[Article] Optimizing Intuition Slaver, by Rich Shay

[Jacob Orlove]

Spinning the Wheels – A Reflection on Optimizing Intuition Slaver
by Rich Shay.

So, why in the world am I - the biggest proponent of running Control Slaver sans the Intuition/Accumulated Knowledge draw engine - writing an article about using Intuition in the deck? A little while ago, while discussing the merits of the Intuition/AK engine with some members of Meandeck, I told them that I would test Intuition in Control Slaver. Therefore, this article is a result of my effort to see just how good I could get Control Slaver to be, while also including three copies of Intuition.

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

Great article! It's nice to see that I independently came to almost (about 3 cards different) the same decklist that rich ran with intuitions. I have long cut the lone lava dart, as it's not very good vs. a bunch of decks (although I can see it being awesome vs. slaver and decks running swarm/welder), and you have trisk for welders. Also, I've noticied that Crucible strip is much stronger in intuition slaver than in traditional slaver. Intuition randomly gets you strip + crucible to end the game vs. control. Thoughts on this?

-Bob

[jazzykat]

To me the test match highlights were dominated by boseiju, a few random land screws, intuitions, and of course mindslaver activations along with a yawg will or two.


I would like to know rich's opinion from his testing of if the intuitions allow you to be fast enough so that you can beat strong aggro decks without platinum angel. I remember playing different versions of control slaver way back without intuition and found that I was not fast enough without the angel.

Also where have the duresses gone? I keep hearing about combo summer and the deck wasn't packing duresses. Are the sphere of resistance adequate in this regard?

[Gabethebabe]

Also, I've noticied that Crucible strip is much stronger in intuition slaver than in traditional slaver. Intuition randomly gets you strip + crucible to end the game vs. control. Thoughts on this?-Bob

Indeed, excellent article. I have played intuition Slaver a couple of tournaments as well and the times that you go for 3 AK is lower than you´d think. I thought of cutting them, only I didn´t think of DA, which is probably due to lack of talent from my part.

@Clown: You don´t really need to randomly end the game against control by Intuition-ing for Crucible. Intuition-ing for a couple of DA´s and gain advantage may not END the game but provide the significant advantage that makes the game won "in higher sense".

A stronger argument for adding Crucible (and an artifact land, of course) is that it is easier to get the infinite lock. Against control maybe not SO important (one Slaver activation should win you the game) but against aggro and combo, where you can find yourself in the position of giving them the turn = losing, this could be vital.

Boseiju. I just can´t get myself to playing a CIPT land in type 1. But maybe that has to do with my meta, there are far too many decks that laugh about Boseiju.

[DuKeLiO]

I've played Control Slaver in a lot tourneys with and without Intuition/AK. Finally I removed the AKs beacuse I always side-off it. I also think on Deep Analisys to make space in the maindeck but when I tested it vs aggro and combo the build was weaker. After I remove intuition to go to a build like Rich's traditional basic build and It seems better vs aggro, but a lot of better vs combo and stax.
I believe the inclusion of Intution and DA is only a metagame call vs a heavy control field; otherwise the standard build is better.

Sorry for my very poor english. thanks

[doylehancock]

I have played CS w/o intuition for a few weeks now.  I have done pretty well with out intuition but I want to run it with intuition.  There is one problem though I feel black is too good to cut.  Yawgmoths will just plain wins and demonic tutor is the best tutor in the game.  Has anyone built this with black for d tutor and will?

edit: nevermind I reread the article.  I thought it was this article: http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/8941.html


I guess I will give this deck a try.

[exit music]

@Clown: You don´t really need to randomly end the game against control by Intuition-ing for Crucible. Intuition-ing for a couple of DA´s and gain advantage may not END the game but provide the significant advantage that makes the game won "in higher sense".

A stronger argument for adding Crucible (and an artifact land, of course) is that it is easier to get the infinite lock.... ect ect

I disagree with you here. I'm not sure Crucible is needed in the deck, but w/ a Welder in play, Intuitioning for Crucible, Deep Analysis and a Strip or Artifact land could work out. You say that if you are wasting Intuition on Crucible, you will not get the advantage of Deep Analysis, but you can Intuition for both Crucible AND Deep Analysis.

However, I'm not entirely sure that the deck needs more game-winning Intuition targets; it seems to be pretty packed already. Depending on your meta, you could remove Lava Dart or something else. But because of the high number of games that were won based on lands (Boseiju), I would be interested to hear what Rich thinks about adding Crucible.

Dan

[Hatt0ri Hanz0]

Nice Artical, Its good to see you tried to experiment with the different builds despite what you may feel about them. Alot of us thought we wouldnt see the day.

Ive always felt that Intuition was very strong in CS, without the AK's taking up lots of spots. Adding the 2 Deep Anal. seems to be a perfect fit for the build as a default play, assuming no welders on the board.

How has Boseiju been treating working? it seems far to scary to risk a MD spot drawing one first turn with few to no other lands.

None of your builds seem to have Crucible encorporated in them, do you think that the addition of Crucible and an Artifact land as a Quick Hard Slaver Lock is inferrior to A single slave / pentavus beats? Addition of crucible i think could be a strong posiblity with the addition of Strip mine, and early options of Intuition: Crucible, Strip, Trike. Or something of that nature.

Nice Work

-Matt

[doylehancock]

I tested this list last night and I like it alot.  I took out the dart for a cunning wish and liked the change.  

I dont feel crucible is needed either but its always worth a try you could drop and island for a strip and the dart (or wish) for the crucible.  Its worth a try.

[Webster]

When including a crucible, you should add _both_ strip mine and darksteel citadel.

There are a few problems that I have with adding a crucible:
1. You reduce your blue mana souces by two.
2. Achieving a lock with crucible/citadel when compared to pentavus takes more cards using the crucible route.

I myself prefer crucible to pentavus though. Generally, I prefer to draw a crucible rather than a pentavus in most matchups. _Assuming_ you have a welder, there is more synergy with intuition and problematic land cards such as strip, artifact land, boseiju when dealing with a crucible. I suppose the rebutal to that statement is that if you have welder in play and resolve intuition, then it doesn't really matter what you get because you should be winning.

If a crucible and two lands were to be incorperated into the list that Rich provided, there would be a few questions that would have ot be asked:
1. Is pentavus _and_ crucible needed?
2. If pentavus is not needed, will the deck be fine with only triskelion as it's main damage source (I say damage source and not "win" because triskelion, while serving as a win condition in some games, is not the automatic "go-to" card)?
3. If more uncastable fat artifact creatures are needed, is pentavus still the man or is platinum angel just better?
4. If two big men are needed, what other card should be cut to make room for a crucible? a mana-source? lava dart? intuition?

The metagame that a person plays in will obviously determine some of the answers to these questions as always. As said before, I would prefer a crucible but I cannot find a card that I would want to cut to make room for all the changes that I would like to see.

David Ochoa

[Hi-Val]

I have felt that Crucible is more important in Goth- and Intuition-based Slaver builds because it protects the manabase. Getting every single land drop is essential, because Goth drops down a land and picks up a mana-intensive engine.

One thing to think about with the Pentavus lock is that you can still kill someone with a Bus and a Slaver on an empty board, if you have a Welder. You can beat for 5, remove a pentavite and make it into a slaver, and keep doing this. You get 5+4+3+2+1= 15 damage. Usually you'll have another artifact or two out to weld out in place of the Bus, so you can still crank lots of damage. I've taken to using Bus in non-Intuition builds because Intuition is really needed to abuse Crucible and hitting land drops isn't as important.

[einlanzer625]

this may sound really wierd, but a buddy of mine runs a single clockwork dragon in his deck.

I dont know why, we keep telling him its terrible, but he keeps winning with it, so he keeps it in.

[Sauron]

There are a few problems that I have with adding a crucible:
1. You reduce your blue mana souces by two.

You actually only need to add one colourless land, the Strip.

You can play a Seat of the Synod in place of Darksteel Citadel quite happily. Granted it can make initial setup slightly more difficult in the face of Wasteland, but all you need is at least one other artifact to Weld out for the first Slaver activation. After a single Slaver activation your opponent never gets the chance to Waste your Seat in response to the Welder activation and you're golden from there.

I really like the feel of the deck with Crucible, recurring Fetchland/Strip just gives it a more solid control feel to me.

I've been playtesting Intuition-Slaver a bit lately and I very quickly realised that I hated Accumulated Knowledge builds, which I initially expected to prefer.

I still have the Bus in my Intuition builds though, my meta includes lots of aggro and the Bus is nice there as infinite fog but I also just like having another path to Slaver recursion. As Hi-Val mentioned you usually don't actually need to go infinite with Bus to kill your opponent before they take another turn.

Nice article.

[Toad]

this may sound really wierd, but a buddy of mine runs a single clockwork dragon in his deck.

It's a 6/6 Flier that gets smaller when attacking. You might as well run Bosh, It's bigger and faster. It still does quite nothing on its own.

[Meddling Mike]

I've done some limited testing with the crucible and from what I've found in this particular build I'd much prefer the pentavus, if you include crucible/citadel as your slaver lock piece in leiu of pentavus I find that the amount of large men becomes dangerously low with just trike. The crucible also tends to absorb more MD slots than Pentavus would, and as Mr. Shay discussed in his article conserving and properly alotting MD slots is of the utmost importance.

I'd say the boseiju is definitely a metagame choice, if there isn't much control in your area then cut it. The mana base is fine with Boseiju, you probably shouldn't keep a hand with only one mana source no matter what it is.

Clockwork Dragon is horrendous, I have no idea why you would run that over the many better options out there, I can't even fit platinum angel into my build anymore. How he's managed to build his deck that includes such a random fat artifact that doesn't fill any role particularly well is beyond me. But don't kill yourself trying to show him the error of his ways, proving it to him in a tournament may prove more satisfying.

[IShHmokeDaNKs]

Though I do not have much time to reply, but I think quality>quantity. I have been playtesting AK-less Intuition slaver after playing Goth Slaver. It is soooo much better. Not only did you almost never Intuition for three AKs, but now you don't have four bad cards in your deck. My favorite Intuition stack in the mirror is:
DA,DA, Lava Dart

I was talking to ELD, and his build has 1-2 differences from Shay's. I know he likes Cunning Wish over Lava Dart, but I do not know if he has made the change. I wish I had more time, I will edit this later.
-ISD

[doylehancock]

I playtested this deck last night for about 2 hours.  The only difference I made was I took out dart for cunning wish and I added a 61st card (platz).  I like it better then the normal slaver list I ran before.  My only question is why did Rich choose dart over wish and why didnt he include platz?  

Any help is appreciated.

[warble]

Rich chose dart because everyone (me included) has been maindecking Lava dart against him and I believe he's adjusted the power level of the card accordingly.  The mere fact that I almost stole an entire game he owned me in because I maindecked lava dart "probably" increased the power level of the card.  Either that or he's just pissed off that everyone except for him (the bringer of the card to the light) plays it.

Also, better synergy with Intuition then Cunning Wish could be another theoretical reason.  I love theoretical reasons!

[Godot]

I've done some limited testing with the crucible and from what I've found in this particular build I'd much prefer the pentavus, if you include crucible/citadel as your slaver lock piece in leiu of pentavus I find that the amount of large men becomes dangerously low with just trike. The crucible also tends to absorb more MD slots than Pentavus would, and as Mr. Shay discussed in his article conserving and properly alotting MD slots is of the utmost importance.

This is right on.  When Clown and I were testing this a while back he waffled on whether Pents or Crucible was the better choice, while I argued in favor of Crucible/Strip.  My thinking at the time was that the random Cruci/Strip locks could steal games and could set up an infinite lock faster, but after more extensive playtesting with standard CS I've been converted.  Pents steals just as many games, can actually help in the decks problem matchups and opens up an extra slot or two in the maindeck which is just invaluable.

[andrewpate]

I agree.  I can't remember who it was that said, "Never underestimate the power of a 5/5 creature," in reference to this decision, but it's true.  Pentavus does the trick with fewer cards and more blue sources in the manabase, not to mention the fact that it steals games, too.  Mana denial via Crucible of Worlds and Strip Mine is such an unbelievably tertiary game plan that you should never need it in order to win, while Pentavus is a card that serves a very important primary purpose and just happens, on its own, to serve a secondary one.  Pentavus is the clear choice.

[Hi-Val]

I agree.  I can't remember who it was that said, "Never underestimate the power of a 5/5 creature," in reference to this decision, but it's true.  Pentavus does the trick with fewer cards and more blue sources in the manabase, not to mention the fact that it steals games, too.  Mana denial via Crucible of Worlds and Strip Mine is such an unbelievably tertiary game plan that you should never need it in order to win, while Pentavus is a card that serves a very important primary purpose and just happens, on its own, to serve a secondary one.  Pentavus is the clear choice.

I think that you GREATLY underestimate the power of Crucible of Worlds in this deck. You end up adding one more land that produces colorless instead of blue (because let's not fool ourselves, every CS list runs Citadel). An Intuition for Strip Mine, Crucible, Lava Dart will win every CS mirror that you do it in, even more so when you do it sooner. Pentavus does NOT do the trick with fewer cards. You still need Welder x2 and Pentavus, whereas the Crux lock requires Crux, Citadel, Welder. They're the same number of cards; whether one is easier to tutor for/cast/better on its own is open to discussion.

Intuition for Mine/Crux is not a tertiary plan. It's what you do with Intuition Slaver in control matchups so that you can win. And it DOES win. It, as you say, "steals games." The decision over Crux or Pentavus is as much open to playstyle as decklist. Whether you want to grab an early lock or drop a fattie is up to you, and I happen to like both. In closing though, I feel that a Crucible lock is more appropriate in an Intuition-based build because the combo can be fetched out quickly and cast. This is not so with Pentavus, and Intuition gets a little weaker because of it.

[Rico Suave]

If I have an active Welder on the board and I manage to resolve Intuition, I don't really need to try and secure a Cruc-Strip lock when I could instead just find Mindslaver with Intuition and Weld that in.  That is a more immediate and secure way to win a mirror.

Against the decks that Mindslaver is not good against, Pentavus is the shit.  I don't think I need to go down a list of exactly what he can do, but he's definitely the modern Morphling only he can be Welded in too.  He offers so many ways to play around the opponent's cards that Crucible does not, and he doesn't even need a restricted card to do it.

[Hi-Val]

I agree that Bus is really nice. I think that your statement about Intuitioning for Slaver is a little off, however. Oftentimes you'll just end up with Mindslaver in hand if you Intuition for it. The strength of Crucible is that in the early turns, it can still be cast. It has a not marginal advantage of making all your Brainstorms shuffle and making you hit every land drop.

I'd run Crucible in the Northeast where control is more prevalent. I'd use Pentavus everywhere else though, because as you said it is the modern Morphling.

[Anusien]

I used to be a big fan of Crucible of Worlds, but I found in a lot of situations it's gratutious, and to go find it and set it up is often obnoxious as hell.  As a 1 of, especially in Goth Slaver builds you have to Intuition it out and then you waste a Weld on it.  Which would you rather weld in on your non-Mindslaver turn: Crucible of Worlds or Pentavus?  However in Shay's build which gets Demonic Tutor as well I could see using Crucible of Worlds on the possibility, however remote, of hardcasting it.  I don't know, maybe it's just me, but Crucible of Worlds never helped me out in Goth Slaver and I don't want to cut another colored source in Shay's build when he already has Boseiju and Library of Alexandria taking up slots.  I'd rather just get Mindslaver and win.  I'm not so worried about getting the slaver lock versus just slaving (you need two Welders to go infinite with the 'Bus) because so many decks in the format just roll over to 1 Mindslaver activation.

My only issue is the one random Lava Dart.  I feel bad about cutting it after I already cut Triskelion for Platinum Angel (no Duress means I need help versus combo) and so I don't want to cut it.  Basically, this slot is either Cunning Wish, Lava Dart, Triskelion, a 3rd Deep Analysis or something else.  What else could you see to filling it with?  (or if Platinum Angel becomes Crucible, this slot would become Strip Mine and I'd find room elsewhere for the Darksteel Citadel).

Hi-Val: Shay comments that he vehemently sticks for 2x Mindslaver in the main so you never get stuck in that situation.  You can Intuition for something like Mindslaver, Mindslaver, any card.  You'll get one Slaver in the yard to go off with.

[thecapn]

A lot of people have been discussing the Lava Dart slot.  The reason Rich plays Lava Dart main deck  is because in the NorthEast Control Slaver is the most popular deck.  If Control Slaver is a really popular deck in your area and you want to maximize your chances at winning those matches, then having a main deck Lava Dart is a good choice no matter whether or not you use Intuition (although Dart is particularly good with Intuition).  If Oath is much more popular in your area, then run something like Engineered Explosives.  If your metagame is focused around another deck, use a card that is good against that deck - it could be Platinum Angel or whatever you think works best.  If you prefer a catch all answer or you have a really diverse field, then you may want to use Cunning Wish.  I think he even states this in his article.

@ Anusien - I would cut Lava Dart for Trike and run 3 guys.  If you decide to run Crucible you can cut a random land for Strip Mine and cut Pentavus for Crucible, and then just use Platinum Angel and Trike as your aggro backup plans rather than Pentavus.  Trike does a good job at controlling the board vs. aggro, and if he's not enough you can always just not lose the game.

[Anusien]

I was considering Trike, but I was wondering how much I should be relying on Goblin Welder to be my answer.  I was wondering about Lava Dart as an answer that I don't need a Welder or 6 mana to cast, and something that can easily slip in after a counterwar.  I'll consider Trike though, but it's a dramatic change from 1-threat Goth to 3-threat Shay Slaver.

[rvs]

Control Slaver should run Trike regardless. It's the best guy you can have in any non-combo matchup.

[JuJu]

Control Slaver should run Trike regardless. It's the best guy you can have in any non-combo matchup.

Other then big Pents .

[andrewpate]

I think that you GREATLY underestimate the power of Crucible of Worlds in this deck. You end up adding one more land that produces colorless instead of blue (because let's not fool ourselves, every CS list runs Citadel). An Intuition for Strip Mine, Crucible, Lava Dart will win every CS mirror that you do it in, even more so when you do it sooner. Pentavus does NOT do the trick with fewer cards. You still need Welder x2 and Pentavus, whereas the Crux lock requires Crux, Citadel, Welder. They're the same number of cards; whether one is easier to tutor for/cast/better on its own is open to discussion.

Intuition for Mine/Crux is not a tertiary plan. It's what you do with Intuition Slaver in control matchups so that you can win. And it DOES win. It, as you say, "steals games." The decision over Crux or Pentavus is as much open to playstyle as decklist. Whether you want to grab an early lock or drop a fattie is up to you, and I happen to like both. In closing though, I feel that a Crucible lock is more appropriate in an Intuition-based build because the combo can be fetched out quickly and cast. This is not so with Pentavus, and Intuition gets a little weaker because of it.

I absolutely agree; you misunderstood.  We were both working from Meddling Mage's post, which referred to "this list" (meaning no Intuition).  I couldn't agree more that Crucible of Worlds is worth including if you do have Intuition.  Everything you said in this post is completely accurate (except the thing about needing 2xGoblin Welder--you can get a half dozen or so Mindslaver activations in before you need a second Welder, which should almost always win.  Welder #2 is only needed if you are trying to go truly infinite).

[doylehancock]

Okay I ran this deck in a tourney last night.  I took out dart for cunning wish,  I added a 61st card (platz) and I swtiched who shelters all with a darksteel citadel.  I went undeafted and won the tourney.  I never lost a single game in any match.  I beat oath really easily as well as doomsday.

I am certain this is the best build out there and its extremely consitant.