Stifle or Cabal Therapy

Legacy forum

Posted on March 4, 2016, 8:57 a.m. by justme

Lately i have been playing grixis pyromancer, I've seen lists with Stifle, I've seen lists with Cabal Therapy, some with none, and very few with both. I personally am playing Stifle main board with Cabal Therapy sideboard and i was wanting peoples opinions on the cards, should they be played, what matchups are they good against, what are they bad against, things of that nature. More or less, What is your opinion on Stifle and Cabal Therapy.

EndStepTop says... #2

Personally I prefer Stifle, but Therapy feels like the overall better card. Stifle helps a tempo game, whereas Therapy helps a midrange plan.

March 4, 2016 9:16 a.m.

GlistenerAgent says... #3

Besides the 56 cards that are locked into your maindeck, I have two Spell Pierces and two Therapies. If you want the kill small stuff, play Forked Bolt. If you want to kill big stuff, play Dismember.

March 4, 2016 9:38 a.m.

dan8080 says... #4

Nothing is funnier than stifling a fetch land.

March 4, 2016 10:17 a.m.

GlistenerAgent says... #5

Oh yeah, I think Stifle is garbage unless you have Goyfs and no real card advantage.

March 4, 2016 10:23 a.m.

EndStepTop says... #6

Well, stifling a fetch with young peezy out In the early turns can win the game provided you have a decent amount of permission/cantrips. Stifle gives you game against miracles as you can stifle the miracle trigger on terminus and to a lesser extent entreat. I think in a blind meta I would run therapy to help against combo decks. However if you know your meta lacks a heavy combo presence, stifle can tear through fair decks.

March 4, 2016 10:37 a.m.

KillDatBUG says... #7

Stifle isn't really comparable to Cabal Therapy. Both see play in different decks, and both do very different things.

Personally though, I think that Cabal Therapy is much better in your deck, especially if you don't play Delver of Secrets  Flip. Having the combo of Gitaxian Probe + Cabal Therapy is already great, but combining that with Young Pyromancer makes the card completely nuts. You get to flash it back for free with a Young Pyromancer in play, making it incredibly easy to shred your opponent's hand.

March 4, 2016 11:07 a.m.

EndStepTop says... #8

KillDatBUG they're pretty compairable since in UBRg stifle and therapy can apply for the same flex slot...

March 4, 2016 11:23 a.m.

If you are playing the "Grixis Pyromancer" deck, you play Cabal Therapy. The main draw to the deck is Cabal Therapy + Young Pyromancer .

Stifle is much better as a tempo card, whereas Cabal Therapy is a much more backbreaking disruption spell. Given that "Grixis Pyromancer" is a Control deck it is preferable to run Cabal Therapy over Stifle. Stifle belongs much more in Delver shells.

If you were on Grixis Delver, there is much more of an argument for playing Stifle. I personally prefer playing Cabal Therapy in my Grixis Delver list because my deck isn't trying to do what Stifle is really trying to do. The Stifle Delver deck is RUG Delver because of its ability to produce quality threats and beat down fast.

March 4, 2016 4:38 p.m.

Different plans for different decks. The theory behind not running Stifle in a lot of Young Pyromancer builds is that you're then inclined to hold up mana that would otherwise be used for aggressive cantripping on your turn to create maximum value out of Peezy. It's also super awkward sometimes having a Stifle in hand as well as a Deathrite Shaman since shaman is basically your default best turn one play most games.

March 4, 2016 11:39 p.m.

This discussion has been closed