Artifacts
Dingus Staff (2)
Howling Mine (2)
Icy Manipulator
Ivory Tower
Library of Leng
Planar Portal
Tetravus (2)
Triskelion (2)
Creatures
Hell's Caretaker (2)
Nettling Imp (3)
Royal Assasin (3)
Sorceress Queen (2)
Riptide Shapeshifter
Shifty Doppelganger
Wonder
Spells
Animate Dead (2)
Braingeyser (3)
Copy Artifact
Diplomatic Immunity(3)
Ensare
Shoving Match
Diabolic Vision (4)
Recoil (4)
Land
Archaeological Dig
Blasted Landscape
Maze of Ith
Remote Isle (2)
Rootwater Depths (2)
Tainted Isle
Islands (7)
Swamps (7)
Alrighty - let's break things down for examination:
The Curve
0 Mana: 0
1 Mana: 2
2 Mana: 5
3 Mana: 7
4 Mana: 5
5 Mana: 1
6 Mana: 3
Woah. Ouch.
It looks a little worse than it actually is, given the deck's ability to play business without actually paying it's full price and my inclusion of Wonder into the curve... but it's still pretty gross.
Seven (!!) different spells sit at three mana, while the 2 and 4 drops are tied at 5 spells a piece. Only 2 spells in the 1-drop category (...Not necessarily a bad number...), and the deck tops-out at 5-6 mana (though, again, this is misleading. It hardly ever wants to actually pay full cost for the expensive action).
So, simply by examining the curve, we want to trim spells out of the 3-drop, 4-drop and possibly 2-drop category, perhaps replacing them with equivalent 1-drops or equivalent cards with alternate casting costs.
Let's Take a Look at Our Tools
1-Drops: Library of Leng, Ivory Tower
Our solitary Library and Ivory Tower synergize with each other, as well as the two Howling Mines and three Braingeysers. Are there better equivalents? Not in this lifetime. Are they pulling their weight? Absolutely.
These two toys guarantee an ever bigger payout from your normally fast-but-symmetrical Howlers, and have a surprising amount of pull on their own when one considers the cost (Ivory Tower will totally shut-off an opposing Black Vise, for example - and will otherwise set you miles ahead in an attrition battle. Library is too useful in all sort of situations, my favorite being when an opponent is trying to rely on surgical hand disruption like Cabal Therapy or Duress).
These guys are keepers in my book.
2-Drops: Copy Artifact, Diplomatic Immunity, Animate Dead, Howling Mine, Diabolic Vision
Let's start with the good.
Howling Mine fits somewhere on my top 20 list of 'most favorite cards ever'. It's a card-drawing joyride in this deck. Not only can you set-up with your Library and / or Ivory Tower to make the most out of the extra draws, you have the Icy Manipulator to kick that symmetry right in the teeth. Draw your extra cards, and for 1 mana, turn-off the mine at the end of your turn. Copy Artifact is another juicy tool at your disposal, with such a multitude of uses that I can't possibly start to name them all (make new Trikes / Tetras, steal tools from your opponent, accelerate your draws by making more Howlers, grab more control with new Manipulators... the list goes on).
The rest? ...Well...
Diplomatic Immunity really doesn't seem to belong. You'd hardly ever want to hit a Trike or Tetra with it, because it would mess-up a whole chunk of the rest of your tools. The effect is powerful for the cost, but it's not necessary here. If you want to avoid casualties at the hand of enemy spells, we could replace these with counter-magic of your choice (I'd just go with the good ol' fashioned Counterspell, myself). Animate Dead is a very likeable card... but what are we doing with it? We don't have an engine to use with it (unless you count Hell's Caretaker or Recoil. And I don't), and while it's nice to have for when your Trikes / Tetras head to the bin, it's going to be a dead card in far too many other situations. I'd either cut it, or change things ever so slightly to make it's presence more worthy. Diabolic Vision can immediately be cut in favor of Brainstorm (or, if you can't find those, maybe even Index).
3-Drops: Braingeyser, Nettling Imp, Sorceress Queen, Royal Assassin, Shifty Doppelganger, Shoving Match, Recoil
One look at this list should make it immediately apparent as to why the deck is so 3-drop heavy. Look at all them *tools*!
Sorceress Queen is an absolute house in nearly any situation. She nerfs utility guys just as good as she nerfs fat guys, and buy can she ever synergize with Trike. Royal Assassin synergizes with Shoving Match, Ensnare and Nettling Imp very nicely, and is never going to be a terrible play on his own. Shifty Doppelganger is a pretty tight (if expensive) little silver bullet to have sitting on the board, and even has synergy with Animate Dead (though not enough to justify Animate Dead's inclusion, IMHO).
Nettling Imp can be replaced with Maddening Imp without much of a second thought. The latter costs the same, has a broader effect and even kills-off any enemy guys that have summoning sickness. Shoving Match... well, it's one of those cards that's hard to judge just by looking. The effect is powerful, but also symmetrical - and I wonder if an equivalent result could be achieved with Choking Tethers and / or Tidal Surge? Braingeyser doesn't look like a solid fit here (though the card itself is stupid-broken), because you don't appear to have the mana base to support a solid draw from it. Recoil needs to be replaced with Snap (Snap doesn't deny your opponent a card, but it's got oodles more utility).
4-Drops: Icy Manipulator, Dingus Staff, Ensnare, Wonder, Hell's Caretaker
Ensnare is the only definate keeper here. Alternate casting cost, great synergy with Nettling Imp (...Better synergy with Maddening Imp)... and just a whole bunch of business on it's own.
Icy Manipulator is a powerful guy, but I'm curious as to what you're using him for? If it's just to turn off your Howler, I'd look into Lodestone Myr instead. Dingus Staff, at best, is slow and clumsy. Yes, it feeds them 2 every time you assassinate their guy, pull combat tricks with the imps or gun guys down with the Trike. However, it also feeds you 2 whenever a Tetravite dies, your Trike runs out of ammo, or your opponent starts fueling their own explosions. I'd cut it (your win condition is sturdy enough without it). Wonder has a powerful effect, and seems to synergize nicely with the Doppelganger... but this logic is twisted. Without a Doppelganger, it's an underpowered 4-drop (or worse, a dead card). With a Doppelganger, it's a sub-par combat trick that will have your creatures airborn at the end of your turn. In a deck designed to do a whole bunch of death-dealing, isn't Flying a tad redundant? I'd whack this guy, too. Back in his day, Hell's Caretaker was some kinda good. These days, Recurring Nightmare is just a whole lot better. Before we go ahead and make the switch, however, let's look back at what was said about Animate Dead - because a lot of the same applies here. We'd need to make some adjustments for this kind of recursion to be at it's best.
5-Drops: Riptide Shapeshifter
I think the R&D department at WotC has a rule when it comes to cards with 'Shapeshifter' in the title.
Whenever they print one, it absolutely must kick as much ass as possible.
Look at this guy! With a little refinement, getting him onto the field will mean that the game is over.
Unfortunately, as is, he doesn't do as much as someone as costly as him should. He can't grab Tetras or Trikes (neither of which actually have creature types), and the rest of the stuff he can grab usually isn't worth the nine net mana to grab (though, in a pinch, I suppose he can be a handy silver bullet).
6-Drops: Tetravus, Triskelion, Planar Portal
Tetras and Trikes are, obviously, what you most often use to bring your opponent's life total to 0. They do a pretty good job of it, too (I like the Tetras far better than Pentavus, personally. While slightly smaller than their newer brethren, Tetras are also cheaper - and they get to play around with their Tetravites for free!). The problem lies in getting them out with substantial speed (Doppelgangers help a bit, but only temporarily - and they have their own speed issues).
Planar Portal is one of those cards that works for some people, and doesn't work for others. It's got me out of plenty of sticky situations, so I'd welcome you to keep it here.
Nurse, scalpel!
So, here's my proposition.
We're going to cut:
- Recoil
- Hell's Caretaker
- Shoving Match
- Diabolic Vision
- Nettling Imp
- Wonder
- Braingeyser
- Icy Manipulator
- Dingus Staff
- Riptide Shapeshifter
- Diplomatic Immunity
- Animate Dead
We're going to add:
- Recurring Nightmare
- Hapless Researcher
- Careful Study
- Exhume
- Trickster Mage
- Choking Tethers
- Maddening Imp
- Lodestone Myr
Behold! 'Tap That ****!'
Artifacts
Howling Mine - 2
Lodestone Myr
Ivory Tower
Library of Leng
Planar Portal
Tetravus - 2
Triskelion - 2
Creatures
Hapless Researcher - 4
Trickster Mage - 2
Royal Assasin - 3
Sorceress Queen - 2
Shifty Doppelganger
Maddening Imp - 2
Spells
Exhume - 4
Careful Study - 4
Choking Tethers - 2
Recurring Nightmare - 2
Copy Artifact - 3
Ensare
Land
Archaeological Dig
Blasted Landscape
Maze of Ith
Remote Isle (2)
Rootwater Depths (2)
Tainted Isle
Islands (6)
Swamps (6)
60 cards Total
Oh, man... I almost want to go build this now. And I don't even LIKE blue.
You'll be sitting there with a Trickster Mage and a Royal Assassin on turn three, with UBB open, and he'll try to do something with a guy. You'll tap that **** with mage, discarding a Trike to the yard and using your U, then you'll cast Exhume with the remaining BB. Grab your Trike, then send his sideways dude to the bin with the assassin (just be careful of your timing with the Exhume, and always check your opponent's yard first. Exhume is loads better than Animate Dead - but it's also symmetrical). Your enemy will roo the day he ever met you.
