Anything But: The Hive Mindset

Posted on August 15, 2013 by JustSin

Since the first printing of slivers in Tempest Block, it has been well-known that putting a group of these talon-shaped creatures together meant nothing good for an opponent without a Wrath of God. The Slivers strategy has proven to be a great introduction for many players into the world of Magic, as they weren’t just bodies on the field, but a total living entity that shared a single mindset. With each additional sliver on the field, your army grew stronger and allowed you to maneuver games with wily tricks and big bodies without having to waste spots in your deck for those pesky non-creature spells. With the recent release of the latest core set, Magic 2014, we were brought back to the idea of slivers for the fourth time (the first three being Tempest Block, Onslaught Block, and Time Spiral Block for those who didn’t know). This meant we got new commons, which some thought might offer a revitalization of the deck-type. Well, let’s see what impact they had on the metagame…

So something odd happened when tracking the metagame. There has been a specific run of time from week to week that the Daily Event information used in the Competitive Corner covers. Some of you may have noticed, but something happened about a week ago that really changed things up. I really don’t know how it happened, but my weeks were thrown off by a few days. This means that last week featured two days that will be included again in this week’s meta breakdown. While I know this may be a little bit confusing, at least be assured that the overall information I have compiled has been altered to fix the problem so that nothing is being counted twice.

Daily Event Results 7/25 – 8/7


Perhaps the reduced FissurePost metagame is going to look like this. Just like last week we have DelverBlue at the top spot and Stompy and FissurePost rounding out the top three. The most disappointing thing about a stable metagame is mostly based on the fact that these three decks are holding such a significant piece of the metagame that other decks could be holding in part. Consider for a second that these three decks are accounting for 52% of the decks that are ending up winning Daily Events. It is getting to be a bit of a stranglehold. There has recently been a bit of a push through people in the community trying to get a ban for either Temporal Fissure or Cloud of Faeries in an attempt to reduce the power of Temporal Fissure decks in the format. Personally I don’t think that the FissurePost decks are really the problem. This top three suggests more of a problem than there simply being a single dominating deck. If one of these cards have to go, I’d offer my vote for Cloud of Faeries, as it would reduce the power of both DelverBlue and Fissure, but this would go against my number one rule when it comes to banning: don’t kill a deck, simply reduce its power level.

Here are this week’s rogues…

1. FamiliarStorm – 5
2. MUC – 5
3. Hexproof – 5
4. Elves – 3
5. Burn – 3
6. Teachings – 2
7. UB Control – 2
8. GreenPost – 1
9. RebelPost – 1

Well, our list of rogue decks has increased from last week’s low, but still not at that high point of 35. Perhaps more importantly, while there are 27 rogue decks this week, the variation between the different decks is incredibly low with only nine different rogues. There are some names on this list that had been regular non-rogues in the past such as FamiliarStorm and Hexproof, which have fallen quite a bit as they continue to struggle week to week seeing if they can keep off this list. I hate to say it, but there really isn’t anything interesting to talk about when it comes to this list of rogues. We’ve seen this all before, except for the fact that the one showing by RebelPost was an undefeated run.

Here’s how the undefeated odds are looking…

Things remain about the same once again on our undefeated standings list. As you might expect, the total results for FissurePost continue to drop, but the undefeated total has been holding its own, meaning that the deck is winning less while still maintaining a high chance of going undefeated. We’re also continuing to see the strong ability to go undefeated in FamiliarStorm, which doesn’t show up often, but shows up strong when it does. The deck maintains an average chance of going undefeated around 30%, over 5% more than the next in line.

Just a quick note– I’m sorry to disappoint, but we’re going to be taking the spotlight out for a few weeks because I have something big in the works and don’t have the additional time, but for those who enjoy it, have no fear; it will be back, and this is only a temporary removal!

These days slivers are a popular topic. I have to imagine (though I don’t play it, so don’t quote me!) that beyond the Pauper format, there really isn’t much space for an established deck based upon this entirely creature-centric strategy. While we were provided with a few interesting color choices such as lifelink on Syphon Sliver, the set feels like it is missing a bit of the tricks of old a la Onslaught Block. This is just an opinion, however, but the biggest debate we’ve seen within the release has to do with the new flavor of the creatures. For those of you who are fortunate enough to not have read about this ongoing debate, please allow me to tarnish that bliss and provide you with the details on the ongoing argument.

To put it simply, the “slivers” of Magic 2014 were printed with two major differences from the slivers of old. The first difference was cosmetic. Previous to this latest core set, all slivers had been designed with a sinewy body and various talon-shaped appendages. The newer “slivers” have entirely lost this talon-shaped design for something a little more boring and uncharacteristic. I mean, looking at a picture of one of these creature, you used to be able to immediately say “oh yeah, that’s a sliver!” The second change was a bit more subtle. Prior to Magic 2014, all slivers had their effects listed as “all slivers,” but these new “slivers” focused on buffing only slivers that you control. So much for that hive mindset.

But this article isn’t here to focus in on my thoughts of these new “slivers”. In fact, this article isn’t even really here to explain the deck, but we’ll get to that in a minute. With the printing of new “slivers”, we were introduced to a third “lord” in Predatory Sliver. In addition to the other two, Muscle Sliver and Sinew Sliver, you can now have a scaling up of creatures like you cannot believe. With only two lands on the field, you can put out a new creature and pump your creatures by one each turn on the right draw. Out of the remaining “slivers” from the new set, the other two that really stand out for pauper are Sentinel Sliver and Hive Stirrings. While Hive Stirrings isn’t technically a sliver, you’re getting additional bodies on the field for an efficient cost.

Before the release of these new “slivers”, there was already a GW version of the deck that looked to capitalize on the ability of each creature to make the others stronger. There really hasn’t been any point in time where the Slivers deck was a regular contender outside of rogue status. Several people, myself included, were under the impression that these new additions could make the deck more competitive. So far this hasn’t been the case. While the addition of these new “slivers” does give the deck a bit more speed and stability, it still struggles with the same weaknesses as it had before. All of that aside, I had still expected to see quite a few articles and videos talking about the Slivers deck. Because of this and the fact that there is really not a lot to talk about with regard to playing the deck beyond “play creatures and attack,” I decided to take a look at the deck from a bit of a different angle.

When it comes to the creature selection for the deck, it is pretty simple to start putting together a core group of cards. Any Slivers deck is going to start off with a full set of the three sliver lords. Beyond those twelve cards, things can change a bit, but expect to throw in a set of Plated Slivers to continue increasing size and Virulent Slivers as they help increase the deck’s speed. With the creature base of each Sliver deck seeming to be about the same, the real differences will come down to the choices players make when it comes to their non-creature spells. So let’s take a look at some of the decks that have shown up since the release of Magic 2014.

This was the first official list to show up in Daily Events after the release of Magic 2014 and shows a Sliver deck in its most generic form. As you can see, the creature base is simply the best of the Pauper slivers thrown together as full sets to form the real center of the deck. I’m personally not a huge fan of the card choices made here when it comes to the non-creature spells. Some of the earlier attempts at building the Sliver deck used to include Gemhide Slivers as a bit of mana fixing, but since the deck has become such a solid balance between green and white, there really hasn’t been a necessity for mana fixing. Even the use of Selesnya Guildgate has helped what little color fixing the deck needed. So when I see a deck that is using a full set of Safewright Quests, I do question it a little bit, especially when you’re already sitting at 20 lands, which also seems a bit rough when your curve really tops at 2. The only benefit that could be seen from the full use of these land fetches would be the thinning of your deck of land and perhaps even allowing you to keep a 1-land hand. That being said, I’d be willing to bet the deck at 20 lands could hold up for a couple turns off of a 1-land hand if your mulligans were bad enough. Beyond this questionable addition, the deck really works on both sides of aggressive and defensive in the forms of Journey to Nowhere and Armadillo Cloak.

This was the second Slivers deck to show up in Daily Events after the release of Magic 2014. I love this deck. You can’t get any more flavorful with slivers than with this deck. The construction of slivers within the Magic universe revolved around these creatures that all shared a basic mind that allowed them to share traits. To me, if I were going to try and illustrate slivers in deck form it would be something like this. The only non-creature spell in this deck is a full set of Hive Stirrings, which is basically just more slivers. I don’t think I’ve seen this type of approach before when it comes to building a Slivers list, but the addition of these new “slivers” has finally given the deck a chance to get away with this strategy. The deck is full throttle into its creature base, running each sliver in the deck as a full set. In addition to those almost-required slivers, this deck brings in some additional creature abilities through Talon Sliver and Spinneret Sliver. In addition to the lords, it is important to keep in mind some of the other beneficial combat tricks your army can gain through the likes of Sidewinder Sliver. If you never got a chance to play during the days of flanking, then you were really missing out. The great thing about the ability on Sidewinder Sliver is that they will stack with each Sidewinder you have on the field. In other words, if you have a full four Sidewinder Slivers on the battlefield, then when your slivers attack, any blocking creature without flanking will be given -4/-4 before damage is even assigned. That reduction is enough to even kill Myr Enforcer outright without having your attackers take a single point of damage.

This deck makes me all tingly in my deck buildy areas. Since the beginning the Sliver deck has always been heavily green-white. This deck makes all kinds of great choices by splashing a bit of red starting with Two-Headed Sliver. If you take a look, there are actually quite a few useful abilities in red for Pauper Slivers including increased attack power, haste, and first strike. What Two-Headed Sliver brings to the table is yet another way for the Slivers player to cause trouble when it comes to declaring blockers. Between this and Sidewinder Sliver, you’re going to be hard-pressed to find a safe block. Most of the reason for bringing in red mana is seen in the non-creature part of the deck. Song of Blood is not new to the competitive scene and becomes a great win condition, as the deck is already running a large creature base. Throwing away a few cards in the graveyard will mean nothing in a deck that doesn’t have to worry about the threat of self-mill, and if you’re going to win by playing the spell anyway, then who cares if you lose a few cards. Another interesting choice here is Violent Outburst. Not only does this work in the same way as Song of Blood by pumping all of your creatures, but the cascade ability gives you a chance to land yet another lord on the battlefield. Even if you miss that lord, if you were to land, say, a Two-Headed Sliver, you could still force the win by keeping your opponent from being able to block. The deck can get away with running three colors thanks to the use of gates, but more importantly because, unlike Manaweft Sliver, Gemhide Sliver is a common. It’s interesting how the same creature can be printed at two different rarities, isn’t it? I would be inclined to say between those and the Lush Growths, that the deck would be fine on mana, but they bring in Avacyn’s Pilgrim to help out even more. Having not actually given this version a try, I can’t speak one way or the other.

This is one of the few decks that brings in Metallic Sliver. There is often a reason that this little guy isn’t used, and the printing of Hive Stirrings kind of allows you to save creature spots that you might use on Metallic Sliver. While the artifact versions bring extra bodies to the table, they don’t provide any beneficial abilities themselves. This deck gets a little more defensive by bringing in both Dawn Charm as well as Journey to Nowhere, but I’d imagine the Prismatic Strands would provide better coverage. While I may not personally agree with all the choices made here, I do like the inclusion of Sigil Blessing. This card works similarly to the Violent Outburst and Song of Blood from the previous list and allows you to basically add yet another lord ability to the field for the turn. One of the advantages that the Sigil Blessing provides is that it not only pumps your whole army, but will also give the initial target that big boost of +3/+3.

Now this is an interesting approach to the Slivers deck that looks to decrease the number of slivers in the deck. Consider the Stompy deck for a second that runs a powerful creature base alongside a significant number of beneficial pump spells. This deck attempts to do something similar, although I think this particular base of non-creature spells is a bit off. If you consider it for a second, the most important slivers for the deck are going to be the lords as well as the Sidewinder Slivers and Virulent Slivers. You might even argue that the Spinneret Slivers would be incredibly important due to the heavy play of DelverBlue in the current metagame, which relies a lot on fliers to do damage. Still the deck is inspiring for a new version, perhaps dropping those Spinneret Slivers to 2 and then changing up the pump spells by replacing Giant Growth to give you more of a similar feel to that of Stompy.

Now if I were ever feeling so inclined to play Slivers, I think this would be the type of list I’d play. This deck sticks to the roots of what the Sliver decks used to look like. I always loved the use of Thrill of the Hunt and would pick it up frequently back in the days of Time Spiral limited. This is one of the few spells that has a flashback cost that isn’t more expensive than the original casting cost. The drawback that it employed was that it was in a different color, but that’s easily accounted for since we’re already playing green and white. It’s not exactly the best combat trick out there, but it does provide card advantage in exchange. This deck has what I would want out of a Sliver deck, as the choices made for non-creature spells are aggressive. Sure it’s great to have the protection of Prismatic Strands, but I’d want to deal as much damage as possible. Take a look at a top tier aggro deck like Stompy, which spends almost no card slots on creature protection unless that protection offers some other benefit like Vines of Vastwood. I also like the full set of Hive Stirrings, which also keeps that aggression going. For what it’s worth, this was the first Slivers deck since the release of Magic 2014 to go undefeated in a Daily Event so they have to be doing something right, right?

This is the last Sliver variant that I wanted to point out. We just talked about what the more aggressive build looks like; this is what the defensive version is. While the deck doesn’t go as far as to include Watcher Slivers, it does use the majority of its non-creature slots for defensive spells. This includes the repeatable Fog effect of Prismatic Strands as well as a full set of Temporal Isolations. The deck even goes as far as to bring in a few Qasali Pridemages (definitely one of those underplayed Pauper cards), which gives it more of an aggro edge in the beginning and then can hit Affinity to take down an early Myr Enforcer that would keep you from attacking. As I always like to say, anything that can help you win Game 1 is going to be good because that is one fewer game you’re going to have to win.

So as you can see, there are a lot of different ways to approach a Sliver build. Once you get down the basic core of creatures, you can figure out what is the best approach for you. Hopefully you get a chance to try out a few of these different approaches to the deck. As always, feel free to join me on Twitter for random complaining and ongoing Pauper discussion @MTGOJustSin!

 

  1. I keep coming up against slivers with my budget goblins deck and i always lose. I was wondering if there are any budget red cards that are good at beating sliver decks.

  2. I question whether Virulent Sliver actually speeds up any of these decks significantly. It only helps if you have it in multiples, or if your haven’t already pushed through a lot of damage with other, big slivers. I mean, it doesn’t give your slivers infect, just poisonous 1.

  3. Virulent Sliver is really useful against any deck with Ghostly Flicker + Glimmer Post, or even Elves with their occasional life gain shenanigans. It can, in addition, make your slivers quite deadly even after all your lords have been killed, assuming you got in for a few good early attacks and added some poison counters.

  4. @planet. You are right that virulent doesn’t do much unless it is in multiples, however when it does show up in multiples it is scary as all hell. Not to mention that it is a 1/1 body for G that can benefit from the lords as a turn two bear with an additional ability. I would easily count this in most sliver decks.

    What I’m surprised at is that not a single deck had the non-sliver sliver, avian changeling.

  5. re virulent: while it isn’t the speed of infect, speed is speed and that can give an edge at least against the slower games of many 8-post decks…. god help us if they ever decide that printing an infect sliver is a good idea………..

  6. @Greystone
    Same here. I was looking for changelings in these decks, too.
    Changeling Sentinel for defense
    Avian Changeling or Game-Trail Changeling for offense
    Even the simple Woodland Changeling is Bears Plus.
    If you’re doing the red splash, you could try Fire-Belly Changeling or War-Spike Changeling, too.

    I’m trying to build a Sliver Commander deck, myself, and I’m going to fill some holes with Changelings. My main issue is trying to figure out whether to use Sliver Queen (create), Sliver Overlord (search), or Sliver Legion (pump) as the Commander. (They are all going in, of course, and I’m leaning towards the Legion as Commander.)

  8. the problem with reins is the cost…. a four cost spell in a deck that is 90% 2 drops and lower is overcosted for the curve

  9. The thing about Virulent Sliver and Metallic Sliver is that they are a turn 1 sliver. Now that you have 12 2-drop lords it seems that much more important to have a 1-drop critter. Also, because you have no 3 drops, 1-drops are great to play along side one of your 2-drops on turn 3. Even without abilities I’m pretty sure you want to play the 1-drop slivers.

  10. That safewright quest card is going in my next iteration of design mistakes. It’s like a counterable terramorphic expanse. The times when it could be better than an expanse are so minimal, that the card just should never see play.

  11. Except in 8 (or 6 or whatever)-land Balustrade Spy. And even then there are 3 better 1 or 0-mana land fetchers.