So I had another pretty good showing with Kithkin at my local weekly Modern tourney.
Round 1 = Beat Junk 2-1. Not much to say here. Their problem creatures (Goyf and Bob) are easily taken care of by Path/Bolt/Ajani. Lingering Souls is kind of annoying but thankfully our Spectral tokens are bigger than theirs when Honor is on the field. I won Game 1 via Spectral + Windbrisk activation -> Honor. Game 2 I was overwhelmed by Goyfs despite a late Blood Moon to shut off his manlands. I was too far in the hole at that point. Game 3 was much of the same of Game 1. Fairly easy matchup imo.
Round 2 = Beat G/W Hatebears 2-0. I was told that this was a tough matchup, but I didn't really get that impression. Game 1 I ran him over. Game 2 was much closer and was very grindy. He eventually frustrates my mana with the Ghost Quarter/Path/Arbiter/Mindcensor lock, and he even morphs a red Akroma then flickers it with Resto. Not sure how I win this. I land a third creature (have 2 Knights and a Cenn in play now), then activate Windbrisk to cast a second Cenn and sneak in exactly lethal.
Round 3 = Lost to Kiki Pod(?) 0-2. Game 1 I had lethal on board but he combos off while I have a Bolt in hand but he has Spellskite in play. Bummer. Game 2 I again had lethal on board but he topdecks a Resto Angel to ambush my two attackers (he had a Glen Elendra in play). I can't recover. He admits afterwards that he saw my last round and knew I had access to Blood Moon so he sideboarded accordingly (he ended up blowing up my Blood Moon with that new green guy from M15), and also admitted that Resto was his only out in Game 2. Sucks, but that happens sometimes. This was a rougher match than the prior two.
I ended up dropping before the final round, as 3-1 doesn't typically pay out well and it was getting late. Still, another solid showing. I feel comfortable against the fair, aggro/midrange decks. There are still a few slots in the main and in the side I'm tweaking, but I'm hoping to reach a final list soon.
Thanks for all the responses! I can see how Cobra being fragile can cause issues, and I seem to recall Cobra hands that were shattered when Cobra wouldn't stick back when this deck was Standard legal. With Hierarch/Birds, though, we can still ramp into Sovereigns albeit a tad slower. Cobra, while greatly speeding up the deck's powerful start, isn't crucial to the deck's overall success imo. Geist turn 2 is still really good. I like Cap'n Nick's list, though I would swap Goyf for Geist and I'm not sure about Snapcaster.
I see what you're trying to do. I think that devotes a lot of space to the aura engine (and would likely require more auras than just Conscription), but that's not particularly the route I'm trying to go. I appreciate your input and welcome and discussion regarding your route as well.
Hello all. I wasn't sure if there was another thread dedicated to what used to be a fairly dominant Standard archetype a few years back, but I decided to create one regardless. I feel that in the current modern environment that much of the card pool is very powerful, and the deck itself has the potential for very explosive turns. I'm a little concerned about the Twin matchup pre-board, but we can address any questions or concerns as they arise.
Sideboard is up in the air, but it would likely contain some cards to help battle Twin and Combo. I don't think the aggro matchups should be an issue, as our creatures will typically outclass anything our opponents throw at us. Blood Moon could be an issue if we don't have mana guys/Cobra in play, but at least we have a few basics.
Let's get the ball rolling! This deck was a blast to play in Standard, so let the discussion begin!
Thanks guys. The best part is that nobody took me seriously when I dropped a Stalwart turn 1. A few people even had to read the cards. There really isn't a better feeling than activating a Windbrisk before blockers are declared to Path an opposing Tarmogoyf and getting in with all your creatures.
The sideboard is still a work in progress, and I wasn't too thrilled with how Brave the Elements performed in the main deck. I'm thinking of swapping them out with 2 Burrenton Forge-Tender. That will provide protection against red, especially Anger of the Gods, while also acting as a beater w/Cenn and/or Honor in play.
Round 1: Jund.
I lost a very close game 1 to Thrun. He had a timely Anger of the Gods and seemed to have all the right removal at just the right time. It wasn't lopsided by any means, but he was able to close it out.
Games 2 and 3 I overwhelm him early, and Jund has a very hard time dealing with Spectral Procession tokens given that most of their removal looks to 1-for-1 (aside from Anger). Blood Moon and Rest in Peace (to shrink Goyfs) out of the board were helpful. In Game 3 he landed Thrun again but he was no match for my 2 6/6 Figures.
2-1, 1-0
Round 2: Jund.
I win game 1 in about 4 turns. Stalwart -> Knight -> Cenn -> Honor while he's playing tapped Shocks will typically always end in our favor. Not much of a game.
Out: same as round 1. In: same as round 1.
He opens with Inquisition and takes my Blood Moon. Thalia does a decent enough job acting as a pseudo-Blood Moon slowing down his removal. Spectral tokens once again come up big. This match seemed easier after having played against what was likely the same exact 75 the round prior.
2-0, 2-0
Round 3: Mono-Blue Ninja/Bear/Delver
This deck was interesting. It basically looked to have a creature (hopefully Snapcaster Mage) go unblocked so that he could Ninjitsu a Ninja and draw a card while also bouncing his Snappy back to his hand. His Delvers never flipped since he didn't have much library manipulation, so they didn't pose much of an issue. His creatures rarely went unblocked because they were all bears and my creatures were almost always larger. Game 1 I literally rode a Knight all the way to victory. It was pretty crazy.
Slow start for him, while I was out of the gates quickly. In fact, he was so desperate that he was hardcasting his Ninjas (I had Paths/Bolts waiting for them) and also countering my Stalwarts. Not good for him. This game lasted about 5 minutes tops. This felt like a very easy matchup. Cryptic tapping down the team was annoying, but it only delayed the inevitable because his clock was so slow.
2-0, 3-0.
Round 4: Intentional draw with the other 3-0 to split the prize pool.
0-0-3, 3-0-1.
All in all, I felt very confident with the deck. I've piloted Kithkin since it was Standard legal, so I'd like to think my play mistakes were few in numbers. Nobody really took the deck seriously, and it ended up costing them. Nobody really comes prepared for white weenie, so I was able to capitalize. We'll see if anyone plans accordingly for next week's tournament. Like I said, the only current change I'm considering in the main is swapping the Braves out for Forge-Tenders. In the side I may make a few changes based upon this week's meta. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Well, believe it or not I won a local weekly Modern event with Kithkin. Beat Jund in the first two rounds and mono blue Ninja/Bear/Delver in round 3. Split the finals with the other 3-0. Let me know if you care to see my decklist and sideboard strategies.
Anyone else been tinkering around with this deck lately? I haven't had time to play recently but am going to start attending a weekly Modern tournament at a new store near my apartment. I still like the red splash.
Glad you decided to add Spectral. Coupled with Honor of the Pure it's amazing. I'll definitely have to try the Nykthos. Also, I've been thinking of cutting my 2 Mutavaults for Tectonic Edges as I feel they would be more effective against problem manlands (Colonnade), Valakut, etc.
My current build is not what is in the opening post; it can be found in post #9. I would likely want to run 2 Forge Tenders in the side, but I'm liking Stalwarts as a 4-of in the main.
Glad you came around on Honor. I originally had Cloudgoat as a 2-of, but have since cut him. I may rethink this because Nykthos seems awesome on paper. How many are you currently testing?
The Honors work great in my build because of the Spectral Procession tokens. I just figure most White Weenie lists would require an auto 4-of Honor of the Pure, but whatever works for you! Verdict is a problem, yes, but in my build I have Planeswalkers, and particularly cards like Ranger of Eos that can help you in recovering from board wipes. I think Boros Charm is worth testing for sure. I'll probably add it to my sideboard for this week's tournament.
Tentative sideboard at the moment:
3x Blood Moon
2x Boros Charm
1x Brave the Elements
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2x Stony Silence
2x Rest in Peace
3x Combust
Hey! So glad to have another person contribute to this thread.
I've had pretty good success against top tier decks so far with limited testing/tournament play. I plan on playing in the weekly Modern event again at my LGS, so hopefully I'll have more of a report this time. Since I am splashing red I've also considered adding Boros Charm. I already run 4 Bolt, so a burn-out strategy could be viable if a bit of extra reach is needed.
How has Militia's Pride been for you? I've always thought it might be a bit too slow on paper, but haven't really tested with it. Also, you don't want 4x Honor of the Pure? I think that's pretty crucial to be honest. Just my take, though - I've played this deck with great success for years but I'm by no means an expert.
So I took the list in my last post to a local weekly Modern event, except I ran a second Ajani because I only had 2 Ranger of Eos. Ajani was actually amazing, and I'll probably be keeping him as a 2-of.
Round 1 - RUW control. My friend told me prior to the match that this matchup is literally unwinnable for me, as RUW runs seemingly infinite counters/removal and has Sphinx's Revelation. He won game 1 pretty handily, and seemed a bit amused at my deck. Game 2 I won off an activated Windbrisk flipping over a Vengeant and me Helixing for the win. Game 3 was a super close game, but I got there again with Ajani, this time keeping a Colonnade tapped down while my Spirit tokens flew over for the kill.
Round 2 - Jund. I won game 1 in about 4 turns, which prompted my opponent to say "WTF just happened?!?" afterwards. Game 2 was a close one, but I couldn't overcome a Thrun. Game 3 was even closer. I had him down to 5 and he had a Bob in play, but Bob kept flipping lands for about 6 straight turns. I resolved a Spectral Procession with an Honor of the Pure already in play, threatening lethal the following turn, but he flipped another land off Bob and drew an Anger of the Gods for his turn. :/ I can't recover and he takes it.
I ended up dropping after this to get food, but I was extremely pleased at how well Kithkin performed against 2 tier 1 decks. I am going to play around with my mana base a bit and incorporate the Blood Moon sideboard strategy, and that would've really helped against both decks I faced.
So I finally sleeved up this deck and tested it against a good friend of mine who was running the Tier 1 Junk midrange deck. Kithkin actually performed much better than I thought it would, and the list I ended up running with could be competitive in a local setting with a few more testing and some tweaking.
I haven't thought up a sideboard yet, but I'll likely ditch the Blood Moon idea now that I'm making a bigger splash for red. I will still include Combust in the side, but I'm not sure what else to have in the board until I know what the local metagame is like. The deck is very quick and the addition of Bolt was huge.
Any discussion on the deck or general sideboard card options is much appreciated.
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Round 1 = Beat Junk 2-1. Not much to say here. Their problem creatures (Goyf and Bob) are easily taken care of by Path/Bolt/Ajani. Lingering Souls is kind of annoying but thankfully our Spectral tokens are bigger than theirs when Honor is on the field. I won Game 1 via Spectral + Windbrisk activation -> Honor. Game 2 I was overwhelmed by Goyfs despite a late Blood Moon to shut off his manlands. I was too far in the hole at that point. Game 3 was much of the same of Game 1. Fairly easy matchup imo.
Round 2 = Beat G/W Hatebears 2-0. I was told that this was a tough matchup, but I didn't really get that impression. Game 1 I ran him over. Game 2 was much closer and was very grindy. He eventually frustrates my mana with the Ghost Quarter/Path/Arbiter/Mindcensor lock, and he even morphs a red Akroma then flickers it with Resto. Not sure how I win this. I land a third creature (have 2 Knights and a Cenn in play now), then activate Windbrisk to cast a second Cenn and sneak in exactly lethal.
Round 3 = Lost to Kiki Pod(?) 0-2. Game 1 I had lethal on board but he combos off while I have a Bolt in hand but he has Spellskite in play. Bummer. Game 2 I again had lethal on board but he topdecks a Resto Angel to ambush my two attackers (he had a Glen Elendra in play). I can't recover. He admits afterwards that he saw my last round and knew I had access to Blood Moon so he sideboarded accordingly (he ended up blowing up my Blood Moon with that new green guy from M15), and also admitted that Resto was his only out in Game 2. Sucks, but that happens sometimes. This was a rougher match than the prior two.
I ended up dropping before the final round, as 3-1 doesn't typically pay out well and it was getting late. Still, another solid showing. I feel comfortable against the fair, aggro/midrange decks. There are still a few slots in the main and in the side I'm tweaking, but I'm hoping to reach a final list soon.
Keep up the discussion!
Sample decklist that I created:
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Geist of St. Traft
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Sovereigns of Lost Alara
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Cryptic Command
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Eldrazi Conscription
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Arid Mesa
3 Temple Garden
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
2 Forest
1 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Gavony Township
1 Sejiri Steppe
Sideboard is up in the air, but it would likely contain some cards to help battle Twin and Combo. I don't think the aggro matchups should be an issue, as our creatures will typically outclass anything our opponents throw at us. Blood Moon could be an issue if we don't have mana guys/Cobra in play, but at least we have a few basics.
Let's get the ball rolling! This deck was a blast to play in Standard, so let the discussion begin!
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Wizened Cenn
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Brave the Elements
4 Arid Mesa
3 Marsh Flats
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Windbrisk Heights
2 Mutavault
5 Plains
Sideboard:
The sideboard is still a work in progress, and I wasn't too thrilled with how Brave the Elements performed in the main deck. I'm thinking of swapping them out with 2 Burrenton Forge-Tender. That will provide protection against red, especially Anger of the Gods, while also acting as a beater w/Cenn and/or Honor in play.
Round 1: Jund.
I lost a very close game 1 to Thrun. He had a timely Anger of the Gods and seemed to have all the right removal at just the right time. It wasn't lopsided by any means, but he was able to close it out.
Out: 4 Cenn, 2 Ajani, 1 Spectral, 1 Stalwart. In: 3 Thalia, 3 Blood Moon, 2 Rest in Peace.
Games 2 and 3 I overwhelm him early, and Jund has a very hard time dealing with Spectral Procession tokens given that most of their removal looks to 1-for-1 (aside from Anger). Blood Moon and Rest in Peace (to shrink Goyfs) out of the board were helpful. In Game 3 he landed Thrun again but he was no match for my 2 6/6 Figures.
2-1, 1-0
Round 2: Jund.
I win game 1 in about 4 turns. Stalwart -> Knight -> Cenn -> Honor while he's playing tapped Shocks will typically always end in our favor. Not much of a game.
Out: same as round 1. In: same as round 1.
He opens with Inquisition and takes my Blood Moon. Thalia does a decent enough job acting as a pseudo-Blood Moon slowing down his removal. Spectral tokens once again come up big. This match seemed easier after having played against what was likely the same exact 75 the round prior.
2-0, 2-0
Round 3: Mono-Blue Ninja/Bear/Delver
This deck was interesting. It basically looked to have a creature (hopefully Snapcaster Mage) go unblocked so that he could Ninjitsu a Ninja and draw a card while also bouncing his Snappy back to his hand. His Delvers never flipped since he didn't have much library manipulation, so they didn't pose much of an issue. His creatures rarely went unblocked because they were all bears and my creatures were almost always larger. Game 1 I literally rode a Knight all the way to victory. It was pretty crazy.
Out: 2 Ajani, 4 Cenn, 2 Brave. In: 3 Combust, 3 Thalia, 2 Rest in Peace.
Slow start for him, while I was out of the gates quickly. In fact, he was so desperate that he was hardcasting his Ninjas (I had Paths/Bolts waiting for them) and also countering my Stalwarts. Not good for him. This game lasted about 5 minutes tops. This felt like a very easy matchup. Cryptic tapping down the team was annoying, but it only delayed the inevitable because his clock was so slow.
2-0, 3-0.
Round 4: Intentional draw with the other 3-0 to split the prize pool.
0-0-3, 3-0-1.
All in all, I felt very confident with the deck. I've piloted Kithkin since it was Standard legal, so I'd like to think my play mistakes were few in numbers. Nobody really took the deck seriously, and it ended up costing them. Nobody really comes prepared for white weenie, so I was able to capitalize. We'll see if anyone plans accordingly for next week's tournament. Like I said, the only current change I'm considering in the main is swapping the Braves out for Forge-Tenders. In the side I may make a few changes based upon this week's meta. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Glad you came around on Honor. I originally had Cloudgoat as a 2-of, but have since cut him. I may rethink this because Nykthos seems awesome on paper. How many are you currently testing?
Tentative sideboard at the moment:
3x Blood Moon
2x Boros Charm
1x Brave the Elements
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2x Stony Silence
2x Rest in Peace
3x Combust
Something like that.
I've had pretty good success against top tier decks so far with limited testing/tournament play. I plan on playing in the weekly Modern event again at my LGS, so hopefully I'll have more of a report this time. Since I am splashing red I've also considered adding Boros Charm. I already run 4 Bolt, so a burn-out strategy could be viable if a bit of extra reach is needed.
How has Militia's Pride been for you? I've always thought it might be a bit too slow on paper, but haven't really tested with it. Also, you don't want 4x Honor of the Pure? I think that's pretty crucial to be honest. Just my take, though - I've played this deck with great success for years but I'm by no means an expert.
Looking forward to exchanging some ideas!
Round 1 - RUW control. My friend told me prior to the match that this matchup is literally unwinnable for me, as RUW runs seemingly infinite counters/removal and has Sphinx's Revelation. He won game 1 pretty handily, and seemed a bit amused at my deck. Game 2 I won off an activated Windbrisk flipping over a Vengeant and me Helixing for the win. Game 3 was a super close game, but I got there again with Ajani, this time keeping a Colonnade tapped down while my Spirit tokens flew over for the kill.
Round 2 - Jund. I won game 1 in about 4 turns, which prompted my opponent to say "WTF just happened?!?" afterwards. Game 2 was a close one, but I couldn't overcome a Thrun. Game 3 was even closer. I had him down to 5 and he had a Bob in play, but Bob kept flipping lands for about 6 straight turns. I resolved a Spectral Procession with an Honor of the Pure already in play, threatening lethal the following turn, but he flipped another land off Bob and drew an Anger of the Gods for his turn. :/ I can't recover and he takes it.
I ended up dropping after this to get food, but I was extremely pleased at how well Kithkin performed against 2 tier 1 decks. I am going to play around with my mana base a bit and incorporate the Blood Moon sideboard strategy, and that would've really helped against both decks I faced.
This is the maindeck I went with:
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Wizened Cenn
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
3 Ranger of Eos
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Brave the Elements
4 Arid Mesa
3 Marsh Flats
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Mutavault
5 Plains
I haven't thought up a sideboard yet, but I'll likely ditch the Blood Moon idea now that I'm making a bigger splash for red. I will still include Combust in the side, but I'm not sure what else to have in the board until I know what the local metagame is like. The deck is very quick and the addition of Bolt was huge.
Any discussion on the deck or general sideboard card options is much appreciated.