A Tale of Ale
Legacy
SCORE: 39 | 26 COMMENTS | 8143 VIEWS | IN 22 FOLDERS
The Brew: Both Bitter and Sweet —Aug. 7, 2017
So for the last month, my testing has been sparse, but I've managed to get in some games and try out a few different things. I've found that Spirit of the Labyrinth while effect against blue draw effects, has had a deterimental effect on the body of the deck. For now, I've abandoned the use of it.
I have attempted a third color, green. I splashed it for Deathrite Shaman and while in preliminary testing, I found that the extra bit of reach from this psuedo planeswalker was beneficial, by altering the land base to accommodate the third color, the deck lost consistency and I was always shy that double white or double black mana symbol when I needed it most. For now, I think splashing green diminishes the effectiveness of the main 60, so I will at present not be splashing green. Although, I may delve into testing the third color again later, but for the present moment, I have abandoned the cards to a toolbox for the deck.
With a new LGS opening up less than 10 minutes from my house, I have been trying to find more opponents to test against, so I could better master the deck. I have played against some Tier 2 and lower decks, with phenomenal results with the original listing.
I have debated dropping the Gideon of the Trials in favor of the fourth Liliana of the Veil or a singleton copy of Liliana, the Last Hope, or even a third main board copy of Council's Judgment. Gideon, while effective in forcing my opponent's to deal with him, has allowed me to see that it is merely a wobbly stone for my opponent's to step over in the path to victory. Currently, he will reside in the toolbox while I test these other cards. However, in sideboarded games, the additional Gideon has made him doubly effective, so he remains a valid part of the strategy but perhaps as a sideboard card.
Lingering Souls has quickly become an all star in the deck, shining in many match-ups, allowing me to take out troublesome Jace, the Mind Sculptors, or as great evasive targets for my equipment package. A third copy in the main board is definitely worth considering, as it provides a ton of value and can close out the games quicker.
On a very positive note, I am thrilled with the inclusion of the six basic lands, as they allow me to very easily play around Wasteland and Blood Moon with extreme ease.
While the journey for building this deck and testing it is far from over, the brew has taken on some interesting flavors, and continues to mature into something that I love to play, and enjoy immensely. That's all for this update. Thanks for joining me on this adventure dear reader. Stay tuned for my next update.
TheGodofNight says... #2
Vindicate is a card on my test list. The only downside to it, is that it doesn't hit certain troublesome things like True-Name Nemesis, which is very relevant among the players I play with, but overall, it hits most threats and is worth tinkering with. I will be happy to playtest against your deck list. Thanks for the suggestion and the list.
July 9, 2017 1:53 p.m.
ToolmasterOfBrainerd says... #3
If you've been toying with Spirit of the Labyrinth, you're probably much better off with a really light green splash and Leovold, Emissary of Trest instead.
I'm surprised the deck doesn't play Deathrite Shaman. I guess it gets in the way of turn 1 discard and you will always have something better to play turn 2, but it's still a super powerful card.
EDIT: By 'really light green splash', I mean 1 Bayou replacing 1 Swamp. You can fetch it with all of your fetches and as long as you don't fetch it unless you're about to play Leovold, it will never get wastelanded.
EDIT AGAIN: Wow I'm dumb. Forgot Leovold was blue. Ignore this.
July 12, 2017 6:33 p.m. Edited.
TheGodofNight says... #4
No worries, I've done that myself, when making deck suggestions. I am kicking around the idea of splashing green for Deathrite Shaman. It would be an excellent addition to the list, I was thinking maybe a pair of them to see how they function. It would serve as a multi function card that could fill a lot of roles. In fact, my next update will cover my playtesting with Deathrite Shaman, so be sure to check out that update when I post it. Thanks for the +1 and the suggestions.
July 12, 2017 10:42 p.m.
evanawesomer says... #5
I've been playing burn for years now and I think this would be a pretty annoying deck to play against. I do have a couple idea's for you to consider.
first, I would suggest either replacing the Bloodstained Mire with Verdant Catacombs or Windswept Heath if you really want to make your opponents think you're in green.
Secondly, If you don't want to switch out Bloodstained Mire you could always run switch in some red by replacing the Wastelands or Horizon Canopy and a Swamp with a Plateau and Badlands. This change would make it possible to include Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, Kolaghan's Command, Grim Lavamancer, Young Pyromancer or any of the other excellent cards in the color.
lastly, I would suggest including at least 3 Leyline of Sanctity in the sideboard
July 24, 2017 4:02 p.m.
TheGodofNight says... #6
The Bloodstained Mires were actually what I had, as I didn't have any Verdant Catacombs to use. I think swapping out the Wastelands are a terrible idea, as they shut down many non-basic lands in the format.
The Horizon Canopy discussion was more about the illusion it provides, not necessarily that I was intending to propagate that illusion, the card serves the primary focus as an additional white source, and a draw effect later in the game.
The addition and inclusion of red mana and spells would change the nature of the deck. The deck is quite literally Black/White good stuff. While I have toyed with some ideas or splashing a third color, currently I am keeping it primarily these two colors.
The inclusion of Leyline of Sanctity certainly is an interesting choice though. I have not come across a ton of burn decks in Legacy at my LGS, so I'm not sure if it is not a popular deck type, or folks here tend to fancy more blue control style builds. I will keep that suggestion in mind though. Thanks for the feedback and the ideas.
July 24, 2017 6:02 p.m.
evanawesomer says... #7
Im glad to provide some suggestions that would help, I don't go to the same lgs you do so I wouldnt know what your meta is like there, but where I live burn is very common because of it's low cost and storm uses grapeshot for it's win con. If you start seeing a lot of these decks in your meta I would strongly suggest the leyline. Good luck and have fun playing legacy :)
July 24, 2017 6:27 p.m.
Sweet deck!! One thing is maybe straight removal, like fatal push or swords to plowshares?
August 3, 2017 10:51 a.m.
TheGodofNight says... #9
While Fatal Push is a card that I have been tinkering with on and off, I opted for the straight exile power of Swords to Plowshares, which there are already 4 of in the main board. Fatal Push does hit a lot of the same nasty things, but Swords makes sure that I don't have to waste twice as many spells dealing with creatures. Thanks for the suggestion.
FlammendesSchwert says... #1
being what about Vindicate ?
try to playtest if you like: Flammendes Schwert 16
July 9, 2017 1:40 p.m.