Ban Ki-moon wrote:
Yeah, I don't play Survival because I believe it's too good. For events at my store, it's a part of a small additional ban list.
Yeah, we have Mindslaver banned in our group because the card is idiotic and no one wants to play against it ever. It's kinda like Recurring Nightmare in that you need to counter it when it's dropped...but unlike RN, it's a lot easier to bring back, so you need to really fight to eliminate it completely. Or Dissipate it. Heh.
Ban Ki-moon wrote:
As for the Kamigawa legends, though, I just don't like them. First of all, they're legendary, so they can get Vesuvad or Wastelanded, etc. Secondly, I like to have a healthy amount of basic land in my deck, especially when playing green. I want to have plenty of basics in play in case of Ruination style effects, and I want to have plenty of basics in my library for the off chance that I get Vigor + Fertillid, or someone casts New Frontiers for a lot (or whatever).
I see where you're coming from, but I play both and they have been great for me almost every time I've played them. I also have managed to keep a lot of basics in the deck (I think 18), so it's something that I haven't had to worry about as yet, and I'll keep using Shinka/Okina until something forces me not to do so.
A couple more things I have in my build that you don't and have been successful are Primordial Sage and the aforementioed Avatar of Fury. The Sage allows you to keep drawing gas, and the Avatar is just insane. You'll NEVER pay full price for it, and RR for a 6/6 flier with 0 drawback is pretty nutty. There are so many ways in this deck to give your guys trample and haste that he just bashes in for tons of damage all the time.
Anyway, just my thoughts. And thanks for inspiring me to build Stonebrow...it's easily my favorite current deck.