Winterhalter wrote: Chris wrote: jdoucette24 wrote:play smother
Is killing bob really more important than baneslayer?
Yes.
i second this... as well as killing hexmages
an unanswered bob keeps DDT (DDepths/Thopter) in games they have no business being in.
in the online dailies ive been seeing a lot more bobs in zoo decks too.
when we were testing on Wed, smother was a HOUSE
it kills everything in Zoo (outside of BSA, but not too many people are playing rubin zoo lately bk it loses to DDT)... and even then you have Deathmarks out of the sideboard for BSA. they shouldn't be able to cast a cmc 5 creature that easily against you anyhow.
The red version has been good to me lately...
Here's what I was testing on Wed:
4 Bitterblossom
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Vendillion Clique
3 Mistbind Clique
4 Mana Leak
4 Smother
3 Spell Snare
3 Cryptic Command
4 Ancestral Visions
3 Umezewa's Jitte
4 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Watery Grave
5 Islands
2 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Misty Rainforest
Sideboard:
4 Extirpate
3 Firespout
4 Deathmark
4 Thoughtsieze
4 Smothers main has been really good for me. Hits Confidant and Hexmage and EVERYTHING in Domain Zoo. I had Lightning Bolts in their slot but just found that Smothers are better against Domain Zoo (ie killing Goyf or KnightOfReliq). The ability to go to the dome is nice occasionally but...
The creeping tar pit has been a 1 of and are pretty damn good against DDT but you already have a really good game against. I'd much rather have them over the ugly 1/2 River Of Tears that never let me cast what I want when I want to on my own turn. perhaps it could become the new worldwake common black land that exiles graveyards..
Firespouts have been amazing vs Zoo and have been easy enough to play on turn 3 consistently manabase wise (with them in your hand obv). With 4 Deathmark/4 Smother also in after boarding the only thing you have to do is make sure your opener has a good amount of removal or counters and if you live through the first 5 turns you are usually golden. I just found that without red in the deck, it's hard to live long enough vs Domain zoo to stabilize. Damnation just always would come in for me a turn or two too late where I was already at 7/8 by the time i could cast and just die the next turn to tribal flames and a burn spell that i couldn't stop bk i tapped out for Damnation. Firespout hits earilier when I'm still at 12/14 or so.
Scapeshift as usual is pretty easy as long as you play well and don't keep bad hands (and unless they are running some super tech against just fairies (unlikely) all they are bringing in is negates)
Elves is a tricky matchup, but if you play it slow and make sure you have smothers/mana leaks/sprites in your opener you have some game and can hopefully stop the key pieces.
My two questions to pose are:
firespout x3 or spell snare x3 main?
spell snares are generally good as against almost the whole field every deck has cmc 2 cards, but my feeling lately has been that spell snares really only help you against the decks you already pretty handily beat (ie DarkDepthsThopter and Scapeshift. Firespouts are dead against those decks (unless they cant combo and try to go beatdown) but help you shore up your toughest matchup, 1 drop/domain zoo. I'm playing in the extended tournament in RI on Saturday and if the field looks like a sea of Zoo im mainboarding Spouts. Spellsnares out the board should be fine..
Deathmark or Threads of Disloyalty in the s/b?
if the zoo decks aren't running pridemage, stealing a goyf or knight is a HOUSE. threads also steals Marit Lage tokens and other random smaller stuff (meddling mage =)
deathmark just kills things for less mana and its only downside is that it doesn't kill kird ape.
I'm leaning towards deathmarks here..