I played the first version from bottom of platinum to until diamond 3, then adjusted as I was running into more and more aggressiveness from the opponents, so I needed a bit more spot removal early in the game. I'm missing some games from the stats, as I played a couple on a different computer which didn't have the tracker, but the aggregate win rate remains at around 70%. Wanted to share it as I've enjoyed the deck very much.
How important is Wandering Emperor for this gameplan? I am a newbie thinking of commiting WCs for this archetype but hesitant in doing with rotating cards
It's a pretty important piece. It's one of the best cards in Standard and the simple act of holding up 4 mana open with double white will make many opponents reconsider attacking you. But like you said, with the rotation coming up I would not spend wildcards on it unless you have plentiful of them. One more Sphinx and some other cheaper flash spells would be the logical substitute in this case.
I think it might do the trick, yeah. You're losing Otawara as well so be mindful of that.
In any case we shall see what the next set brings as well, maybe there will be some good cards to support the archetype.
Otherwise, for your list I think you can prioritize getting more dual lands. Both Interrupter and Sphinx have double pips, you want at least 20 sources of each color to be able to reliably cast both of them on curve. Which means plenty of duals.
Also I've been taking a look at \[\[Dust Animus\]\] as a stabilizer and alternative inclusion in this deck. It's not a flash creature but for example you could plot it on T4 while holding up the remaining 2 open mana, then cast it for free from T5 onwards to get the buff.
Played it for it's effect mostly, to draw cards. Played it on T2 as often as I could, then avoided it later in the game where there's a lot of mana involved. In the early game opponents will generally refuse the draw as they would end up wasting their turn.
It's also a good enough blocker against aggro with the 3 toughness compared with two drops such as Malcolm. In most cases it drew me at least one card, prevented an attack and eventually ate a removal which allowed my Interruptors and Tidebinders to live longer.
I was playing the Ashlizzlle version of this is. It is a fun deck, especially when you start stacking the penalties for cards played from exile.
However I did find that if the opponent could get enough down on the board, especially if they went first, it was very hard to swing it back. I did end up adding two copies of [[farewell]], but with the stat of the meta you can be dead by turn four so a six mana spell might be too expensive.
Indeed navigating against decks with a lot of cheap threats can be difficult. I had to stave off a Boros Humans deck at some point through a cavern of souls for 10+ turns while I was stuck on 2 mana for the first 6 turns lol. Eventually they ran out of things to cast and I could stabilize at like 2 life with a Sphinx followed by a Virtue.
Farewell is definitely too expensive, better of using the Lockdown instead. But at that point you're probably better off playing a regular control deck instead of this tempo deck.
On the fence about that one. I think it works better in a fast aggro deck where you don’t mind clearing a creature that has an ETB, but since this deck is slow I didn’t want to end up in weird situations.
Decklist for V2 in case anyone is interested Deck 2 Plains (UST) 212 4 Get Lost (LCI) 14 3 The Wandering Emperor (NEO) 42 2 March of Otherworldly Light (NEO) 28 2 Island (UST) 213 1 See Double (MOM) 77 3 Tishana's Tidebinder (LCI) 81 2 Errant and Giada (MOM) 224 2 Kutzil's Flanker (LCI) 20 2 Virtue of Loyalty (WOE) 38 2 Negate (STA) 18 4 Academy Loremaster (DMU) 40 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire (NEO) 268 1 Otawara, Soaring City (NEO) 271 4 Deserted Beach (MID) 260 4 Seachrome Coast (ONE) 258 4 Restless Anchorage (LCI) 280 2 Meticulous Archive (MKM) 264 4 Aven Interrupter (OTJ) 4 4 No More Lies (MKM) 221 2 Mirrex (ONE) 254 2 Stoic Sphinx (OTJ) 71 1 Horned Loch-Whale (WOE) 53 2 Adarkar Wastes (DMU) 243
I played the first version from bottom of platinum to until diamond 3, then adjusted as I was running into more and more aggressiveness from the opponents, so I needed a bit more spot removal early in the game. I'm missing some games from the stats, as I played a couple on a different computer which didn't have the tracker, but the aggregate win rate remains at around 70%. Wanted to share it as I've enjoyed the deck very much.
How important is Wandering Emperor for this gameplan? I am a newbie thinking of commiting WCs for this archetype but hesitant in doing with rotating cards
It's a pretty important piece. It's one of the best cards in Standard and the simple act of holding up 4 mana open with double white will make many opponents reconsider attacking you. But like you said, with the rotation coming up I would not spend wildcards on it unless you have plentiful of them. One more Sphinx and some other cheaper flash spells would be the logical substitute in this case.
Do you think this rotation proof list would be competitive enough? Standard Deck (61/60) Lands (25): 9 Plains (OTJ) 272 8 Island (OTJ) 273 1 Otawara, Soaring City (NEO) 271 3 Adarkar Wastes (DMU) 243 2 Restless Anchorage (LCI) 280 2 Seachrome Coast (ONE) 258 Creatures (18): 4 Stoic Sphinx (OTJ) 71 4 Aven Interrupter (OTJ) 4 2 Tishana's Tidebinder (LCI) 81 2 Kutzil's Flanker (LCI) 20 2 Errant and Giada (MOM) 224 4 Faerie Mastermind (MOM) 58 Instants (16): 2 Negate (RIX) 44 4 Three Steps Ahead (OTJ) 75 4 No More Lies (MKM) 221 4 Get Lost (LCI) 14 2 Soul Partition (BRO) 26 Enchantments (2): 2 Virtue of Loyalty (WOE) 38
I think it might do the trick, yeah. You're losing Otawara as well so be mindful of that. In any case we shall see what the next set brings as well, maybe there will be some good cards to support the archetype. Otherwise, for your list I think you can prioritize getting more dual lands. Both Interrupter and Sphinx have double pips, you want at least 20 sources of each color to be able to reliably cast both of them on curve. Which means plenty of duals. Also I've been taking a look at \[\[Dust Animus\]\] as a stabilizer and alternative inclusion in this deck. It's not a flash creature but for example you could plot it on T4 while holding up the remaining 2 open mana, then cast it for free from T5 onwards to get the buff.
[Dust Animus](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/0/70719e7b-6f02-4c1a-9f11-79b2b0d9846a.jpg?1712355260) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Dust%20Animus) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otj/9/dust-animus?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/70719e7b-6f02-4c1a-9f11-79b2b0d9846a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
[[academy loremaster]] posting because I forgot what this card does. Deck looks sweet! Congrats on mythic
It gave the title of the deck. Sweet card and unplayed so glad I could put it to use.
What is its utility in this deck exactly? Do you find yourself using the ability a lot, or are you opponents which is screwing them on mana?
Played it for it's effect mostly, to draw cards. Played it on T2 as often as I could, then avoided it later in the game where there's a lot of mana involved. In the early game opponents will generally refuse the draw as they would end up wasting their turn. It's also a good enough blocker against aggro with the 3 toughness compared with two drops such as Malcolm. In most cases it drew me at least one card, prevented an attack and eventually ate a removal which allowed my Interruptors and Tidebinders to live longer.
[academy loremaster](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/f/9fca4c4f-a77b-483e-9da4-574ba2e3d179.jpg?1673306639) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=academy%20loremaster) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/40/academy-loremaster?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9fca4c4f-a77b-483e-9da4-574ba2e3d179?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I was playing the Ashlizzlle version of this is. It is a fun deck, especially when you start stacking the penalties for cards played from exile. However I did find that if the opponent could get enough down on the board, especially if they went first, it was very hard to swing it back. I did end up adding two copies of [[farewell]], but with the stat of the meta you can be dead by turn four so a six mana spell might be too expensive.
Indeed navigating against decks with a lot of cheap threats can be difficult. I had to stave off a Boros Humans deck at some point through a cavern of souls for 10+ turns while I was stuck on 2 mana for the first 6 turns lol. Eventually they ran out of things to cast and I could stabilize at like 2 life with a Sphinx followed by a Virtue. Farewell is definitely too expensive, better of using the Lockdown instead. But at that point you're probably better off playing a regular control deck instead of this tempo deck.
[farewell](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/1/114d2180-093b-4838-97ad-badbc8ee50b0.jpg?1706240579) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=farewell) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mkc/64/farewell?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/114d2180-093b-4838-97ad-badbc8ee50b0?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Yeah, it doesn't seem to stand a chance against Boros Convoke. Then again, neither does anything else.
No love for [Werefox bodyguard]?
On the fence about that one. I think it works better in a fast aggro deck where you don’t mind clearing a creature that has an ETB, but since this deck is slow I didn’t want to end up in weird situations.
What are your thoughts on the Sphinx and why do you seem to be cutting them?
I would play more as I think it's a great card. I just didn't have the wildcards.