On The Short Bus

[Triple_S]

Earlier this year my interest in the WoW endgame came to a grinding halt...and as luck would have it some old friends got me out to Draft one friday night.  The magic bug never really leaves us...flash forward a few months and I'm playing in the SCG $5k tournament, and catching up w/ old friends like Kowal, Klep, Smmenen, and co.  Anyways, here is a little deck that Thorme, Gammadoom, and I came up with shortly after the B/R announcement.

Not your Father's Vengeur Masque

4 Mask
4 Naught
4 Survival
1 Ancestral
1 Time Walk
1 Protean Hulk
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Anger
1 Squee
1 Reveillark
1 Body Double
4 BoP
3 Wall of Roots
4 Shapeshifter
1 Viridian Zealot
1 Jailer
1 G Drake
2 Xantid Swarm
1 Kataki
 
4 Fetchlands
4 bayou
2 Taiga
3 Tropical Island
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Lotus
1 Jet
1 Sapphire
1 Emerald

[Matt]

What is the advantage of th Reveillark kill?

[Triple_S]

Let me say first that the deck is untested.

The advantage is really against the unprepared opponent that won't be expecting something along these lines...the 'coming from left field' factor.

[Dante]

With no counters or other proactive disruption (Duress, Thoughtseize, etc), are you just chalking up the Long/Storm Combo matchup as horrible and focusing on other matchups?  I know the storm decks are more powerful and streamlined since 2003 when Vengeur Mask was a winner.

[Matt]

Let me say first that the deck is untested.

The advantage is really against the unprepared opponent that won't be expecting something along these lines...the 'coming from left field' factor.

I meant, how is Hulk/Reveillark better than, say, Phage. I'm pretty sure just playing this many green spells in vintage is going to supply 95% of your opponents' confusion.

[Triple_S]

The combo match up for this deck is near unwinnable as its currently constructed.  Here is another more 'standard' V Masque that began the discussion initiallyl..but again I think it needs 4 x Duress/Thoughtseize.  The lack of Brainstorm means FoW isn't a really viable option IMHO

4 Mask
4 Naught
4 Survival
1 Ancestral
1 Time Walk
1 Squee
1 Genesis
1 Anger
1 Wonder
4 BoP
3 Wall of Roots
1 Q Ranger
4 Shapeshifter
1 Phage
1 Jailer
1 G Drake
1 Gigapede
2 X Swarm
1 Withered Wretch
1 Kataki
 
4 Fetchlands
4 bayou
2 Taiga
3 Tropical Island
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Lotus
1 Jet
1 Sapphire
1 Emerald

[Matt]

Jailer has crazy-bad synergy with the Shifter half of this deck. Have you considered Faerie Macabre? Also, is Wall of Roots really better than, say, Goyf?

[Katzby]

Jailer has crazy-bad synergy with the Shifter half of this deck. Have you considered Faerie Macabre? Also, is Wall of Roots really better than, say, Goyf?

Remember that text-changing effects (layer 3), such as the one generated by the static ability of VSS, are applied long before the "other" continuous effects (layer 5), such as the one associated with the Jailer.  Jailer will not prevent the VSS from gaining the text of other creatures in the graveyard like you seem to think it will.  Referring to the list, the only things in this deck that are really hurt by the Jailer are Squee, Genesis, Gigapede, and the incarnations.

Long live V. Masque.  Welcome back, Shane!

[thorme]

Unless you've played out Carrion Feeder by hand, don't we need a sac outlet for Hulk to start the combo out?

One direction I'm interested in, but we haven't really had much time to explore is the removal of the masks and naughts for something along the lines of 1 phage and a mix of duress effects (and potentially something like Perilous Research if I'm not missing something in my first point).

[Katzby]

Unless you've played out Carrion Feeder by hand, don't we need a sac outlet for Hulk to start the combo out?

One direction I'm interested in, but we haven't really had much time to explore is the removal of the masks and naughts for something along the lines of 1 phage and a mix of duress effects (and potentially something like Perilous Research if I'm not missing something in my first point).

If you already want to add some Duress effects, maybe Cabal Therapy would be a good idea as a sacrifice outlet to get the combo started.  It has to be better than Perilous Research, right?

[Triple_S]

not to interrupt the Mask discussion...but another possibly bad deck

Where is the Prohibit?!?

4 FoW
4 Mana Drain
2 Mana Leak/Miscalculation
1 Misdirection
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Ancestral Recall
3 Back to Basics
3 Intuition
4 Accumulated Knowledge
1 Deep Analysis
3 Trinket Mage
3 Painter's Servant
2 Grindstone
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Oona

5 Moxen
1 Sol ring
1 Lotus
1 Academy
9 Islands
6 Fetchlands

[Triple_S]

Last night was some Shadowmoor drafting at FNM and I ended up with a pretty sick (but creature light) mono-r deck.  First pick pack 1 was a Firespout...the green I wanted to accelerate my deck was largely cut off (I ended up with one duo and one mauraders)...but the red kept coming.  My removal suite was....retarded:
1 Firespout
1 Jaws of Stone
3 Puncture Bolt
1 Burn Trail
2 Power of Fire
1 Furystoke Giant

Along the way I picked up a foil Painter's Servant to help fuel my Horde of Boggarts.  The downside about the deck is I had very few answers to Shield of the Oversoul, my only game losses on the evening were to a turn 3 Duo, turn 4 Shield.

Overall a pretty fun evening though picking lots of quality stuff for the new EDH deck I'm building (Sek'Kuar).

[Anusien]

I've had insane amounts of removal like that in a few drafts, but I always run into trouble with large GR guys.

[Triple_S]

I ran into a couple of Old Ghastbark's, but always seemed to have to ability to conspire a burn trail to deal w/ it pretty quickly.

[Triple_S]

This is the EDH deck I'm disassembling for the time being...its fun for the player, but not the opponents.  Its not optimally built (sub academy ruins and tol academy for 2 lands):

General:  Sharuum the Hegemon

Creatures
Magister Sphinx
Inkwell Leviathan
Sanctum Gargoyle
Vedalken Engineer
Sphinx Sovereign
Sower of Temptation
Gold Myr
Leaden Myr
Silver Myr
Sphinx Summoner
Trinket Mage
Soul Warden
Faerie Machanist
Solemn Simulacrum
Empress Galina
Myr Retreiver
Vedalken Archmage
Etherium Sculptor
Relic of Progenitus
Scroll Rack
Feldon's Cane
Voltaic Key
Blinkmoth Urn
Darkwater Egg
Cloud Key
Ivory Tower
Proteus Staff
Lotus Bloom
Chromatic Sphere
Scrabbling Claws
Riptide Replicator
Tsabo's Web
Courier's Capsule
Mindslaver
Charcoal Diamond
Marble Diamond
Skullclamp
Conjurer's Bauble
Wayfarer's Bauble
Sensei's Diviniing Top
Etherium Astrolabe
Executioner's Capsule
Serum Tank

Instants:
Gifts Ungiven
Fact or Fiction
Mystical Teachings
Impulse
Lat-Nam's Legacy
Condemn
Telling Time
Thirst for Knowledge
Congregate
Swords to Plowshares

Sorceries:
Tendrils of Agony
Yawgmoth's Will
Reverse the Sands
Ritual of Restoration
Demonic Tutor
Brilliant Ultimatum
Fabricate
Roar of Reclamation

Enchantments
Leyline of Singularity
Future Slight

Mana:
Seat of the Synod
Tundra
Thran Dynamo
Darkwater Catacombs
Mystic Gate
Tainted Field
Arcane Sanctum
Orzhov Basilica
Secluded Glen
Dimir Aqueduct
Darksteel Citadel
Miren, the Moaning Well
Fellwar Stone
Underground Sea
Darksteel Ingot
Tainted Isle
Caves of Koilos
Mind Stone
Temple of the False God
Bad River
Skycloud Expanse
Sky Diamond
Sol Ring
Azorius Chancery
Vault of Whispers
Volrath's Stronghold
Scrubland
Talisman of Progress
Talisman of Dominance
3 Islands
2 Swamps
2 Plains

[Purple Hat]

Is leyline of singularity actually any good in a highlander format?

[Matt]

Is leyline of singularity actually any good in a highlander format?

Well, it fucks tokens up.

[Triple_S]

You beat me to it.  In one of our large bi-monthly EDH games someone eventually accumulates a fuckton of tokens (I remember someone killing almost the entire table with a swarm of HUGE saproling tokens generated with Rith).  The Leyline is a measure of control just to keep me alive long enough to start recurring Magister Sphinx or Mindslaver....or to get the Sensei/Future Sight engine going.