Acceleration
Mana Crypt
- 10/10
Chrome Mox
- Try to imprint a blue card if possible, since that is our primary color. You can choose not to imprint a card during
Tidespout Tyrant
combos.
Mox Diamond
- Unfortunately can not be used during Tidespout combos, but still good enough as an accelerant to play on it’s own. Still great with Dramatic/Scepter and
Paradox Engine
.
Mox Amber
- We often have a commander in play to turn this on. If drawn early you can cast
Thrasios, Triton Hero
the turn you play this, still making it better than a Talisman/Signet. It is also another 0 mana permanent to use with Tidespout combos - exactly what the deck wants!
Mox Opal
- We play just enough artifacts to make this worth it. Again, 0 mana permanents are great for this deck.
Sol Ring
- Mana positive, great for Tidespout combos, Dramatic/Scepter and
Paradox Engine
value.
Mana Vault
- See above
Grim Monolith
- See above
Fellwar Stone
- The second best of the 2 mana rocks since it can often produce any color of mana. We need a critical mass of mana rocks so this makes the cut.
Talisman of Dominance
- The next best of the 2 mana rocks. Producing blue is very important. Good enough.
Carpet of Flowers
- Yes please.
Optional
Copy Artifact
- Fine for copying opponents mana rocks. Extra artifact for
Mox Opal
. Does not enable any additional Tidespout combos however does give you extra redundancy for Dramatic/Scepter lines. A good addition if your meta has a prevalence towards removing combo pieces from the game.
Card Advantage
Mystic Remora
- Fush! :) Pro tip: don’t miss your triggers.
Curiosity
- Play this on your
Vial Smasher the Fierce
and take over the game with your endless stream of cards. Any damage to an opponent triggers this, so make sure to attack every turn as well.
Training Grounds
- Fantastic with
Thrasios, Triton Hero
.
Sylvan Library
- Great selection and draw power since we don’t use our life total for much other than this. Get used to saying ‘pay 8’ :D
Rhystic Study
- At worst it's a 1 sided
Sphere of Resistance
, we are fine with this. Don’t miss your triggers.
Yawgmoth's Will
- Great 1 shot card advantage in the mid/late game and a combo enabler.
Optional
Keen Sense
- If you want an extra
Curiosity
. This one is usually worse as it cannot pitch to Force of Will or Misdirection. Play over
Curiosity
if you have a lot of
Pyroblast
/
Red Elemental Blast
in your meta. Currently testing.
Fact or Fiction
- Additional 1 shot card advantage. Our deck doesn't make great use of the graveyard so it’s potency is lackluster compared to use in other decks. Still probably good enough if you play against a lot of other control decks.
Compost
- If your meta has a lot of black decks or at least a small percentage of Shuffle Hulk or Gitrog then this is worth it. Did I mention not to miss your triggers?
Dig Through Time
- 1 shot card advantage and selection. Be careful what you delve away as you might need combo pieces or to use
Yawgmoth's Will
later. Currently testing.
Selection
Brainstorm
- If this doesn’t almost always read ‘Draw 3’, then you’re probably casting it at the wrong time. Often tutored for to put
Tidespout Tyrant
back into the deck. Unless you’ve played a great deal of Legacy or Vintage, you probably don’t know how to play with this card properly. Take my advice and go and read some articles online - NOW!
Mystical Tutor
- yep
Vampiric Tutor
- Double yep
Imperial Seal
- Good enough
Lim-Dul's Vault
- Vamp Tutor #2, plus it’s blue!
Demonic Tutor
- Sure
Gamble
- It’s good when we have a decent amount of cards in hand, although I’m still not 100% on this. Currently testing.
Whir of Invention
- Instant speed makes this card playable. Primarily used to find a mana rock, although can also find Top for more selection or an
Isochron Scepter
/
Paradox Engine
. Currently testing.
Sensei's Divining Top
- Great selection, artifact for
Mox Opal
. Can be used with Dramatic/Scepter combo to draw your deck if
Thrasios, Triton Hero
is unavailable.
Ponder
- Great cantrip. Selection is good.
Preordain
- See above.
Noxious Revival
- Listed under selection because you are generally getting back a card you want to use again, although also graveyard hate and a combo piece - what doesn’t this card do!
Permission
Mental Misstep
- Great in counter wars and stopping early power plays.
Pact of Negation
- Mostly for protecting our own combos but can be used offensively in the mid/late game when we have enough mana to pay for it.
Pyroblast
- So many threatening spells are blue, obviously also great in counter wars.
Red Elemental Blast
- See above.
Swan Song
- Stop a lot, great counter.
Dispel
- Less versatile than most, but so efficient.
Flusterstorm
- Efficiently and safely stops a great deal of game ending cards. The bigger the stack, the better it is. Learn to abuse this card and you shall be rewarded. Building storm sometimes required.
Spell Pierce
- Falls off a bit late game, but very efficient early game and therefore, good enough.
Stifle
- Counter a
Protean Hulk
trigger, stop the imprint on
Isochron Scepter
, stop that
Zur the Enchanter
player searching for
Necropotence
. This card does a lot of work. Such good, many versatiles. Doge highly recommend.
Delay
- Very flexible as it counters anything and at a great mana cost.
Arcane Denial
- See above. Drawing 1 yourself and one of your opponents 2 is usually fine, since our cards are usually on average better than other decks' - with that said, try to lead with this in counter wars.
Counterspell
- is rough, but it’s flexible enough to still be great.
Mana Drain
- 10/10. Use this on something expensive to setup big turns with cards like
Paradox Engine
or just get a free
Thrasios, Triton Hero
activation. Be aware that casting this in your 1st main phase will give you the mana in your 2nd main.
Muddle the Mixture
- Not the most efficient or flexible counter, but the extra usefulness in tutoring any 2 drop makes it worth it.
Negate
- Great mana cost, flexible enough.
Shadow of Doubt
- Primarily to stop
Protean Hulk
and tutors. Replaces itself. Good card.
Force of Will
- Free counterspell? Yes please.
Misdirection
- Very unique effect and situationally superior to other counters. Can get around uncounterable spells like
Abrupt Decay
. Don’t forget that you can change the target of another counter to
Misdirection
itself if needed.
Optional
Trickbind
- Stifle #2. If your meta has a lot of Hulk decks, play this.
Removal
Chain of Vapor
- Can be used on your own mana rocks to produce extra mana, especially useful with
Paradox Engine
.
Nature's Claim
- Great removal and part of our combo.
Abrupt Decay
- Good for must kill permanents.
Assassin's Trophy
- Can be used as an alternate win con with
Isochron Scepter
+
Paradox Engine
.
Rolling Earthquake
- Great sweeper and our finisher.
Toxic Deluge
- #1 sweeper.
Optional
Massacre
- Great if you play against white stax or
Tymna the Weaver
decks.
Natural State
- Hits a lot, particularly good as an additional out to
Blood Moon
.
Rakdos Charm
- All modes are great depending on your meta. Can be used as a win con with
Isochron Scepter
/
Paradox Engine
. Damage mode is particularly great against infinite creature combo decks like Blood Pod.
Reality Shift
- If you want extra spot removal, this is the one to play. Doubles up as top deck tutor hate.
By Force
- If you play against mana rock heavy decks a lot.
Vandalblast
- See above.
Pyroclasm
- Additional sweeper against dork heavy decks, particularly
Tymna the Weaver
decks.
Kozilek's Return
- See above. Instant speed makes this slightly superior to
Pyroclasm
.
Cyclonic Rift
- Useful in stax heavy metas though usually shouldn't be needed as our primary combo plays through stax well.
Combo Pieces
Tidespout Tyrant
- Our primary combo piece while also being fine to have in play before being able to combo to disrupt opponents. Bounce stax pieces before comboing with rocks. Since the ability is not a may you will need to bounce it before playing out loops or
Isochron Scepter
lines.
Oath of Druids
- Fetches
Tidespout Tyrant
and if that fails (or is in hand) it mills our deck for the alternate win line. Keep in mind that the ability checks when it triggers and on resolution.
Divergent Transformations
- The big advantage we have over other Divergent decks is that we only need 1 creature out to combo with this. Since you must target 2 creatures just have your second target be an opponent's creature. Can also be used as instant speed removal.
Polymorph
- Can be used as removal.
Isochron Scepter
- Primarily for comboing, but can be useful as a source of virtual card advantage by imprinting removal or a counter.
Dramatic Reversal
- Can also be used as a ritual with enough mana rocks out.
Memory's Journey
- Combo piece and graveyard hate.
Paradox Engine
- Excellent combo piece to enable alternate
Isochron Scepter
lines, but can also be used as a great source of mana generation with enough rocks, which converts to card advantage with
Thrasios, Triton Hero
.
Land
We don't want to take too much damage from our land as games can go quite long, therefore
Tarnished Citadel
and threshold lands have been omitted. A lot of our spells require blue so try to fetch islands as much as possible. This is also the reason why we play blue pain lands over non-island shocklands.
All 10 fetches
All 6 ABU duals
All 3 blue shocklands
All 3 blue painlands
The 1 blue Battlebond land (
Morphic Pool
)
5 rainbow lands:
Command Tower
,
City of Brass
,
Mana Confluence
,
Exotic Orchard
and..
Forbidden Orchard
- Useful to force an
Oath of Druids
to trigger. Can give opponents blockers to stop
Tymna the Weaver
draws.
Forest
&
Island
- The best basics to fetch against
Blood Moon
/
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.
