I'm happy as a clam right now. Not only was I able to take Shardless BUG to a (almost) flawless victory in a daily, but this is my 26th article on puremtgo.com! Journey Across the Multiverse: Shardless BUG was actually my 25th article but I wasn't paying attention and I missed it, so I'm celebrating on the 26th one instead. I've been enjoying the journey so far and I feel, after 26 articles, that my writing has become stronger and my skills at Magic: The Gathering have greatly improved. I'm finally finding my voice and I look forward to each and every article I put out. Here's to another 26 articles!

Boy, oh boy, did I have fun in the daily event with Shardless BUG. This deck is awesome, plain and simple. Is it just me or does it feel like I'm playing a Vintage deck when I cascade into Ancestral Vision? It's such a huge advantage casting a banned card like Ancestral Recall in Legacy. I love it!

The banning of Dig Through Time has certainly opened up the playing field and there's definitely some decks that the ban has made into winners. For me, BUG decks should sigh in relief because with Dig now in the penalty box BUG has a really good chance of mopping the floor with the other archetypes.

Discard spells like Thoughtseize, Hymn to Tourach, and even Liliana of the Veil were not at their best a couple weeks ago since all they did was help fill your opponent's graveyard, but now they've regained their position in the spell hierarchy and I don't think there is a better fit for them than in a Shardless deck.

The synergy between discard and these two creatures should not be underestimated. Hymn and Liliana are like the Gold's Gym for Tarmogoyf, making him bigger and stronger turn-after-turn, and they also provide fuel for the ever hungry Deathrite Shaman.

One thing I did notice, and you'll see it in my videos, is the amount of discard being played all around. In one game I probably would've been dead after a few turns of getting my hand ripped apart if it was not for me recovering with a couple Ancestral Visions. And that's the beauty of this deck, the sheer card draw at your disposal. Agent, Vision, Strix, and Jace, the Mind Sculptor can all help rebuild your hand in the late game or after a flurry of discard spells from your opponent. Heck, even Hymn to Tourach poses as card advantage for you.

The change to the deck is very minuscule and is mainly just to make myself feel a little bit better in case I come across any Dredge or Reanimator. I figured I shouldn't be so worried about Burn since it's hardly ever played, and if I do happen to find myself paired against it I still have Umezawa's Jitte to gain some life, Hymn to Tourach to force them to discard some valuable burn spells, and a single Chill to bring in. I really want to try and keep the one remaining Chill somewhere in the 75 if at all possible since it can also hose Imperial Painter and Goblins, two decks I wouldn't be surprised to see more of in the near future now that the playing field has opened up.

I'm still tinkering around with the list so expect some more tweaks later on down the road. I wouldn't mind playing with a third Baleful Strix and someday getting my hands on a second Liliana of the Veil, but for right now I think this build is competitive enough and I'm satisfied on where it currently stands.

I recently learned my aunt reads Bram Stoker's Dracula once every year and I thought it would be a cool little tradition to start myself. This classic tale of Count Dracula is dreadfully fantastic! Some people may find it difficult to read because not only is the language outdated but it's also written as a collection of letters and diary entries. If you love Gothic horror and don't mind the style it is written in then definitely read this book. You can purchase it at Powells.com!