Home Strategy Izzet Mindstorms deck guide: Make it rain!

When it comes to blue/red decks, I consider myself a bit of an expert. I’ve been playing “purple” aggro, counterburn, and random Johnny decks since I began playing Magic the Gathering in 1997. One of my first creations was a Reins of Power/Dracoplasm deck, which pretty much got stomped by everything in Urza’s block. Suffice it to say, I’ve never taken anything to a major tournament, but after one and a half decades of blue/red play, this color combo is in my blood.

With Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013’s Ravnica DLC, lots of players are ragging on Mindstorms, the Izzet deck.

Yawn. The same thing happened in Duels 2012, when everyone was crying that Cloudburst was unplayable. They claimed it had a 5% win rate. I went to the lab, worked my magic, and told everyone you’re doing it wrong. Within a few days, the (admittedly underpowered) blue/red deck earned the love it deserved, even if it was only meting out victory 60% of the time.

Well, it looks like the community is determined to once again hate on purple, so I really don’t have a choice. This is where I stand up, break things down, and put together everything you need to know to win with Mindstorms.

 

Playing with fire… and water

At first glance, it’s easy to see why many players are anxious about the power level of Niv Mizzet’s newest deck. There’s some burn, some counters, and a few staple cards like Electrolyze. But this isn’t the straightforward control from Duels 2009, nor the sac-happy mess of Duels 2012. Many of the most clutch bombs (am I allowed to mix regular slang and MTG terminology?) appear at five or more mana, worrying ‘Gatherers that Mindstorms won’t fare well against Goblin Gangland.

  • The bad news: without a perfect draw, Izzet Mindstorms will get owned by goblins.
  • The good news: Goblins is going to get owned by other DLC decks, making it less prominent.

As for other, less aggressive matchups, Mindstorms has a lot of tools that give it the advantage in more mid-temp battles. Low cost utility cards (Mana Leak, Compulsive Research) help you survive till midgame and remove key threats. High-damage burn (Beacon of Destruction, Prophetic Bolt) can be used as effective removal or to-the-face finishers. Versatile, choice-based cards (Wand of Elements, Invoke the Firemind) give you a lot of flexibility against a variety of Duels decks. And terrifying, world-ending flyers (Sphinx of Jwar Isle, Niv Mizzet) are always available to mop up the board.

Of course, running a deck based around all those expensive bombs isn’t going to work. Even slower opponents like Exalted Darkness or Celestial Light can muster a formidable army by turn five, and holding out for a single flying fatty is just asking for a Murder or Mind Control anyway. On top of that, I didn’t want to keep too many cards that pushed difficult mana requirements. For these reasons, most Mindstorms deck builds will look very similar to what I’m about to propose. Most of the low cost cards are control, burn, and support that are absolutely vital to the early game, leaving only a few spots for creativity.

It’s possible someone will prove me wrong, but until that happens, we’ll assume everything’s normal.*

 

Izzet Mindstorms deck list

Note: I highly recommend substituting blue/red cards as needed to reach a near-even split between Islands and Mountains.

 

Izzet Mindstorms card-by-card analysis (cost order)

Terramorphic Expanse: 4.5

Since you can’t alter your land count in any Duels game so far, color fixing is going to remain an incredibly powerful mechanism in every Ravnica deck. How many of these you run will depend on how complicated your mana needs are, but don’t go with fewer than two.

Razorfin Hunter: 5.0

As your only 2-drop creature, this tiny Tim is an autoinclude. If not dealt with quickly, he’ll single-handedly destroy armies of goblins, elves, or tokens. Better yet, his existence can keep your opponent’s entire army off the board, at least until he/she finds removal for your mean little merfolk.

Mana Leak: 5.0

Unfortunately, Mana Leak is the only countermagic in Mindstorms. Fortunately, it’s very powerful countermagic. Good blue/red players will have to use it very judiciously, but it helps to remind yourself of this: “If I can burn it before it kills me, I probably shouldn’t counter it.”

Reverberate: 2.5

This card’s sibling, Twincast, is much better in Crosswinds than Reverberate is here. It’s RR casting cost is nasty to play around, for starters. Plus there are almost no spells worth copying in Mindstorms. Yes, you could use this defensively, but most of the time it’ll sit in your hand.

Thunder Strike: 1.5

As a combat trick, it’s decent. You’d get good mileage out of Thunder Strike + Gelectrode, or Wee Dragonauts. However, you won’t be winning with piddling combat damage most of the time, and you’d be better served to use other cards to solve your creature problems.

Gelectrode: 5.0

In a deck that’s packed with instants and sorceries, this cute little monster goes from being a cute pinger to a self-contained thunderstorm. A turn that’s well-planned around Gelectrode can obliterate your opponent’s creatures and/or life. It’s a shame there’s only one to play with in Duels 2013.

Wee Dragonauts: 4.0

A great card in other decks, these pumpable flyers lose some luster in Mindstorms because their ability will often go to waste. Since there are so few early game critters, Wee Dragonauts will too often be hanging back to block… instead of swinging in for massive damage.

Act of Treason: 2.5

Without a way to sacrifice creatures or enough ground forces to make blocker removal worthwhile,  Act of Treason is ultimately an overcosted burn spell. It can never actually save you from waves of creatures, and doesn’t impact the board in any meaningful way.

Arc Lightning: 4.5

Consider this the grand-daddy of Flames of the Firebrand. This is a perfect burn spell for thinning out troublesome 1/1 hordes, or picking off slightly beefier creatures without wasting overkill damage. With only one red mana required, this will frequently be your go-to turn 3 play.

Breaking Point: 4.0

Giving your enemy the option of choosing between himself and his creatures may not seem beneficial, but hey: your opponent doesn’t know what’s in your hand! Try to reserve this red wrath for times when the “right” answer isn’t obvious. For instance, if your foe has three good creatures in play, but is at 10 life. Nobody is going to sacrifice a phalanx of soldiers if they’re one turn from killing you.

Cerebral Vortex: 2.5

At best, it’s instant-speed card draw at the cost of two life. At worst, it’s really mediocre burn at the cost of card disadvantage. Sure, there’s a hypothetical situation in FFA where you play this on an enemy right after he casts Prosperity, but in most situations, Cerebral Vortex is mediocre.

Compulsive Research: 4.5

Bad players will dismiss Compulsive Research as overcosted card drawing. Good players will recognize that, in the Magic world, “draw three cards” basically translates to “get ready to win.” Yes, you have to ditch cards, but if you didn’t have anything to get rid of, you probably didn’t need to draw three cards anyway, did you?

Electrolyze: 4.5

Much like Arc Lightning, Electrolyze is ideal for cleaning out some of the early game creatures that are causing you trouble. Unlike Arc Lightning, this spell is an instant and comes with a free replacement effect. To that end, it’s just as effective late game as it is at the end of turn 3, assuming you can rassle up the mana for it.

Quicksilver Dagger: 3.5

In general, aura cards are terrible since they enable the possibility of card disadvantage (if your creature dies to removal, you lose the aura, too). This delightful little dagger, however, guarantees you’ll break even if you can land it on anything that doesn’t have summoning sickness. Sure, it’s a tad redundant with three pingers already in your deck, but the option to make anything into miniature Niv Mizzets is worth it.

Schismotivate: 1.0

The art is bad. The effect is bad. This card is bad.

Lightning Elemental: 3.5

While I don’t initially like this as a maindeck inclusion, I’m toeing the line. Sure, a 4/1 body is frail, but with so many turn 3 removal options, odds are Lightning Elemental will usually get at least one clean swing in. That said, expect it to be a big, fragile blocker for most of the game.

Petrahydrox: 2.0

Think about it: for four mana, you get a 3/3. In some kind of deck, somewhere, Petrahydrox is a useful card. This isn’t that deck. Yes, it’s basically unkillable, but an overcosted unkillable creature isn’t going to win you many games. By the time you get it to stick, you’d rather be playing dragons and sphinxes.

Steamcore Weird: 3.5

By no means a powerhouse, this awkward bowl of jelly is a necessary evil in the Duels 2013 metagame. If you’re playing first, it can nullify your enemy’s turn 2 and turn 3 creatures by killing one and blocking the other. Late game, it’s a decent chumper that comes with a “free” Shock.

Jester’s Cap: 1.5

The bane of combo decks, effects like Jester’s Cap just don’t have much oomph in Duels of the Planeswalkers. Few of the decks rely on combos to win (save perhaps Crosswinds), and the Cap is too slow to stop certain plays anyway. Save this card for your Commander pile instead.

Puca’s Mischief: 3.0

Since Mindstorms is light on nonland permanents, this otherwise powerful enchantment is somewhat limited. That said, many of your cards (like Steamcore Weird or Wand of Elements) are useless if swapped, giving you a few targets for easy fodder. T3 Tip: If you swap away Quicksilver Dagger using Puca’s Mischief, your opponent technically gets control, but you/your critter still get the cool benefits.

Wand of the Elements: 3.5

No, this doesn’t give you an unlimited supply of mid-sized Honda crossover vehicles. Instead, it lets you turn excess lands into creatures. This artifact is generally terrible in real Magic, but perfect for turning around long games in Duels 2013. And hey, if your opponent is play blue or red, feel free to use Dominus of Fealty to pitch their lands for creatures. This artifact is also a great way to recover from Breaking Point.

Djinn of Wishes: 2.0

For five mana, most of your other options are more powerful, more versatile, or less color strict. The Djinn‘s ability is interesting, but you’ll rarely get a card you want, and when you do, you might be mad you couldn’t choose an X cost or opt to activate Steamcore Weird.

Dominus of Fealty: 4.5

Get ready to enrage your adversaries. While Act of Treason and Puca’s Mischief are just okay, stealing a permanent (including land) every turn is sure to turn the tide of battle. A 4/4 flying body isn’t bad either, especially considering the Dominus is a guaranteed 5-drop, no matter your land mix.

Izzet Chronarch: 2.5

Nobody plays Archeomancer for his power/toughness, so why dish out five mana for a sad little wimp? Yeah, you could get a useful spell back, but you could have used your turn playing something scary instead. This geezer will probably just end up talking to a chair while you lose the election game.

Spellbound Dragon: 4.0

As with Compulsive Research, this dragon will be snubbed by noobs who hate discarding cards. Of course, this fat flyer also lets you draw them, not to mention the damage boosts you get for your sacrifices. Worst case scenario, its huge toughness is nothing to sneeze at, nor is the possibility of swinging in for up to 11 damage a turn.

Beacon of Destruction: 4.5

Expensive burn with a big effect. Perfect for the mirror, letting you clear out the previously-lauded Spellbound Dragon. It’s also a great follow-up or precursor to Breaking Point, giving your opponent a hard decision or an early funeral.

Prophetic Bolt: 4.5

A classic blue/red spell, what this instant lacks in damage it makes up for in winning-ness. The bonus of scavenging through the top of your deck for the perfect threat/answer is not to be underestimated. This is the card your enemy is least happy to see on turn 5.

Tidings: 3.5

Drawing cards is good. Tidings lets you draw a lot. But it also costs a lot. You decide.

Time Warp: 3.5

Without any particular combos or a flock of flyers to unleash, Time Warp doesn’t have the power it wields in Crosswinds. Sure, an extra turn is (almost) always good, but holding a Time Warp for five turns won’t typically pay off. However, the spell does wonders if you’ve filled the board with aura’d pingers and in-the-sky swingers.

Conquering Manticore: 3.5

Anything you pay six mana for better be a game-changer, and I’m not sure this is it. The 5/5 body is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but the Manticore’s one-time effect is a little underwhelming. At least it’s immediate, unlike Dominus of Fealty.

Hoard-Smelter Dragon: 2.5

Very few artifacts dominate in Duels 2013, and the ones that are prominent don’t cost a lot of mana. In other words, this dragon’s ability will rarely be used and, when it does activate, it won’t do much. Save your mana for better six-drop beasts.

Mindwrack Liege: 2.5

Like the Dominus, this fatty’s casting cost is very accommodating. However, its utility is questionable, at best. The Liege can make your Gelectrodes 2/3 creatures (yay?), but that’s about it. Without evasion, this creature won’t see much combat, and its ability only works if you filled your deck with terrible, overcosted bombs.

Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind: 4.5

Everyone’s going to ask why I didn’t put the Firemind in my decklist, and the answer is: he’s just too likely to get nuked the second he hits the board. Your opponents know you want to play it, and you can bet they resisted the urge to Fireblast your Dominus on the off chance you drew Niv-Mizzet. My own paranoia aside, this legend is a powerhouse and is more than playable. Just don’t come crying to me when he gets Mind Controlled, okay?

Sphinx of Jwar Isle: 5.0

An untargettable flying fatty that’s fairly costed and gives you constant, psychic knowledge? If this card existed in Urza’s block, it might’ve been used over the venerated Morphling! Unlike Niv-Mizzet, this guy can’t be bombed out of the sky. Ironically, Breaking Point is one of his only counters!

Sphinx of Magosi: 4.5

Bigger than everything else at this price point and paired with an unthinkable ability, Sphinx of Magosi is a game-ending, advantage-generating beatstick. I hesitated to give it a below-perfect rating, but be mindful of its required UUU casting cost. This isn’t a card you can count on actually playing every time you hit six lands, but when you do…

Thunder Dragon: 3.0

Its effect is perfect for blue/red, but its cost is sadly astronomical. Worse yet, three damage to the ground is just enough to kill of your entire collection of pingers and weirds, but possibly not big enough to slay our foe’s ground troops. It could turn out better than I’d guess, though.

Living Inferno: 2.5

Much like Thunder Dragon, Living Inferno is simply too costly for what it does. As an eighth turn play, it just doesn’t do enough. In most situations, even an Electrolyze would be a more welcome sight at this stage in the duel.

Insurrection: 3.5

For what amounts to a boatload of mana, Insurrection gives you a near-guaranteed victory. That’s the least it could do, right? I can’t exactly recommend it for every Mindstorms build, but it will most assuredly win games in 2HG or vanilla multiplayer matches.

Invoke the Firemind: 3.0

As far as X-spells go, Invoke the Firemind is a tad too pricey. A Tidings effect would cost seven mana, and a Beacon of Destruction effect would cost eight! That said, having the option is appealing, especially in drawn-out matches. Don’t play more than one copy.

Volcanic Geyser: 3.5

I don’t like Volcanic Geyser. I didn’t like it in Mirage, and I don’t like it now. But as far as burn options go in Mindstorms, it’s solid. If necessary it can be thrown at an Accorder Paladin on turn 3, but it can also sit around to melt your foe’s face in the endgame. Instant speed is certainly welcome, even if a necessary RR is annoying.

 

Mindstorms gameplay example videos

Gameplay videos are coming soon.

 

* That is: I’m always right.

60 replies to this post
  1. I CaNT WaIT TO DROP BREaKING POINT ON aN ENEMY

    Mostly everything I expected. I assume you havent played this much. I think the wand is going to end up being less useful especially for a deck when you’re always drawing cards to play. I dislike all the 4 drop creatures but you’re right, they may be a necessary evil… I wasn’t sure how useful sphinx of jwar isle would be… I’m going to need to test him…

    My deck

    -1 wand
    +2 time warps
    plus some other small tweaks

  2. id prefer talrand or chandra over this deck any day but good deck build and review.would like to see your insight on my fav black and red deck though :)

  3. Might there be a different release date for Europe? I’m one of the people who got into Cloudburst (and Strength of Stone) thanks to you, so i’m really looking forward to playing this deck. Thus my pain,

  4. Hey Wing, great guide…but how did you get access to the DLC?
    I’m on Steam and I can’t find it anywhere to buy??

    Anyway, I agree with 99% of what you’ve said, but a point or two.

    1) Reverberate is way, way better in this than you give it credit for. It lets you steal their creature-removal or burn (and this deck has few good ways of dealing with enemy fatties. You aren’t burning a Grave Titan any time soon without this). It lets you do crazy things late game, like double prophetic bolt or – get this – double Breaking Point on turn 5! And it lets you counteract bombs from your opponent like Time Warp, Corrupt or Rite of Replication – at 2 CMC!

    2) You undervalue Cerebral Vortex. While it’s not a 5.0 card, it’s still an obvious auto-include. This deck needs a bit more draw power, and a slightly overcosted but INSTANT SIgn in Blood that has amazing utility and synergy in the deck would be crazy to be left on the sideboard. Think – with almost every deck having some sort of draw power, you can almost always squeeze four or more instant speed reach damage out of this. Worst case, you grab 2 cards for 2 damage during his end step, effectively sign-in-blooding without tapping your turn out.

    3) Thunderstrike is marginal, but it can be powerful enough in certain places to not be a 1.5 card. Forcing a bad block and killing an ajani pridamage before he gets out of control while untapping your gelectrode…it’s far from a great card, but it may make some more aggro style decklists.

    Other than that I think, on reflection, you have hit the nails 100% on the head.

    • 0. I don’t actually have the DLC today.
      1. You can only steal removal if it’s usable removal. If you’re facing OD, you can’t actually copy Tendrils or regular Corrupt, since you don’t control any swamps. Also, 2x Breaking Point isn’t good. As soon as your opponent sees you have two on the stack, he/she will choose “destroy all creatures” for both, meaning you wasted one. There is no situation where they’d take 12, or take 6 AND destroy all creatures.
      2. Using Vortex on an enemy is suicidal unless you already have the burn you need to win. I’d rather have Reverberate in that case. I’m not saying it’s a terrible card, I just don’t think it’s good enough to be maindeck.
      3. I agree. I was a proponent of Thunderstrike in Cloudburst, but with only 1 Gelectrode it doesn’t feel right to me. Same thing with Schismotivate… it would be better in a more creature-heavy deck.

      Of course I still have a lot of “real” testing to do, so I’m likely to make changes. Let me know if you find any other cool interactions.

  5. Oh Oh Oh…
    Reverberate + Cerebral Vortex for a Storm-like effect combo and hilarity.

    eg: He plays an Elvish Visionary and takes 10 instant damage on turn 5.

  6. Those razor fins are nightmares against my collective might deck… Needless to say i keep losing to izzet…

  7. Actually i run both (reveberate and cerebral vortex).
    Reveberate runs well with invoke the firemind, anything over 3 dmg/draw and your in the money for the mana/dmg worth. i.e 3dmg/draw for a total cost of 6 on invoke and 2 for the reveberate (6 dmg/cards for 8 mana) (8dmg/cards for 9 mana) (10dmg/cards for 10 mana). its pretty good if your able to pump it late game.

    And i find recebral vortex give you a bit more reach when the opponent is in the 5-10 hp zone, i actually won a few games with that card.

  8. also i run with only 1 spellbound dragon but i added in the wish djinn. i find the fact that for 5 casting costs he’s a 4/4 flying is pretty decent and his ability is usefull.

  9. Yeah I kinda understant why you didn’t include Niv… Most of the time he and Sphinx of Magosi is fodder for my Spellbound Dragon.. Spellbound is arguably the MVP of this deck I would rate him 5 in this deck. Currently I have 3 of them in.. He is capable of dealing serious burst damage and gets rid of cards that doesnt have much use at mid to late game like Steamcore , he can single handedly put the opponents life in the red zone where you can finish him off with one or a couple of burn spells..
    Most damage Ive done to kill my enemy is 16.. I have a wee dragonoauts, a spellbound dragon out… swung with both.. discarded Niv.. targeted schismotivate on my dragonaut and my opponent’s abbysal gate keeper …

  10. Spell bound is awesome, but if you take out the high cast cards(which I want too and it looks like wing did) doesn’t it lose value without niv and all the other big drops in this deck? or is it not that big of a deal.

    I’m still unlocking cards so I’ve been playing with act of treason, it has won me two games, maybe under rated?

    He had a big bad creature to block/attack with auras all over it and I just took it with act and then was able to swing in with it plus my other creatures that would have died to a block, and ended the game.

    • Basically he is a creature that your opponent can’t kill and that can kill your opponent in 4 or less turns. And yeah even knowing 1 more card helps a lot, it helps you make smarter decisions each turn.

  11. I agree with Insanemode on doing Golgari first. My favorite deck is the Rakdos one, wouldn’t mind seeing your build for that too.

  12. He seems to run a bit weirdly on console (ps3)
    Like the next card in your deck is always face up. I dont know if my opponent is supposed to see it also which would then be a disadvantage.

    Anybody else have that problem?

  13. I don’t know whether or not to posts glitches I’ve discovered with the dlc cards. It could be useful to some players, but more likely it would be useful for the people who want to exploit them.

  14. Golgari would be a welcome addition since I feel the deck has a lot of potential. I’ve had so far MUCH success using the following strategy with Golgari-

    – Phase I: Stall with elders and emmissaries combined with cheap removal. This at the same time builds up mana reserves FAST.

    -Phase II: Gain some stability using the strong sweepers (Pernicious Deed(s), and Damnation)

    -Phase III: Drop some of the heavier hitters (ie: spiritmonger, Gleancrawler) supported by Creakwood Liege.

    Not too sure about Lord of Extinction and Mortivore since they don’t trample and will have to include Rancor to add the trample damage when they get huge.

    Although it may prove to be a fluke with a lot of development of strategy from other decks. But just very interested if you reccommend the same general approach.

  15. Hey Manto, I’ve done the excact same thing with this deck and it works fine for me. We’ll have to wait for others to fine tune their decks, but it seems a valid tactic. Of course when using a multicolored deck there is bigger chance to get mana screwed, and this happened to me a few times. But because of all the cards to get lands it happens less often. I have the same reservations about Lord of Extinction and Mortivore, but play them anyway (1 Mortivore). They’re just fun cards. I’ve left out Vulturous Zombie, so I play little flying. Not sure if that is best…All in all a fun deck that’s able to win against even the nasty goblins.

  16. I think I found a huge flaw with this deck, it can’t handle aura deck(which with the dlc is getting a lot of play. Lots of hex prof so can’t kill creatures, even if it doesn’t have hex prof he can give them auras buffing them up so it’s hard to kill with spells. Once they get life link and a big creature the game is over. they gain too much life to try and kill with direct damnage, soution?

  17. Ya, I guess your right, I just don’t like feeling helpless. If there creature isn’t hex prof burning it when they cast an aura fucks them up but aside from that the aura deck owns Mindstoms. Once that deck gets going with its big creature/hexprof/lifelink it’s over.

    • If it makes you feel better, AS can’t stop you from taking extra turns or flinging burn to the face. You can also use Dominus plus Wand of Elements to destroy all his lands.

      Basically AS needs 3 cards to lock you out. Also Insurrection would also work.

  18. Like I said before, once AS gets his big creature and to make it worse, life links it, it doesn’t even matter that you can burn his face. I’ve gotten a guy down to 5 thinking I won with burn cards in hand and he just got on a life link and gained like 10 a turn and despite all my burn in hand, I could only burn like 5 a turn and his creature even had vigilance :(.

    Dominus us an awesome card, I haven’t found much use of the Wand of Elements yet.

    You really think Schismotivate is that bad of a card to get a 1.0? I was running it before I had unlocks and it seemed to work ok. You can use it as a 4 burn or as a combat trick to save your creature and kill theres. Combos well with Wee Dragonauts.
    and about Wee Dragonauts, I haven’t had much good use out of them yet, they sound good but as you said above, you end up using them defensively a lot with the instants you can cast on there turn. They also promote you to cast spells main phase one when you normally wouldn’t so it takes away your tricks. I thought about taking them out but I don’t see a good replacement, maybe the 4/1 haste?

    Involk is just terrible cost too much to do very little.

    This deck does well when it gets going but if they can get out an early threat that you can’t deal with (like AS does) I feel hopeless.

    Weird is a cool card, maybe over coasted?

    I really like this deck, I just wish it was better.

    • It’s a little tight. I am considering taking out Breaking Point or possibly Quicksilver Dagger and either doubling down on Wand of the Elements or throwing in Puca’s Mischief.

  19. I gave up on this deck for now because it was getting frustrating trying to tweak it, I just can’t get it to work. Started running born of flame again and I can’t lose :)
    Off topic

    Wing, why do you have two youtube channels!?!?!? why can’t you just have one??? I sub’d wingspantt and then found out about your site, lately I was sad panda because you didn’t upload anything, then I come accross randomly somehow your other channel with less sub’s and more uploads!??!?! now I have to sub both and check both!?!??! WHY!!!!!!!!

    • There are a few reasons I post to two channels:

      1. My original WiNGSPANTT channel is banned from AdSense and YouTube partnership. T3’s channel is not, so eventually we could do more interesting stuff with it.
      2. Even though they don’t make as many videos, T3 is also for the other T3 writers. So that channel is for fans of T3 not just me.
      3. More channels, more exposure. I want more people to learn about the site.

  20. Noo, don’t give up on Izzet’s deck! I’m having a really good success rate with mine, though my build is somewhat unconventional (it only has 6 creatures). If you want to give it a try, I’d be happy to share my build, Elijah =]

  21. Hey Elijah, sorry for the late reply. Been playing DOTP all day :P
    It struggles with Aura and Goblins, but that’s just because of the cards that are given as Wing pointed out. Other than that, the build works great for me, but then again I’m a patient player and like to give my opponent the impression that they’re winning and then suddenly pull a victory out of my a$$. Timing is everything.
    My build is as follows (note that I tweaked it today and added 3 more creatures):

    2x Razorfin Hunter
    1x Gelectrode
    4x Wee Dragonauts
    2x Lightning Elemental
    4x Terramorphic Expanse
    3x Mana Leak
    1x Reverberate
    3x Arc Lightning
    3x Breaking Point
    1x Cerebral Vortex
    3x Compulsive Research
    2x Electrolyze
    1x Beacon of Destruction
    3x Prophetic Bolt
    1x Tidings
    2x Time Warp
    3x Volcanic Geyser

    x21 Lands (for a total of 60 cards)

    Let me know how it works out for you!

  22. Maybe I’m just terrible with this deck, but it seems nigh impossible to win against:
    – Ajani
    – Pack Instinct
    – Goblins
    – Peacekeepers
    – Aura Servants

    Every other deck I seem to get a 30-40% win ratio.

    It just seems that your on the defensive half the time, until your inevitable doom. Since you have no creatures other than Dragonauts at the start, they pretty much fall asap. By the time you get something out, they have the ressources to strike it down.

    But, like I said, I might just be horrid :/

  23. I am having a hell of a time with this deck too against Ajani and Aura. Once you can’t burn enough to make Breaking Point a hard choice you are pooched.

  24. Hey Wing, do you know what happens if you trade petrahydrox with Puca’s Mischief? Might be a good magic moment on YouTube, you think?

  25. Still testing, but this is what I’m going to try:

    Mindstorms
    60 cards
    11 Island
    10 Mountain
    4 Terramorphic Expanse
    25 lands

    2 Razorfin Hunter
    1 Gelectrode
    3 Wee Dragonauts
    3 Spellbound Dragon
    1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
    1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
    1 Sphinx of Magosi
    12 creatures

    3 Mana Leak
    1 Reverberate
    2 Thunder Strike
    2 Act of Treason
    3 Arc Lightning
    3 Breaking Point
    1 Cerebral Vortex
    3 Compulsive Research
    2 Electrolyze
    1 Beacon of Destruction
    2 Prophetic Bolt
    23 other

  26. Wing, Try my Izzet build, it has a few key changes, some very controversial, but watch your win % rise…..

    4x Thermorphic Expanse
    3x Mana Leak
    2x Razorfin Hunter
    3x Volcanic Geyser
    3x Arc Lightning
    3x Compulsive Research
    2x Electrolize
    1x Gelectrode
    1x invoke the Firemind ( or -1x and+1x Time Warp)
    3x Wee Dragonauts
    2x Steamcore Weird
    1x Wand of Elements
    1x Beacon of Destruction
    2x Dominus of Fealty
    2x Prophetic Bolt
    2x Spellbound Dragon
    1x Time Warp ( or +1x and -1x Invoke)
    1x Conquering Manticore ( or Hoard Smelter or Mindwrack)
    1x Niv-Mizzet
    1x Sphinx of Jwar Isle
    1x Sphinx of Magosi
    1x insurrection

    10 Mountains
    12 Islands

    Now I know at first glance you would think I have too many 6 drops, I had to put the manticore in there to even my mana split. This build is 63 cards because it was the only way I could get a 10/12 mana split. I felt that was very important for this deck because a lot of its cards has requirements.

    I dropped breaking point, probably the biggest shock here. It wasnt easy either, but many times breaking point would sit in my hand and when I do use it, that fatty he saved by taking 6 damage is still breathing down my neck. Plus when you control the board it’s going to sit in hand.

    Opponents are for some reason really afraid of Wee Dragonauts and spell bound dragons…..So Dominus and Niv waits until your opponents used all his removal his hand is low….for the kill. I included him because its all about patiently waiting for the most opportune time.

    This build has a lot of draw, that said, it’s still weak against the fastest decks. However, I’m certain my build will reap higher win rates!!!

  27. Uhm… Why is it that alot of the included cards in this guide is not availible to me?

    Gelectrode
    Sphinx of Magosi
    and only have one Quicksilver Dagger

    Why is that? Any help aprechiated

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