tazleon7 What about moving the two Supreme Verdict to the side, cut Detention Sphere & Batterskull. Add two Cryptic Command to the main?

hmm, i would take out 1 esper charm and 1 engineered explosives to put in 2 copies CC

tazleon7 Cryptic commands? Absolutely not. This decklist only has 22 lands and only 8 of which can produce U. Also, countermagic is not how the deck plays, it plays through aggressively discarding the opponent's hand combined with spot removal. Cryptic command in all ways are way too slow for what this deck is trying to achieve. I play my esper midrange in a similar way and I get a pretty impressive win rate with it.

Additionally, due to the greedy manabase of esper, esper charm and engineered explosives cannot and should not be taken out of mainboard in most cases. EE and esper charm are the easier ways to play through crippling sideboards like blood moon, choke, leyline etc. EE is also in the meta right now since death's shadow is a popular deck.

Spotred: the dark confidant version isn't working just so you know. you should take them out.

jonmaior that's a really vague reply. I need more info than that. Have you tested it? How many games? What did you play against?

I tested it against my Sultai Delver (I know pretty weird deck but even more of a sign that it is not working). I played several times against your deck and more often than not your own Dark Confidant would deal more damage to you than it would to me. It does let you draw more cards and your curve is low but your deck isn't aggressive enough for it to be used effectively. I may have got unlucky a bunch of times but it seems like your deck it to control for Dark Confidant because you just draw replacement control cards the Dark Confidant usually does more damage than good. I think Serum Visions would be a better fit for the deck.

jonmaior I see. Thanks for sharing the context behind your thoughts. I'm on the fence about it. The Serum Visions build is by no means bad, as it makes the Snapcaster Mages better and digs for relevant cards.

I'm giving him a shot because I like the theory behind it. While your findings prove a point, it's a really small sample size versus an aggressive rogue deck. Dark Confidant isn't meant to improve my linear aggro matchup per se, it's meant to act as a lightning rod or punishing decks that skimps on removal - Tron, Devoted Company, Storm, Dredge etc. Against these tiered decks critical mass of cards is the key to get a grip on the game.

I play tested multiple matches versus Merfolk last week, and went so far ahead each time I drew Confidant. I never ran out of removal, had souls for days and accelerated hard with Esper Charm. In matchups where he's bad, like the one you tested, I'd side him out for more relevant cards. Game one you'll have to swing each turn hoping hit removal / trade, or leave him to block. Game two;

Against Delver I could se myself bringing in Batterskull, Blessed Alliance, Detention Sphere, Runed Halo, Supreme Verdict and Vendilion Clique.

That being said I've been comparing Confidant in my list with a typical Jund build, and I do see I lack some md life gain. Especially the two Supreme Verdict seems a bit awkward. For it to work optimally I think the Confidant build needs to be tuned. For example I think the sweepers can be shifted to the side, swapping them for Blessed Alliance. Or I could test Flaying Tendrils mainboard instead of the Verdicts.

These are my thoughts. I was impressed enough last week to keep testing it.

I also think you need some more non creature removal or maybe more Thoughtseize/Inquisition of Kozilek. I say this because you only have x1 Detention Sphere in your sideboard and I worry that any planeswalker will rip your deck up if your opponent has enough removal to kill your snapcasters and Dark Confidant.

I have question. What do you think about running Thing in the Ice  ^Flip in this deck. It works similar way as Myth Realized. Plus it kind of wipes the board, but it doest wipe your Myth Realized. If fliped at the end of their turn you have pathway for your myth + 7/8 horror. Plus You might be able to discard whatever thing returned into their hand.

And I have another question. Do you think, that this would be possible to make more budget friendly? I like the idea of a deck. My LGS runs every week budget tournament for decks about 120 dollars. Which means no Snapcasters or dark confidants, Thoughtseizes, Collective brutallity, Lilianas and manabase mostly made of taplands. And no Engineered explosives ofc. Do you think that it still would be playable, or it would crumble, without so many cards?

PlavecCZ Thing in the Ice  ^Flip is fine, but it's not for this list - as currently designed. It would require cutting cards, and I don't think the list has room that. It could maybe be tested in the Supreme Verdict slots. That being said, TITI is probably better in a red shell with Lightning Bolt.

When it comes to a budget version it can work. But haven't tested it. In such a build you could try replacing Snapcaster Mage with Thing in the Ice  ^Flip. Add Serum Visions, Mana Leak, Duress etc.

Nice deck! How did Dark Confidant and Liliana of the Veil perform?

dpac I'm still testing the Confidants. Unsure if they're worth it over Serum Visions, though the card hasn't underperformed per se. Hard to tell if there's a notable difference - it's better versus decks that skimps on removal.The deck performs well with either.

Liliana of the Veil is great, and does exactly what the deck needs her to do. I consider her a staple in the build.

My DeckSpotred, can you look at My Deck for me? I made it based on a similar idea as this deck and though I feel the idea is good, I'm not sure what direction I should go with the deck. it is a creatureless mardu control deck that uses cards like Gideon and Myth Realized and Heart of Kiran combined with cards like Death Cloud and Smallpox and Flagstones of Trokair to maximize the usefulness of cards that make both players sacrifice creatures or lands. (Ironicly it never beats this deck because of Lingering Souls) do you think that I should go for esper rather than mardu? should I add The Rack or Shrieking Affliction or Ensnaring Bridge and go for more of an 8-rack build (since most times both players end up hellbent) If you have the time I would love it if you helped me out, I would love to do something with this deck Idea.

Nice deck! Too expensive for me but I like that somebody is making it work with Myth Realized. I really like that card.

My main doubt about this:

What is the right play when I get Inquisition of Kozilek and Myth Realized in my opening hand? Which one do I play first?

Thanks!

Hello jonmaior I'll see if I get the time to take a look. But, I must warn you that my experience is exclusively with UWb colors, and how to utilize Myth - ofc.

-

Jack_attack_ Thanks, I'm continuously impressed by how many players enjoying Myth Realized. Shame there's so few brewing with and testing the card - there must be many more builds out there.

-

ej133 now that's a good question, glad you asked! First of all, the answer isn't one, but many. It all depends on whether or not you're on the play / draw, if it's the first or second / third game.

1. On the play, in the blind, I would always lead with Myth, as the extra lore counter is valuable.

2. If you're on the draw and see a land that implies a combo / tron strategy you want to lead with a piece of hand disruption - targets could be Goblin Electromancer, Chalice of the Void etc.

3. If you're on the draw and see a land that implies a grindy / aggro matchup I would make the case for leading with Myth - with the goal to make it a 4/4 + asap.

This is still probably one of my favorite decks on this site!

I do have a question though. Do you have problems with protecting your Myth or getting its damage through? It's not hexproof, nor does it have flying or trample. I'm still working on some spicy brews with Myth (Jeskai Tempo & Esper Tap-Out), but I can't help but consider that it lacks the keywords to really bring it home as a superb finisher.

Brainiac1511 Thanks, that means a lot - especially when I've spent so much time on it!

-Regarding your question:

It depends. In general, no. As you get used to the build you're staring to see the openings. Myth isn't an easy card to play, but it's forgiving when idle - it has pseudo "hexproof".

As I describe; making the opponent 'hellbent,' makes going on the offensive easy. But until you get there you have to play smart and learn the meta (which card can interact with it). That being said Fatal Push has made it a bit harder, but we still present diverse threats with Lingering Souls and they gets "pushed" more often than Myth.

If the card had evasion it would be busted. It would be nice, but isn't needed. The list has so much removal that you should be able to get some clean swings with Myth. In most games, I end up finishing over a few turns with a 7/7 + Myth. Turn 1-5 is the disruption phase, don't rush it unless you're threatened.

Decided against countermagic entirely at this point?

Snapdisastermage it feels right. Information is key when piloting Myth, so hand disruption becomes much more valuable than counter magic. It's also a bit awkward sitting on a counter when you have Liliana on the field. You do have the Countermyth setup with Cryptics and such, but currently I'm favoring this build. If I were to slot in some counters they might replace the Detention Spheres, but then you loose the option to interact with resolved permanents that isn't creatures.

When playing a fair blue midrange deck and opting out of mainboard countermagic, What is the advantage over the typical fair midrange deck? (jund) (abzan)

Snapdisastermage well, there are a few outlines. If we take the advantages;

• Esper Charm. Arguably one of the most powerful draw spells in the game.

• Snapcaster Mage. The main reason for being in blue. Re-use your spells - flashback Esper Charm is gas.

• Serum Visions. Facilitate a low lad count, set up draws and digs for impactful sideboard cards.

These cards makes Blue-Junk an option. Now you can argue that Tarmogoyf is why you should be in green, or that reach is why you should be in Red.

Anyway my list makes a case for Myth Realized as it's main threat. This makes the blue cards more favorable than you normally would assume.