scourge of Kher Ridges
1 Death Rattle
1 Strangling Soot
1 Sudden Death
1 Dark Withering
1 Pthisis
1 Mindstab
1 Augur of Skulls
1 Cyclopean Giant
1 Cutthroat il-Dal
1 Dauthi Slayer
1 Prismatic Lens
1 Terramorphic expanse
8 Mountain
8 Swamp
-1 removal for +1 mystical teachings is probably okay. Not enough creatures to play tromp though.
Not playing Death rattle, Dark withering, and Pthisis would probably knock your playabales down, yeah. Luckily, its easy to recognize that Pthisis wins games; and this deck has the tools to get you to that long game. Also luckily for me, since I chose B/R in this pool, Sedge Sliver and Hencfiend of Ukor are both solid, consistent creatures for me. The things I am most diappointed with in this build are Cutthroat Il-dal and Ib halfheart, still better then playing 3 off color cards, two-headed sliver, and chronotog totem I guess.
The easy way you just throw out "TS block limited is about tempo" without distingiushing draft and sealed is ridiculous. It is sometimes the right call to choose to draw in sealed; In draft its not even something to take into consideration most of the time.