This is the High Tide deck I played in Ladder Tournament.
// Lands (29)
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tropical Island
24 Snow-Covered Island
// Stones (4)
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Talisman of Unity
1 Simic Signet
// Engine (13)
1 High Tide
1 Heartbeat of Spring
1 Cloud of Faeries
1 Snap
1 Frantic Search
1 Turnabout
1 Rewind
1 Treachery
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Spellweaver Volute
1 Time Spiral
1 Mind's Desire
1 Palinchron
// Draw/tutor (31)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Personal Tutor
1 Serum Visions
1 Sleight of Hand
1 Opt
1 Impulse
1 Ideas Unbound
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Telling Time
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Regrowth
1 Dizzy Spell
1 Meditate
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Compulsive Research
1 Relearn
1 Timetwister
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Intuition
1 Deep Analysis
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Concentrate
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Careful Consideration
1 Foresee
1 Recall
1 Flash of Insight
1 Braingeyser
1 Stroke of Genius
// Protection (23)
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Force Spike
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Withdraw
1 Counterspell
1 Mana Drain
1 Remand
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Delay
1 Miscalculation
1 Propaganda
1 Repulse
1 Plumeveil
1 Man-o'-War
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Cryptic Command
1 Force of Will
1 Condescend
1 Repeal
1 Gigadrowse | This is the High Tide deck I have been playing lately. Changes in italics.
// Lands (29)
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tropical Island
24 Snow-Covered Island
// Stones (6)
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Talisman of Impulse
1 Talisman of Unity
1 Simic Signet
1 Solemn Simulacrum
// Engine (13)
1 High Tide
1 Heartbeat of Spring
1 Snap
1 Frantic Search
1 Turnabout
1 Rewind
1 Treachery
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Spellweaver Volute
1 Rude Awakening
1 Time Spiral
1 Mind's Desire
1 Palinchron
// Draw/tutor (30)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 Personal Tutor
1 Serum Visions
1 Sleight of Hand
1 Impulse
1 Ideas Unbound
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Telling Time
1 Regrowth
1 Dizzy Spell
1 Meditate
1 Drift of Phantasms
1 Compulsive Research
1 Relearn
1 Timetwister
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Intuition
1 Sea Gate Oracle
1 Deep Analysis
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Concentrate
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Careful Consideration
1 Foresee
1 Recall
1 Flash of Insight
1 Braingeyser
1 Stroke of Genius
// Protection (22)
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Force Spike
1 Chain of Vapor
1 Counterspell
1 Mana Drain
1 Remand
1 Mana Leak
1 Memory Lapse
1 Back to Basics
1 Calcite Snapper
1 Phyrexian Ironfoot
1 Propaganda
1 Repulse
1 Plumeveil
1 Man-o'-War
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Cryptic Command
1 Force of Will
1 Condescend
1 Gigadrowse |
For deeper analysis on changes and discussion, go to the blog (http://blog.magicplayer.org/2010/05/29/ladder-tournament-winning-high-tide-list-and-suggestions/).
Excellent review with in-depth card analysis. Tagged this as "important" in feedreader because both of these lists serve as a good primer for the two little bit different high tide lists.
I've yet to test the newest additions I've documented at the end here: http://iki.fi/~pyyhttu/magic/highlander/high_tide_Ugr.txt
That lists strives towards synergy in the card choices and combo kill, so haven't added any Calcite Snappers nor Phyrexian Ironfoots.
I haven't tested Wayfarer's Bauble yet, have forgotten that somehow. It makes a good turn one play and helps to amass the mana faster which is always a challenge for this deck against aggro.
http://blog.magicplayer.org/2010/05/29/ladder-tournament-winning-high-tide-list-and-suggestions/
Thanks Frank, blogpost did not work for me yesterday. Further comments and discussion on the blog entry, please.
My deck (and the blog) gained some visibility: http://puremtgo.com/articles/one-double-o-35-urzas-legacy (http://puremtgo.com/articles/one-double-o-35-urzas-legacy)
Grats. Good for the popularity of the format as a whole.
very nice
Hi,
I would like to share some new ideas in this sweet deck. Some ideas are adopted from Tabris's list.
HighTide deck gained few goodies over the time. Most important were: Yawmoth's Will, Snapcaster Mage, Noxious Revival, Devastation Tide, Blue Sun's Zenith, Gitaxian's Probe, Preordian, Shrine of Piercing Vision. Even with all these spells I think, other decks gained more in comparison. It is not easy to combo out with this deck. It is quite chalenging, but most importantly it is blast to play.
Decklist follows:
// Lands
1 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ON] Flooded Strand
1 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
1 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
1 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
1 [RAV] Watery Grave
1 [A] Underground Sea
24 [ZEN] Island (3)
//Engine
1 [FE] High Tide (1)
1 [TSP] Gauntlet of Power
1 [SC] Mind's Desire
1 [US] Time Spiral
1 [US] Yawgmoth's Will
1 [SC] Brain Freeze
1 [ON] Future Sight
//Untap
1 [EX] Mind Over Matter
1 [UD] Treachery
1 [US] Turnabout
1 [US] Peregrine Drake
1 [UL] Palinchron
1 [US] Great Whale
1 [UL] Frantic Search
//Tutor
1 [PT] Personal Tutor
1 [8E] Merchant Scroll
1 [A] Demonic Tutor
1 [TSP] Mystical Teachings
1 [TE] Intuition
1 [RAV] Dizzy Spell
//Draw
1 [DDH] Deep Analysis
1 [M11] Foresee
1 [SOK] Ideas Unbound
1 [MR] Thirst for Knowledge
1 [RAV] Compulsive Research
1 [8E] Concentrate
1 [TSP] Careful Consideration
1 [IN] Fact or Fiction
1 [A] Braingeyser
1 [TE] Meditate
1 [MBS] Blue Sun's Zenith
//Protection
1 [LG] Force Spike
1 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
1 [DIS] Spell Snare
1 [M11] Negate
1 [5E] Memory Lapse
1 [FD] Condescend
1 [FUT] Delay
1 [SH] Mana Leak
1 [RAV] Muddle the Mixture //also tutor
1 [MM] Counterspell
1 [LG] Mana Drain
1 [RAV] Remand
1 [LRW] Cryptic Command
1 [AL] Force of Will
1 [GP] Repeal
1 [UL] Snap
1 [PY] Withdraw
1 [IN] Repulse
1 [VI] Man-o'-War
1 [AVR] Devastation Tide
1 [SHM] Plumeveil
1 [TE] Propaganda
//Cantrip
1 [FNM] Brainstorm
1 [M10] Ponder
1 [M11] Preordain
1 [ARE] Serum Visions
1 [P2] Sleight of Hand
1 [NPH] Gitaxian Probe
1 [VI] Impulse
1 [CHK] Peer Through Depths
1 [NPH] Shrine of Piercing Vision
1 [M13] Augur of Bolas
//Other
1 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
1 [FD] Wayfarer's Bauble
1 [TE] Sapphire Medallion
1 [VI] Helm of Awakening
1 [US] Back to Basics
//Regrowth's
1 [ISD] Snapcaster Mage
1 [NPH] Noxious Revival
1 [M11] Call to Mind
Cards that I am missing Time Twister + Candelabra of Tawnos. Both these cards are extremely expensive. They would improve the deck, but are not essential.
What changed deck is tiny little black splash, that provides more than this deck could hope for. Y. Will is absolutely amazing and provide realy interesting Intuitions piles. Demonic Tutor is most powerfull tututor ever printed, so it is natural inclusion. What deck lacks little bit is few more good untappers - Whale is sort of subtitution for Candelabra. Mind over Matter can be seen even in legacy high tide deck and serves as ultimate untapper. Mostly there is not problem to have bunch of card in hand, but once all mana gets eaten by playing draw spells to get some untap, Mind Over Matter rules.
What is special about this list is Gauntlet of Power that serves as backup plan if high tide get removed. It still provides almost Mirrary's Wake effect, whitch is always great. As ultimate card drawing engine serves Futuresight, whitch is my pet spell. I like Futuresight+Top combo which nicely supports needed storm count for Mind Desire or Brainfreeze. Spellweaver Volute is also possible, but I have never been fan of this card.
I have cut T4 protection like Vencer and Rewind. I have also cut Solemn Simulacrum, because it does not speed's up combo. It just force to tap out and leave the oponent do whatever he want's during his turn. Since there is no Candelabra of Tawnos I have cut Trinket mage as he was just second Top. These slots were invested to more protection and cantrips.
How quickly can this deck deliver kill? Turn 4 kills are possible. It realy depends on how quickly can we get to High Tide itself + some way to kick off the combo. Anyway turn 4 kills are extremely hard to assemble. Comboing with 5 lands has greater chance not to fizzle and is more safe.
This deck has also almost zero chance to kill outsice the combo. This can be seen as weekness, but this also mean's, that deck is very linear and has fewer dead draws during comboing.
Happy comboing, Ball
To Ball.Lightning
I used to play also Magus of the Future, Etherium sculptor and Cloud key...
When I see so many sweet combo decks I add my own creation:
Lands:
18 Snow-covered Island
Academy Ruins
Tolaria West
Esper Panorama
Bant panorama
Petrified field
Wasteland
Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
Teferi's Isle
Lotus Vale
Coral Atoll
Soldevi Excavations
Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
Magosi, The Waterveil
Other mana manipulation:
Expedition map (art)
Armillary sphere (art)
Crucible of Worlds
Control:
Glen Elendra Archmage (wiz)
Teferi, mage of Zhalfir (Wiz) - Legend
Voidmage Prodigy (wiz)
Martyr of Frost (wiz)
Willbender (wiz)
Spell Crumple
Hinder
Voidmage Husher
Trickbind
Counterbalance
Pithing needle (art)
Mana based control:
Static orb (art)
Winter orb (art)
Patron wizard (wiz)
Rhystic Study
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Anti-monster control
Cryptic command
Turnabout
Ensnare
Evacuation
Venser, Shaper Savant (wiz)
Gilded Drake
Meekstone
Filtering Engine:
Brainstorm
Cephalid Coliseum
Sensei's divining top (art)
Scroll rack (art)
Petals of Insight
Halimar depths
Sage of Epityr (wiz)
Tutoring:
Long-term plans
Intuition
Fabricate
Tutoring via ability
Vedalken Aethermage (wiz)
Drift of phantasms
Muddle the mixture
Tolaria West (again)
Searching in grave:
Recall
Call to Mind
Snapcaster mage (wiz)
Other:
Savor the Moment
Reminisce
Mnemonic nexus
Gush
Sigil Tracer (wiz)
Engine:
Mind over matter
Freed from the Real
Pemmin's aura
Vigean Graftmage (wiz)
Rings of Brighthearth (art)
Fatestitcher (wiz)
Tidewater minion
Aphetto alchemist (wiz)
Wind Zendikon
Genju of the Falls
Rimewind Taskmage (wiz)
Drawing cards:
Azami, lady of scrolls (wiz) - Legend
Arcanis the Omnipotent (wiz) - Legend
Blue Sun's Zenith
Enclave cryptologist (wiz)
Jushi Apprentice (wiz)
Braingeyser
Stroke of Genius
Gilded lotus (art)
Khalni Gem (art)
High tide
Extraplanar lens (art)
This is casual version of the deck. Competetive has some changes:
Arcanis is replaced by Urza's Blueprints
Trickbind by Stifle
Tamyio by Palinchron
and counterspells are changed to FoW, Daze, Thwart and Pact of Negation.
Ball.Lightning:
Rewind is mostly used as an untapper, that it doubles as a counterspell is just bonus. I like Solemn as going off with 6 Islands is so much better than with five, so he does actually speed up the combo by a turn. I have been really happy with 30 lands, just spoil aggressively and you'll be fine.
BTW you have just the right stats below your nick, no one ever dare to change them!
Hi,
I was tweaking with High tide little bit and got it to whole new level. Before posting decklist, I would like to comment it first a little.
1) I wanted deck perform at instant speed as much as possible. I wanted to minimalize number of necessary turns off tapping out without the ability to respond to the opponent. Sure, there are some spells that are worth tapping out, but you will not find any Foresee, Braingeyser, Future Sight, Mind Spring...
2) I wanted to maximalize protection for early turns. So nearly all good cheap counters are included.
3) I maximalized the use of cantrip spells. All good one mana and two mana are included + cantrip guys (that also stall borad little bit)
4) I have cut all traditional regrowth efect, that were originaly played in this decklist. This means there is no Relearn, Call to Mind, Recall. These cards are very dead early on and I feel there is too much good grave hate around, that these spells lost it's power. What I use are the new goodies - Yawmoth's Will, Snapcaster, Noxious Revival (this may seem little odd, but it comboes with intuition nicely + is "free").
5) I wanted the necessary time for perfoming combo to get shorter and comboing became more fun for both players (Opponent will still hate the go-off turn :)
6) I wanted to have two routes to wictory - ie at least two win conditions. It is traditional Palinchron-> infinite + BSZ. Second wincon was originally Brain Freeze, but I switched it to Tendrill's of Agony!
While it may seem little foolish to include 2BB sorcery with 2 black lands + 2 Signets. I added also two rituals effect. And here is where it gets realy spicy. Brain Freeze needed storm count at least 25, but tendrills needs storm count just 9-10. When played in shell, that was originally able to generate storm around 20+, it should not be that difficult to get storm count 10. Rituals serve double purpuse, they works nicely with Yawmot's Will + generate storm count at the same time as they generate mana. Once can look at them as some sort of "untap effect". For instance Cloud of Faeries net also 2 mana same as Dark Ritual does. One can perform kills even without resolved High Tide. With rituals intuition gets even more deadly.
Sure it depend's on the board setup and cards in hand, but pile of Yawmoth's Will, Demonic tutor, Noxious Revival can do wonders when having single ritual in hand.
What I have not tested yet is red splash to this concept. I fear of getting screwed by nonbasic hate, because single wasteland delays combo for at least 1-2 turns, whitch can be crucial. And even Blood Moon could be problem then. I am pretty sattisfied with current setup.
Deck playstyle is to be very defensive from the beginning. Get necessary lands to perform combo + find missing pieces and then perform fast and clean kill. The idea of interacting with opponent can be translated something like this - not let him do something, that would harm our game plan. Everyting else is irrelevant.
Decklist: (100 cards exactly - feel free to add Timetwisted and/or Candelabra of Tawnos)
// Lands
1 [ON] Polluted Delta
1 [ON] Flooded Strand
1 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [A] Underground Sea
1 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
1 [RAV] Watery Grave
1 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
1 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
23 [ZEN] Island (3)
//Engine
1 [FE] High Tide (1)
1 [TSP] Gauntlet of Power
1 [SC] Mind's Desire
1 [US] Time Spiral
1 [UL] Palinchron
1 [US] Yawgmoth's Will
1 [TO] Cabal Ritual
1 [A] Dark Ritual
1 [SC] Tendrils of Agony
//Untap
1 [UL] Cloud of Faeries
1 [UL] Snap
1 [US] Turnabout
1 [UD] Treachery
1 [US] Peregrine Drake
//Tutor
1 [PT] Personal Tutor
1 [A] Demonic Tutor
1 [8E] Merchant Scroll
1 [TE] Intuition
1 [RAV] Drift of Phantasms
1 [RAV] Dizzy Spell
1 [TSP] Mystical Teachings
//Regrowth's
1 [NPH] Noxious Revival
1 [ISD] Snapcaster Mage
//Draw
1 [SOK] Ideas Unbound
1 [MR] Thirst for Knowledge
1 [DDH] Deep Analysis
1 [8E] Concentrate
1 [TSP] Careful Consideration
1 [RAV] Compulsive Research
1 [TE] Meditate
1 [IN] Fact or Fiction
1 [MBS] Blue Sun's Zenith
1 [UL] Frantic Search
1 [WWK] Jace, the Mind Sculptor
//Protection
1 [LG] Force Spike
1 [NPH] Mental Misstep
1 [DIS] Spell Snare
1 [M11] Negate
1 [MM] Counterspell
1 [5E] Memory Lapse
1 [SH] Mana Leak
1 [LG] Mana Drain
1 [RAV] Remand
1 [RAV] Muddle the Mixture
1 [FD] Condescend
1 [AL] Force of Will
1 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
1 [LRW] Cryptic Command
1 [GP] Repeal
1 [IN] Repulse
1 [ZEN] Into the Roil
1 [SHM] Plumeveil
1 [TE] Propaganda
//Cantrip
1 [FNM] Brainstorm
1 [M10] Ponder
1 [M11] Preordain
1 [ARE] Serum Visions
1 [P2] Sleight of Hand
1 [NPH] Gitaxian Probe
1 [VI] Impulse
1 [CHK] Peer Through Depths
1 [M13] Augur of Bolas
1 [ROE] Sea Gate Oracle
//Artifact's
1 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
1 [FD] Wayfarer's Bauble
1 [TE] Sapphire Medallion
1 [VI] Helm of Awakening
1 [RAV] Dimir Signet
1 [MR] Talisman of Dominance
There are few more cards in which I see some potential: Forbidden Alchemy, Shield Sphere+Culling the Weak.
Ball.Lightning
Quote from: Ball.Lightning on 07-11-2012, 02:15:42 AM
1) I wanted deck perform at instant speed as much as possible. I wanted to minimalize number of necessary turns off tapping out without the ability to respond to the opponent. Sure, there are some spells that are worth tapping out, but you will not find any Foresee, Braingeyser, Future Sight, Mind Spring...
Good, but you still have Concentrate which is worse than Foresee in this deck, Gauntlet which shares weaknesses with Future Sight, and Jace which is good setup card and okay defensive card but not that great when going off. I could see Jace being good in some metagames. I have Braingeysir as backup Zenith, and though I have yet to be in a situation where I could have not win without it, it works fine as a setup card and a combo card equally. I could do without it if I had to.
Quote
2) I wanted to maximalize protection for early turns. So nearly all good cheap counters are included.
That's correct. However, I don't play Pierce, Negate or Muddle as I want to be able to use all my counters as a removal spells. Try Arcane Denial, it's made for combo.
Quote
3) I maximalized the use of cantrip spells. All good one mana and two mana are included + cantrip guys (that also stall borad little bit)
I don't play Peer as it misses on most untappers and can't find a land in early game. I have Telling Time which is a bit borderline but gets the job done.
Quote
4) I have cut all traditional regrowth efect, that were originaly played in this decklist. This means there is no Relearn, Call to Mind, Recall. These cards are very dead early on and I feel there is too much good grave hate around, that these spells lost it's power. What I use are the new goodies - Yawmoth's Will, Snapcaster, Noxious Revival (this may seem little odd, but it comboes with intuition nicely + is "free").
I think four regrowths is the number, so the three good ones and one bad one, but you could manage with just three.
Quote
5) I wanted the necessary time for perfoming combo to get shorter and comboing became more fun for both players (Opponent will still hate the go-off turn :)
6) I wanted to have two routes to wictory - ie at least two win conditions. It is traditional Palinchron-> infinite + BSZ. Second wincon was originally Brain Freeze, but I switched it to Tendrill's of Agony!
While it may seem little foolish to include 2BB sorcery with 2 black lands + 2 Signets. I added also two rituals effect. And here is where it gets realy spicy. Brain Freeze needed storm count at least 25, but tendrills needs storm count just 9-10. When played in shell, that was originally able to generate storm around 20+, it should not be that difficult to get storm count 10. Rituals serve double purpuse, they works nicely with Yawmot's Will + generate storm count at the same time as they generate mana. Once can look at them as some sort of "untap effect". For instance Cloud of Faeries net also 2 mana same as Dark Ritual does. One can perform kills even without resolved High Tide. With rituals intuition gets even more deadly.
Sure it depend's on the board setup and cards in hand, but pile of Yawmoth's Will, Demonic tutor, Noxious Revival can do wonders when having single ritual in hand.
I would not add rituals even if I played Tendrils. You'd still need a blue dual to cast it, and then any untapper gives you BB. Rituals do nothing until you go off, and you want to minimize that kind of cards.
Two more questions:
1. What are you getting with Drift of Phantasms, or do you just play it as a blocker? IMO tutors that can get you High Tide are the only ones worth playing (Personal can get it via Scroll).
2. I don't play Helm because I don't want to accelerate my opponent. How are your experiences with the card?
Alchemy is good by the way.
1) I strongly dissagree, that Concentrate is worse Foresee. It is certainly not the best 4 mana draw spell. Propably the worst from those, that are included. But still very strong card.
When going of there is not only Jace, that is not the best card drawn from Time Spiral. Jace has on the other hand so much utility, that it is worth a shot. I agree, it is more defensive card than anything else. Braingeyser is much worse than any other draw spell. I run Zenith over him, just because I can play zenith and not to worry about my wincondition beeing in a graveyard + Zenith is instant speed. When you worry of beeing screwed on win conditions, I would care more about loosing Hight Tide. Without that specific card, there is propably no way you can win.
In our meta many decks run Praetor's Grasp as a way do screw combo decks(mostly agrocontrols). So doubling of win conditions is necessary here. In one game I lost Hight Tide and even Tendrils, but I was still able to win few turns after via Gauntlet of Power + Palinchron + Zenith.
2) I have some scepticism agains Arcane Denial, but it can be very good. I try give it a shot.
3) Peer digs for five and I realy want to find Mind's Desire, High Tide, Time Spiral... Telling time was last cut. It is decent card.
5) I tried to explain why are rituals awesome in this deck. They are enablers for Y. Will + Tendrills. They make going off so much easier. Sure they do nothing until the big turn. But majority of enablers do so. Or you are happy to draw on your opening Mind's Desire while having just two lands and you know, that fight for survival just begins? While going off and knowing, that you need either infinite mana = 6 lands with single high tide+Palinchron or 4-5 with multiple high tide, or have to be extremely lucky with Mind's Desire to reach storm count 25, it is nothing pleasant.
On the other hand with rituals you can consistently go off much sooner on smaller land count, because you need usually just storm count 9 and a way how to search for Tendrills. The deck play style is more linear and easier to achieve.
On Drift Phantasms: It was not originally in the deck. But the ritual addition convinced me. Y. Will is extreme killer here and Drift is fine way how to search it. Usually it gets just Y. Will or Zenith, other targets are Meditate during going off or Intuition for grave setup for Y. Will.
On Helm: playing Helm on turn 2 is propably bad idea. But otherwise it is very good accelerant and mana saver. Obviously Saphire Medailon is 100x better.
I would like to post update to my decklist. Every card except two earned their spots and don't feel that they need to be replaced. I would like to cower the change.
CUT
-Into the Roil - Another bounce protection is propably not needed. This one is quite slow.
-Spell Pierce - I agree, it was not superstar among counters.
-Drift Phantasm - I totally forgot about setting this aside. It was too slow to make the cut.
UPDATE
+Divert - Big difference to Denial or Pierce is that, this card has "cycling" so it is not dead when comes to comboing(draw 7 from Time Spiral or hit by Mind's Desire). Several times throught todays tournament it was absolute blowout for oponents, since it countered spell, and drew card. Countered several discards spells, some ponders and even Facts and helped me to win one counter war. Huge advantage is that this spell provides protection from the first turn.
+Nightscape Familiar - saves mana. Works as another medailon. I am very happy about him so far. It is relatively new addition. But too soon to tell.
+Quicken - This is inspiration from TPS Oath deck, that won GP. Match the theme and speeds up some sorcery tutors like Personal tutor / Demonic Tutor and even Concentrate. Anyway it nicely fits in the curve + understands well with Noxious Revival and Y. Will.
I have tested Arcane Denial in Spell Pierce slot and I did not like it. It is another two mana counter with drawback. Absolutely dead when comes to Spiral or Desire. I would play Miscalculation over denial, because of cycling.
New edition will bring in my opinion very handy spell:
Hidden Strings 1u Sorcery
You may tap or untap target permanent, then you may tap or untap another target permanent
Cipher
This will replace probably Cabal Ritual. This defacto produces black mana as well. And utilizes from Y. Will + medailons. It is solid card, that can solve problem of beeing choked on mana. Which can happen very often, when comboing on 4-5 lands. Cipher is bonus ability. I can imagine that this spell will resolve twice in combo turn when opponent is attacked from angry Augur of Bolas :-)
Cards what I am currently testing are Extraplanar Lens instead of Gauntlet of Power, Jace, Architect of Thought instead of Concentrate. These changes are to be tested.
Conclusion
High Tide is viable deck, when facing control + midrange metagame. Agro decks are not problem, when playing higher on the curve. Definitely worst matchup for this deck are most dull deck, that play just one drops. Today I had record 4-1-0 with this deck in tournament with 24 people. Faced RB vampires, Ur counter, 4c Oath, UB reanimation and 4c control (no green). Draw was with Ur, when we reached time limit.
Give the deck try. This deck is skill revarding, since you can many decisions through the game. Every turn is crucial, every mana counts ;-)
To other High tide players: I think, it is shame, that there are quite a number of members of this forum, that have their own version of high tide, but they do not share their deck list. Since High tide is nowhere to be found on mtgpulse.com, propably comunity shared wisdom to upgrade these decks would be good idea. There are probably other aproaches to this deck than mine, and may bee much better ones :-) Please share..
My latest list. (http://www.mtgpulse.com/event/13497#189553) I wanted to test Uncovered Clues, but Seppo insisted on playing Spell Pierce instead. Uncovered Clues definitely has some power, so keep the card in mind.
Also: pictures! (http://mtgsuomi.fi/keskustelu/index.php/topic,39130.msg327752.html#msg327752)
a pimped high tide deck O_O sweet.
So after some tinkering with my own High tide deck (its not that different from nastas version) I was wondering if you guys dont see
the necessity to add heartbeat or mana flare? I mean sure you had to add 2 more nonbasics besides the black ones but you would get another "high tide-ish" effect in return
and could go deeper into the splash by adding past in flames as well.
Its my understanding that you want to search for the non-basics as late as possible so the down side could be that you have to commit yourself early for a fetch for one of the
non basics and could get stucked with off color spells (DT or Ywill )in your hand. I´ve added prismatic lens instead of a signet or talisman to prevent that. Obviously you want lands and not mana artefacts but it can help you to get there.
Some side notes on cardchoices:
Peer through depths - no brainer for me in a deck with 45 spells
Drift of phantasm - its slow i get that but occasionally you can block and it would also search the heartbeat/mana flare (if you go that route)
Besides that I would like to know what you guys think is the hardest matchup and how could it be improved? I guess aggro-control or very fast/desruptive aggro (ww with hate bears or blackish aggro decks with discard) are difficult to beat.
I am wondering if bant-heartbeat would be a better choice since you have the wraths and walls + ramp spell for the aggro decks and still counterspells against the control decks.
Additionally you can add rude awakening + tooth and nail to have some other outs. I understand that this is another deck but these decks work quite similar and I am wondering if you could improve on the hard matchups if you just play heartbeat (I guess you would lose some speed since less tutor spells but get maybe more consistency regarding assembling combo parts (palinchron can be tutored via call and wordly) bc you would have much better defense against aggrocontrol and aggro (but I can see how you could lose more often against midrange which should be an easy matchup for high tide but not heartbeat...)
Just some impressions from me to revive that discussion. I guess the 3
I guess I could share my list
High Five:
// Lands
1 Polluted Delta
1 Flooded Strand
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Tropical Island
1 Windswept Heath
1 Breeding Pool
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Underground Sea
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Bayou
1 Marsh Flats
14 Snow-Covered Island
// Creatures
1 Palinchron
1 Trinket Mage
1 Peregrine Drake
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Augur of Bolas
1 Cloud of Faeries
// Spells
1 Turnabout
1 Treachery
1 Cryptic Command
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Compulsive Research
1 Flash of Insight
1 Mind's Desire
1 Time Spiral
1 Dizzy Spell
1 Impulse
1 Remand
1 Counterspell
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Serum Visions
1 Ponder
1 Brainstorm
1 High Tide
1 Frantic Search
1 Merchant Scroll
1 Mana Drain
1 Meditate
1 Snap
1 Sapphire Medallion
1 Sleight of Hand
1 Force of Will
1 Memory Lapse
1 Intuition
1 Reality Spasm
1 Rude Awakening
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Rampant Growth
1 Call to Mind
1 Explore
1 Preordain
1 Candelabra of Tawnos
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Farseek
1 Gigadrowse
1 Harrow
1 Condescend
1 Into the North
1 Search for Tomorrow
1 Muddle the Mixture
1 Spell Pierce
1 Chromatic Sphere
1 Chromatic Star
1 Opt
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Peer Through Depths
1 Ideas Unbound
1 Timetwister
1 Regrowth
1 Heartbeat of Spring
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Mox Diamond
1 Foresee
1 Land Grant
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Cultivate
1 Helm of Awakening
1 Hidden Strings
1 Uncovered Clues
Idea behind this is to splash EVERYTHING. Since you are splashing for all the colors, you get to run more fetches -> more consistent manabase. It's stupid, but the math works. The deck doesn't play anything from white and only a few non-blue, non-green spells. Tundra is there just to make your Windswept Heath not a dead card midgame.
I actually like this list a ton. It's way faster than the regular builds since you have the green ramp, which is the stone cold nuts. It's not as consistent, but because you are fast enough, you don't need to play any anti-tempo cards to slow aggro down. You can just win before they do. Green ramp spells are also decent in the middle of the combo if you have the mana as they thin the deck, allow more shuffles and generate more mana over several untappers. Harrow also nets you a mana even with one High Tide/Heartbeat.
The reason I don't play this (or any High Tide list for that matter) is that I don't find them consistent enough, but I am all about stable decks and very few combo decks are consistent enough for my taste buds.
High tide and Hearthbeat decks are two completely different things in my eyes. High tide wins in one BIG turn while, hearth beat wins when hits six lands and the win is spread over several turns. Hearthbeat is slower usually two turns slover than Tide deck. Everything usually happens on 6 lands, when Tide is fine with 5 in some extreme cases 4 lands are sufficient too (speaking about Tendril's Agony version).
It realy depends on the build. There are at least two kinds of hearthbeat decks - mine Bant or Hot bant version(version, that Tabris presented during in his playtesting video serie lately), that is VERY VERY defensive and has very possitive agro matchup and usually UGR version of the deck, that is all in and packs minimum disruption. My wote is for defensive aproach. Opponent can stick Thalia or Gaddock or even Mindcensor on turn 2 and Winter Orb later on and the game is usually over. Counters can't cover everything.. Agro is too fast now and getting stucked with one land while opponent having 3 creatures on turn 2 is just awful. Combo (using LANDS to win) is not faster than agro if not defending itself.
I would say, that hearth beat has possitve agro matchup, even more possive midrange matchup. When facing control it is not that simple to say - i would vote for favorable. Extremly fast combo could hurt hearthbeat. Burn might not be best matchup either.
Tide is different beast - it has VERY bad matchup against extremely fast agro, since we need 4-5 lands to win and stuff to stall agro, that this deck packs might not be sufficient. Midrange and controls are best matchups, since they do not have any clock and this decks pact all the counterspells in the world ;-)
Anyway I am currently playing hearthbeat all over the tournaments. I will post my current decklist next week or so. So you can Peek.
As for the splash for HT deck - I dont think it is necessary. There is already 5 mana Artifact version of Mirrary's Wake. 2 such effects are enought. I do not want to provide for opponents wastelands and Dust Bowls no other targets.