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Jan 9, 2012 -- 10:33PM, Terakahn wrote:

Owl, do you have any logs you could post? Just kind of curious how your games play out vs the various archetypes on average.
Werewolves, RDW and Control mirrors are my biggest concerns. I've never really had trouble in the control mirror with U/B, but this plays a bit differently. 

I just played the UK/draw-go version for a couple weeks, which was pretty close to Cyrus's list in the original post.  Didn't make match notes, so apologies on that front, but I do think if tuned correctly it could be good.

The version I played was too slow to keep on top of any decks with resiliency, like Moorland Haunt/Doomed Traveler from UW Humans.  This was before Slagstorm was more widely recognized as the maindeck sweeper, so I figure that alone would give the build a huge leg up. 
Wolf Run was also a big problem what with Thrun, Dungroves out of Slagstorm range, and turning every creature it runs into a trampling behemoth.
Slagstorm should do you well against other aggro though, like Illusions/Delver, probably even Steel.

Werewolves I guess warrants more spot removal since Slagstorm's not as effective vs. flipped guys, but is that really prevalent in your meta?  RDW I found easy with a deck made of removal.

Control mirrors should be decently favorable too, now that nobody's playing UB.  Snaps help you out a lot there just to flash in for beats on top of Bloodhalls, and your burn gives you a leg up.  If you try something akin to the Chapin list, at least you have a truckload of creatures to throw at them too. 

I think the greatest consideration we haven't talked about yet is the mana's impact on focusing the list for you.  The mana's gawkward.  The fatal attraction here is apparent access to both burn and counters.  Kinda, but realistically, you can lean on early burn OR early counters, but you can't reliably do both because there isn't a Scars UR land to make it happen.  Sulfur Falls won't be set up by the time you need it, i.e. the first three turns.  You can play both Darkslick Shores and Blackcleave Cliffs, but you never know which will show up in your first ten cards.  Will you still hit double red on turn 3 for a Slagstorm in hand?  Will you hit blue with Mana Leak in hand by turn 2?  Dicey. 

The takehome is that Slagstorm is most important.  To me, this is the biggest reason to play the Chapin build - minimize blue to predominantly mid-lategame draw, rely on Galvanic Blast instead of Mana Leak pre-sweeper, run Slagstorm for quicker resets, then use heavier removal to back your big guys.

Jan 10, 2012 -- 11:37AM, catowner wrote:

I don't see wolf run being much of a problem with countermagic and geistflame colors. 

Anyways, I love slagstorm as much as the next guy, but it involves 2 of the secondary color in a tricolor deck by turn 3.  I haven't been keeping up with the meta as much as I should have, so I was wondering if the current steel decks are manageable with just targeted burn, and if they are, would it be a decent idea to run whipflare in the board over slag? 

Speaking only for my own meta and deck, I usually don't come across this problem. Though given the lack of Artifact creatures out there and a few aggro pile type decks, it's probably worth a shot to be able to hit it a turn sooner. It can kill Crusader anyway, so it passes that test.

Although it's worth noting my deck is a touch different than most other Grixis I've seen here or come across playing. It's more of a U/R deck that splashes black as opposed to red being the splash, so I might not notice the issue of finding red mana as much as other decks do. If anything, it's hitting the black I need for Lili that is an issue.

I'm also wondering, what do you guys run as your bombs? Our planeswalkers, if protected, can more or less end the game, and Wurmcoil Engine and Inferno Titan were in Chapin's build, and are my personal choices. Though has anyone had luck with others? Grave Titan perhaps?

Creatures 4
3 x Archaeomancer
1 x Olivia Voldaren
Burn 8
4 x Pillar of Flame
2 x Brimstone Volley
2 x Devil's Play
Sweepers 7
3 x Magmaquake
2 x Curse of Death's Hold
Removal 3
3 x Murder
Card Draw 6
2 x Forbidden Alchemy
3 x Desperate Ravings
3 x Sign in Blood
Control 2
2 x Rewind
Planeswalkers 3
1 x Nicola Bolas, Planeswalker
2 x Liliana of the Veil
1 x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Ramp 1
1 x Gilded Lotus
Lands 2 x 4
2 x Shimmering Grotto
4 x Sulfur Falls
4 x Drowned Catacomb
4 x Dragonskull Summit
2 x Evolving Wilds
3 x Mountain
2 x Swamp
3 x Island

I'm on a slight budget so Snapcaster Mage is out, and I still need to invest in the 2 Liliana's

Any suggestions before I spend money on this one?