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Why so specific?

There are more cards on the watch list (or even not on the watchlist) which could need a community feedback. IMO the mulligan should also get a review in the next future.


If the council wants a feedback from the community why not ask more questions?

[4CC "acceleration"]

I will test either the Storm or the egg list asap to find out if a non creature based fast combo is possible. Here is another list from my side.

I took a quite uncommon approach on Scapeshift (4CC Rampspells, Oath, Depth/Stage/Loam, "bad" blue 1CC spells, low fattie amount...) with a focus on ASAP Scapeshift.

- The list was built for a midrange&UWx Control meta (minor creature defense package) and has to be adjusted for fast aggro and/or aggrocontrol meta
- very reliable T5 kill with backup
- based on an older decklist with just Mystical thrown in
- landbase not sufficently tested to the "new mulligan"
- Oath, Depth/Stage and the extensive library manipulation as new test set up
- bad Oath creatures are certainly non-optimal but necessary IMO for the Scapeshift plan

explanation for the uncommon choices:

4CC "acceleration" - allows a much more reliable T4-5 kill
Oath package - simply wanted to test one of the best cards allowed
Depth/Stage/Loam - wanted to have a secondary win option (can also be scapeshifted which could be useful against RDW for example)
low fat amount - made the experience that other fatties (Titans, Planeswalkers) were not able to ensure a win just as Primeval Titan does
bad blue CC1 spells - wanted more T1 action, more knowledge against Control, increased possibility to find Scapeshift/Titan


4C Oathshift

1   Search for Tomorrow

1   Brainstorm
1   Duress
1   Gitaxian Probe
1   Inquisition of Kozilek
1   Mystical Tutor
1   Overmaster
1   Peek
1   Personal Tutor
1   Ponder
1   Preordain
1   Sensei`s Divining Top
1   Serum Visions
1   Sleight of Hand
1   Sorcerous Sight
1   Swan Song
1   Thoughtseize
1   Worldly Tutor

1   Edge of Autumn
1   Explore
1   Farseek
1   Into the North
1   Nature`s Lore
1   Rampant Growth
1   Restore
1   Sakura Tribe Elder
1   Three Visits

1   Abrupt Decay
1   Demonic Tutor
1   Fire/Ice
1   Impulse
1   Life from the Loam
1   Merchant Scroll
1   Oath of Druids
1   See Beyond
1   Sylvan Library

1   Cultivate
1   Green Sun´s Zenith
1   Kodama`s Reach

1   Beast Within
1   Bonfire of the Damned
1   Clutch of the Undercity
1   Dimir House Guard
1   Eternal Witness
1   Grim Tutor
1   Intuition
1   Maelstrom Pulse
1   Snapcaster Mage
1   Toxic Deluge

1   Explosive Vegetation
1   Hunting Wilds
1   Ranger´s Path
1   Skyshroud Claim

1   Beseech the Queen
1   Mystical Teachings
1   Scapeshift
1   Summoner´s Pact

1   Pact of Negation
1   Pelakka Wurm
1   Primal Command
1   Primeval Titan
1   Rune-Scarred Demon

1   Arid Mesa
1   Badlands
1   Bayou
1   Blood Crypt
1   Bloodstained Mire
1   Breeding Pool
1   Dark Depths
1   Flooded Strand
1   Marsh Flats
1   Misty Rainforest
1   Overgrown Tomb
1   Polluted Delta
1   Scalding Tarn
3   Snow Covered Forest
2   Snow Covered Island
4   Snow Covered Mountain
2   Snow Covered Swamp
1   Steam Vents
1   Stomping Ground
1   Taiga
1   Thespian´s Stage
1   Tolaria West
1   Tranquil Thicket
1   Tropical Island
1   Underground Sea
1   Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1   Verdant Catacombs
1   Volcanic Island
1   Watery Grave
1   Windswept Heath
1   Wooded Foothills

Five Garruks in a Highlander deck...hilarious

I would have expected that non-combo ramp would have become unplayable piles without the spoils mulligan but it seems I was wrong here.

Has somebody managed to built a Tier1 Tolarian Academy /Yawgmoth´s Will list? I have a rough sketch of an 4C TezzOath but it is too dependent on the few big spells which you need to find/resolve which can be very challenging against hard control/aggro builds.

Hukka, our reigning Finnish champion, has a really powerful list for a combo deck revolving around Yawgmoth's Will. Its main downside is insane amount of playskill it requires, and that nobody is willig to test against it. I don't have the exact list, but it's basicly just all rituals, all tutors, all cantrips, all duress/chant effects, lands and the broken stuff.

I expect that his deck will be similar to the OathStorm lists. For example: http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/15373#215460.

Imperial Seal seems to be equal to Workshop in terms of affordance. I find it hard to believe Seal would be banned at first place if it costed the same as miracle tutors. We could discuss unbanning it while waiting for printing of judge promo.

So how is Imperial Seal different to the other expensive unbanned cards then? Workshop, Tabernacle, Candelabra, Bazaar all have the same price tag and only find place in very specific deck types, so does the Seal. I doubt that Imperial Seal would go into any Non-Combo decks, so you could do Combo decks a favor to fight the Midrange/Control madness. So why do we have to wait for a Promo Seal when we can have it in October

I am tiered of reading all these Midrange and Control decklists and would like to test a competitive combo deck. Does someone have a good deck list to test with in addition to the Finnish High Tide and Emrakul lists?

With the current rules I doubt Combo can be Tier1 any time soon, so I would like to see Imperial Seal unbanned. Is there any chance to get a explanation from the council why Imperial Seal was/is still banned?

Top 3 4 cards in Highlander for me are: Jace,  Demonic, Drain, Brainstorm

Top 3 cards strategy wise: Birds/Hierarch/Shaman... into Clique/Geist/Nemesis... into Jace/Elspeth/Garruk...

Top 3 pet cards: Brainstorm, Teachings, Eladamri´s Call

Perhaps this is correct for UW, so I give in here.

I am looking more out of the angle of UWb Tezzerator which plays not only Signets but also Moxes and 2mana lands as I prefer to be the one who asks the questions and does not have to answer it. IMO the counter magic in HL is worse in comparison to the available threats in Uwb(x) colours. This also helps to avoid running out of time on tournaments. But this is certainly another deck and topic.

This may be correct in a unnown meta but not in a UW infested one. What do you want o counter on T2-3 in the mirror? Better be the first one who can play out is threat with counter/discard backup IMO.

My view of possible mirror techs are:

-   G splash for loam engine (+Oath for the other matchups)
-   B splash for discard/(tutor) spells
-   Artifact ramp for accelerating threats (mostly PWs)

I am currently looking to include them all with a small Tezzeret theme and disregard the BtB plan (I am currently missing about 15 slots  ) One basic each plus all the talisman/signets should be OK against opps BtB and you can fight back with Winter Orb. But if RDW is another dtb in your meta this could become problematic...

But even if you want to stay UW. Why do you think artifact ramp is bad? Accelerating is always a useful thing to me. Why most of the finish players think otherwise?

If I would play in this meta I would choose to play darkbant aggrocontrol but I would do this in every meta  

Regarding Mystical Tutor. I can only shake my head that the council unbanned this monster, especially after the game slowed down to make UW a Tier 1 deck even without this card.

cheap/hasting creatures, burn and some silverbullets are not favorable against UW  
Accelerated threats plus counter/discard does not work against UW  

...At least I made different experiences.

Btw, the UW's do not look teched out to a control meta to me. OK the show a lot of countermagic and libary manipulation but I count one discard spell in the Top 8 control decks and zero Loam´s  

...and yes, UW(x)(x) is ONE of the DtB at the moment.

  This is what I call a control meta. One-two drop zoo and aggro control should do very well in it.

If there would be a fast combo deck it should also do its work IMO.
@ Council: Do the Imperial Seal job

@ pyyhttu: Thanks for sharing

I´ll bet on Setessan Tactics as a sleeper card. 

WotC makes us shifting more and more to creature combat decks and this card can be a one sided Wrath effect at instant speed. 

Sure, the tapping requirement is a big downside but even if you cannot use the Prey Upon side of the card you could at least mini pump your creatures which can be good enough from time to time (get your guy out of Bolt range, kill attackers or Planeswalkers). The second downside is certainly the vulnerability to instant removal but nobodys perfect...

However, the benefit this card can create in creature matchups can be game swinging/winning, so I expect that this card will see some play in Token, Elf and even Maverick like decks.

Perhaps comparing him helps...Is he better than Sygg? I do not find home for Sygg in any of my aggro control decks which is the only strategy were Diciple is playable at all.

Deciple od Deceit  -So why not adding Merchant Scroll to the mix? You can tutor for Muddle the Mixture in order to transmute him...After paying UB sorcery for a 1/3 guy you just need to untap him somehow to gain a quite limited tutor effect. This card is garbage IMO.

Eidolon of Great Revel  - On the other hand I reconsidered this one. The stats are still quite bad and there is no haste printed on it but it is true that this guy is very annoying to many control/combo strategies. In aggro/midrange meta I still do not like him.

The new staples are Banishing Light, Mana Confluence and Prophetic Flamespeaker IMO

Some thoughts:

Banishing Light and Mana Confluence – nuff said above

Prophetic Flamespeaker - is Shadowmage Infiltrator on steroids. This card is overpowered and does its job nearly stand alone. The only question is which deck can support RR1 and has enough removal/pump to push him over the top. This is a must play in Jund for example IMO.

Iroas - The stats and effects are very brutal for RWx aggro. 4 mana is a lot and there are a lot of 4 drops available in RWx. He might see play IMO as R&W cards usually do have a lot of coloured mana symbols.

Athreos – Strong card if you can reach the devotion threshold but I do not know agood BW deck to do so.

Dictate of Karametra – Mustplay in Hearbeat decks (even better than Heartbeat itself IMO)

Hypnotic Siren - 7 Mana might be too much, even for UGx aggrocontrol decks, but hey, there are lists out there which play Flying Men and this is a strict upgrade, even tutorable with Ranger of Eos. Might be a card for UW skies.

Temples (in general) – As already said very playable in control decks. Especially required to fix the colours in two coloured decks. I will definitely use the UR one in future.


Don´t like "playables" in this topic:

Deciple of Deceit - might be a sleeper but untapping a 1/3 in UB is very unlikely (at least attacking is not possible very often) usually. I think that the Inspired mechanic is weak in general but especially in control strategies.
Eidolon of the Great Revel – High casting cost requirements, weak stats and that the ability might even backfire in race situations make him unplayable for me
Doomwake Giant – 5 Mana for a 4/6 is a lot and there a not so many enchantments per deck to trigger him more often
Godsend – last ability fizzles in Highlander the rest is just very clunky with a lot of better options out there...

P.S. Another honorable mention regarding Master of Feast – tutorable with Zur (so as Courser of Kruphix which "combos" with Sylvan Library)