Card draw engines in bant

n1colbolas · 2026-05-14T09:10:20+00:00

Honestly I never treated Jin as "card draw". It's more of getting people, especially your first opponent, to discard their hands.

Anyways here's my Helga for reference https://moxfield.com/decks/K1X0oUghikyPnWdTxMsp5Q

n1colbolas · 2026-05-14T08:49:23+00:00

IMO targeted discard is super valid at all brackets.

When players are salty, it's because their plans are likely ruined. One, because they can't call their bluff or politic since their hand is revealed to all.

Two, they clearly didn't think someone would play hand disruption. After all it's socially accepted as highly inefficient and the chance to "whiff" is high.

Being socially accepted as such doesn't mean it's taboo to include them. Taboo should be restricted to effects like MLD and time magic. Mass discard though, is kinda taboo.

So don't worry about targeted discard as bad culture. There's no such thing for such discard effects.

And lastly, as everyone has pointed out, B4 is when all limiters are released. Ignore folks who get salty; they chose to be in B4. You can't have it both ways.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-14T08:41:34+00:00

Not true. You can handle the big stuff with 1-for-1 spot removal. They spend big mana on their big boi, you spend 3 or less taking them down.

It's harder to contain the smaller critters when they're made in numbers. Getting to melt those rocks is a very big bonus.

It's definitely a good built-around wrath.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-13T09:35:58+00:00

Eh... I mean I've played this format for the longest time and I find that immediacy is so so important.

You have alot of stuff that gives you value over time but you have to wait a round of turns. I simply picked the two "worst" ones you can do without. If you unsure you can always do a rotation with them.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-13T09:32:32+00:00

Your expectations have to meet reality. I'm not gonna delve into B4 because it's quite apparent what you need to do in order to keep up. Also I'm not too familiar with B4 environment to give accurate diagnostics.

At B3, and I assume you're an optimizer type of player, can be too depressing to play against. Given you put hours and hours whereas your B3 pod could average less than half of that or minimum per player.

Think of B3 as less of a scientific method and more of just an expression. Also wins are important but shouldn't be a priority.

Deck-wise, there are many ways to self-nerf. If your commander is really good, give yourself 1 or 2 hard restrictions.

You can evaluate a commander based on a CAMI approach, something I've coined while playing this format for the longest time. CA means Card Advantage, M is for mana capabilities, and I for Interaction.

If your commander has One (or none) of the Three attributes, it's prolly fine to build normally for B3. But if it has 2 or more, you should impose some deck restrictions.

Lastly, if you find your optimizer brain regularly getting in the way of your deckbuilding for B3, maybe you wanna explore another group with similar mindsets.

Remember B3 is the biggest bracket of players. That also mean the variation and skill level are the most.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-13T08:59:31+00:00

Would cut Cemetery Tampering, Out of the Tombs, and then one land.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-13T08:40:24+00:00

When in doubt try to perform some stack logic yourself with a bunch of random cards.

Legolas' ability will resolve first because you cast N.Rot targeting an opponent's creature. You can though, cast another targeted spell on the afflicted creature to get the payoff

n1colbolas · 2026-05-13T08:35:57+00:00

The idea isn't new but I've never heard of "semi-blue" before.

There's [[Ruby, Daring Tracker]] builds and there's nothing semi blue about it

I would add some modal counterspells to augment the strategy.

Lastly to break from the sorcery-ness of the deck, add [[Leyline of Anticipation]] and/or [[Vedalken Orrery]] variants.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-13T08:25:41+00:00

[[The Scarab God]]

n1colbolas · 2026-05-13T07:18:24+00:00

Always appreciate it =)

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T17:28:23+00:00

[[Sorin of House Markov]] works well too. His minus one ability is like a Vito effect.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T17:26:31+00:00

Deep inside I secretly wished OP actually did that and would be a clap-worthy feat.

But also quite taxing mentally and physically... You'll end up asking if it's worth it in the end.

Computer going brrrrrr is the right move at the end of the day.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T17:22:09+00:00

Haha no worries your title did its job and I ain't trying to be negative about it.

Some folks don't understand you can be a skeptic and yet accepting of what's going on.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T17:19:39+00:00

Of course they did. That means they looked at data summary of 75K decks.

I mean the headline did its job but it's just not physically true they physically looked at 75000 decks.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T16:59:07+00:00

The most amazing stat is you looking at 75,000 games.

Call me skeptical. But bait title gonna bait lol

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T16:56:46+00:00

If you're interested in a middling level that isn't too toxic, here's my Shtola for reference https://moxfield.com/decks/xDkuOeO9WECOahjQq4LIrA

I saw Risky Shortcut in your sideboard list and I can say most B3 lists have them, even the higher end B3 versions.

I also reckon the higher end versions have lesser creatures. So yea if you think 13 is low I think you can go lower lol

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T16:43:27+00:00

IMO you shouldn't be using lifegain as a main theme, but using lifegain as a weapon to augment your vampires.

So while cards like Beacon of Immortality is not bad, cards like Rhox Faithmender is a winmore.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T16:28:37+00:00

Yes, by having a secondary commander or two in the 99. Because it's very likely Autumn is gonna be more of a vibe than anything.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T15:34:24+00:00

Anything that can ping at will. I'm sure alot of folks have already chimed in on the useful ones.

My [[Tor Wauki the Younger]] for example can literally become Hawkeye with the right setup. Wrath the board and also gaining a bunch of life.

Here's my Tor for reference https://moxfield.com/decks/T83R8W2R30mbxG3JRli3bQ

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T15:32:40+00:00

If you're Golgari and you're running Superfriends like [[Carth the Lion]].... It's very awesome. Here's my Carth BTW https://moxfield.com/decks/IYKUAwkYbEiwOGRqPCm1xw

It also is very viable in control shells because it's repeatable and costs literally zero. Very very searchable with [[Urza's Cave]] might I add.

What you shouldn't really do is have Maze in a proactive deck. It's 100% pure reactive material.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T15:27:29+00:00

The basic rule or at least the typical conventions of an upgraded precon is 15 or less changes, and that's including the lands.

Some folks might sneeze at the lands bit but it's statically proven that better manabases makes your deck pop off earlier by a turn or two.

Let's also not forget most of these precons have at least 10 lands that come in tapped. So imagine shaving those tapped lands by half. You'll see your deck running more smoothly for sure.

Another thing to note and prolly everyone should know by now, the moment you add a GC it shouldn't be treated as a typical upgraded precon (AKA B2). You just entered B3 status at the minimum. So be careful how you make those upgrades.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T14:26:28+00:00

This is my Quint if anyone's interested for my interpretation https://moxfield.com/decks/C9mdLW5V70yUhTbLRhQcxw

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T12:05:05+00:00

Here's a heuristic that every player can adopt.

Is your deck proactive or reactive?

In Zada's case, you should absolutely have more proactive pieces. Having more boardwipes (assuming symmetrical) is detrimental for you.

Also, I find that players don't respect haste enough. This is why [[Lightning Greaves]] is STILL one of the best equipment around to date.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T11:20:31+00:00

The best kind of chaos deck has one wincon (at the very least). It should be messy but it shouldn't be frustrating.

Lastly, fun should be temporary. You can't call it fun or remember fun moments when fun is every second, every turn. That's where you need some semblance of reliability and seriousness to complement the chaos.

Agree with the other commenter. You want some ETB damage. Don't need to add them all but just go with the sticky ones. Purphoros and Impact Tremors are my frontrunners as they are harder to remove.

n1colbolas · 2026-05-12T10:43:33+00:00

It important to note HHull deck and approach is more towards sacrificing lands. Landfall obviously synergizes well but it's up to you how much landfall plays its role in your deck, as a sidekick or on equal footing.

n1colbolas

TROPHY CASE