Having a Ranger in the deck seems like a call from Lightsaber, it was effective and I definitely think at least one or two Ranger of Eos should be in the 75. Figure of Destiny, Forge-Tender, and even Goblin Guide (was sideborded to deal with UW match ups) in the past are pretty relevant cards to tutor for.
How are the Nacatl's running for you? I ended up cutting them as I found them inactive for the first three turns a lot. I didn't like fussing with them or the already fairly decent mana base to accomodate Plains+Mountain by Turn 3.
They aren't really there to be played turn one or anything. They are there as a Fallout safe threat and to create board presence mid to late game when you are likely to have Mountain and Plains in play.
I've seen him cheated in on T3 to lock down CIPT lands quite effectively. He's pretty good against RDW and Jund from past experiences. Can't say for sure in the faeries matchup, but I can't imagine keeping them off their T4 play being a bad thing if you can get him in there.
In Seattle I saw a Naya player in the top 16 lock out Wurmcoil Engine multiple times chump blocking and then keeping it tapped down.
But don't you want gaddock teeg vs control? doesnt ajani v conflict with that plan?
I saw both run. Teeg is still worthwhile because he's tutorable, but nothing says you can't cast your Vengeant then tutor for Teeg later. Vengeant has a bunch of good points to running him, of course it's list dependant, but thats the same with Gaddock Teeg.
My meta is pretty heavy Jund. I find testing Ajani is quite good in the main with Teeg playing support in the sideboard.I'm sure I'd say differently if I was against more 4CC and Fae.
UW is everywhere now. I'm testing 2 Ajani V & 2 Elspeth main, to some success. I find that the Elspeth Jump is coming in handy in the mirror as well. Also, the good thing about the pw's is that they do not interfere with cascades that are directed at getting VV's into play, as some of the lightning bolt/path versions run into.
I think I will be switching the Thoctars i have mainboard for finks. Obviously Thoctar is stronger in some matchups, but finks is still pretty strong across the board.
That's the list I have been testing. I'm sold on the Ranger of Eos plan. Figure is great to tutor up as well as the singleton Guide. As for the singleton Ancient Ziggurat.. I was looking for a W/R land that came into play untapped on any turn. It was originally a Rugged Prairie but I found I didn't want too many filter lands.
I have considered the Ranger of Eos package, along with Noble Hierarch, Figure of Destiny, Scute Mob, etc... but have not found a place to fit them in. I am also tempted to use Fracturing Gust over Austere Command as tech vs Esper Steel decks.
This is something I am working on for some upcoming PTQs, so any feedback I can get would be greatly appreciated.
I went 6-3 at the grand prix this weekend running my heavily modified Naya list.
The deck performed remarkably well, with a high degree of consistency. I will post a full deck list when I get home to my computer.
For now, I will detail how my build deviates from the standard build and how that effected my matchups.
I ran 0 1drop manadorks, instead opting for lotus cobra/knight of reliquary/7 fetches for my ramp needs and maindecked potent 1 drop hatecreatures with the ranger of eos package.
Scute mob (huge presence when played off ranger to recurr vengevine), goldmeadow harrier (was amazing against wurmcoils, baneslayers, and titans), 1 burrenton forgetender (won me a game 1 vs. Rdw I had no business winning), and 1 scattershot archers (probably the main reason I beat the world champion's faeries deck)
Additionally, I ran singleton teeg and 2 pridemages which proved valuable against blue omen, control, and the pridemages helped kill collars in the mirror.
My build ultimately proved itself very strong against aggro, midrange, and control... however, I got matched up against RG titan/valakut/omen/command/scapeshift 3 times, which proved to be an unwinnable matchup for me. Tom Ross was kind enough to knock me out of contention.
I wasn't expecting so much RG valakut... as modo was reporting it making up less than 5% of the metagame. Regardless, it was a fun experience.
Does anyone have any advice for how to beat rg val with naya?
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I was thinking about making some room for Fauna Shaman, and I think you are right in that I should replace 2x Gaddock Teeg with Fauna Shaman. Teeg isnt something I need as a turn 2 drop, and I can always go fetch one with Fauna Shaman. I might drop Wall of Omens for more Shaman too.
I was thinking of dropping the BSA and Sun Titan as well for the Ranger package and some Hierarchs to go with it, although I dont know if I will need the ramp if 4cmc is my largest creature cost.
Wall of omens is crap in naya. You're the beatdown in every matchup except rdw... and forgetender beats wall in that matchup.
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I like the scattershot archer in your build, as well as the Harrier. how does this look:
-2 Gaddock Teeg
-2 Wall of Omens
-2 Sun Titan
-3 Baneslayer Angel
-1 Raging Ravine
+3 Fauna Shaman
+2 Ranger of Eos
+1 Scute Mob
+1 Scattershot Archer
+3 Noble Hierarch
I was thinking maybe Kitchen Finks maindeck over Boggart Ram-Gang to help in vs the red aggro matchups since I will no longer have BSA and Wall of Omens to help me beat that deck. That would also give me another 4 slots in the board to work with.
Nick Spagnolo playing Pozsgays RU Demigod deck
Sam Black playing Fae
in round 9 I lost to RG Valakut...
My game vs Nick went to 4 games, I should have mulled game 4 but almost came back to win. It was a risky keep but I only needed to top deck a land to have a serious hand. I missed one land drop, but it was enough to slow me down.
I lost to Sam because I did not mull a 4 lander with 2 Vengevine and 1 BBE...hand was much too slow. 2nd game I still have a mediocre hand but keep. Sam gets a godlike draw with BB into Scion into double Mistbind.
Lost to RG Skapeshift because I was unfmailiar with the match up. This is not a good match for Naya since my friend playing the same list as me had losses to either RG or Omen Valakut variants.
Omen is a decent match, but the RG version has the edge because Naya does not have many tools to stop them. You must get the beat down plan going. I won game 2 easily because I ramped into KoTR and then BBE cascaded into Woolly Thoctar. Game three my hand was just too slow and I should have mulled.
Almost all of my losses could have been prevented with mulligans (possibly)
I was in contention all day and a little better luck would have seen me make day 2. I'm not sharing my list because its the best Naya list I have seen by far. My 6 wins were easy and I blew all of them out. Nobody had my technology and I am very happy with the way the day went despite not making day 2.
Rd 1 - UW Control - W
Rd 2 - Jund - W
RD 3 - RU Demigod - L
RD 4 - Omen - W
RD 5- Fae- L
RD 6 -Jund - W
RD 7 - Esper Control - W
RD 8 - Fae - W
RD 9 - RG Valakut - L
The lesson here, no matter what. If you have a slow or mediocre hand just mulligan. I was too afraid of getting worse hands, and I should not have been.
I mulliganed very aggressively.. even beating faeries on a mull to 4.
I played against the UR demigod in round 2 of the ptq... and just aggroed out on it for 2-0. I saw timewarps and demigods but wasn't sure what it was supposed to be accomplishing. I just ran 4 forgetenders and 3 teegs in game 2 to shut him down.
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hmmm.... some good advice. I really need to decide which way I want to go with my build. Ranger AND Shaman, or either with a couple extra finishers, or neither... I really like Ranger, but I dont like having to dedicate 6 deck slots to him to make him effective. Even though I can run Fauna Shaman without having to include any other cards, I always thought of the Shaman as too clunkly for my tastes as well.
I still think Naya was the right choice, but it looks like the Valakut match needs some serious analysis.
This deck beats everything else but Valakut. This deck also needs to be careful of the sb plan of Fae since they basically sb into UB control.
The game that I won was just straight curve out into beats. So anything less than that is not ideal.
What cards are potentially good vs Valakut?
Gaddock Teeg dies to fallout and Firespout so it is essentially unreliable.
The valakut deck is so lame, it just ramps to 7 and Scapeshifts...totally brainless. That doesn't mean its a bad deck, quite the contrary. That deck gives any pilot a shot at winning. Just sad that it knocked me out.
I still think Naya was the right choice, but it looks like the Valakut match needs some serious analysis.
This deck beats everything else but Valakut. This deck also needs to be careful of the sb plan of Fae since they basically sb into UB control.
The game that I won was just straight curve out into beats. So anything less than that is not ideal.
What cards are potentially good vs Valakut?
Gaddock Teeg dies to fallout and Firespout so it is essentially unreliable.
The valakut deck is so lame, it just ramps to 7 and Scapeshifts...totally brainless. That doesn't mean its a bad deck, quite the contrary. That deck gives any pilot a shot at winning. Just sad that it knocked me out.
Leyline of sanctity or runed halo seem like decent choices, then paths for titans, and just keep laying out beats until they run out of lands...
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How are the Nacatl's running for you? I ended up cutting them as I found them inactive for the first three turns a lot. I didn't like fussing with them or the already fairly decent mana base to accomodate Plains+Mountain by Turn 3.
Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc
In Seattle I saw a Naya player in the top 16 lock out Wurmcoil Engine multiple times chump blocking and then keeping it tapped down.
Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc
I saw both run. Teeg is still worthwhile because he's tutorable, but nothing says you can't cast your Vengeant then tutor for Teeg later. Vengeant has a bunch of good points to running him, of course it's list dependant, but thats the same with Gaddock Teeg.
My meta is pretty heavy Jund. I find testing Ajani is quite good in the main with Teeg playing support in the sideboard.I'm sure I'd say differently if I was against more 4CC and Fae.
Even finks doesn't seem to gain enough life to matter.
even using Oran-Rief, the Vastwood so Finks comes back more then once?
WW Quest - Standard
UB Infect - Standard
G Elves! - Standard
GRW Naya - Extended
I think that's just too clunky personally.
I think I will be switching the Thoctars i have mainboard for finks. Obviously Thoctar is stronger in some matchups, but finks is still pretty strong across the board.
I'll test both and see what happens.
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Vengevine
2 Fauna Shaman
4 Figure Of Destiny
1 Goblin Guide
1 Birds of Paradise
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Boggart Ram-Gang
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Path to Exile
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Qasali Pride-Mage
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Copperline Gorge
1 Wooded Bastion
2 Raging Ravine
1 Ancient Ziggurat
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
3 Mountain
3 Forest
1 Plains
SB is something along the lines of:
That's the list I have been testing. I'm sold on the Ranger of Eos plan. Figure is great to tutor up as well as the singleton Guide. As for the singleton Ancient Ziggurat.. I was looking for a W/R land that came into play untapped on any turn. It was originally a Rugged Prairie but I found I didn't want too many filter lands.
4x Bloodbraid Elf
4x Vengevine
2x Wall of Omens
3x Gaddock Teeg
4x Qasali Pridemage
3x Great Sable Stag
4x Boggart Ram-Gang
3x Baneslayer Angel
2x Sun Titan
Other Spells: 6
4x Path to Exile
2x Lightning Bolt
4x Raging Ravine
4x Wooded Bastion
2x Fire-Lit Thicket
2x Rugged Prairie
3x Arid Mesa
3x Tectonic Edge
3x Forest
2x Mountain
2x Plains
4x Kitchen Finks
3x Volcanic Fallout
2x Gaea's Revenge
2x Lightning Bolt
2x Austere Command
1x Great Sable Stag
1x Baneslayer Angel
I have considered the Ranger of Eos package, along with Noble Hierarch, Figure of Destiny, Scute Mob, etc... but have not found a place to fit them in. I am also tempted to use Fracturing Gust over Austere Command as tech vs Esper Steel decks.
This is something I am working on for some upcoming PTQs, so any feedback I can get would be greatly appreciated.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
The deck performed remarkably well, with a high degree of consistency. I will post a full deck list when I get home to my computer.
For now, I will detail how my build deviates from the standard build and how that effected my matchups.
I ran 0 1drop manadorks, instead opting for lotus cobra/knight of reliquary/7 fetches for my ramp needs and maindecked potent 1 drop hatecreatures with the ranger of eos package.
Scute mob (huge presence when played off ranger to recurr vengevine), goldmeadow harrier (was amazing against wurmcoils, baneslayers, and titans), 1 burrenton forgetender (won me a game 1 vs. Rdw I had no business winning), and 1 scattershot archers (probably the main reason I beat the world champion's faeries deck)
Additionally, I ran singleton teeg and 2 pridemages which proved valuable against blue omen, control, and the pridemages helped kill collars in the mirror.
My build ultimately proved itself very strong against aggro, midrange, and control... however, I got matched up against RG titan/valakut/omen/command/scapeshift 3 times, which proved to be an unwinnable matchup for me. Tom Ross was kind enough to knock me out of contention.
I wasn't expecting so much RG valakut... as modo was reporting it making up less than 5% of the metagame. Regardless, it was a fun experience.
Does anyone have any advice for how to beat rg val with naya?
Those who hesitate in the face of greatness have already lost.
I write for EoV. Feel free to check out my articles:
Wall of omens is crap in naya. You're the beatdown in every matchup except rdw... and forgetender beats wall in that matchup.
Those who hesitate in the face of greatness have already lost.
I write for EoV. Feel free to check out my articles:
-2 Gaddock Teeg
-2 Wall of Omens
-2 Sun Titan
-3 Baneslayer Angel
-1 Raging Ravine
+3 Fauna Shaman
+2 Ranger of Eos
+1 Scute Mob
+1 Scattershot Archer
+3 Noble Hierarch
I was thinking maybe Kitchen Finks maindeck over Boggart Ram-Gang to help in vs the red aggro matchups since I will no longer have BSA and Wall of Omens to help me beat that deck. That would also give me another 4 slots in the board to work with.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
Those who hesitate in the face of greatness have already lost.
I write for EoV. Feel free to check out my articles:
My only losses were to
Nick Spagnolo playing Pozsgays RU Demigod deck
Sam Black playing Fae
in round 9 I lost to RG Valakut...
My game vs Nick went to 4 games, I should have mulled game 4 but almost came back to win. It was a risky keep but I only needed to top deck a land to have a serious hand. I missed one land drop, but it was enough to slow me down.
I lost to Sam because I did not mull a 4 lander with 2 Vengevine and 1 BBE...hand was much too slow. 2nd game I still have a mediocre hand but keep. Sam gets a godlike draw with BB into Scion into double Mistbind.
Lost to RG Skapeshift because I was unfmailiar with the match up. This is not a good match for Naya since my friend playing the same list as me had losses to either RG or Omen Valakut variants.
Omen is a decent match, but the RG version has the edge because Naya does not have many tools to stop them. You must get the beat down plan going. I won game 2 easily because I ramped into KoTR and then BBE cascaded into Woolly Thoctar. Game three my hand was just too slow and I should have mulled.
Almost all of my losses could have been prevented with mulligans (possibly)
I was in contention all day and a little better luck would have seen me make day 2. I'm not sharing my list because its the best Naya list I have seen by far. My 6 wins were easy and I blew all of them out. Nobody had my technology and I am very happy with the way the day went despite not making day 2.
Rd 1 - UW Control - W
Rd 2 - Jund - W
RD 3 - RU Demigod - L
RD 4 - Omen - W
RD 5- Fae- L
RD 6 -Jund - W
RD 7 - Esper Control - W
RD 8 - Fae - W
RD 9 - RG Valakut - L
The lesson here, no matter what. If you have a slow or mediocre hand just mulligan. I was too afraid of getting worse hands, and I should not have been.
I mulliganed very aggressively.. even beating faeries on a mull to 4.
I played against the UR demigod in round 2 of the ptq... and just aggroed out on it for 2-0. I saw timewarps and demigods but wasn't sure what it was supposed to be accomplishing. I just ran 4 forgetenders and 3 teegs in game 2 to shut him down.
Those who hesitate in the face of greatness have already lost.
I write for EoV. Feel free to check out my articles:
Congrats on your finish!
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
My sideboard was essential. Sadly, 4 cards in it never got used (no mythic or g/w trap matchups either day).
I felt rather disappointed in myself on the ptq the next day. I was 3-0, then punted 2 good matchups with reckless haste.
Those who hesitate in the face of greatness have already lost.
I write for EoV. Feel free to check out my articles:
I still think Naya was the right choice, but it looks like the Valakut match needs some serious analysis.
This deck beats everything else but Valakut. This deck also needs to be careful of the sb plan of Fae since they basically sb into UB control.
The game that I won was just straight curve out into beats. So anything less than that is not ideal.
What cards are potentially good vs Valakut?
Gaddock Teeg dies to fallout and Firespout so it is essentially unreliable.
The valakut deck is so lame, it just ramps to 7 and Scapeshifts...totally brainless. That doesn't mean its a bad deck, quite the contrary. That deck gives any pilot a shot at winning. Just sad that it knocked me out.
Leyline of sanctity or runed halo seem like decent choices, then paths for titans, and just keep laying out beats until they run out of lands...
Those who hesitate in the face of greatness have already lost.
I write for EoV. Feel free to check out my articles: