Nuanced issue for people who are way better at MTG than I am
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on June 21, 2015, 4:17 p.m. by Wizard_of_the_Broke
I haven't gotten much help by cycling my deck, so I hope someone will find this problem interesting and help me out.
Here's the deck in question: Hastily Collected Combos.
And here's the question in question: ...my real issue is whether or not Lotus Cobra is worth it. In order to ensure I get the best out of it, as it produce 2 mana on a turn where I drop a fetch and activate it, I have to run lots of fetches. The problem is, this often costs me 6-9 life per game, by turn 3, regardless of whether I get Lotus Cobra on the board. The alternative is to run different mana dorks and a less painful base of dual lands like Copperline Gorge and Rootbound Crag. However, not running Lotus Cobra means that I can't hit a mana dork with Collected Company that can help me on the turn it comes into play - which is sometimes important in the deck (e.g. if I don't hit 2 elementals, Lotus Cobra can make up for it by helping me cast Assault Strobe). So I'm not sure what to do, or if the deck is effective enough to live with the painful land base as is. One note: the reason I wouldn't just fetch basic lands is that certain draws make it important to be able to drop Cream of the Crop followed by an elemental costing 
or 
to find CoCo.
So is the acceleration even necessary? If so, is there a better method of doing it? Should I just run 4 Birds of Paradise and 2 Hell's Thunder? Would I be better off finding a way to play some defense on turns 2-3?
Any input on the issue is greatly appreciated as is any feedback on the deck generally.
Wizard_of_the_Broke says... #3
Dryad Arbor hadn't occurred to me. I don't think I've seen it in a Collected Company build yet. Interesting idea.
Unforgivn_II says... #2
Dryad Arbor seems really good in this. Extra land, and a trigger on the Cobra
June 21, 2015 5:47 p.m.