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Deckstats Feedback / Feature Request: Hidden/Unlisted Decklists

« on: July 12, 2018, 06:33:31 pm »

One feature I'd personally love to see on Deckstats would be the ability to keep a decklist from showing up on my user profile or the front page, but still allow anyone I send the link to view the list. Sometimes I want feedback from a specific person without spoiling the surprise for the rest of my playgroup, and the only way I've found to manage that is either copy the deck to an unsaved list or make it public temporarily and change it back.

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Deck Comments / Re: Manabarbs multiplayer - Comments

« on: December 20, 2016, 03:41:04 am »

Cards to Replace
Purity: Personal Sanctuary is almost certainly better here. It costs less, is harder to remove, and doesn't require WWW in a 3-color deck.

Rampant Growth, Trace of Abundance: In a deck that punishes lands, you don't want your fixing to be land-based. Boros Signet, Selesnya Signet, Gruul Signet or Felwar stone are probably all better options here. If you drop Purity, you probably don't need any acceleration at all.

Fog: I would run Blasphemous Act as a sweeper in this slot. If you remove Purity, the only thing you kill of your own is Tamanoa, and if you do you'll end up gain hundreds of life anyway. If you really don't want a nuke, at least run a better prevention effect like Moment's Peace for Flashback, or Dawn Charm to help protect your Tamanoa.

Test of Endurance: Your only real way of gaining life is sticking Tamanoa and Manabarbs or Citadel of Pain. If you have the combo you're probably winning anyway, so you don't need Test of Endurance. If you don't, Test of Endurance does nothing.

Arboria: This is a good card but you probably don't need 4, since they don't stack. Maybe run 2-3, and some number of Ghostly Prison or Sphere of Safety?

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Deck Comments / Re: Instant Horror (Thing in the Ice) - Comments

« on: May 21, 2016, 04:02:14 am »

Overall this is a solid deck, but it will probably perform a lot better in 1v1 matches than free for all multiplayer games. Trading cards 1-for-1 with your opponents using counterspells is a lot weaker in multiplayer, since you won't be able to stop everything multiple opponents do. With that in mind, a few suggestions:

Don't focus so much on running Horror creatures to work with Thing in the Ice, unless they're worth including in your deck on their own merit. Chasm Skulker seems good in the deck, Phyrexian Revoker or Thrummingbird not so much.

The deck needs more card draw to be able to keep up in a multiplayer setting. Ideally you want instants like Jace's Ingenuity or Fact or Fiction, or activated abilities like Azure Mage. That way you can spend your mana drawing cards at the end of a player's turn if they don't do anything worth countering.

Mass-bounce effects are a great tool for blue, but your land count is pretty low for Engulf the Shore and for overloading Cyclonic Rift. Draw will help with that a bit, but I'd consider going to around 24 lands. If you're worried about getting flooded, Lonely Sandbar is a good option, although it doesn't count as an island for Engulf the Shore. You could also consider running Wash Out or Evacuation instead of Engulf the Shore it it proves to be too unreliable.

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Deck Comments / Re: Orzhov Deck (Unfinished) - Comments

« on: May 25, 2014, 06:25:35 am »

Cards I'd consider cutting:

Orzhov Basilica - I would seriously consider how much the drawback is going to affect you here. Your color requirements are strictest in the early game, and basilica can't be used at all turn 2, and requires giving up a turn 2 play to use it turn 3. Being able to run fewer lands may be worth it, but I would at least consider alternatives.

Voracious Hatchling - There are better 4-cost cards out there. Not much else to say here.

Divinity of Pride - Divinity is a great card, but you have a ton at 5 and Deathbringer fits your deck better. While it does do a good job enabling devotion, I'm doubtful it will get its boost very consistently, since Pontiff of Blight can't possibly gain you life before turn 7, and Voracious Hatchling is one of the weakest cards in the deck.

Ajani's Presence - Blessing of Leeches is better protection, and Valor Made Real is a better combat trick.

Gorgon Flail - This is the best card on the cut list. Probably. It's insane on Brigid, but people generally aren't going to swing into High Priest of Penance or Souls of the Faultless unless they have to or are willing to deal with heavy losses anyway.


Cards I'd consider adding:

Sorin, Lord of Innistrad - Your deck wants to get attacked, and running planeswalkers is one of the easiest ways of forcing your opponents to do so. Also, his tokens are both white and black, so they work great with Deathbringer Liege, and his emblem can make some of your weaker creatures more relevant in combat.

Gideon Jura - You have too many five-cost cards as it is, but the main reason I'm listing this guy is in case you have trouble obtaining enough Deathbringer Lieges. I also think that he's better than Divinity of Pride either way.



Also, it's at least worth considering alternatives to Unmake. While Unmake is a fine card, Hero's Downfall, Mortify, Dismember, and Oblivion Ring/Banishing Light are worth testing as proxies.
Also, Dread might be a funny alternative to Pontiff of Blight.

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Deck Comments / Re: B/U/G Self Mill - Comments

« on: February 05, 2014, 02:28:34 am »

Some things that might also be worth adding are Nemesis of Mortals, more Skaab Ruinator and/or Kessig Cagebreakers, Brawn, Wonder and Genesis. Garruk Relentless is also cheap I think.

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Deck Comments / Re: B/U/G Self Mill - Comments

« on: February 05, 2014, 02:27:01 am »

I would cut black entirely.

Cut Mulch for Satyr Wayfinder
Cut Forbidden Alchemy for Tracker's Instinct
Possibly cut Ambush Viper for Wasteland Viper
Sakura-Tribe Elder and Yavimaya Elder are probably better than Viridian Emessary and Solemn Simulacrum

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Deck Comments / Re: Vampire Beatdown - Comments

« on: February 04, 2014, 04:25:22 am »

New list! New comments!

Dark Ritual has been pseudo-banned by the group for being broken as all hell.
Disentomb is bad.
Unholy Strength is very bad.
Guul Draz Vampire relies on being overly aggressive which doesn't work in multiplayer.
Pulse Tracker relies on being overly aggressive which doesn't work in multiplayer.
Piranha Marsh is awful.

Keep in mind that loss of life does not trigger bloodthirst. Also, try for a somewhat more reasonable curve. You're overloaded on 1-2 cost cards at the moment.

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Deck Comments / Re: Vampire Beatdown - Comments

« on: February 03, 2014, 03:03:36 am »

Remove:

Diabolic Tutor
Shock
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet

Good Stuff:
Necropolis Regent
Kalastria Highborn
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Anowon, the Ruin Sage
Bloodline Keeper
Gatekeeper of Malakir

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Deck Comments / Re: Mill Deck (Unfinished) - Comments

« on: January 23, 2014, 06:50:27 am »

Another thing that might be worth looking into is things that let you play from opponents graveyards, like Geth, Lord of the Vault, the blue/black primordials, Memory Plunder, and other things.

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Deck Comments / Re: Mill Deck (Unfinished) - Comments

« on: January 23, 2014, 06:47:43 am »

Card by card rating!

---LANDS---
Island - Seems fine.
Swamp - Seems fine.
Dimir Guildgate - Honestly you can do better, even being cheap. Jwar Isle Refuge, Tainted Isle, Drowned Catacomb, etc.
Mistvein Borderpost - Counting this as a land since it replaces them. Useful for devotion, but that's about it.

Overall, consider running more than 22 lands. According to wolfram alpha, the chances of you having 5 lands by turn 5 is only 46.6%, which seems low given your number of 5-drops.
Proof: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=probability+hypergeometricdistribution[12%2C22%2C60]+%3E+4

---SPELLS---
Keening Stone: Strong if it gets going, but 11 mana is a hefty price to pay for the first activation.
Mindcrank: Best with Duskmantle Guildmage, where it goes infinite. Kind of mediocre otherwise.
Death's Approach: Run more removal - either more of this or other things.
Archive Trap: One-shot, one-opponent mill effects won't get you very far in multiplayer. That said, this thing is really funny to spring on someone.
Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver: This guy is good, but I'm not convinced you couldn't get more for your money elsewhere.
Haunting Echos: There's nothing quite like ripping a whole bunch of cards out at once, but I wonder if something like Surgical Extraction wouldn't serve better here.
Mesmeric Orb: This thing is amazing. Consider going to 4.
Mind Grind: Pretty much the best one-use mill effect out there.
Opposition: Good card, but you don't really have any good ways of abusing it.
Dissipation Field: I would strongly suggest No Mercy instead of this - think about what happens if you play against a blink deck and play this thing.
Propaganda: An excellent deterrent and good all-around choice, but do note that this does NOT protect planeswalkers.
Rhystic Study: Draw is strong and you should run more of it. Be warned that I will focus you when you play these because I know how strong they are, and because "did you pay 1" is incredibly annoying.

---CREATURES---
Hedron Crab: I love this thing. Run the full 4, and consider things like Evolving Wilds or Dimir Aqueduct to trigger him more.
Cemetary Puca: This thing doesn't care about mill, and you have next to no removal.
Consuming Abberation: This thing is really strong, and does evil things with Phenax. Kind of awkward to have so many 5-cost creatures, but justifiable here.
Dreamborn Muse: Decent but not amazing.
Duskmantle Guildmage: Good all around creature, and goes infinite with Mindcrank. Works best with triggered mill like Mesmeric Orb and Dreamborn Muse.
Fog Bank: Blocks like a champion.
Glen Elendra Liege: Good devotion enabler, and the pump effect is decent.
Lazav, Dimir Mastermind: This guy is cool. 3 is the right number since he's legendary.
Nightveil Specter: Good, but similarly to Ashiok, I think you might get more for your money elsewhere.
Sygg, River Cutthroat: You have minimal ability to trigger him yourself. How much can you rely on us?
Szadek, Lord of Secrets: Good finisher. Oona, Queen of the Fae might also be good here.
Wight of Precinct Six: He can get big, fast.
Phenax, God of Deception: Three is the correct number here.

By the way, I have a good number of cards for this deck I would be willing to trade. I'll bring up a list later, but it's something to keep in mind before you order.

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Deck Comments / Re: Black - Comments

« on: January 15, 2014, 02:28:03 am »

There are two main paths this deck could go:

Mono Black Control (MBC): Removal, sweepers, card draw, tutoring, and big mana for finishers from Cabal Coffers. This sort of deck plays few if any creatures.

Grave Pact / Sacrifice (GP): Self-recurring creatures, sacrifice effects, and effects that benefit from things dying.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lands:

Barren Moor: Decent in both decks.
Cabal Coffers: A centerpiece of MBC, but plays poorly in GP.
Leechridden Swamp: Awful. Cut it.
Swamp: Happy happy boom boom swamp swamp swamp.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Only useful with Coffers, but 1 is good in MBC.
Volrath's Stronghold: Seems good, 1 is enough in either build.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spells:

Dark Ritual: This seems random as a 1-of. Cut in MBC, your call for GP.
Demonic Tutor: OP card is OP. Beseech the Queen is another cheap tutor that doesn't make people hate you if you feel you need more.
Diabolic Intent: Decent tutor for GP, but it competes with Buried Alive and Entomb. Awful in MBC.
Grave Betrayal: I love this card, but the fact is it's a 7-mana enchantment that does nothing on its own and gets you ganked. Use with caution.
Grave Pact: Amazing in a dedicated deck. Centerpiece of GP, cut it if you run MBC.
Innocent Blood: This is good in both builds. Great card.
Liliana of the Dark Realms: Good-ish in MBC, but that deck tends to have a clogged 4-drop slot. Terrible in GP.
No Mercy: Solid, but better with ways to gain life.
Skullclamp: Skullclamp too stronk. Godly in GP, too few creatures to run in MBC.
Unearth: In the current list this only grabs Pawn of Ulamog or a Gravecrawler. Bad without big changes to the creature base.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Creatures:
Gravecrawler: These are the only zombies in the deck. Good in GP if you run more zombies. Cut for MBC.
Massacre Wurm: Decent finisher in either build, but not spectacular.
Pawn of Ulamog: Great in GP, bad in MBC.
Phyrexian Obliterator: Always at least decent, this really shines as a finisher in MBC.
Reassembling Skeleton: Decent in either build, as sac fodder in GP or as a recurrable blocker in MBC. Also look at more specialized options like Bloodghast and Nether Traitor.
Sheodred, Whispering One: One of the best creature finishers in MBC. Not so good in GP though.

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Deck Comments / Re: Avenger Blink - Comments

« on: November 15, 2013, 01:25:20 am »

Part 3: Specific Cards of Note:

Genesis Wave: I went over this earlier, but I can't understate how good this is.
Sakura-Tribe Elder: It's a permanent for Genesis Wave, and it also can landfall at instant speed.
Perilous Forays: This thing is hilarious with Emeria Angel, Ravenous Baloths or Avenger of Zendikar. Sac a token, trigger landfall, repeat. Don't mistake it for ramp though, since it takes six mana and a creature to even get your first land with it.
Krosan Verge: It's a land that fetches two lands, providing ramp and landfall triggers with minimal opportunity cost.
Sporemound: This doesn't technically have landfall, but it pretty much does.

That's it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

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Deck Comments / Re: Avenger Blink - Comments

« on: November 15, 2013, 01:18:11 am »

Part 2: Suggestions

Ditch the plant theme entirely. Having the chance for Avenger of Zendikar to put counters on mediocre cards doesn't make them good.

All the ramp in this deck should be land-based. Creature-based ramp is only useful in getting Avenger out and receiving useless +1/+1 counters on a wall. Land-based ramp gives you more plant tokens for the same total creatures, except the tokens can attack, and any more ramp you draw post-Avenger makes the tokens stronger instead of being useless.

I would strongly suggest focusing on landfall over blink themes. Ravenous Baloths continue to be amazing, and white gives you Emeria Angel and Admonition Angel. There is also Ruin Ghost and Grazing Gladeheart for the early game, and Seer's Sundial for card draw.

If you do go with landfall, Genesis Wave is amazing. It puts everything on to the battlefield at the same time, so creatures with landfall that enter play trigger for every land that enters at the same time as them. This means that if you Genesis Wave Avenger of Zendikar, it counts the Genesis Wave'd lands for both making tokens and buffing tokens.

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Deck Comments / Re: Avenger Blink - Comments

« on: November 15, 2013, 01:01:18 am »

Part 1: Card by Card Review:



Creatures:

Avenger of Zendikar: You're building the deck around this. Run 4, obviously.

Rhys the Redeemed: This doubles Avenger's tokens, but if you have Avenger tokens you're probably all ready winning. Is it good enough for the first ability?

Ruin Ghost: Blinking lands is kind of cute, but again, once Avenger is in play you're all ready in a decent spot. The utility in blinking garden doesn't seem worth it unless you run more landfall.

Sylvan Caryatid: For Avenger of Zendikar, land-based ramp beats creature-based ramp any day. Even though this is a plant, having 1 more land also gets you the same number of plants total, except that with the land the token can also attack, and playing a land after avenger buffs your army. IMO Cut this for Sakura-Tribe Elder or something else that finds lands.

Thrashing Mossdog: How cute, it's a plant so Avenger buffs it. It's also awful. Cut it.

Traproot Kami: This relies heavily on other people to provide forests, since you're only running 12 forests and 2 nature's lore. I don't think it's good enough here.

Wall of Vines: See Thrashing Mossdog. Avenger does not do nearly enough to salvage how bad this card is.


Spells:

Deconstruct: There is much much better artifact removal out there. This isn't even usable with scepter.

Isochron Scepter: There are two cards in this entire deck that scepter works with - the two Momentary Blink. For scepter to be worthwhile you need at least 10, preferably close to 20.

Momentary Blink: There is only one viable blink target in the entire deck, and if you have Avenger out you should probably be more concerned with making your tokens huge and killing people rather than making more tokens.

Nature's Lore: These are good, but you don't have enough. Run more ramp.

Shield of the Oversoul: If you want to protect Avenger, there are far better ways of doing it.

Wildfield Borderpost: So you bounce a land and replay it to trigger Avenger. You know what else triggers Avenger? Land.

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Deck Comments / Re: Artifact Deck - Comments

« on: September 15, 2013, 06:00:34 am »

September 10th version:

I think you may have gone too far the other way; you used to have far too much mana ramp, but now you have nearly none. I would suggest more 2-3 drop ramp. Good options include Everflowing Chalice, Mind Stone, Dimir Signet et all, Chromatic Lantern, Worn Powerstone, Coalition Relic. I think the 3-mana ones are better now, as you have Lightning Greaves -> 3-drop ramp -> Kuldotha Forgemaster for a surprise turn 3 kill. Other than that, I'd still advise either cutting down the number of forgemaster targets, or going all-in and having more ways to reliably get out and abuse forgemaster.