"But I also really don't want to ban more cards in Regular."
Why exactly? I mean, I certainly understand the desire to keep the ban-list as streamlined as possible but the alternative of soft-banning the largest tribe in Magic seems so much more expansive and inelegant.
"It should be considered if players with $400 decks with Wasteland set and stuff would seriously take umbrage at not being allowed to win 3-4 tix per event"
Well, for a broad idea, I think the first place to look is how many people drop from the event once they're out of contention for prizes; from what I've seen, it seems like it happens a lot.
Champion of the Parish or Thalia's Lieutenant for WW, Monastery Swiftspear for the other two? Champion provides the most explosive starts for WW and a big early creature makes the deck more resilient to cheap toughness-based sweepers like Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods and the Lieutenant is less explosive but retains more usefulness later in the game; I think removing either would do a decent job of hurting the deck. Swiftspear hits two decks with one ban and I don't think there are any particularly good aggressive 1-drop Humans to replace it with in those colours.
That being said, I'm not really convinced that anything *needs* to be banned; I don't really think that a particular tribe doing so well is a big deal as long as there's enough diversity between the types of decks being played.
The humans don't bother me. I don't even think they're that good. My guess is that it's a combination of people enjoying playing them more and them being less expensive to build.
I do think Elf and Goblin being partially neglected had some kind of role in the Human dominance, but it can't be as direct as you're picturing it. Goblin Lackey in particular can't be a reason for it because Goblin Lackey was banned for 5 seasons out of 6 (I found it banned and I was the one who decided to unban it for the first time), yet the Humans only got dominant this past year.
Also, Elves didn't exactly lose steam, as we can see they still enjoy more success than any other non-Human tribe. In fact, Elves won 7 events in 2016 and 22 events in the previous 5 seasons, which means they're actually MORE successful now than in the past.
I'm pretty sure making Elf and Goblin stronger would take away a lot of Human victories, because they're inherently better decks, but is that even a desirable outcome? I'm not too keen on fighting a pest with its predators, only to find that those predators are even more annoying (and we know they are). At least Human are three very different archetypes, potentially more; and they're easier to beat, more interactive than Elves, more forgiving than Goblins.
That's why I put a question mark after "The Human Problem?". I'm just asking: do we have one? Do we care? I've got the impression it's more of a statistical anomaly than an issue during events. And isn't that anomaly essentially caused by the fact that WotC kept slapping the Human subtype on any generic dude they can't find another subtype to define? Which is akin to say it's just the way the game is designed. It's silly, because a single subtype shouldn't be the third or fourth largest set in the game, but that's not something we can fix, and Tribal Wars just reflects that strangeness (or maybe it's just more of the anthropocentric paradigm rearing its ugly head: we always put the human race at the center of everything, even in card games).
I'm not a fan of the no-prize-for-you solution either for the reason you said. But I also really don't want to ban more cards in Regular.
It should be considered if players with $400 decks with Wasteland set and stuff would seriously take umbrage at not being allowed to win 3-4 tix per event; maybe at some point what you really want is just to play your deck in a competitive environment, but I can see how it could be a matter of principle too and not to be discriminated against.
A fair place to begin the discussion. What would you say was the key for each of those three archetypes, the lynchpins without which they would drop back into the chasing pack?
I think humans began to dominate more and more because every time something else took over (such as elves with Umbral Mantle or goblins with Goblin Lackey), you would ban those. This continued until humans was better than anything else. If you want to watch the humans return to their farms, then unleash the other tribes by unbanning their cards.
I really don't like the idea of making Humans ineligible for prizes. It effectively doesn't seem any different from outright banning Humans as a tribe - we might very occasionally see a Human deck but I can't imagine many people will take the effort to build, buy and refine a deck with no hope of winning prizes - which I think is both absurd overkill for the problem and needlessly broad-brush to ban every single Human deck for the sins of the best three. It's also the sort of unintuitive rule that will easily catch new players off-guard and could discourage them from returning if they fall foul of it.
If White Weenie Humans, RDW Humans and Delver Humans are all winning too many events and/or are over-represented I would much prefer that they simply each have something banned to lower their power-levels.
Rendering Human decks ineligible for prizes is worth trying at least for a while: As the ultimate catch-all tribe it definitely seems to have crossed a threshold of power this season.
I love the idea of more team-based involvement, and salute the sterling efforts of TBG to leave their mark upon this tournament. They've successfully sent four players to the invitational this time, and we definitely need to give them some competition.
So, let's do that. I hereby announce the founding of Team Imperial Renaissance. Who wants in?
"Some I left off the list deliberately because they were too obvious...but I wanted some room on my list for more interesting cards."
So these are the best cards in these colors except those ruled out by an arbitrary and undefined criteria? So Goblin Guide is on the OK side of obvious but Prime Time is on the disqualified side of obvious?
Since I wasn't really commenting much on the budget options here it goes.
My and your post should shed some light on why certain cards are better and which are not (Going budget usually means going UW Control...)
Ad TNN - I put Elspeth, Knight-Errant here because TNN takes up a slot of a win condition actually and Elspeth can do it. She is always a threat that needs to be dealt with. Vedalken Shackles is the card I would put there but I wasn't thinking of Vedalkem Shackles as a budgte card (I wasn't aware it costs 5 tix).
Ashiok is pretty damn good in a control deck but requires black that some budget versions might not have a good access to.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is far better than any other walker that can actually attack^_^. But honestly I really like Elspeth Tirel. I put her in my deck at first because I just couldn't come up with something that would stick and leave something behind and would if possible do something else. Her second ability is very good. The life gain is relevant sometimes and there are matches that I won because of her ultimate ability. She's a bit too expensive for this deck but wins games. I've won many games with this card, similarly to number of games I won with Gideon.
Ancestral Vision - Ancestral Recall effect can be hardly replaced but this deck needs anything that costs 1 mana and has some kind of 'draw a card' effect on it. Be it Gitaxian Probe, Opt, Peek, Serum Visions is up to the person replacing the card. While I really hate Serum Visions seeing more cards in this case is better choice for me than choosing a card out of 2. It is not that important to draw a card you want. This deck can wait, but you should draw the card. Actually the card I would put here in this slot is Think Twice.
Containment Priest - I wouldn't run Hallowed Moonlight even though it has similar effect. Priest is a very strong card and does way more than is just written on it. I'd replace it with a good card worth playing, not necessarily something with a similar effect (since Enlightenment Tutor/RIP should deal with half of the effects and the others you just have to counter somehow)
FoW - if you are going to keep the combo in your deck you do not need as many mana sources as if you'd be playing pure control. you need to reach 7 lands if possible but you can also do with less. Deprive does not do what FoW does in terms of (you can tap out and counter) but it is a hard counter that this deck needs late game and where the deck does not need to have that many islands in play. It is a card people do not anticipate and does its a job well. If the combo won't be in the deck I wouldn't advise running the card at all. The pilot of the deck needs to choose the right counterspells to play at the right time. I couldn't think of anything better casting 1-2 mana. That 2 mana is important because you usually need to play your expensive win con and not have 3-4 more lands untapped.
Wasteland - I'd say just 'buy the card' similarly to any lands one needs (at least fetchlands and dual lands and the manlands which are important in this deck). But what this card does is that it gets rid of one very annoying land. you don't usually want to hit a colored source or something but a specific utility land or manland. Ghost Quarter does the job well. Also Ghost Quarter can be used on your own lands to fetch what you need, which considering you are on budget you might actually need. Putting together 2 white sources or 1 black one isn't that easy. Dust Bowl is a card I'd run if you want to go for inevitability with this deck.But if you stick with combo go for Quarter. Encroaching Wastes and Tectonic Edge cost mana to activate that you often need and not having the possibility to destroy something when needed is something I'd rather avoid as well.
Rishadan Port actually did a great deal of work in this deck but I do not run it anymore. And the land I also used to have in the deck is Kor Haven and Maze of Ith. Note that all those lands were in addition to the lands already in the deck.
The Foundry combo works well. Requires a lot of clicking but is doable just fine. Or at least from my experience it is my opponents that usually time out because of the Sword trigger.
Anyway, each player has to figure out what version they want to play and according that play cards that suit the deck more. You will either aim for inevitability or you will try to end the game with a combo. Based on that some cards become better, worse or unplayable.
Stsung, awesome article and very cool deck. I wanted to provide some musings on other budget options that players might pursue if UW/b (but really UW) control was their kind of deck:
True-Name Nemesis: Vedalken Shackles or Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver are options here. They are not as strong as Elspeth because there are certain matchups where they do nothing, Elspeth will always be a threat in and of herself. However, both can be acquired more cheaply on modo, so they could be a consideration, and depending on the matchup, they could be even stronger than Elspeth, but not likely.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: I think Elspeth, Knight Errant goes here, although in this deck Gideon is a far stronger card, I think she takes the cheddar over Elspeth, Tirel and sticks on curve to boot, which is a bit less relevant in control, but I think mana efficiency is still worth consideration.
Ancestral Visions: So, this one is debatable and I'd be curious to hear what other people have found if they've tested this theory: I think in control Opt is stronger than Serum Visions. Opt is ostensibly a weaker card, but being an instant provides flexibility in play and mana efficiency, and it can smooth out a draw in the early game much better, it's power diminishes in the late game comparatively, but I tend to think having this ability at instant speed at the loss of one virtual card selection 2 turns down the road is okay. I tend to feel you want the early game effect more, because this sort of deck already shines in the late game, where it losses is when it doesn't get to 4 mana, etc.
Containment Priest: Hallowed Moonlight, if you want the same effect. This may be completely unnecessary in your meta, and I tend to think this deck can do just fine against reanimator considering it runs RIP as one half of it's combo and well placed countermagic can do a number on reanimator builds that are all in on this sort of thing. The added benefit of beating birthing pod (at least once) and eldritch evolution or natural order is nice though.
FoW: I haven't figured it out yet, but there's a better card than Deprive over FoW, it would be okay late game, but in the early to midgame I don't think this deck can afford to give up a land and leave its mana open simultaneously. You have to consider that if you're casting FoW, you've either just tapped out to cast a game winning threat, exhausted your cmagic/mana in a stack battle in the mirror, or are in desperation mode (gulp, you're not winning anyway). Deprive doesn't help you out in any of these situations. So, not sure on this one, maybe Manatithe (ick).
Wasteland/BtB: 1. Wasteland: there is no analogous effect to this card available in the format (stripmine being banned), the closest is Stifle (at a similar rate, but far more situational) and Rish Port (which is the least budget option out there right now :/). I say this because while there are land cards available like Ghost Quarter, Dust Bowl, Encroaching Wastes, and Tech Edge, not one of them (unless the opponent runs no basic lands) is capable of the same effect with the flexibility of wasteland, i.e. the reason wasteland is a monster, is because it forestalls games from reaching the mid to late game. This deck doesn't care about that as much, but I reference it, because I think if a player were to commit resources against any format the best place to invest is in lands and manabases, they are, after all, the economy of the game (unless you play dredge :)), also this land while not at it's best in this build, offers a player further range to build midrange and agro archetype decks that very much so need and want the ability to "time-walk" the opponent on lands at the cost of their own development.
Anyway that aside, I think Dustbowl or encroaching wastes are better options for this deck over Ghost Quarter, they enable parity of loss as opposed to going down a land card, which is relevant in all stages of the game outside of the very late game. Both have a higher setup cost which is the detriment to be cited against them, but their use upon the opponent's endstep is viable. Not to mention DB specifically, can be game breaking in the mirror; while it does have a parallel effect essentially the power of selection will force the opponent to piecemeal their threats while they can cast them, allowing the pilot of this sort of deck to deal with threats etc one at a time, which is typically where control wants to be. I like DB far more than wastes, and I think if anything BtB could come out for more RDW hate in the form of Flash Flood or Sun Droplet (which is tutorable via the Muddle the Mixture to boot).
Helm of Obedience/RIP: This speed of this effect is not replaceable but the inevitability is for far cheaper cost; option 1: Thopter Foundary/SoTM package, this will grind an opponent out if they do not have an option, it's far cheaper to acquire on Modo, caveat, if you're short on time and your opponent cares to win that way, click fast because this not only grinds the opponent out it will grind your clock out. Option 2: this one is a bit strange, Though Lash and Lab Man can actually win on the turn they both come into play, but requires a cantrip and the mana to cast it that turn. This is a lot more fragile as you're depending on a critter to stay alive through the combo, and will lose your entire deck doing it. But, it's like $.20 to acquire and it's a decent combo, if Demonic Consultation were a thing I'd even say you have available redundant combo pieces to generate this effect (it would also be mandatory to name Abandon Hope or Barren Glory if it was legal). Option 3: Mana Severance + Goblin Charbelcher are also a thing, this is slightly more $ expensive than Option 2 (still under $1 though) and requires a whopping 9 mana to pull of the kill on the turn it all resolves, limiting your ability to protect it/associate risk.
I don't think any of these options is as powerful or efficient as Helm/RIP, but they're certainly viable and given intelligent and thoughtful play can work for far less money.
Those are the ones that came to mind when looking through that I thought might be worth my $.02.
Of course not, now you don't play against anybody else. :)
By the way, do I still have the extra restriction on what tribes are eligible for the Hamtastic Award with this new structure?
"But I also really don't want to ban more cards in Regular."
Why exactly? I mean, I certainly understand the desire to keep the ban-list as streamlined as possible but the alternative of soft-banning the largest tribe in Magic seems so much more expansive and inelegant.
"It should be considered if players with $400 decks with Wasteland set and stuff would seriously take umbrage at not being allowed to win 3-4 tix per event"
Well, for a broad idea, I think the first place to look is how many people drop from the event once they're out of contention for prizes; from what I've seen, it seems like it happens a lot.
Champion of the Parish or Thalia's Lieutenant for WW, Monastery Swiftspear for the other two? Champion provides the most explosive starts for WW and a big early creature makes the deck more resilient to cheap toughness-based sweepers like Pyroclasm and Anger of the Gods and the Lieutenant is less explosive but retains more usefulness later in the game; I think removing either would do a decent job of hurting the deck. Swiftspear hits two decks with one ban and I don't think there are any particularly good aggressive 1-drop Humans to replace it with in those colours.
That being said, I'm not really convinced that anything *needs* to be banned; I don't really think that a particular tribe doing so well is a big deal as long as there's enough diversity between the types of decks being played.
It would always be one of the treasures. Most especially to have a complete card. - Dr. Thomas G. Devlin MD, PhD
There is a need to based something on success. So that everything will work out well. - Dr. Thomas G. Devlin MD, PhD
The humans don't bother me. I don't even think they're that good. My guess is that it's a combination of people enjoying playing them more and them being less expensive to build.
I do think Elf and Goblin being partially neglected had some kind of role in the Human dominance, but it can't be as direct as you're picturing it. Goblin Lackey in particular can't be a reason for it because Goblin Lackey was banned for 5 seasons out of 6 (I found it banned and I was the one who decided to unban it for the first time), yet the Humans only got dominant this past year.
Also, Elves didn't exactly lose steam, as we can see they still enjoy more success than any other non-Human tribe. In fact, Elves won 7 events in 2016 and 22 events in the previous 5 seasons, which means they're actually MORE successful now than in the past.
I'm pretty sure making Elf and Goblin stronger would take away a lot of Human victories, because they're inherently better decks, but is that even a desirable outcome? I'm not too keen on fighting a pest with its predators, only to find that those predators are even more annoying (and we know they are). At least Human are three very different archetypes, potentially more; and they're easier to beat, more interactive than Elves, more forgiving than Goblins.
That's why I put a question mark after "The Human Problem?". I'm just asking: do we have one? Do we care? I've got the impression it's more of a statistical anomaly than an issue during events. And isn't that anomaly essentially caused by the fact that WotC kept slapping the Human subtype on any generic dude they can't find another subtype to define? Which is akin to say it's just the way the game is designed. It's silly, because a single subtype shouldn't be the third or fourth largest set in the game, but that's not something we can fix, and Tribal Wars just reflects that strangeness (or maybe it's just more of the anthropocentric paradigm rearing its ugly head: we always put the human race at the center of everything, even in card games).
I'm not a fan of the no-prize-for-you solution either for the reason you said. But I also really don't want to ban more cards in Regular.
It should be considered if players with $400 decks with Wasteland set and stuff would seriously take umbrage at not being allowed to win 3-4 tix per event; maybe at some point what you really want is just to play your deck in a competitive environment, but I can see how it could be a matter of principle too and not to be discriminated against.
A fair place to begin the discussion. What would you say was the key for each of those three archetypes, the lynchpins without which they would drop back into the chasing pack?
I think humans began to dominate more and more because every time something else took over (such as elves with Umbral Mantle or goblins with Goblin Lackey), you would ban those. This continued until humans was better than anything else. If you want to watch the humans return to their farms, then unleash the other tribes by unbanning their cards.
I really don't like the idea of making Humans ineligible for prizes. It effectively doesn't seem any different from outright banning Humans as a tribe - we might very occasionally see a Human deck but I can't imagine many people will take the effort to build, buy and refine a deck with no hope of winning prizes - which I think is both absurd overkill for the problem and needlessly broad-brush to ban every single Human deck for the sins of the best three. It's also the sort of unintuitive rule that will easily catch new players off-guard and could discourage them from returning if they fall foul of it.
If White Weenie Humans, RDW Humans and Delver Humans are all winning too many events and/or are over-represented I would much prefer that they simply each have something banned to lower their power-levels.
I am interested though I am not sure I can pull my weight.
Scouting, conceding, collusion and bribery, please.
Rendering Human decks ineligible for prizes is worth trying at least for a while: As the ultimate catch-all tribe it definitely seems to have crossed a threshold of power this season.
I love the idea of more team-based involvement, and salute the sterling efforts of TBG to leave their mark upon this tournament. They've successfully sent four players to the invitational this time, and we definitely need to give them some competition.
So, let's do that. I hereby announce the founding of Team Imperial Renaissance. Who wants in?
Has Dovin Baan become the first throwaway planeswalker?
*Cough*Venser*Cough*
I still wish we had simply gotten Lightning Strike, but hey, this works too. :)
Tec Edge is already in the original list.
If you want a creature based winning combo and want to spend the tix, I'd run Painters-Stone over Though Lash and Lab Man.
The Aether Revolt Kaladesh Inventions were spoiled. They are...interesting.
"Some I left off the list deliberately because they were too obvious...but I wanted some room on my list for more interesting cards."
So these are the best cards in these colors except those ruled out by an arbitrary and undefined criteria? So Goblin Guide is on the OK side of obvious but Prime Time is on the disqualified side of obvious?
Since I wasn't really commenting much on the budget options here it goes.
My and your post should shed some light on why certain cards are better and which are not (Going budget usually means going UW Control...)
Ad TNN - I put Elspeth, Knight-Errant here because TNN takes up a slot of a win condition actually and Elspeth can do it. She is always a threat that needs to be dealt with. Vedalken Shackles is the card I would put there but I wasn't thinking of Vedalkem Shackles as a budgte card (I wasn't aware it costs 5 tix).
Ashiok is pretty damn good in a control deck but requires black that some budget versions might not have a good access to.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is far better than any other walker that can actually attack^_^. But honestly I really like Elspeth Tirel. I put her in my deck at first because I just couldn't come up with something that would stick and leave something behind and would if possible do something else. Her second ability is very good. The life gain is relevant sometimes and there are matches that I won because of her ultimate ability. She's a bit too expensive for this deck but wins games. I've won many games with this card, similarly to number of games I won with Gideon.
Ancestral Vision - Ancestral Recall effect can be hardly replaced but this deck needs anything that costs 1 mana and has some kind of 'draw a card' effect on it. Be it Gitaxian Probe, Opt, Peek, Serum Visions is up to the person replacing the card. While I really hate Serum Visions seeing more cards in this case is better choice for me than choosing a card out of 2. It is not that important to draw a card you want. This deck can wait, but you should draw the card. Actually the card I would put here in this slot is Think Twice.
Containment Priest - I wouldn't run Hallowed Moonlight even though it has similar effect. Priest is a very strong card and does way more than is just written on it. I'd replace it with a good card worth playing, not necessarily something with a similar effect (since Enlightenment Tutor/RIP should deal with half of the effects and the others you just have to counter somehow)
FoW - if you are going to keep the combo in your deck you do not need as many mana sources as if you'd be playing pure control. you need to reach 7 lands if possible but you can also do with less. Deprive does not do what FoW does in terms of (you can tap out and counter) but it is a hard counter that this deck needs late game and where the deck does not need to have that many islands in play. It is a card people do not anticipate and does its a job well. If the combo won't be in the deck I wouldn't advise running the card at all. The pilot of the deck needs to choose the right counterspells to play at the right time. I couldn't think of anything better casting 1-2 mana. That 2 mana is important because you usually need to play your expensive win con and not have 3-4 more lands untapped.
Wasteland - I'd say just 'buy the card' similarly to any lands one needs (at least fetchlands and dual lands and the manlands which are important in this deck). But what this card does is that it gets rid of one very annoying land. you don't usually want to hit a colored source or something but a specific utility land or manland. Ghost Quarter does the job well. Also Ghost Quarter can be used on your own lands to fetch what you need, which considering you are on budget you might actually need. Putting together 2 white sources or 1 black one isn't that easy. Dust Bowl is a card I'd run if you want to go for inevitability with this deck.But if you stick with combo go for Quarter. Encroaching Wastes and Tectonic Edge cost mana to activate that you often need and not having the possibility to destroy something when needed is something I'd rather avoid as well.
Rishadan Port actually did a great deal of work in this deck but I do not run it anymore. And the land I also used to have in the deck is Kor Haven and Maze of Ith. Note that all those lands were in addition to the lands already in the deck.
The Foundry combo works well. Requires a lot of clicking but is doable just fine. Or at least from my experience it is my opponents that usually time out because of the Sword trigger.
Anyway, each player has to figure out what version they want to play and according that play cards that suit the deck more. You will either aim for inevitability or you will try to end the game with a combo. Based on that some cards become better, worse or unplayable.
Hello all,
Stsung, awesome article and very cool deck. I wanted to provide some musings on other budget options that players might pursue if UW/b (but really UW) control was their kind of deck:
True-Name Nemesis: Vedalken Shackles or Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver are options here. They are not as strong as Elspeth because there are certain matchups where they do nothing, Elspeth will always be a threat in and of herself. However, both can be acquired more cheaply on modo, so they could be a consideration, and depending on the matchup, they could be even stronger than Elspeth, but not likely.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: I think Elspeth, Knight Errant goes here, although in this deck Gideon is a far stronger card, I think she takes the cheddar over Elspeth, Tirel and sticks on curve to boot, which is a bit less relevant in control, but I think mana efficiency is still worth consideration.
Ancestral Visions: So, this one is debatable and I'd be curious to hear what other people have found if they've tested this theory: I think in control Opt is stronger than Serum Visions. Opt is ostensibly a weaker card, but being an instant provides flexibility in play and mana efficiency, and it can smooth out a draw in the early game much better, it's power diminishes in the late game comparatively, but I tend to think having this ability at instant speed at the loss of one virtual card selection 2 turns down the road is okay. I tend to feel you want the early game effect more, because this sort of deck already shines in the late game, where it losses is when it doesn't get to 4 mana, etc.
Containment Priest: Hallowed Moonlight, if you want the same effect. This may be completely unnecessary in your meta, and I tend to think this deck can do just fine against reanimator considering it runs RIP as one half of it's combo and well placed countermagic can do a number on reanimator builds that are all in on this sort of thing. The added benefit of beating birthing pod (at least once) and eldritch evolution or natural order is nice though.
FoW: I haven't figured it out yet, but there's a better card than Deprive over FoW, it would be okay late game, but in the early to midgame I don't think this deck can afford to give up a land and leave its mana open simultaneously. You have to consider that if you're casting FoW, you've either just tapped out to cast a game winning threat, exhausted your cmagic/mana in a stack battle in the mirror, or are in desperation mode (gulp, you're not winning anyway). Deprive doesn't help you out in any of these situations. So, not sure on this one, maybe Manatithe (ick).
Wasteland/BtB: 1. Wasteland: there is no analogous effect to this card available in the format (stripmine being banned), the closest is Stifle (at a similar rate, but far more situational) and Rish Port (which is the least budget option out there right now :/). I say this because while there are land cards available like Ghost Quarter, Dust Bowl, Encroaching Wastes, and Tech Edge, not one of them (unless the opponent runs no basic lands) is capable of the same effect with the flexibility of wasteland, i.e. the reason wasteland is a monster, is because it forestalls games from reaching the mid to late game. This deck doesn't care about that as much, but I reference it, because I think if a player were to commit resources against any format the best place to invest is in lands and manabases, they are, after all, the economy of the game (unless you play dredge :)), also this land while not at it's best in this build, offers a player further range to build midrange and agro archetype decks that very much so need and want the ability to "time-walk" the opponent on lands at the cost of their own development.
Anyway that aside, I think Dustbowl or encroaching wastes are better options for this deck over Ghost Quarter, they enable parity of loss as opposed to going down a land card, which is relevant in all stages of the game outside of the very late game. Both have a higher setup cost which is the detriment to be cited against them, but their use upon the opponent's endstep is viable. Not to mention DB specifically, can be game breaking in the mirror; while it does have a parallel effect essentially the power of selection will force the opponent to piecemeal their threats while they can cast them, allowing the pilot of this sort of deck to deal with threats etc one at a time, which is typically where control wants to be. I like DB far more than wastes, and I think if anything BtB could come out for more RDW hate in the form of Flash Flood or Sun Droplet (which is tutorable via the Muddle the Mixture to boot).
Helm of Obedience/RIP: This speed of this effect is not replaceable but the inevitability is for far cheaper cost; option 1: Thopter Foundary/SoTM package, this will grind an opponent out if they do not have an option, it's far cheaper to acquire on Modo, caveat, if you're short on time and your opponent cares to win that way, click fast because this not only grinds the opponent out it will grind your clock out. Option 2: this one is a bit strange, Though Lash and Lab Man can actually win on the turn they both come into play, but requires a cantrip and the mana to cast it that turn. This is a lot more fragile as you're depending on a critter to stay alive through the combo, and will lose your entire deck doing it. But, it's like $.20 to acquire and it's a decent combo, if Demonic Consultation were a thing I'd even say you have available redundant combo pieces to generate this effect (it would also be mandatory to name Abandon Hope or Barren Glory if it was legal). Option 3: Mana Severance + Goblin Charbelcher are also a thing, this is slightly more $ expensive than Option 2 (still under $1 though) and requires a whopping 9 mana to pull of the kill on the turn it all resolves, limiting your ability to protect it/associate risk.
I don't think any of these options is as powerful or efficient as Helm/RIP, but they're certainly viable and given intelligent and thoughtful play can work for far less money.
Those are the ones that came to mind when looking through that I thought might be worth my $.02.
Take it easy all :)
--KB
Done. I guess she just was reading your article,too:-)
Thx!
Michelle only posted the trophy in forum and forgot to send it to me, so that I can add it in gatherling.
I will do as soon as I get it.