I use this card as well, your win con of the deck. If they have any pain lands out and are aware that this can save them, burn them right away. Other than that I love the idea.

itsbuzzi,

yeah, i was play testing and i came across a delirium deck that was running Llanowar Wastes, and i saw what you're talking about.

a funny way to counter that is to run Butcher's Glee or for one mana less Grotesque Mutation. target one of their attacking creatures with it to keep them above the 13 mark. their attack might also put me below the 13 mark. i won't actually do this, but it would work.

An example I came across, the only way for my opponent to get around being at 13, because he was at exactly 13 (by my calculations being correct in what to play) he took 2 pain to ensure he was below the mark. But by taking two pain to hurt himself he set himself up to be brought down to 0 faster, so instead of trying to bring them back up which may not work due to pain lands and other spells I just bring them down all the way if they are below 13. Also even if they are lower than 13 the enchantment still takes a life off of them each turn, they can lose at either 13 or 0. I just take 13 as a sort of "checkpoint" if I don't win by then push them further.

Yup, I just go for the burn too. I look for the triscuit move if it's there, but if it's not, it's just better to go aggro.

nice title!!

Thanks. I was looking up the history of the word triskaidekaphobia, and FNM + fear of 13 worked for me!

Bullet Witch

Heres my take on a Triskaidekaphobia Deck

Not sure if the Sideboard would help or not.

Lunatic88,

I checked out your build for the sideboard. I used to keep Exquisite Firecraft on the side, but it's too good so I run it main board. It really helps against control decks.

It seems like your side tech is built to deal with creatures; my idea is to turn up the heat on my opponent's life points. So, although I think cards like Languish are really good, I'm not really focusing on board wipes, except for Virulent Plague.

I do like the idea of Read the Bones main board. It keeps you away from 13 pretty well, doesn't it?

Kurremkarmerruk

Yeah Read the Bones is good but by far the best is Twin Bolt Instant speed bullet that can during untap and before upkeep (When tris triggers) turn an opponents safe 14 or 15 life total to the deadly 13, and can save you from your own tris when needed.

Very nice deck maybe Burn from Within for the side board? for that extra couple of life you need to drain?

I noticed you have Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh  ^Flip in your sideboard. I run a deck with very similar red spells and let me tell you you can flip here the second she can tap. Play a red creature and an instant, a red discard window or two red instants and she flips.

If I had more of her I'd run her main board for that reason.

And kolaghan's command would bring her back. I really like this build but there is still room for improvement.

Just her alone deals 5 damage once she flips. That's amazing for a red deck especially if she is allowed to stay on the battlefield after she flips.

It seems you didnt win due to in part of your sideboard. When in doubt always run a 15 card sideboard. In this case it seems a playset of Virulent Plague could have helped.

Yeah, now that I've played a real version of this deck, it's time to build the side board.

With the build I had in hand last night, I had to pull the triskaidekaphobia out and put in all the burn I had. It's the second best way to handle G/W tokens.

It wasn't a side board issue though. We were 1-1, and third game, what really killed me was that I pulled two swamps, two falkens, and an alms of the vein but no mountains in my opening hand. I should have mulled, but like an idiot, I kept it. By the 5th turn and no mountains in sight, there was nothing I could do. I had flipped my vampires and I kept his Nissa and Gideon in check but I couldn't stop his tokens from building up. I was already at 13 life when He gave his creatures +1s, sacked the Nissa because he played another, gave his tokens another +1, and he swung for 15 points. My next card would have been a smoldering marsh. He sighed and told me he didn't like my burn deck. He was glad I was mana screwed and that I didn't play virulent plague. They were good games.

My best takeaway is that he was running a tier 1 deck, and I almost had him.

Because he is at your store definitely use Virulent Plague. Regardless if I get mana screwed or lose by a play or whatever I always reevaluate the deck. Maybe you are running too many black sources compared to red? If not it doesn't take long to check. And if it were to happen again is there any cards in black (since you seem to get more black) that could deal with him? Can you trigger delirium for To the Slaughter? Taking out Gideon and his token instant speed could be good. Use every match you play as fodder for deck retooling and analysis.

Solid tips, man!

Mostly I'm trying to keep it fun. Can't forget that.

Winning is fun. I'm a perfectionist. Flawless home brews are always fun. Had a great one during M15.

Well, that's where we're different then. As long as the games are good, winning or losing doesn't really matter to me. My last game was a good example. I held off my opponent for five or six turns with only two creatures. I was also frustrated that my brew didn't play as I wanted but I still had a lot of fun. My opponent and I both knew that all I needed was a mountain to blow him away, and that built up the tension and anticipation. Things went his way this time. I'll tweak my build a little bit and try again Friday.

That's the spirit!

Bam, 13th upvote.

Sorry, had an idea, but forgot it was Standard.