[video=youtube;aeIyAIiZJYk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeIyAIiZJYk[/video] You know, despite the fact that it's a parody, it's genuinly accurate. Also, Cartman's reaction! <3
Looking up those creatures, it's no wonder he wasn't able to keep a decent board presence lol. I like how Sparkmage Apprentice is like, literally Cunning Sparkmage for one less mana. Arc Trail too is definitely a card I wouldn't underestimate; dealing damage to two things with one card will almost always lead to an advantage, just 'cause you can roll over any extra damage from killing one target on to a second target. It's like a Lightning Bolt with trample. XD Forked Bolt does that too, and who can forget one of the best Izzet cards there is: Electrolyze. <3 My Izzet deck has managed to lock down lots of creature-heavy decks the same way, because at the time I built it elves were popular at school and I wanted to burn them alive. It's handled itself against slivers too. Oh the joys of having a low mana curve. The only one of those creatures I've used myself though is Goblin Arsonist; he's paired with Voracious Dragon in my dragon deck. Because Mycoloth + Predator Dragon is just too mainstream.
Goblin Arsonist <3 My first Goblin card. Been using it since my first deck. Izzet is super chill. They're one of my favorite guilds, and they have two of my favorite colors. Also, not having cards that cost more than two mana = the fastest deck ever. It was glorious. I am so excited to play that. First, however, I have to finish AC III.
Zendikar RDW was even more ridiculous, it had Goblin Guide and Ball Lightning, plus Lightning Bolt was still in standard too. If I got smacked with crap like a turn 1 Goblin Guide, turn 2 double Bolt, and turn 3 Ball Lightning, I'd probably just flip the table and walk out. I think my first goblin card was Raging Goblin, funnily enough. I still use him too just because. XD I might retool my Izzet deck soon to make room for more counterspells. Right now its mana curve is comfortably low (the most expensive card it has is Niv-Mizzet, everything else is three mana or less) so not only can I control early game, but my control power would get increasingly higher as the game goes on. Spoiler: Izzet deck v1.1 Creatures: 4x Gelectrode 1x Laboratory Maniac 4x Merfolk Looter 2x Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind 2x Walking Atlas Noncreatures: 3x Deep Analysis 3x Flame Slash 2x Trade Secrets 3x Brainstorm 4x Electrolyze 3x Negate 3x Essence Scatter 4x Curiosity Land: 8x Island 4x Izzet Boilerworks 6x Mountain 4x Terramorphic Expanse I took out Browbeat and a few Trade Secrets for now because they're best in multiplayer or after Niv-Mizzet is already out, in favor of control spells because they have a wider utility. They can slow the opponent down and protect Nivvy and my other creatures from bounce or removal after they're on the field. Plus I figure there's enough other draw spells that Nivvy will still get to do lots of damage, especially with Curiosity-enchanted Gelectrodes on the field. I also wanna mainboard Rewind and some new Ravnica cards, like Izzet Charm, Goblin Electromancer, and Guttersnipe. But without sacrificing too many Gelectrodes. Sideboard isn't set in stone at the moment, but there'll definitely have to be artifact removal in the picture. Izzet Staticaster for token decks, and I'm also thinking Clout of the Dominus and perhaps Pyromancer Ascension just for the hell of it.
Oh, Raging Goblin! <3 <3 <3 I forgot about him! That's scary, but I like it! I'm also still looking into a sidedeck. Some graveyard, artifact and maybe even enchantment hate for my UW deck would be neat. I think I've got some white enchantment removal somewhere. Mostly I should be fine with counters. I like Goblin Electromancer for Izzet decks. He helps with Overload costs and that sort of thing.
If you want graveyard hate, Rest in Peace. XD White has access to a ton of cheap enchantment removal, so I'm sure you don't need help finding good cards for that, lol. It has a good number of killers for artifacts too, just not as many as red or green. Off the top of my head Besieged's Divine Offering comes to mind, and Solemn Offering has the advantage of doubling as enchantment hate. After a few more playtests of the Izzet deck, I think I've spotted a problem: Gelectrode is too central to the deck's strategy. It can be amazing when it works, but having only four of the card means chances are high that I won't draw him, and when that happens the deck is completely defanged. Currently playing around with adding more ping creatures and/or burn spells so it can do more stuff without relying on Gelly so much. Maybe I'll take a page from the RDW book and throw in some attacking creatures too. lol
Some unblockable or tap-to-burn creatures might help. I diagnosed that problem in my roommate's deck as well, so I traded him three copies of Overrun. It should help him out. It's unfortunate how bad of a sport he is, always whining when he loses and complaining about how he doesn't feel like he deserves it when he wins. So, I figured, if I help him out then maybe I won't have to deal with that. Maybe. Maybe. Thanks for the recommendations! Those sound like fantastic sides.
[video=youtube;PXye-Q3MAa4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PXye-Q3MAa4[/video]
I'm thinking Cunning Sparkmage, 'cause his burn is repeatable that I can see. Not as repeatable as Gelectrode's obviously, but he has the same advantage of not needing to care about enemy blockers. Guttersnipe is up there too, he's practically a stronger Gelectrode. Only thing that scares me about using him is how much of a hate magnet he'd be in multiplayer. XD Oh crap, speaking of, I just remembered something. Something important. Vexing Devil.
Rock on. Vexing Devil. I wish I could commit to more copies of that card. I only have one. Multiplayer hate magnets are usually fine by me.
