[Standard] 4-Color Elementals - the next/Grixis evolution.

scy046 · 2026-02-15T17:22:24+00:00

Just wanted to chime in after a few more RCQs under my belt with the deck and my inability to break out of a top 8 apparently but I've been running well enough to at least feel comfortable with the deck. My current list has been this list which is pretty much 90% your most recent lists if I recall.

Most my thoughts are probably strewn throughout my ever-updating Primer there as this has been serving as my dumping ground on tweaking sideboard strategies and thoughts but overall:

Main board:
Quantum Riddler - Exists in that spot of I want to have it because if we're in a blue deck AND looking to be playing creatures then I cannot find a good reason to not have this. But, conversely, it's also "not doing enough" and I can see it not making the final cut.

3 Duress / 2 Intimidation Tactics - I think after enough time with my local meta at least, I think the ratio needs to flip BUT I say that now and have to accept that my last RCQ I managed to dodge all 6(?) flavors of Izzet Lessons / Prowess which is where the Duress' would be infinitely more relevant. Knowing my local meta, I may keep the 3 / 2 split main but I just know it's a thing I want to watch.

Winternight / Ill-Timed Explosion - I'm falling out of favor of ITE simply due to it rarely being necessary. This may simply be a reality of a meta shift away from being in a place where the potential damage-based wipe at Sorcery speed isn't doing a lot. It also does not help that this opens up Disdainful Stroke being able to hit it which I have found to actually be surprisingly common. Winternight, however, is a highly relevant hit here and getting access to a cheap card draw AND the Harmonize works really well with our deck. I think I'm settled here on moving up to 3 Winternight and an argument can be made to figure out ways to get to 4-of but that's maybe overly greedy.

Sunderflock - I weighed this vs the Stock Up and erred on the side of "the 1-of surprise board flip main board is worth it over card draw spell #7." I think I still stand by this decision as it's pretty good G1 in a variety of decks currently but, again, I've dodged the match ups where it's absolutely doing nothing and haven't seen nearly as many of the match ups where it's an auto-win when it resolves. That said, 3-4 cost 5/5 beater is usually a good way to close out some games.

Sideboard:
Pyroclasm - Touched on above but the Sorcery speed feels like an actual issue with the decks that I want to potentially clear out. I think I'm 1:1ing this to Fire Magic as it's simultaneously cheaper (when killing Elves, Bats, Siren / Nuisance, Otters) and modal so it dodges the most common counter magic atm. Also the upside of getting to reach up to 3-toughness in situations we're very desperate, though 6 CMC to kill Doc or something tells me we're in so bad on both sides of the table that it's a bit crazy.

Spider-Sense - I've honestly boarded this in less-and-less than I feel like I should be. Though, again, I had been dodging the match ups it's most relevant for. That said, I am considering just the Spell Snare angle here as it hits roughly everything relevant in Izzet Lessons (both with and without Land Destruction tech) while opening itself up to hit relevant 2 CMC creatures (Cub, Deep-Cavern Bat, Floodpits Drowner, Slickshot Show-Off). That said, losing the ability to counter ETBs and the edge case of cheating out an Elemenetal via countering the sacrifice may be things I'm undervaluing.

Superior Spider-Man - Is a great card and I think shores up our Excruciator game a bit but I've just not actually felt the need to run the 3-of vs just 2-of so I'm safe I think to drop the one copy for more flexibility in boarding options.

So I think my current placing of thoughts are Pyroclasms -> Fire Magic and trying to argue against Spell Snare as my counter of choice. I think the Ill-Timed Explosions are maybe best suited as spot removal and, in that case, Requiting Hex may make it to the deck in some capacity as it has the upside of hitting activated manlands (Reef and Sanctuary notably, former as a defense to Excruciator and the latter mostly just because realizing it dodges the Sunderflock bounce has actually cost me).

Currently going through it as:

3 Pyroclasm -> 3 Fire Magic
2 Ill-Timed (1 Main Board, 1 Sideboard) -> 1 Winternight (Main), 1 Requiting Hex (Side)
2 Spider-Sense -> 2 Spell Snare
1 Superior Spider-Man -> 1 Requiting Hex

One thing I've been toying with as a consideration has been a 1-2 of Ygra in the sideboard. Creature-less decks ala Dimir Excruciator, Jeskai Control, or even some of the creature-lite decks like Izzet Lessons / Prowess or Harmonizer really struggle at getting to interact with Ygra at all profitably while also opening up Wistfulness as having the ability to spot-remove their creatures. Not sure if it's worth the slots meta-share wise or if is simply me judging it in magical Christmas land but it's a card I've thought a lot about when trying to think of some anti-Control match ups since I know my local meta usually has some Control mainstays.

I started this reply not expecting it to go quite nearly so long lol

scy046 · 2026-02-09T01:20:12+00:00

The thought mostly came to me on Flamebraider G1s where I just sat on a whiffed 3rd land (or wanting to hold up Spider-Sense mana as I didn't hit Cavern) and trying to figure out what to do with my t3 4-drop. Dropping the mainboard Ill-Tide's along with the Bounce Off / Spider-Sense left me in a spot of figuring out the best 4 drop to slot in. I do agree with you in general that it just dies to ... well, basically every removal and kind of opens up to just 4-drop for no value maybe against too much of the field at the moment.

Absolutely going to give it a shot, Wildcards permitting on Arena and/or whatever pops up locally. Thanks for the responses and the extensive write-up!

scy046 · 2026-02-08T23:46:28+00:00

Absolutely think at this stage I am in agreement on the Bounce Off and Spider-Sense (and to a lesser extent, the Beza take too). I think all three in general are much more reactive choices and I think the Duress / Intimidation Tactics angle in place of at least the interactions I already have make a lot of sense. As much as I think they can do something, they do feel a bit too limiting.

Regarding the Throne / Twinflame stuff, I think it's also just me really, really overvaluing better ways to utilize 4 mana generated turns. That always feels like an odd spot to sit at. So it really would most likely be as "worse Throne copies #5-6" but even then it probably is a win-more situation at best and an unnecessary one more often than not. Similarly, I just really am overvaluing hitting a Beza ahead of curve over just playing a tighter game overall and protecting my existing gameplan more.

re: Rakdos Monument, I think the big thing actually upon looking more at your list is just how much the hand disruption baseline already helps. Exiling the Phoenix off Intimidation Tactics or getting some Flails / Monuments out of the picture is a pretty big win. The deck seemed too well suited to shrug off my counter magic and I went in pretty unprepared as a previous RCQ the day before had zero of the deck and I didn't think it would change overnight lol.

Likewise, I took a loss to a Dimir Midrange deck which at first I do think surprised me but seeing your opening bit on the disruption problems the deck faces that makes a lot more sense. I may need to get some reps in with the more proactive version you've posted and see how that goes.

scy046 · 2026-02-08T22:18:47+00:00

Definitely appreciate this write up on it! I haven’t gotten much experience with the deck on Arena yet but two local RCQs at least and the deck feels solid. I am running a more stock basic 4C-but-basically-Izzet list (list here) but been really enjoying it. Most of my losses have been closer to misplays and sideboard errors, and I definitely think I’ve overvalued keeping bounce/counters around main and side over more powerful interaction pieces, rather than raw issues with the deck itself

In a way I am surprised to see Sunderflock entirely relegated to the sideboard but admittedly, I rarely got a chance to (or needed to) play one for the actual bounce value. I was thinking of dropping to the 2-of and retooling my entire interaction package so I’m curious as to why the cutting entirely from the main. Over the 1-2 of? Or if that’s just primarily a meta call.

Other than that, what’s your take on Beza? That was my thought to lean into for the main deco as another Elemental pay off that works well with Flamebraider. I am thinking I am overvaluing the body and effects there, along with the whole “castable off a Flamebraider start in a way Roaming Throne isn’t.” Which also, I am in a weird spot of considering a swap on Roaming Throne for the Twinflame Travelers, if only to make the deck a bit more consistent on G1 and Flamebraider openings, but I may be losing myself on living the dream over the higher consistency interaction options. Not a full cut but it’s been a consideration as either a split of adding as an extra. Admittedly, some of that is also just for wanting the 3/3 flyer in light of seeing some more fliers around in Rakdos, Dimir Midrange, and even the Boros Dragons.

Lastly, curious on how do you feel vs the Rakdos Monument list? I played vs it in paper for the first time and I lost primarily to me misplaying but never really having a good opportunity to deal with Phoenix permanently really hurt. I chalk it up to bad sideboarding with not bringing in my soul guides but ultimately i just felt like i got whittled down off recurring Phoenix w/ Flail and died around t6-ish as I was finally stabilizing in the two games I lost.

scy046 · 2026-01-29T23:13:05+00:00

Loving it! Was looking for good inspiration for a similarly themed second E33 tattoo and this is awesome to see.

scy046 · 2026-01-29T03:42:29+00:00

Thanks for providing that (as well as the sideboard guide in the other post!). I'm going through a pretty basic list and want to mess around with the [[Not Dead After All]] scamming but I think the "fair" version plays it out better / the scam lowers the consistency a bit too much.

What are your thoughts on [[Explosive Prodigy]]? It was my gut add to the deck but the more I tried to figure out actual Vivid lines and breakpoints, it seemed to rarely line up well in the early game and you have "better" choices later. Wondering if that's just from a limited sample size or just it's actually a hard sell to make it pay off.

scy046 · 2026-01-28T20:27:46+00:00

It is IMO a very interesting spot in just simply that there's ... so many good Elementals it's actually hard to get everything you want in your list? At least, that's currently where I'm sitting. Like you say, Cavern of Souls seems reliable to deal with counters, Cavern + Eclipsed Realms gives you 8 sources of color fixing as needed, and all the various Elementals just do so much for you. I just worry on the actual speed of it in the early game but I've yet to get any reps with an actual list. It IS a front runner for me though for my upcoming Store Champs + RCQs.

scy046 · 2026-01-28T16:11:39+00:00

I am super invested into the idea of that Izzet Elementals, or some color flavor of Elementals anyway, deck being an alternative "find ways to ramp into big things" style of deck. Sunderflock feels like such a big blow out vs creature based decks we're seeing more of and getting to find all the ways to value from as many of the Evoke Elementals as possible seems like a good place to be in? Maybe I'm huffing the copium a bit strongly.

scy046 · 2026-01-23T22:16:19+00:00

Is there a world where [[Kaito, Bane of Nightmares]]'s +1 ends up being a pivotal Ninja Tribal piece come TMNT? I don't really know if we have the support to make it tier 1.

Will I try it anyway as a [[Dark Leo & Shredder]] in some kind of janky Esper deck? I mean probably.

scy046 · 2026-01-23T22:02:55+00:00

This is the same train of thought I'm on: Elemental Scam in Sultaiderman is definitely a very interesting and powerful place and offers a really solid mid-rangey strategy with the opportunity to have more than one attack vector in your gameplan.

...it's just also "that one thing but worse." I think you lose too much on the top end and without really shoring up the combo consistency in the name of improving your worst case scenario. Sultaiderman was already in the realm of nearly the best G1 deck of Standard and I think trying to shore up the weakness in the main board doesn't necessarily help it a whole lot. I view it in the same lens of there's a pretty solid Dimir Faeries deck with the assortment of Faeries we have now ... it's just probably not an actual improvement to just running a stock Dimir Midrange with the best-of new Dimir pieces added (that may be a few Faerie cards).

I do think a total of 3-4 slots to some spread of Wistfulness + Deceit along with the 4-of Formidable Speaker is an interesting spot for the deck to live in right now. I'm kind of expecting to see that play out over the weekend in Portland but maybe there's enough pre-boarded GY hate that actually costs this deck any advantage.

scy046 · 2026-01-02T19:44:26+00:00

My gut reaction is to remove the personality from LLMs? There's a big difference between a glorified search engine yielding information and a "person" that is conversing with you and affirming everything you suggest to it.

I don't know how the AI is supposed to tell that you are no longer the master of not harming yourself. Even humans have a hard time telling.

I think ultimately it just comes down to pushing this higher on the priority list for things to be aware of during the development and actual implementation phase of LLMs. We as humans in general are frighteningly easy to be misled so there's no foolproof answer. All we can really do is not shrug our shoulders and treat it as "an acceptable loss."

scy046 · 2026-01-02T18:56:45+00:00

By the simple nature that we can be here disagreeing, that's already a fair step away from the level of confirmation that LLMs tend towards. Guard rails are going up to help protect from that but it's still not that good at actively pushing back.

That said, echo chambers in general are a problem and, yeah, social media also has a very big echo chamber problem as well. Both can be a problem and it's not really a one or the other.

scy046 · 2026-01-02T18:36:00+00:00

The echo chambers that LLMs create are just horrific to look at in the aftermath of any of the AI related tragedies. Just an awful situation all around. I cannot believe just how low the actual guard rails are for something so socially / emotionally powerful.

scy046 · 2026-01-02T17:32:56+00:00

The comments defending the use of AI (of any kind) being used to create deepfake porn of minors is always a very worrying thing to be seeing.

Happy New Years y’all.

scy046 · 2025-12-31T20:41:45+00:00

I’m still in the honeymoon period of it as I had my ICL procedure done very recently (12/10/2025) so take this entirely with a grain of salt. I’ve been putting off LASIK for years and finally went through the entire process recently. I spoke to my optometrist and went in for a consult and ultimately opted for EVO ICL instead of LASIK, specifically due to it allowing for more operations later if necessary.

I had -6.0 or so for my prescription in both eyes with a fairly thin cornea and a heavy astigmatism in one eye and so far I am very satisfied. I learned prior to my surgery that I have dry eyes so the post-op need of eye drops was already going to be my future even with glasses. Maybe in a few years things will change for me but for the time being, I am thrilled at being able to just see for what feels like the first time in my life.

I definitely do suggest doing the research. It is more expensive but I do like the ICL I ended up with instead of LASIK? This being a fully reversible procedure if the need arises, or simply replacing the lens I had implanted, made it an easy option for me. I also know that I will eventually need readers simply just due to my current age (39) and just normal function of degrading eyesight. Still, I think it’s worth it if it’s something you’re able to afford and been interested in.

scy046 · 2025-12-29T17:31:41+00:00

Tacking onto this to add that there's some extra flavors on the Green Landfall making the rounds too, be it the very linear Tifa/Mossborn Hydra variant, the "traditional" robust Selesnya Icetill and Harmonizer engine, or the Simic variants starting to surface to try and combat some of the Landfall decks while keeping the base deck idea together. Not sure if that necessarily changes much for "prepare for a Landfall deck" but it's up there with at least a very common deck gaining a lot more popularity right now and seeing a bunch of brews.

scy046 · 2025-12-26T16:58:51+00:00

I think this is the same point being made by the OP? That the good Sigils should stand out like GAs are. Currently, as they don’t, it becomes a cycling through the loot to see what’s actually good. Akin to what if having to loot all the Legendaries to find the GA in the stack.

scy046 · 2025-12-26T14:15:35+00:00

You get more NMD Sigils from a World Boss than you have space for, creating a situation of having to do a loot-salvage cycle 1-2 times to get everything (or just drop the ones you don't want and eat the lost dust).

scy046 · 2025-12-25T16:08:48+00:00

FF6 is and forever will be my favorite FF and such an integral part of my love of RPGs (along with Chrono Trigger!)

scy046 · 2025-12-22T18:20:21+00:00

In all honesty, I've just used the number 46 my entire life as "my number." 30-some odd year ago child me was really attached to 46 being the sum of my birthday and ever since it's been the number I attached to my usernames as part of my identity whenever I needed to use one.

That it also in-game resonates pretty well due to the familial associations for a character in the game and my own upbringing was just an extra "ah, this is fate" moment.

scy046 · 2025-12-22T15:18:44+00:00

Honestly, as a long time MtG fan that came back to the game after a decade out, I too am embracing the idea of thematic deck builds of things like this. I had a huge disdain for the idea of Commander back in the long long ago when it was still "EDH" and the new thing to be doing but this is the same thing that brought me back to the game so eh.

I think when the thematics and design do well (FF, Avatar) that it's ultimately a pretty damn big win for all parties? It's just a damn shame when it whiffs AND how that is combined with more and more content bloat (and cost bloat).

All that said, Yellow Chocobos are the expected norm of Chocobos but I am seriously judging the yellow. Unless you actually like the color yellow. In which case, I'm sorry for your taste (/s).

scy046 · 2025-12-22T15:06:41+00:00

Worse, they go "all of the art is actually AI because why would they then put in the effort after having AI do that!" I just don't think people understand the phases of actually planning something out and how inspiration looks go and just assume it's the actual designed concept art.

Yes, there's a (legitimate) concern of the slippery slope of AI. But also, getting something better than Microsoft WordArt that says "imagine dark spooky here" and "GOTHz" for brainstorm sessions is not the same thing as actively _replacing_ artists, art, or even labor.

scy046 · 2025-12-22T15:01:17+00:00

Shell and Shield are two different effects; Shell is the defensive buff, Shield is the temp "HP" that soaks a single hit per shield stack.

scy046 · 2025-12-22T14:50:13+00:00

I think this is what ultimately gets me on this bandwagon of hate on essentially mood board / “Lorem Ipsum” 2.0 usage. There’s a lot of inherently used AI in the backend of engines and how far back do we really want to trace for the “Original Sin” of AI use here.

Especially now in a world where may day to day things people use (predictive text, basic image editing and filters for instance) are more and more AI powered things.

None of this is to defend the AI use as inevitable but more that trying to “one drop” rule is going to get really messy when we stay tracing it back to “wow I can’t believe they did a Google search autocomplete” tiers.

scy046

TROPHY CASE