It pairs naturally with fetch lands or land tutors such as Land Tax, ensuring constant triggers
Patrick's brilliant deck, Next Level Blue, not only catapulted the phrase "next level" into the Title: Tom LaPille's Next Level Blue Format: Extended 4 Counterspell 1 Academy Ruins 1 Breeding Pool 4 Flooded Strand 1 Hallowed Fountain 8 Island 4 Polluted Delta 1 Steam Vents 1 Tree of Tales 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Trinket Mage 3 Spell Snare 4 Thirst for Knowledge 4 Chrome Mox 4 Counterbalance 1 Engineered Explosives 1 Pithing Needle 4 Sensei's Divining Top 3 Threads of Disloyalty 1 Tormod's Crypt 3 Vedalken Shackles *3 Ancient Grudge *1 Engineered Explosives *2 Global Ruin *2 Krosan Grip *3 Sower of Temptation *1 Threads of Disloyalty *3 Tormod's Crypt This is a blue control deck through and through, playing Counterspell and Spell Snare for early countermagic, the eternally potent Counterbalance and Sensei's Divining Top to lock your opponent out of the game, and Vedalken Shackles
The IP and Golden Ticket Multiplier The other massive value driver is IP
And youre scrying 2 every turn, so theres a nice minigame: Hey, Ive stacked my deck, and I really want this card
There was a major change around that point to alter the way commons and uncommon were handled in draft environments, with a deliberate removal of skill tester cards, and a general improvement of what commons could do, which I like a great deal
