Re-Revisiting

In some ways, I can't believe I have to look at this deck again. It was so fun: Temples + fetchlands + Sensei's Divining Top to make sure I didn't get Omniscience in hand....

Buuuuuuut.

So, now what?

First, my opinion is that the wrong card was banned. Top served as a huge boon for non-Blue decks and allowed for a lot more variety as a result.

What should've gone? A lot of people who are far more versed in the format say Terminus. I'm inclined to agree here, because of the a) instant speed, b) mana cost and c) unique interaction. C) is relevant because Terminus shuts off graveyard interactions and in Legacy, that's a big deal.

However, the bitter old man in me wanted Counterbalance, because fuck your free countermagic.

Either way, opinions that the splash damage was overmuch from Top being banned are, I believe, correct. My hope is that something is coming up in Hour of Devastation or Ixalan that would've made SDT oppressive will arrive, justifying this ban.

For me, though the question is, what do I do with Die, Die My Darling?

The Black and White scry cards are pretty underwhelming, aside from Read the Bones. The Artifacts aren't as awesome as I would like, either. Darksteel Pendant seems like a decent fit and being indestructible means that I don't have to worry about removal effects.

However, the Pendant doesn't do as much for me as Top does, given the shuffling interactions I have. In this case, Scroll Rack might be the droid I'm looking for.

I'm not going to make a series out of this-I've already done it twice-but it's definitely weird to have to make an adjustment like this, in order to keep a deck in tact that I rather enjoy playing.

So Maybe Chromanticore Comes Back?

After multiple matchups, some against Sascha and some against Noah, I feel like Die Die My Darling is coming to a good place to end this re-reboot.

Night of Souls' Betrayal has done precisely what I wanted it to do; slow or outright stop the weenie hordes of red, green and white.

Persecute has done exactly what I expected it to do: suck against control because a 4 mana discard spell won't actually ever resolve in a meaningful way against a deck that has Brainstorm. (This is the short version of what happened in my games against Noah's blue deck:
Me: Persecute naming blue.
Him: Brainstorm in response.
Everything resolves.
I look at a hand that has 3 Islands and a Ponder.
Him: Really glad I had that Brainstorm because my next three cards were Islands!
Me: seeeeeeeeethe).

I love Persecute and it's absolutely backbreaking if it resolves against a nonblue monocolor deck. I'm keeping it for now but should I take this to a tournament of any sort, it needs to be a much cheaper card, Hymn being the obvious choice but even Addle or Gerrard's Verdict could work.

Oooor. Pulling Teeth. Whoa. It works with the Top and could even act like a Temple of Silence. I think I may have to try that.

I'm getting off track. What I've really concluded is that Debtors' Knell is the Glory of Cool Things and not And Now I Win. It's just a card I don't see myself trying to find or hoping for in this deck. I've been trying to come up with a proper replacement for it and the best I can think of right now is Decree of Silence. Unfortunately, that card feels like a "win more" card as well.

I've been looking at cards with the "Constellation" keyword and Doomwake Giant is the only thing that really stands out. Everything else, aside from Underworld Coinsmith, perhaps, is really for  limited (which means that it just sucks).

But maybe that's the card to use. With Night of Souls' Betrayal, Doomwake Giant could be especially crippling.

Still. I kinda want Chromanticore....

I Really Wanted Chromanticore

Now that Omniscience is in Die Die My Darling, it's all about the little tweaks. Unfortunately, all I've been able to do is goldfish for the past two weeks.

Sigh. What can I tell you? Adulthood means having to really carve out your free time in ways that you didn't before. Still, I've been able to goldfish quite a bit and do some research so I don't make a fool of myself.

Temple of Silence? That card is stone cold awesome here. The interactions with Sensei's Divining Top have been quite helpful.

I've also put in Scoured Barrens alongside my Orzhov Basilicas and those cards aren't bad but they do slow the deck down quite a bit. A note to make should I decide to bring this to a tournament, since tempo is always a big deal. This is also true of Persecute, of course but until I decide to play this in the Big Leagues, Persecute is a lot of fun to cast and when it hits big, it's awesome.

The challenge with goldfishing is that you just never know what card your toolbox should dish up but one advantage was, I came across a situation where I thought; Hey, I could dial up Chromanticore and put it on my Phrexian Ghoul...or can I?

Turns out, I can't:

9/15/2013

If a permanent with bestow enters the battlefield by any method other than being cast, it will be an enchantment creature. You can’t choose to pay the bestow cost and have it become an Aura.

So now the card is a whole lot less useful to me. That's a bummer because Chromanticore is awesome! I wanted a 4/4 flying trampling life linking crazy beast.

However, this works out! I've been pondering what else I need to do for this deck and it's got a pretty serious aggro problem. Night of Souls' Betrayal goes a long way towards fixing that problem without significantly impacting what I'm doing. Attacking for 13 instead of 14 has things still working out for me.

I'm also thinking that an Oblivion Ring should replace one of the Seals of Doom. O-Ring can target a Planeswalker and while it's true that a 14/14 trampling dude can also take out a planeswalker, this is a superior option.

I've also been thinking about removing the second Confiscate: what for I'm not sure but...wait. Chromanticore still exists...

Revisiting: DDMD, Let's Do This

I brought out Die Die My Darling during every game of Magic I could. The interesting news: Omniscience is good but it isn't brilliant. It wasn't a win more effect though, as playing spells for free was very useful when I didn't have the mana.

Die, Die has a few issues. One is trying to get the combo set up quickly enough. Another is making sure the combo lasts long enough to win. On a couple of occasions, Path to Exile was a problem for me (although I started naming that card with Cabal Therapy as soon as I understood it was there to take).

There were multiple games where I got stuck with a Sensei's Divining Top out and my top two cards were Confiscate and Omniscience and I couldn't find a card to shuffle them away. I was also a little frustrated with my mana base and then, boom, it hit me.

Temple of Silence. Here's a way to let the Top work better!

Next up, was finding a replacement for Nightmare Void.

With Path being an issue, and Theros...well, existing, I have a chance to think outside the box. After pawing through every card in the binder, I have come to a conclusion:

Theros really didn't develop enchantments in an interesting or meaningful way.

That doesn't mean that there isn't anything at all, though. First, we have Archetype of Endurance, which is a pretty flashy way to solve that Path to Exile solution my opponents could run. Next, Chromanticore is an option I'm testing. Partly because, who doesn't want to try Chromanticore? But also because of the lifelink. If my combo takes too long to get going, lifelink could extend the game long enough for me to win.

Finally, I went for the obvious card: Starfield of Nyx. While I don't expect the living enchantment aspect of Starfield to ever trigger, getting back a binned Eldrazi Conscription or reusing Seal of Doom seems like a good idea.

I just need to acquire a Starfield in non-Cockatrice formats and I can test it in real life. For now I'll sub in a Primeval Bounty, just for the hell of it.

Revisiting: Die Die My Darling

You may remember this, if you've been reading for a long time. Thanks for that! If not, well I had an idea so I'd like to take a brief visit to an old deck.

Let me give you the updated decklist for good measure:

2 Confiscate
3 Persecute
2 Nantuko Husk
3 Conjurer's Ban
1 Enlightened Tutor
4 Academy Rector
4 Phyrexian Ghoul
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Faith's Fetters
1 Seal of Cleansing
1 Aura of Silence
2 Nightmare Void
8 Plains
1 Salt Flats
2 Orzhov Basilica
8 Swamp
4 Marsh Flats
4 Sensei's Divining Top
2 Seal of Doom
2 Eldrazi Conscription
1 Debtors' Knell

Since then, there has been one enormous change to the Magic landscape: Omniscience. I haven't paid much attention to that card since it rapidly found its way into the Omni-Tell combo deck. It's a solved problem and it's an expensive friggin' card.

The gears turn slowly though and after seeing this deck in multiple articles I thought; why is everyone insisting on using Show and Tell as the default way to get Omniscience into play? Isn't there any other way to get this card into play cheaply?

Yes. Yes there is.

Now, will Omniscience help me? I don't know. But casting my spells for free sounds pretty good, so I think I'm going to give it a shot. Plus, with Theros available to provide some raw enchantment support a touch up might make this deck really interesting.

I am only purchasing one Omniscience: that card breaks the "my money" rule like Bruce Lee going against balsa wood. For now, the decklist will have the following change:

-1 Nightmare Void
+1 Omniscience

and I'll start the testing today!

I'll see you in Hell

I started off vs a Cloudpost variant, wishing to cast Eldrazi in a hurry and rapidly found myself facing a Ulamog's Crusher, with an It That Betrays coming soon. I cast Faith's Fetters on the Crusher to stall for time and begin dredging Nightmare Void in order to keep the opponent's hand empty.

Artisan of Kozilek swings at me and I sacrifice Academy Rector and a Swamp. Using the Rector's ability, I get Confiscate to attach to the Artisan and then....

We don't know what. Do I take 10 or do I just get the giant creature?

Eventually we decide that I don't have to take damage, I get the Artizan and swing until my opponent's dead. Turns out, that's the right play both from a gameplay and a rules standpoint. So go us.

Game 2: I cast Cabal Therapy blind, with a board of Urza's Mine and Power Plant, naming Ulamog's Crusher. I get lucky (sorta) and hit on that, but I fuck up the use of my Sensei's Top through inappropriate mouseclicks and die to Spawnsire and Ulamog. The drawback to playing online is that it can be easier to fuck things up electronically than it is when physically handling the cards. I could've had it, but it was not meant to be.

Game 3: Lots of Top for me...but now what? He's got Cloudpost and Urza's Tower, I get a Phyrexian Ghoul on board...now all I have to do is somehow win without seeing a Rector (yoink!) and hope he doesn't accelerate into death.

I use Nightmare Void to keep the worst things off my back for a couple turns but in the meantime, the Urzatron gets assembled and I just have a 2/2 in play. It see-saws for a bit while I hold off then control It That Betrays with Confiscate but once Eye of Ugin comes out, the searching for Eldrazi spells comes and though I'm able to force the discard of an Ulamog, the search happens and I can't prevent the second.

The deck didn't fail me so much as my play did. Still, maybe there's some tightening up to do. There's always work to do on playskill...

Next up, I was in a three player game, against a G/W beast deck that I'd built and loaned to someone, and a mono-B nasty that runs Phyrexian Obliterator.

My hand had a Confiscate in it but it also had a Sensei's Divining Top, so I kept. Unfortunately, I think I blew the plays again. I managed to use/sacrifice three (three!) Academy Rectors to put a Faith's Fetters on a couple nasties and Confiscate another. But I didn't dredge correctly to get rid of the cards I didn't need, so while I managed to hold out for a bit, eventually the G/W player landed a Rampaging Baloth and that was it.

This deck needs me to practice with it more. Also, I don't like having cards I cannot ever cast in my hand, mocking me like a high school girl. I may like Mythic Proportions but I like having castable spells more.

Next game:
Vs. B/W humans-with the Entomb, Dearly Departed start. Knowing this, I cast Cabal Therapy mostly blind. Next turn, I'm able to cast Academy Rector and take Mother of Runes.

The problem comes when I use Top and find 'land, Confiscate, Mythic Proportions'. This happened in nearly every recent game I've played online. I've been having to dredge or attempt to shuffle away these cards and it's making this deck do things it doesn't want to. I may have to sub out the Caves of Kolios for Marsh Flats.

It's the little things but they add up and being able to use the tools I put in a deck is one of those helpful things that I need to keep in mind when I build/re-build them.

I end up being unable to remove enough creatures and I can't get the combo going, so I find myself overrun by humans eventually. The end comes when the 2nd Dark Confidant comes down.

Next match: BW Humans via Fuz
At this point, I've subbed the Mythic Proportions out for Eldrazi Conscription.

Slow start again, with Swamp, Basilica as my opening plays, vs Champion of the Parish and Tireless Tribe. A Dearly Departed gets discarded to the Tribe and the game ends soon.

Game two, despite having a brilliant turn 1 of Ritual, Buried, and a turn 2 of two humans at 4/4, I'm able to hold out until a Phyrexian Ghoul arrives on turn 3, I suck up 8 damage then cast Rector turn 4, wait, and at the ends step search for Conscription, giving me turn 5 swing for 12 with 2 Annihilator. I pull it out afterward.

Game three: Champion leads, I have nothing again, except a Persecute and a Nightmare Void--but these cards are excellent later in the game; they aren't helping me set stuff up. After a Tireless Tribe and a Blood Celebrant comes in, I've got nothing, still and my draw is a Confiscate after taking 3. So things are looking rough.

When Mom shows up turn 3 I know I'm in trouble, especially since my response is to play a Nantuko Husk. I'm facing an absurd army and nothing to do. It's...troublesome. Putting out a Phyrexian Ghoul next does nothing for me, and when the next human drops has protection from black (Death Speakers!), that's game.

Lesson #1: enable your enablers. Sac-lands and Top have been a combo for years; I should've been on that bandwagon long ago. Change made.

Lesson #2: when something clearly better comes along to help you, take it. I don't run strict enough decks to use cards that don't help me. Conscription is the better choice and I should just take it. Mythic Proportions will find its way into something else.

Lesson #3: Bad matchups are bad. Die, Die was built to handle the slower combo decks/control ones, with the discard and activated abilities. Games that want to beat me by turn 4 will frequently have the upper edge. That's OK; there's always another deck.

Lesson #4: Casting Cabal Therapy blind is...suboptimal. However, no choice remains when the decks that I end up playing are so diverse. I generally think this adds to the fun but I'll acknowledge that for someone taking the game seriously, this play is absurd.