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Original thread started 20.04.2012
Hello and welcome to my fifth article. At first I would like to mention the fact that some may agree with my decisions and my arguments and some may not but I choose to post this article to those who are interested. I will take any critique. Happy reading.

I have long ago realized Staxx is never going to be the deck to beat in Highlander but that doesn't keep me from trying to have some fun with it and trying to optimize it anyways. I use math for some of my decisions but some decisions are also based on experiences and personal choices even though I know this is not always the best way to do it.

When I first start to design a deck I go through the following steps of deck-building:


1. At what level should this deck be able to compete? I have chosen for my deck to not be tier 1 but instead design my own casual deck, which should be able to compete with the top Highlander decks occasionally. For that I need some sort of all-in strategy, because a strategy with lower top-level than the top decks and lower bottom-level than the top decks will never beat the top decks. This deck can perform at an extremely high level but can also do absolutely nothing sometimes.

2. What do I want the deck to do and what theme should I go with? I have once again chosen to build a Staxx deck. This time it will be a lighter Staxx version since I don't run that many themed cards. Out goes Smokestack, Armageddon, Ravages of War, Rising Waters, Static Orb, Trinisphere, Sphere of Resistance, Nether Void, Dust Bowl and the likes. This time I'll run some more efficient spells which may win me some games.

3. Which colours does it need to do whatever the theme is? I have chosen a five-colour version because I feel I need white for Swords to Plowshares, Vindicate, Wrath of God and Elspeth, Knight-Errant, I need blue for Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Tezzeret the Seeker, I need green for Oath of Druids, Garruk Wildspeaker, Primeval Titan, Life from the Loam and Sylvan Library, I need black for discard spells, tutor spells, Damnation and Bitterblossom and I need red for Wildfire effects and Inferno Titan. It is quite possible to build a similar deck with only three colours, but I intend this deck to be fun and functional rather than just functional. My idea of fun is this.

4. Find the potential cards and start the deck building.




The deck list:

36 lands
-----------------------
10 dual lands
10 fetch lands
Krosan Verge

Creeping Tar Pit
Celestial Colonnade
Stirring Wildwood

Flagstones of Trokair

Exotic Orchard

Academy Ruins
Wasteland
Rishadan Port

Ancient Tomb
Crystal Vein

City of Brass
Glimmervoid
Tendo Ice Bridge
Reflecting Pool

The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
-----------------------




12 Mana Stones
-----------------------
Mox Diamond

Grim Monolith

Prismatic Lens
Fellwar Stone
Talisman of Progress
Talisman of Dominance
Azorius Signet
Dimir Signet
Golgari Signet
Orzhov Signet

Coalition Relic
Worn Powerstone
-----------------------




7 Theme Cards
-----------------------
Winter Orb
Tangle Wire

Life from the Loam
Crucible of Worlds

Wildfire
Burning of Xinye
Devastation
-----------------------




5 Disruption Spells
-----------------------
Mana Drain
Thoughtseize
Duress
Inquisition of Kozilek
Hymn to Tourach
-----------------------




4 Sweeper Spells
-----------------------
Day of Judgment
Damnation
Wrath of God
Humility
-----------------------




4 Removal Spells
-----------------------
Swords to Plowshares
Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Consuming Vapors
-----------------------




13 Draw or Tutor Spells
-----------------------
Sensei's Divining Top
Sylvan Library

Gamble
Demonic Tutor
Tainted Pact
Intuition

Ancestral Vision
Timetwister
Fact or Fiction

Muddle the Mixture
Wargate

Primal Command

Yawgmoth's Will
-----------------------




7 Planeswalkers
-----------------------
Garruk Wildspeaker
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Ajani Vengeant
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Tezzeret the Seeker
Gideon Jura
-----------------------




6 Creatures
-----------------------
Kitchen Finks

Primeval Titan
Inferno Titan
Wurmcoil Engine

Rune-Scarred Demon
Iona, Shield of Emeria
-----------------------




6 Other Win-Conditions
-----------------------
Oath of Druids

Thopter Foundry
Sword of the Meek

Bribery
Bitterblossom
Batterskull
-----------------------
100 Total




About the card choices:
The Lands: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale is a meta-environment card and I find it good enough at the moment. Even without any Armageddons in the deck. I will test some other cards instead of Tabernacle once Avacyn Restored has release.

The Mana Stones: I have chosen to cut Thran Dynamo and Gilded Lotus because I don't think I want to ramp any more once I have four mana. "Wasting" a turn on ramping is fine in turn 2 or sometimes turn 3 but I do not wish to spend my fourth turn on ramping. Thran Dynamo has some serious power though but for now I wish to play more threads and less ramp.

The Theme Cards: I don't play many theme cards any longer and as explained in the intro there's a reason for it: I wish to do something different than just being a Staxx deck. By cutting stuff like Nether Void, Smokestack, Rising Waters and Armageddons I get more room for Thopter-Sword combo and some tutors for example.

The Disruption Spells: Once again I've added some discard spells to this version because I feel they are extremely functional. They take out the one Price of Progress, Stoneforge Mystic, Qasali Pridemage or Garruk Wildspeaker, which would otherwise have killed me. I can't find any other good discard spell at the moment so it'll have to stay at four. Muddle the Mixture have been added but I'll talk about that one later.

The Sweeper Spells: I no longer run Barter in Blood as the fifth sweeper spell. I find it very useful but I don't need that many removal spells. Humilty is great in the deck with man-lands, Gideon Jura, Batterskull or any token generator.

The Removal Spells: I have cut Oblivion Ring. It was almost as strong as Maelstrom Pulse most of the times but other times it fell short and went almost useless. Also I didn't need that many removal spells any longer and it was the weakest link.

The Draw or Tutor Spells: I've added Gamble, Intuition, Ancestral Vision, Timetwister, Muddle the Mixture and Yawgmoth's Will. Gamble is great in turn 1 to fetch an Oath of Druids or a combo piece for the Thopter-Sword combo. It also finds Loam-Waste combo pieces. This card will most likely not always be in my Staxx Oath deck because I will test other cards instead of it. Intuition is in here for testing with the Loam-Waste combo but I'm not sure the combo is strong enough any longer. It was in 2009 but creatures, planeswalkers and board position has become much more important since then. Ancestral Vision has proven to be very strong in the deck because often I don't do anything on turn 1 before I play a Signet on turn 2. Timetwister is in for testing but I think I will cut it again. It's really strong against control but really weak against aggro and I do not like to play cards that depends that much on my opponent. Muddle the Mixture is great and won't get the kick until I drop from the deck either Winter Orb, Oath of Druids, Life from the Loam, the Thopter Foundry-Sword of the Meek combo or Bitterblossom. Yawgmoth's Will is also in for testing at the moment. Such a powerful card cannot go untested. So far it has either been a fizzle spell that did nothing, a 4-mana spell that got me a land, a Swords to Plowshares and a Thoughtseize or a game-winning 10 mana spell. I will keep it in for a few more months for testing. Futhermore I would like to test the deck without Wargate for some time because even though it's very versatile (x = 0 finding Wasteland or Academy Ruins, x = 2 finding Oath, Thopter-Sword, Winter Orb or Bitterblossom, x = 3 finding Crucible or Tangle Wire and x = more than 3 finding a win-condition) it is also very slow.

The Planeswalkers: As always I like to play only Planeswalkers that are strong against aggro because I have this theory that every PW is strong against control since they tend to leave them untouched for a longer period of time. I play the strongest PWs in the format like Jace, Garruk, Elspeth and Ajani and then I've added Sorin because it's strong against aggro, Gideon because it's strong against aggro and Tezzeret because it fetches either Winter Orb, Crucible of Worlds, Tangle Wire, Thopter-Sword combo or Batterskull while it also untaps mana stones.

The Creatures: The only cheap creature I play is Kitchen Finks because I like expensive creatures for Oath of Druids. Kitchen Finks is obviously the worst creature to Oath into but it's surprisingly strong even then because it "drags" out the game which leads to more Oathing. I have gone away from the extremely expensive bombs like Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre because I wish to cast my creature spell after ramping. Otherwise I should cut a lot of ramp and then the deck would turn into a regular Oath deck. Rune-Scarred Demon is not as strong a fighter as the Titans but Oathing into it is about as good as it gets.

The Other Win-Conditions: Bribery continues to be a strong card in the deck. Bitterblossom has been out for some time but it's back in. It was a mistake taking it out. I sometimes test the deck without the Thopter-Sword combo but it always seems like a bad choice even though the first of the two cards I draw always is a dead draw until the second one is drawn or tutor'ed for. Batterskull is sometimes not a good card but it rocks against aggro and is often better than Baneslayer Angel. Another thing about Batterskull: It allows me to play a non-creature spell which gives me a creature which is good in an Oath-deck. It's not as good against control as it is against aggro, but the fact that it can be returned to my hand works fine against control. I will test the deck without this equipment sometime soon.




Cards I have on my watch list for future testing:
-1. Koth of the Hammer. Being one of the most powerful PWs in the format, he's very interesting. However he cannot defend himself. He untaps a land which is good for ramping and when Winter Orb is on the battlefield and he attacks other PWs really well. He's also strong with Humility.

-2. Griselbrand. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Griselbrand because it's the optimal creature to Oath into and it's still not Jin-Gitaxias expensive to cast. I will test this bomb instead of Timetwister since I don't feel this card is strong enough unless I'm surrounding by control players.

-3. Temporal Mastery. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Temporal Mastery because it looks to be a really powerful card for this format as well as many others. I might be wrong. To be honest believe this deck will benefit from taking an extra turn a little more than other decks even though it's strong in every deck to take an extra turn. Playing a deck that does not draw many cards with stuff like Harmonize and Thirst for Knowledge, Miracles seem stronger. I will test this sorcery instead of Wargate because I feel like it's a too-expensive tutor spell at the moment.

-4. Entreat the Angels. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Entreat the Angels because it looks to be a lot of raw flying power for a medium amount of mana. Playing a deck that does not draw many cards with stuff like Harmonize and Thirst for Knowledge, Miracles seem stronger. I will try this sorcery instead of The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale because I no longer need that land at the moment.

-5. Liliana Vess. Once Avacyn Restore has release I will test a few cards. One of them is Liliana Vess because I have absolutely no idea if Miracle cards like Temporal Mastery and Entreat the Angels combined with combo cards like Oath of Druids, Thopter-Sword and Loam-Waste makes Liliana Vess strong enough for this deck. I certainly know Liliana sometimes can win a game by fetching an Entreat the Angels followed up by a Temporal Mastery. If it's good enough, I do not know. She has no board presence so she's very slow and vulnerable.

-6. Baneslayer Angel. Not the best creature to Oath into (Just like Kitchen Finks, only more powerful) but is easier to cast than the rest. If Griselbrand doesn't turn out to be good enough, I will test Baneslayer Angel. Perhaps I will also test Baneslayer Angel instead of Kitchen Finks for some time or instead of Batterskull.

-7 & 8. Despise & Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.




That was all for know. I will appreciate any critique because I'm always ready to learn.
Thx, Patrick





Update 25.04.2012:
I've decided to cut the expensive but powerful Iona, Shield of Emeria and instead play Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite. Iona was great to Oath into but she was almost too expensive to cast. The deck does not have a very difficult time casting this angel but she was not worth the mana. Taking her out is sad because she was very strong to Oath into but I have to find the right balance. Sometimes I have to go for easier-to-cast-creatures and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite is. Elesh Norn feels really strong because it has a ETB (Enter the battlefield) effect just like the Titans but it doesn't hit that hard on the opponent. However with a single token-generator she's more powerful than any other creature in my deck.
  -1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
+1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.

I've had much succes with a Highlander mulligan when I keep either:

Price of Progress and pass 6 cards
Stoneforge Mystic and pass 6 cards
Oath of Druids and pass 6 cards
Demonic Tutor and pass 6 cards
Tainted Pact and pass 6 cards

Perhaps I should put the list down to
Stoneforge, Oath and Demonic and you should try and test the above?

My first thought on the card was also that this card would be insane in Highlander.

I don't know if the card is actually going to break the format but it's going to be Jace TMS good in my opinion. What do you guys think?

You should not be able to pass 7 cards to draw 7 cards and then mulligan to 6 where you could pass 6 cards to draw 6 cards.

That's just out of the question.

Also the players who do not know how to mulligan correct, should learn to do so. This is my advice, take it or leave it:
Having a starting hand with 7 non-land cards should not make you pass only 5 cards because you wish to draw 2 lands in those 5 cards. That's unlikely and it will cost you the game if you fail.

So having 7 non-land cards in your hand should make you think: Either I'll keep the absolute best card (Demonic Tutor, Stoneforge Mystic, Birds of Paradise) and pass 6 cards or I'll mulligan down to 6 cards before I use my special Highlander mulligan. That's what I always do and it works for me. If someone has any advice for me regarding my mulligan theory, I'll be happy to hear them

Thx, Patrick

I think perhaps Stoneforge should get banned. I completely trust the HL Council's decision in 6 months.

Yeah it's really hard to play artifact or creature removal?!


The banlist changes are official since 5 days and all people still flame that aggro is still overpowered? You all tested that much?

Did I flame that aggro is still overpowered?
No

Did I say I based my one-liner theory on evidence?
No

Did I say I tested that much in five days?
No

Does playing artifact and creature removal makes Stoneforge Mystic a reasonable card?
No

Wake up before you throw trash. What I said was: I believe Stoneforge Mystic should still get banned even though Birthing Pod has been banned AND that I totally trust the decision in six month whatever that decision might end up be because I trust in the Highlander Council.

Loam is not a problem. At least not yet. Loam is not deciding games any longer and it's not a slow draw-engine any longer. Gifts is long gone.
And if Loam turns out to be a problem anyways: Ban Intuition, which already is a powerful tutor spell and problem is solved.



Yawgmoth's Will is a seriously strong card in most formats. In Highlander there is no real abuse for it yet so I see no problem here. I doubt it'll ever get banned again.



I think perhaps Stoneforge should get banned. I completely trust the HL Council's decision in 6 months.

Okay the newest deck list (Just for info if people are interested)

This time I will not comment on strategies, card choices or comboes in the deck. I will just post the deck and see what you guys have to say. Any critique, suggestions or questions are fine


Staxx Oath
--------------------------------------------------

Lands (35 lands)
10 Dual lands
10 Fetch Lands
Krosan Verge

City of Brass
Glimmervoid
Reflecting Pool
Exotic Orchard
Tendo Ice Bridge

Celestial Colonnade
Creeping Tar Pit
Stirring Wildwood

Ancient Tomb
City of Traitors
Crystal Vein

Wasteland
Rishadan Port

Flagstones of Trokair

--------------------------------------------------

Mana Artifacts (16)
Chrome Mox
Mox Diamond

Azorius Signet
Dimir Signet
Fellwar Stone
Grim Monolith
Orzhov Signet
Prismatic Lens
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Progress
Golgari Signet

Awakening Zone
Coalition Relic
Worn Powerstone

Thran Dynamo

Gilded Lotus

--------------------------------------------------

Theme Cards (9)
Crucible of Worlds

Winter Orb

Tangle Wire
Smokestack

Armageddon
Ravages of War
Wildfire
Burning of Xinye
Devastation

--------------------------------------------------

Other Removal (13)
Swords to Plowshares
Lightning Bolt
Brittle Effigy
Mana Drain

Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Oblivion Ring

Consuming Vapors

Wrath of God
Damnation
Day of Judgment
Barter in Blood

Humility

--------------------------------------------------

Discard (3)
Thoughtseize
Inquisition of Kozilek
Duress

--------------------------------------------------

Draw/Tutor (9)
Sensei's Divining Top
Relic of Progenitus

Demonic Tutor
Tainted Pact
Praetor's Grasp
Wargate

Sylvan Library
Phyrexian Arena

Fact or Fiction

--------------------------------------------------

Win Conditions (15)
Oath of Druids

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Iona, Shield of Emeria (This card could also be Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur)

Liliana of the Veil
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Garruk Wildspeaker
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Ajani Vengeant
Tezzeret the Seeker
Gideon Jura

Bitterblossom

Animate Dead
Bribery

--------------------------------------------------
100 cards


Okay so I needed some more stuff against reanimator + a few of my cards were too often dead.

Brittle Effigy turns Tezzeret into a removal spell and also makes Tezzeret even more effective when Smokestack is on the battlefield. Brittle also turns Wargate into a removal spell for 4 and 4 mana instead of 7 payed all at once.

Cards I'm only testing at the moment: Praetor's Grasp, Brittle Effigy, Animate Dead and Duress.

Now I need your opinion once again if you'd be so kind. I know the deck is not tier 1 and probably won't ever be it, so all I need to know is: Do you feel the deck has improved or not since the first version.

Out: The Abyss
In: Consuming Vapors
Reason: The Abyss was not amazing with 2 of my 3 large creatures or any of the tokens. The Abyss rarely kills more then 2 creatures in a game. Consuming Vapors has a weak life gain attached. As Lash mentioned the deck needs life gain and this might be the first step. Batterskull is insanely strong in some match-ups but I don't see those that often right now, so I'll leave it in the "sideboard" for now.

Out: The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale
In: Relic of Progenitus
Reason: It's a land for a non-land. However Tabernacle doesn't tap for mana even though it works with Mox Diamond. Relic can draw me a card, which sort of makes up for this. I needed an answer for reanimator due to my meta environment. I have a decent amount of tutors, so I felt like this card should have a go. I thought of Nihil Spellbomb as well, but I'm gonna try Relic at first.

Out: Nether Void
In: Liliana Vess
Reason: Liliana Vess is not the strongest card, so maybe this is not the right call. I need to get rid of Nether Void for now and I felt like getting an extra tutor spell. Also for Relic of Progenitus. I'm gonna try Liliana 1.0 for a week or so and then decide to cut it or not.

Out: Mishra's Workshop
In: Crystal Vein
Reason: As Lash mentioned earlier in this thread I can only cast ramp spells with Workshop and only around 20 cards, which means 80 % of my deck is not castable with Workshop. Crystal Vein is a fine card in a deck with a lot of bombs, which needs to be dropped early on and in a deck with some Armageddon effects. I will try this land for some time. I was also thinking about Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree. It doesn't at all work well with the Winter Orb theme, but it works quite well with Planeswalkers and Smokestack. I doubt it's enough but if Crystal Vein is not good enough, I will try Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree just for fun and for the testing.

So what do you guys think? Any of the above decisions I should redo? Any suggestions to what I else could do?
Thx, Patrick

OK thx for your answers guys. Always nice to get second and third opinions on stuff.

This time I will not comment on strategies, card choices or comboes in the deck. I will just post the deck and see what you guys have to say. Any critique, suggestions or questions are fine


Staxx Oath
--------------------------------------------------

Lands (36 lands, 35 produce mana)
10 Dual lands
10 Fetch Lands
Krosan Verge

City of Brass
Glimmervoid
Reflecting Pool
Exotic Orchard
Tendo Ice Bridge

Celestial Colonnade
Creeping Tar Pit
Stirring Wildwood

Ancient Tomb
City of Traitors

Wasteland
Rishadan Port

Flagstones of Trokair

Mishra's Workshop

The Tabernacle at Pendrell Vale

--------------------------------------------------

Mana Artifacts (16)
Chrome Mox
Mox Diamond

Azorius Signet
Dimir Signet
Fellwar Stone
Grim Monolith
Orzhov Signet
Prismatic Lens
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Progress
Golgari Signet

Awakening Zone
Coalition Relic
Worn Powerstone

Thran Dynamo

Gilded Lotus

--------------------------------------------------

Theme Cards (11)
Crucible of Worlds

Winter Orb
Rising Waters

Tangle Wire
Smokestack
Nether Void

Armageddon
Ravages of War
Wildfire
Burning of Xinye
Devastation

--------------------------------------------------

Other Removal (12)
Swords to Plowshares
Lightning Bolt
Mana Drain

Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Oblivion Ring

Wrath of God
Damnation
Day of Judgment
Barter in Blood

Humility
The Abyss

--------------------------------------------------

Discard (2)
Thoughtseize
Inquisition of Kozilek

--------------------------------------------------

Draw/Tutor (6)
Sensei's Divining Top

Demonic Tutor
Tainted Pact

Sylvan Library
Phyrexian Arena

Fact or Fiction

--------------------------------------------------

Win Conditions (16)
Oath of Druids

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Iona, Shield of Emeria (This card could also be Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur)

Liliana of the Veil
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Garruk Wildspeaker
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Ajani Vengeant
Tezzeret the Seeker
Gideon Jura
Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

Bitterblossom

Bribery

--------------------------------------------------
100 cards


At the moment and in my current meta environment the only card that feels a bit odd is Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker.

Let me hear your comments if you'd like. The only thing I need you to keep in mind is this: I do not wish to change into a completely other deck and I do not wish to change into a more-creature build (with or without Oath of Druids). I wish to keep the same theme and 2-4 creatures in the deck.

Thx a lot, Patrick

"Yet I still do not see the gain of the Trinisphere unban."
We are yet to see the loss of the Trinisphere unban as well. Nobody plays it because it's not a strong card. Weak cards should not be on the ban list. Yes there exists a semi-strong combination out there, but you should also be rewarded for playing two cards that do nothing on them own. Workshop is getting tougher and tougher to keep in the deck and should get further and further away from the HL Councils ban list.

So far Trinisphere has been proven right to be unbanned as the HL Council also agrees with:
http://www.magicplayer.org/forum/index.php?topic=760.0
"Our decision to unban Trinisphere proved to be right. The card makes Staxx obviously stronger and is a nice anti-aggro card too but didn't push staxx to next level. Staxx is still tier 2 based on the results we gathered since Trinisphere was unleashed - you'll find only one(!) top HL decklist using Trinisphere (http://mtgpulse.com/events-highlander). For now, that was the reason why Trinisphere has been vanished from the watchlist."



Life from the Loam is only dangerous with cards like Intuition and Gifts Ungiven. Having Demonic Tutor fetching up a LftL or a Wasteland after you have the other is not worse of a problam than fetching up any other combo piece.

If you cannot enable recurring card draw og recurring Wasteland from t4, Life from the Loam should not be a problem => Unban it because the people have wished for this for two years in a row. Sensei is a slow card. Life from the Loam: Not so much. Also after turn 4 you should not cry about losing your non-basic lands recurring with Wasteland if your opponent had the luck to find a 2-card combo and if you only play non-basics.


Staxx is - by all means - still tier 2.0 so I see no reason to fear it. I play it sometimes and it's not too strong. Not at all in fact

Library should not get unbanned, but Yawgmoth's Will, Tolarian Academy, Enlightened Tutor (Ban Pod first) could.
Birthing Pod could get banned and Intuition should get banned. Also Gifts should not get unbanned at least for the next few years even though I would love it in all my decks.
I'm fine with Sensei in the format but I wouldn't mind it being banned even though I play it in all my decks.

I know what the best is If I wanted to play the best I would not play Staxx

I wish to play Staxx and I wish to play Staxx with Oath of Druids with either a package of 5-8 creatures in Titan-size or 3 creatures in Ulamog-size.

From there my deck is build

It's about the casting cost and not the effect by itself why you should/may play Propaganda and Firespout. CC3 is so important because you want to survive the early turns to reach midgame and with CC4 spells like barter moat abyss and friends you won't have enough cheap game stretchers imo. Another issue why I always recommend enough <cc4 removal is Geddock Teek. He's just nuts against Staxx.

That is of course a very valid point. I thank you for the answer My version plays Swords to Plowshares, Lightning Bolt, Mana Drain, Liliana of the Veil, Vindicate and Maelstrom Pulse of the removal with mana cost < 3 besides Thoughtseize, Inquisition and few other stuff that also may prevent me from being attacked early on. Do you think I should try one or both (Ghostly)?

Yes

Thx U guys all 3 of U for the very fast answers!!

That's appreciated!


Tabris: "Sanctuary is still awesome. So often I wish Tezz could fetch it right away. The opponent have to find an answer. It protects even PW from burn. Additionaly I highly recommend adding propaganda. Most decks cant afford the extra mana nowadays. Might give you the edge to get to turn 5-7."

Oh okay I think I'll try it again. I remember I cut it back 15 months ago due to the inefficiency against my control meta, so I think you're SO right: It should have another go in my deck. I'm not sure I'll play Propaganda though. I might try Collective Restraint but I really dislike the fact that it don't protect my PW's. I think Moat, Humility and The Abyss are enough. Won't you agree? Do you think I should play Propaganda over Collective Restraint? Do you think I need 2x Propaganda (Ghostly Prison)? I did play Firespout but I'm trying Barter in Blood instead. Which would you play first if you had a choice to include only one of these: Firespout, Slagstorm or Rolling Earthquake? I have all 3 available in my collection. The only one I've never tried is Slagstorm, but it actually looks really interesting.



Lash do you think Concentrade would work instead of Mind Spring? I mean we both know the upsides and downsides of those cards so the way I see it: You would never want to cast Mind Spring for 4 (x=2) and you rarely cast it for 7 (x=5), so is Concentrade not just the right middle ground? I used Deep Analysis a few months ago and it was actually pretty good. After Oathing you rarely needed it for the win but I always felt like it was a decent card at all times and never a dead draw, which I fear Mind Spring could be. It's been two years since I've had Mind Spring in my Staxx deck, so I feel pretty rusty about my info on this card, so don't take my words for any good "Kozilek is better than duress atm, because of the aggro meta." I totally agree


Once again, thx for answering this quick.