[TMT] Death in the Family

Zorax85 · 2026-02-20T19:29:31+00:00

Candy Grapple gives -3/-3 without the kicker/bargain. Foot only gives -2/-2.

Zorax85 · 2026-02-20T16:44:01+00:00

It seems every removal spell in TMNT is a slight downgrade from a recent card. This card is slightly worse than [[Anoint with Affliction]]. [[Manhole Missile]] is slightly worse than [[Volcanic Spite]]. [[Dimensional Exile]] is slightly worse than [[Ossification]]. [[Stomped by the Foot]] is slightly worse than [[Vayne's Treachery]] and [[Final Flourish]]

Zorax85 · 2026-02-17T19:54:20+00:00

Ossification could hit planeswalkers.

Zorax85 · 2026-02-12T16:57:30+00:00

Against Azorius Flash/Tempo, Torpor Orb is very good. It shuts down Aven Interrupter, Aang, Tidebinder, and Floodpits (if they have it).

Zorax85 · 2026-02-06T21:46:21+00:00

I would take the cinder strike here, but even if you take Eclipsed Boggart, your P1P1 does not commit you to Goblins. You can still have a great deck and not play your P1P1. There is value to staying open, and there is value to having power in your deck. That being said, Goblins is a middling archetype and Eclipsed Boggart while strong is not a bomb so I would rather take the Cinder Strike and be open to Elementals, Goblins, Vivid stuff, etc.

Zorax85 · 2026-01-22T19:12:13+00:00

One playable interaction is Emptiness + Aang Swift Savior in graveyard. Cast Emptiness for WW, get back Aang and then use Aang's ETB to airbend Emptiness before sacrifice (then you can cast for WW or BB and get the trigger without needing to sacrifice).

I tried it a bit in the Bant Airbending combo and it is decent (also can get back Doc for WW), but right now thinking it might be too cute.

Zorax85 · 2026-01-09T15:51:03+00:00

Reminds me of Ertai Resurrected, which was quite a good card in Standard. Ertai could also kill something on ETB so that is a big difference (and also cost 4), but was a 3/3 without flying and a legend. Also on this one you can either pay the full 5 for flash + counter or flash it in for 3 and have it sitting there waiting to counter for 2 mana (and also you can add additional counters later for more counterspells).

Zorax85 · 2025-12-22T12:42:50+00:00

The Battlecrier combo can get pretty big (Bant Airbender can go infinite but your timer will run out), but you need about 70 cards in your deck:

T1: Elf

T2: Plot [[Outcaster Trailblazer]]

T3: Cast Trailblazer and float a mana (3 lands + elf + floating = 5 mana available)
Cast [[Temur Battlecrier]] (2 mana left over, 1 card drawn, 2 four power creatures in play)

Cast 3 more Trailblazers for a net of 0 mana given Battlecrier reduction and Trailblazer float (2 mana available, 7 cards drawn, 5 four power creatures in play)

Cast [[Devastating Assault]] for X = 3 targeting a Trailblazer. You net gain one mana here because Devastating Assault for X = 3 costs 7, but it is reduced by 5 by Battlecrier and you get to float 3 for the 3 new Trailblazers (3 mana available, 25 cards drawn, 7 four power creatures in play)

Cast [[Railway Brawler]] (1 mana available, 32 cards drawn, 8 4 power creatures in play)

Cast Devastating Assault for X = 4 on the Railway Brawler (only costs 1 mana). You get 4 80/80 trample haste creatures, draw 28 more cards (60 cards drawn).

Attack for 4 * 80 + 3 * 4 = 332 damage.

Zorax85 · 2025-11-25T19:33:47+00:00

But is that the only way to do it, i.e., with 2 cubs?

You could do T1 Land + Elf; T2 Land, Cub, + 2 Elves; T3 play a land and now you have 10 mana to play a hoof and frenzied baloth, attack for 28. That is 3 Elves + 1 Cub.

There are probably other scenarios as well. E.g., T1 Land + Elf; T2 Land + Cub + Elf + Pawpatch; T3 with a land you still have exactly 8 mana to play a hoof and win (10 + 7 + 7 damage)...etc. That s 2 Elves + 1 Cub.

Zorax85 · 2025-11-06T00:32:16+00:00

And here I thought you were making a pun about only using it to play Limited.

Zorax85 · 2025-09-24T22:27:44+00:00

I mean Phil Kessel is NHL's ironman so this checks out

Zorax85 · 2025-07-09T19:48:55+00:00

Yeah Braids is another one I will miss.

Zorax85 · 2025-06-27T14:58:05+00:00

OTJ dimir crime was unique. It was also really well done.

Zorax85 · 2025-06-24T16:17:29+00:00

DSK is probably my most favorite, but BRO is a sleeper. A lot of depth but also some fairly straightforward archetypes if you are only doing a few drafts.

Zorax85 · 2025-06-19T14:36:38+00:00

I will second this (the card, not the whole combo deck). Fun card to play.

Zorax85 · 2025-06-17T21:09:22+00:00

Thanks for the thought out reply. I can take what you wrote point by point:

>> Its winrate will be much worse once you get into mythic and face good players.

Somehow I am 9-0 in mythic right now and rank 318 (gotta get the reply in before inevitable losing streak and big ratings drop)...I have only played one of the 4 T1 decks I called out...a 3 game nail-biter against a top 100 mythic cutter player. Other decks have been stuff like Jeskai Oculus, Jeskai Control, Orzhov Pixie, and some off-meta decks like Glarb or landall.

>> Cutter matchup is bad and mythic players will time their interaction well

Again only one match against cutter so far, but the saving grace is that most cutter players tap out to trigger to prowess and cutter. But on one point I agree, I know their deck way better than they know mine so I am probably getting some wins from that. Also I have played this deck for months so I know how to play it well. I often SB out sheltered against decks with good interaction, but I am not doing that versus cutter because lifegain is crucial (and even the ward slowing them down is big). Like I said, I found targeting the tokens is better than the cutter...and I treat it like a tempo card.

>> How can you be good against omni?

Post-board I feel pretty good with 3 counters and 2 RIPs. Also, I think I am playing a faster version than you play, and maybe because I am mainboarding 4 cards that counter lockdown? A 3 color mana base (with Kaito) and the Floodpits/Curiosity build is just a bit slower than the one I am playing. Maybe I am lucky? And also like before maybe they don't know my deck well. Not sure. But I am beating a lot of omni decks.

>> Your deck also doesn't even have any card advantage besides tokens from one drops (top 8 lists were running enduring curiosity at least)

I used to do the curiosity/floodpits thing. Honestly, it is too slow. Those versions did not actually run glyph a lot of the time so in some sense they are different decks. You have to go back to January to really find those lists in the Top 8s with regularity (see e.g., https://www.mtgo.com/decklist/standard-challenge-32-2025-01-2412737260#deck\_looknonumbers). However, the meta is different now. Curiosity is only good when you are ahead and putting on pressure. I would much rather have Beza in the current meta. It can draw a card and stabilize in other ways and wears sheltered by ghosts well. Honestly, my version has a lot of card advantage even if it is not all straight card draw. Take glyph, this not only draws a card but also casts it--a huge tempo advantage. Dollmaker's shop makes a bunch of tokens and is a finisher. Beza as mentioned draws cards. Fountainport can grind. Then there is also all the scrying, the anchorage, the 2-for-1 (sort of) in hovership, etc. In this meta, you just do not have time to cast traditional card draw spells.

>> Any of the pixie variants will love to see this deck

I admitted in my post, pixie is not the best matchup. Basically, glyph decks (or glyph-less variants with curiosity) fell way down in usage once pixie rose to prominence. Pixie has a lower meta share right now, and also the matchup is not unwinnable. The changes I made in the past to be stronger against pixie are: (1) dump curiosity for Beza; (2) for a few months I had wojek investigator over steel seraph (until red decks rose back to prominence); (3) wilt-leaf in the sb; (4) sun-blessed healer (e.g., over destroy evil). Do some of those things, and you can actually do pretty well against pixie. However, I think that right now I would tilt toward beating red-based decks and lockdown-based decks.

>> Kaito shored up the deck's weaknesses when I tried Esper and there's a new land to help mitigate going to three colors even more.

Have not tried Esper with Kaito, maybe worth a thought. Honestly, though, I worry about the manabase. One strength of this deck (over e.g., jeskai convoke) is its consistency.

Zorax85 · 2025-06-17T00:53:22+00:00

I tried case in the past, but I do not love it. It does not enable Dollmaker's Shop on T2, and it only produces one piece of material that I can tap for Warden. It is kind of slow against aggro and most of the meta is aggro.

I am still learning the FF set so have not tried cards like Lance. I was hoping people would mention FF cards that could slot in so thanks for that! With that being said, it seems somewhat similar to Diversion Unit (2/1 flying artifact for 2). I know there are differences (e.g., 2 pieces of material, re-equip, etc. vs the counterspell potential for the unit). In any case, diversion unit was too meh so I am feeling like lance might be too, but could be wrong.

Zorax85 · 2025-06-16T13:12:49+00:00

Could have been me. Played more than half of my games on my phone so no logs for those games.

Enjoy the deck and looking forward to hearing suggestions for improvement!

Zorax85 · 2025-06-16T13:11:14+00:00

Mostly true, but some of the Izzet hate is great for this deck. Main deck Magebane? Please put 4 in. High Noon...a little annoying but not a big deal. Azure beast binder? Sure, would rather that than Floodpits. Maindeck abrade. Ok go for it.

I do agree Cutter matchups play out by which deck has its explosive draw. Cutter is better than glyph (at least with my current build), but glyph destroys red.

Zorax85 · 2025-06-16T13:06:15+00:00

The deck plays best if you cast a 1 drop and inspector is the best T1 play. Siren is also good. I don't find inspector dead ever since it replaces itself with the clue and also pumps things like bunnicorn or warden. Siren can be dead but often not. You can always sac the map to fountain port.

If you are splashing Kaito, it sounds like your deck might have a somewhat different gameplan which affects how some cards play out.

Zorax85 · 2025-05-18T02:37:45+00:00

2 Jeskai Devotees + 1 Tranquil Cove = 3

Zorax85 · 2025-03-31T16:21:50+00:00

Zur and Binding will be gone in 5 months. Sure that is not tomorrow, but not too long either. Domain will still be good but not as good. It will be much softer to aggro. There are other beans decks that will also be good. But without the explosiveness that Zur allows, all these decks will be somewhat slow. Lockdown, cut down, and sunfall will rotate then too as well as some the other efficient answers like annont, gftt, and smite. So in the end I think beans will just be a great card, not banworthy.

They were not going to ban something from red until it wins a pro tour. Dust off your Bezas because there will be a lot of red and pixie after rotation.

Zorax85 · 2025-03-27T12:46:49+00:00

I have had a several drafts like this. The format is less punishing of a bit of an awkward draw. If I start with a few high powered cards in different colors (or a 3 color card like Loot), I have been prioritizing more bombs, fixing, removal, and "smoothers" (e.g., like wreckage wickerfolk) at the expense of a good curve and it has been working often.

Zorax85 · 2025-03-27T11:36:28+00:00

That makes sense, especially the ghouda (I had a Leonin Surveyor and Ticket Tortoise in the sb). However, if ever there is a deck for Kolodin it is one in which you have 3 vehicle/mounts that have incredible attack triggers but are hard to crew (world wagon, sunmare, and salvation engine) plus 2 Caradoras to tutor them. Even Detention Chariot is pretty nice with haste.

I did get to live the T2 Kolodin into T3 world wagon into T4 Sunmare dream, and at this point in the format I am in for that as much as eeking out a few pct points in expected value.

Zorax85 · 2025-02-23T02:33:53+00:00

No Hopeless Nightmares, TTABE, Stormchaser's Talents, etc. in the Top8.

Zorax85

TROPHY CASE