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Blue Meanies

Started by grizzledmage, 31-12-2012, 04:29:47 PM

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grizzledmage

Yep; still kicking out here...

This deck idea suggested itself to me while looking at some blue rare cards... The idea is to put out efficient and evasive (flying, shadow, unblockable) creatures and have enough mana to counter and/or bounce threats.

Here's the first draft:

Creatures (40)

1 Spiketail Drakeling
1 Errant Ephemeron
1 Augury Owl
1 Wind Zendikon (enchantment; makes creature)
1 Skaab Ruinator
1 Stitched Drake
1 Phantom Warrior
1 Spellstutter Sprite
1 Latch Seeker
1 Vexing Sphinx
1 Zephyr Sprite
1 Spire Golem
1 Briarberry Cohort
1 Riftwing Cloudskate
1 Horizon Drake
1 Jace's Phantasm
1 Cloudskate
1 Delver of Secrets
1 Inkfathom Infiltrator
1 Dewdrop Spy
1 Judge's Familiar
1 Faerie Impostor
1 Surveilling Sprite
1 Infiltrator il-Kor
1 Scrapskin Drake
1 Coralhelm Commander
1 Stormbound Geist
1 Hovermyr
1 Wasp Lancer
1 Invisible Stalker
1 Wormfang Drake
1 Flying Men
1 Illusionary Servant
1 Kathari Screecher
1 Sprite Noble
1 Serendib Efreet
1 Cloud Elemental
1 Spindrift Drake
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Angel's Tomb (artifact but becomes creature)

Counterspells (17)

1 Faerie Trickery
1 Familiar's Ruse
1 Turn Aside
1 Dispel
1 Counterspell
1 Negate
1 Deprive
1 Mana Leak
1 Hinder
1 Remand
1 Stoic Rebuttal
1 Force of Will
1 Cancel
1 Forbid
1 Dream Fracture
1 Dissipate
1 Cryptic Command

Bounce (4)

1 Disperse
1 Boomerang
1 Into the Roil
1 Echoing Truth

Other (5)

1 Bonesplitter
1 Grafted Wargear
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Shuko
1 Sensei's Divining Top

Lands (34)

28 Island
1 Remote Isle
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Halimar Depths
1 Lonely Sandbar
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Wasteland

A few comments...

1. I considered White as an additional color as of course there are good white fliers BUT I decided to keep it mono blue to strengthen the control parts of the deck.

2. Not sure about the mana balance... On the one hand control likes abundant mana sources; on the other aggro likes to keep it lean. Initial testing suggests that 34 (current land complement) may be a good balance.

3. I am unsure about 40 as a good number of creatures, BUT in other decks with some similar characteristics I have too often found myself unable to keep a creature or two in hand. In other words, I want to maximize odds of drawing/having creatures available to cast.

4. I have purposely left out some aspects that would normally be auto-includes in Blue decks (like Jace, card draw, etc.) I did this in consideration of (3) above as well as ensuring a reasonable abundance of counterspells.

4. In selecting spells that are creatures (or create creatures, like the Zendikon), I limited myself to a maximum casting cost of 3.

Any input is most welcome.

Vazdru

i would decrease the land count to 30 and add mutavault (cut lonely sandbar) as you play eg spellstutter sprite and coralhelm commander

daze > forbid
memory lapse > cancel
spell snare > stoic rebuttal

missing:

phantasmal image
phyrexian metamorph

oblivion stone seems misplaced
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

grizzledmage

i would decrease the land count to 30 and add mutavault (cut lonely sandbar) as you play eg spellstutter sprite and coralhelm commander

May try 32 lands (compromise between your suggestion and the current count). Thought of Mutavault already; perhaps it instead of Mishra's factory? I hate to have too many mana sources that are non-blue, and I liked the MF as it can be a 3/3 blocker in most cases.

daze > forbid
memory lapse > cancel
spell snare > stoic rebuttal


Considered all these; was thinking that hard counters all around (exception is Remand) might be best, and my experiences with Daze and Spell Snare have been unimpressive. Memory Lapse is actually kind of like an inverse Remand, though...

missing:

phantasmal image
phyrexian metamorph


Considered these also; they seem too situational to me.

oblivion stone seems misplaced

Inclined to agree esp. after initial testing... but I hate to have no board sweepers at all. Suggestions (Evacuation, Wash Out, Nevinyrral's Disk, other)?

Vazdru

mana base:

28 islands
1 Mutavault
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Wasteland
1 Faerie Convlave

try to lower the curve and avoid cit-lands

Miscalculation, Spell Snare and Force Spike are much better than CC3 hard-counters imo

best card obviously missing  ;) back to basics
Sword of Feast and Famine, Sword of Fire and Ice and/or Sword of War and Peace are worth to be considered
Far below the earth
Where the demons hunt the souls of those that sleep
In the city of the Vazdru and the Drin
Where the black flame burns inside the palace fountain.

grizzledmage

So far I'm partly convinced; I have removed the 2 cycling lands and added Memory Lapse and Miscalculation.

Will probably hold off on more changes (w/possible exception of Oblivion Stone) until more serious testing can be done.

Thanks for the comments!!! If there are more, let's hear 'em.

coldcrow

#5
Several very good cards are missing:

Daze, Gush, Vapor snag, unsummon, curiosity, sigil of sleep, seal of removal, mind sculptor, mental misstep, stifle, spell snare, force spike, spell pierce, (divert), (disrupt), misdirection, (commandeer), psionic blast

No clue about the creats, but I fathom that there are several inefficient dudes.

From a first glance I'd cut:
shuko: no impact
sensei: no shuffle effects
ob stone: this is no control deck

if you tweak the curve some more, you can go as low as 27-28 lands. the bulk should be 1-2 mana spells, while 4 would be the absolute top and your best trumps like Cryptic Command, Jace, Venser, kicked into the roil etc.
monoblue should always be a tempo-deck. It can't really deal with resolved problematic permanents. So it needs a cheaper curve and way more bounce/cheap counters

grizzledmage

#6
Thanks for the input... some good suggestions there. Based on your, Vazdru's, and my son's (he was with us this weekend and helped me playtest the deck) recommendations, changes since the initial listing:

Faerie Conclave --> Mutavault
Halimar Depths ---> Island
Lonely Sandbar ---> Memory Lapse
Remote Isle  -----> Miscalculation
Oblivion Stone ---> Devastation Tide
Cancel   ---------> Daze
Cloud Elemental---> Deep-Sea Kraken
Turn Aside    ----> Psionic Blast
Angel's Tomb  ----> Unstable Mutation

On the right track; the current deck version held its own well against some of his better decks. Will continue tweaking it as playtesting opportunities arise.

When Gatecrash comes out, 2 cards I will almost certainly put in are Cloudfin Raptor and Nightveil Spector; will also consider Hybridation Rapide (Quick Hybridization?)

Also considering Thwart.

More thoughts?

Madsam

#7
Cyclonic Rift > Disperse
also a onesided sweeper possibility.

Phyrexian Metamorph and phantasmal image are must includes.
They are both on the curve, handle mean Legends (cant see this deck handle thrun for example) and if there's no target on the other side, pick one of yours

Looter il-Kor gives you Cardquality
Spiketail Hatchling strong as well.

Sword of Feast and Famine should find a spot in your deck, because you can either decide to play more creatures or to have a counterspell. With the sword you can do both.
Sword of Fire and Ice is just broken. It handles creatures with toughness 2 or less, else shoots in the face and it draws you a card, something you really need.

Maybe you should think about a more merfolk or faerie themed engine. Doesn't have to be a theme deck, but you could think of some good synergies.

grizzledmage

Cyclonic Rift > Disperse
also a onesided sweeper possibility.


Would love to use the Rift... but none in my collection...

Phyrexian Metamorph and phantasmal image are must includes.
They are both on the curve, handle mean Legends (cant see this deck handle thrun for example) and if there's no target on the other side, pick one of yours


Yeah, these are two I keep going back and forth on. Think I'll try them.

Looter il-Kor gives you Cardquality
Spiketail Hatchling strong as well.


Looked at the Looter; also on the fence here. Didn't consider the Hatchling; good call. Which cards would you swap out for them?

Sword of Feast and Famine should find a spot in your deck, because you can either decide to play more creatures or to have a counterspell. With the sword you can do both.
Sword of Fire and Ice is just broken. It handles creatures with toughness 2 or less, else shoots in the face and it draws you a card, something you really need.


Excellent thinking on the SFF. I'd already looked SFI, as it is just a bit more cumbersome to play and equip than I really want for this deck. (Same would be true for the other sword.) Hmm...

Maybe you should think about a more merfolk or faerie themed engine. Doesn't have to be a theme deck, but you could think of some good synergies.

I am open to suggestion!