[Deck] Hadley Cerebral Assassin, Fun + Winning = Awesome

[Eastman]

I've been testing most of the suggestions that have been made in the last few days,, here are some thoughts on them.

Dragon
Awesome. Having the dragon combo in there as a threat is AMAZING. I'm currently testing with 4 Intuition (0 TFK) and having the 2 slot dragon combo in the deck has been phenomenal.

I've really enjoyed my games vs the CA list with the dragon combo main. That deck is a party, and it is very fast. It's ability to play so many differant ways is really strong IMO.

I concur, the deck with dragon just has a lot of ways to play and to beat you. It can run aggro with fat men, lock with portal, and combo with dragon. The combo also makes the deck less welder dependent.

Incidentally I obviously didn't try testing Reanimate at the same time as the dragon combo. Since I'm leaving dargon in for now I'm going to forgo testing reanimate.

Intuitions
I cut mystical and TFK's to fit in +2 intuition and the dragon combo.  Intuition is obviously broken. With the dragon combo in the deck (and I think it should be there) 3-4 intuition is definitely the way to go.

Bosh
The verdict is still not quite in on Bosh. He's big and he's strong, but lacking a titan's ld ability can be huge. He does tend to be a turn faster and that's a big plus, I'm still undecided.

2 Portals
It's hard to gauge what the second portal does. I have not found myself casting intuition for double portal but dumping portal into the yard early with Bazaar is nice. I still see portal as primarily a tinker target, and I'm not sure if the 2nd portal's slot wouldn't be better suited as a Mystical tutor.

[nataz]

Intuitions
I cut mystical and TFK's to fit in +2 intuition and the dragon combo.  Intuition is obviously broken. With the dragon combo in the deck (and I think it should be there) 3-4 intuition is definitely the way to go.

quick question:

#1

with your current changes, I am only counting 11 blue cards w/ force. Even with bazaar, do you find that to be a significant problem?

I went with the switch to the dragon combo main also, with the same changes you suggested above, and ever since I have been having a lot of games where force is just dead.

Maybe it would be possible to SB force, and use the slots maindeck for more 5 color bomby love? Conversly maybe cut a titan and the vamp, to add mystical + random blue card to bring the count back up to 13?

#2

How is your match up vs 5/3? It feels like crucible/waste would be a nightmare cutting off our draw, and reducing the already low probability for drawing one of the few mana producers.

This of course makes breaking out of trini harder also.


thanks in advance, and congrats on the deck so far.

edit*

I also seem to be having the same problem as others with will. I find myself with only 21 mana sources, and my draw engine being squee, the best I am able to offer is A) Tutor, or B) Replay Welder or Animate. It has happened a few times that I just use will as bait, and then cast intuition or something.

This could easily be from my lack of testing so far, any chance you could expand on your explanation from earlier?

[Eastman]

nataz comments

#1 - Force

No I don't find Force a significant problem. Sometimes you can't cast it, but the times you can easily make up for that. I often pitch dead forces to Bazaar, which is no sweat anyways. This is Force of Will we're talking about.



#2 - 5/3

It's been awhile since I tested the matchup because it hasn't been showing up here lately but when I first started playing CA 5/3 was all over the place. If you can get a welder to stick and/or find trike you will beat them, so it's an extremely winnable matchup. Trinisphere/Crucible hurts you like everything else. If you play smart you can beat 5/3 against crucible/waste because you don't need to keep using your lands. That is- it doesn't take much to beat them so you can do it through crucible/strip if you manage your resources carefully.

#3 - Will

The presence of Bazaar often means a graveyard full of tastiness. A late game Will in CA is as strong as in any other deck, it's just that you often win well before the late game ever happens. Often I'll find myself casting very broken Wills very early - basically any time lotus is available. It is crucial to have Will in there as an option should games go long, however, and there's no harm in pitching it to a bazaar early. This is yawgmoth's will we're talking about ...



As far as the dragon kill
USE IT!
1 Dragon, 1 Eternal Witness. I use witness now because it doesn't require having a Gemstone Mind to go off... you can win just as easily with city of brass which is important.

For those who don't know this combo, here's the most elegant way for you to go off with Dragon/Witness:

1 Animate + 1 Dragon
Put library in yard, float a bit of mana

Animate Witness, returning 2nd Animate, loop stops.

Animate Dragon, loop starts.

In comes 1 Witness, 2 Animate
1 Animate goes to Dragon
2nd Animate goes to Triskelion

loop runs

In comes 1 witness, 1 Trike, 2 Animate
1 Animate goes to Dragon
2nd Animate goes to Squee

loop runs

In comes 1 witness, 1 Trike, 1 Squee, 2 Animate
1 Animate goes to Dragon
2nd Animate goes to Squee
New Legends Rule pops both Squee and 2nd Animate

loop runs infinitely - ping with Trike at your leisure.

current list
engine
4 Animate Dead
4 Goblin Welder
4 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Bazaar of Baghdad
1 Thirst For Knowledge
3 Intuition

current creature base
2 Sundering Titan
1 Triskelion
1 Platinum Angel
1 Worldgorger Dragon
1 Eternal Witness

sehr broken
1 Balance
1 Tinker
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Possessed Portal
4 Force of Will

manas
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Emerald
1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Tolarian Academy
4 Gemstone Mine
4 City of Brass
1 Shivan Reef
1 Underground River
1 Seat of the Synod

SB

1 Triskelion
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Red Elemental Blast
2 Rack and Ruin
2 Ray of Revelation
3 Tormod's Crypt      ------ The mirror and straight dragon are getting popular

[Razvan]

Hi Dave,

I am still wonder about #1 (whereas you are dead on about #2 and #3). I love FoW as much as the next guy, but I am really concerned about the fact that it often is a dead card, and it doesn't help you as much as anything else can. When I played this deck (and I had 15 blue cards), I still found myself discarding FoW like mad, when no blue card was in sight.

I was debating, and hating it, replacing FoW with Duress. While it doesn't serve the same function, you can at least proactively handle a threat, and gives the deck some measure of cast-able defense. It is far weaker vs. Trinisphere and Meandeck Tendrils, but that's life.

I know FoW is FoW, but this is the first deck where something else might be better. I don't think I ever reliable cast this card, in about 30 practice games, against a gauntlet of decks.

That's just my opinion.

[BigChuck]

Having played enough games against CA to have a good judgement about it, I really think you don't understand why the Force's are there.  The basic idea of the deck is to use them once, to counter your big early threat, and win before you cast another one. You aren't supposed to be sitting back on them and waiting to cast them, you are supposed to kill them quickly, and stop one, maybe 2 of their spells to allow that to happen. You only really need to be able to cast it the first time.

[Razvan]

And remove what? Ancestral? Time Walk? Tinker? The lone Thirst/Intuition that you need to actually WIN, as you put it? Removing any of those cards will put you a bit back as far as winning goes, and while I know that winning > not-losing > *, it seems to me that it's a plan that's designed to do a lot more "not-losing" than "winning".

I understand WHY FoW is in there, what I don't understand is IF it's the best choice. If you cannot cast it reliably, turn 1, without crippling yourself, then the question is raised.

The one reason why I would keep FoW in even in this low a blue card-count, is that Duress is better going first, Force is better going second, and you have plenty of good plays when going first.

That and trinisphere.

[Tristal]

The one reason why I would keep FoW in even in this low a blue card-count, is that Duress is better going first, Force is better going second, and you have plenty of good plays when going first.

That and trinisphere.

Well, since Trinisphere will soon not be a large concern, are FoWs still better than Duress?  For the moment I'd say yes, but I'm not 100% sure.  If FoW were to get cut, I think TFK could go as well, citing a lack of need for blue cards.

If four Duress replaced FoW, I think it'd open up a nice metagame slot for that fifth card, perhaps the second Portal, Memnarch, or Duplicant.

Have any of you tested Darksteel Citadel?  I think it could be better than Seat of the Synod.  I think Shivan Reef might be changeable to Sulfurous Springs, as well, even without switching to Duress.

[nataz]

crap, had a huge post, and then interweb crashed, frown.

so, much shorter this time...

I just played CA to second place this weekend in NH, and had a blast. Figured I'd throw up a few points that I've come to in testing, and see what you all think.

1) 5 color mana bases rock, except when your opponent is a mud/lock deck. Crucible/waste was one of the scariest things in the world for me this weekend, and unlike other hosers (B2B and Bloodmoon) is widely played. I think this, along with its lack of draw w/out a bazaar + squee going, are the deck's two weak points

2) Lack of draw with out a bazaar makes baby jesus cry. I played with 3 intuitions, and no TFK and that was a mistake. This deck can top-deck and tutor with the best of them, but sometimes that just isn't enough, and you really need some simple card advantage.

Out of my current list I am looking to fit in two TFK or possibly 2 DA. TFK is obviously synergetic with the entire deck, whereas DA works well with intuition.

I'm thinking -1 mystical (frown), -1 Bosh for + 2 draw.
Mystical because the deck is tight, and it can't fetch a bazaar or creature, and Bosh because it was a (poor) metagame slot.

3) -2 painlands (not city of brass). I've found myself doing 10+ dmg per game to myself from the painlands. At times this was too much and I have since switched my 2 painlands into an underground sea, and a volcanic island. Yes, they do sometimes die to 7/10, but more often then not I either don't have them out, or am able to target my opponents volc/underground instead.

4) I Paris a lot, without fear, to 5 cards. I am only playing 19 mana sources, and combined with the conditional 4 squee, a Dragon (or anything large), means that I can't keep all the hands I draw. I have no problem going to 6 if the occasion calls for it, and even 5 if I need to. This deck is explosive enough to come back.

5) - 4 Force of Will +4 Duress
Okay, this is the big one. Force was not testing well for me. Pitching two cards hurt, especially when you didn't have an active bazaar. This was especially bad because you almost always have to pitch a card that would make up for the 2 card loss in the first place. I'm running 8-9 blue cards - force of will, and with out a bazaar they are completely unreliable. Conversely, when you do have a bazaar, you are most likely winning anyways.

Because of the above, and since trini was gone, I decided to try out duress, and have not looked back since. It gives you a much more productive first turn when you don’t have/don’t want to drop a welder, and don't want to waste the turn dropping a conditional bazaar (without squees or dump targets already in hand.)

It still has game vs. combo and control, and is above all else reliable.

Is anyone else coming to similar conclusions, or am I just off my rocker?
Let me know what you think

=-carter