Hello gentlepeople, mono time lovers!
I'm glad i can share a new decklist with you, which is even able to compete in the current meta.
I went from D2 to masters (15-3) and laddered up to almost top 200 (total of 30-8) with it.
Why mono time now? The current meta is full of Jennev midrange and this deck - prepare - loves this matchup!
New set 5 cards like
Dissociate or
Maddening Whisper are sleepers right now. And this deck proves they are able to swing games in your favor. Mono time desperately needed fast spell interaction and now we have the tools!
Also:
Moonstone Vanguard is a nightmare to primal based aggro decks and a lovely target to put
Xenan Initiation on.
The obvious game plan is to tempo out with ramp:
Initiate of the Sands into
Auralian Merchant Worldbearer Behemoth (picked from the market) is one way to pressure most decks a lot.
Dissociate is your insurance against key cards of the opponents deck to keep up the pressure.
Grasping at Shadows against Reanimator,
Harsh Rule and sometimes even
Martyr's Chains are good targets to delay by 3 power....and sometimes even more than once.
Temple Standard is the tool to free the track for Behemoths or Moonstones or even to deny the value of
Mirror Image from
Howling Peak. Also the value play of a bounced back killering
Worldbearer Behemoth is a way to finish a game all of a sudden - sneaky, sneaky!
Last but def. not the least: Pit of Lenekta. Mono time always struggled against high value decks which are played around the late game. But now, hell yeah, we are scary as well!
Worldbearer Behemoth +
Pit of Lenekta is a way to suddenly flood the board with big threats which are able to finish the game one turn later. (hold on
Dissociate folks!)
You want to play Pit with the value of at least two instant 7/7 sand wurms. The pressure of this relic is pretty high so IF there still is a
Bore in the opponent's market - they gonna use it! Good we bring some more of their friends, right?
Feel free to comment, give feedback to my little gem - i am always happy to tweak / improve my decks!
Let the feast begin!
Sincerly Psy
edit: don't be afraid to pledge
Moonstone Vanguard if it helps to curve out smoothly!
edit2: thanks for your views, attention and suggestions. I tested Bazaar Trickster instead of Teacher and i have to say: he surprisingly impressed me. A good way to dump free power as well. Moved one Pit to the market. Also minus one Ascendent + 2 Scribes. After a staplesize of 30 games i can say it feels more fluently to play. Thanks again for your ideas!
Initiate of the Sands
x4
2
Bazaar Trickster
x4
2
Dissociate
x3
2
Temple Scribe
x2
2
Xenan Initiation
x4
3
Auralian Merchant
x4
3
Dawnwalker
x3
3
Lunar Magus
x4
4
Sandstorm Titan
x4
4
Xenan Obelisk
x2
5
Moonstone Vanguard
x4
5
Worldbearer Behemoth
x3
6
Mystic Ascendant
x3
9
Pit of Lenekta
x2
Time Sigil
x21
Amber Waystone
x4
Temple Standard
x4
View Deck on Shiftstoned
Hourglass shines versus primal based matchups. Especially Haunted Highway and Skycrag aggro do have a very hard time to pass your big units if their Permafrosts don't work anymore. But also against other aggro matchups like tokens it is a way to counter aggro them without being punished for "exhausting" your units (Behemoth is a king right there with endurance).
One of the biggest obstacles versus aggro decks is to stabilize until you are able to play your Titans / Moonstones. It hurts a lot if a (maybe even berserk) Champion of Fury is able to hit face. I usually instantly market for the Hourglass in those matchups. It increases the winrate by a ton!
Other interesting situations happen against Aurelian (mindrange / ramp) or Jennev midrange. They often stun your Behemoth to deny your ramp and the heavy face damage. The players tend to bank on the Permafrosts too much and there are often ways to suprisingly push damage for lethal, to draw cards with Ascendent or to sneakily killer their key cards / destroy their sites.
I might have played over 1000 games with mono time already, started with set 2. Many cards changed but i always found the Hourglass pretty useful to keep up the pressure against midrange / control or to counter attack the aggressive decks.
You will be surprised about the impact of this little one-cost-relic once you have slammed it to annoy the above mentioned matchups.
I hope i have been able to "enlighten" you a bit. :)
Thanks for the deck.
With the flattery out of the way, i feel like pit as a 3x is way overkill. 1 or maybe 2 is probably better. I have already had a few games where i find too many early. I also am a little iffy on the obelisks. I am also unsure what the passage of eons in market is meant for, when 4x dissociate covers relic hate for the most part.
As of right now, i have market passage replaced with 1x xenan initiation, cut the obelisks, and cut 1 pit of leneka. In the 4 slots that clears, i have put amaran stinger. Not sure if that is the right card for the deck but she is a pet card of mine since the buff. Deadly chump blocks obviously are pretty handy, they kill stuff with initiation, but also low-key synergies with teacher's ability if it sticks. Also the body is pretty well statted. Cykalis (sp?) Is also a decent consideration but i guess this deck has a lot of 5 power stuff already. I am waffling on putting an obelisk in the market instead of the initiation. Will see.
The sneaky ways of Disso and Whisper are great - nobody espects them and they can be a - as you said - satisfying blowout.
This list is not stellar for sure. I always adapt to the meta, which is shifting right now. And as a fellow mono time lover you already know this deck has a lot of flex spots. :)
Teacher, teacher is a great card, but we're not an aggro deck. And our 2 drop is never going to be good vs other aggro decks because they have torch/finest hour/permafrost/other stuff to always outclass us on turn 2-3. I'm wondering if 4x temple scribe would just be better. Draws a card, so never a dead draw, incidental lifegain, 2 for one against decks with oni ronins and snowcrust yeti. And more importantly, something to sacrifice to Vara to keep her in check. I feel like letting vara get a +2+2 and deadly just puts you in a terrible position with this deck.
My reasonings for Obelisk and Teacher.
Teacher: i have to admit i'd like to put in Scribe, since i really like the early draw and chump blocker. But mono time surely has a bad matchup versus control decks. If Teacher connects turn 2 you might win a game you'd be otherwise likely to lose. Feln based decks struggle versus Teacher and Haunted Highway cannot even scream (some of) their targets anymore. Additionally Teacher contests Hojan (without renown but empower), Sharpshooter and 1:1 trades with Champion of Fury.
All of them are big threats which can deal a whole bunch of damage before you are able to stabilize on the board.
Obelisk: I agree Obelisk seems to be out ofthe spot in this deck. Nevertheless i realized (after a staple size of over 120 games with this deck now) it's sometimes necessary to roll over perticular decks. Titan trades with HotV, Teacher is not torchable anymore, Magus cannot be runehammer'd anymore, etc. Some of it are minor benefits but it's enough to me to keep at least a two of in the deck.
Additionally vs control: If you are not able to overextend vs control it's better to just smash an Obelisk to activate more triggers for Dawnwalkers. If you are able to 1:1 trade a Harsh Rule it feels like a good outcome for you.
I don't say you are wrong in any way. Maybe i am. Those are just the tweaks i made to somehow win certain matchups i struggle against.
And yes. Vara is pain. Vara is the nemesis of time based midrange decks. I hope to be able to sac an Initiate, Teacher or Dawnwalker against her. Or a bounce with Standard, if i am good enough on the board already. All "solutions" are pretty meh, indeed.
I will still work on the deck. Maybe i find a way to deal with Vara without losing too much tempo.
And ya, teacher is all around a great card, no question. It just opens you up to torch, where otherwise your deck is almost torchproof, and again, seems like more of an aggro card. It is powerful though, unanswered on turn 2 it can just win the game, but in my experience, it's somewhat rare that happens, (probably a little under 5% of games). I've also lost plenty of games where it did connect on t3, so, I'm a little unimpressed with it. Have you ever tried bazaar trickster?
About Obelisk: IF the market had 6 slots i'd instantly put him in. But it's so stuffed. I can't help!
Dissociate is in because i've played a lot against Reanimator. It often means you either have it open turn 5 or bust. Maybe I'm biased. I had a game two days ago the opponent had tripple Vara, double Azindel and double little Vara on board - turn 5. I think i never stared at a losing screen that long before. :P
A list with maybe only standards and killer spells still could run him. Here, i prefer the gas for late game (Behemoth, Ascendent). I also feel Behemoth serves the same utility but costs one less power.
Whisper is a tech card - a reaction to the meta right now. I've seen a lot of Reanimator decks and Formation cannot deal with it. Too much deadly. The biggest difference between Whisper and Formation is: Whisper is tempo - Formation is value. The fact you can "teleport" 3 units at 8 power often surprises the opponents (to death) since you can "remove" the units AND attack to face. It's a game finisher. Once there are less Varas and more other midrange units around i might switch to Formation. But not now. :)
I hope i was able to clarify a bit.
I hate it.
I just cant seem to win with this.
Rip me.
What's your biggest issue with it?