Comments on: M:tG Cribbs #52: UW Heroic in Standard 8-Mans

By: sean

sean — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 03:45:02 +0000

I got a rules question could you changed the wording in Chained to the Rock and trait doctoring could you change it from enchanted mountain to say island and get your creature back correct or be able to change the sacred foundry to become an island instead of a mountain/plains?

By: Crabbs42

Crabbs42 — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 21:07:50 +0000

At Pro Tour Journey into Nyx, Jared Boettcher got 10th place with a UW Heroic deck and I think that is the pefect place to start when considering how the deck could look post rotation. Here is that list:
4 Island
3 Mana Confluence
10 Plains
4 Temple of Enlightenment
21 lands

4 Battlewise Hoplite
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Eidolon of Countless Battles
4 Favored Hoplite
4 Hero of Iroas
1 Hopeful Eidolon
20 creatures

2 Ajani’s Presence
4 Aqueous Form
4 Gods Willing
3 Ordeal of Heliod
4 Ordeal of Thassa
2 Stratus Walk
19 other spells

Sideboard
2 Banishing Light
3 Deicide
4 Glare of Heresy
2 Hopeful Eidolon
3 Hubris
1 Voyage’s End
15 sideboard cards

By: Boop Doge

Boop Doge — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 01:25:21 +0000

Crabbs42 – The only edict effect I can think of is Agent of the Fates, and that isn’t exactly top tier playable, so it would seem you’re right about that. It would be cool to see nifty strategies like this be mroe on the competitive field, providing there are enough replacements for things that you would lose like Nivmagus and the cipher cards.

By: Crabbs42

Crabbs42 — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 18:23:19 +0000

Thanks for the reply’s everyone. To john, that is another use of trait doctoring I never thought of. That could make a relevant difference, but usually it is better just to target your own Heroic creatures to get the +1/+1 counters. To Anon, with that hand, I only hand 2 blue sources to start off with and my turn two plan was to plan the Form with Mizzium Skin up. So I would have had to pay 2 life either turn one or two and playing the Hallowed Fountain first gives me more options if I decide I would wanted to play the plains next turn for what ever reason. To DrDrJ, its sad to say but as long as there are edict effects, Hexproof strategies will never have an easy time in Magic :(. But they weren’t any edicts printed in Theros Block or M15, so maybe Heroic could be viable again in the fall once we get Kahns.

By: DrDrJ

DrDrJ — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 13:13:18 +0000

In regards to round 4 game 2, when your opponent drew 3 devour flesh and pulled creatures off the top of your deck with nightveil specter, I felt your pain. When I see that kind of thing happen to someone else it reminds me that luck doesn’t target. It also illustrates why hexproof is generally tier 2-3 in modern, because liliana plus targeted discard is very hard to play around.

Great matches, enjoyed watching them, as always.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 09:24:44 +0000

Just watched Round 1, I had a small question.
Any reason in game 2 why you play the pain land first, when you have one basic plains and one basic island in hand already, or is that just out of habit?

I think i’d have gone a more conservative way of playing these two as first lands, and if you really need to cast a double color spell turn 2 for any reason (well, just checked your deck, except for sideboard celestial flare it’s not something that even exists there), you can still use that land then. Then if you don’t need your third mana turn 3, you can play it tap and spare two points, which would have been very relevant in that game, had your opponent not failed so much his calculations in the final attack!

By: john

john — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 05:14:35 +0000

Trait doctoring does do more than target, it shuts off devotion. When Purphoros cares about your devotion to green instead of red…..