I've been playing this deck since the summer and am s...

[Robert the Swordsman]

I've been playing this deck since the summer and am still working on it. I've posted it a couple of times, and am trying it again with the current list.

I played this deck at Waterbury yesterday and went 3-3 drop. It worked alright, but I probably could have done better. I've made a couple of minor alterations since then, so here is the current decklist.

//NAME: Politics
//Artifacts (16):
     1 Zuran Orb
     1 Mox Sapphire
     1 Mox Emerald
     1 Mox Pearl
     1 Mox Jet
     1 Black Lotus
     1 Sol Ring
     1 Mana Vault
     3 Winter Orb
     3 Tangle Wire
     2 Ivory Tower
// Blue (14):
     4 Trade Routes
     4 Force of Will
     1 Fact or Fiction
     1 Mystical Tutor
     1 Gush
     1 Ancestral Recall
     1 Time Walk
     1 Timetwister
//White (7):
     4 Land Tax
     1 Swords to Plowshares
     1 Balance
     1 Enlightened Tutor
//Black (3):
     1 Demonic Tutor
     1 Mind Twist
     1 The Abyss
//Green (2):
     1 Gaea's Blessing
     1 Regrowth
//Multi (3):
     2 Iridescent Angel
     1 Vindicate
// Land (15):
     4 Flooded Strand
     4 Plains
     3 Island
     1 Swamp
     1 Forest
     1 Tundra
     1 Tolarian Academy

//Sideboard (15):
     4 Meddling Mage
     3 Tormod's Crypt
     3 Hurkyll's Recall
     2 Swords to Plowshares
     2 Seal of Cleansing
     1 Rule of Law

The deck is basically Land Tax / Trade Routes drawing engine with some artifact lock components for control and other good cards thrown in to top it off.

Card choices:

Iridescent Angel: I know it doesn't look so great and I'm often ridiculed for playing it, however in the deck, it is just better than Morphling. A Morphling, undefended, is 3UU for a 3/3, and this is a deck that would not be able to defend it as I have few blue sources and am often tapped out at the end of my turn. Angel is like a low-maintenance and better protected kill than Morphling.

Gush: Awesome with Land Tax AND Trade Routes. Float UU and drop a W'Orb, a Routes, or draw 2 more cards, and then be able to Tax again next turn.

Ivory Tower and Zuran Orb: Good in my metagame and good against aggro, I've found these to be good all-around cards. Also good for tapping with Wires, not to mention the nice Z'Orb / Tax synergy.

Winter Orb and Tangle Wire: Good cards, Winter Orb being my personal favorite, that can help me get an edge against control when dropped early. They also have good synergy with eachother, and Wire usually doesn't hinder me too much.

Swords to Plowshares: I don't like Gorilla Shaman. I don't like it at all.

Vindicate: The only non-creature permanent removal. So far it's proven highly effective, and also makes it so I don't have to concede to Chalice for two.

Regrowth and Gaea's Blessing: Regrowth is just awesome, especially when you want to take that one extra turn or perhaps draw another three cards. I also like shuffling Ancestral / Time Walk / Timetwister / Mind Twist / Regrowth / Balance / Lotus back into the library when there aren't many cards left, generally in between 15 and 20. These are also good for recurring that one Swords over and over, and the Blessing is convenient due to the recent rise in Dragon being played.

Please excuse the sideboard, it's currently a work in progress. The Swords, Mages, and Crypts are definitely keepers, but the others I'm not so sure on (the single Rule of Law is a bit awkward). Any advice on this matter would be great.

A few notes: I have tried Yawgmoth's Will and it has not worked for me. I either draw it somewhat early when I have 3 - 4 lands in my graveyard along with a Force or Tax or Time Walk or Wire or something else, or I draw it late game when I already have control and should be winning. Also, I like the idea of recurring things through Blessing and Regrowth as opposed to using a card one more time and then never again. So far, it has not proven to be a game-breaking card in this particular deck. I have tried Moat before as well, and Abyss proved overall to be better, though I may sideboard Moat due to Keeper's playing Decree as its win condition recently.

Well, that's about the size of it. If you have any questions or wish some further card explanation, please, feel free to ask. I have delved deeper into the explanations prior to this, so if you're interested, you can check out my old threads or reach me through AIM at RobtheSwordsman. Any other questions / comments / utter and total disgust will be appreciated.

[Sytupal]

Utter and Total Disgust Shown

- No problem, no need to thank me for replying

- Rich

[SummenSaugen]

What kind of a constructive comment is that?

Rob:  The deck looks cool, very interesting rogue build.  I can't offer a whole lot in terms of assistance, but I figured I'd let you know I find it kinda neat.

[Sytupal]

a friendship related one.  i feel i can no longer comment on his deck.. it's surpasses any synergestic comment i can come up with lol.  it's beyond inventive.

[firebird365]

At first glance, it seems the Iridescent Angel win condition seems somewhat vulnerable, although to the same things that Morphling is (WoG, Edict, etc.) Have you thought about playing Chalice, Sphere of Resistance, etc. for hosing both aggro- and possibly combo-based decks? I'm no T1 expert, but I think you could try these out. One problem with Chalice is that it may take out some of your cards, too...

Also, when it comes out, I would also consider using Crucible of Worlds, although you probably already have that figured out.

Anyhow, very nice deck.

[Sytupal]

Crucible of Worlds would be a great addition to your deck. ~ HOWEVER  do we really want to talk about this now considering a mod just closed a thread last night due to Crucible talk. it's not even out yet boys and girls!. cool it.

[Mykeatog]

Quote (Sytupal @ Nov. 18 2003,06:23)Crucible of Worlds would be a great addition to your deck. ~ HOWEVER  do we really want to talk about this now considering a mod just closed a thread last night due to Crucible talk. it's not even out yet boys and girls!. cool it.

maybe you should cool it... no one else said a god damned thing about it.

[Robert the Swordsman]

@Sytupal: Gee, thanks.  

@Summen: Thank you very much, I'm just glad you like the idea.

@firebird: Thank you for the compliments. Sphere may be a good idea, but I think it'd be more harmful to me for the time being. Chalice goes like this:

Chalice with 1 counter: Ouch.
Chalice with 2 counters: PWNED GG.

And any other amount is difficult to add up to and often isn't useful, unfortunately. I don't think it has a place here, but perhaps in the sideboard.

Also, regarding Crucible of Worlds, I could use it in the deck, but... why? If the card is printed as the current layout shows, I honestly don't see it helping me out in any way unless I tossed a Fastbond in and did that combo-dealy. Truly, so far, I don't see how I could get a use out of it.

In any case, thanks to all for the comments.

[Sytupal]

if you could play them as though they were in your hand does that not mean you could use traderoutes to throw them back in the graveyard?

hey i'm not completely off based! one person before me said something!  

[Robert the Swordsman]

You may PLAY them as though they were in your hand. It's like Future Sight + Wild Mongrel; it doesn't work.

[Razvan]

Iridescent Angel is ridiculed, and for good reason. Then someone plays one against you... then you lament not having Diabolic Edict and die in a few turns. Yes, a 4/4 for 7 isn't exactly great, but nor is a 3/3 for 5, no?

The ability is neat, and the fact that it needs no support makes it even better.

[David Hernandez]

Hi,

even in your environment, it seem seems to me that you have plenty of search capability.  Why not drop to 1 Ivory Tower?

Also, you might consider dropping the Swords, Crop Rotation, and Gaea's Blessing in favor of 3 Cunning Wish.  I think you will find the deck becoming more consitent then.  The SB Seal of Cleansings could be swapped for Disenchants, the STP could go to the Sideboard (or dropped completely since you will have access to the two in your current SB).  

Since you're running some black, you could add a Diabolic Edict to the SB as well.  Fact or Fiction could make it's way to the SB too.

In fact, a lot of the single cards you are running are instants and could be moved to the SB, allowing you to run 3 Cunning Wish in the main.

--dave

[Robert the Swordsman]

@Razvan: Thank you for the support.

@Dave: I have thought of and even tried Cunning Wish, the only problem is, I find them to be altogether too slow. The fact that they are versatile is good, but again, just too slow. I am often using alot of mana during my turn searching for an answer to whatever problem has come up, but usually ends up being less than 3, and Cunning Wish proved to be less substantial than the answer itself.

However...

...Fact or Fiction is a great idea. Thank you very much for bringing it up, as I'd never thought of it. So, the change is as follows...

-1 Ivory Tower (I've been meaning to cut one of them as I've stated earlier, just couldn't think of what to cut it for.)
+1 Fact or Fiction

...thanks.

[Crater Hellion]

Ever thought about completely removing land tax in favor of scepters and tithes? This would actually make your mana base much stronger- you could use dual lands as tithe fetches plains, not basics, not to mention the synergy scepter has with card options your deck has.

edit: brainstorm is probably worth trying also?\n\n

[Robert the Swordsman]

@Crater: Sorry, that sort of thing just can't work.

A. It's 2 cards, and you have to have both of them at the same time in order to make it work.

B. It costs 2 to activate. This could prove to be a complication.

C. One of the advantages of the deck is being able to not worry about Wastelands / Blood Moon and other general banes of the non-basic land. I could run this with dual lands, but then I'd be more vulnerable to those sort of things, and so far, I've had only very minor difficulties getting the color/s I need, which is why I added the single Tundra recently, and it has helped.

D. At the most, it's only getting me two land. That's one less card I can draw via Trade Routes, which may seem minor, but it does make a difference.

I do like the Brainstorm idea, but what to cut? And would the card I'd be cutting be less or more advantageous than the Brainstorms I'd be adding in?

Thank you for the input, though, I'll keep Brainstorms in mind.

[Pest]

have you considered Fast Bond in this deck? I think it could work quite well. Also, I'm still not likeing the Angel as a kill condition. Can't you get something a little cheaper in casting cost?

[David Hernandez]

I think Fastbond without Future Sight should not be considered...also, i don't see the full benefit from the addition.  Fastbond is a very situational card, and i'm not convinced that it will work in this deck.

dave.

[BuboniC]

Hey- this is Mat from the Gathering- Couple sugestions- where is the fastbond? it would prove very worthy with land tax- you have a bunch of life anyway with ivory tower- and have the abyss too worry about your life vs. creaturs anyways.

also:
Regrowth<Yawgmoths will?

Im not too sure how your comparing these two- but I think its a no brainer, expecaily with fastbond and the reccurance of lands. I understand that fastbond would slow down the Ivory tower engine- but Land Tax+Tower isnt enough? LMK what you think

[Robert the Swordsman]

Hold on, hold on.

Why would I play Fastbond in here?

Do I want or need more lands in play? No.
Do I want to take additional damage for something that I don't need? No!
Do I need Fastbond? I don't think so.

The damage does add up, and I see no need to have additional lands in play when all I want to do is discard them to draw more cards. Also, I'm not really relying on Ivory Towers right now, as I've cut the amount down to two, and it was never really an engine, so to speak, just a means of perhaps buying me a turn or so.

Also, regarding Yawgmoth's Will, I've already explained it. It just is not an explosive card in this deck. By the time it's of any use, I've either gained control or have lost. It has just not proved very useful thus far.

Fact or Fiction, however, has been extremely successful. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Sytupal]

Mat ~ read the entire thread before commenting, yes? -ugh. Reread your posts before you put them up too. so many grammatical errors that even a 13 year old such as yourself should be able to pick up.

 Agreed about Fastbond ~ the draw engine in Trade Routes completely negates Rob from wanting to play lands.  waste of mana just to bring them back to hand.   *sigh*  I've decided after reading over your thread consistently when I'm on TMD that i have no good suggestions for you.  It's annoying really. I'm usually quite good at these things....

[Arvid]

As you probably already are aware of - adding more Tundras, Tropical Islands and Underground Seas wouldn't make the deck worse.    Maybe a money problem but as you have the moxes it could'nt be?

[Sytupal]

That was already covered.   too many non basic lands in type 1 is a problem.  duals are not as good as they once were with most decks MD'ing 4 wastelands.  He can't afford to have a land wasted ~ If someone tries to contradict this by saying "well he can always put it into his hand " - he can't. This forces him to keep lands untapped where as because he doesn't have a manabase issue anyways, he could not worry about that and instead worry about routing for an answer to a threat and afford to tap out or come close to it on some turns.

[Robert the Swordsman]

Actually, my main concern with that suggestion would be that dual lands cannot be snagged via Trade Routes, but yes, the fact that they are non-basic does pose a problem.

Also, I should probably mention that this deck is in 5-Proxy mode.

I own: Black Lotus, Time Walk, Timetwister, Mox Jet.
I don't own: Mox Emerald, Mox Pearl, Mox Sapphire, Ancestral Recall.

I'm working on that, though...