tbh i had completely forgotten about Lost Auramancers so while its a good card for people on a budget, the tutors may be better though much more expensive.
I know Stuffy looks bad, but I won at least two Standard Vanguard events in Ravnica/Time Spiral standard with him, and top 8d several others with the deck.
The combo was:
(Burning-Tree Shaman)
(Outrider en-Kor)
With those two on the board, you can win instantly if you have more life than your opponent. Target BTS with your avatar, and then every time you activate outrider both you and your opponent will take 1 damage. Repeat until he's dead.
Also featured in the deck was (Tamanoa), which has a number of great combos with Stuffy. If Tamanoa's in play, you can just target a pain land with Stuffy, and then tap it for a color. You'll deal 1 to each of yourself and opponent, and you'll gain 2 life. Net Result: Drain them for one, and you can do it once on your turn AND once on their turn. I ran 10 pain lands. You can sit back and win with that. These days, it's even better with no mana burn.
Also in the deck (RAV-TSP std):
(Lightning Helix)
(Congregation at Dawn) - Three Tamanoas on top would sometimes get a concession. Could also get the combo.
(Chord of Calling)
(Loxodon Hierarch)
(Martyr of Sands)
(Wall of Roots)
I also experimented a lot with (Worship) and (Fortune Thief) - both are also great with Stuffy, but weren't needed in the deck.
I kept winning with it until after PLC came out, and Mirri Avatar made creatures decks unfavorable. But for those three or four months, Stuffy won me a ton of packs! Just wanted to let you know that Stuffy wasn't _always_ bad.
I'll keep the picture rundown for future articles.
@rerepete .. i'll kinda never control equipments on the opponent's stolen creature, but i did steal creatures with adventuring gears over the last couple of weeks, using landfall for lethal damage.
Cool. It's VERY easy to change out the lands for more wallet-friendly versions. One of my favorite things about singleton formats is the cost. It's not so bad when a playset is one card!
I ended up making this deck with some budget-izing, and I must say, it is quite powerful and fun without feeling too cheap. Thanks for writing this, it's a ton of fun to play. BTW, My win % is 80% right now.
Pyroblast is in Part II (coming soon) in the Sideboard section. I know it's confusing to have these broken down into separate articles, and I apologize for that, but it's good for reader and author not to have the entire article at once since it's too long (29 pages in Word, single spaced without pictures).
I don't think your last sentence is correct. Suspend is an ability, therefore when you suspend Rift Bolt, this does not count as your spell for the turn, and it doesn't matter when you suspend.
That was a poorly worded sentence on my part. All I meant was that you were able to activate the suspend ability and then cast your other spell, both on the same turn. When the ability resolves, you can't cast spells that turn, but as I read it now, the sentence may have been interpreted in that light. Please note that if you cast a spell in a turn, you can't suspend Rift Bolt later; you have to do the suspending first.
true that or enlightened, when I originally put this deck together my intentions were to keep the non-creature base to almost 100% enchantments and since it can be a little slow on the uptake I thought adding a couple creature tutors could at the very least absorbs a few attacks
Actually I wasn't thinking about tapping down the Aeronauts during the actual game, I was focused on keeping up lots of protection for his next turn, which is why I missed ways to win the game one turn earlier. I have run into that situation with Aeronauts in a paper draft locally, and had to settle for tapping my opponent's non-flyers with it. (Still a great card of course!)
So you're right, my analysis is incorrect there. I would have to hit his Aeronauts with Into the Roil to force through the extra 4 points in the air, rather than tapping it. Into the Roil was something I wanted to be even more cautious to save for an emergency, though. If I were facing a situation like a pump spell on an unblocked weenie, the bounce spell is still an out, where the tapping ability no longer is.
Thanks for pointing out that mistake, by the way! No matter how much I try to memorize all the relevant abilities and rules details in each new set, I still occasionally run into a game where one detail of one card I didn't remember right ends up mattering on a key turn. Which is why it's always good to re-read cards you're not 100% familiar with, especially when it's your opponent that's played one.
Where's the Idyllic Tutor? You talk about how the deck should have tutoring, but then put in Lost Auramancers? The Idyllic Tutor is faster, costs less mana, and always fetches you an echantment rather than just "maybe". I notice in your game reports above at least 3 times the Auramancers were killed before they could tick down to fetch an enchantment.
Also I would suggest Faith's Fetters in there somewhere. Maybe swap out some Greater Auramancy for it, as in many games those will turn out to be unneeded anyway.
Like you said, searing blaze can be a total dead-draw against non-creature decks. Against decks with creatures and planeswalkers, however, the thing is pretty damn good.
optimally, searing blaze can take out both a 3 toughness creatures as well as a planeswalker in one shot. not bad for RR....
Loved the article, but is the black writing on red background really necessary? It really hurt my eyes and was the only turn-off to an otherwise excellent piece.
You mention several times that you could have tapped his aeronauts, but the seastalkers cannot tap flying creatures. You probably knew that during the play and that's why you never actually tried it. Mentioning it in the recap makes you sound inexperienced/noob-ish (which you are not).
tbh i had completely forgotten about Lost Auramancers so while its a good card for people on a budget, the tutors may be better though much more expensive.
Sounds pretty brutal. And here I was just using it with Heartless Hidetsugu....
I know Stuffy looks bad, but I won at least two Standard Vanguard events in Ravnica/Time Spiral standard with him, and top 8d several others with the deck.
The combo was:
(Burning-Tree Shaman)
(Outrider en-Kor)
With those two on the board, you can win instantly if you have more life than your opponent. Target BTS with your avatar, and then every time you activate outrider both you and your opponent will take 1 damage. Repeat until he's dead.
Also featured in the deck was (Tamanoa), which has a number of great combos with Stuffy. If Tamanoa's in play, you can just target a pain land with Stuffy, and then tap it for a color. You'll deal 1 to each of yourself and opponent, and you'll gain 2 life. Net Result: Drain them for one, and you can do it once on your turn AND once on their turn. I ran 10 pain lands. You can sit back and win with that. These days, it's even better with no mana burn.
Also in the deck (RAV-TSP std):
(Lightning Helix)
(Congregation at Dawn) - Three Tamanoas on top would sometimes get a concession. Could also get the combo.
(Chord of Calling)
(Loxodon Hierarch)
(Martyr of Sands)
(Wall of Roots)
I also experimented a lot with (Worship) and (Fortune Thief) - both are also great with Stuffy, but weren't needed in the deck.
I kept winning with it until after PLC came out, and Mirri Avatar made creatures decks unfavorable. But for those three or four months, Stuffy won me a ton of packs! Just wanted to let you know that Stuffy wasn't _always_ bad.
thank you for the nice comments guys.
I'll keep the picture rundown for future articles.
@rerepete .. i'll kinda never control equipments on the opponent's stolen creature, but i did steal creatures with adventuring gears over the last couple of weeks, using landfall for lethal damage.
Can't wait for part II...
I was hoping you could steal something equipped with mutiny, then play outfitter, stealing their equipment...LOL
Good article.
Cool. It's VERY easy to change out the lands for more wallet-friendly versions. One of my favorite things about singleton formats is the cost. It's not so bad when a playset is one card!
I ended up making this deck with some budget-izing, and I must say, it is quite powerful and fun without feeling too cheap. Thanks for writing this, it's a ton of fun to play. BTW, My win % is 80% right now.
Pyroblast is in Part II (coming soon) in the Sideboard section. I know it's confusing to have these broken down into separate articles, and I apologize for that, but it's good for reader and author not to have the entire article at once since it's too long (29 pages in Word, single spaced without pictures).
Good info, thanks :)
What about Pyroblast??! Maybe I just give it more credit than it is due ;)
Actually, after reading the comprehensive rules, you are indeed correct. Suspending needs to happen first.
My apologies.
I don't think your last sentence is correct. Suspend is an ability, therefore when you suspend Rift Bolt, this does not count as your spell for the turn, and it doesn't matter when you suspend.
That was a poorly worded sentence on my part. All I meant was that you were able to activate the suspend ability and then cast your other spell, both on the same turn. When the ability resolves, you can't cast spells that turn, but as I read it now, the sentence may have been interpreted in that light. Please note that if you cast a spell in a turn, you can't suspend Rift Bolt later; you have to do the suspending first.
I'm pretty sure Rift Bolt doesn't get around Arcane Lab. When you remove the last suspend counter, you cast the spell.
I'd also run Enchanted Evening so you can disenchant your opponents cards, its amazing when you have Sigil of the Empty Throne out as well.
I was just going to say you didnt mention Enlightened Tutor
really like the picture rundown as the deck is built...quick/easy way of keeping the reader engaged - good stuff
true that or enlightened, when I originally put this deck together my intentions were to keep the non-creature base to almost 100% enchantments and since it can be a little slow on the uptake I thought adding a couple creature tutors could at the very least absorbs a few attacks
Actually I wasn't thinking about tapping down the Aeronauts during the actual game, I was focused on keeping up lots of protection for his next turn, which is why I missed ways to win the game one turn earlier. I have run into that situation with Aeronauts in a paper draft locally, and had to settle for tapping my opponent's non-flyers with it. (Still a great card of course!)
So you're right, my analysis is incorrect there. I would have to hit his Aeronauts with Into the Roil to force through the extra 4 points in the air, rather than tapping it. Into the Roil was something I wanted to be even more cautious to save for an emergency, though. If I were facing a situation like a pump spell on an unblocked weenie, the bounce spell is still an out, where the tapping ability no longer is.
Thanks for pointing out that mistake, by the way! No matter how much I try to memorize all the relevant abilities and rules details in each new set, I still occasionally run into a game where one detail of one card I didn't remember right ends up mattering on a key turn. Which is why it's always good to re-read cards you're not 100% familiar with, especially when it's your opponent that's played one.
Yeah, i was a little surprised about that boros action too. Fortunatley everyone makes mistakes :)
Where's the Idyllic Tutor? You talk about how the deck should have tutoring, but then put in Lost Auramancers? The Idyllic Tutor is faster, costs less mana, and always fetches you an echantment rather than just "maybe". I notice in your game reports above at least 3 times the Auramancers were killed before they could tick down to fetch an enchantment.
Also I would suggest Faith's Fetters in there somewhere. Maybe swap out some Greater Auramancy for it, as in many games those will turn out to be unneeded anyway.
I have playtested quite a bit with searing blaze:
Like you said, searing blaze can be a total dead-draw against non-creature decks. Against decks with creatures and planeswalkers, however, the thing is pretty damn good.
optimally, searing blaze can take out both a 3 toughness creatures as well as a planeswalker in one shot. not bad for RR....
Loved the article, but is the black writing on red background really necessary? It really hurt my eyes and was the only turn-off to an otherwise excellent piece.
I was being ironic.
You mention several times that you could have tapped his aeronauts, but the seastalkers cannot tap flying creatures. You probably knew that during the play and that's why you never actually tried it. Mentioning it in the recap makes you sound inexperienced/noob-ish (which you are not).