MTG Salvation

I would be very careful with the selection and number of auger of bolas you are using. He is very unfriendly to any win conditions you hit. I noticed very quickly in testing any instant/sorcery heavy deck I played with him in, he doesn't get you the card u always need. And that is the type of deck he should technically excel in. For the sake of arguement, he does not replace ponder in the slightest and that seems to be the goal of his inclusion.

Quote from bitbroosher

Hi all,

Im planning to run this at local store this weekend. Any thoughts? There's some explanation after the decklist.

Omfgthetank's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Lands (24) 4 Blood Crypt 4 Drowned Catacomb 4 Sulfur Falls 4 Dragonskull Summit 3 Evolving Wilds 2 Island 1 Mountain 2 Swamp	Creatures (11) 4 Augur of Bolas 2 Niv-Mizzet, the Dracogenius 2 Vampire Nighthawk 3 Snapcaster Mage Instants (2) 2 Cyclonic Rift Planeswalkers (6) 2 Jace, Architect of Thought 3 Chandra, the Firebrand 1 Nicol Bolas	Sorceries (17) 3 Barter in Blood 3 Dreadbore 3 Pillar of Flame 2 Mizzium Mortars 2 Rakdos' Return 3 Divination 1 Amass the Components

1. Absence of Tamiyo
- I don't own any Tamiyo and I cannot get 2 by that time.
2. Nicol Bolas as Win Condition
- Going Grixis and not running Nicol Bolas is almost a blaspheme! Besides, if I play him, might be GG on the spot.
3. Chandra, the "Firebad"
- Im putting most of my trust on that card. Even not doing anything alone, Chandra has a terrific porential os doubling the effects I play.
- Not having cards in hand is something that should not happen in a control deck.
- For instance, a doubled Barter in Blood is a 4 creature sacrifice for 4 mana. And copying any of the kill spells is good too.
4. Singleton Amass the Components
- Drawing 3 and put my worst card on botton of my labrary for 4 mana is acceplable. But not enough to run 4-of
- Copying this with chandra is awesome!

Missing Cards:
1. Forbidden Alchemy
- Digging into cards is nice, but the deck already has a dig engine. Jace.
2. Tragic Slip
- Another 1 CMC removal would be nice, but I don't have any spot open.
3. Murder
- Not having an instant speed removal is strange in a control deck, but maybe it's the way I should play.

Any tip/advices/criticism are welcome.

Edit: Some typos and card tags

Regards,
bitbroosher.

Quote from bitbroosher

Hi all,



Blasphemous Act is not as expensive as people think. Of course, you may think that 9 mana is alot, but at the time you use it, your opponent should have at least 4 creatures and you might have Augur of Bolas out... and that would cost the bargain of 4 mana (with 5 creatures on the battlefield). But we must be aware that most GW decks are using that spell that makes their creatures indestructible (forgot the name).

And I think we are underrating Chandra in a tapout control. Her Reverberate ability on a Barter in Blood can be devastating, for instance.

@Toonamiguy
I like your list alot (the tapout one). I was thinking something very close to your, but with the following changes:
-2 Tamiyo and +1 Chandra +1 Nicol Bolas (Nicol Bolas is a king... almost GG when it hits the table)
-2 Hipersonic Dragon +2 Barter in Blood (Thinking of Chandra + Barter in Blood)
-1 Swamp +1 Evolving Wilds (More mana fixing and shuffle for Augur of Bolas)

I miss snapcaster alot in a control deck. I can get double or triple value on a sorcery/instant with snappie and chandra.

Anyone tried the spell that gives -4/-0 with overload? Sounds a good spell to have, since it can buy some turns and protect our planeswalkers.

Regards,
bitbroosher.

The only problem with Chandra is that she does not provide much value by herself like other planeswalkers can. Sure she can pop an x/1 every turn but thats it. She has to have additional spells to make any more impact which means that playing her allows you're opponent to ignore her if he has sizeable creatures or if your hand is empty. Also that is why Tamiyo is the best PW we have access to in our colors. She only cares if it is Hexproof. She can provide RAW CA if you are desperate. If she goes ult, the game ends if you have a removal spell and/or counter. Also she isn't as ignorable as Chandra is. If you're opponent doesnt have lethal on the board already or at least in their hand, they can't simply go for your throat and ignore her. Otherwise you draw cards off their alpha, possibly draw what you need to stablize and do so.

I also disagree with Blasphamous Act. The best it will ever cost is 6 or 7 due to the fact that you have to assume your opp will know EXACTLY how much pressure he needs to apply. Sure it can blow out scrubs that overextend but then in that case any other wipe will do as well.

Quote from xjosh

I'm testing 4 at the moment as he is a 5 turn clock and hard to kill with this removal light in standard

I still wouldn't use him even with go for the throat and doomblade rotated. Dreadbore, tragic slip, o-ring, detention sphere, mizzium mortars and any large sweeperor sac effect still effectively deals with him with little to no fuss. If you are having good result with testing 4 of him then sweet, I might give it a try but until then I'll probably just stick to the only Hexproof threat we can land, Lone Revenant.

Quote from TheNoLifeKing

Well, how would you adjust it? Also, is 4 Jace too many?

Also, can I maybe get a breakdown to the advantages of grixis? I'm trying to decide if I really wanna play it. I'm interested in it, though.

Advantage wise it offers a varied amount of everything really.

Removal that is suited for various situations. You have burn to deal final points of lethal to a player, specialized burn/removal spells that can exile or prevent regen.

Obviously you have multiple sources of draw, whether it be looting style effects, hard draw, or cheap draw for life. To add you also have access to the only color that forces discard.

Also you're suite of efficient creatures cannot be ignored. Black has some of the best finishers around sometimes while blue has the best utility creatures. This is obviously red weakest contribution but even still they have some creatures they share colors with that are indeed very terrifying.

But the most important part in my opinion is this. You didnt really come here for the next big thing or a fancy pants control deck. You came here because you wanted to play the single most badass Planeswalker ever released. Nicol frigging Bolas.

Quote from Koloran

Seems decent BEFORE a Supreme Verdict. Locking down there best creature will naturally either draw the game out, or force them to commit more. Either case benefits you.

Unfortuntely that scenario depends more on the number of creatures on the board and the amount of health you have remaining.

Doing it before hand almost gives it away that you want to sweep next turn. If they have suitable board presence they can just stick to their guns and work on their hand. It's almost always preferable to just sweep then play this. Unless they have 2 or fewer. Then the play becomes obvious but then if they only had that many creatures, you were probably in a solid winning position. So far they haven't shown anything to turn the game sideways on it's head yet.

Quote from Exodite

If you're so sure of these things I suggest you try them out, mix it up with a few friends and see if permission control really is playable with these cards.

I'd be surprised if it were and I've already quantified why.

Given the Standard environment we have today I'd argue that both Mana Leak and Dissipate are better than Counterspell - though for different reasons.

The former is more suitable to tempo, being more splashable and screwing with the opponent's play calculations. The latter is very relevant in an environment with a lot of graveyard interactions and Snapcaster Mage.

The first thing I tried to build in the current Standard was a traditional UW control deck with permission and sweepers. It just didn't work.

MBC, post-M13, kinda worked but the more control cards I replaced with beaters the better the deck became.

As for sweepers I've seen DoJ played at the local FNM but it's been in various takes on planeswalker control rather than permission control and it's hardly been tier 1 material.

It comes down to this really, would said cards help you against Delver and Zombies - yay or nay? I'm saying nay.

Not saying I'm can't be wrong about it mind you, I just can't see a situation where it'd help.

Which has been the point all along, Martial Law is a good card but too slow for Standard in its current form.

Unfortunately it seems a lot of people lost sight of this fundamental point in their efforts to produce the best knee-jerk response to what they interpreted as "...Counterspell isn't good enough, needs MOAR control...".

I honestly do not believe you can put Force of Will in the same vein as counterspell and *** though. I understand your reservations about how capable they are as reactionary tools against aggresive/resilent aggro decks or how it seems tempo control can simply outclass you in the counter matchup while having a single devasting threat on the board but to say that FoW isn't effective enough to use b/c it provides card disadvantage seems nearsighted at best.

FoW is a card I would LOVE to have in the current meta. It would allow me to tap out against particular threats and then still have an out in the early game against OTHER threats I can't have resolving. For instance having to tap out to o-ring a messenger knowing you might get punished with an aristocrate or a sac into brimstone voller for 5 is brutal but if you dont stem the bleeding somehow, whats the point of even playing? FoW effectively as long as it is is your hand and youhave that blue spell you can pitch, you can overextend as control and still have an out. That would be HUGE in any meta, regardless of format.

Again I can understand what you mean with CS and *** but I cannot and will not agree with you on FoW.

Also I can see Martial Law being good to play after a sweeper. 4-6 sweepers between Supreme Verdict and terminus then drop this, force your opponent to overextend to get the dmg in. This Enchantment also allows you to leave mana open for counterspells, draw, and non creature interactions at the same time dealing with your opponent creatures in a manner akin to removal, i.e. preventing them from hurting you. I like this card a lot and may try it out in a U/W/R 'merica control style deck. Hardcore grindy like I like it.

Le sigh oh how I wished Mystic Retrieval was instant speed. THe first time I saw that card I flipped my **** thinking it was instant speed giving the tool control needed to be back breaking. Then I saw it was sorcery speed and died a little on the instead.

However with that being said....I do believe I just might test it out to see how it goes. Only one though.

I can't imagine it shines any better in the delver matchup then it would if it were a Curse of death's hold which is FAR superior.

You are saying a 6 drop artifact that deals a whopping 1 point of dmg per turn and draws you an extra card per turn is relevant in the delver matchup. I understand that it kills x/1s but that's it. It doesn't deal with angel, geist, or the blade splicer token. The card draw could possibly be relevant unless they represent lethal. This card just does NOT do enough to warrant a slot. Hell it barely warrants enough to bother with testing.

Decks play completely different against counter magic and against no counter magic. Forcing your opponent to slow down his plan in order to accomodate 3 extra mana sources is very important. Often times I will simply side out the mana leaks g2 and watch them play around them still. Which can buy me valuable time.

Besides I rather ramp play a t6 or t7 titan b/c they have to overcompensate for mana leak versus a t4 or t5 titan they know won't be countered.

Quote from synack

You're missing the point of playing the staff over rune-scarred/sphinx. The point it so counter the current meta and with Delver/Zombies/POD being the more dominant decks, cards like those mentioned don't really stand up well, since they just get snagged or removed, or you're dead before you get to play them.

The staff can't be the target of creature removal and it can't get snagged either. You still have to fight through mana-leak, but you have to do that with creatures too.

Having said all that, I'm probably going to drop the staffs for another pillar and arc trail. I've really liked the staff in the games I've played, but the games I've ended up losing was because I was too slow and had a staff in hand. If that staff had been a pillar or arc trail, it would have been a different story.

I could drop the Diabolic Revalation for a staff as the mana cost is pretty much the same, but the tutor is very nice for getting Nicky-B or Karn when I'm not drawing him and if it's the late game, I can get multiple cards I need on the spot. I could also try out Increasing Ambition, which serves the same purpose but is cheaper for 1 card, but more expensive for two.

I would never use a 6 drop, or higher for that matter, that doesn't simply win me the game or grab me the winning piece. There are too many creatures out there right now that simply end a game far more efficiently while impacting the board state much more dramatically.

Also Tutors are generally terrible cards by themselves unless they are instant speed, are cheap enough to allow you to play the card you are tutoring for during the same turn, or come with a relavent 6/6 flying body.

I would recommend removing both the staffs and the diabolic relevations for more relevant cards to the meta.

Quote from Captainmiles

Well, red brings you some excellent removal in this creature-heavy format. Pillar of Flame, Red Sun's Zenith, Slagstorm, Whipflare, Devil's Play, Gut Shot and a few other janky removal cards like Arc Trail and what have you.

You also get the benefit of playing Desolated Lighthouse, which is a great way to dig through your deck. Forbidden Alchemy is a great dig card, but you don't want too many. I use one in my deck (I'll post it and FNM results later). Lighthouse does most of my digging.

You can also, if you so choose, use Inferno Titan or Zealous Conscripts (in the board). They're not the best but they work in some builds, I guess.

The big--maybe biggest--reason to play red (besides...you know...the fact that it's part of Grixis) is to power up your deck's secret weapon, Olivia Voldaren. What? You mean Nicol Bolas is not our best card? Bolas is a beast, but he's not often landed for more than a turn, if at all.

By the way, I think Bonfire is a terrible card for this deck. As a control deck, we are typically more reactionary. Our job is to anticipate, manipulate, and own the game. Waiting for a miracle just doesn't cut it when you need to clear the board. By the time you can hard-cast Bonfire for any damage worth a damn, you should already have the upper hand. It's only good to play against aggro decks, and we're not worried about them with the rest of our removal suite.

Just as a note, I do not often lose to Esper control, UW control, or Solar Flare-type decks with my Grixis deck. It could have a lot to do with it not being a typical "contender" in competitive arenas, but I'd like to think that it has more to do with the deck just being good.

I feel like I have to disagree with you in regards to bonfire. The reason why bonfire is so important, almost vital, is CMC to CMC it is atm the most effective sweeper we have pre T-6. Obviously you notice that I say before turn 6 and that is for multiple reasons. Life's Finale obviously becomes the better sweeper at T-6, whipflare has it at t2 and slagstorm wins at t3 but thats it. None of them are flexible in the current state of the deck so they remain static at those turns. Bonfire however has the ability to be very flexible at any turn pre t6 to remove anything x/4. Also the fact that it is one sided cannot be ignored.

That being said, I have gone down to one bonfire due to the fact that I hate drawing it on turns that demand other actions to be at the ready. And depending on additional testing I may just move it to strictly Naya Mid Range Status.

Quote from airgaps

Hi all.. I have been considering running a mana leak-less list..Leak has been under performing lately. and woudl rather run an answer.

On another issue: I was thinking of the reason for running red. I mean we could as well run white.. slagstorm --> Day of Judgement for a cheap sweeper. There is no equivalent for pillar of flame..true.. but if the zombies are the problem then celestial purge is even better. Celestial purge even get rids of opposing Liliana's, etc.

True..post rotation there will be no Day of Judgment and we will have to return to red and play rolling temblor..but in the current meta...white seems strictly better. We could even have some way of generating a single red for Nicol..if one decides to play it. Am I missing something?

There is no reason to run a mana leak-less build. Mana leak is one of the most powerful cards in the format currently. Hell even wizards admits that Mana leak in the current ideal MTG world is a far too powerful relic of a by-gone era. Caverns obviously can hurt using mana leak but only against tribal builds. Then at that point you just side them out for more removal that they cannot handle. Even then every deck has targets that you would MUCH rather mana leak then try to straight up remove as well as your opponent will not always have Cavern.

Red VS White has both their advantages and disadvantages. White has better sweepers but a weaker game against undying. White can deal with non-creature permanents better but is stuck to the titans as their win con against aggro versus Olivia. Most of the differences are minute. The biggest one however is desolate lighthouse. That card alone wins games.

So far with the current draw sutie I have being 3/3/1 ponder/think twice/forbidden alchemy and 2 desolate lighthouses, I have been mana screwed oncein nearly a month o playing.

Quote from kensanity

could u give some general sideboard decisions? Like u bring batterksull in but what did u side out? What matchups do you week your mainboard has a great win rate against?

I've tried the list have except 1 more Olivia, no tamiyo and a few smaller changes and games I win i win off the strength of midgame Olivia. i surely misplayed a few matches as well. wish u could see a more skilled player pilot this against different archetypes so i can get a feel of when to hold back for counterspells or when tks.be aggressive in casting

Batterskull comes in against anything aggro and sometimes against control. Having Lifelink and being a recurrable threat is pretty awesome. I dont have it mainboard though because I don't want my opponent to prepare for it. With it sideboard the best they can do is anticipate it and bring in hate for it just in case.

Surgical comes in for control matchups. Sole purpose is to either remove counters from the deck or peek into their hand. Information is KEY in that matchup.

Gutshot and dismember are for infect, aggro, and ramp. The extra removal to deal with early turn threats are a big deal.

The Liliana is to increase my sacrifice effects to 4 against infect.

The 3rd curse is testing to see if I need to have 3 against aggro or infect. Still testing.

Ratchet bombs are obviously for tokens.

The key to learning when to push spells hard or sit back and hold stuff is to learn how your opponent is playing. Some people just play things out and you can pretty much guide them to their own defeat. Others you just need to think one or two moves ahead. If you are trying to play around counters, drop threats accordingly. Like I will drop a Liliana to see if hey have either the counter, or resto, or o-ring. IF they counter they may not have the o-ring or angel to deal with it. IF they let it resolve they are either going to play the angel to deal with her or they will o-ring on their turn. If they o-ring, batterskull will more then likely resolve b/c they didn't have a counter which in turn makes the resto angel slightly worse b/c batterskull can trade easily.

Quote from airgaps

I only play online and I see delver a lot .... I see your point with the talisman being a dead draw in late game.. however... drawing one in early game is very good. In the delver matchup I think it is very important. I cannot count the times it has given extra life for a bunch of turns that had gotten me back into the game vs delver. I feel it is necessary because they do have ways of 'instantly' adding damage or dropping creatures, etc. And it provides nice accel into curse and life's finale.

Regarding the card draw suite.. I have been trying 2 ponder 2 think twice 3 alchemy. While alchemy can be a beast... I have had issues revealing two win conditions..and some needed answer .. I just hate that. I will try the 3/3/1 proposed draw suit and see how it goes. Has anyone tried blue sun zenith..I remember it being awesome in the SOM block meta? I realize it is UUU.. but it is an awesome mid-late game draw engine..maybe as a single copy? It also doubles as a win condition to deck the control opponent.

Congrats to all for the the nice FNM results..and good luck in game day ! =)

Again even if you draw the talisman early, which arguably is the only time you want to, you can offset the lifegain/dmg incurred with a removal spell. Say for instance you draw it t3 and play it. You're opponent hits you for 3 dmg and you kill the delver next turn. In two more turns that life gain from talisman will offset the dmg you took.

Now replace that talisman with a removal spell. THey declare attackers and you kill it in response. Now you prevented the dmg from ever happening.

In the end it's up to the player and their style. Personally I want threats and spells that are problematic for my opponent at all stages of the game.

Quote from wie2323

Regarding the Bonfire, that's basically the sole reason why I removed them in my list and went for Life's Finale. I actually use Havengul Lich in my deck and it seems pretty good but not that good. Just a good synergy with LF since it feeds a creature target. I'm surprised you used Ponder instead of the usual Desperate Raving/Think Twice. My LGS doesn't run any token decks(i think), what would you replace in that 3-of Ratchet Bomb in your SB if ever you're not up against tokens?

The only thing about trying to go up to Life's Finale is that it comes way later in the game. Sometimes you just need a early game sweeper. I might put in another slagstorm but bonfire is still really amazing since it only hits one side.

I did like Havengul Lich, but he didnt seem to have the board impact that Olivia had and I'm not putting a 3rd olivia in. Also I want a more diverse creature spread with him to fully abuse him but I'm tight on that space and I like the 3 snapcasters.

I'm completely sold on a 3/3/1 ponder/think twice/forbidden alchemy spilt. I sincerely think it's the best draw suite with desolate lighthouse to pick up the slack. I will not play ravings b/c you discard a card at random and discarding a card at random is very bad for any deck and simply not worth it. Ponder allows for much more powerful setups and can change the look of a t1 hand while drawing you a card. There is a reason why it is banned in 2 different formats and restricted in another, the other being one of the most powerful formats in the game. I will be VERY sad to watch it rotate and sincerely hope we get something just as good...and no not index, it doesn't draw you a card.

To replace the Ratchet Bombs, put in something that helps your worst matchup, more negates for control, surgical extraction for delver and other control builds, vile rebirth for undying, dismembers/gutshots for mana dorks or infect, some Phantasmal Images for Legendary guys. It's whatever you need to shore up your matches against the decks that are giving you a hard time.

Quote from Mordok

Curious, why no Pristine Talisman in the last couple of posted lists? You mention getting to low single digit life totals, and it seems to be pretty clutch in a lot of other lists.

B/c Pristine Talisman is a terrible topdeck and I try to avoid putting in cards that are a terrible topdeck in this list in particular. This build of control really can't afford to hit bad topdecks, everything has to do something, it has to affect the boardstate in a manner that puts the opponent on tilt. Besides as a control deck, getting down to low life isn't much of a concern, our 20 health is merely an extension of us versus a reality of defeat. We aren't concerned with taking dmg here and there. Hell I've gone done to one life and won the game three turns later. In the end it doesn't matter how much life you have, for control the game ends once we secure control and thats what I did each time. I knew they could have had burn so I always kept mana open for it just in case, never tapping out enough to allow them to sneak it in. Grinds out the game longer but you don't want to get blown out. Also I have two batterskull in the side to punish aggro even more. A resolved batterskull just ends it for aggro unless they already had the game on lock.

Another good FNM tonight going 4-0-1. Still played the 5th round because I wanted to play my friends R/W/U tapout. Get wrecked on hard due to fatal misplays on my part. Playing around counter spells that don't exist is really painful. We played for the odd pack since we knew we were getting 1st and 2nd. Had a damn thragtusk in it..... Still, in games actually played I went 4-0 with no game losses.

Current Match Record: 17-2-1
Current Game Record: 35-9-1



Played B/W tokens, B/R aggro, B/R vampires, U/G infect, and U/W/R tapout.

Got my revenge on the infect deck. The added tribute was REALLY crucial game 1 as I was able to play it and snapcaster it back. Game 2 was sealed by a resolved Curse of Death's Hold.

Both B/R decks got me down to 4 and 3 in G1. Sadly I was able to stabilize with tamiyo going ULT and me having a hard counter in hand with a removal spell.

B/W tokens saw Olivia and ratchet bombs. Never had a chance.

Overall: I can feel it. Sooooo close to finished for good and I can work on another project on the side. Curse was a HUGE addition. Wrecks every relevant aggro match and makes it completely one sided.

The draw suite randomly got changed somehow....still don't know how. Needs to go back to 3 Think Twice. I felt a lot of times I should have had a think twice in hand but had nothing.

1 Liliana felt perfect. She came around when she needed to and with the 1 tribute I had 3 sac outs.

I know that a spilt of Go for the throat and Doomblade looks good but there were WAY too many black/x decks for it to stay MD. Probably be getting changed to the 3rd think twice.

The one Havengul Lich wasn't that great. It made for silly shenanigans with snapcaster and could effectively end a game by himself but I feel like I need something else. Something with built in protection would be nice. I may test him out for another FNM but I may drop him for something with Hexproof.

The Bonfires were iffy this week. I REALLY hate drawing them when i can't effectively use them. The double x makes it way too mana ineffecient. I really want something like Day of Judgement....

All in all it's VERY close to perfect for me. Just a few more tweaks and it should be fine. The Sideboard is definately getting changed though. I sacrificed a lot of ability to combat control decks for the ability to wreck on aggro. Big mistake. Aside from that, still an awesome deck to play. Had tons of fun. Can't wait for a big tourney to hit somewhere close to here so I can try it out there.

Added note: I will be out of town all next week. Hitting up the beach so I will not be able to play in next week's FNM. But I will definately get some playtesting in since one of the guys I'm going with plays magic. Hopefully I have some time to playtest a bit. Probably going to be more concerned with other things though.

Quote from airgaps

Hi all,

First post after a looong stop. So I have some T2 cards and put a grixis deck together. I decided to use the AVR + M13 lands but will most likely change the base to include SOM and M12 lands as well. Modulo the mana base I have been struggling with a couple of choices:

Sweepers: So I was originally using 1 BSZ + 1 Life's finale which is very good. However, sometimes BSZ cannot sweep the whole board after mono green puts a beast in play. So I switched to 2 Life's finale. LF has other nice applciatiosn in other matchups..such as sending to gy certain troublesome creatures (again it shines in the mono G matchup and even zombies).My sweepers look then like :
2 whipflare
2 slagstorm
2 life's finale.

Spot removal. I figured that the delver matchup requires some cheap removal not counting ways to get rid of the geist) My suit:
1 GftT
1 murder
1 tribute to hunger
1 doom blade
2 pillar
1 devils play (maybe red sun zenith?)

my drawing suit is just a split between 2 ponder 2 think twice and 3 alchemy which has worked nice for me.

Wincons I guess I am pretty much with everyone: olivia tamiyo wurmcoil karn nicol
(liliana in sb)

The rest is the 3 x (manaleak + snapcaster suit + pristines) ---for accel and good all life gain. In testing I prefer to accel this way than playing the lotus.

Since I am really new to the format I was wondering if you guys could give me some pointers regarding card choices (for Md and SB) vs the most popular matchups, namely delver, mono G and zombies.

Thanks in advance. G

Haven't had a chance to play against Delver. My meta is relatively subpar in skill level so people tend to steer away from control decks and the sort.

Mono green is easy as long as they do not have rancor. Pretty much pray they dont hit the t2 dungrove if they are on the play and counter only the dungroves....unless they go nuclear with prime titans. Without Dungrove Mono-green fails.

Zombies can be tricky depending on what version it is. I've played against mono-black and B/R. Pretty much save pillars for GM unless you have a leak in hand. Sideboard should include more removal in the nature of gutshots and dismembers. If you overwhelm them with removal and successfully hand a tamiyo or nicol, you pretty much just straight up win.