This is a great card for control decks and most likely will want to find a place in Sultai Control initially where you have more GY interaction. That said, it's not a jam 4 draw card, but you will see 1-2 played in most control decks due to it's power in the late-game.
Of course, it's worth adding that control with largely depend on the meta. If copycat gets banned, then more decks will be around to compete with Mardu Vehicles and that deck will be weakened.
Well, in a recent online tournament Osmanozguney (who has played Faeries successfully online quite a bit) played a more typical controlling shell, along the lines of what we've been discussing regarding less MD discard, more draw rather than Copter, and Rain of Tears in the SB.
Seems like it fits best in a G/W tokens oriented deck. We'll see what creatures and token producers the next set brings, but you can certainly think of T1 Thraben Inspector leading into Sylvan Advocate and then Nissa to get things started. A lot of creature pumping possible between Nissa and Ajani's Oath.
After looking at this weekend's standard tournament, I can understand why. Standard is really poor right now. 27 of the top 32 decks were B/G or U/W Flash.
Holy crap. That was one of the most boring top 32 lists I've ever seen. What were there, 27 decks of B/G Delirium or W/U Flash? This is truly a poor standard meta. It explains why I haven't really been feeling the urge to play recently. The Wizards designers need to do better.
This is the deck Ive been running the last week or so. Its so efficient against aggro decks that are running the meta right now.
Looks decent. I've been surprised on MTGO by how much non-aggro there is being tested. Lots of Marvel decks at the moment, and that deck is painful for control to beat. Depending on the meta, another Lost Legacy may be needed in your SB. I wouldn't leave home without 2 in RB. I would also consider dropping 1 Transgress the Mind for another Ruinous Path. Resolved walkers can really ruin our day as we generally don't have enough creatures to effectively pressure them. I play 3 and I still find myself pinging them with Chandra to keep them off ultimates.
Is it just me, or Night Market Lookout is one of the most pushed one-drop commons we had in years? 1/1 that drains 1 whenever it swings? It's pretty much a Thornbow Archer that lacks the mirror match drawback and drains instead of just dealing, at the cost of a single point of toughness. And that card was really not bad at all in Origins. Not to mention the massive Vehicle synergy.
Veteran Motorist also seems pretty solid. 3/1 for WR with a scry 2 stapled on is already gravy, but the bonus on Vehicle crewing just pushes it over the top. Seems Standard playable if Vehicles become a thing.
Also note the lack of Regeneration in Kaladesh. In fact, Black just got a card that gives creatures Indestructible, which seems like a huge color pie shift. Is Regeneration officially out of evergreen territory?
Overall, plenty of cool stuff. I'm likin' it a lot.
I have the opposite opinion. I think the 2 drop is stronger. A resilient threat for grindy MUs. Could make the cut as a sideboard card or a maindeck 2 of. The 1 drop seems very situational (very good sometimes, very bad sometimes. Inconsistent. And doesn't provide a good body or evasion).
Yeah, the Scrounger seems quite good. Bring it back at the end of your opponent's turn and throw Cranial Plating on it the next? I like it. And, the starting stats for a 2-drop are quite good.
+1 Target Darksteel Citadel turns into a 4/4 creature with Trample. It is still a land
+1 Put Polukranos onto the battlefield from your hand
Yep, Darksteel Citadel will be back in standard so this is definitely a possibility. It was the first thing that came to my mind. I think she will definitely find a place in a ramp deck of some kind in constructed. In modern she is probably too slow, but she would be fun with Crucible of Worlds.
I don't think I've seen Pendelhaven in anybody's deck list, and I'm curious as to why. I like it a lot more than Creeping Tar Pit, and doesn't slow you down a turn. I only run one, and I also refuse to run tar pits because they blow early game. Early game is where you take control so you don't have to let up, and tar pits go against that.
In my testing I also ditched Creeping Tar Pits. As I was running Engineered Explosives main, Pendelhaven could be useful.
And why are people using Mana Leak instead of Remand, or having Spell Snare sideboarded so you can run more spot removal in main?
Mana Leak being a permanent answer is very helpful. However, I personally prefer Condescend.
I'm going even more into the deep end of the pool. I've been liking Rune Snag main. It's really not great to bring in graveyard hate against us so I really don't mind if they feel like wasting cards to impact, somewhat minimally, only 4 cards in the deck. Most of us side in Grafdigger's Cage as our form of graveyard hate, so Rune Snag is unaffected.
It all depends on whether you are running Snapcaster Mages. Snapcaster Mage isn't as good with Rune Snag as with Mana Leak. I still prefer Condescend because it can also be used to dig for land drops by casting it with X=0 when an opponent casts a spell.
Absolutely agree. I haven't been playing Snapcasters which is definitely one reason I made the switch.
I don't think I've seen Pendelhaven in anybody's deck list, and I'm curious as to why. I like it a lot more than Creeping Tar Pit, and doesn't slow you down a turn. I only run one, and I also refuse to run tar pits because they blow early game. Early game is where you take control so you don't have to let up, and tar pits go against that.
In my testing I also ditched Creeping Tar Pits. As I was running Engineered Explosives main, Pendelhaven could be useful.
And why are people using Mana Leak instead of Remand, or having Spell Snare sideboarded so you can run more spot removal in main?
Mana Leak being a permanent answer is very helpful. However, I personally prefer Condescend.
I'm going even more into the deep end of the pool. I've been liking Rune Snag main. It's really not great to bring in graveyard hate against us so I really don't mind if they feel like wasting cards to impact, somewhat minimally, only 4 cards in the deck. Most of us side in Grafdigger's Cage as our form of graveyard hate, so Rune Snag is unaffected.
I saw a recent faeries deck played 2x Temple of Deceit and no Sunken Ruins. The 2 scrye lands might not be a bad idea. I've been waiting for them to start creeping (pun) into more modern decks. What do you all think?
Your deck looks interesting, but it's not really a Bant Prophet deck beacuse it has NO prophets at this point (as you also mention). You might want to create a new thread for Bant Mid-range or something to get more constructive comments.
That being said, you are quite possibly right about the prophet for now. A fun deck, but with so much disruption in the format it is difficult to make it work unless your opponent is tapped out when you cast her. It's bad enough that all the black removal but for Ultimate Price hit her, but if she was just 3/3 at least Last Breath wouldn't hit her. Not to mention that she doesn't do a whole lot when your opponent is playing Verdicts.
She's great in a midrange deck against aggro, and not too bad against G/R monsters (decks without immediate ways to get rid of her), but there are too many decks in the meta that just laugh at her.
The prophet is indeed great when it works (e.g. she's not removed and they're not playing bigger things than we are), but it does happen quite rarely. If they had given her a bigger body or pro red (like they did Master of Waves) she would have been a staple of standard.
I'm still rooting for her, as it's an amazing card. Maybe when we get Kruphix, God(ess) of Simic him(her)self, the prophet will have finally found a home.
I initially really really tried to make this deck work with her. Here's a first iteration of this:
1. Horizon Chimera + Archangel of Thune + Sphinx's Revelation
Having any two pieces of this combo would work great. Having all three was game over. The chimera doubles the sphinx's rev in lifegain. Each card draw is a life gain event with chimera, so if Archangel is in play, this all becomes : Cast sphinx's rev for X. Draw X cards, gain 2X life, put X+1 counters on all my creatures.
2. Prophet of kruphix + Sphinx's Revelation
It's usually difficult to cast Sphinx's rev as it requires you to tap out. In a control deck you have the choice to hold mana open, as most of your plays are instant speed. But in a creature deck, this is less so.
However, casting sphinx to draw a bunch of threats feels great.
3. Polukranos, World Eater + Bow of Nylea
Attacking with polukranos gives it deathtouch. You then monstrous it and raze everything to the ground, giving 1 dmg to anything that hasn't got hexproof or indestructible.
4. Curse of the Swine + Detention Sphere
Again, a one-sided board wipe. CoS creates piglets, all with the same name. If you want to get rid of them all, you can DSphere them all
There are a lot of little combos like these. Having many 1-ofs in the deck makes it hard to play around. It also makes the deck fun to play.
What isn't so great is that it is rather inconsistent. The mana ramping dorks would do nothing without a big threat in your hand.
There was no protection, and the GR and control matchups were terrible. That's close to 50% of the decks played in the meta.
Since I wanted it to be competitive, I kept working on it until I reached the no prophet, no ramp stage. The sphinx's rev was relegated to the sideboard and I gradually reached the deck I presented here first.
Yep, your list is similar to lists I tried that I posted in a few different places earlier in this thread. My most recent iteration is a page or 2 ago. Prior to Born of the Gods I also came to the conclusion that Witchstalker was the best 3-drop for us due to all of the Control and Mono-black decks in the meta. I've now tried switching to the Courser, and I've swapped in Voice for Fleecemane Lion. However, I'm still fiddling with things. We need a 2 or 3 drop that can stick, and with the meta not favoring fast aggro, Witchstalker may still be a better option.
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Of course, it's worth adding that control with largely depend on the meta. If copycat gets banned, then more decks will be around to compete with Mardu Vehicles and that deck will be weakened.
2 Mistbind Clique
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Ancestral Vision
2 Collective Brutality
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Serum Visions
1 Countersquall
4 Cryptic Command
1 Doom Blade
1 Go for the Throat
2 Mana Leak
1 Murderous Cut
1 Victim of Night
4 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Watery Grave
60 Cards
1 Ancestral Vision
1 Collective Brutality
1 Countersquall
2 Damnation
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Rain of Tears
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Thoughtseize
Looks decent. I've been surprised on MTGO by how much non-aggro there is being tested. Lots of Marvel decks at the moment, and that deck is painful for control to beat. Depending on the meta, another Lost Legacy may be needed in your SB. I wouldn't leave home without 2 in RB. I would also consider dropping 1 Transgress the Mind for another Ruinous Path. Resolved walkers can really ruin our day as we generally don't have enough creatures to effectively pressure them. I play 3 and I still find myself pinging them with Chandra to keep them off ultimates.
I've been running into the Marvel decks online so much that I wonder how this deck could possibly do anything against them.
It is certainly an excellent pilot for vehicles!
Yeah, the Scrounger seems quite good. Bring it back at the end of your opponent's turn and throw Cranial Plating on it the next? I like it. And, the starting stats for a 2-drop are quite good.
There we go...I kept reading along waiting to see Ral mentioned with Nissa. RUG Walkers could be interesting, or perhaps 4 colors.
Yep, Darksteel Citadel will be back in standard so this is definitely a possibility. It was the first thing that came to my mind. I think she will definitely find a place in a ramp deck of some kind in constructed. In modern she is probably too slow, but she would be fun with Crucible of Worlds.
Absolutely agree. I haven't been playing Snapcasters which is definitely one reason I made the switch.
I'm going even more into the deep end of the pool. I've been liking Rune Snag main. It's really not great to bring in graveyard hate against us so I really don't mind if they feel like wasting cards to impact, somewhat minimally, only 4 cards in the deck. Most of us side in Grafdigger's Cage as our form of graveyard hate, so Rune Snag is unaffected.
Yep, your list is similar to lists I tried that I posted in a few different places earlier in this thread. My most recent iteration is a page or 2 ago. Prior to Born of the Gods I also came to the conclusion that Witchstalker was the best 3-drop for us due to all of the Control and Mono-black decks in the meta. I've now tried switching to the Courser, and I've swapped in Voice for Fleecemane Lion. However, I'm still fiddling with things. We need a 2 or 3 drop that can stick, and with the meta not favoring fast aggro, Witchstalker may still be a better option.