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100%: Sept. Installment pt. 1 – Landscaping w/ Trav!
Posted on September 2, 2010 by Travis R. Chance
Travis R. Chance Travis (book on Magic Online) is a game designer and fringe format specialist who loves building innovative, synergistic decks and making fun of Magic art.
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Sweet deck.
They don’t even have yards in Brooklyn.
Really like the deck.
I build a Jund-Landfall Highlander myself. But I didn’t invest much money so it obviously sucked.
I like your built so far and I’d suggest Far Wanderings, maybe it goes in where Harrow used to be.
I know it’s slow and I understand if you don’t like it. But it’s def overkill in this deck
About the Nekrataal question: you know I like him very much and I think you should try him this time.
i fail to see the thrill of running nekrataal in any deck, the 2/1 first strike body rarely has an effect. If you need creature-based removal to take out something like like an emrakul or whatnot then I think most decks would be better off with Bone Shredder or Big Game Hunter.
A few things
When you Scapeshift, and get say a Valakut and say 7 mountains, since they all enter the battlefield simultaneously, all 7 mountains will trigger Valakut and bolt them for 21, so in theory you could Valakut them for 30 off of Scapeshift, and not just 15.
Secondly, Bloodbraid Elf can never kill itself if you hit a removal spell with no creatures in play. The cascade ability trigger when you cast BBE, so the Cascade effect, and subsequently the card you cast with it, will occur while BBE is still on the stack, therefore it won’t be able to hit her. Also, casting a spell of Cascade is a May effect, so you can choose to not cast the spell you hit with it and simply put it onto the bottom with the rest of the cards. So even if you hit one of you X spells, it will just go to the bottom, and with the amount of shuffle effects you have, getting it again is not unreasonable. Also, if you do hit a dead Cascade, it’s not that bad. BBE is still a 3 power Haster for 4, which is by no means bad.
Get any games in against controlling builds? My attempts at jund in this format have gotten pretty well stomped by most island packing decks unless I draw an LD package. Seems like a solid starting point. I really like the “between match changes” segments that you do.
Hey gang,
For the first time in nearly a year I am out of the city and breathing non-bumfart/garbage patina’d air! This means, unfortunately, I will have to keep my bantering back to a minimum, but allow me to stir the pot before I disappear into the wilds.
Nekrataal is not a hot one. Mr. Fenix is, in fact, right. Slow, the dub Black mana cost sucks, and at four, at that cost, I could rock a Damnation. There’s just too many good cards these days, and the poor lil fella has just fallen by the wayside.
Far wanderings is also not my fav. I will give you all some insight here: this deck goes through GIGANTIC and DRASTIC changes throughout the month. Remem to hold tight and keep the faith! Some of your suggestions kick in, and soon!
kb-a-bunch-of-numbers.guy,
I haven’t played with Valakut before, and, as you will see, am pleasantly surprised after much testing, but thanks for clarifying for those as ill-prepared as yours truly.
On the subject of Bloodbraid Elf: indeed, my removal scenario was in fact an incorrect one. But let me say that I find this card outside of something like Naya or R/G completely ill-fitting. This deck has too much in the way of set up, and the last thing I want is to throw some hasting dork that will more than likely just net me a Farseek in the deck. Additionally, the inclusion of Bloodbraid in decks like Naoto’s that pack a relatively decent little counter suite seems greedy and entirely ridic, Simply put, you’re crossing your fingers with this guy unless your threat/removal density is HIGH. It’s a crapshoot. So unless you’re beating, and beating hard, this card doesn’t function the same way as it does in traditional non-Highlander formats.
Holla! Now fight amongst yourselves until next I have computer access!
Yeah that’s what I thought.
I think your deck will go less the landfall route but more the “powerful jund cards + ramp” route.
Am I right?
Pretty much. Bu I try and stay the course, thematically. Hold tight. This was a very difficult build indeed.
I see Broodmate Dragon being good, but Tombstalker may be a better fit for the deck if you’re not using your graveyard? I’m just a nub though, so I don’t know lol.
Maybe you can help me out a little. I’m having trouble building my own brews lately. My issue is that I keep wanting to throw in 2 card I win combos when the colors match up. Obviously the combos suck when you draw the cards separately.
For example: Thopter Foundry/Sword of the Meek when you’re playing UW and have search cards.
Painter’s Servant/Grindstone, Stuffy Doll/Guilty Conscience, Cabal Coffers/Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Leyline of the Void/Helm of Obedience (Those are obviously janky).
Do you feel that synergy is fully more important than having a 2 card win combo? Obviously you do…
So you mentioned something about having all sorts of dead land fetching stuff in the late-game…
This sounds like a job for Panglacial Wurm.
Yeah, I know that last time I checked he was broken in that you couldn’t cast him and still resolve the search, but turning all of your fetches/STE/etc into 9/5 flash trample dudes seems worthwhile as a sideboard option at the very least.
Ok I tried to watch this crap but I got seriously tired of listening to a grown a$$ man talk like a 12 year old girl the whole time. Terrible terrible videos. Will NEVER watch this guys crap again.
ACP,
Was it my fandom of Taylor Swift, or my elaboration on the Sweet Valley High books? Uhm…
Zeitgeist,
I never considered that. It may be pretty cool, considering all the fetching and searching and fact I have mongo mana! As long as I never drew that fartwaffle, I’d be mega happy with a little building-sized surprise!
Jomp,
Since mana isn’t much of an issue, I’d rather pay 6 for two flying duders than 2 (at best) for one. Not a bad suggestion, as I have zilcho recursion! If only Loam or Crucible were legal; sigh…
With regard to Combo strategies: I am the staunch opinion that you try and find an OVERALL synergy, not just throw some stuff in and hope. These recent Oath up Emrakul/Nest-Craft/Thopter-Sword all in one amalgams perplex me beyond belief. So many of these cards do NOTHING on their lonesome; and most are not autowins. My belief is creature-reliant combo are by far the weakest, as they are the most susceptible to disruption (Painter/Grindstone being the prime example of this). While Thopter/Sword is in and of the colors with the most tutoring to accomplish this feat, I do find it a bit slow. What I am trying to say is this: I still like good ol’ Severance/Belcher. At the worst, you’re eliminating unwanted land draws and perhaps getting some damage in there. I do have faith in Oath, but these super greedy/weird brews with Lifespark Spellbomb and Polymorph just seem a bit over the top.
I dunno: Combo is a hard one in this format with the limited tutoring, but, then again, were these bannings to be lifted I am confident it would be much like its 60-card predecessor: heavily Combo.
Hope this all helps! Sorry for the lapse of banter, I was in the woods, and, literally, was smelled by a bear in my masculine attempt to sleep outdoors, nearly evacuating me from the foothold of this great dimension.
So there will be a surival horror sotry involving a bear in next month’s video installment?
Also I like die Panglacial Wurm idea. It’s kind of like the NO/Progentius inclusion in your rec-sur build.
On the down side, the combo is much weaker.
On the up side, you can get it with every fetch and nearly every game and it’s not even a dead draw, just a huge drop.
No mention of the woodland encounter in this forthcoming video, but I will continue to act like an adolescent girl – for your amusement, of course.