RU Breakthrough - Comments

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[Planeswalker999]

why is it called breakthrough? there aren't any breakthrough or break through the lines in here

[arloft]

Because it uses unblockable creatures and Rogue's Passage to get damage past blockers.

[G. Moto]

     I would recommend adding impact tremors to this deck as a side or main board option. With all the tokens you'll be making it kinda goes hand in hand. Also a lot of your  creatures have prowess so it might help if you play some of the izzet cards that have overload so that you can play multiples at once and give everyone the same effect when you need to. just some ideas if you play modern and use the same principle if you're keeping it standard (low drop red mardu cards and temur would do this deck nicely).

[arloft]

Earlier today I swapped Goblin War Paint for the new artifact Captain's Claws from OGW, and now it spews tokens. Coupled with Sigil of Valor and Gudul Lurker can hit for significant damage. The burn and counter spells keep it alive. Currently running 3 Artificer's Epiphany for crew draw. Thinking of swapping Bloodfire Mentor for Zephyr Scribe so the card draw is cheaper. Mentor is a solid blocker at 5 but the draw/discard ability is a bit higher than I'd like.

Those are good suggestions for a Modern version.

[G. Moto]

Also as far as standard goes here are some more suggestions for you: infectious bloodlust (since it's a low drop that can give your unblockable creatures that extra push or force your opponents to ram into your bigger creatures), anticipate (help gets your plays together faster), berserker's onslaught (because double strike gets the job done 2x as fast), Glint (for added protection), kindled fury (for your flyers who are still able to be blocked), and learn from the past to recycle your graveyard (cause you'll probably play through the deck fast). Add some cancel spells  and cards that say your opponent cannot block and you should be good to go.

[arloft]

G.Moto, those are all great suggestions, and I've had many of those cards in and out of the deck's various builds. The first version ran 4 Mage-Ring Bully and 4 Infectious Bloodlust to always have a pumped threat on deck. At one point it was mostly prowess creatures and I was running 4x I.B and 4x Goblin War Paint, but there were too many times I had one or more in hand and no creatures down to target. I love Anticipate but always feel like I should opt for draw spells over it (I don't own any Dig Through Time atm), hence the Cruise and Artificer's Epiphany. Glint is in the latest paper build, and I've had Berserkers' Onslaught in but I only have 1 paper copy, fortunately they're cheap I've eyed Learn From the Past, but may have to cut my draw spells for that and Anticipate to have card advantage. Considered Tunneling Geopede much like your suggestion of Impact Tremors, as Sword of the Animist will be dropping land on almost every turn it's out, so that's at least 2 damage just from landfall. I currently have (in the paper build) 2-3 Rakshasa's Disdain, 2 Negate, and sideboard Dispel, and Neutralizing Blast. My biggest hurdle with brewing is finding the balance between burn/removal, counter spells, and draw spells. Do you have any suggestions on that other than playing the deck a ton to look at what's needed in more or less amounts?

[G. Moto]

     My best advice as far as deck building goes as such, and don't worry I do this for all my decks:

1. Create a theme or focus on a general in/out of game mechanic
2. Choose your creatures
3. Choose your spells to help them survive as long as possible
4. Add and play cards that enhance the theme created by steps 2 and 3
5. Get the appropriate mana ratio down
6. Test the draw simulators on deckstats or play against a friend
7. Make changes as you see fit.

     When I build a deck I create it as if I'm building an ARMY. I personally always focus on my creatures because a majority of the time (and also depending on how the deck is built) they are usually the most important part because their own effects can work like spells as well. For example; korozda gorgon and howlgeist are two creatures from two different blocks. However if you use the gorgon's effect on the spirit wolf (after it returns from the grave with its UNDYING effect then you'll basically have a spirit creature that won't stay dead, can become unblockable once the bigger threats are gone, can be used for sac fodder with cards like bone splinters vampiric rites, or just an infinite wall as long as you remove the +1/+1 counters from it. This same strategy can be implemented using any creature that has undying and and all you're doing is resetting them without flickering the creature off the board. So basically I just designed a deck idea using just TWO creatures that can be turned into a lethal B/G creature recursion deck. All I would need now are spells to help the general idea expand using other creatures and spells, get the mana right and I've got a new deck. See how that works out? As far as ratio goes just ask yourself: How IMPORTANT is this card to MY DECK? Will the deck fall apart or cease to function if I don't have it in play? If the answer is yes then have 3-4 copies, if the relevance factor weighs lower then add less copies. It's not really as difficult as people think, it's just having the most of what you need as far as what you're going to actually use for the deck. Did any of this help you out at all?

[arloft]

G.Moto, yes, it does help and I'm slowly getting better at deck building, thanks to advice like yours. I couldn't sleep tonight and was thinking about the cards you suggested. The team of Anticipate and Learn From the Past are brilliant. The main problem I run into is lack of cards in hand, and top decking is the worst. I love Anticipate but didn't see where it could fit, but teamed with Learn From the Past and my low average cmc, it affords a near infinite loop of counter and pump spells, keeping Gudul Lurker on the field and getting damage through. With these thoughts, I'm leaning toward a deck that may not hit hard but keeping hitting by exhausting the opponent's counter spells and creatures by a nonstop stream of threats. I'll make these changes, do some play testing and update the deck's progress.

[G. Moto]

     That's good and I'll be looking forward to hearing about future improvements. Also keep in mind that Izzet (U/R) has a thing for spell mastery as far as instances and sorcery spells go. If you did use some of the cards from the magic origins set that had spell mastery (like fiery impulse) then you can get added effects just by having a whole bunch of instances and sorceries in your graveyard. Combo that with goblin electromancer, supersonic dragon and cards that let you scry continuously then you'll have the deck speed you need. For example; If you add slab hammer to this deck while you have retreat to coralhelm and equip the artifact to one of your unblockable creatures you can keep bouncing the land temple of epiphany you can double scry EVERYTIME you return that land back to your hand and replay it. Also using cards like bolt of keranos and magma jet that deal damage AND let your scry are helpful as well. Just some ideas worth trying out if you ever get your hands on them.