MTG Salvation

Hey congrats! Was wondering who on here that was. Your Infect match just looked like a tough break. What was left in your hand in game 2?

I had a couple wisps that I couldn't cast. Invigorate was his only out at the end there.

I had to mull my first hand in game two because cavern doesn't make white. I didn't realize he was on infect going into the match, and my keep was fine game one for most other matchups. Zero removal though. Infect can be a dream crusher.

@AntiquatedNotion, Congrats! Care to show your list?

I went 3-3 and then dropped to start the 4-5 hour drive home since it was a 9 round event. Pairings were pretty unfavorable (the day started with Omni, Lands, Lands, Infect), but I've got some great stories from the event that I'll write about. List felt amazing.

@AntiquatedNotion
Nice job! Look forward to digging up your list on MTGTop8.com, and of course, any highlights from your matches and card/overall build assessments.

Sorry I didn't see you guys there, I got my event days switched and could not go because Sunday was my beloved's birthday and I had already scheduled events. Talk about who has priority...!

Went 3-3 drop yesterday at EE as well.

Wins were Maverick, Lands, Miracles.


Losses were Shardless, Miracles, and Elves.


I'd write a report if anyone was interested.

@Cherboi
Of course. We need all the feedback we can get from actual tournaments this early in rebuilding DnT in fundamental ways.

Sorry - this didn't trigger a notification for me.

The thought is that non-basic lands have the potential to be a liability - especially when we're going up to more 3 drops or double W cost spells. And sometimes it being legendary inflames that further.

Also, the decks that we used to justify 3-4 Karakas back in the day are on a low (Sneak Show), have become a better matchup (Lands) or are using other targets other than legendary creatures (Reanimator).

I personally like 3, given Thalia tricks and what not, but I can see the merits in shaving 1.

Here's the list I top 8'd Eternal Extravaganza with. I want to preface this by saying that I have not played much magic at all since the release of our new toys in Conspiracy, so I leaned more closely on the list I'd been having success with pre-Conspiracy that had 3x THC, 2x Serra, and 2x Mirran in the main. I won one bye to EE a few weeks ago with that list + the singleton Prelate I owned at the time in the side...my only tournament since Conspiracy.

I toyed around with dropping THC entirely the night before to make room for a couple Prelates and Recruiters main - more in line with a lot of you guys have done. I think it's a card you play either three or none of, but ultimately decided to go with a more familiar list that had access to Prelate in game one.



Round 1 : BYE

Round 2 : 2-0 vs RUG Delver on the draw
This was an on camera feature match, and I think I played loosely in game one, but came out ahead with a Jitte. In game two, I Pathed a Delver while accepting a hit from a Goyf knowing that I had RIP and two Wisps in hand. I knew he'd play out the Stifle he revealed off the Delver flip, and one of my Wisps would be able to reset it. He had drawn another Goyf, and that was that.

Round 3 : 2-1 vs White Eldrazi on the draw
I took game one, and nothing he played revealed him to be on the white build. He mulled a couple times into a Chalice that blanked Mom, STP, and Vial which really set me back. Thought-knot bashed me a couple times, but I was able to fight through it as that was all he had. In game two, he led with Mimic into two Displacers which made my life difficult very quickly, and the game didn't last much longer. Game three is the most interesting one. I have a Batterskull (hit him once), Mystic, and Wisp on board against Thought-Knot (stole my Jitte), Reshaper, and Mimic. I put SoFaI into play off Mystic, and only have the mana to equip once. Weary of Dismember leaving Batterskull high and dry, I put it on the Wisp and swing in with both. Batterskull is Dismembered (I knew it!), and Wisp connects and shoots the Mimic. He gets a Jitte on board, but can't connect - Thought-Knot eats a Plow, and I swing in with Wisp (holding Mystic back) while Reshaper is tapped to shoot it to present lethal the following turn. Mystic doesn't attack in case Reshaper finds a Mimic or another Reshaper and he has a Smasher in hand since I'm at 6.

Round 4 : 2-0 vs Stoneblade on the play
This was an off camera feature match. Game one was Thalia into Thalia into game over. I remember Recruiter fetching up a couple Wisps in game two. I ended both these games at 21 life.

Round 5 : 2-0 vs Sneak/Show on the draw
In game one, I pressure him some forcing him to Sneak out Griselbrand into Karakas to draw 7 cards, however he doesn't find enough.
In game two, he forced a couple things - Thalia and Canonist I believe. Went for Show and Tell. He drops Omni I drop Revoker on Griselbrand. His hand is pretty much depleted. He Ponders a couple times and gets a Sneak down while my Mom and Revoker beat on him. I get another Revoker on Sneak (after having wasted his red source), and he fails to draw an out.

Round 6 : 1-2 vs Eldrazi on the draw
Another off camera feature match. Game one is summarized by too many Thought-Knots. Big Thalia and Wasteland wreck game two. And game three is nightmare. I have a Plow or Path for 2x Thought-Knot + an Endbringer. I fight as best I can with THC, Wisp, Karakas, and Vial and soon after Gideon. He gets another Thought-Knot. And a Ratchet Bomb to force back Thalia and kill Wisp + keep my SoFai useless in hand. A Smasher comes into play tapped from THC. Another Ratchet bomb kills my tokens, and a second Smasher hits.

Round 7 : 2-1 vs Miracles on the draw
In game one, I didn't see Vial or Cavern, and the early counterbalance lock was established. I run some things at him to get some more information on his build and concede the game. Game two, I keep a hand with one land (wasteland), and 2x Vial. It takes a LONG time for me to see another land, however both Vials stick, and I'm able to establish good board presence. At one point, a Wisp comes into rescue Vial from Wear/Tear, however he later flashes it back to hit my Vial. But I have some land at this point. He makes five angel tokens during his main phase. I plow one. Wisp another (gotten off Recruiter previously). Jitte and Wisp kill another one. Recruiter sacrifices himself with Jitte to off the fourth. Crusader comes down to pick up the Jitte and kill the final angel, and kill him the next turn. I feel like I had no right coming back from that...but it was glorious. The highlight of game three was Sanctum Prelate "stifling" a Terminus trigger while I present lethal.

Round 8 : 2-0 vs Miracles on the draw
My opponent is friendly guy, however this match isn't very interesting. He had to mull a few times game one, and I ran over him quickly. Game three, he kept a two lander with a non basic and a top. Needle for top. Wasteland once I saw him miss a land drop. Prelate on one. Opponent eventually discards a top.

Round 9: ID

Top 8 : 0-2 vs Infect on the draw
I'm the 6th seed, and have another feature match. I'm not sure what he's on. He lead with windswept heath which made me think of Infect, Elves, or Maverick - things I don't want to play. I keep a reasonable hand with zero removal, and minimal interaction for this match. I'd have shipped it had I known. Game two is much tighter. I have to ship my 7 back despite seeing a STP as Cavern and Port are not going to do it. I waste him a couple times while swinging in with Thalia and Canonist while he had Forest, Glistener Elf, and Blighted Agent. I keep porting him every turn, and hoping he doesn't draw an Invigorate. Elf blocks my Canonist, and he gets the Invigorate when he needs the Invigorate. I haven't watched this stream, but I hear that the commentators were critical of me keeping in THC in game two. On the play against a Daze deck? I don't know about that. I don't have regrets here.


Won my first piece of power - a Mox Jet. It was a tough break, but am happy with how I played and with the list in general. It closed games out. Sanctum Prelate was very impressive. Recruiter was also good most of the times I saw him. THC was valuable against Miracles and Eldrazi in particular. I'm not sure what I will do with their ratios going forward. I have a lot to think about.

The rest of my car didn't fare nearly so well unfortunately. We got of there pretty late, hit standstill traffic on the way home, and got back home around 3 AM.

@AntiquatedNotion, I watched your stream. They were indeed confused about keeping THC in, and yes on the play even, and I believe they were initially miffed about Ethersworn Canonist, but figured it out as the match went on. I'm surprised they didn't give you decklists in a live streamed Top 8 match.

You got some bad beats there in that game 2. Didn't I see 2 THCs both Dazed? Also yea, at that exact juncture in the game when your opponent presented lethal, it was his only out, so that was rough too.

I've a couple more thoughts on THC. First, you're right, it's probably best at 3 if you are banking on the effect, but being nonBrainstorm, I've given up banking on any particular tax that DnT would enact. You try to have variety enough a cross-section of mechanics that still produces a functioning whole even when presented in random order.

Now with Recruiter in the picture, it becomes a tad less random regarding which mechanics we get to pick at a given moment. So while I personally want to naturally draw THC more, even her as a 1-of in your sideboard to fetch up against Eldrazi, Sneak, and Elves is not "wrong", it's just deciding how you've placed your emphasis. I meet in the middle and have to go only 2 due to the ol' adage "if tight on room, you can shave a card that is Legendary" justification. But you also seem to desire another Recruiter, because at one, he truly is just a babe alone in the woods without the Legendary handicap.

My only thing about THC vs. Infect specifically is that its tax doesn't really interact with Infect's gameplan beyond the lands, and they have mana dorks they cast on turn 1 or 2 to boot. Generally, It doesn't matter if their creatures come into play tapped, because all they have to do is untap to get most of their use anyway. Infect is generally not huge into blocking when it comes to DnT since we give them so much time. Most often, a win against Infect is an offered concession rather than actually getting him to 0 life.

My thinking: if you have a lot to side in for Infect, she's an easy cut on the draw. On the play, she's probably good enough just because Infect only has 1 basic land, but it's possible the game state by turn 3 could dictate you doing something else rather than the almost automatic 3-land tapout slam you do against all the other fair decks.

Finally, just from a deckbuilding standpoint, the more THCs and Recruiters you have, the more forgiving your mana base will be just for the non double-white factor.

@SwordsToTimeShares

I may have had two Dazed. I know at least one was...and was expecting it once he decided to just play probe paying life with two open mana and Canonist in play - that or he judged the two life worth bluffing a Daze. But I think I had to give it a shot.

I agree with everything you said about THC and infect. On the draw, it's an easy shave. On the play, I thought leaving in 2/3 was acceptable. You don't always want to jam it against that deck, but I think it was the right play at that juncture for me, and Daze is a card I expect them to cut on the draw. I didn't realize they were also put off by Canonist. Odd. That card is so obviously good in this matchup.

I do think I want to find room a second Recruiter, most likely at cost to THC. I don't necessarily want to see this card in my opener, but I do want to see one throughout the course of the game. The manabase is more forgiving, and we can more comfortably include Cavern with the human count up - something I've always considered but rarely been able to justify with the creature configurations.

On Sunday I ran

Round 1 (0-1) Elves

Game 1 on the draw, he GSZ for 0 and I plow his Arbor on my main. He plays out a Nettle and a Heritage Druid and I Revoker it on my next turn. My opponent further develops his board with a Symbiote and Rec Sage and I put a MOM and Mystic into play grabbing Jitte, thinking that I may be able to squeeze myself into a win until my opponent morphs a Birchlore Ranger to gum up my Jitte and I die to A behemoth the turn after.

Out
4x Flickerwisp
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

In
2x Ethersworn Canonists
2x Path to Exile
1x Containment Priest
1x Warping Wail

Game 2 I get stuck on 2 lands with a THC in hand and my opponent Craterhoofs me to 1, wiping my board in the process. I scoop.

Round 2 (1-1) Lands

Game 1 on the draw, opponent plays Grove of the Burnwillow into gamble, discarding Punishing Fire. Woof. I play out my hand and curve perfectly into a t3 Prelate naming 2, almost completely locking him out of the game. After a few Flickerwisps and Wastelands for his Mazes, I take game 1.

Out
I think I just took out Swords and subbed in 3x RIP and my extra Prelate.

Game 2 he has the same opener as the first, except this time I go T2 RIP and T3 Prelate on 2. I beat him to death with nerds. Opponent was salty. I ate a snack.

Round 3 (2-1) Punishing Jund

Game 1I'm on the Play, and I lead with Plains->Mom. My opponent goes Grove->Mox Diamond->Punishing Fire. Woof. We fight over resources but I Prelate on 2 and overwhelm him with Flyers, I kill him over 2x 9/9 Knights of the Reliquary.

Out
I think I cut Thalia, Guardian of Thrabens for Banisher Priest and 3x Rest In Peace and traded SOFI for SOWAP

Game 2
I stumble on lands (again) and my opponent crushes me with multiple Knights and DRS activations. He also plays the new SOI Liliana? Doesn't do a whole lot but does kill a few Flickerwisps. I stabilize but it's obvious I won't be able to hold on for 9 more minutes so I concede to go to Game 3

Game 3
Game goes pretty quick, we are both playing fast. He lands multiple Confidants and another new Liliana but I have an active MOM so I ignore it. Whoops. He ultimates the new Liliana right before we go to turns. He ends up with 3x zombies and I activate Mystic to put in a SOWAP and equip it to a Flickerwisp and we start racing. I connect, go up 5 and he goes from 18 to 9, he connects and I go to 10. I connect the next turn putting him to 1 with his Zombies representing way past lethal. His Confidant flips a DRS and I almost pass out.

Round 4 Shardless (2-2)

Game 1
Super long grind, it became pretty hazy but I know I had an active MOM and Prelate on 3 and I killed him with Serra Avenger

Out
Flickerwisps I think for another Prelate and RIPS

Game 2
Really missed Crusader in this game, it was close but he zapped me to death with DRS while gumming up the air with Strix. Didn't see a RIP.

Game 3
Opponent got 2 separate Shardless Agents into Ancestrals and I just died. Stuck on colored sources as well for a while. Bummer.

Round 4 Miracles (3-2)

Game 1
Revoker on tops and Batterskull+Mystic trading for his Mentor were the key plays. Flickerwisped the Batterskull off an active Vial and killed him.

Game 2
Opponent realized he had played a 65 card deck afterwards. I realized he messed up when t2 he ran out a counterbalance and I played a THC out through a Cavern. Resolved a Gideon and killed him with 2/2's

Round 5 Miracles (3-3)

Honestly don't remember much, except that he Mentor/Top killed me game 1 on T5 and then resolved his own Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and a JTMS during g2 and just beat me to death through my own Batterskull and MOM. Started to get a little fatigued.

Round 6 Shardless (3-3-1)

Opponent was really nice, Game 1 was a total beatdown though, kept him off lands and had some timely Plows that kept the air clear while I killed him with Avengers.

Out
Flickerwisps for RIPS and Prelate

Game 2 my opponent resolved every single Recall in his deck. He almost decked himself during a boardstall where he had multiple Strix and planeswalkers but no quality finishers thanks to a RIP. Eventually got there with 3x Shardless and plenty of LOTV activations.

Game 3 we went to time, couldn't find the Prelates for Decay and lost my Vial t2. We grinded it out with me Revokering every 'Walker he resolved but with multiple Strix's in the air I couldn't swing through because I kept drawing RIPS.

Dropped afterwards

Going forward I think I put the Crusader back in the SB, as it's a near must have for the Shardless matchup. Probably cut a RIP. Main Board I think I need one more Plains instead of 3x Recruiter, as the card adds little to the clock IMO and really serves mainly for Flickerwisp armies or extra copies of Prelate.

I'll be at the Legacy Open in Baltimore next month if anyone wants to talk about the Meta!

Went 3-4 drop at EE. I was set to play Belcher for the event but got cold feat and threw DnT back together. Felt good playing it despite my poor showing. Not much to report on, I beat UR Delver, Miracles and BUG. I lost to Dnt, ANT, infect and LEObug. Goinbg to jump back into the DnT ring now. prelate is really solid I just need to figure out my new configuration. I have been focusing on vintage as well so I need to divert some time.

The more games I get in, the more I feel like the biggest decision in the deck is how many Sanctum Prelate versus how many Thalia, Heretic Cathar because I want 3 of each of them.

Prelate is a straight bear, which isn't great offensively, but I feel like it is a beating against the non-tribal, spell-heavy decks like Storm. Thalia is one of the best cards for fighting off Elves and Eldrazi (Goblins and Merfolk are terribly not relevant), but against WW Eldrazi, their Thalia's are better (they play 4 and they get them out turn 2 with frightening frequency) and you must have them turn 3 versus Elves. Blah blah blah. We all know this. The only thing I would say is just a formal recognition of something lots of others have said: You typically want to draw into THC turn 3, but you are happy in many matches to fetch Prelate. Something to keep in mind.

More importantly, and something I suspect everyone is beginning to reckon with, they significantly overlap in some key matches:
Lands (they are both great, Prelate is slightly better)
Miracles (same, IMO)
Grixis Delver (Prelate shuts them off from 1 mana spells, and therefore also from going wide with tokens, but their mana is so desperate that a turn 3 THC is pretty terrible for them too)

This make me feel that when deciding which ones to run, the fight isn't over any other new cards for space. Think about Recruiter of the Guard: we're going to run 2-3, no matter what.

In order to not lose the curve of the deck, we have to keep enough 1 and 2 drops.

I feel really bad whenever I don't have 4 of the following:
Mom
T,GoT
SfM
Flickerwisp

I'm even queasy about 2 Phyrexian Revoker instead of 3, but I can't find the space, although if I decided Mangara/Banisher aren't that great, that is where I will get my 3rd Revoker.

For now, I am choosing Prelate over THC in order to keep certain value cards in the deck (Serra Avenger, which is strong in all kinds of matches; Mirran Crusader, 'nuff said; Mangara of Corondor or Banisher Priest - we have discussed this a little, but I think it merits serious discussion, it is a really hard choice.) It is very important that none of these cards have many match overlaps with Prelate or THC, or, where they overlap, they are arguably better however long the game goes.

Case in point, the value of Mirran Crusader is not diminished against Shardless BUG or Jund if it arrives turn 4 or 5, but THC is less good every turn it is delayed. It is arguably strictly worse, in the strict sense of that phrase, by turn 5 in every match except against Eldrazi thanks to stupid Smasher.

Another point to consider is if loading up on cheap removal is just better than THC against the tribal decks. Maybe I just want to add 2-4 Path to Exile for tribal creature decks. Sure, it is high risk against Eldrazi, but if they don't hit Chalice of the Void right away, going up to 6-8 removal spells, plus Flickerwisp, is super powerful and T,GoT isn't good without THC anyway, so out she comes.

Let's face it, sideboarding against the current crop is not easy. So what are you mainboarding against in order to allow your sideboard to be good?

This post is tilted towards stacking the maindeck against Miracles and Delver, Inc. (still more of the meta overall than Eldrazi), with very strong answers to combo. In part, this is because we have a pretty good Game 1 against Eldrazi, especially if we have Mirran Crusader and Serra Avenger and they hugely strengthen the matches like Infect and Shardless BUG.

The secret of the appeal of THC to me comes down to one deck: Elves (THC is the last card they want to see turn 3 from us.) That is the one match that completely reverses polarity based on that card, but Prelate isn't very helpful, Crusader is meh and Avenger is meaningless. I admit it, I hate Elves and I want to beat them mercilessly and THC is the best turn 3 card for that that we could play in our maindeck with valid power levels in other matches.

If I were you I'd cut:

Brimaz - He just never performed as well as everyone wanted him to. We have enough legendaries as is against miracles to not need to keep him for that match up.

Cavern of Souls - Don't run two. You only have 13 humans, 4 elemental, 4 horror, 4 kor, and 1 cat. If you want to utilize two caverns I'd suggest bumping the human count up to at least 15.

Phyrexian Revoker - 4 just isn't worth it. Trust me I love the card (check the username), but it just falls flat against too many decks and is another playset of x/1 creatures. Most lists are running 1-2.

Eiganjo castle - with the amount of first strike between Thalia's you should be able to create a near impenetrable barrier on the ground, and lightning bolt is near absent in the format right now.

Redtwister, that is a good argument. I can hardly believe that I am saying it, but I currently have zero Mangara of Corondor in my 75 (I have Banisher Priest in his place). I am not at all satisfied with this condition, but I do not see an alternative.

BTW, my current 75:


I do not like bringing generalist cards like Mangara, Flickerwisp, and Revoker from the side, so whatever I am going to use is going to be in the main.

D+T has recently become a slower deck, and I find myself digging my way out more often than before. While Mangara is good at that, he is slower at it than Banisher Priest and Relic-Warder, both of which also attack while Mangara does not. Taken as a whole, this has done some work speeding the deck back up for me. I have definitely benefited from this switch.

I do not really feel bad about going to three Flickerwisps. I fetch them so often that I have had little trouble having access to flight. And I do not want to draw too many too soon, as they are slow. They are also a slight strain on the mana supply. (I may have to finally drop to 3 Karakas, but I have swapped Horizon Canopy for Cavern of Souls.) The 3rd Revoker is missed, and its absence is part of the slowing of the deck. It is the 61st best card for the deck imo.

What I would really like is a 2-mana removal spell to accompany Prelate so that I feel confident summoning her while the opponent has a Delver or something. This scenario happens frequently, and I do not like my current options.

Catapult Squad maybe?

@Finn, specifically against Delver decks, have you considered Declaration in Stone? They tend to be tight on lands/mana and probably wouldn't want to take the tempo loss of spending 2 mana to crack the clue(s), assuming it resolves.

One thing I've been thinking about recently: manabase stability as it relates to the higher use of WW cards.

Now, the main point of deck-wrangling of recent has been more concentrated on the idea that too many CMC3 cards are a problem because it makes the deck slow. As a result, there's been a conscious effort to keep the 2-drop count high, even to the point of debating the necessity of Serra Avenger for the reasons of A.) the contention that it is a "2-drop", mostly as it pertains to the curve of Vial B.) that it fulfills the need for evasion, whether it be breaking through a wall of other creatures, or ability to block a Delver.

Now, the other problem even with that, something that Medea was noting with his desire to cut even Caverns to stabilize the high-demand of WW in the deck, is that the color issue doesn't get any better with Avenger, even as it is an attempt to lower the curve (and I'd argue it really doesn't lower it, but that's besides the point). However, I think this land problem, specifically the WW problem, is likely a wash when you incorporate Avenger at all.

The thing is, with a setup of so many nonhumans like that, I agree with Medea's reasoning for a high-Plains lineup. However, I think Cavern of Souls is just too good not to play at the moment. Using 2x Cavern, though, does make Avenger and Wisp worse. Wisp gets a pass primarily because it's more often used as insurance off Vial rather than used as a '3-drop beater'. Avenger though, even at one less mana, becomes harder to get into play than Wisp just due to the fact that parking Vial @3 is the optimal position. And you still need that WW.

Now, we can debate the necessity of 4 vs. 6/7 flyers, but if you make Cavern of Souls a priority, I think it behooves the manabase altogether to make as many humans as possible part of your build.


An approach like this does indeed say "jog on" to the idea of limiting 3-drops, but with so many Humans, makes it only Flickerwisp - THE insurance Vial card - that requires a non-Cavern white source for its WW. In the absence of 6/7 flyers, the evasion does become an issue, so therefore I think Mirran Crusader becomes warranted in Avenger's stead (and accordingly, it probably makes 2x Path to Exile a necessity for Delvers, instead of a boost). Recruiter/THC/Prelate numbers can all be adjusted accordingly, but I think I'm willing to give a "15 Humans" deck a shot.

Bottom line: It seems like it's either cut Avenger or cut Cavern if you're going for stability. What's everyone think?

Quote from SwordsToTimeshares »

Bottom line: It seems like it's either cut Avenger or cut Cavern if you're going for stability. What's everyone think?

I'm running 13 Plains and it feels great. I've got an article about halfway done talking about deckbuilding choices, I'll try to post that tomorrow night.

I know I'm repeating myself here, but run a Stonecloaker as your primary/default Recruiter of the Guard target. You will not regret it.

Too many plains start to be a problem in my meta, since it enables free Massacre all too often.

Quote from redtwister »

The secret of the appeal of THC to me comes down to one deck: Elves (THC is the last card they want to see turn 3 from us.) That is the one match that completely reverses polarity based on that card, but Prelate isn't very helpful, Crusader is meh and Avenger is meaningless.

It is very wrong to say that avenger is meaningless and crusader is meh against elves. Avenger is one of your top creatures against elves. Crusader is one of your top creatures vs elves. Connecting with a jitte multiple times is how we can beat elves most consistently. With quirion ranger and symbiote tricks ground guys often have a tough time connecting without a mom. Avenger flies over all their guys AND hangs back to get more jitte counters if they attack. She essentially is a creature that comes into play with a free mom AND gets you either double your amount of jitte counters or prevent them from attacking. Crusader also comes in with a free mom and gets you double jitte counters. Avenger with a jitte is terrifying for elves second only to crusader with a jitte

Let's consider some possible lines. Let me know if I'm missing quicker ones.

1. First turn 1-drop, second turn Jitte, third turn Crusader, fourth turn equip+swing
2. First turn Vial, second turn Jitte, third turn Crusader or Vialed Avenger, fourth turn equip+swing
3. First turn 1-drop, second turn SFM for Jitte, third turn Crusader, fourth turn Jitte+equip+swing
4. First turn Vial, second turn SFM for Jitte, third turn Crusader or Vialed Avenger, fourth turn Jitte+equip+swing

First of all, this all gives them a lot of time to build up relatively unmolested, especially if the first turn is used for Vial (no StP/PtE) or the second turn is used for SFM (no Port/Revoker/Canonist/ContainmentPriest). In addition to giving them all that time, this line also assumes a reasonably "christmasland" sequence of draws, including a 1/60 Jitte and a ~2/60 Crusader (I haven't seen any recent lists playing more). Sure you can add SFM for more potential Jittes, but you need to make all four land drops in your first four turns to play+equip on turn four. Sure you can add ~2 Avengers to the Crusader count, but then you need to open on Vial, which happens less than half the time.

The problem isn't just that it's slow and unlikely to happen (and we might just die while we're still setting it up as happened to me at GPLA side events). The problem is that it's easy to disrupt. I'm not even talking about their postboard Decays and discard.

Compared to the above unlikely situation on our side, they just need a ~6/60 Birchlore (counting GSZ) + 8/60 Symbiote (play morphed, block, morph to elf, bounce) to negate any number of protections on your ground-based Jitte carrier. You might say that they'll never Zenith for Birchlore, but they might if you fetch Jitte with SFM or they see your hand with postboard discard.

I agree this is still one of our better preboard options, but it's by no means a guaranteed avenue, nor is it a guaranteed slam dunk even when assembled. Furthermore, Avenger and Crusader are not equivalent here. Avenger dodges their blocking tricks when color protection alone (Crusader or other+Mom) would not suffice.

Please keep in mind I am expressing the value of Crusader and Avenger compared to THC in the Elves match. Prior to THC, Crusader and Avenger were certainly some of our better cards with Jitte, but they (especially Avenger, hence I consider it worse) needed Jitte to make a big difference, which more or less meant natural draw Jitte and creature. We had both of those cards for years and they never significantly altered our win %. Play 100 games against Elves with THC in their place, and I guarantee that your win % will significantly improve because THC hampers them on turn 3 in a definitive way, all by herself.

Conversations like this are getting me interested in the Gideon/Cataclym lists again.

2x Gideon in the MB can help you tilt creature combat in G1 similar to Avenger/Crusader. Notably different in the sense that it spams 2/2 soldiers instead of using any sort of evasion or protection, but this works fairly well in general.

Then for post-board MUs, you have 3x Cataclysm in the SB for anything looking to play a game past turn 4. Elves, Shardless, Miracles, Maverick, Eldrazi, whatever. Cataclysm screwed them all. Then you just get to swoop in with a couple 2/2s and clean up the game. The answers are simple in their application and don't fall into the nuanced argument over which threat is better. Who cares, any threat will do after your opponent sacs all his creatures and lands.

Has anyone tried the concept in practice yet?

I guess expanding further on this. It's more of a "general" SB plan similar to how elves takes out Natural Order a solid 80% of the time against the field either due to not having a sac outlet due to 1-for-1 removal thorughout the game or fearing counter magic and giving away a free 2-for-1 (often both). They just sacrifice the plan all-together, and move into a grindy ground battle. We can play G1 like a typical D&T list with a little bit of hate, a little bit of beat, and then G2 we go 1 of 2 ways: Hatebear style against combo decks, siding out the SFMs and equipment because they don't really matter and bringing in our hatey-est bears we can find, or grindy style with Cataclysms and more removal. Extending games out long enough to cataclysm multiple times if needed. Casting a wider, non-specific net could win more games than having the perfect set of 15 sideboard card answers for every MU (already impossible). We'd probably want to be on 3 THC as it works against both creatures and lands, further compounding the effect of Cataclysm.