For a PPTQ I would stick with the 4 mainboard Transgress the Mind because you can expect to see Marvel across the table well over 50% of the time. On MTGO (or FNM) the meta is only ~33% Marvel, so I would feel comfortable swapping in the 4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner in its place. This deck loves the draw power that she provides.
So I've been responding to the comments on r/spikes and I will highlight where I believe the deck should go from here:
Main Board
- Cut Ob Nixilis Reignited for Skysovereign, Consul Flagship. The boat is really good against Zombies and Mardu
- Cut Matter Reshaper completely. Underwhelming and VERY weak to magma spray, which is seeing an uptick in play.
- 2 copies Drana, Liberator of Malakir to main. This is in the testing process, so don't get all elitist on me because she's never seen real standard play. On paper a 2/3 first strike will excel against zombies. Flying and her counter ability are just gravy.
- 1 Aethersphere Harvester to the main. Lifelink if necessary, walls HoK, Zombies struggle killing 5 toughness, and helps Glint-Sleeve out of the board.
Mana Base
- I tried out Mirrorpool and Sea Gate Wreckage. Mirrorpool is a win-more and I haven't got to use SGW to its potential yet.
- -4 Crumbling Vestige. Without Matter Reshaper, we do not need <> until turn 4 now.
- +4 Swamp. Full Art. Trying to hit BB on T2 and sometimes BBB on T3. According to Frank Karsten's analysis, with 19 B and 9 <> I have an 85% chance to hit BB by T2 and 68% to hit BBB T3. I also have an 86% chance of hitting at least one <> by turn 4 on the play.
Sideboard
- +2
Bearer of Silence
to the board. Idk if this will be good enough. It can technically fly over zombies, and make an opponent sacrifice an Ulamog, God, or Bristling Hydra.
- -1 Aethersphere Harvester to the main.
- The other slot came from the Ob/Boat slot. It is a sad loss, and I wish I had room for 1 Ob in the board.
So this is just a double Gameday victory deck, so if it needs to be removed from r/spikes, have at it. I am not a GP grinder, however this rogue brew went 7-1 then 8-0 against all top tier decks this weekend (30-8 in games). I thought you guys would at least want to see what I put together. I'm not claiming that this is tier 0 and ready to spike a large tournament. However, it did feel like it had fair-good matchups against what the current meta looks like, so maybe there actually is something here.
On Saturday, I ran against 2 Mardu Vehicles, 2 Mono-Black Zombies, and 4 Temur Marvel decks. My loss came against Marvel in a 10 minute round where he hit 2 T4 Mogs. I learned from this match, and that was the last time that I kept a hand without Transgress, Dispossess, or Thought-Knot against Marvel. On Sunday, I was matched up against 1 U/R Gearhulk Control, 3 Zombies, 3 Marvel, and 1 Mardu.
Playing a rogue deck, I didnt know that I was going to do so well, let alone create a post on r/spikes. I wish that I had wrote notes down for each matchup, but maybe my card selection descriptions can guide you as to why this deck was successful against the tier 1 decks.
Creature (21)
4x Scrapheap Scrounger: Undercosted beater that can be recurred in the late game. This bugger goes tit for tat with the zombies decks. He forces them to leave back a chumper, which gives me an edge in racing situations. Pairs extremely well with Ruins of Oran Reef, especially when recurred in the late game
4x Gifted Aetherborn: I initially included this guy because the third toughness is strong against early zombies and magma spray. It turned out that the lifelink/deathtouch combo on him was great in racing situations against zombies and Mardu.
3x Drana, Liberator of Malakir: This is in the testing process, so don't get all elitist on me because she's never seen real standard play. On paper a 2/3 first strike will excel against zombies. Flying and her counter ability are just gravy.
4x Bone Picker: With all of the removal that we are packing, this is almost always a 1 mana threat. Flying seemed important for the Zombie matchup, and this guy is a great T2 play alongside fatal push. Weak against HoK, so those need removed for this guy to have a clear flight path.
4x Thought-Knot Seer: Must have 4-of, fantastic in the marvel matchup! Because I could expect tier 1 decks in my meta, this was the reason why I chose to run this deck, and why I was successful this weekend.
3x Reality Smasher: This top ender hasnt gone anywhere. This guys trample was excellent in the zombie/mardu matchups. Haste was great when I was trying to finish off Marvel. 5 haste damage has felt amazing in a top deck wars.
Sorcery (4)
- 4x Transgress the Mind: I started with 4 in the main because that is how scared I am of the Marvel matchup. Loved them all in this meta
Instant (7)
- 3x Fatal Push: There is a reason why this uncommon is $10. The fourth is in the sideboard. Amazing synergy with Bone Picker.
- 4x Grasp of Darkness: This got the full MB playset because of how it can kill a Glorybringer and Avacyn. I considered Spatial Controtion, but killing those key threats was very important. The highlight of the weekend was when I used 3 to take down an Ulamog.
Artifact (2)
- 2x Aethersphere Harvester: Great synergy with Glint-Sleeve, walls HoK, Lifelink in a race, Zombies struggle killing this. 2nd is staying in the board.
- 1x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship: This is just an upgrade of maindecking Ob. Most decks struggle to remove this, and it is great against zombies.
Land (24)
- 3x
Ruins of Oran-Rief
: This land was surprisingly powerful, but I chose to only play 3 ETB tapped lands. Worked excellent if a game went long, and is great in multiples if it doesnt mess up your curve. Gets Scrapheap out of Magma Spray Range
- 2x
Blighted Fen
: Probably the best utility land from this cycle. Was placed in the deck for Ulamog, and it took down a couple when the stars aligned.
- 4x
Aether Hub
: Perfect land for this deck. The energy has a secondary use with Siphoner in postboard games.
- 15x Swamp: Full Art
Sideboard
- 1x Aethersphere Harvester: MVP out of the board due to the small synergies. The Energy was great for lifelink at times and other times it gave Siphoner the extra umph that she needed. Brick walling HoK was the main reason for its inclusion because my deck is weak to flying without it.
- 1x Fatal Push: Wouldn't leave home without 4 in the 75
- 4x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner: This card was steller against zombies. Menace backed up with removal allowed me to draw many extra cards throughout the weekend. Now that Ballista isn't as prevalent, I'd expect her to see an uptick in play.-2x
Bearer of Silence
: Idk if this will be good enough, but it is in testing. It can technically fly over zombies, and make an opponent sacrifice an Ulamog, God, or Bristling Hydra.
- 2x Dispossess: This card is good on the play against Marvel. I have very limited outs against a resolved Ulamog, so I did what I could to prevent that from happening.
- 2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: Great against aggro if he stays alive. Such a powerful card when backed with removal. A must answer.
- 2x
Never / Return
: This was here for G/B along with other threats that I couldn't answer. Good against Mardu postboard.
- 1x Reality Smasher: Sometimes I wanted a fourth when a game was going to go long
Sideboard Guide Edited
Mardu: I assumed that these opponents were switching to the traditional Planeswalker package.
-2 fatal push, -2 Drana; +2 Never / Return, +1 Aethersphere Harvester, +1 Reality Smasher
Marvel: Since Marvel currently the top deck of the format, my deck is already built to combat this beast. Mulligan until Transgress, Dispossess, or Thought-knot (on the play). Aetherborn doesn't matchup well against Rogue Refiner. Testing out Bearer of Silence as a possible response to Ulamog, unfortunately it is weak to thopters.
-3 Fatal push, -4 Gifted Aetherborn, -1 Aethersphere Harvester; +2 Dispossess, + 1 Reality Smasher, +3 Glint-Sleeve, +2 Bearer of Silence
Zombies Black on black, but our deck goes a little bigger. Keep their lords under control and it is easy to out muscle them. Transgress isn't where we want to be. We want our final push and Kalitas comes in over some Thought-knots. Zombies has trouble dealing with the 3/5 flying harvester with their removal. G-S shines in this matchup, especially when we hit a Harvester.
-4 Transgress the Mind, -1 Scrapheap Scrounger, -2 Thought-knot; +3 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, +1 Aethersphere Harvester, +1 Fatal Push, +2 Kalitas
Control Probably our worst matchup because we are a midrange deck, but maindeck hand disruption along with scrapheap help a lot. Dispossess takes away their main win con, and their corner turner. Our vehicles don't do anything if we can't stick creatures. Our removal is weak, but we still need some for Gearhulks, surprise Dragonmasters, etc. I would like input on whether Never is better than Grasp in this matchup postboard.
-3 Push, -3 Grasp, -1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship, -1 Aethersphere Harvester; +2 Dispossss, +4 Glint-Sleeve Siphonor, +2 Never / Return
Thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading!
