The deck was originally Junk, then transmuted into a UBRG deck, but it was too slow and I'd rather go a bit more aggressive so I chose to drop red and go white.
One way I could do it is play control for the first few turns (while they try to drop Goyfs and such) then follow with Traft and punch them to death asap before they get a second wave of threats. Bob is powerful here because he can draw into everything I need without costing me more than 3 life. Kitchen Finks isn't a threat; it's a blocker. The sad reality is the only real threats in the deck are Traft and the (currently) singleton Goyf. I could also use Rhox War Monk but I'll have to purchase that and I already have Finks.
I like to play control casually with my friends at school, but I have neither the cards nor the expertise to play control competitively.
Traft doesn't need a lot of backup to be powerful; all he needs is a clear path. Or Elspeth, Knight-Errant/Angelic Destiny.
So overall, should I cut some removal and put counters? I don't have Remand but I think I can trade a friend for a copy of it. I did just get another copy of Goyf but I'm not too sure what to cut for it.
March 17, 2015 8:37 p.m.
I also have a singleton Siege Rhino, as well as 2 Spell Snare. It's probably my inexperience, but I haven't seen why the Rhino is so good. If you could explain, that would be great. Thanks again :)
March 17, 2015 8:48 p.m.
Traft is a tempo card, but he does need backup. that fact that he's a 2/2 body in and of himself means that you need to clear a path for him. Otherwise he gets blocked, dies, and you could have gotten the 4 angel damage from a Boros Charm.
If you want to play aggro, then 3 counterspells don't really help much. More goyfs. If you wantto go dow nthe more control tempo route, you need to cut some of the aggression for more control. I guess its up to you which direction you want.
March 17, 2015 8:56 p.m.
I think it would be easiest to go tempo-ish. Maybe some utility lands (Gavony Township, Vault of the Archangel, and Arena) with Knight of the Reliquary to fetch them up. Possibly Distortion Strike? It does let Traft get in 2 attacks during 2 consecutive turns, and can be used to allow any large creature such as KotR, Goyf, maybe Tasigur (which is really bad alongside Bob) through for a good slap to the face.
I just got a 2nd Goyf (NM, obviously; I wouldn't take anything in worse condtion) off of ebay for an epic $160. So I'm feeling good about that; the time needed for shipping is ultra-stressful because I won't know if it is fake/not actually NM until I get it.
I read somewhere from a recent thread on MTG Salvation (poster put the post 5 days ago I think) that counterspells were better than discard in the current metagame. Is this true? I do have 2 Spell Snare, 4 Spell Pierce, 4 Dispel, and the previously mentioned singleton Remand that may be acquirable from a friend. I also have a full set of Mana Leak although only 3 are in the deck at the moment.
I would love to drop the discard, if that is good for the deck. Then I could wait until MM2 and drop Liliana and grab Goyfs and Vendilion Clique and simply cut black. Bob is great, but I don't know if splashing for a single card is a good idea, so likely cut black here and play Valorous Stance in place of Decay, which is removal for Goyf, Tasigur, and Rhino, and doubles as protection for Traft and KotR (I played him once at a tournament and he ate Decay literally 10 out of the 11 times I played him. That one time he lived, he singlehandedly took the game because it was late game and an 8/8 is pretty devastating against a TarmoTwin deck with no cards in hand.)
Thank you again, I know that I am rather long-winded :D
enpc says... #1
This looks like an interesting build. My only concern is that the deck is pulled in two different directions and as such has less threats than a traditional aggro deck but also not a proper control suite. Like, most of your threats sit at the 2/3 cmc slot. But for a traditional control deck, thats where you want to leave your counterspells up for as threats will start coming through at that point.
March 17, 2015 3:15 a.m.