UW Flash is really strong against us because of the amount of draw they have and a more consistent mana base.
I feel like our game is quite good against RDW and Zombies, certainly better than against UW Flash.
Our game against aggro, however, is better than UW Flash's because it lacks early removal. Unsummon just does not cut it. Turn 1 Diregraf or Gravedigger, turn 2 Diregraf or Gravedigger and a Rancor is very, very bad news for them. If the Zombies or RDW hit a Cavern in the first 3 turns, it's really, really bad.
GW Aggro is really tough because they can get big fast and drop a lot of creatures. We need to find other solutions for that deck, but I might have one. I'll let you know how it tests this weekend. However, so far, I think we just kill every mana dork they drop ASAP and don't be afraid game 1 to counter any ramp they use. If we can keep them from swarming into a turn 3 uncounterable 4/4 where they suddenly have 2-4 creatures on the field, we are in a good position. Otherwise, we're pretty dead.
To beat UW Flash, we need two things: draw power and burn.
1) Burn is cheap and forces them to either take it or waste counter spells. I have 3 Pillar of Flames and 4 Searing Spear, that means 18 damage or a lot of cards they have to counter, and our card cost is lower than theirs, so efficiency is in our favor.
2) We can't match their draw, but we can get closer. I have opted -3 Detention Sphere, -2 Izzet Charm and +3 Think Twice, +1 Azorius Charm, and +1 Dissipate, giving me an additional potential 7 draw (not including Snapcaster A-Charm) in order to dig through flat spots and find solutions. Also, removing D-Sphere means I only have a handful of stuff that does not come in at Instant speed: Pillar of Flame (which only costs R and exiles), Thundermaw Hellkite (which has Haste) and Geist of Saint Traft (which has hexproof), plus one card I am testing that I think will be very good versus aggro.
So I can play a DrawGo game for the most part, only casting end of their turn, but I have a stronger game against aggro than UW Flash.
Btw, at the moment, I think both UWR and Bant Control fold to UW Flash and even UWR Tempo if we play them DrawGo with the exception of a turn 3 Geist of Saint Traft. We can wait them out if we have enough draw because we have better creatures and as much, if not more, counter magic.
Also, in the side, I think Counterflux and/or Rewind are very much worth considering in the control match. Uncounterable is great. Untapping 4 mana is great. And the mana cost is not hard to reach in either matchup. Rewind is also strong in the mirror and against UW Flash or any match where our opponent is going to flash in Snapcaster Mage or Restoration Angel. Countering it for free so we don't tap out at the end of our turn is pretty awesome.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
UW Flash is really strong against us because of the amount of draw they have and a more consistent mana base.
I feel like our game is quite good against RDW and Zombies, certainly better than against UW Flash.
Our game against aggro, however, is better than UW Flash's because it lacks early removal. Unsummon just does not cut it. Turn 1 Diregraf or Gravedigger, turn 2 Diregraf or Gravedigger and a Rancor is very, very bad news for them. If the Zombies or RDW hit a Cavern in the first 3 turns, it's really, really bad.
GW Aggro is really tough because they can get big fast and drop a lot of creatures. We need to find other solutions for that deck, but I might have one. I'll let you know how it tests this weekend. However, so far, I think we just kill every mana dork they drop ASAP and don't be afraid game 1 to counter any ramp they use. If we can keep them from swarming into a turn 3 uncounterable 4/4 where they suddenly have 2-4 creatures on the field, we are in a good position. Otherwise, we're pretty dead.
To beat UW Flash, we need two things: draw power and burn.
1) Burn is cheap and forces them to either take it or waste counter spells. I have 3 Pillar of Flames and 4 Searing Spear, that means 18 damage or a lot of cards they have to counter, and our card cost is lower than theirs, so efficiency is in our favor.
2) We can't match their draw, but we can get closer. I have opted -3 Detention Sphere, -2 Izzet Charm and +3 Think Twice, +1 Azorius Charm, and +1 Dissipate, giving me an additional potential 7 draw (not including Snapcaster A-Charm) in order to dig through flat spots and find solutions. Also, removing D-Sphere means I only have a handful of stuff that does not come in at Instant speed: Pillar of Flame (which only costs R and exiles), Thundermaw Hellkite (which has Haste) and Geist of Saint Traft (which has hexproof), plus one card I am testing that I think will be very good versus aggro.
So I can play a DrawGo game for the most part, only casting end of their turn, but I have a stronger game against aggro than UW Flash.
Btw, at the moment, I think both UWR and Bant Control fold to UW Flash and even UWR Tempo if we play them DrawGo with the exception of a turn 3 Geist of Saint Traft. We can wait them out if we have enough draw because we have better creatures and as much, if not more, counter magic.
Also, in the side, I think Counterflux and/or Rewind are very much worth considering in the control match. Uncounterable is great. Untapping 4 mana is great. And the mana cost is not hard to reach in either matchup. Rewind is also strong in the mirror and against UW Flash or any match where our opponent is going to flash in Snapcaster Mage or Restoration Angel. Countering it for free so we don't tap out at the end of our turn is pretty awesome.
agree with think twice it really help a lot in the draw department. been usin it in my list and l can stand by that card.
Moorland Haunt doesn't help any matchup atm. We have a good control matchup already, so I am cutting the moorland haunt and a clifftop retreat for 2 Cavern of Souls.
Haunt is actually quite good in the mirror, especially for those choosing to run pike, but I fully support dropping the utility land and a clifftop retreat for 2x cavern. That's what's been working best for me. Makes the U/W flash matchup so much easier when you can start deploying threats right away rather than trying to find a vulnerability in their counter wall.
1) Should we Unsummon their mana dorks? Or do we hold Unsummon for bigger threats?
2) Dude taps out for a creature (say Thragtusk). You have Syncopate and Essence Scatter on your hand. Do you Syncopate or Scatter?
3) You're behind (no threats on your side) and opponent attacks with something big (that isn't a Thragtusk). Do you Azorius Charm it or hold it?
4) When is it acceptable to Azorius Charm/Unsummon a ETB creature (such as Tusk)?
5) Is a turn 3 Geist of Saint Traft almost always the optimal play? Except when the opponent has Islands open.
These are all purely contextual.
1) If the rest of your hand is lands and countermagic then no, let them ramp and shut them down saving unsummon for when it will be most effective. In other words maximize your spells. If on the other hand you're on the play and have a geist in hand, then chances are you would love to keep them decelerated and it's probably correct to bounce the dork so you can get your geist beats in.
2) In the dark it's generally correct to use essence scatter in the early part of the game despite the fact that syncopate only gets worse as the game goes on for two reasons. First so that you have the all purpose counter available so that if they follow up with say Garruk next turn you have an answer, but also because essence scatter is much more effective a flashback target for your snapcasters. Once a syncopate is in the yard, it's much more likely your opponent will play around it correctly. Later in the game however, you should jump at the chance to have your syncopates actually do anything and hoard your hard counters. Also remember that you almost certainly will never be able to exile enough creatures vs. reanimator to keep them from having a good unburial target available, but it's entirely possible to keep them from ever reanimating a creature. It's because of this and the possibility of transformational boards that I prefer bringing in more counter magic to running gy hate in that matchup.
3)Use your life as a resource, but keep a firm hand on when you've reached a tipping point and can no longer afford to do so. That said, the tempo gained from charming away people's draw step is subtly one of the most powerful things you can do in standard, especially vs. aggro decks.
4)Charm/thought scour combo almost always makes it acceptable, when you would otherwise die is also always valid. Other acceptable answers include when they can't recast it successfully either due to them not having the mana (reanimator) or you having the counterspell. When you don't care about the trigger because it's not keeping you from winning, or my personal favorite, when it's your ETB creature. In fact, I really like when I can keep unsummon available to save my guys.
5)Against jund when on the play, yes. Versus anything else it totally depends on your hand and what they could untap and slam down. If they can untap into thragtusk or worse a hellrider that has friends already, then absolutely not. If they're on a non bant control deck then the answer is usually yes, especially game one when on the play, but chances are they have answers post board.
I already have mana issues, Cavern is not going to help at all and a single one is subject to Thought Scour ripping it away.
This is actually wrong. Replacing the utility land(s) and a retreat makes casting your non snapcaster creatures easier. Your ability to cast your burn or your early game charms is ever so slightly reduced, but the edge gained vs. U/W flash is enormous. The bit about cavern being subject to being thought scoured away is true but meaningless. Every card in your deck has the same chance of being milled away if you don't have any kind of library manipulation. That cavern could just as easily have been a pike, a geist, a dissipate, the second blue to cast that dissipate, the utility land you left in over cavern... It's kind of like saying dies to removal, sure, things die, but that doesn't make them bad.
Makes me think Staticaster would've helped kill all those tokens. Maybe we should make some room for some Mizzium Mortars for the Smiters. I feel like the next FNM i go to, I will be seeing a lot of them. But then again, if you have Staticaster, a spear + staticaster can kill a Smiter.
1) Should we Unsummon their mana dorks? Or do we hold Unsummon for bigger threats?
as someone who plays a dork-deck, io if the guy with the dork is playing a deck that has rancor in it (pretty good bet), then you're almost always going to be better off saving the unsummon as a response to rancor (which is a huge blowout) or just for a bigger target where you can get more value.
Played with this deck for FNM this week and went 3-1 with it. I faced Grixis Control, RDW, Junk Reanimator, and UW control wit my loss being the reanimator. The loss was definitely some error on my part. The player i was against was really good and didn't leave me any room for mistakes which I made. I definitely need to change out the sideboard a little. I want to take out the geists and put in some Zealous Conscripts, i feel like they would have been a lot better, and I also want to fit in some detention spheres, though I don't really know where. I also think it's okay in my meta to bring the pillars to 2 and spears up to 4. Any other suggestions?
I'm at 3 now, with 1 in the sideboard. Running Goblin Electromancer tech though. I need to post my decklist today. It gave me awesome results at an SCG IQ this weekend. Goblin Electromancer DOES WORK.
I might get some disagreement on this one, but imo, the number is 0. Versus the decks where you want that type of effect, Thoughtflare is usually going to do a better job of digging for what your want. In either case I'd be hard pressed to include either in the main deck. The life gain is a thing, but versus the decks that are beating down, you would rather have removal or sweepers than a slow durdly draw spell. I love revelation in actual control decks where you want to buy time with your spells and have a refill button that also buys you more time, but even though our preferred state is often control on the who's the beatdown axis, we are not a control deck. Rather, we are waiting for the point in the game where we transition to the beatdown from the control, or playing a tempo game if at all possible.
I have yet to see a UW Flash thread, though it seems the UW Tempo thread has become the UW Flash thread.
I think it would be great to have some cross-talk between the decks because despite some obvious similarities, they deal with some key opponents in different ways and fill their flex spaces and sideboards differently.
For example, UWR utilizes Searing Spear and Pillar of Flame to manage aggro and do direct damage and can utilize Thundermaw Hellkite and Zealous Conscripts as finishers, while UW Flash depends on Augur of Bolas as an early blocker, draw engine, and potentially as a very viable Pike target and probably the most counter magic and draw, where Bant relies on Centaur Healer for lifegain and blocking, and Selesnya Charm to allow all the creatures the ability to attack into bigger opponents who thought they were safe, or to exile 5+ power cards, and finally Esper Midrange uses UW Flash core, but takes advantage of Black mana for Lingering Souls (chumps and Pike targets) and Forbidden Alchemy, which allows it to dig deep and also put a lot of Pike-boosting spells into the grave quickly.
So this is my bid to encourage a broad UWx Midrange discussion in what I believe is a very strong core that does well against most of the meta.
Yeah, I think ideally we'd have a UWx Midrange/Tempo forum with UW Flash and UWR/Bant/Esper Midrange. They're all similar, they're all viable, and put together they make up a large part of the meta. They don't really fit into the "control" or "aggro" forums they're being stuffed into right now. (Also, "Bant Midrange" could really mean two different decks right now, a UWg tempo/midrange or a GWu ramp/midrange. But I digress.)
I kind of like the Esper list, but if I was going to a GP or SCG tomorrow, I don't think I'd bring it. Lingering Souls seems suspect with Thundermaw Hellkite now being on the rise. The mana is also weaker due to the lack of Orzhov and Dimir shocks.
Bant has a very exciting spell in Selesnya Charm, and of course you get access to the Thragtusk + Restoration Angel interactions. I haven't tried it, but it looks like a good deck.
Still, I think UWR is the strongest tempo deck right now. Zombies made a bit of a comeback this past weekend, as did Lingering Souls and even Delver! The red splash with burn and Thundermaw Hellkite should be powerful in these matchups. This is admittedly my favorite version of tempo, since casting fireballs and dragons in your crafty blue deck is just fun, but aside from my own fondness for it, I think it's the best metagame choice at this moment in time.
Haha, I was booted from the GWx Midrange thread because my deck design wasn't GWx enough, it was too UWg. To which I say, "Whatever!"
I ran UWR Saturday at a tournament and had done a lot of testing vs. UW flash two days earlier and I was unhappy both times. UW Flash definitely out-controlled it and not having main deck board wipe was frustrating, both in testing and at the tournament. I also got ROFL stomped by GW "Mid-range" Beatdown and GW Humans (are they midrange if they drop 4/4 threats on turn 2???? Seems pretty damn Aggro to me.) Loxodon Smiter was a huge PITA and again, lack of main-deck Wrath was huge in game 1. Of course, I also made some mistakes killing garbage instead of waiting with Pillar to hit those Silverblade Paladin punks.
That was why I went Bant, adding lifegain, a meatier 3 drop, and the ability to kill a 5+ power creature at instant speed.
However, against Zombies, I think UWR might have that edge. Haven't tested the Bant version against it yet, though between lifegain and Selesnya we theoretically have a good game.
I really liked UWR Midrange against Zombies before and it really gave UWR and Bant Control problems. In fact, except for the other UWx midrange decks and GW Beatdown decks, I think UWR Midrange is fantastic.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
So you need to make a decision based on what you expect to face more ~ the UW control mirror OR aggro decks.
Think back to UW vs UWr Cawblade (pre-nph). UW cawblade would fold to mono red but would crush UWr cawblade. UWr beat mono-red but lost the mirror. Splashing red gives you a lot of great cards to beat aggro, but they're all pretty stinky against another control deck.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
I also got ROFL stomped by GW "Mid-range" Beatdown and GW Humans (are they midrange if they drop 4/4 threats on turn 2???? Seems pretty damn Aggro to me.) Loxodon Smiter was a huge PITA and again, lack of main-deck Wrath was huge in game 1. Of course, I also made some mistakes killing garbage instead of waiting with Pillar to hit those Silverblade Paladin punks.
Huh? I've had zero trouble against GW decks, even though they're big in the local meta. Loxodon Smiter? It has no CIPT effect, so just put it on the top of their library. In fact, aside from some lifegain, they run almost no creatures with CIPT effects, so even if they run Caverns, you can take out their threats with burn and Detention Sphere. And yes, using Pillar of Flame on their Silverblade Paladin is generally a good idea. Pillar is a big part of the reason why I like being UWR against them. Also, I hear they, like most decks, have trouble blocking a Thundermaw Hellkite.
UWR vs. UW is a valid point, though. It's a tough matchup, though not unwinnable. If you're expecting to play against tons of control, then maybe UWR isn't the right choice. But I think this is still a Thragtusk-defined field, and UWR seems like the right choice at this point.
Huh? I've had zero trouble against GW decks, even though they're big in the local meta. Loxodon Smiter? It has no CIPT effect, so just put it on the top of their library. In fact, aside from some lifegain, they run almost no creatures with CIPT effects, so even if they run Caverns, you can take out their threats with burn and Detention Sphere. And yes, using Pillar of Flame on their Silverblade Paladin is generally a good idea. Pillar is a big part of the reason why I like being UWR against them. Also, I hear they, like most decks, have trouble blocking a Thundermaw Hellkite.
UWR vs. UW is a valid point, though. It's a tough matchup, though not unwinnable. If you're expecting to play against tons of control, then maybe UWR isn't the right choice. But I think this is still a Thragtusk-defined field, and UWR seems like the right choice at this point.
Agree. There is still enough of a reason to be UWr I think.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
@rujasu
Did I mention I was not running Detention Sphere? Also, I think GW Midrange has few problems generating a constant stream of threats unless you can force them to overextend. I used burn to take out his Smiters, but he had three in a row, which he was smart enough not to play all at once, and he ran Selesnya Charm, so I killed one and he pumped another over my double burn, leaving me expending 4 cards to his 2, and him with a threat on the field. Never mind I got mana screwed 3 out of 4 games that I lost and flooded the fourth... Sad panda was sad.
Saturday was rough because of my four matches, 2 were GW Aggro variants, one was UW Flash, and the last was Jund, which I owned.
@zemanjaski
I started playing in May 2010 right before M11 came out, so no, I don't remember that, but it makes sense. Hey, everything has to be weak to something or a format becomes horribly unbalanced, right?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
@ redtwister ~ exactly right. I truly believe it is the mark of a good format where you can't be good against every deck; you need to pick and choose your bad matchups.
Like, right now, my Rx is good against UW Aggro/Control, very good against Reanimator, good against Jund, even with GW Aggro and bad against Zombies and the mirror. Its configured that way because I expect to see a lot of blue decks and reanimator, less red or black aggro. There is no way I can be good against the field though ~ it isnt like Delver last season where your worse matchup was the 50% mirror
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I write for Channel Fireball now! Read my CFB articles here. Read my Dies to Removal articles here. Read the definitive Red Deck Wins Primer here.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
@rujasu
Did I mention I was not running Detention Sphere? Also, I think GW Midrange has few problems generating a constant stream of threats unless you can force them to overextend. I used burn to take out his Smiters, but he had three in a row, which he was smart enough not to play all at once, and he ran Selesnya Charm, so I killed one and he pumped another over my double burn, leaving me expending 4 cards to his 2, and him with a threat on the field. Never mind I got mana screwed 3 out of 4 games that I lost and flooded the fourth... Sad panda was sad.
I can see it being a worse matchup if you don't run Sphere, but there's a solution to that: run Sphere!
Seriously though, I don't like the idea of double-burning 4/4 dudes. Maybe you're running too much burn? I think 4-5 burn spells is about right. Like I said, bounce and Az Charm are your friends against guys like Smiter. Sure, you can't counter it, but you don't really need to, he's just a guy.
I agree that Jund is a slam dunk matchup for UWR. It should be a good matchup for any UW/x tempo, actually.
I ended up going 4-3 into a drop on Saturday. For those who were watching the coverage, the room was flooded with GW, RDWs, Humans and even Zombies. It was not something I had initially expected until arriving at the venue, and while I was tempted to make a last minute deck change I ended up sticking with UWr, a deck which I knew I was going to struggle with through the day.
Round 1 was against GW Aggro and was a bit insane.
T3 Silverblade, T4 Silverblade (pair) T5 Sublime, T6 Silverblade. I was able to keep him at bay for a while but eventually he just overwhelmed me.
Game 2 was very similar except it was T2 Smiter, T3 Smiter, T4 Sublime T5 Silverblade. I was unable to see any sweepers.
Round 2 was against RB Zombies, where he flooded me with Grave Crawlers and Blood Artists and finished me off with back to back Aristocrats.
Game 2 was close, I got him down to 2 life before Blood Artist picked him back up to a point in which I could not recover.
Round 3 was Junk Rites
T3 GoST in which he could not recover from constant removal as a follow up.
Game 2 Pike landed and Angel and Thundermaw locked him out even after he landed an angel, Conscripts finished him off.
Round 4 was RDW
Game 1 he overextended and Pike finally just 1 shot him with an Restoration Angel.
Game 2 Staticaster and Snapcaster chipped away slowly until a Pike landed. He missed his Pyre Heart triggers multiple times in which I would not let him back up to announce them. While he knew how to pilot the deck and was a good player, he was incredibly sloppy. 2 Staticasters just crushed him.
Round 5 was against UWr
My opponent did not unside game 1 and a deck check ruled him a game loss.
Game 2 I kept with an extremely loose hand in which GoST landed on his side and I never hit my 3rd land drop to play a GoST. Even with 3 Azorius Charms and a Snapcaster and a Thoughtscour I finally just died to GoST after missing drops 3-7.
Game 2 I landed a T3 GoST off a cavern and chipped away. After playing a GoST of his own, I followed it up with a Snapcaster and a Pike, Detention Sphere removed Pike, Thundermaw came down and I smashed in once before it caught a Detention Sphere of it's own. My second Thundermaw Hellkite got there for the round win.
Round 6 was against UW Flash
See above...
Round 7 was against 4 Color Reanimator.
While I consider this an easy match up, I did manage to lose it and I learned a valuable lesson: UWr Flash and UWr Midrange and even UW Flash have no way to deal with nut hands/draws. We just cannot beat them
Basically, he landed T4,5 and 6 Thragtusks from casting and reanimating them in Game 1. Game 2 he managed to hit T4 and 5 Thragtusks into multiple AoS to start chaining. Once he hit Cavern of Souls number 2 naming the angel it was all but over. After cloning and stealing it was just not enough to get past his cycling.
From here I dropped.
I did make slight adjustments to the deck the night before, to allow room for Cavern of Souls in anticipation for the event, but alas, there was very little UWx Flash at the venue. It was all Reanimator, Jund, GW, RDW and Zombies, with a smattering of Bant Control
I will get back to everyone tomorrow with the decklist I took as well as what I took from the event as far as notes and food for thought.
Ass you might notice, I was able to find room for Cavern of Souls, and I also fit a second in the side. While I often sided Moorland Haunt out for it it was only for select matches. I think a land that has some level of utility is definitely something to consider as a possible SB slot, be it a Cavern of Souls, Slayer's Stronghold etc.
As I said, I walked into a room FULL of aggressive strategies and there was little UWx Flash around. Even between rounds as I walked around it was not a popular deck from what I saw. Red splash is still where Flash wants to be I feel. While UW does have it's ups, the ability to help burn yourself into stabilization is imperative.
I managed to fit in 2 Supreme Verdict in the main and I feel that is where I want to be. I would rather side them out and have them game 1 for the matches I need them in than side them in and lose game 1 against an aggro deck. It is also going to let me loosen up on my starting hands against an open field.
-1 Pillar of Flame
-1 Thundermaw Hellkite
+2 Supreme Verdict
Is where I am sitting right now. Pillar kicked the bucket over Izzet charm because of the ability to burn something out at instant speed or counter something. 3 Pillars still feels like enough right now and the charm lets me play more draw-go at various points. The third Thundermaw Hellkite found it's way into the SB for decks like Jund etc.
Syncopate is something I still feel is weak, specially with Cavern of Souls on the up and up. More removal just seems stronger.
I thought about how much I would like Invisible Stalker over GoST and I think I will take it into testing. Reason being is that he is going to let us race against aggressive decks if we have a Pike, but then again, Pike was something I took out in the aggro matches. Something I am still mulling over.
That is about it, not a whole lot really. I was disappointing with my deck choice for the weekend, but it was not because it is a bad deck, simply that I had a wrong read on the meta. Thragtusk is certainly where I wanted to be.
That aside, my buddy got to have an hour long marathon on camera round 3 as he faced down a 4 Color Reanimator deck. After the match I asked him why he did not pack game 1 in early and move to his SB options, but what can you do
In an aggresive filled meta would you consider to run bonfire? Also i recently just cut all the unsommon's from my deck. The card isn't vapor snag, no where even close. If you are running pike why not just turn your dudes sideways and have them chump? Want to out tempo your opponent? Azorius charm is just overall better. And i guess the only upside to unsummon is you can save your own dudes from removal/board swipes.
I would cut essence scatter eay before syncopate if you feel cavern is going to be played more. Its just a dead card once cavern hits while syncopate isn't.
What happends when you dont have a pike on hand with stalker? This is where GoST is strictly better. If you move to 4 pikes then i could see running stalker but i wouldnt even think to begin where to make room for 2 more pikes.
I probably missed it a few pages ago. Staticaster looks really meh. What does this even offer for our deck?
In an aggresive filled meta would you consider to run bonfire? Also i recently just cut all the unsommon's from my deck. The card isn't vapor snag, no where even close. If you are running pike why not just turn your dudes sideways and have them chump? Want to out tempo your opponent? Azorius charm is just overall better. And i guess the only upside to unsummon is you can save your own dudes from removal/board swipes.
I would cut essence scatter eay before syncopate if you feel cavern is going to be played more. Its just a dead card once cavern hits while syncopate isn't.
What happends when you dont have a pike on hand with stalker? This is where GoST is strictly better. If you move to 4 pikes then i could see running stalker but i wouldnt even think to begin where to make room for 2 more pikes.
I probably missed it a few pages ago. Staticaster looks really meh. What does this even offer for our deck?
Bonfire was something we tested and were not very impressed with. I don't want to be chasing down the extra mana to cast it. I want it to be a miracle cast, which is hard. Against GW you are toast if you cannot miracle it or you draw one before you need to miracle it. Thalia into Silverblade into Sublime or Smiter means you are dead without that miracle. Supreme Verdict is a flat rate cost and gets rid of everything when you need it.
Unsummon is not leaving my list any time soon. It is not just about bouncing their dudes, it is about being able to keep pressure on, and if that means you need to save a GoST and drop it again that is perfectly acceptable. Unsummon is just too versatile to be cutting.
Syncopate slows down in the later stages of the game. Back to flat rates, Scatter has one no matter what turn it is, and if I am not dissipating it then I am scattering it and if I am not doing either than there is either a cavern out, where it would not really matter, or it is simply not a back breaking spell they are casting. Syncopate is just getting weaker and weaker, some people are not really seeing that for whatever reason. Not saying it is a bad card, but it is a weaker alternative when you are trying to maintain maximum mana efficiency.
Stalker was just a note for future testing, had very little to do with GoST outside of the fact that is was the quickest comparison to evaluating how evasive a creature is.
Staticaster is amazing. Some people seem to overlook that value it provides.
0/3 means it blocks most critters in the format (2/X)
Guns down X/1 creatures
In multiples or with Resto it guns down X/2 creatures
Can pick up a pike in the late game
Has haste if you cannot flash it in and pike it up
She is an anti-aggro machine with a swiss army-knife application. I cannot tell you how many games she shuts RDW down, or those random token matches at an FNM, or saves me from Huntmaster of the Fells or a Spirit token with a pike. She is pure value.
I probably missed it a few pages ago. Staticaster looks really meh. What does this even offer for our deck?
This card has been SO good to me, Searing Spear or Mizzium Mortars +Staticaster takes out pretty much everything. Not to mention the incredible feeling when my opponent casts Lingering Souls, flashes it back immediately, then passes turn. "End of your turn, cast Izzet Staticaster, and ping all your Spirits" Equip pike, begin beats.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
UW Flash is really strong against us because of the amount of draw they have and a more consistent mana base.
I feel like our game is quite good against RDW and Zombies, certainly better than against UW Flash.
Our game against aggro, however, is better than UW Flash's because it lacks early removal. Unsummon just does not cut it. Turn 1 Diregraf or Gravedigger, turn 2 Diregraf or Gravedigger and a Rancor is very, very bad news for them. If the Zombies or RDW hit a Cavern in the first 3 turns, it's really, really bad.
GW Aggro is really tough because they can get big fast and drop a lot of creatures. We need to find other solutions for that deck, but I might have one. I'll let you know how it tests this weekend. However, so far, I think we just kill every mana dork they drop ASAP and don't be afraid game 1 to counter any ramp they use. If we can keep them from swarming into a turn 3 uncounterable 4/4 where they suddenly have 2-4 creatures on the field, we are in a good position. Otherwise, we're pretty dead.
To beat UW Flash, we need two things: draw power and burn.
1) Burn is cheap and forces them to either take it or waste counter spells. I have 3 Pillar of Flames and 4 Searing Spear, that means 18 damage or a lot of cards they have to counter, and our card cost is lower than theirs, so efficiency is in our favor.
2) We can't match their draw, but we can get closer. I have opted -3 Detention Sphere, -2 Izzet Charm and +3 Think Twice, +1 Azorius Charm, and +1 Dissipate, giving me an additional potential 7 draw (not including Snapcaster A-Charm) in order to dig through flat spots and find solutions. Also, removing D-Sphere means I only have a handful of stuff that does not come in at Instant speed: Pillar of Flame (which only costs R and exiles), Thundermaw Hellkite (which has Haste) and Geist of Saint Traft (which has hexproof), plus one card I am testing that I think will be very good versus aggro.
So I can play a DrawGo game for the most part, only casting end of their turn, but I have a stronger game against aggro than UW Flash.
Btw, at the moment, I think both UWR and Bant Control fold to UW Flash and even UWR Tempo if we play them DrawGo with the exception of a turn 3 Geist of Saint Traft. We can wait them out if we have enough draw because we have better creatures and as much, if not more, counter magic.
Also, in the side, I think Counterflux and/or Rewind are very much worth considering in the control match. Uncounterable is great. Untapping 4 mana is great. And the mana cost is not hard to reach in either matchup. Rewind is also strong in the mirror and against UW Flash or any match where our opponent is going to flash in Snapcaster Mage or Restoration Angel. Countering it for free so we don't tap out at the end of our turn is pretty awesome.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
agree with think twice it really help a lot in the draw department. been usin it in my list and l can stand by that card.
Haunt is actually quite good in the mirror, especially for those choosing to run pike, but I fully support dropping the utility land and a clifftop retreat for 2x cavern. That's what's been working best for me. Makes the U/W flash matchup so much easier when you can start deploying threats right away rather than trying to find a vulnerability in their counter wall.
These are all purely contextual.
1) If the rest of your hand is lands and countermagic then no, let them ramp and shut them down saving unsummon for when it will be most effective. In other words maximize your spells. If on the other hand you're on the play and have a geist in hand, then chances are you would love to keep them decelerated and it's probably correct to bounce the dork so you can get your geist beats in.
2) In the dark it's generally correct to use essence scatter in the early part of the game despite the fact that syncopate only gets worse as the game goes on for two reasons. First so that you have the all purpose counter available so that if they follow up with say Garruk next turn you have an answer, but also because essence scatter is much more effective a flashback target for your snapcasters. Once a syncopate is in the yard, it's much more likely your opponent will play around it correctly. Later in the game however, you should jump at the chance to have your syncopates actually do anything and hoard your hard counters. Also remember that you almost certainly will never be able to exile enough creatures vs. reanimator to keep them from having a good unburial target available, but it's entirely possible to keep them from ever reanimating a creature. It's because of this and the possibility of transformational boards that I prefer bringing in more counter magic to running gy hate in that matchup.
3)Use your life as a resource, but keep a firm hand on when you've reached a tipping point and can no longer afford to do so. That said, the tempo gained from charming away people's draw step is subtly one of the most powerful things you can do in standard, especially vs. aggro decks.
4)Charm/thought scour combo almost always makes it acceptable, when you would otherwise die is also always valid. Other acceptable answers include when they can't recast it successfully either due to them not having the mana (reanimator) or you having the counterspell. When you don't care about the trigger because it's not keeping you from winning, or my personal favorite, when it's your ETB creature. In fact, I really like when I can keep unsummon available to save my guys.
5)Against jund when on the play, yes. Versus anything else it totally depends on your hand and what they could untap and slam down. If they can untap into thragtusk or worse a hellrider that has friends already, then absolutely not. If they're on a non bant control deck then the answer is usually yes, especially game one when on the play, but chances are they have answers post board.
This is actually wrong. Replacing the utility land(s) and a retreat makes casting your non snapcaster creatures easier. Your ability to cast your burn or your early game charms is ever so slightly reduced, but the edge gained vs. U/W flash is enormous. The bit about cavern being subject to being thought scoured away is true but meaningless. Every card in your deck has the same chance of being milled away if you don't have any kind of library manipulation. That cavern could just as easily have been a pike, a geist, a dissipate, the second blue to cast that dissipate, the utility land you left in over cavern... It's kind of like saying dies to removal, sure, things die, but that doesn't make them bad.
Makes me think Staticaster would've helped kill all those tokens. Maybe we should make some room for some Mizzium Mortars for the Smiters. I feel like the next FNM i go to, I will be seeing a lot of them. But then again, if you have Staticaster, a spear + staticaster can kill a Smiter.
as someone who plays a dork-deck, io if the guy with the dork is playing a deck that has rancor in it (pretty good bet), then you're almost always going to be better off saving the unsummon as a response to rancor (which is a huge blowout) or just for a bigger target where you can get more value.
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
4 Restoration Angel
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
Spells
3 Searing Spear
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Izzet Charm
2 Unsummon
4 Azorius Charm
3 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Essence Scatter
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Clifftop Retreat
2 Plains
2 Island
2 Mountain
2 Sundering Growth
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Negate
3 Dungeon Geists
2 Purify the Grave
2 Rootborn Defenses
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Played with this deck for FNM this week and went 3-1 with it. I faced Grixis Control, RDW, Junk Reanimator, and UW control wit my loss being the reanimator. The loss was definitely some error on my part. The player i was against was really good and didn't leave me any room for mistakes which I made. I definitely need to change out the sideboard a little. I want to take out the geists and put in some Zealous Conscripts, i feel like they would have been a lot better, and I also want to fit in some detention spheres, though I don't really know where. I also think it's okay in my meta to bring the pillars to 2 and spears up to 4. Any other suggestions?
I'm at 3 now, with 1 in the sideboard. Running Goblin Electromancer tech though. I need to post my decklist today. It gave me awesome results at an SCG IQ this weekend. Goblin Electromancer DOES WORK.
I might get some disagreement on this one, but imo, the number is 0. Versus the decks where you want that type of effect, Thoughtflare is usually going to do a better job of digging for what your want. In either case I'd be hard pressed to include either in the main deck. The life gain is a thing, but versus the decks that are beating down, you would rather have removal or sweepers than a slow durdly draw spell. I love revelation in actual control decks where you want to buy time with your spells and have a refill button that also buys you more time, but even though our preferred state is often control on the who's the beatdown axis, we are not a control deck. Rather, we are waiting for the point in the game where we transition to the beatdown from the control, or playing a tempo game if at all possible.
ctaylor33 opened an Esper Midrange thread.
I have opened a Bant Midrange Control thread.
I have yet to see a UW Flash thread, though it seems the UW Tempo thread has become the UW Flash thread.
I think it would be great to have some cross-talk between the decks because despite some obvious similarities, they deal with some key opponents in different ways and fill their flex spaces and sideboards differently.
For example, UWR utilizes Searing Spear and Pillar of Flame to manage aggro and do direct damage and can utilize Thundermaw Hellkite and Zealous Conscripts as finishers, while UW Flash depends on Augur of Bolas as an early blocker, draw engine, and potentially as a very viable Pike target and probably the most counter magic and draw, where Bant relies on Centaur Healer for lifegain and blocking, and Selesnya Charm to allow all the creatures the ability to attack into bigger opponents who thought they were safe, or to exile 5+ power cards, and finally Esper Midrange uses UW Flash core, but takes advantage of Black mana for Lingering Souls (chumps and Pike targets) and Forbidden Alchemy, which allows it to dig deep and also put a lot of Pike-boosting spells into the grave quickly.
So this is my bid to encourage a broad UWx Midrange discussion in what I believe is a very strong core that does well against most of the meta.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I kind of like the Esper list, but if I was going to a GP or SCG tomorrow, I don't think I'd bring it. Lingering Souls seems suspect with Thundermaw Hellkite now being on the rise. The mana is also weaker due to the lack of Orzhov and Dimir shocks.
Bant has a very exciting spell in Selesnya Charm, and of course you get access to the Thragtusk + Restoration Angel interactions. I haven't tried it, but it looks like a good deck.
Still, I think UWR is the strongest tempo deck right now. Zombies made a bit of a comeback this past weekend, as did Lingering Souls and even Delver! The red splash with burn and Thundermaw Hellkite should be powerful in these matchups. This is admittedly my favorite version of tempo, since casting fireballs and dragons in your crafty blue deck is just fun, but aside from my own fondness for it, I think it's the best metagame choice at this moment in time.
I ran UWR Saturday at a tournament and had done a lot of testing vs. UW flash two days earlier and I was unhappy both times. UW Flash definitely out-controlled it and not having main deck board wipe was frustrating, both in testing and at the tournament. I also got ROFL stomped by GW "Mid-range" Beatdown and GW Humans (are they midrange if they drop 4/4 threats on turn 2???? Seems pretty damn Aggro to me.) Loxodon Smiter was a huge PITA and again, lack of main-deck Wrath was huge in game 1. Of course, I also made some mistakes killing garbage instead of waiting with Pillar to hit those Silverblade Paladin punks.
That was why I went Bant, adding lifegain, a meatier 3 drop, and the ability to kill a 5+ power creature at instant speed.
However, against Zombies, I think UWR might have that edge. Haven't tested the Bant version against it yet, though between lifegain and Selesnya we theoretically have a good game.
I really liked UWR Midrange against Zombies before and it really gave UWR and Bant Control problems. In fact, except for the other UWx midrange decks and GW Beatdown decks, I think UWR Midrange is fantastic.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
UW > UWr in the control mirror
UWr > UW against aggro decks
So you need to make a decision based on what you expect to face more ~ the UW control mirror OR aggro decks.
Think back to UW vs UWr Cawblade (pre-nph). UW cawblade would fold to mono red but would crush UWr cawblade. UWr beat mono-red but lost the mirror. Splashing red gives you a lot of great cards to beat aggro, but they're all pretty stinky against another control deck.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Huh? I've had zero trouble against GW decks, even though they're big in the local meta. Loxodon Smiter? It has no CIPT effect, so just put it on the top of their library. In fact, aside from some lifegain, they run almost no creatures with CIPT effects, so even if they run Caverns, you can take out their threats with burn and Detention Sphere. And yes, using Pillar of Flame on their Silverblade Paladin is generally a good idea. Pillar is a big part of the reason why I like being UWR against them. Also, I hear they, like most decks, have trouble blocking a Thundermaw Hellkite.
UWR vs. UW is a valid point, though. It's a tough matchup, though not unwinnable. If you're expecting to play against tons of control, then maybe UWR isn't the right choice. But I think this is still a Thragtusk-defined field, and UWR seems like the right choice at this point.
Agree. There is still enough of a reason to be UWr I think.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
Did I mention I was not running Detention Sphere? Also, I think GW Midrange has few problems generating a constant stream of threats unless you can force them to overextend. I used burn to take out his Smiters, but he had three in a row, which he was smart enough not to play all at once, and he ran Selesnya Charm, so I killed one and he pumped another over my double burn, leaving me expending 4 cards to his 2, and him with a threat on the field. Never mind I got mana screwed 3 out of 4 games that I lost and flooded the fourth... Sad panda was sad.
Saturday was rough because of my four matches, 2 were GW Aggro variants, one was UW Flash, and the last was Jund, which I owned.
@zemanjaski
I started playing in May 2010 right before M11 came out, so no, I don't remember that, but it makes sense. Hey, everything has to be weak to something or a format becomes horribly unbalanced, right?
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Like, right now, my Rx is good against UW Aggro/Control, very good against Reanimator, good against Jund, even with GW Aggro and bad against Zombies and the mirror. Its configured that way because I expect to see a lot of blue decks and reanimator, less red or black aggro. There is no way I can be good against the field though ~ it isnt like Delver last season where your worse matchup was the 50% mirror
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com
I can see it being a worse matchup if you don't run Sphere, but there's a solution to that: run Sphere!
Seriously though, I don't like the idea of double-burning 4/4 dudes. Maybe you're running too much burn? I think 4-5 burn spells is about right. Like I said, bounce and Az Charm are your friends against guys like Smiter. Sure, you can't counter it, but you don't really need to, he's just a guy.
I agree that Jund is a slam dunk matchup for UWR. It should be a good matchup for any UW/x tempo, actually.
Round 1 was against GW Aggro and was a bit insane.
T3 Silverblade, T4 Silverblade (pair) T5 Sublime, T6 Silverblade. I was able to keep him at bay for a while but eventually he just overwhelmed me.
Game 2 was very similar except it was T2 Smiter, T3 Smiter, T4 Sublime T5 Silverblade. I was unable to see any sweepers.
Round 2 was against RB Zombies, where he flooded me with Grave Crawlers and Blood Artists and finished me off with back to back Aristocrats.
Game 2 was close, I got him down to 2 life before Blood Artist picked him back up to a point in which I could not recover.
Round 3 was Junk Rites
T3 GoST in which he could not recover from constant removal as a follow up.
Game 2 Pike landed and Angel and Thundermaw locked him out even after he landed an angel, Conscripts finished him off.
Round 4 was RDW
Game 1 he overextended and Pike finally just 1 shot him with an Restoration Angel.
Game 2 Staticaster and Snapcaster chipped away slowly until a Pike landed. He missed his Pyre Heart triggers multiple times in which I would not let him back up to announce them. While he knew how to pilot the deck and was a good player, he was incredibly sloppy. 2 Staticasters just crushed him.
Round 5 was against UWr
My opponent did not unside game 1 and a deck check ruled him a game loss.
Game 2 I kept with an extremely loose hand in which GoST landed on his side and I never hit my 3rd land drop to play a GoST. Even with 3 Azorius Charms and a Snapcaster and a Thoughtscour I finally just died to GoST after missing drops 3-7.
Game 2 I landed a T3 GoST off a cavern and chipped away. After playing a GoST of his own, I followed it up with a Snapcaster and a Pike, Detention Sphere removed Pike, Thundermaw came down and I smashed in once before it caught a Detention Sphere of it's own. My second Thundermaw Hellkite got there for the round win.
Round 6 was against UW Flash
See above...
Round 7 was against 4 Color Reanimator.
While I consider this an easy match up, I did manage to lose it and I learned a valuable lesson: UWr Flash and UWr Midrange and even UW Flash have no way to deal with nut hands/draws. We just cannot beat them
Basically, he landed T4,5 and 6 Thragtusks from casting and reanimating them in Game 1. Game 2 he managed to hit T4 and 5 Thragtusks into multiple AoS to start chaining. Once he hit Cavern of Souls number 2 naming the angel it was all but over. After cloning and stealing it was just not enough to get past his cycling.
From here I dropped.
I did make slight adjustments to the deck the night before, to allow room for Cavern of Souls in anticipation for the event, but alas, there was very little UWx Flash at the venue. It was all Reanimator, Jund, GW, RDW and Zombies, with a smattering of Bant Control
I will get back to everyone tomorrow with the decklist I took as well as what I took from the event as far as notes and food for thought.
2 Runechanter's Pike
Creatures
4 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
Instants
2 Essence Scatter
2 Izzet Charm
3 Searing Spear
2 Dissipate
2 Unsummon
4 Thought Scour
3 Azorius Charm
4 Geist of Saint Traft
Sorceries
2 Pillar of Flame
Land
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Dissipate
2 Negate
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Izzet Staticaster
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Clone
1 Zealous Conscripts
Ass you might notice, I was able to find room for Cavern of Souls, and I also fit a second in the side. While I often sided Moorland Haunt out for it it was only for select matches. I think a land that has some level of utility is definitely something to consider as a possible SB slot, be it a Cavern of Souls, Slayer's Stronghold etc.
As I said, I walked into a room FULL of aggressive strategies and there was little UWx Flash around. Even between rounds as I walked around it was not a popular deck from what I saw. Red splash is still where Flash wants to be I feel. While UW does have it's ups, the ability to help burn yourself into stabilization is imperative.
I managed to fit in 2 Supreme Verdict in the main and I feel that is where I want to be. I would rather side them out and have them game 1 for the matches I need them in than side them in and lose game 1 against an aggro deck. It is also going to let me loosen up on my starting hands against an open field.
-1 Pillar of Flame
-1 Thundermaw Hellkite
+2 Supreme Verdict
Is where I am sitting right now. Pillar kicked the bucket over Izzet charm because of the ability to burn something out at instant speed or counter something. 3 Pillars still feels like enough right now and the charm lets me play more draw-go at various points. The third Thundermaw Hellkite found it's way into the SB for decks like Jund etc.
Syncopate is something I still feel is weak, specially with Cavern of Souls on the up and up. More removal just seems stronger.
I thought about how much I would like Invisible Stalker over GoST and I think I will take it into testing. Reason being is that he is going to let us race against aggressive decks if we have a Pike, but then again, Pike was something I took out in the aggro matches. Something I am still mulling over.
That is about it, not a whole lot really. I was disappointing with my deck choice for the weekend, but it was not because it is a bad deck, simply that I had a wrong read on the meta. Thragtusk is certainly where I wanted to be.
That aside, my buddy got to have an hour long marathon on camera round 3 as he faced down a 4 Color Reanimator deck. After the match I asked him why he did not pack game 1 in early and move to his SB options, but what can you do
I would cut essence scatter eay before syncopate if you feel cavern is going to be played more. Its just a dead card once cavern hits while syncopate isn't.
What happends when you dont have a pike on hand with stalker? This is where GoST is strictly better. If you move to 4 pikes then i could see running stalker but i wouldnt even think to begin where to make room for 2 more pikes.
I probably missed it a few pages ago. Staticaster looks really meh. What does this even offer for our deck?
Bonfire was something we tested and were not very impressed with. I don't want to be chasing down the extra mana to cast it. I want it to be a miracle cast, which is hard. Against GW you are toast if you cannot miracle it or you draw one before you need to miracle it. Thalia into Silverblade into Sublime or Smiter means you are dead without that miracle. Supreme Verdict is a flat rate cost and gets rid of everything when you need it.
Unsummon is not leaving my list any time soon. It is not just about bouncing their dudes, it is about being able to keep pressure on, and if that means you need to save a GoST and drop it again that is perfectly acceptable. Unsummon is just too versatile to be cutting.
Syncopate slows down in the later stages of the game. Back to flat rates, Scatter has one no matter what turn it is, and if I am not dissipating it then I am scattering it and if I am not doing either than there is either a cavern out, where it would not really matter, or it is simply not a back breaking spell they are casting. Syncopate is just getting weaker and weaker, some people are not really seeing that for whatever reason. Not saying it is a bad card, but it is a weaker alternative when you are trying to maintain maximum mana efficiency.
Stalker was just a note for future testing, had very little to do with GoST outside of the fact that is was the quickest comparison to evaluating how evasive a creature is.
Staticaster is amazing. Some people seem to overlook that value it provides.
She is an anti-aggro machine with a swiss army-knife application. I cannot tell you how many games she shuts RDW down, or those random token matches at an FNM, or saves me from Huntmaster of the Fells or a Spirit token with a pike. She is pure value.
This card has been SO good to me, Searing Spear or Mizzium Mortars +Staticaster takes out pretty much everything. Not to mention the incredible feeling when my opponent casts Lingering Souls, flashes it back immediately, then passes turn. "End of your turn, cast Izzet Staticaster, and ping all your Spirits" Equip pike, begin beats.