LIST
CHANGES
Compared to my previous post the maindeck has not changed much even with the banning of KCI and the current dominance of Arclight Phoenix and Dredge. The only differences are the reintroduction of the 7th “bear” in Goblin Electromancer and adding the 2nd Unsubstantiate. In doing so I have completely removed Remand from the deck to make space.
The inclusion of the 7th bear is mainly due to the meta now significantly picking up in speed and the now normal encountering of maindeck graveyard hate which makes having a bear in play all the more important to try and combo off. Important to note that the mainboard hate is a lot of the times Surgical Extraction (mostly from Phoenix decks) so we cant even rely on tapped out opponents to signal the coast is clear.
These factors also lead to the inclusion of the second unsubstantiate as now the top decks all have critical creatures to bounce (Phoenix, Humans, Spirits, Scales, Shadow) but with all the additional graveyard hate we still want to be able to execute a “Grapeshot + Remand + Grapeshot” line, especially with the added emphasis on the Pieces of the Puzzle plan postboard (as discussed below).
In the Sideboard there have been quite a few changes. First off is the going back to a full set of Pieces of the Puzzle as with the very large amount of graveyard hate, especially postboard, we now need to completely get rid of the main Gifts Ungiven plan a lot. To make space I decided to cut the Echoing Truth. This was due to lots of hate switching to being stack based as well as with the 4th pieces also letting us ignore RiP/Leyline more easily.
The next change is the Shatterstorm over the 2nd Abrade. Here we are giving up some creature interaction to have an actual haymaker against the Prison decks as well as against Scales. While this does give us one less card to board in aginst decks such as Humans, which is on the rise, we have the 2nd Unsubstantiate to help keep the numbers the same.
The final change to the board is the dispel over negate. While Dispel is definitely much more narrow it helps us fight the faster decks (such as Phoenix) on the stack easier while still being good against control (unlike Pierce). Dispel also costing one here is huge in that it is much easier to hold up when we don’t have a bear in play or want to play it out and expose it just yet, while also letting us further develop.
MATCHUPS
Izzet Phoenix
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Empty the Warrens, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Dismember, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Dispel
Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Repeal, 1 Sleight of Hand, 3 Goblin Electromancer
Humans
In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Dismember, 1 Flame Slash
Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Gifts Ungiven
Burn
In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dispel, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Spell Pierce
Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Repeal
Grixis Death’s Shadow
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dismember, 1 Dispel, 1 Spell Pierce
Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Past in Flames, 1 Repeal
Dredge
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Spell Pierce
Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 2 Sleight of Hand
4C Whir Prison
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Empty the Warrens
Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Past in Flames
Hollow One
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Lighting Bolt, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Abrade, 1 Flame Slash
Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Sleight of Hand, 2 Goblin Electromancer 1 Repeal
Infect
In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Dismember, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Dispel
Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Repeal, 1 Empty the Warrens
Titan Shift
In: 1 Wipe Away, 1 Abrade
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand
Affinity
In: 1 Abrade, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Dismember
Out: 4 Sleight of Hand
Storm
In: 1 Lighting Bolt, 1 Dismember, 1 Spell Pierce, 1 Dispel
Out: 1 Empty the Warrens, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Repeal
Living End
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Spell Pierce
Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 2 Sleight of Hand
Bogles
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Abrade, 1 Wipe Away
Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 2 Sleight of Hand
Tron
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Wipe Away
Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 1 Repeal
Ponza
In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Flame Slash
Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Empty the Warrens
Bant Spirits
In: 1 Dismember, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Abrade, 2 Pieces of the Puzzle, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Empty the Warrens
Out: 4 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 2 Sleight of Hand
Jund
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Lighting Bolt, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Abrade
Out: 2 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Unsubstantiate, 2 Baral, Chief of Compliance, 1 Past in Flames
UW Control
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dispel, 1 Wipe Away
Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 2 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Unsubstantiate, 1 Pyretic Ritual
Jeskai Control
In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Dispel, 1 Wipe Away
Out: 3 Gifts Ungiven, 3 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Baral, Chief of Compliance, 1 Past in Flames
Scales Affinity
In: 1 Wipe Away, 1 Abrade, 1 Shatterstorm, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Dismember, 2 Pieces of the Puzzle
Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Goblin Electromancer, 2 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames
Amulet Titan
In: 1 Wipe Away, 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Spell Pierce, 2 Pieces of the Puzzle
Out: 3 Sleight of Hand, 1 Empty the Warrens, 1 Repeal, 1 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames
Blue Moon
In: 3 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Wipe Away, 1 Dispel, 1 Spell Pierce
Out: 2 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Past in Flames, 3 Goblin Electromancer, 1 Unsubstantiate, 1 Baral, Chief of Compliance
Counters Company
In: 2 Lightning Bolt, 1 Abrade, 1 Dismember, 1 Flame Slash, 1 Wipe Away
Out: 4 Sleight of Hand, 1 Repeal, 1 Empty the Warrens
Fantastic, Caleb! I wish you luck and 100 goblins turn two of every game 🙂
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What do you think about Madcap Experiment SB plan?
Thanks Caleb for your blog.
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I’ve tried it but found it pretty lacking. The SB cost in slots was just too high for a plan that didn’t really get us to a very favorable burn and dredge matchup.
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why only 1 abrade against the whir matchup?
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I mean no abrade
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Great update as always, keep it up!
I was wondering, with Surgical on the rise even in some maindecks do you think Noxious Revival might be worth reconsidering in the main?
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My LGS meta is mainly burn and dredge. Should I put more dispels in the board?
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