[Deck] Draw7.dec

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

After playing a few matches with Draw7.dec, it has become apparent to me that combo, especially in the form of draw7.dec, can be a bomb in certain metagames. Besides, any deck playing swarms and MASSIVE draw spells has to be somewhat broken, right? Here's my decklist (aka, Smennen's decklist) for reference:

4 Gemstone Mine
4 City of brass
2 Glimmervoid
1 Tolarian Academy
5 Moxes
1 Sol Ring
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Lotus Petal
1 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Dark Ritual
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
-30 Mana Sources

1 Mind's Desire
1 Necropotence
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Yawgmoth's Bargain
3 Diminishing Returns
1 Timetwister
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Windfall
1 Tinker
1 Memory Jar
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time walk
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic tutor
1 Burning wish
1 Tendrils of Agony
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Xantid Swarm
1 fastbond
-31 MD bombs

The SB is pretty random except:
1 Tendrils
1 Primitive Justice
1 Diminishing returns

yes, the deck is 61 cards...LED is too good to not include.

This deck plays out much like academy. Drop a bunch of mana sources, cast a draw seven, rinse, lather, repeat, until you hit a huge storm count and simply win. I played a few matches vs. Keeper, Slavery, Tog, landstill, and aggro. The deck is resilient, but it sometimes just fizzles. Many times, I've cast a draw7 only to have my new 7 cards be total ass. This makes me believe that the deck needs more bombs. Unlike long, this deck does not have the luxury of 5 demonic tutors (aka burning wish). Plus, it has to rely on draw7s to gain any sort of advantage (most of the time atleast), making the deck somewhat random and inconsistent (as opposed to long, where a resolved will means game).

Another problem with this deck, is it's speed and inability to deal with hate. So far, I've only had 1 turn 1 kill, the rest being around turn 3. Without the boost of 4 LED, the deck simply cannot go apeshit and just win on turn 1. When playing vs. Slavery, I lost the majority of the matches simply due to a chalice for 1 in their first 2 turns. The deck is very reliant on dark ritual, and a chalice for one is devastating. Again, with Long, there were 4 burning wish, effectively giving you 4 MD solutions to a chalice. I could even see a null rod being a problem for this deck.

For these reasons, I'm currently testing hurkyl's recall MD. Chain of vapor is cute, but hurkyl's recall is better, IMO. Chain is only superior when you have a fastbond in play and have cast yawgWill, in which case, you are in a winning position. Hurkyl's recall, on the other hand deals with workshop decks (a somewhat unfavorable matchup), plus, it's great just by itself. Has anyone else had success with these? I know TPS ran 1 chain and 1 recall. Also, has anyone considered Impulse? It's like a minitutor and has many advantages over brainstorm. It's CC can be a problem though. I feel that it is better than time walk though. The card simply isn't broken, and only stalls the game. Plus, if you impulse into a mox, you've pretty much "time walked" anyways.

Also, I'm really missing chromatic sphere, although it may not be absolutely necessary. There have just been too many times where I'm 1 blue mana short of casting that desire, or returns. Ofcourse, I would have no idea what to cut for them.

Aside from that, I think this deck is fantastic. It's got a great shot of winning the control matchup simply because of the MD swarms and Forces. Keeper is a tough matchup because it runs removal and counters (not to mention stifle, shaman, and wastes), but I find tog an easier matchup. A resolved swarm is HUGE, as the tog player doesn't run removal, except in the form of deed or wish--->smother, both of which won't matter too much because of the mana requirement. This deck runs soo many threats that control decks are hard pressed to counter or deal with them all. The workshop matchup, however, is a nightmare. Chalice is a pain, sphere is a pain, and trinisphere is basically game over. The other matchups (ie, aggro) are really irrelevant, as you race them with ease. I played r/g beats, sligh, and big O (on MWS), and those decks only win when either 1) they resolve some form of hate like chalice (null rod isn't as bad, as you still have fastbond + academy + ritual + ESG) or 2) I keep a crappy hand. Admittedly, I have not tested the TnT matchup, though this machup may be harder as they have blood moons and pillars.

So with all that out of the way, how does everyone feel about this deck?

[Grand Inquisitor]

The workshop matchup, however, is a nightmare. Chalice is a pain, sphere is a pain, and trinisphere is basically game over

This statement sums up most of feelings on this deck.  Once darksteel rotates in, we're going to see workshop competing like never before (metagame depending).  If I was pretty sure I was going to see a deck that had so many maindeck hosers in the top eight, I would feel like I was playing the wrong deck.

Workshop aside, I have a few other problems with your particular build.  You may have already, but you should check out iLL_Dawg's TPS report in the tournament forums.  After the January restrictions we worked on what would be the next evolution of tendrils combo.  While I became rather disillusioned, iLL_Dawg continued to refine it.  I still agree with you that Force of Will is quite necessary in a meta filled with null rods and pillars, but some of the other changes I'm going to suggest are present in his build.

The more we tested, the more we realized that ESG's, while great for getting out Swarms, were not enough acceleration, were not on color, and weren't upping the storm count.  All of these led to them being cut.

iLL_Dawg also borrowed a mechanic from Smennen's list that I'm surprised wasn't in yours: Chromatic Spheres.  They basically do all of things (except acceleration) that ESG's don't.

I haven't tested it, but can you really afford to cast Diminishing Returns more than once with only one Tendrils and one Burning Wish?  I see these more as FoW fodder, which is never a good reason for a card.

Although you mentioned testing it, some form of maindeck utility (H.Recall and/or Chains) is a must in order to deal with workshop, fish, stompy hosers.  They're never a dead draw either, as they'll always bounce moxen or others to increase the storm count.  In a similar vein, I think iLL_Dawg is also running Crop Rotation to dodge strip effects and get Tolarian when its useful.

edit: one last note on the control matchup.  TPS can certainly win the control matchup, but I find its chances are directly tied to how often they have Xantid Swarm opening hand.

[Gabethebabe]

The deck has 61 cards. IMO a (combo) deck of 60 cards is sub-optimal by definition. I would cut a Brainstorm. If you don´t want to cut Brainstorm, cut something else. But cut.

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

GI: I agree with almost everything you are saying. I would REALLY like to include chromatic spheres, but I feel that ESG is just too good to not include. It's spectacular early game (turn 1) because you can play a xantid swarm, and keep a mana source open for bainstorm. It's also great later on, as if you hit it on a draw7, you can simply remove him from the game and use the mana as a colorless source for your multiple draw7s. Chromatic sphere provides no acceleration, but should be MDed simply because of mana smoothing and it's "cycling" ability, which often times will work wonders with the vamp. tutor/LED.

As for crop rotation, I've tested it, but have never realy liked it. This deck really doesn't need academy inorder to go off, though it's nice to have one.

You are absolutely right about the removal main. I'm testing 2 Hurkyl's recall main as of now (in place of necro and a single ESG) and it's been great. It allows for some AMAZING plays, plus, it's a great reset button (also works against disk/deed). I found that necro hasn't been stellar as of late. everytime I could cast necro, I just cast a draw7 and go off that turn instead. the only time it shines is when you get it first turn off a ritual. I may be wrong about replacing the necro though.

As for returns, it's been great for me. I've only cast returns twice in about 10% of the matches I've played. Even then, I haven't removed both of the win conditions from the game. Running 3 means you will see a draw7 in your opening hand VERY often, and you will hit a draw7 off a another one often as well. The truth is, I usually win off the second draw7, meaning as long as I can cast a returns without removing all my draw7s or win conditions, I'm quite satisfied.

as for the control matchup, it really depends on which control deck you are facing. Versus Keeper, you have to hope they don't have wastelands and swords, and you have to play somewhat conservatively. Vs. Tog, you don't need to worry as much, as a single resolved swarm will win the game. Plus, your draw7s counter their card advantage. It's still a somewhat rough matchup, but definitely winnable.


Gabethebabe: I've had no problems with 61 cards vs. 60. The 61st card was a LED, which IMO is definitely worth that 61st slot. I wouldn't cut brainstorms, as they dig 3 cards deep (HUGE in a combo deck like this). If anything, it would be either an ESG, or Time walk. LED is a good replacement for ESG and time walk has been disappointing as of late.

[CF]

I've had no problems with 61 cards vs. 60. The 61st card was a LED, which IMO is definitely worth that 61st slot.

No card is worth the 61st slot in a combo deck. Not a single one. Ever. Not being able to cut down to 60 is a fundamental flaw I see in inexperienced deckbuilders (kids with 72 card control decks etc). I am not saying you fit that description, but then again, you do not see why 60 is better than 61.

The only place where 61 can be better than 60 is in a deck with complete redundancy, say X grizzly bears and Y forests where X+Y >= 60. Type one is a format with a very low level of redundancy. This is due to a concept called _restricted cards_. Any type1 deck that is not 60 cards is by default suboptimal.

Cut! A! Card!  

--
Chris