UW Monastery Mentor Remora Gush

[mmcgeach]

BoggyB: did you consider Dack?  I feel like he's good in other decks with gush.  Also, I assume you have considered it, and have some reason why it doesn't make the cut - an analysis I would very much like to hear.

Also, congrats on your performance.

[mistervader]

Came in second with a barely tweaked list:

3 Monastery Mentor
2 Snapcaster Mage

3 Mystic Remora
2 Sensei's Divining Top
3 Gush
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
1 Preordain
2 Dig Through Time
1 Ponder
1 Time Walk

4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
2 Flusterstorm
1 Misdirection
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Repeal
2 Swords to Plowshares

1 Black Lotus
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Ruby
1 Mox Emerald
4 Flooded Strand
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Tundra
2 Volcanic Island
2 Island
1 Library of Alexandria

SB: 1 Hurkyl's Recall
SB: 3 Ingot Chewer
SB: 1 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 1 Wear // Tear
SB: 1 Mountain
SB: 3 Containment Priest
SB: 3 Grafdigger's Cage
SB: 2 Pyroblast

It was a 4-round tournament for 10 people. A short summary of my results are as follows:

1. 2-0 vs Merfolk. He kept punting his opening hands and kept mulling to the point where I was almost certain he wouldn't have FOW's each game. Mentor took care of business the first game, a bunch of removal and Snapcaster handled the second.

2. 1-2 vs Shops. I just couldn't find the right removal with the mana I have available in game 2 and 3. I won game 1 pretty quickly thanks to Mentor overload.

3. 2-1 vs URx Delver. Hiding behind Remora has never been more fun since vs Oath!

4. 2-0 vs Landstill. He was the eventual winner, though, since he had the highest tiebreaks.

My biggest learning is that I really, really like Repeal. It served so many uses, aside from bouncing Remora back into your hand.

[cardboard bob]

Question, why sol ring over mana crypt? Have you been having problems with taking the 3 damage? My testing has shown me that the turn or two after I stick a mentor is generally the blowout, and the games haven't gone long enough for mana crypt to matter much. Especially now that lightning bolt isn't seeing alot of play.

Did you miss not having gitaxian probe?

I've been testing Surge of Zeal as a one-of, it really helps racing the mirror. I also really like cavern of souls.

Here is what I'm testing now:

Lands (15)
3 Tundra
3 Volcanic Island
1 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Library of Alexandria

Creatures (4)
4 Monastery Mentor

Sorcery (3)
1 Time Walk
1 Ponder
1 Treasure Cruise

Artifact (8)
1 Black Lotus
5 Moxen
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sensei's Divining Top

Instant (24)
4 Force of Will
4 Mental Misstep
1 Flusterstorm
1 Pyroblast
1 Misdirection
1 Spell Pierce
3 Gush
2 Dig Through Time
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Brainstorm
2 Swords to Plowshares
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Repeal
1 Surge of Zeal

Enchantment (4)
4 Mystic Remora

Planeswalkers (2)
2 Dack Fayden

I hate repeal so much. But its necessary. Spell pierce has been amazing, particularly since you often told up one blue mana due to remora anyway. Those two sometimes go in an out in favor of g-probe, depending on the meta.