First try at my new deck

[Gary Lynch]

So as I was playing Miracles before rotation (not quite good enough) I figure it only gets better after rotation.

 

Here is my first draft of the deck, havent worked out the mana base yet.

 

26 Land
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Izzet Charm
3 Syncopate
3 Think Twice
1 Azoriuos Charm
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Divine Verdict
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Jace
2 Tamiyo
1 Devils Play
2 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Terminus
2 Temporal Mastery
3 Entreat the Angels
1 Sphink's Revelation

3 Martial Law
2 Detention Sphere
2 Temporal Mastery
3 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
3 Pillar of Flame

 

So hard to build as there are so many cards I want to play. Also would like to see how far the mana can be stretched, add green for Thragtusk, add Black for Rakdos Return out the side for control matches.

[Thomas David Baker]

Not sure what Divine Verdict is meant to be in that list but it's not Divine Verdict :)  That new wrath?

Are you a bit low on answers to Geist of Saint Traft?  3 Syncopate, miracled Terminus, miracled Bonfire, 2 Snapcaster-as-a-blocker seem like the only things that deal with him before t5?

Can this deck beat a reasonable draw from BG Zombies?  Terminus has to do a lot of work but you don't have much to dig to it.  Need to go to the full amount of Think Twice?  Celestial Purge in the sb?

[Gary Lynch]

Lol should be Supreme Verdict, too many cards with similar names.

 

Not sure if it is low on answers to Geist, 3 syncopate, 4 Terminus, 2 Bonfire, 2 Supreme Verdict is 11, 13 if you count Snapcaster as a blocker.

 

Not sure how fast Zombies can go, may need another Supreme Verdict or something in the side. I think it should be fine after board as I have a lot of removal.

 

I thought Celestial Purge was rotating for some reason. Could add a few of those as well to really crush Zombies.

 

When I was playing my deck pre rotation Zombies was a fine match for me unless they had Pod. I think Zombies gets better but not enough that im that worried.

 

Would like to add more card draw but not sure where to make room. I think 26 land is the right ammount so I dont think I can cut any. Who knows perhaps Jace is enough.

[Joe Saxton]

Celestial purge is rotating, wrathing zombies is never a particularly good idea, particularly if they have blood artist out, you usually find yourself low on life and facing a messengerr with no blockers.

[Thomas David Baker]

Purge rotating is bad.  I wonder if you want more Detention Sphere/Oblivion Ring.  Although if they run Golgari Charm that could end up badly.  They probably won't run Golgari Charm.

Lotleth Troll, Gravecrawler, Messenger and Golgari Charm all call for Terminus rather than Supreme Verdict.  I'd rather Thought Scour my way to more cards and more Terminuses than run Verdict?  Pure theory - I know nothing.

[Gary Lynch]

Wrathing Zombies is fine you just need to make sure you Pillar/O-Ring Messenger and make sure they dont have a Blood Artist in play.

 

Terminus is the BEST card against them. I havent done the math but I dont think adding more cantrips gives you that much more chance of drawing them.

I think Chapin did an article once about Fetch Lands in mono colour decks and he said that it wasnt worth the downside for the slight percent increase in spell drawing. I think the same applies with cantrips. If I draw a cantrip instead of an answer then mana has to be used to play it and if I draw another cantrip instead of a real spell its a total waste.

 

I was actually thinking of removing some of the Think Twice as its pretty overcosted for just +1 card but I think Jace should solve the card advantage issues.

 

Thought Scour actually is not what you want in Miracles as you dont want to mill your cards, you have some Snapcasters for value but milling Entreat or Terminus hurts. Perhaps 1 or 2 could make their way in as its a good way to win with Tamyio, no idea what to cut though.

 

One card that I have actually thought of running that I dont think anybody has mentioned in any article is the 2 mana artifact that gains you life when you play a spell of either colour. It could turn out this is just what is needed to stay alive long enough.

[Thomas David Baker]

The point in having (instant speed) cantrips is that they double your chance of miracling Terminus (by playing them in your opponents turn) which seems really important.  Same reason you run Lighthouse only much better.  Once you have a mass of them then Snapcaster Mage performs the same function once you run out of cantrips.  Jace is exactly the wrong thing because of less miracles.

Is there no replacement for Noxious Revival in RTR?

[Gary Lynch]

Terminus on opponents turn is very nice, I have done it a few times and they are never happy about it.

 

I think my current thoughts though are that it is not that important, as long as you have enough spot removal to deal with their problematic creatures until you get to 6 mana when you can hardcast Terminus/overload Mortars. This is where Jace comes in.

 

I suppose it will probably take some proper testing to find out just how fast zombies can go and if it can keep up.

 

Also interesting is I have seen a few people talking about token deck, this makes me want to fit a couple of Devastation Tide in the deck.

 

Perhaps the deck just needs to be more streamlined and cut the things that are not exactly necessary like Izzet Charm/Devils Play/Sphinx's Revelation.

 

Also somehting to consider is Temporal Mastery is not the greatest card against aggro decks but much more important against control, perhaps these need to go to the sideboard to free up some space.

 

Im really keen to get a bunch of games done with this so I can see how I feel about Bonfire, there is a lot of talk about it not being as good now but im not sure I believe that.

[Gary Lynch]

Also there I dont think there is a replacement for Noxious Revival, I never used to run it anyway as I get the impression its one of those cards that is only good sometimes.

[Dan Barrett]

re: Devastation Tide, I think the 1U/Overload 6U bounce spell (Cylonic Rift) is probably better?

[Dan Barrett]

Gary - from today's Gerry T article:

Creatures 2 Augur of Bolas Enchantments 2 Detention Sphere 1 Oblivion Ring Instants 3 Azorius Charm 4 Desperate Ravings 2 Syncopate

Legendary Creatures 2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius Planeswalkers 4 Jace, Architect of Thought 2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage Sorceries 1 Amass the Components 2 Entreat the Angels 1 Mizzium Mortars 4 Pillar of Flame 4 Terminus Basic Lands 2 Island 2 Mountain 2 Plains Lands 4 Clifftop Retreat 3 Evolving Wilds 3 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Steam Vents 2 Sulfur Falls

[Gary Lynch]

I think sometimes it might be better, but Devastation Tide probably wins as it is cheaper to hardcast and even cheaper if its off the top.

Dan Barrett said:

re: Devastation Tide, I think the 1U/Overload 6U bounce spell (Cylonic Rift) is probably better?

[Gary Lynch]

Is it bad to disagree with a master deck builder like Gerry T?

 

I like the Augur of Bolas, speed bump and your deck is nearly all spells.

 

Dont like the Niv-Mizzet as its giving them a good target for the otherwise dead removal.

 

Really dont like Desperate Ravings. Perhaps im not good enough of a player to use it properly but I dont want a draw spell I cant use if I have any good cards in hand.

 

On a side note, how relevant do people think the difference between Detention Sphere and O-ring will be? The Sphere hits mutiples of the same creature (how often does this come up?) but cant get rid of another Detention Sphere.

Dan Barrett said:

Gary - from today's Gerry T article:

Creatures 2 Augur of Bolas Enchantments 2 Detention Sphere 1 Oblivion Ring Instants 3 Azorius Charm 4 Desperate Ravings 2 Syncopate

Legendary Creatures 2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius Planeswalkers 4 Jace, Architect of Thought 2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage Sorceries 1 Amass the Components 2 Entreat the Angels 1 Mizzium Mortars 4 Pillar of Flame 4 Terminus Basic Lands 2 Island 2 Mountain 2 Plains Lands 4 Clifftop Retreat 3 Evolving Wilds 3 Glacial Fortress 4 Hallowed Fountain 4 Steam Vents 2 Sulfur Falls