Here's my reasoning for choosing this name. Some of the spells in deck like pacifism, mind games, and shackles alienate one creature "confining" only themselves, hence the "solitary". Also, solitary not only sounds like soltari, but also helps describe the creatures. The soltari creatures all have shadow, not being able to block or be blocked by normal creatures without shadow. Having shadow implies that these creatures are "confined" to their own world. Looking through the deck, I see a theme which is that of isolation, and I think this name justifies it well.
I nominate burn as the least fun deck to play or play against. Great for when you are too drunk to make any real decisions though. Otherwise, is this article even necessary? All the choices are extremely obvious, and this deck is played alot, pretty much card for card.
100 can be a cheap format for casual play. My 100cs rarely are worth more than 100$ total, and they are quite fun, and win way more than 50% in the casual room. Though I wouldnt enter them in tourneys without the $$ lands.
This is like the bible for classic. I really like having this articles back. It gives me deck ideas for new decks and helps me develop my old decks. Between this, whiffy's article, and the tournament data on cq, the classic player can have a nearly complete understanding of the format. Thanks for providing good info and insight to the community.
Here you have a deck that has Maindeck Leyline. And you have a meta which has been totally overridden by Dredge. By all means this sounds awesome to me...
But then nothing in the article goes on to show how the matches play out vs dredge - AS Hoff said "I agree in instances where mulliganing for LotV would have been detrimental, a breakdown of the game would have been nice. However then you are adding even more to the article, and you just said it was a bit wordy..."
... but that's precisely what I want out of an article on just one deck. If it's going to be 5,000 words long, it should probably at least tell you how to play the deck vs the most important competition. I'd also be more than pleased to hear that one team ME player took the deck, played it against dredge 25 times against another team ME player, and got the results and play tips from that as well.
So don't take this as condemnation in any way. I think the deck was well-built, and while I found the article a little long (especially between the 2nd ar 3rd decklist) I think it was a great article - but you know Whiffy, that I simply hold you to a high standard :) Articles like this can bring meta games along, hence my disappointment in what I felt was so close to truly great article.
I would be interested to see another article with more depth in budget cards and how they could help certain deck types. Also, cool card interactions would help to get more people interested in the format.
no comments at all?
Andy ogj. this is my very favorite column on the site. the information is all in one place and eailsy digested . i thanbk you for this as it helps even for someone like me that follows the metagame very closely. i am also super glad that you said it is now every 2 weeks instead of every month.
seriously anmy one who even wants to attempt classic events should have these bookmarked as it shows the latest trends and can be used to help you pick a winning choice.
1. sorry if it is wordy DL but i like my articles to have a lot of meat and potatoes. any one can do a 200 word article, i feel like this could have been longer and personally i would have made it longer but i ran out of time as i submitted late for my deadline. I was going to make this a part 1 but i put a vote for more ctc at the bottem of the article for people. I will see about how i can break up future primer articles with more pics and such to cut out the wordyness.
2. bitterblossom was an idea because of how very badly pox rapes this deck. its not even close to funny. it is also an application against blue decks. i tried a pset in the md for a while but they were not cutting the mustard as it took away rituals and petals that i needed for combo parts to play on turn 1. also it is not the best choice against a variety of decks. that is why it is now in the sb where i like it very much for the horrible match up and the iffy one. If it resolves t1 or 2 against most control decks it should give you a lot of breathing room to either assemble the combo or strip there hand while they fight the faerie menace that can and has won the game by itself. deffenatly a worthy card for the problem matchups.
3. you didnt miss it performing. i never even mentioned the match up other then the fact that it is geared and polished to beat dredge. in 2 events i am 2-2 vs dredge. one of the losses was extreme bad luck on my part. 2 lands in 3 games that all went to turn 6 or more is an example. as i said a little earlyer it is a primer about the deck. it is very easy for an author to fall into the trap of this is the best deck eva syndrome which i tried to dodge in this article. if you would like to see dedicated match up analysis then please vote for part 2.
as for a meta solution, im pretty sure i never claimed it as that. over the last 3 weeks i have had to consistently defend the list against people saying it is not in fact a meta deck. while it is in my mind a deck well suited for this current metagame i realize that it is not going to be "the answer" otherwise i would have said something like " this is hands down the best deck for the current meta as it rapes dredge." it dosent though. as i said i am 50/50 and some it may be luck but it is going up against a deck with 15 post sb answers. the reason i do like this deck for the current meta is 2 fold.
1. there are replays. if there were no replays i might not be so high on the deck as i wouldnt know i need g1 lotv against random opponent xy or z.
2. it takes away dredges reason for being played, the 80ish% g1 win total. even if it is not an auto scoop the fact that lotv brings the number down a signifigant percentage is the reason i would want to play it.
hope that helps some.
That is very true blue does lose a little more than red when you cut out the expensive spells, but that said it is still doable as a budget deck for those who complain that they don't want to be confined to just aggro and I was just trying to offer options for those people.
I don't consider explosives a must have for a Ub deck. Also the price of Cryptic Command is coming down and many times Pact of Negation makes just as good of a Teachings target as FoW. Tezzeret is not a must have either in some versions, but we could go on and on and none of that is really the point.
I agree that an optimal Ub list will cost you more than an optimal RDW or Rg list, but I think that a slightly suboptimal versions of both probably cost around the same. However, it very well may be the case that a suboptimal Rg list is better than a suboptimal Ub list.
1. as you can see with the origanal iteration we had strip mine in the deck. however it was just not performing at all. it dosent create black mana and killing your own lands with only 7-8 that stay in play is a no no. mox diamond would be nice as you wouldnt have to play painter tricks to get w or u mana for your splashes. the saame problem exists for waste land that made us cut strip. not to say they are bad, but adding that extra dimension to the list dilutes the consistency and explosivness of the deck. it is deffinatly an option to pursue if you were trying to slow don the deck and the opponents but in the current iteration it is waste space.
2. i n the last list i put in an enlightened and a second one may be worth adding to the sb or md. it is a good choice as it helps get around discard and it gets all combo peices and post board bitter blossom.
3. there is possibly room for counter magic as bazaar, jarund and eddie112 show us with the disrupt sb plan. however holding counters in hand dramatically change the way the deck wants to operate and i personally would much rather have acess to discard and pure speed over hoping to protect my combo. this does not account for mana drain which is in my mind fopr testing since at the very least you will be ablke to play a free grindstone the next main phase.
I must admit I am taken aback by your comments above. The article is on a single deck, outlining the creation, internal clan testing, and later, the optimization of said deck. Should George have gone on a tangent and started discussing another deck in the middle of the article?
What exactly did you want to know about the dredge matchup? How much can you write about "I got Leyline out, and won two turns later"? I agree in instances where mulliganing for LotV would have been detrimental, a breakdown of the game would have been nice. However then you are adding even more to the article, and you just said it was a bit wordy...
I understand your question, however Dredge is not the only other deck that one may expect to face. The caveat here being learn how to play the deck before focusing on heavily favored matchups.
It seems silly to knock the deck because it is a combo deck doing pretty well. Anyone talking about aDn lately? Flash? Which other combo decks (that don't rely on the GY) would you recommend? I know you had previously said how amazingly dragon tested, but I wouldn't put stock in a combo that utilizes the GY in a Dredge hate-intensive metagame.
Sorry if I sound defensive, just trying to figure out where you are trying to go with the questions posed.
The problem with making a budget 100 singleton Ub deck is that it will always be sub-optimal to the money decks. That's mainly because of these 6 cards.
1.Force of Will
2.Cryptic Command
3.Tezzeret the Seeker
4.Mana Drain
5.Engineered Explosives
6.Vedalken Shackles
If you are playing heavy blue, then you will want to play at least 4 of these cards in your deck and any substitutes for these cards will pale in comparison.
Force of Will is an especially painful loss because of all the cards that would like to tutor for that card, Mystical Teachings, Mystical Tutor, Merchant Scroll, etc.
The most powerful mono-red spells cost a fraction of what the most powerful blue spells cost.
However, blue is a deep color, you can still make a really good deck without the power 6, but a Ub deck with the money cards is going to have a HUGE advantage over a Ub deck without the money cards. The same can't be said for Mono-red decks.
You can also find decklists with detailed discussion and "DeckTech" videos of some of the best decks out there on mtgoacademy.com.
I hope you give the format a shot!
Solitary Confinement
Here's my reasoning for choosing this name. Some of the spells in deck like pacifism, mind games, and shackles alienate one creature "confining" only themselves, hence the "solitary". Also, solitary not only sounds like soltari, but also helps describe the creatures. The soltari creatures all have shadow, not being able to block or be blocked by normal creatures without shadow. Having shadow implies that these creatures are "confined" to their own world. Looking through the deck, I see a theme which is that of isolation, and I think this name justifies it well.
Modo name: eaglefoxbat
Ebb and Flow
Full Fathom
Streaming Wake
Ripples in the Dark
Silent Tide
Stealing Away
Deadly Currents
Depth Chargers
I have to say I really love some of these names. Very imaginative.
Shadowdive
MODO username: sexican
email: javi.api[at]gmail.com
Ethereal Grasp, username: Lastcall
I nominate burn as the least fun deck to play or play against. Great for when you are too drunk to make any real decisions though. Otherwise, is this article even necessary? All the choices are extremely obvious, and this deck is played alot, pretty much card for card.
my favorite mtg artist is Phil Foglio, with humility being one of his best. Favorite art might be the original lightning bolt
100 can be a cheap format for casual play. My 100cs rarely are worth more than 100$ total, and they are quite fun, and win way more than 50% in the casual room. Though I wouldnt enter them in tourneys without the $$ lands.
This is like the bible for classic. I really like having this articles back. It gives me deck ideas for new decks and helps me develop my old decks. Between this, whiffy's article, and the tournament data on cq, the classic player can have a nearly complete understanding of the format. Thanks for providing good info and insight to the community.
Here you have a deck that has Maindeck Leyline. And you have a meta which has been totally overridden by Dredge. By all means this sounds awesome to me...
But then nothing in the article goes on to show how the matches play out vs dredge - AS Hoff said "I agree in instances where mulliganing for LotV would have been detrimental, a breakdown of the game would have been nice. However then you are adding even more to the article, and you just said it was a bit wordy..."
... but that's precisely what I want out of an article on just one deck. If it's going to be 5,000 words long, it should probably at least tell you how to play the deck vs the most important competition. I'd also be more than pleased to hear that one team ME player took the deck, played it against dredge 25 times against another team ME player, and got the results and play tips from that as well.
So don't take this as condemnation in any way. I think the deck was well-built, and while I found the article a little long (especially between the 2nd ar 3rd decklist) I think it was a great article - but you know Whiffy, that I simply hold you to a high standard :) Articles like this can bring meta games along, hence my disappointment in what I felt was so close to truly great article.
Good article.
I would be interested to see another article with more depth in budget cards and how they could help certain deck types. Also, cool card interactions would help to get more people interested in the format.
I like the word "ininterseying".
Dusk Lit Dreams
modo name: rushmore111
no comments at all?
Andy ogj. this is my very favorite column on the site. the information is all in one place and eailsy digested . i thanbk you for this as it helps even for someone like me that follows the metagame very closely. i am also super glad that you said it is now every 2 weeks instead of every month.
seriously anmy one who even wants to attempt classic events should have these bookmarked as it shows the latest trends and can be used to help you pick a winning choice.
1. sorry if it is wordy DL but i like my articles to have a lot of meat and potatoes. any one can do a 200 word article, i feel like this could have been longer and personally i would have made it longer but i ran out of time as i submitted late for my deadline. I was going to make this a part 1 but i put a vote for more ctc at the bottem of the article for people. I will see about how i can break up future primer articles with more pics and such to cut out the wordyness.
2. bitterblossom was an idea because of how very badly pox rapes this deck. its not even close to funny. it is also an application against blue decks. i tried a pset in the md for a while but they were not cutting the mustard as it took away rituals and petals that i needed for combo parts to play on turn 1. also it is not the best choice against a variety of decks. that is why it is now in the sb where i like it very much for the horrible match up and the iffy one. If it resolves t1 or 2 against most control decks it should give you a lot of breathing room to either assemble the combo or strip there hand while they fight the faerie menace that can and has won the game by itself. deffenatly a worthy card for the problem matchups.
3. you didnt miss it performing. i never even mentioned the match up other then the fact that it is geared and polished to beat dredge. in 2 events i am 2-2 vs dredge. one of the losses was extreme bad luck on my part. 2 lands in 3 games that all went to turn 6 or more is an example. as i said a little earlyer it is a primer about the deck. it is very easy for an author to fall into the trap of this is the best deck eva syndrome which i tried to dodge in this article. if you would like to see dedicated match up analysis then please vote for part 2.
as for a meta solution, im pretty sure i never claimed it as that. over the last 3 weeks i have had to consistently defend the list against people saying it is not in fact a meta deck. while it is in my mind a deck well suited for this current metagame i realize that it is not going to be "the answer" otherwise i would have said something like " this is hands down the best deck for the current meta as it rapes dredge." it dosent though. as i said i am 50/50 and some it may be luck but it is going up against a deck with 15 post sb answers. the reason i do like this deck for the current meta is 2 fold.
1. there are replays. if there were no replays i might not be so high on the deck as i wouldnt know i need g1 lotv against random opponent xy or z.
2. it takes away dredges reason for being played, the 80ish% g1 win total. even if it is not an auto scoop the fact that lotv brings the number down a signifigant percentage is the reason i would want to play it.
hope that helps some.
That is very true blue does lose a little more than red when you cut out the expensive spells, but that said it is still doable as a budget deck for those who complain that they don't want to be confined to just aggro and I was just trying to offer options for those people.
I don't consider explosives a must have for a Ub deck. Also the price of Cryptic Command is coming down and many times Pact of Negation makes just as good of a Teachings target as FoW. Tezzeret is not a must have either in some versions, but we could go on and on and none of that is really the point.
I agree that an optimal Ub list will cost you more than an optimal RDW or Rg list, but I think that a slightly suboptimal versions of both probably cost around the same. However, it very well may be the case that a suboptimal Rg list is better than a suboptimal Ub list.
1. as you can see with the origanal iteration we had strip mine in the deck. however it was just not performing at all. it dosent create black mana and killing your own lands with only 7-8 that stay in play is a no no. mox diamond would be nice as you wouldnt have to play painter tricks to get w or u mana for your splashes. the saame problem exists for waste land that made us cut strip. not to say they are bad, but adding that extra dimension to the list dilutes the consistency and explosivness of the deck. it is deffinatly an option to pursue if you were trying to slow don the deck and the opponents but in the current iteration it is waste space.
2. i n the last list i put in an enlightened and a second one may be worth adding to the sb or md. it is a good choice as it helps get around discard and it gets all combo peices and post board bitter blossom.
3. there is possibly room for counter magic as bazaar, jarund and eddie112 show us with the disrupt sb plan. however holding counters in hand dramatically change the way the deck wants to operate and i personally would much rather have acess to discard and pure speed over hoping to protect my combo. this does not account for mana drain which is in my mind fopr testing since at the very least you will be ablke to play a free grindstone the next main phase.
hope that helps
Soggy Shadows
MTGO Name: Tyroine
Silhouette Rush
Mtgo name: Weltenbrand
Shame the images are so small, been trying to find a desktop sized Naya Hushblade for a while (620x461 is the largest version I've found so far) :(.
Soltari Shadows
Life in the Shadows
TAP THAT!!!
Soltari Tap
High in the sky
Sky Shadow
Cloudy Day
MTGO name: notsoimperfect
my favorites are Spitemare and Korlash
Hi Linto,
I must admit I am taken aback by your comments above. The article is on a single deck, outlining the creation, internal clan testing, and later, the optimization of said deck. Should George have gone on a tangent and started discussing another deck in the middle of the article?
What exactly did you want to know about the dredge matchup? How much can you write about "I got Leyline out, and won two turns later"? I agree in instances where mulliganing for LotV would have been detrimental, a breakdown of the game would have been nice. However then you are adding even more to the article, and you just said it was a bit wordy...
I understand your question, however Dredge is not the only other deck that one may expect to face. The caveat here being learn how to play the deck before focusing on heavily favored matchups.
It seems silly to knock the deck because it is a combo deck doing pretty well. Anyone talking about aDn lately? Flash? Which other combo decks (that don't rely on the GY) would you recommend? I know you had previously said how amazingly dragon tested, but I wouldn't put stock in a combo that utilizes the GY in a Dredge hate-intensive metagame.
Sorry if I sound defensive, just trying to figure out where you are trying to go with the questions posed.
The_Hoff
The problem with making a budget 100 singleton Ub deck is that it will always be sub-optimal to the money decks. That's mainly because of these 6 cards.
1.Force of Will
2.Cryptic Command
3.Tezzeret the Seeker
4.Mana Drain
5.Engineered Explosives
6.Vedalken Shackles
If you are playing heavy blue, then you will want to play at least 4 of these cards in your deck and any substitutes for these cards will pale in comparison.
Force of Will is an especially painful loss because of all the cards that would like to tutor for that card, Mystical Teachings, Mystical Tutor, Merchant Scroll, etc.
The most powerful mono-red spells cost a fraction of what the most powerful blue spells cost.
However, blue is a deep color, you can still make a really good deck without the power 6, but a Ub deck with the money cards is going to have a HUGE advantage over a Ub deck without the money cards. The same can't be said for Mono-red decks.
You can also find decklists with detailed discussion and "DeckTech" videos of some of the best decks out there on mtgoacademy.com.
I hope you give the format a shot!