The Sense of the Underworld

I've hit the wall now; I have 62 cards in the deck because I want second Whelming Wave and I don't want to cut anything.

Ain't that a pain in the butt?

I have what I need and I am consistently presented with interesting board situations but I can't find the card that pushes the margin of victory more to my side than my opponent's.

So it's time to set Safe In Mind down for a bit.

I wonder if I researched enough; Safe In Mind seemed to click so easily that maybe I didn't really dig into it as hard as I should have? Maybe I wasn't as open-minded as I should have been, because (in a rarity) Safe In Mind really is a pretty lean deck: I knew what the concept was and I pushed that concept with every card I could. The card draw is solid, the countermagic is in theme, the removal is what I need it to be and I have good tutors.

What I've noticed is that this deck wants to have a solid opening hand: SIM is not the kind of deck where I can push through a questionable hand and make it work, unless I get very lucky. No, I have to have mana and something I can do by turn 2, period.

Nothing wrong with that; there are decks that demand the player look for a strong open to work-combo decks tend to fall in this category. However, combo decks often make up for it by having an Overwhelming Turn where if the game gets to turn 4 or 5, they outright win and there's nothing the opponent can do to stop it. SIM doesn't do that.

However, it does make for some interesting and cool games and if I keep practicing with it, I'm bound to get better. However, for the blog, it's time to move on. Final decklist:

4 Dimir Signet

4 Seizan, Perverter of Truth
3 Urborg Emissary

4 Dark Suspicions

3 Arcane Denial
4 Words of Wisdom
3 Rites of Refusal
3 Rushing River
3 Clutch of the Undercity

2 Bad River
4 Sunken Ruins
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
7 Island
9 Swamp

3 Sickening Dreams
3 Alms of the Vein
2 Whelming Wave