This were the things, Tommy decklist differed from my creation DARK ILLUSIONS. You can take it as starting point for some general discussion:
-2 Spell Snare
+ 2 Mana Leak
A metagame call as we do still have a big amount of Staxx and Storm and not that many GAT and Flash. I prefer the Leaks for their general usefulness and how they fit in the deck principle (mana denial). In a field full of GAT and Flash - that we don't have over here - I would play Spell Snares as well.
- 2 Cutpurse
+ 2 Merchant Scroll
I leave it to you, which choice for card advantage is the better. I think in a field full of creatures/blockers and in a deck, that very often operates just with two mana on the table, I don't like the cutpurses that much. If they worked out for Tommy, great! I just think as close the disruption package is to SS: In the end this deck plays out different than just SS with Noughts. While SS is a pure control deck, this is much more aggro control. And for instance, if there is a Nought on the board, I would rather see a Scroll than a Cutpurse. I often found them very clunky. Imo that's a general assumption in the moment, as there are too many blockers in the field. I can't think of any competitive deck in the moment beside Flash maybe that doesn't have a critter arround.
- 1 Duress
+ 1 Daze
Sure, four Duress is a great threat against any Combo. But I prefer a good mix of disruption spells, what is good just alone for psychological reasons. But Daze can also be a handy tutor target in some situations - for example: four mana on the board, your opponent outtapped. You have Confidant and Scroll in your hand. It might not be the worst move to go for Daze and then push Confidant through the Force of Will wall. It's just hypothetical, but believe me: there are situations where you love it to have Daze in the deck.
- 1 Trickbind
+ 1 Illusionary Mask
I changed that in the meantime, as Trickbind is good to have in a deck that plays Scrolls. But against counterheavy control decks and against Staxx, the third Mask would still be the better choice.
- 1 Tinker
+ 1 Explosives
Tinker cost more than Mask, cost you an extra card in form of an artifact you very often don't have, is REBable and finds you in Tommy's build just Mask or Lotus or Dreadnought, which you then have to stifle. That all for the Collossus in the board and sometimes to go around Chalice Two, I am not sure, if I like that. You can go around Chalice with Stifle anyway, to bring in Dreadnought or bring in Mask. But the Collossus in the board might have good uses against heavy artifact removal decks.
But I often tried to force Tinker in this deck as well, as I thought it's impossible to leave this powerful card out. But in the end, it never seemed to fit. My starting point would be to play it with Platz in the maindeck, but so far: I play without it.
Explosives rounds up the disruption/removal base perfectly, as It handles Welder and Moxen, Oath, Meddlings, Dreadnoughts (
) very smooth. I would never go out of the house without at least one.
- 1 Mystical
- 1 Mana Crypt
+ 2 off color Moxen
Yes, Mystical is great in this deck, and I included it meanwhile as well, as it finds Time Walk – the most impressive card in the deck, when you have either Confidant(s) or Dreadnought on the board. Mana Crypt can be good to bring in the first round Mask + Nought. But I rarely go for this move. I think the best move you can do with this deck many times is to play a Confidant first turn, which functions well with the whole set of Moxen. Beside the first turn Mask + Nought, what for sure can be great, I don't see really an overwhelming reason to play Crypt instead a Mox, as even in that deck with such a low average casting cost life loss summs up, especially in a field full of attackers. But Crypt is ok, if you want to run it, but I don't think it's really necessary.
- 1 Bloodstained Mire
+ 1 Flooded Strand
Against the decks, I need Basics the most - Fish and Staxx - after boarding the basic Island get even more important, as the main weapons out of my board against them are blue, and Duress gets out. Tommy plays Edicts. And Confidant is also a good move against both decks, so his choice of Bloodstained might be the correct one for him. I prefer to have more possibilities to get basic Islands.
That was in the last thread.
Other thoughts:
For a very long time, I didn't play Yawgmoth's Will in this deck for a few reasons: Its quite costy and I tried to avoid three color spells maindeck as much as possible. It's black. And it doesn't generate that great card advantage as it does in other builds like Long or Gifts. But it still does create enough card advantage: Even an extra Fetchland and Brainstorm is usually worth its investment. And you sometimes really love a way to recurr your Time Walk. So yes, I do play this little goodie meanwhile in the mainboard, that looks that way in the moment:
4 Phyrexian Dreadnoughts
2 Illusionary Mask
1 Explosives
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Stifle
2 Mana Leak
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Trickbind
1 Daze
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Echoing Truth
4 Dark Confidant
3 Duress
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Pearl
1 Lotus Petal
1 Black Lotus
4 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
3 Island
1 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
3 Wasteland
1 Strip Mine
If you dislike 61 cards too much, cut one off color mox if you like. I always felt it not needed with this consitant deck, that plays out very fine with its 23 mana/38 spells ratio. But as general consensus goes to 60 cards, cut a Ruby or whatever.
I discussed this with a friend in another board: I don't play a second Swamp, I don't even play a fourth U-Sea. It might be a matter of playstyle as I am a very carefull fetcher and brainstormer, but I was never black screwed and I play in a field, where Staxx and Fish is common. I prefer to have as many basics as possible (and still play at least four strip effects and not more than 17 Lands), to not get in danger of Wastelands, as my weapons against the named matchups in the board are heavy blue.
What Tommy said about Trinket Mage is absolutly true, even though it is true for Cutpurse as well. Trinkets fit in a more controlish build. I always wanted to try out something with Trinkets, Tormod, Explosves and Acadamy Ruins to bring back the tools and Mask/Dreadnought, but always came back to this one, as I felt it just the stronger build.
Even without Trinkets I thought about Acadamy Ruins as recuring Explosives and Dreadnougth can be great against many decks, but it never made the cut as being just too much of a toy.
Other maindeck candidates could be Imperial Seal for obvious reasons or Demonic Consultation for even more obvious reasons
But in testing I hated it to remove too many of my dreadnoughts. The deck isn't controlish enough to risk that in my eyes. But for sure: With such a consistant spellbase Consultation should be a candidate.
Sideboard: This is something, that is in a continuous variation. In the moment
2 Spell Snare
2 Hurkyls Recall
1 Threads of Disloyalty
1 Seasinger
1 Old Man of the Sea
1 Echoing Truth
3 Yxlid Jailer
1 Extirpate
2 Pithing Needle
1 Engineered Explosives
Other great candidates are: Chains of Mephistopheles (!), Massacre, Smother, Anull, Disrupt, Planar Void and Kira, Great Glass Spinner.
I don't fear Chalice Two too much, as you can easily play around that with Stifle + Dreadnought or just Stifle the Chalice. And I still play two Explosves overall to remove the Chalices. If you still fear Chalice, play a Rushing River instead of the sideboard Truth. I don't like Rebuild, as bouncing my own Dreadnoughts is the last thing I want to do against Staxx.
Extirpate is a nice tutor target against Flash or Oath what cooperates quite well with Duress and Explosives. It can also come in pretty handy against GAT to remove Gushes, or Duals or Forces. I would love to play two in the board, but don't see space.
Jailers and Needles always seemed enough for me to fight Ichorid. They interact perfectly with Stifle and Wastelands as well. Needles are also nice options against Staxx or Landstill and everthing random. Jailer have no real further use but I board them against Goblins functioning as bad sorcery removal.
The extra Truth and Explosves are to round up your toolbox against decks where they work the best, say Oath and Fish. The second bounce is especially needed for Platz. Truth could be a Rushing River for Meddling/Chalice reasons as mentionend.
The single blue controlers seem to be a good mix to me, as you can bring in two usefull ones against many matchups, say Threads and Seasinger against GAT, Threads and Old Man against Fish and SS. Threads and Seasinger against Dark Illusions, Seasinger and Old Man against Bomberman ... and so on. Single ones can also be good in many matchups: Seasinger against Slaver and Oath (I notices that more and more Simic is left out of Oath sideboards), Old Man against Goblins .... I like this configuration, as it gives you a consistant sideboard strategy without leaving you too unflexible with just Old Mans or just Threads. Also: You should always play at least a few creatures in the sideboard, to make better use of the Mask.
I just can underline what the thread starter said before: This deck is a monster, has a good GAT and a gordious Flash matchup, plays out fine against Oath, Bomberman, Slaver, Fish and Storm Variants and has the biggest issues with Staxx and sometimes pure Aggro, but is still on a good run against these matchups. It's a great deck, a serious contender and I love it for a very long time now. I especially like, what was mentioned before, how easily you can change the way too attack your opponents strategy. Just smash him with the big one, try to go the pure Mana Denial route, play it out like Ophidian Control for a while ...
Key card really is Stifle, so the errata pushed that deck to an even higher tier status. As much as people say, that it's easy to play around Stifle, when you know, that you play against it. It weakens their strategy nevertheless, by forcing them to modify their strategy. And it fills out many, many functions in this deck. Very often it's used as the said mana denial element. But very often it functions as mini Time Walk against Oath, Salvagers, Welder, Stacks ... and this deck likes Time Walks. Don't forget, you play a 12/12 trample dude for one
. Good moves are alway as well stifling Bazar activations, protect your mana base, stifling Explosives, Seal of Cleansings or even storm spells sometimes.
A thing to think about would be a color splash. I often toyed around with Red for REB, Pyroclasm, Rack and Ruin and Fling. But I still think, you can do most of these effects with just U/B and without weakening your manabase. White is also an option with Mindcensores fitting in the deck theme and Seal of Cleansing being a great option for the sideboard. But alway ask yourself, if you really need them.
