Gut Shot did not make it into the initial build due to the card's cost on MTGO (3 tix each). Unsummon is not the card you want replacing it, but was what I ended up using. I got in about five games with the initial build. The deck is clunky. It trips on mana quite frequently. Some cards were surprisingly good, and others simply sucked.
Let's start with Unsummon. It sucks... especially in this iteration. It does not protect your delvers because if they're flipped, you must work to flip them again after you recast them. Every time I saw the card, I wished it could bounce things other than creatures. Might consider getting a different bounce spell in there, but I am thinking about Mutagenic Growth to protect the Delvers.
I was hoping the Armored Skaabs would hold the ground for me, but every time I cast them, they ended up eating a removal spell. Additionally, they do not hit hard enough. Granted, it would help if I didn't play into removal half the time... They will be replaced with Phantasmal Bear for the added aggression.
Pretty much anything is better than Thought Scour. 9 times out of 10, if those were any other card in the deck, the game would have gone better. To replace them, Vapor Snag, a card in the original build.
Vault Skirge was an absolute all-star. The card wins games single-handedly, and it's immune to a lot of the 'big boy' removal running around (Doom Blade and Go for the Throat).
As should have been expected (don't know why I included it in the initial build... too lazy to think things through I suppose), Think Twice was utter rubbish. Horrible. No other way to put it. Stoic Rebuttal will overtake one of its slots, while the other two will be Vault Skirge.
As for the Stormbound Geists, they were never drawn, so I don't feel safe calling them bad. However, a commenter suggested Phantasmal Dragon. I'm willing to try it, but I always seem strained for mana, so I will go for more Phantasmal Bears for the time being.
Cancel, of course, will be replaced by Stoic Rebuttal.
Now for the final tally...
-1 Cancel
-3 Thought Scour
-2 Armored Skaab
-2 Unsummon
-1 Nim Deathmantle
-2 Stormbound Geist
-3 Think Twice
+2 Stoic Rebuttal
+2 Vault Skirge
+4 Vapor Snag
+4 Phantasmal Bear
+2 Mutagenic Growth
Thought Scour DOES become "any other card in the deck". I don't think it's really supposed to do anything except fill your graveyard for the pike and the Snapcaster. It also helps your chances to flip a delver.
ReplyDeleteDid you find you couldn't afford the one mana?
Maybe it's not worth it if you aren't running Snapcasters (which are too expensive for me too).
The one mana was an issue, but I think it was more my inability to play the deck properly than anything else. I can play the deck a little better now, so it's less of an issue. I like the snapcasters. They really shine in the deck.
ReplyDelete