EmperorRancor, can I ask you what you intend to prevent with Pithing Needle ?And what is the intention behind sideboarding Wasteland Viper

Its his removal bait, he can get around magma jet on his elf or chump block to get rid of a big creature its pretty self explanatory, the pithing needle is great for a turn 1 drop naming nikthos unless you went first then turn 2 drop, aetherling, (insert annoying activated ability here)

But it says, unless it's a mana ability, which all of AEtherling 's abilities are ?

@AlphaAuthority: AEtherling 's abilities are activated abilities that cost mana to activate, not mana abilities. An example of a mana ability is Elvish Mystic who's ability allows it to basically act as a land by tapping for mana.

Think mana producing abilities. Anyone know why it doesn't read like that?

@opiewan18: Assuming dizzzyme is right in that Pithing Needle shuts down Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx , that wording would also be very confusing as it's secondary ability also produces mana.

Pithing needle will not stop nykthos. But it will stop AEtherling .

Mana abilities are defined as ones that create mana, such as Llanowar Elves or Mountain .

605.1a An activated ability is a mana ability if it meets three criteria: it doesn't have a target, it could put mana into a player's mana pool when it resolves, and it's not a loyalty ability

logan700, thanks mate, just the explanation I was looking for. I always thought that it meant abilities costing mana to activate.

but Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx does produce mana. so it should cut that off aswell

You can infact pithing needle a nykthos because the second ability is not considered a direct mana ability, its an activated ability that cost mana to produce said mana. Its kind of like when someone plays underworld connections, you can't name underworld... You have to name swamps so any ability said swamp gains is not usable. Any ability outside the realm of tap : add mana is not considered a mana ability.

605.1b A triggered ability without a target that triggers from activating a mana ability and could put mana into a players mana pool when it resolves is a mana ability.

Nykthos 2nd ability is still considered a mana ability because of the above

Thank you

Pithing Needle is used for control decks that have solo win conditions. Its really just an answer for many plainswalkers. Or plainswalkers being their only win condition. As is some of the blue white or blue black decks that primarily run in my area. Control is always 4-6 decks of the typical top 8 decks. Locally your metta might be different. I can drop the Peak Eruption s though as they are good in this deck they don't ever really see play. As of my knowledge there is very few that consistently run Mono red.

What made you use Chandra instead of frenzied tilling? do you have enough LD now? Or is that not as big of a focus?

Nykthos is not a triggered ability, its an activated ability... and not an activated mana ability... you pay mana and tap it as a cost to activate the ability... elvish mystic is a mana ability, tapping a land is a mana ability without having to pay a cost,.. and "605.1b A triggered ability without a target that triggers from activating a mana ability and could put mana into a players mana pool when it resolves is a mana ability." is stating that a TRIGGRED ability that results in mana... a triggered ability says "when, at, wherever" for the pithing needle not to work the land would have to read, when nykthos becomes tapped or something alone those lines.

but it meets the 3 criteria to be a mana ability, regardless on if it cost mana to activate the ability.

1) it does not have a target.

2) it produces mana

3) it is not a loyalty ability (planeswalker)

all 3 are true for nykthos, which makes it a mana ability.

Stop this pointless argument, ask a judge if you're in doubt. I did it for you.

http://gyazo.com/977e6861360b460e295b8926b03b043f

I really like this deck and I wanted to test it. +1

So i was playing this deck at our local standard tournament last weekend. I hope you are not offended by this. Of course, i adapted the sideboard to my local meta, but the maindeck was almost the same as you have it here except for the Chandras. I ended up 3-0-1 at 2nd place. We were playing top 4 afterwards, but there I could not lock my enemy (an aristocrats variant) fast enough in semi-finals.

Qualifying:2-0 against a ramp variant. Could lock his lands fast enough in both games and finished with monstrous ember swallowers.

2:0 against Esper Control. Also here, I was able to lock him fast enough before he could even start countering my spells. Yay!

2:1 against Slives (G/R/U). First match, he was unlucky got manastuck without my spells and did not draw any Manaweft Sliver s, so I could easily lock him down.In the second match he had a perfect start, growing his slivers and in turn 3 he had 3x 2/2 flying slivers. Could not handle it as it was too fast.In the third game I could lock him again, Shock ing his manaslivers and then finish with two Stormbreath dragons.

0:2 against Golgari. He was able to play a Desecration Demon in both games in turn 4, I was missing any ramp creatures so I could not keep up. Think if I play this deck again I'll also splash in some black to handle creatures easier...

Finished 2nd place in qualifiers.

Semi final:1:2 against new Aristocrat variant. first game he killed me pretty easy, as his highest manacost was 3, so even with landhate, I could not achieve anything. Was overrun easily with too many creatures my Ember swallowers could handle.2nd game, I could ramp fast (Elf + Caryatid) and boardwiped with Anger of the Gods . He could not recover and I took his lands down.In the final round, I had to mulligan down to 5 cards as I had no lands. Then, he played Thoughtseize, Duress and a Sin collector in the first three rounds, leaving me exposed with nothing but a single land. Unnecessary to say I lost this match :P

Summarized, I'm surprised this deck idea is not played more often. Of course, these games showed some weaknesses against creatures on the battlefield with toughness greater than 4, but still it works pretty constant.

We're you carrying Plummet s? I know its not a perfect answer but its a decent one.

Right now I fear black slows it down and there's not too much answer for this deck against the Demons. I'm hoping for just one or two cards to assist this deck in the next set release and this would become a FNM staple.

I like playing it and am now known for it. And I get side boarded against and that in itself is an honor.

I hope everyone else trying it out is having just as much fun as I am.

@yak300 if you want to splash black take a look at my version of this deck

@EmperorRancor

I ran your deck at a local event yesterday. I kept everything how it is to see how it does. I ended up going 2-2 but the were great match ups. here are the results:

2-1 vs. Mono Black Devotion:

Game 2: This one was a lot closer. He stabalized at 6 lands since I wasn't getting the land D cards I needed and running mono black made using Encroaching Wastes near impossible. I could only hit the Mutavault that he played. he ended up winning this game with a well times Grey Merchant of Asphodel bringing his life total up to 4 when I was at 2. Then he Pharika's Cure my satyr token just in time to swing in for the 2 damage he needed.

Game 3: This one was exactly how this deck wants to be played. Had a perfect ramp up to Ember Swallower , Xenagos, The Reveler , and Chandra, Pyromaster turns 3, 4, and 5. since I kept on chump blocking with the tokens I was able to ultimate Chandra, Pyromaster . I decided to cast a Bramblecrush from the 10 exiled cards to blow up 3 lands and that sealed the deal.

2-0 vs. Esper control

This one is a fairly easy match up. as soon as he missed one land drop it was game over both games. Plain and simple. Kinda helped that on game 2 he wasn't drawing any removal and I blew up Jace, Architect of Thought with a Bramblecrush .I like how frustrated esper players get when I start controlling THEM!

1-2 vs Jund Mid-range

This one was fun. it was basically a race to see who got out there win con first. It was actually about the same deck, but instead of LD cards he had more creatures and kill creature. He just got the better cards on draws is what it came down to.

1-2 vs Mono Blue

Also a very fun match up. Both my opponent and I had a great time with this. If you are not having fun, then what's the point right? This one came down to if I can kill his Cloudfin Raptor before it got big, take out the Nightveil Specter , and make sure he stayed at 3-4 lands the whole game till I can get out a Stormbreath Dragon . First game I pulled it off flawlessly. Second game... he had the perfect hand and I kept an ok hand and he out played me there. kudos to him on that. and on the third game I had to mull down 5 and still had nothing to combat his deck. the killer for me that game is when he got my Mistcutter Hydra from the Nightveil Specter on the swing. Downhill from there.

I think a good card to think about for mono blue would be Skylasher deals with the flyers well enough, and avoids pretty much their whole deck! also works against mono-blacks Nightveil Specter s too

he has answers to all that in the deck, the main issue I forsee is tidebindes on his bombs, after that not much he can do and 1 or 2 skylashers will only delay the inevitable because they are 2/2's not beatsticks. against mono blue he has to side in ALL of the hate he has and pray to win, blue is just so strong. the most important thing to consider is to hold that demolish for the bident and the fade to antiquity for thassa then your sitting high over mono blue once they have no draw.

I threw this deck together just for fun for last FNM. No play testing and I went 4-1! I just lost to a control deck, he always had too many lands. +1 for a fun deck!

Love the Deck. I had a very similar land destruction deck built but didn't have the Stormbreath Dragon , I only have one. That being said, I love the optimal use of that card, nailing them for all the spells in their hand that they can't cast.

But my real question is Mono Blue. How have you fared against Master of Waves and Tidebinder Mage ? That is the winner at my local meta. Followed closely by mono black and mono red. The best I've gone was 3-2 a few time with Izzet/Control Mid-range.

Great Deck. Awesome to see Land Destruction is back!