Okay, so I'm kidding about that one. However, when playing Legacy, you've got to take into consideration what kind of things happen when you play into and play around Mental Misstep.
You can't have your business get crushed by any opponent having any of the 8 free counterspells that the format offers now. We can now adapt:
NPH Belcher | The Rusty Machete
13 Creatures:
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Tinder Wall
1 Xantid Swarm
46 Spells:
4 Chrome Mox
4 Goblin Charbelcher
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Manamorphose
4 Seething Song
4 Burning Wish
3 Empty the Warrens
4 Land Grant
4 Rite of Flame
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Elvish Spirit Guide
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Tinder Wall
1 Xantid Swarm
46 Spells:
4 Chrome Mox
4 Goblin Charbelcher
4 Lion's Eye Diamond
4 Lotus Petal
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Manamorphose
4 Seething Song
4 Burning Wish
3 Empty the Warrens
4 Land Grant
4 Rite of Flame
3 Gitaxian Probe
1 Lands:
1 Taiga
1 Taiga
15 Sideboard:
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Infernal Tutor
1 Pyroclasm
1 Reverent Silence
1 Shattering Spree
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Xantid Swarm
3 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Ingot Chewer
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Diminishing Returns
1 Infernal Tutor
1 Pyroclasm
1 Reverent Silence
1 Shattering Spree
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Xantid Swarm
3 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Ingot Chewer
Things to note:
I will not be offended if you think that I am wrong to put access to Zenith+Swarm in game 1. I am likely very wrong, since a lot of your power in game 1's comes from sheer speed. If you think this, go ahead and play the 4th Probe, or play a set of Pyretic Rituals instead of the Probes. However, Zenith + Swarm in the board is something I like a lot. Excess Zeniths turn 1G into RR + 1 Storm with Tinder Wall, or get you a Swarm.
Speaking of Probes, think about this card in Belcher.
- Essentially, no cards have affected Belcher since Manamorphose came out. You can argue Pyretic Ritual, but really - that one is awful, which is why it has been cut from this list. When you can say that Desperate Ritual is an upgrade, you're doing something wrong with your card selection. Prior to that, Street Wraith was given considerations, because you had an almost critical mass of ritual effects and making your deck slightly smaller was beneficial enough for the 2 life paid. That said, Street Wraith made mulliganing harder; and the life loss sometimes wasn't negligible. However, Probe actually does add to Storm count.
- What does this information get you? I've talked to a few people about this one, and it's actually better than first glance. Empty the Warrens for 10 goblins will get the job done sometimes, but not all the time. The actual Goblin Charbelcher will almost always get them, but it's weak to Force of Will. If you have perfect information and have more than 1 business spell in hand, as you often do, you can make the right choice. Then it cycles into another card. Not going to complain about that one.
-G
8 comments:
Aren't there kind of 12 or so free counterspells? Sure, Daze is easier to play around, but still.
You might have answered your own question with "kind of" 12.
But yes, you're right. And Probe lets you see that one too.
I'm not exactly a Legacy whiz, but what does Land Grant do for the deck? It's 2 mana, doesn't cantrip, and you only have one forest. I can only see use for it if you're top-decking after using LED, but you should have won the game already. I'm sure it's obvious, but if you could enlighten me...
Ah, I guess I operated under the assumption that everyone knows how the whole deck works; it's cool.
When playing Belcher, there's three major parts that Land Grant plays:
1. It strips the singleton land out of your deck. When activating Goblin Charbelcher, it means you deal 1 damage for each 1 card in the deck, instead of possibly revealing the land.
2. It helps get you the initial mana to start the chain of rituals.
3. It gets you a permanent mana source, making it so you can play Goblin Charbelcher and then pass the turn; effectively 2 mana for the 7 mana required to play and activate it.
All good, I only really encounter Legacy online, so I've become familiar watching Death and Taxes, Zoo, ANT, Dredge, Cephalid breakfast, High Tide etc, but haven't yet seen Belcher. Not quite sure why that is - it certainly looks cheaper to build than many other Legacy decks around (LED aside).
I assume you cast land grant T1 with the use of Lotus Petal/Mox or empty your hand using similar spells in order to play belcher and then cast it for free?
Oh! I see what you're saying.
Read Land Grant again - the alternate cost is available when you don't have a land in hand, not empty hand.
One of the cards that actually hold Belcher together *is* Land Grant.
And Land Grant isn't online yet.
You're right, I completely missed that. Land Grant makes perfect sense now. And yes, not paying enough attention to the expansion symbol.
Feel free to ignore the silly questions, and just tell me to read the card, heh.
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