the reason wurmcoil is in here is because youre biased. Infect is your win condition, skithiryx would be a better onesie than wurmcoil in this deck. The regeneration alone makes it extremely hard to remove from the board, it can kill almost anything in two swings with its regenerate up.
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Creeping corrosion is something to worry about, no one side boards steel sabotage
I would need to run two tezzerets if I did. This would mean either a) adding in two sphere of the suns, or B) adding black mana to the deck. With the addition of black mana I might as well make it another typical U/B Control deck, and thats not what this deck was about. Its about mana ramp, infect, deck control, and proliferate. Basically, to add the Tezzerets I would either need to make space for at least five cards or incorporate swamps.
Land count is based more on personal preference, I prefer to be able to drop at least one land every turn, 22 would definately still be functional but the 24 is simply my own preference.
thank you =)
Revoker would stop them after the initial fetch lands/zombie spawn, right? I always counted them as attacking to activate the ability. Please, correct me if I am wrong.
Wyrsa, I agree with your comment on livewire lash. I have played infect in every color combination possible, and in almost every case I feel that it is too slow. It can combo nicely, but I prefer to just pump and kill you that turn. Also, pyroclasm and slagstorm would NOT affect the crusaders, you are wrong there. Protection from a color doesnt mean you cannot be targeted by those spells, it means that you cannot be blocked, affected, damaged, or targeted by that color. Yes pyroclasm and slagstorm would (technically) hit the Crusaders, but they would be completely unharmed.
Thank you, and your suggestion is greatly appreciated. Im pretty sure I agree, after some more playtesting Im near certain I'll come to the same conclusion. Mana isnt a problem in this deck like it is in most blues, and the extra stoic could be a game winner.
Thrumming birds may seem out of place, let me list the benefits. 1. Great FLYING chump blockers. 2. Can proliferate if needed. 3. EASY mana for grand architect.
Elves have the highest mana ramp bar none. Arbor Elves + Llanowar + Elvish Archdruid and Joraga Treespeaker = 12+ mana by turn 4 pretty easily. Drop 2 contagion clasp for 2 Kuldotha Forgemaster, all you need is two other artifacts on the field and BAM. Blightsteel from the deck. With the Myrs and Chalices, it shouldnt be hard at all.
I dont care for rot wolf, its too easy to counter In my opinion.
And yes, I do realize Blightsteel has no activated abilities. Revoker is just a 2 drop way for me to say GTFO to your planeswalkers and titans.
The Unified Wills were added in after I made the deck, but I still dont consider 4 spells enough to call it U/B. Glint hawk idol is my response to ratchet bombs, DoJ, Black Sun's Zenith. This is a low drop swarm deck, so people WILL side those against me and blow up the field. Glint hawk sits as a non creature artifact and provides me with defense and a means to recover after this happens, IF i wasnt able to Unified will the sweep card. Phyrexian revokers are in for two reasons. 1) theyre only a two drop, fits the decks mana curve perfectly. 2) EVERY deck has atleast one centerpiece that they rely on, whether it be Jace, Primevil, Blightsteel, whatever. Revoker is my response to those. I keep them reserved when needed, and if I see an annoyance coming out soon, I drop a revoker.
I put the Doom Blades in SB for three Disfigures, and updated my sideboard. Sideboard is for countering kuldotha red, U/B Control, Blightsteel decks, and Myr decks. (these are what I see played most often at my local FNM.)
Im running 4 GFTT already, but the grasps might not be too bad of an idea. Thanks much =)
Ive playtested this deck plenty, and on average it deals 10 damage turn 2. Inconsistency is not an issue. The average turn win is turn 4, unless an opponent manages to tap everything turn 3 for a pyroclasm, field clearing hasnt been an issue. Ratchet bombs were indeed this decks critical weakness, but no one main boards them. Sideboard crush or any of the mass artifact hatred that red likes to run and throw them in when you suspect your opponent threw in ratchet bombs. My matchups thus far have been against U/B Control, B/R Vamps, and U/B artifacts. Have yet to lose a full match.' Also, thanks for the pointer on Contested War Zone. I hadnt realized that bit and luckily neither have any of my opponents yet. I would always tap it before attacking. Contested War zone is what makes the deck shine, but I only drop it right before an all out assault. Unless they have some good haste, theyre typically obligated to throw out what they have as chump blockers and losing my War Zones hasnt been an issue, yet.
The point of this deck is to run low drops, cycle through deck faster with Dark Tutelage, and then use Captivating Vampire to take whatever it is thats bothering you. Consuming vapors is not a good idea in a mono black deck, there are too many cards that do its job better for much less mana. Inquisition of Kozilek> Duress, and GFTT/Doom blade> smother. Even Grasp of Darkness>smother. Most of the time the creatures you are trying to get around only have 1 or 2 toughness, anything else captivating should be taking for your own use. Arc trail and lightning bolt both clear out these chump blockers and deal additional damage to your opponent. Ive been playing Vampires since I started, and BR vamps has and will continue to be the most competetive structure for them. I thought that after blightning/terminate were out BR vamps was too, but a deck almost identical to this one won first place at a regional about a month ago.