[Deck] IsoSligh - The Natural Evolution of Sligh

[waSP]

Hi, everyone.  I posted a topic about my IsoSligh deck like a month ago when TMD just got back up.  It elicited almost no response from the community, so I waited a little while before I posted anything about it.  I think it will be much better received in this forum, since many of the people here DO actually play Sligh.  I haven't played it much in tournaments, because it isn't at all right for my metagame.  But if you need a sligh fix, this may be the way to go.

IsoSligh by Steven Petersen

Mana

3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Mountain
3 Volcanic Island
2 Great Furnace
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Mox Jet/Pearl/Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Sol Ring

Disruption

4 Wasteland
3 Gorilla Shaman
2 Stifle
1 Pillage
1 Strip Mine

Burn

4 Fire/Ice
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Shrapnel Blast
2 Incinerate

Card Advantage

4 Isochron Scepter
3 Grim Lavamancer
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Time Walk
1 Timetwister
1 Wheel of Fortune

Beaters

4 Slith Firewalker

Sideboard

4 Pyrostatic Pillar
4 Rack and Ruin
3 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pillage
2 Stifle

This would be the decklist I would take a random tournament if IsoSligh was my choice. The sideboard and maindeck need metagaming.

I decided to take a heavier land destruction route when updating Sligh.   We've seen Tog and Keeper take similar routes. Originally, I attempted to deal as much damage as possible, as early as possible.   But I was winning only sporadically.

I consider it somewhat humorous that I’m running more of the Power 9 (8) in Sligh than most of the other decks in type 1 (besides Long, Keeper (with Twist), and a couple of randoms). Playing Sligh in a 5-proxy environment may be difficult. It isn’t impossible though. You could replace a couple of moxen with lands (Great Furnace), although that might hurt the speed of the deck a little too much.

I’m curious if there are people who would like to see Sligh developed to the max, not going to be easy for power considerations. With Isochron Scepter, there is no longer an excuse to not run Ancestral Recall in your Sligh deck. I’m still waiting for it (Scepter) to be broken in a U/G control form (I’ll probably be waiting awhile).

The strength of IsoSligh comes in its ways of creating card advantage. The extra LD component will often serve to shut down your opponent’s mana base, and as a result the cards in their hand. It is also an incredibly synergistic strategy that accompanies the best addition to Sligh since Lightning Bolt, Slith Firewalker. The implications of tempo advantage with this guy are nearly as threatening as a Dryad. The one problem with a Dryad is that he requires you to cast spells. The Firewalker just wants your opponent to not do anything, something faciliatated by land destruction.

This Sligh attempts to have an answer to everything in the maindeck (something I like to do). Two cards that really shut it down are Null Rod and Pernicious Deed. Pillage can take care of Null Rod and Stifle can deal with Pernicious Deed. Stifle is more generally useful and that’s why there are 2 Stifles and 1 Pillage.   Mystical can fetch either so there is some extra redundancy there.

There are 17 targets for Isochron Scepter, so you don’t usually lack things to imprint on it and sometimes its best to leave it without imprinting to best use Shrapnel Blast (ie having it imprinted on another Scepter). The card advantage that Isochron Scepter generates, whether it has Fire/Ice or Ancestral Recall, or is just serving as a regular source of burn is one of the most important things in this deck’s success. You can create more card advantage and tempo than Sligh had been able to before.

I personally dislike attempting to play “bomb” cards in my decks. They tend to not be as strong as you want them to be and rarely will ultimately win games that you mean for them to (meaning you would have been able to win those games if you hadn’t run that “bomb” in your deck). The exception to this would be the Pyrostatic Pillars; They are an absolute bomb against a lot of combo decks, but manage to serve other purposes as well (scaring the hell out of control). I don’t include Blood Moon because of its obvious clash with Volcanic Island. It would be a consideration if someone wanted to play this deck as MonoRed. It can be dropped 1st or 2nd turn when you need it to hit because of the additional speed the Moxen provide. Price of Progress is a card I personally dislike and rarely play. I tested it in earlier version but found that it was weak due to the heavy land destruction component. It also failed to bomb any of my opponents out of the game.

The matchup for this deck against the 4 major archetypes: aggro, control, combo, prison.

Aggro
You have burn. You have reusable burn (Scepters). So if they aren’t running artifact destruction effects main you should be ok. Decks with Null Rod are tougher. Pillage is dominant though.  The newest breeds of aggro are much larger than their older counterparts.  This can make it difficult for IsoSligh.  It often comes down to racing or getting massive card advantage from your Scepters and 'mancers.

Control
You are running a bunch of land destruction along with some decent threats and burn as your kill. This will truly test the skill of the players involved. If you are the better player, you will come out on top most of the time. You have Pillars in your sideboard to push this match towards your side.  The extra land destruction also helps.

Combo
Aggro-control decks without counters have trouble against combo. You have Stifle, which is awesome against Dragon and sometimes Belcher. Problem is with decks like TPS. These matchups need more testing. It shouldn’t be in your favor, but it shouldn’t be too far off either.  Gorilla Shaman is your friend.

Prison
Gorilla Shaman is a house. Goblin Welder is terrible when half your deck deals damage. That said, this is a tough matchup and is often based more on draws than anything else. Be careful not to let your moxen die lest they get an active welder knocking out your scepters.

There are 2 reasons to play Ankh Sligh over this build.  They are if you see hoards of dragons or if you don't have the cards.  Keep in mind this is a discussion of the OPTIMAL build of Sligh.  Other builds should be considered in the budget forum.

If anyone is curious about a particular matchup I'd be happy to evaluate it to the best of my abilities. I’m curious to see what everyone thinks of this evolution of Sligh.[/b]

[Haksaw]

Gorilla Shaman is a house

Yikes, I better put my Workshop's away.  Just kiddin'.  I think that as of two days ago, Trinisphere became a force in my of the Workshop.dec/prison builds out there.  So if you go first and drop the Shaman, they still have the opportunity to drop Trinisphere the following turn, which will take the Monkey seven to pop.

That not withstanding, if the Prison plays first, they're going to be shooting for Chalice of the Void for 1, as it gets your Monkey (and they're thinking Chain Lightning/Lightning Bolt/etc.).  With access to Sphere of Resistance or Trinisphere, they slow you down by at least a turn on Scepter/Fire/Ice/Slith, making room for their own Tangle Wire/Smokestack drops.

Sideboard options help a bunch with this matchup, and you've got the burn to waste on Welders but make sure you don't forget about the Fatties that you may be wasting Shrapnel Blast on (Karn, Trisk, Platinum Angel).  They will be packing their own Rack and Ruin for your Isochrons, Moxen, and even the Great Furnace.  It's actually a match-up I'd like to play out 10-12 times.  If you've got some experience in the Workshop.dec match-ups, please post in the future.

[waSP]

You know, I missed the 4 Wastelands and Strip Mine the first time I looked at the list.  If they decide to drop a Trinisphere first turn, they'll be hurting for mana as much as me.

If they decide to play any cards that aren't devoted to them winning game 2, I will jump with joy.  Against 'shops I want to have tempo.  That means they aren't resolving their bombs.  If they pause to cast Rack and Ruin that fits into my game plan.

Your arrogance regarding Workshop decks (in this and other posts) makes me worry you've never seen a good opponent.  I'm glad you tried with your feedback.  If you'd like to debate choices of my deck, I'm happy to participate, but do it respectfully.  I'm pretty sure I know the power and weaknesses of Workshops better than you do.

[Smash]

I am not going into the decklist in detail, because it has been proven that sligh with blue shoved in can do good (aka i@n at gencon).  The card that really hurts my head is "mystical tutor" You don't want card disadvantage tutors in sligh, you can't afford that. Of course this is how you make your single pillage work, but that seems like a pretty questionable choice as well...

[waSP]

Mystical Tutor serves several purposes in the deck.  It sets up broken Isochron's occasionally, getting your ancestral.  It also does a good job sitting on a scepter.

Let's look at the targets of Mystical Tutor in this deck and why it might be useful to cast them.

Ancestral Recall - Get's you cards..

Time Walk - Gives you time to drop lands, attack with Slith Firewalker, activate Isochron Scepter.  Fetching this with Mystical is often very good.

Wheel of Fortune - Exploit your mana advantage by fetching Wheel.

Timetwister - Read Wheel

Stifle - He just dropped a Deed and you need to nullify it.  Crazy tech against an activated 'Slaver

Pillage - He just dropped a Null Rod/Damping Matrix and you need to destroy it.

If you really want to, you could get burn as well.  It's been heavily tested and its very good.

[Misemaster]

I really like your build as it is one of the first sligh builds have seen that has not relagated it to being a budget deck or included 1 or 2 peices of power. Including much of the power 9 obviosuly makes it more optimal.

As for the actual build I had a question about chrome mox. How has it been treating you in this deck? I was never a huge fan of the card disadvantage espically in sligh. I do understand it gives you a speed boost but is it worth it. If your testing has proven so then thats great. If you were to replace it, it seems like you could need another blue source so maybe a lotus petal or the 4th volcanic?

Also, I must admit I am a bit skeptical about the 1 pillage I will have to test it. I may replace it for the 4th shaman because shaman is such a house as you said. I was never a huge fan of singletons that arent restricted unless you have a massive card drawing machine. Scepter is great but wont always function that way.

[Haksaw]

Your arrogance regarding Workshop decks (in this and other posts) makes me worry you've never seen a good opponent.

I don't know if I'd call it arrogance.  I think it's a valid point that with a single land, the deck drops 3 different kinds of viable 1st turn prison conditions.

Against 'shops I want to have tempo. That means they aren't resolving their bombs.

I don't know if "resolving" is the right word...A single activation of the Workshop for mana is all it takes to get the piece down.  As to  you knowing the power and weakness of the Workshop better than me, that's a moot point; we've no way to prove it in any sense but the rhetorical.  

I think the WelderMUD Wastelands/Strips are going to hit just as hard on your end...the deck runs 7 Mountains and auxillary Ancient Tombs for a reason...

Workshop.dec is not the deck to end all.  A powered Nether Void build throws it's fair share of Hymn/Duress/Cabal disruption your way.  You've already acknowledged Stifle's utility for the Pernicious.  But I think that the first black play can sway the game heavily, often a combination of Duress/Hymn if they go first, or Sinkhole if they draw.  They pack the Wasteland/Strip also, even more than WelderMUD, their focus on resource denial would make it a tough matchup.  Pyrostatic is your best friend.  

I'm not trashing the deck, I've just been focussing on it's lack of denial aspects.  The single Pillage just doesn't stack up like the guns the other decks throw in your way.  If you've got the tempo, you're gold...but a majority of the meta out there is based on taking your tempo, and making sure you never get it back.

[Fëanor]

Looks like speed ain't a problem, so why the lack of Scrolls?

Humerous?...P9?....hahahahaha...that was funny.....

I've been playing Ankh Sligh lately. Lilmidget routed me here from the solace of my time consuming 16 pages of mish...I agree with your statement that Ankh Sligh is simply a safer matchup, but that doesn't mean we can't build this thing.

Putting blue in here is risky. I can see the obvious reasons why, but you risk being mooned out of blue and roded out of power. Plus either you have forgotten or found some reason to deny the power of PoP on a stick. of course if you use PoP you'd have to lower your non-basics just a little, I'm just wondering if your dual colors does more good than ill.

For advocators of Trinisphere, here again we have proven it. Trinisphere ain't goin nowhere.

Lastly, despite what others have said, try not to get too caught up on Iso...remember, your opponents have stifles and counters too (not to mention half a dozen of the better artifact removal cards out there).

Peace

[cssamerican]

Wasp, in what matches do think IsoSligh has a better matchup than Food Chain Goblins?

[Lyhrrus]

Doesn't Timetwister and Imprints have bad synergy with Grim Lavamancers?  Why not run Windfall over Timetwister since it seems like with acceleration, you'll be dropping out most of your hand.

[disrupting specter]

ok I don't mean to be anal here but I thought the whole purpose of restarting the drain was to up the quality of the content. Didn't part of that include not posting decks until the creator had some positive test results? If not than I can just post sonic burst+fiery temper+kris mage=house.

other than that, in my experience...

stifle-sligh does not want to react to card, like with counter type spells. For one reason, Tog plays so much hand D to deter this kind of shenanigans.

"bombs"- a control player rarely has to counter any spells vs. sligh except for the finisher. This allows them to save up counters and dishing out one or two stray ones for scepters or pillars won't be a problem

wheel/twister-sligh can no longer use these more effectively than other decks. Tnt, jolt cola/slaver and storm combo will get the better 7 cards and win.

I know we need innovation, but it needs to be solid, tested, well thought out and successful over different instances.

[Smash]

@disrupting specter

As bad as this deck looks, it wouldn't play out THAT terrible. Some of the other decks in the forum, however, are utter poop.

I am not convinced this is the way to play sligh, but it may have merit (if you read my other posts, 90% of them are saying how crappy decks are, so...)

This deck has maybe a 25% chance of not sucking  


Yes, I overall agree sligh wants to be much more aggressive, and go for short term gain over long term card advantage.  However, a more controlish sligh with a long game (like ankh sligh) can have it's moments, and this deck seems like it should have it's moments. However, I don't think it is that important of a place to focus your energy on. If you have power, stronger decks are available. If you don't, the blue makes little sense. This is the historic catch-22 against powered versions of mono aggro decks.

[Caelestis]

@ Specter: FYI, this deck was around even before TMD went down, I believe, back in early Dec. last year. It was recieved quite nicely in the Registered Vintage forum. To say that his deck is not backed up by results would be true - it is not a good deck for his metagame. However, for a theory, it is certainly an idea that we can discuss, considering how it has a pretty solid fundation, and passed through the Mods (back then, and now adding in Vintage Adepts) as well.

[Frost]

@ disrupting specter

I have tested this deck and discussed card choices with waSP since he started playing around with Isocron Scepter back in October 2003.  I can assure you that this deck has been tested against a number of the top decks in the filed.  I do not believe that this deck is better than current Sligh builds, however, it does push the discussion of finding an optimal Sligh build.  If one exists.  I believe that was the original intent of this post.

@ waSP

What are your thoughts on running green over blue in this deck?  In particular Dryads and Naturalize?

[waSP]

@disrupting scepter - I don't post anything unless I've done testing for at least a month.  That would be a reason why you haven't seen me post m mindslaver list.  The cards in my list are HEAVILY tested.  I cut the 'twister for awhile in early testing because I didn't like how it worked with the Grims.  It got readded because its worth it.  Timetwister and Wheel of Fortune are bad in "classic" sligh, because "classic" is a different style.  If you read this like a sligh deck, you're right there aren't enough threats for that to be useful.  If you look at this as a land control, tempo oriented deck, you'll notice that they are good.  Stifle is good, you just need to know how and when to play it.  It's cuttable if you want to test my deck.  I know its good and that's enough for me.

Also, an earlier build fo this deck (monored) was mentioned in one of Smmenen's articles in November or December.

Concerning testing
  I haven't done testing like Steve Menendian would, sit down and play 20 games against each matchup.  Instead, I play opponents online and figure out its respective strengths and weaknesses.  My way of testing allows me to evolve the deck over a period of time.  It led me to the 2 (not 4) Great Furnace and the Chrome Mox over the last piece of power.

@Haksaw, you make valid points, Duress/Hymn has just as much a chance of wrecking me as it does any other deck.  Let's move on.  Decks like Long that win by going off in one turn don't care what kind of sligh deck I'm playing.

Playing your fetchlands properly is important.  You don't automatically go for Volcanics.  Often, you don't fetch until it's necessary.  The deck runs mana light.  That's why it doesn't run Cursed Scroll.

There are a range of threats in the deck: The burn, the Isochrons, and the creatures.  This makes it harder to deal with everything.  Some decks won't have a quick enough answer for the Slith or the Mox Monkey.  Some won't be able to deal with Incinerate on a stick.  And some decks will just scoop to burn (suicide variants).

I did take this deck to one tournament (a proxy tourney) and I swept.  The matchups were oddly more aggro based, but it gave me the confidence to post the deck (the way it ran).  I'm sure of the decks mechanics (it works).  I am presenting it as another option for players who either enjoy or are better playing aggro-style decks.  I don't believe its the strongest deck in most any metagame, so ignore a bit of my arrogance I know it can perform against nearly every deck, so I present it to you to try if you like it, ignore if you don't.  But don't be surprised if someone takes it and beats you with it  

I haven't heavily tested Food Chain Goblins or tested against it, so I don't know the strength of that decks matchups.  This deck is a little more consistent than the Food Chain.  I did play a few games against Vegeta and he had trouble getting his mojo going and Isochron Scepter took the match for me.

Windfall draws between 1 and 5 cards usually (unless its first turn and its probably countered then )  Timetwister always gets 7 and is useful against things like Dragon, Rector Trix, any decks hoping for a big Yawg's Will, Call of the Herd, etc.  It's not fully necessary to run the card in your version of the deck, but it strengthens the deck.

@Smash - Thanks .. I think.

@Caelestis - Thanks, but it does have results.  I chose not to go through every matchup because, to be honest, it has been a few months since I played some of them.  The deck was initially geared to beat up on 'tog.  It didn't really do that but it went pretty evenly with it so I stuck with the concept.

Price of Progress was in the initial builds but was cut for blue cards as time passed.  I'm sure you can find room if it's that good in your metagame.  I was noticing they'd generally do about 4-6 points of damage to my opponent and 2-4 to me.  That wasn't that great as the Sliths were often doing the dirty work and finishing off my opponents while the burn cleared the way.  If you're planning on destroying all your opponents lands, Price of Progress doesn't seem all that optimal.  Food for thought.

I don't think I've stressed how FREAKING AMAZING Fire/Ice on a stick is.  It's ridiculous.  I'm not kidding in any way.  That has won me SO many games.  It gives you a nice tempo boost, shuts down many a Mana Drain.  It also gives you an awesome card advantage engine.

@Frost - This deck IS better than Ankh Sligh.  If only because this runs Slith Firewalker.  You look at its matchups against the field and this will win more of the games.

[Methuselahn]

I like this deck waSP.  It is obvious to me that it fits your personal playing style!  

How have the Shrapnel Blasts been working out?  Are you ever hard pressed to find artifacts to sacrifice?  

I'm a much bigger fan of Price of Progress and Pyrostatic Pillars.  I don't see a reason not to include vicious bombs in my sligh.  If you cut the artfact lands for mountains, PoP is very bearable.  Who cares if you take a little bit of collateral damage, you're playing red.  Seeing as how playing a spell and playing a copy is different, I would want Pillars in there MD.  They're so good.

Goblin Welders > Grim Lavamancers.  They recur Scepters, they kill dreads, they are huge in the difficult prison matchup.  Thoughts?

[disrupting specter]

K I'm still not quite understanding this. Please define "random tournament"
a) unknown field
b) mixed serious competitors, casuals and newbs
c) other

I would define "optimal" as a deck that would compete well with the most tuned and played decks but would also do decently against less serious and established decks.  I sense a discrepancy here. Please clarify

CARD CONFLICT-there is a heavy theme of land D that does not gel with the draw 7's. Why would you want to give someone a chance to re-establish their mana with 7 new cards. They are bound to draw some mana or even worse, the sources you just destroyed via Twister.

[nietzreznor]

It's good to let your opponent redraw mana.  While your opponent draws lands, you can draw damage/business and beat him up.

[Dr. Sylvan]

I'm with Methuselahn on the Pillars. There are few things, as a control player, that make me feel more pressed for time, since in nearly all cases you're getting me to play two or more spells under it.

(BTW, I'm not sure why anyone's giving waSP so much guff. I don't know of anyone who's more likely to make conventional aggro playable than he.)

[kirdape3]

Conventional aggro is mostly dead - you don't abuse enough or are capable of winning from almost nowhere in one turn.

That being said, this deck really isn't aggro.  You only have 7 creatures, all of which start off life at 1 power.  This is a very controlling deck - the closest analogue I've seen is mrbunny's ANCIENT Zoo deck that ran just 3 Frenetic Efreets and 4 Gorilla Shamans, plus burn, to kill with.

[waSP]

Simply drawing a card, playing a land, and playing a threat isn't sufficient for aggro anymore.  You need to do other things with your deck.

@Kird Ape - 10 Creatures (Shamans are in disruption and 'mancers in card advantage).  Normal sligh runs 12 or 16?  It's not that big of a difference.  Look at the scepters as replacements of the Goblin Cadets, maybe (and if you aren't them, whichever creature is the least optimal).

Pyrostatic Pillar and Isochron Scepter are very non-compatible.  You are still playing the spell, it'll trigger the Pillar.

@Dr. Sylvan - Thank you.  I do feel like the control section of the metagame isn't big enough to warrant the Pillars main.  If I did want to run them main, I'd likely add Mishra's and drop the Draw 7's (with Mystical Tutor ).  Any negative reactions I can see as a fear of change.  This isn't a simple aggro deck, its complex,  requiring decision making to be effective.  It's an image control players may not want to associate with aggro and aggro players may not want to either.  I don't really want to go into the psychology of the image of aggro.  As long as the idea is visible, I am content with it not being universally received.

Random means I have no sense of the metagame.  This deck is VERY capable of smashing random decks.  Very capable.

Fire/Ice on a stick is INCREDIBLE.  No lies here.  It is my favorite play against most decks.  That's my method (along with stifle and pillage) for dealing with Dreadnoughts (Stifle stalls a turn if they tap out to morph their guy).

Like I've said, Price of Progress was in the initial versions of the deck (monored).  But when I added blue to fully take advantage of Fire/Ice, they were cut for cards that were stronger outside of the Keeper and 'Tog matchups (and it doesn't do much against 'Tog 2-4 damage usually).  Incinerate has just been stronger than Price.  If you want to test the deck, feel free to test Price over Incinerate, a Shrapnel Blast can be cut as well.

Goblin Welder is cute, but you don't usually have extra instants to throw around.  You'd probably have to cut all the conditional cards in the deck.  It'll rarely get a Dreadnought .

[Methuselahn]

Pyrostatic Pillar and Isochron Scepter are very non-compatible.  You are still playing the spell, it'll trigger the Pillar.

You are right, perhaps I was confusing 'card' with 'spell' from a rules perspective.  

I think Scepters are a great choice in the evolution of powered sligh if they can survive the hate.   Unfortunetly, many do not want to build powered sligh, it is an archetype that most try to get out of by obtaining power.  

[Redman]

I like this deck, it looks very promising. I agree with you that permanent advantage in board position is the only feasable way to use draw-7s, so Shaman are a must, and additional land destruction helps.  Draw 7s are such tricky things, they always made zoo decks hard to play- do you find that you really are able to get enough advantage out of them for it to be worthwhile?

I ask because of the general structure of your deck. You run fairly mana light, so in the turn you cast a draw-7, you'll probably only be able to cast one or two spells at the most; an additional Mox might help the cause if the mana base can support it.

Also, I would worry about other decks simply "out-brokening" you off the draw 7, as they will get a full untap and a fresh hand, and on a card-for-card basis, many decks out there now are more powerful than you are. A Yawgmoth's Will off a Wheel for example, can be quite devastating.  Keep in mind the primary pressure for putting draw-7s in zoo decks back in the day - it was as way to attack Necro decks.

With that aside, I think that use of Isochron scepter is ideal here; it's exactly the sort of permanent advantage that often escapes other similar decks, and it's easier to use than Cursed Scroll (also more Draw-7 friendly).

Do you find yourself able to use Stifle reliably? Generally you don't want to be holding back mana in this sort of deck, though that might not be a problem as Stifle costs only one blue.

Most specifically however, I would like to know more details about your results against control, especially Tog, which can be especially resilient to burn and plays counters and Deeds, neither of which are ideal from your perspective, not to mention it's ability to win quite quickly.

Also, a random suggestion that just came to me: Do you think it potentially useful to add Taigas over Mountains and run Artifact Mutation over Rack and Ruin? Mutation has the advantage of being imprintable. You effectively shouldn't care about Blood Moons against you; my concern would be opposing Wastelands mostly.

[kirdape3]

Sorry, missed the LavaMANcers.

Still, the comparisons are apt.  You're not going to play the aggressive route against a whole lot of decks - you're just not fast enough and you have to use your burn to protect your small creatures when they do enter the red zone.  This deck is far too controlling to be aggro.  Is it good enough at control?  Maybe, but I'd be more comfortable running ways of keeping spells from resolving in this sort of deck.

[waSP]

kirdape, that is a question of play style.  Although I do enjoy counterspells from time to time, I prefer decks that don't run them.  This is a deck that I've tuned to my play style.  To not die, I generally have to kill of my opponents creatures, so mine have a fair chance of hitting the red zone.  If, for some reason, I'm not able to attack (moat for example), I only have 7 dead cards in the deck.  It's a different sort of aggro-control (the new aggro).

The theory behind the draw 7's is that you will be able to better use your resources.  That's why I'm running 8 ways to get rid of excess lands on my opponent's part.  They will have much less a chance to abuse the cards they draw (unless they are combo, in which case I wouldn't cast the draw 7).  You only cast them when you've expended all your resources.  If it's going to risk the game to cast one, don't do it.. etc.  You just have to be smart about it.  The deck is mana light.. you cast draw 7's later.  The moxen accelerate your development after a draw 7.

I haven't had a problem with Stifle (where it caused me to lose a game).  It also gives you a little game against storm (if they struggle to combo).  Stifle on a stick could be huge also.  I haven't tested the matchup too thoroughly (TPS wasn't popular when I was doing the majority of the design work).

I tested against 'Tog and found I go pretty even.  If they can get out Teeth early, I'm in trouble.  With most builds only running 3, I have a little breathing room.  Timetwister is a little useful against them.  I found the matchup to be pretty even (stifle and pillage are both very good).

The manabase can't run Taiga's without cutting moxen.  Artifact Mutation would be wonderful, but alas its not viable.  I have a fond memory of playing Scepter Blast! against a U/R Power Conduit deck.  He dropped a Pyrostatic Pillar, so I couldn't go infinite (and I didn't have any enchantment hate) so I had to kill him with the 1/1's from a scepter I imprinted (had to race his factory).  One of the most fun games of magic I've played.  Taiga's could be run if the blue was dropped (a consideration for those of you in the Northeast where control is more popular).  In my next post, I'll go over the real "core" of the deck.

[disrupting specter]

congrats on your win.

however, I don't think the deck would work here. After playing sligh for a while, I got tired of losing to decks that other deck types have the luxury of laughing off. I have horrible luck with match pairings and would get stuck with the worst decks round 1 and 2. I've faced too many random ernahm djinn zoo decks and other random aggro, madness and mono U fish that just spits out creatures. Being accurately categorized as and aggro-control deck, you can see where sligh has problems. I think that Iso-Sligh would have much the same difficulties.

[waSP]

This build should be able to deal with much of the randomness you see early in a tournament (provided you don't get land screwed) on the strength of its more powerful cards.

Isochron Scepter is amazing against "random" decks.  Putting Fire/Ice on one will just demolish many of those problem decks.  A Shrapnel Blasting Scepter should deal with Madness pretty well.  It certainly isn't easy, but with this build, you can contend with all those decks.

The land destruction component makes these matchups very viable.  Against an "Ernham Burn 'em" kind of deck, you may be able to deny them the resources to play their fatties.  If they are playing Ernham Djinn, you can probably race them with your Firewalker.

Didn't you know, Grim Lavamancer is amazing against Fish as well as small utility creatures your opponent may be running.

Speaking of Fish, Fire/Ice is their biggest nightmare (well.. any burn).  I really think you should give this deck a shot, even if that means just trolling IRC for games.

[Machinus]

Isn't scepter too costly, too slow, and too fragile for a deck without counterspells? The manabase is also extremely weak; facing shaman, stifle, or even duress will really hurt you.

Against tendrils, you have to mulligan into a Pillar, or lose. Wasteland is dangerous unless you draw free mana. Belcher will take the 1 from the slith and then hit you back for 20, straight up. Blood moon.

A control deck will survive your early shaman + wasteland, if you draw it, and recover from it when you dont lock the board immediately. Mancer, scepter, and slith are slow clocks. If you use your early resources disrupting whats already on his board, you add 1-2 turns of development for the control player. But if you try to kill him quickly, a well timed counter or wish + fire will end your day. Waiting until you have 4 mana to drop scepter seems too slow. I don't imagine Tog to be a fun matchup. REB.

The recent expansion and development of the Prison toolbox has allowed many styles to emerge. Spheres wreck Sligh, any kind. Chalice for one also is devastating. They wont get to activate their welders, but if they dont stack you, they will slave you eventually, and you can't stop it. Even if they don't play any lock parts, it will take you too long to finish them unless they don't do any tricks like welding your scepter, sundering your volcanic + mountain...smashing your face with huge fatties. Rack and Ruin (which you have).

O Stompy has Ascetic, Null Rod, Root Maze. Madness has huge flying fatties that are almost free, come out sooner than your scepter, and possibly counters. Sligh vs fat green fat is a losing battle. Hibernation?


All that being said, I am a huge proponent of sligh and would very much like to see a predominantly red control deck establish a position of power in the metagame. See my post on Ric's Tangle Wire Sligh about this. However, I am not confident that Red has the tools for this. Blood Moon, Shaman, Rack and Ruin, and Pillar are all very good but each of them is only good at a certain time, and unless a deck can be built around devastating red disruption, most likely with a green or black splash, I think red will be relegated to the supporting control role and not the dominant one. Blue ought to splash for the red and not the other way around - it is just too strong not to do it that way. I said I was working on a more aggro oriented Sligh deck with disruption and draw, utilizing skullclamp. I will shortly post the Red version, with my suggestions for color support, before I develop it any more. I would like to have the input of other sligh/red control fans on that venture. I think the consideration of Tangle Wire, Scepter, and other control elements as essential parts of a Red Control deck are encouraging, but I think this archetype needs a lot more work - so forgive me if I seem skeptical about the current potential.