Self-regulation is a sign of balance in a format. Bans should be reserved for problems that can't be solved any other way. How anyone could advocate for anything else is completely beyond me.
I couldn't agree with you more. The ability of players to make strategic decisions based on the perceived metagame leads to broader changes within the metagame itself. It's cyclical by nature, creating a natural ebb and flow that should be strived for in any strategy based game. It's how formats should develop. I've never seen anyone even try to argue against it. For someone to prefer an over-exhaustive, micromanaged banlist to the ability of the community to police themselves is an argument that is not worth indulging.
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Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Please do the Dark Monger a favor and take out the swiftwater cliffs. They're only making your deck worse.
Eh, 12 blue sources is reasonable, maybe even necessary depending on the sideboard options. 4 Islands doesn't cut it in a deck like this. I can see cutting 1-2 of them for 1-2 Islands, especially since we're not building manabases to accomodate Mutavault anymore. I'd be hesitant to cut them entirely though, as it doesn't leave you enough sources to reliably hit blue spells.
I don't love them anymore than you do, but they may be a necessary evil. I threw down plenty of B/w guildgates early on in the last standard just to play those Blood Barons and Obzedats. Sometimes that's the price you have to pay.
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Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
And you must not study statistics much, since 4 fetch lands in a mono-coloured deck are statistically useless for deck thinning.
At the risk of an raising the ire of the mods, I've got to agree with Hammer here. Adding a fetch for the sole purpose of thinning the deck nets you something like one extra card every 80 draws (I'm sure Google could give me the exact number, but I'm lazy). It's statistically irrelevant in comparison to the life loss. When/If Scalding Tarn were to come to Standard, then we can have the discussion. Until then, there's absolutely no point in adding fetchlands solely for the sake of adding fetchlands. There's no Brainstorm in Standard. The closest thing we have to fetchland deck manipulation is Courser of Kruphix, and even that only the same value as a "Scry 1" effect.
Fetchlands are really only as good as the manipulative effects and interactions they allow. For pure mana fixing, I'd rather have Ravnica shocks, check lands, fast lands, or even filter lands most of the time.
On the deck, it's a good first draft. I don't like Flamewreath Phoenix. Ashcloud seems vastly superior, and is also a card I would expect to see decent standard play in some form. I'm not sure on Prophetic Flamespeaker, but I also don't have a ton of experience with him. For 3-drops, I prefer Rabblemaster. Yes, it's typically an aggressive creature. It's also a 1-card win con in non-aggressive decks. He's that good. I'd try him out and Stoke the Flames over Fated Conflagration.
Edit: Decided to not be lazy. Here's a link to the statistics on fetching for deck thinning:
Your list isn't too far off from my own. I don't see too many people jumping on the Nemesis of Mortals bandwagon with me, but I'm a fan. On the mana, I can't decide whether I prefer Mana Confluence or the BUG tri-land. I'm already running b/g scry temples, and having 8 lands enter tapped is a drag. I don't find myself taking any significant damage from my lands though, so maybe it's worth switching to M.C. for the tempo boost.
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Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Am I the only one who's just not a fan of the Sphinx at all? Definitely, without a doubt in the deck we're trying to put together.. but just in general.
I don't like him in this deck. I also don't like him when there are reliable, efficient sweepers in the format. But we are not in one of those formats anymore.
He's difficult to kill, provides a reasonable clock for a control deck, and lets you look at 3 cards a turn. Once resolved with a couple cards in hand, most decks just can't remove him. He's small enough to survive -3 Elspeth, but big enough to stonewall most creatures, including Stormbreath Dragon and Sarkan. These qualities made him an allstar at the Block Pro Tour, and he's one of the big reasons why the BUG Control decks did so well there.
All of that being said, I don't know whether he's going to transition well to Standard, and he's definitely not something I'm terribly interested in for this deck.
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^^ That's essentially what BBD's version does. He's playing Prognostic Sphinx as an independent finisher (which benefits greatly from the lack of good sweepers) and using the graveyard elements as a method of fueling Murderous Cut, Empty the Pits, and Dig Through Time.
An active Sphinx + Sultai Ascendency potentially gives you 5 looks at the top of your deck to sculpt your draws. It's a pretty powerful effect, but Ascendency feels clunky and slow for the presumably aggro heavy meta of the first few weeks.
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Got another SCG list for you guys. This one is from BBD, and it's very much a Delve deck. Prognostic Sphinx is definitely a house, but this deck is the least graveyard-centric of the bunch so far.
I've seen a lot of mixed response as to how End Hostilities will play in the new standard, as a 4 cmc board wipe will surely be missed.
What i'm thinking though, is that End Hostilities spells the end for Modern's hexproof auras. Removing the viability of a significantly common deck to resist control will certainly change the metagame, and I am curious what else this card's 2nd ability will put an end to.
So maybe the extra mana shouldn't be the only noteworthy thing about this card.
Though my standard control deck sure could use verdict back.
Bogles is a small percentage of the meta. No one is dedicating a 5cc Wrath effect to deal with that deck, even in sideboard, and especially when there are better, cheaper options available. The only conceivable use for it would be as an additional Gifts Ungiven target, but I doubt those decks would want it either since they already have better options. Engineered Explosives is strictly better at dealing with Bogles, and it doesn't require WW to cast. Besides that, Bogles isn't a big enough part of the meta that much of anything would shift even if people chose to adopt End Hostilities. The only other "attachments" of note in Modern are Cranial Plating, Batterskull, and the ocassional Sword of X. Again, general artifact hate is better than a 5cc Wrath in almost every single conceivable scenario.
End Hostilities was designed to (a) slow down Standard and (b) give Wrath an upside (killing bestow creatures) at the cost of an additional mana. That's it. It will be played in Standard only if the format is slow enough (read: if Goblin Rabblemaster & Co. don't dominate) and only because it's the cheapest option for an unconditional board wipe. If the support for a white based control deck isn't there, I can see people foregoing it altogether and playing Perilous Vault accompanied with Anger of the Gods or Drown in Sorrow instead, not that P.V. is anything to get excited about either.
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Not sure if this is the right place to discuss this, but when is SCG going to start streaming Modern?
There are no plans at this time. So long as it runs on Sundays and all of the name players on the SCG circuit stick to Legacy, don't expect any change.
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How does ops list compared to brads lost from the vs videos? Brads deck isn't tuned very well yet but I feel like it has a lot of potential.
The Ashen Rider / Reanimator build goes all in on the reanimation strategy. Reanimate Ashen Rider (exile something), it does (exile something), whip it back (exile something), EoT it's exiled (exile something). When you're not reanimating, the deck tends to stutter.
The build I posted earlier in the thread and those similar to it are really just grindy midrange decks with graveyard synergy. The interactions between Sidisi, Nighthowler, Nemesis of Mortals, delve cards, and self-mill effects play out as a way to create cheap, efficient beaters while using the graveyard to out-resource your opponents.
Whether either version, or even something in between, ends up being a player in the meta is yet to be seen. The deck feels very strong to me right now, although I can see it wanting more evasive threats to deal with Elspeth's and Xenagos's that aim to clog up the ground. For now, I'm digging Hornet Queen for that job with Bile Blight as my favorite cheap removal moving forward.
The deck has a lot of play to it. Getting the right balance of ramp, enablers, and threats is going to be the key.
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Do you have that list? Would be very curious to see what tricks he's up to.
Sure. He's on a reanimator build with a full set of Ashen Riders. It's very different from what I've been working on. The games looked very clunky overall. Courser felt very out of place. He more or less won every game off of Whip of Erebos (no surprises there). He did mention moving Murderous Cut to the main after the games, and possibly cutting some number of Ashen Riders for Hornet Queens.
I keep seeing people dimiss Sidisi, and the only thing I'm coming up with is that they haven't bothered to play her. *shrug* She's been a monster in every matchup I've played.
There's a video up on SCG premium w/ Todd Anderson playing BUG Reanimator. It's a much different take, but it's another source of info if you guys want to take a look at his list.
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.............maybe Pharika?
I'm thinking Pharika as a 2-of.
I won't dismiss it, but the deck is not designed to activate the devotion, and her secondary ability is terrible. The deck wants to be using creatures in the gy to fuel Whip of Erebos and Nighthowler, and to enable Nemesis of Mortals or Delve spells (depending on your build). Eating them for 1/1 deathtouch tokens may not be the most efficient use of dead bodies. Still, it may be worth trying out.
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Sidisi will most likely be one of the defining creatures of the standard format for the next year.
I may be sticking my neck out here, but I'm going to second this comment. We've been testing all day with BUG Dredge (that's what we're calling the Sidisi deck at the moment), BWR Midrange, and RUG Monsters/Walkers. Of the 3, BUG easily has the most promise. Here's our current BUG list (and yes, the sideboard is terrible):
We started with 2x Necropolis Fiend in the main, 4x Elvish Mystic, more removal, and no Nighthowlers or Nemesis of Mortals. What we found was that if Sidisi, Brood Tyrant resolved and was able to attack at least once, you always won, but without her, there were a lot of hands full of enablers and no serious threats. We also hated that Satyr Wayfinder just sat there and did nothing. We considered cutting him for Taigam's Scheming, but that card is strictly card disadvantage.
We ended up moving back towards the B/G Dredge deck that Conley Woods was working on earlier this year. That's where the Nemesis of Mortals / Nighthowler package came from. Then we found that Necropolis Fiend and Murderous Cut were highly incompatible with those cards, at least in large numbers. There's just not enough constant milling to support all 4. That lead us to cutting Necropolis Fiend to the board, adding a 3rd Hornet Queen for a late game bomb, and cutting to 1 Murderous Cut.
We also dropped 2x Elvish Mystic early on. Getting 3 mana on Turn 2 is very unimportant, but having 4 mana on Turn 3 is significant. Sylvan Caryatid also plays great defense, so he was just much better in this deck. Plus, you typically want to play a tap land on turn 1 anyways which makes Elvish Mystic awkward.
Nemesis of Mortals will often feel like Tarmogoyf in this deck. He's just a big, dumb fatty on the cheap. It's very easy to monstrous him for 2 mana, drop a Whip of Erebos, and swing with a 10/10 lifelinker. Nighthowler has overperformed in every game. He gives Satyr Wayfinder something to do, and with how bad the removal is in this format, burning a card to kill the bestowed creature only to leave behind another big threat feels really bad for the opponent. I can see Silence the Believers and cards with similar effects taking off if this deck goes anywhere.
Both Nemsis and Nighthowler also helped shore up the weaknesses to Drown in Sorrow and Anger of the Gods. The sweepers still feel bad, but you're not totally dead to them.
So yea, the deck is awesome. You guys should definitely give it a try. And yes, the sideboard is highly untested and admittedly terrible. The Bile Blights and Negates are the only cards with a significant purpose. The rest are just pieces of the experiments of the day.
At least in Modern, I'd like to see a rotating ban list. Unban Ponder/Preordain but ban Exarch, Kiki Jiki and whatever else would be broken with those cards unbanned. Unban big Jace and Bloodbraid, but ban Goyf and what else would keep Jund in check. I'm not specifically saying these cards, but just spitballing the idea.
This has been discussed at length, and I fall strongly on the side of it being a terrible idea. Modern is already seen as an unstable format due to the yearly meddling with the banned list. A rotating banlist would only exacerbate the problem. Most players like their non-rotating formats to be as stable as possible. I get the appeal of a rotating banned list, but it's just breeds more uncertainty in a format that is already under criticism for its banned list and the policy that supports it.
Back to the original question, I don't see anything stale about our current non-rotating metas (although my Vintage and EDH experience is limited). Legacy regulates itself. Modern is getting better and more diverse with the weekly SCG events fueling the broader meta.
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I couldn't agree with you more. The ability of players to make strategic decisions based on the perceived metagame leads to broader changes within the metagame itself. It's cyclical by nature, creating a natural ebb and flow that should be strived for in any strategy based game. It's how formats should develop. I've never seen anyone even try to argue against it. For someone to prefer an over-exhaustive, micromanaged banlist to the ability of the community to police themselves is an argument that is not worth indulging.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Eh, 12 blue sources is reasonable, maybe even necessary depending on the sideboard options. 4 Islands doesn't cut it in a deck like this. I can see cutting 1-2 of them for 1-2 Islands, especially since we're not building manabases to accomodate Mutavault anymore. I'd be hesitant to cut them entirely though, as it doesn't leave you enough sources to reliably hit blue spells.
I don't love them anymore than you do, but they may be a necessary evil. I threw down plenty of B/w guildgates early on in the last standard just to play those Blood Barons and Obzedats. Sometimes that's the price you have to pay.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
At the risk of an raising the ire of the mods, I've got to agree with Hammer here. Adding a fetch for the sole purpose of thinning the deck nets you something like one extra card every 80 draws (I'm sure Google could give me the exact number, but I'm lazy). It's statistically irrelevant in comparison to the life loss. When/If Scalding Tarn were to come to Standard, then we can have the discussion. Until then, there's absolutely no point in adding fetchlands solely for the sake of adding fetchlands. There's no Brainstorm in Standard. The closest thing we have to fetchland deck manipulation is Courser of Kruphix, and even that only the same value as a "Scry 1" effect.
Fetchlands are really only as good as the manipulative effects and interactions they allow. For pure mana fixing, I'd rather have Ravnica shocks, check lands, fast lands, or even filter lands most of the time.
On the deck, it's a good first draft. I don't like Flamewreath Phoenix. Ashcloud seems vastly superior, and is also a card I would expect to see decent standard play in some form. I'm not sure on Prophetic Flamespeaker, but I also don't have a ton of experience with him. For 3-drops, I prefer Rabblemaster. Yes, it's typically an aggressive creature. It's also a 1-card win con in non-aggressive decks. He's that good. I'd try him out and Stoke the Flames over Fated Conflagration.
Edit: Decided to not be lazy. Here's a link to the statistics on fetching for deck thinning:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/standard-archives/91344-deck-thinning-by-fetchlands-computer-simulation
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Your list isn't too far off from my own. I don't see too many people jumping on the Nemesis of Mortals bandwagon with me, but I'm a fan. On the mana, I can't decide whether I prefer Mana Confluence or the BUG tri-land. I'm already running b/g scry temples, and having 8 lands enter tapped is a drag. I don't find myself taking any significant damage from my lands though, so maybe it's worth switching to M.C. for the tempo boost.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
I don't like him in this deck. I also don't like him when there are reliable, efficient sweepers in the format. But we are not in one of those formats anymore.
He's difficult to kill, provides a reasonable clock for a control deck, and lets you look at 3 cards a turn. Once resolved with a couple cards in hand, most decks just can't remove him. He's small enough to survive -3 Elspeth, but big enough to stonewall most creatures, including Stormbreath Dragon and Sarkan. These qualities made him an allstar at the Block Pro Tour, and he's one of the big reasons why the BUG Control decks did so well there.
All of that being said, I don't know whether he's going to transition well to Standard, and he's definitely not something I'm terribly interested in for this deck.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
An active Sphinx + Sultai Ascendency potentially gives you 5 looks at the top of your deck to sculpt your draws. It's a pretty powerful effect, but Ascendency feels clunky and slow for the presumably aggro heavy meta of the first few weeks.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
4 Prognostic Sphinx
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Nyx Weaver
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
1 Forest
2 Island
2 Swamp
4 Llanowar Wastes
4 Opulent Palace
3 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Malady
4 Yavimaya Coast
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Dig Through Time
2 Empty the Pits
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Murderous Cut
4 Disdainful Stroke
4 Pharika's Cure
3 Drown in Sorrow
The SCG team all seem to be pretty heavy on Sidisi though. Makes me think we're on the right track, or they're all just as wrong as we are.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Bogles is a small percentage of the meta. No one is dedicating a 5cc Wrath effect to deal with that deck, even in sideboard, and especially when there are better, cheaper options available. The only conceivable use for it would be as an additional Gifts Ungiven target, but I doubt those decks would want it either since they already have better options. Engineered Explosives is strictly better at dealing with Bogles, and it doesn't require WW to cast. Besides that, Bogles isn't a big enough part of the meta that much of anything would shift even if people chose to adopt End Hostilities. The only other "attachments" of note in Modern are Cranial Plating, Batterskull, and the ocassional Sword of X. Again, general artifact hate is better than a 5cc Wrath in almost every single conceivable scenario.
End Hostilities was designed to (a) slow down Standard and (b) give Wrath an upside (killing bestow creatures) at the cost of an additional mana. That's it. It will be played in Standard only if the format is slow enough (read: if Goblin Rabblemaster & Co. don't dominate) and only because it's the cheapest option for an unconditional board wipe. If the support for a white based control deck isn't there, I can see people foregoing it altogether and playing Perilous Vault accompanied with Anger of the Gods or Drown in Sorrow instead, not that P.V. is anything to get excited about either.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
There are no plans at this time. So long as it runs on Sundays and all of the name players on the SCG circuit stick to Legacy, don't expect any change.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
The Ashen Rider / Reanimator build goes all in on the reanimation strategy. Reanimate Ashen Rider (exile something), it does (exile something), whip it back (exile something), EoT it's exiled (exile something). When you're not reanimating, the deck tends to stutter.
The build I posted earlier in the thread and those similar to it are really just grindy midrange decks with graveyard synergy. The interactions between Sidisi, Nighthowler, Nemesis of Mortals, delve cards, and self-mill effects play out as a way to create cheap, efficient beaters while using the graveyard to out-resource your opponents.
Whether either version, or even something in between, ends up being a player in the meta is yet to be seen. The deck feels very strong to me right now, although I can see it wanting more evasive threats to deal with Elspeth's and Xenagos's that aim to clog up the ground. For now, I'm digging Hornet Queen for that job with Bile Blight as my favorite cheap removal moving forward.
The deck has a lot of play to it. Getting the right balance of ramp, enablers, and threats is going to be the key.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
Sure. He's on a reanimator build with a full set of Ashen Riders. It's very different from what I've been working on. The games looked very clunky overall. Courser felt very out of place. He more or less won every game off of Whip of Erebos (no surprises there). He did mention moving Murderous Cut to the main after the games, and possibly cutting some number of Ashen Riders for Hornet Queens.
Anyways, here's the list:
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
3 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Forest
3 Llanowar Wastes
2 Mana Confluence
4 Opulent Palace
4 Temple of Malady
4 Yavimaya Coast
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Sultai Charm
1 Whip of Erebos
3 Commune with the Gods
4 Endless Obedience
4 Nylea's Disciple
2 Reclamation Sage
4 Murderous Cut
1 Whip of Erebos
4 Thoughtseize
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
There's a video up on SCG premium w/ Todd Anderson playing BUG Reanimator. It's a much different take, but it's another source of info if you guys want to take a look at his list.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
It's gone on Friday. So is Rest in Peace. And Scavenging Ooze.
Long live the graveyard!
I won't dismiss it, but the deck is not designed to activate the devotion, and her secondary ability is terrible. The deck wants to be using creatures in the gy to fuel Whip of Erebos and Nighthowler, and to enable Nemesis of Mortals or Delve spells (depending on your build). Eating them for 1/1 deathtouch tokens may not be the most efficient use of dead bodies. Still, it may be worth trying out.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
I may be sticking my neck out here, but I'm going to second this comment. We've been testing all day with BUG Dredge (that's what we're calling the Sidisi deck at the moment), BWR Midrange, and RUG Monsters/Walkers. Of the 3, BUG easily has the most promise. Here's our current BUG list (and yes, the sideboard is terrible):
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Satyr Wayfinder
2x Elvish Mystic
4x Nighthowler
4x Nemesis of Mortals
3x Nyx Weaver
3x Hornet Queen
2x Whip of Erebos
3x Murderous Cut
3x Commune with the Gods
4x Temple of Malady
4x Llanowar Wastes
4x B/U/G Lands (whatever they're called)
3x Polluted Delta
2x Swamp
1x Island
4x Forest
1x Yavimaya Coast
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Bile Blight
1x Necropolis Fiend
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
2x Sultai Charm
1x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1x Garruk, Apex Predator
2x Arbor Colossus
We started with 2x Necropolis Fiend in the main, 4x Elvish Mystic, more removal, and no Nighthowlers or Nemesis of Mortals. What we found was that if Sidisi, Brood Tyrant resolved and was able to attack at least once, you always won, but without her, there were a lot of hands full of enablers and no serious threats. We also hated that Satyr Wayfinder just sat there and did nothing. We considered cutting him for Taigam's Scheming, but that card is strictly card disadvantage.
We ended up moving back towards the B/G Dredge deck that Conley Woods was working on earlier this year. That's where the Nemesis of Mortals / Nighthowler package came from. Then we found that Necropolis Fiend and Murderous Cut were highly incompatible with those cards, at least in large numbers. There's just not enough constant milling to support all 4. That lead us to cutting Necropolis Fiend to the board, adding a 3rd Hornet Queen for a late game bomb, and cutting to 1 Murderous Cut.
We also dropped 2x Elvish Mystic early on. Getting 3 mana on Turn 2 is very unimportant, but having 4 mana on Turn 3 is significant. Sylvan Caryatid also plays great defense, so he was just much better in this deck. Plus, you typically want to play a tap land on turn 1 anyways which makes Elvish Mystic awkward.
Nemesis of Mortals will often feel like Tarmogoyf in this deck. He's just a big, dumb fatty on the cheap. It's very easy to monstrous him for 2 mana, drop a Whip of Erebos, and swing with a 10/10 lifelinker. Nighthowler has overperformed in every game. He gives Satyr Wayfinder something to do, and with how bad the removal is in this format, burning a card to kill the bestowed creature only to leave behind another big threat feels really bad for the opponent. I can see Silence the Believers and cards with similar effects taking off if this deck goes anywhere.
Both Nemsis and Nighthowler also helped shore up the weaknesses to Drown in Sorrow and Anger of the Gods. The sweepers still feel bad, but you're not totally dead to them.
So yea, the deck is awesome. You guys should definitely give it a try. And yes, the sideboard is highly untested and admittedly terrible. The Bile Blights and Negates are the only cards with a significant purpose. The rest are just pieces of the experiments of the day.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator
This has been discussed at length, and I fall strongly on the side of it being a terrible idea. Modern is already seen as an unstable format due to the yearly meddling with the banned list. A rotating banlist would only exacerbate the problem. Most players like their non-rotating formats to be as stable as possible. I get the appeal of a rotating banned list, but it's just breeds more uncertainty in a format that is already under criticism for its banned list and the policy that supports it.
Back to the original question, I don't see anything stale about our current non-rotating metas (although my Vintage and EDH experience is limited). Legacy regulates itself. Modern is getting better and more diverse with the weekly SCG events fueling the broader meta.
Standard: I, for one, welcome our new rhinoceros overlords
Modern: Pod's dead, Bob's back.
Legacy: Lands, Deathblade, Death and Taxes, Elves, MUD
Retired Legacy: Merfolk, Goblins, Jund, Delver, Reanimator