[*DBM*] Orb of the Mornsong (T2 FNM)

[Tresserhorn]

Now, I have 2 versions of this deck. One is UB and the other is UBw.

If you could, give your ideas, critizism and which you feel would be best to move forward with. Thanks.

Orb of Mornsong UB
// Lands 4 Sunken Ruins 4 Underground River 6 Swamp (2) 5 Island (1) 4 Secluded Glen 2 Reflecting Pool // Creatures 3 Maralen of the Mornsong 2 Liliana Vess	// Spells 3 Mindlock Orb 4 Telling Time 2 Fathom Trawl 3 Raven's Crime 4 Unsummon 2 Mind Shatter 4 Mind Stone 4 Infest 4 Negate	// Sideboard 1 Raven's Crime 4 Thoughtseize 3 Terror 3 Remove Soul 4 Flashfreeze

Orb of the Mornsong UBw
// Lands 4 Sunken Ruins 4 Underground River 2 Fetid Heath 2 Mystic Gate 5 Swamp (2) 6 Island (1) // Creatures 3 Maralen of the Mornsong 2 Liliana Vess 2 Vendilion Clique	// Spells 3 Mindlock Orb 4 Telling Time 2 Fathom Trawl 1 Tyrannize 2 Advice from the Fae 4 Nameless Inversion 2 Colfenor's Plans 4 Cryptic Command 4 Remove Soul 4 Raven's Crime	// Sideboard 4 Negate 4 Thoughtseize 3 Oblivion Ring 4 Wrath of God

Note: I'm only using cards I have or can easily get. That's why it's not 4 Reflecting Pools (unless someone has 2 for a good price ^_^ )

[killer]

agony warp is just better then nameless inversion. (it allows your maralen or vendillion clique to block a creature,and maybe kill it, without dying themselves) -> it's often a 2-for-1

[Tekkactus]

The problem with the Mornsong-Orb lock is that unless you're ahead in the life race by the time it drops it's essentially worthless. You really don't have any other way of dealing damage, and in the case of Vess, you're actually putting yourself back in life. What do you plan to do against a 4/4?

[hamsandwich]

i think ubw is going to be better, however, tekk brings up a good point. i am wondering if a little life gain may help. i.e. soul warden. go lighter on the black and heavier white. maindeck your o-rings as they will deal with enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers, etc. try and find a tezzeret to run instead of lilliana...

[Tresserhorn]

Hi!

I have taken everything into consideration and I think I have the way around being lower in life then my opponent. By no means is it perfect, but it's better then I had above.

Orb of the Mornsong v2
// Lands 4 Sunken Ruins 4 Underground River 3 Fetid Heath 4 Swamp (2) 3 Island (1) 2 Adarkar Wastes 2 Vivid Marsh 2 Reflecting Pool 1 Caves of Koilos // Creatures 3 Maralen of the Mornsong 2 Liliana Vess	// Spells 3 Mindlock Orb 4 Telling Time 2 Colfenor's Plans 3 Raven's Crime 2 Thoughtseize 4 Wrath of God 3 Obelisk of Esper 3 Mind Stone 2 Mind Shatter 4 Infest	// Sideboard 1 Raven's Crime 4 Negate 2 Thoughtseize 4 Flashfreeze 4 Bottle Gnomes

Some card I've been considering for this deck:
2 Vendilion Clique More control elements and works nicely once the lock is in place. Would be a nice way to end the game if my opponent only has 1 card in hand.
+1 Mind Shatter
Mull Drifter Early game dig.
Oblivion Ring
Punish Ignorance

Cards this deck has issue with:
Gaddock Teeg

[FuDaWg45]

Is the obelisk of esper really needed? With 25 lands (and plenty of nonbasics) surely the fixing isn't necessary. If you replace those with 3 Nameless Inversions then you have plenty of ways to deal with Mr. Teeg.

[Yezzandrix]

What about stealing your opponent's most dangerous beater and beating HIM up with it?

I am thinking Sower of Temptation here.

How useful is Infest in current standard? Its so "All or nothing" I don#t like it awefully much...

[Tresserhorn]

I've run this deck in 1 even so far, and Infest wasn't that bad. I'll have more data after Friday when I get to test out this new meta game.

Sower MB or SB Yezz? I considered it too, but wasn't sure if creatures were going to be as big as before, or if it was going to be mostly RDW and varients.

[Yezzandrix]

With Infest MB, I would probably have shuffled him away for SB, or cut the Infest alltogether MD. Both at the same time won't really work out all that well. Maybe: Add 3 of the Sowers main, and one Mind Stone. Then fiddling with the SB until you can stuff in at least 3 Infests...

[MasterOfTime]

The crucial flaw with Maralen is that she lets them go get whatever they want. In my decks, that equals removal. Especially once that mindlock crap hits the board. Even if I don't nuke her right away, the first card I go get when she comes out is some kind of removal, whether it be an Oblivion Ring, an Unmake, whatever. That way I'm set to either toast her or that orb.

If somebody isn't running any removal, they deserve to have that happen, but I don't think you're going to run across a lot of those people.

[Tresserhorn]

How does someone find removal with the lock in place again?

[MasterOfTime]

The fastest this is going to happen is turn four. Most people will drop Maralen first, then the Orb, because often times you'll have to drop her to go get the orb. I guess you could play them the other way around, but if they're sitting on a removal spell of some kind before you get this, you're kind of screwed.

I also wouldn't expect this to hold up to a deck that's heavy in counter-spells. I'm not much of a control player, but I can tell you right now most blue players won't even let this lock hit the table.

[Tresserhorn]

Funny you say that. I find most blue players hate Raven's Crime and Mind Shatter since it emptys the hand.

I know IF I played Maralen 1st, they'd go find a way to kill her, but why would I want to do that? I mean seriously dude, that's just asking to lose. The deck doesn't lock out until turn 7 at best, but has enough to hold on that long.

[Tynion]

I find that most aggro players can't grasp the fact that a control deck is not trying to KILL YOU NOW! It's almost like they have no concept of trying to stabilize the board, set up my position, lock up the shop, then win the game. They have no instinct in that direction. In all fairness, I struggle with the concept of swarming an opponent with 15 2/2 creatures while my opponent has 7 5/5s. I don't do aggro very well.

I have playtested with both Fathum Trawl and Advice of Fae, and I find them to be very dominant, especially in combination. Trawl allows me to get spells, not lands. Fea lets me get the best card from the top five cards of my library for three mana. Considering that alot of times that I only have 30 cards in my library when casting it, I am looking at 1/6th of my library. Also note that both of these cards are getting around the draw stipulation of your lock, meaning you can continue to refresh your hand. I am not certain if there is a distinction between the terms search and look at the top five cards however, so research my need to be done there.

In either case, the Ord is not always in play, and so I would suggest the following as your spells:

3 Mindlock Orb
3 Telling Time
2 Colfenor's Plans
3 Raven's Crime
0 Thoughtseize
4 Wrath of God
0 Obelisk of Esper
4 Mind Stone
2 Mind Shatter
2 Infest
3 Advice from Fae
3 Fathom Trawl

I want to say put the Crime in the side, as you don't need it against aggro, and it will be prevalent, but I like it too much too. I also would like to see Oblivion Ring in here somewhere. I know I bumped out two Infest, but I intend to slide them to the side. But you need a little more direct removal. I am torn between Condemn and O-Ring though.

[Streetz]

[dbm] -- Please let me know when the deck list is final and provide a deck description.