Standard - Red Simic Deck

[Terazul]

This is a re-post since i originally had set the deck to private.



http://deckstats.net/decks/9081/42849-red-simic-explosion-

I need some help solidifying the deck. i have a big problem with the early game. i feel as if my shuffling could use some work as this tends to happen alot in my decks, but if anyone has any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

i am leaning towards removing the Ogres to the side and possibly adding more one drops. i am trying to capitalize on having alot of creatures so i would like Fathom Mage to really provide draw power. hopefully Vorel will help with that or maybe Give//Take is a better option?
 
Honestly i have been look over this for a long time, some fresh eyes will really help.

[Terazul]

I have been ghost testing this deck and I feel an inconsistency in opening turns. Either i get drops or i don't til turn 4.... which is really harsh. I am wondering of running elvish mystic instead of experiment one....maybe i should run it with? but that would mean pushing more blue out of the deck! any thoughts?

[Terazul]

As i continue to play test, i find that the deck has about a 33% chance to get a decent opening hand. half of those are winning hands and the other half just accelarate into nothing. Vorel of the hull clade seems great but is actually useless, i find. I had included him to create a draw engine with fathom mage, but there is so much loss of tempo between them that it ends up hurting me more than anything. i wonder if give // take has more potential or even zameck guildmage, but he might be too mana intensive. urban evolution seems interesting as the the loss of tempo from the draw seems to be countered by the additional land drop, i will have to test it. purphoros, god of the forge needs to get bumped up to 4 copies as without him i have no threats. thassa, god of the sea was originally in the deck idea but was removed in favor of card draw instead  of card selection, but seeing as how my devotion to blue might just give me the threat edge that i need. I also feel that including her might start to take the focus of the deck away. i will have to test to find out.

[Terazul]

My latest changes:

-2 steam augury
-3 ogre battledriver
-2 vorel of the hull clade

+1 experiment one
+1 purphoros, god of the forge
+2 fathom mage
+3 cyclonic rift


http://deckstats.net/decks/9081/42849-red-simic-explosion-

[Terazul]

The deck continues to feel....pointless.....at times. Opening hands which accelarate into nothing threatening, full purphoros, god of the forge master of waves hands with no blue devotion. fathom mage with no way to evolve. I need to fuel my hand. Prophet of kruphix is beginning to fail in my eyes. whenever she comes out there is no threat or fear imposed. I continue to be frustrated with this deck. It is not suppposed to do much, other than summon creatures, which is seems to do well. though the wall of creatures seems to go no where.....

insight:
i feel i might be thinking about this in the wrong way. the deck does push out alot of creatures, which will trigger purphoros, god of the forge. maybe im just playing the deck wrong. i play out my cloudfin raptor and experiment one, sylvan caryatid and master biomancer before purphoros, god of the forge..... thats around 8 points of damage that didn't trigger off purphoros. i do need to do something for 4 turns before i play him. I see 2 options:

option 1- play conservitavely and drop my hand according to the situation i.e. hold my hand if there are no threats

        This feels like this hardest play as each deck is different to play against, also i can't keep up with agro this way

option- 2 play purphros out faster!

        the earliest i can drop him now is turn 3....is there a way to get 4 mana on turn 2?


this is not giving me much room to work with but i need to do some research and see what i come up with.

[Perishedluck]

well, here is your problem. You are running too many different things at once. try to pick one of the things your deck does, and do that.

Currently your deck utilizes all of the following:
-control(via cyclonic rift)
-counter stack (via cloudfin raptor, experiment one, fathom mage, master biomancer)
-Accelerate(via sylvan caryatid)
-Devotion(talk about later)
-Burn (via purphoros, God of the forge)

So as you can see, you are taking 4+ functions of the game, and only using a little bit of each. This doesn't allow you to have much use out of either of them if lets say, you get all evolve creatures and you can't power them up because they are all still 1/1's.

You have some devotion cards. It is very hard to get devotion going unless you are mono colored. This deck has 3 colors which makes devotion an essentially null point in your strategy.

You have a lot of good cards, and I respect that. But you need to pick a path for this deck, and go with it. Or maybe split this deck into two decks, maybe a mono blue devotion deck, and something else?

Either way, good luck

[Terazul]

Honestly i think your wrong.

The decks main purpose is drop creatures to trigger purphoros, god of the forge. So i basically just need a deck full of creatures, the creature choices are there to fill certain holes.

Experiment one and Cloudfin Raptor are stong one drops, every subsequent creature (mostly) will trigger their evolve. one that flies and one that regenerates allows me to cover a nice wide range of early creature threats. They will also serve me well late game as i can drop them quickly after purphoros, god of the forge is down.

Master Biomancer and Prophet of Kruphix increase creature effeciency. Since the majority of the deck is creatures, these 2 will make all my other drops better as well as triggering purphoros, god of the forge.

Master of waves. This is the card that inspired me to make this deck. having purphoros, god of the forge out makes this card insane. any sort of devotion multiplies the damage, it has such high burst potential that i can consider it my finisher. the added benefit is that since i have so many cards that already make my creatures more effecient, i don't need to push the devotion to insane limits. alone he drops an additional creature triggering 4 damage, any additional devotion is just icing on the cake.

Sylvan Caryatid seems like an obvious addition as my curve is looking pretty high right now. Hexproof and and a big butt makes her a great 2 drop that can easily trigger evolve.

Frostburn weird also has a big butt on top of pushing both Blue and Red devotion. With the added benefit of giving me blocking advantage the weird was an easy addition.

Fathom mage was a recent addition as I need fuel to finish. being a creature is a plus, giving blue devotion is plus number 2, easily evolved with the rest of the deck +++. She is one of my iffy cards, it has potential but i don't think ive found it yet.

Cyclonic Rift is also a recent addition as i felt that i needed to control my opponent somehow. I can use it early if need be but mostly i overload it to swing into an open field.

I know i have alot of mechanics in the deck but i believe they easily compliment each other. I am open to ideas, card selections, and even play suggestions! Something a little more than "take it apart" would be constructive.....

[mattbl]

Evolve makes sense, as does Master Biomancer, because you're relying on "enter the battlefield" effects. Sylvan Caryatid is a good choice for tri-color mana acceleration.

However, I don't really see the utility of Prophet of Kruphix in this deck. I feel you could find some better cards to replace it (but make sure they still have blue mana to fuel devotion). I admit that Prophet helps in getting those creatures out a little faster but you're still going to be mainly limited by your draw, not mana. With Fathom Mage you're getting some draw but not enough to make Prophet worth it, IMO (for this particular setup).

Otherwise, you could look for another blue 1-drop to replace Experiment One. Not that he doesn't work, but really I think you should focus this deck more to build blue devotion while you work to get Purphoros then Master of Waves out... I know you say that's not really necessary but if that's not what you're building towards I don't see what you are building towards... other than just spewing creatures out to trigger Purphoros. I mean, if that's your goal and you have Master of Waves, why not make him the nail in the coffin rather than saying any additional blue devotion is just "icing on the cake?"

[mattbl]

Simic Guildmage comes to mind... builds blue devotion, can help really fuel Fathom Mage.

[Terazul]

I like your thoughts on Prophet of Kruphix and I can't help but agree. She is still a good card, I wonder if it would be a viable sideboard option for certain match ups...

While simic guildmage would be useful im trying to keep the deck standard. i looked into zameck guildmage but he is very mana intensive. i wanted to include him with prophet of kruphix but that is too many slots.

i looked for some Blue one- drops but didnt see much. now that im pulling prophet out i m considering prime speaker zegana. i originally didnt put her in as i felt she might have moments of doing uselessness. give // take also crossed my mind for the versatility with counters. Bioshift might be good.....but also feels like it has high possiblility to be dead in hand.

[mattbl]

give // take would be my choice out of those options. Simic Fluxmage is the standard alternative to the Simic Guildmage. Not as powerful but provides similar utility and gives you that evolution again.

[Terazul]

I really don't like the simic fluxmage, but it does remind me of simic manipulator. the 2 Blue definitly make me smile and depending on the match up it could be very worth while. it also gives me a way to deal with creatures out of combat. too bad it doesn't trigger purphoros, god of the forge when i steal creatures. With give // take and master biomancer i can see this being viable, though i can't seem to filter out my logic from my excitment of finding a new card lol.

Gotta test this out!

[WWolfe]

Not really feeling the purpose of this deck as it's constructed.

You have 11 evolve creatures, 8 of which won't trigger each other. Add in Purphoros, who will NOT enter as a creature to trigger their evolve since you won't come close to the devotion to red to trigger his being a creature (barring multiple Frostburns being on the field) and that makes 15 of your 34 creatures that won't really help trigger the evolve in your creatures.

You also have no spot removal unless you draw one of your 3 Cyclonic Rifts.

Personally, I think the best use of Master of Waves is in a Izzet deck with Young Pyromancer so that he can buff those elemental tokens.

[Terazul]

The deck's purpose is to trigger purphoros, god of the forge with creatures. simple enough right?

Master of waves has an explosive damage potential with purphoros, god of the forge out. still with me?

Since both master of waves and purphoros, god of the forge are 4 drops who need other permanents to function properly im am using sylvan caryatid for ramp and fixing.

now that i have 3 colors, i will fill the rest of the deck with creatures that:

A) are strong defensive drops
B) fill certain holes
C) synergize with each other as much as possible


as such the rest of the deck starts to come together right?

i know of the other uses for Master of Waves but in my experience play testing this deck there is a lot of reach with purphoros, god of the forge, with a few tweaks im sure i can streamline this into a more competitive deck.

[WWolfe]

I understood the purpose, it just doesn't click constructed like this.

Good luck with it though.