So far eldrazi isn't so great against it i'll say 65/35 in favour. Leyline + Worship + Caryatid is Win against them and many other aggro decks that doesn't have permanent removal (ratchet bomb is slow). Sigarda and Geist with Spirit Mantle are great Win Cons. Control decks were the worst games.
Any suggestion? SB suggestions? was thinking about Stony Silence, Rest in peace...
Swords have always been clunky in Modern, and are particularly bad in a format rife with Kolaghan's Command. I would consider trying Spectral Flight instead.
For the sideboard you should have a method of protecting Worship against decks that are able to remove it, such as Negate, Hindering Light, or Simic Charm.
I agree with Raalic that Simic Charm is an underrated card. All three modes line up with the gameplan of a Bant aggro-control deck.
Speaking about "Bant Troll Worship" decks, I have a build idea myself, here it is:
[/deck]
I have yet to test as it is a rather expensive decklist to experiment with.
Wall of Denial can be a good option against Eldrazi and other aggro decks.
One problem with Worship-centric decks is they encourage you to play mediocre creatures like Troll Ascetic and Witchstalker (my draft has these too...). Thrun isn't a bad card, but seems obsolete with the demise of Twin, the matchup he was strongest in. Geist requires a specific shell to be really effective. Sigarda is actually very strong, but you can only play so many copies of a 5-mana Legend.
A potential alternative to playing lackluster Hexproof creatures in Worship is "going wide" with token producing cards, or cards that replace themselves, like Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar may even be worth trying.
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A potential alternative to playing lackluster Hexproof creatures in Worship is "going wide" with token producing cards, or cards that replace themselves, like Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar may even be worth trying.
If you're talking about going wide, maybe we could draft up some kind of Bant tokens build? I'm wondering if just cramming Worship and green into the already popular BW tokens deck for Abrupt Decay and Thrun would make a better deck but I like blue for Simic Charm and other counters to protect the enchantment.
I'm not saying that this deck is competitive, but I will say that it is a blast to play, and it can be explosive. I actually got the idea from a Modern Nexus article that mentioned an old Standard deck some of you may remember called Bant Crasher. Well, I updated it with the Modern card pool and put in a few games with it on Cockatrice. It's a direction I've just never considered going with Bant.
The deck revolves around Shorecrasher Mimic and Bant/Simic spells that keep it big and support it. Works just fine without a Mimic in your opening hand, but they tend to lead to the biggest blowouts (particularly when followed by a Rafiq). Yes, it is weak to bolt, but I urge you guys to test it if only for fun. Some of the plays can be quite entertaining.
I've been playing this since I dismantled my Knightfall deck. What do you guys think? It's kinda like a bigger bogle that's not as afraid of chalice as the usual bogle. Qasali pridemage kills opponent spellskite and provide exalted, Stomping ground allows me to play crumble to dust in the side. Thinking of dropping those sideboard spellskite of worship tech..
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A potential alternative to playing lackluster Hexproof creatures in Worship is "going wide" with token producing cards, or cards that replace themselves, like Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar may even be worth trying.
If you're talking about going wide, maybe we could draft up some kind of Bant tokens build? I'm wondering if just cramming Worship and green into the already popular BW tokens deck for Abrupt Decay and Thrun would make a better deck but I like blue for Simic Charm and other counters to protect the enchantment.
Unfortunately, Blue doesn't have a lot to contribute to this straegy in terms of token makers (Talrand's Invocation?), so this direction might be better suited to a Junk deck.
I'm not saying that this deck is competitive, but I will say that it is a blast to play, and it can be explosive. I actually got the idea from a Modern Nexus article that mentioned an old Standard deck some of you may remember called Bant Crasher. Well, I updated it with the Modern card pool and put in a few games with it on Cockatrice. It's a direction I've just never considered going with Bant.
...
[/deck]
This is a cool idea. I think Stubborn Denial might be a nice addition.
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I've had a change of heart. This build is closer to what I would've run a year ago. I feel like I had success more often, though not as clearly as the more explosive lists. In an attempt to keep a distaste for modern at bay, I'm returning to the philosophy of shard basics.
I tried to come up with 'core' Bant cards and all I could think of was 4x noble hierarch and 4x path to exile. From here, I was thinking, what is the unique Bant strategy and how can it be good? I thought of other fair tier decks. For instance, Jund is THE grind deck. It has an unmatched array of removal and efficient good stuff. Junk plays heavily on the discard game and does it very well, balancing it with the beatface creatures Jund couldn't touch. Grixis is arguably another grind deck that is this format's current control build. It has a lot of value and 2-for-1s packed in it and I feel like their use of blue is largely to set-up devastating delve creatures. So anyways, before I go too far, I thought of what I could add to my measly list of two 4-ofs.
Starting from turn 1, what do we need to do? We don't have discard, bummer. We don't have bolt, again bummer. Counters or deck manipulation? hmm, an option indeed however, what do we set up into..? we miss the best delve spells and we don't have efficient removal. HOWEVER, we have dorks! Eh, that was my epiphany anyways, not that extreme I know I know, but the next step is the important one. I added 2x birds of paradise to the core list. This gave the Bant strategy some shape. A little. Now I wondered, are we doing 3-drop again? Yeah I think so: 4x geist of saint traft and 4x loxodon smiter cover our bases against discard and removal that we don't get to use. I read an article a while ago talking about this duo and I've been reluctant but I think I just needed to keep pushing forward to create a good shell.
So what about turn 3? Well let's assume best case scenario, what is the most powerful 4 mana spell Bant could be casting at this point? I thought of two actually. First was Elspeth, Knight-Errant because creatures + beat face is all good fun together. She has potential but then I thought - hold on, what is a spell that none of those other decks in the format can play on turn 3? And that's when I included 4x cryptic command to the core. It's a nuts card. Let's crank them out as fast as we can, they provide pure tempo with each cast. Plus, tap down blockers for the alpha swing? yes please. I was happy with this advancement. dork - 3 drop - cryptic looks like a phenomenal line of play. There is a lot of value there and so far not many other decks are doing it. Sultai and RUG can both do it if they want but none get the full value of hierarch - plus they have different game plans and less impressive 3 drops.
So now, what if we don't have that turn 1 dork? What if we don't have the 3 drop or the cryptic? Time to add some cards at cmc of 2. Obviously first pick is 4x voice of resurgence, no arguments here I hope. Clutch board presence. Now.. how about a 2cmc counter? I chose 4x remand but only because I was already thinking about the potential filler spots.
Remand cycles through the deck which is nice and plus it is strong, everyone knows this. But, thinking of what else blue has to offer I thought of 2x vendilion clique and the two go hand-in-hand nicely. Remand then cycle away the card is fun to do. Also, clique solves the issue of having 4x geist around - just cycle away the one sitting in your hand. Also everyone knows the other benefits of clique 3/1 flash yadda yadda it can come out turn 2 with a dork yay! Then who else should join as a 2-of: 2x mana leak as alternative remand 4-6; 2x spell snare to push through removal and counters (and I know it hits a ton of stuff) but I like it for the turn 1 dork, turn 2 voice + snare as backup; and finally - assuming 22 lands will do us fine - who is left to add. I thought another 2 drop was needed and since we don't care about the grave so far let's hate on it with 2x scavenging ooze because I've painfully considered all of your comments and.. I give in - tarmogoyf doesn't have the support that he needs in a Bant shell, no reliable bolt or discard spells means he's usually tiny. But now you have to listen to me when I say snapcaster mage ought to be no more than a 2-of for the same reasons!! I'm considering running him in the sideboard against longer grindy matchups where he would be useful to flash back cryptics but mainboard right now he is weak and not supported.
As for the lands, well that's everyone's preference but notably I went with gavony township because the dorks need love late game, ghost quarter because land hate is becoming a necessity, and celestial colonnade the best manland. THE BEST. Also stirring wildwood is here too to help with mana and be defensive when needed, I thought hard about it and he was the right choice for me. 4 toughness and defends against flyers - screw you affinity.
Okay that was a big rant, I know - I'm sorry!! - I keep doing these as of late but it's for a good reason. I want to keep opening discussion about Bant and hopefully give others into my thought process. If I can do that - even if my philosophy is terribly misguided - maybe you can at the very least find something that makes sense and run with it. Find the good logic and build upon it. Shut me down all you want, that helps too! Criticism can be progress if it improves on the design. Also, by writing these I can look back at myself and the discussion we have to inform my next attempt. Anyways, I've gone on long enough.
I'm listening, I know I'm here because I love talking about Bant
I sympathize with your inclination to try and return to the "core" Bant cards, but the unfortunate reality is that Bant lacks a true identity in Modern.
Legacy Bant, despite being a Tier 2 deck these days, still very much has a unique advantage other Blue goodstuff midrange decks like Esper Deathblade and Shardless BUG can't match: acceleration. With Hierarch and Green Sun's Zenith affording 6-8 turn 1 ramp spells, a Bant deck can leverage a mana advantage to disrupt the opponent with Wasteland/Daze or cast powerful spells like Jace, the Mind Sculptor better than any other Blue midrange deck.
Modern is obviously a totally different format, and is one where Bant doesn't offer that kind of unique advantage. There are plenty of good cards in Bant colors, but a Bant deck can never seem to become greater than the sum of its parts.
Noble Hierarch is a great aggressive card that is begging to be played with Geist, but we lack the removal options a WUR deck has to push him through. Tarmogoyf is another great Green card, but we're a much worse Tarmogoyf deck than Jund or Junk.
Access to Blue should theoretically give access to cantrips and permission, but Serum Visions is appallingly bad, and the permission available is expensive and/or narrow.
Basically, I'm not enthusiastic about Bant aggro-control in Modern. However, there are two cards in our shard that I am enthusiastic about playing: Gavony Township and Celestial Colonnade.
(As an aside, neither are great right now with all the Ghost Quarters around, BUT I'm confident Eldrazi will be hit by a banning at some point and we will see fewer Ghost Quarters)
Most of my brewing in Modern Bant has centered around ramp-oriented lists that can utilize these lands alongside big, stupid spells that are (hopefully) a pain for many Modern decks to deal with. I think the banning of Splinter Twin was a huge boon for this style of deck (tapping out for expensive spells and basically on only 4 Paths for efficient, instant-speed interaction), and that is what inspired me to come back to this archetype.
I may crash and burn miserably, but I am determined to try SOMETHING along these lines in paper soon.
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I don't think there is room for removal left but wahtevaaa right. ;-/
What do u guys think?
Add in some coursor of kruphix? It works and it's fun, I tried that before, but you are definitely going to get overrun by all the aggro in the format.
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It seems interesting, but there is so little blue that the deck could probably be improved by just tweaking green-white hatebears to play champion of the parish.
Its not a bad idea, but it doesn't take advantage of blue very much.
s3raphix, have you tried the bant conscription variant? It's actually quite stable. That is heavy ramp into an early Sovereigns of Lost Alara with a geist on the field, but it can often just cast eldrazi conscription on a dork for the win if it needs to. Sounds like something you might want to try. It has a lot of development room. It runs hierarch, birds, cobra, geist, sovereigns, and conscription plus whatever else you want to try out. It has done well in the past, I'm not sure if its speed and interactivity are up to par but you've mentioned ramping into big spells and it could be something to look into.
s3raphix, have you tried the bant conscription variant? It's actually quite stable. That is heavy ramp into an early Sovereigns of Lost Alara with a geist on the field, but it can often just cast eldrazi conscription on a dork for the win if it needs to. Sounds like something you might want to try. It has a lot of development room. It runs hierarch, birds, cobra, geist, sovereigns, and conscription plus whatever else you want to try out. It has done well in the past, I'm not sure if its speed and interactivity are up to par but you've mentioned ramping into big spells and it could be something to look into.
Yes, I'm quite familiar with this archetype-Mythic Bant is probably my favorite deck of all time.
I am testing a Sovereigns list, but don't own Lotus Cobras. That kind of invalidates the Cobra/Knight/Fetchland engine, so I'm currently trying out configurations of other "dorks" like Sylvan Caryatid, Coiling Oracle, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and Courser of Kruphix alongside 4-8 one-drops. Courser has really impressed me so far, its an all-around solid card.
This does fundamentally change the way the deck plays though. You don't have access to explosive Lotus Cobra openings, which I believe necessitates playing some more reactive cards. The upside of this is greater robustness against aggressive strategies or removal. I did some brief testing online against Jund with a Lotus Cobra list and found that the deck became really bad when all your dorks got killed. However, that might be a risk worth taking because of how huge the payoff can be.
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I haven't test this list yet, but it seems decent on paper. I want to hear all the critics and suggestions to improve this if possible. Thanks in advance!
Creature (18)
4x Geist of Saint Traft
Stupidly strong if resolved. I love how it beats for 6 damage in turn 3 and he is very difficult to remove. Combat tricks will help to get him past damage.
2x Monastery Mentor
Mentor with 18+ non-creature spells becomes absurdly overpowered. If nothing else, he spawns 2-3 tokens per game which enables as blockers or as threats to put pressure
4x Noble Hierarch
This for Exalted and mana dork. Alternative is Birds of Paradise
2x Scavenging Ooze
Stupidly strong against graveyard shenanigans. Grows bigger as well.
2x Snapcaster Mage
Flash, flashback, chump blocker. All for 2 mana.
4x Tarmogoyf
Because we play green...
Instant (11)
1x Beast Within
1-off catch-all removal. The 3/3 may be a hassle to deal but it may be better than some other things on board.
I haven't test this list yet, but it seems decent on paper. I want to hear all the critics and suggestions to improve this if possible. Thanks in advance!
Hey, great to have you back here!
I've tested with Beast Within before and it is a very very tricky card to get right. If you don't have the 3/4 goyf to back it up you are in a bit of trouble. That said it is the best card in your deck that can reliably grow the goyf to a meaningful size.
I should premise this by saying that recently I've come to the conclusion that Goyf is just not a good card for Bant. Unless you run a whack build trying to get card types into the graveyard, we have no consistent efficient way of getting goyf to grow big and strong. Without discard and universal removal, goyf mostly sucks for us. Path exiles and counter spells have to be timed just right. So you can guess that if I were to tweak this I'd take out the tarmos and if I had to replace them with a creature I'd say 4x Voice of Resurgence.
My overall impression of your deck is that you've sorta taken what works in the other shards and tried replacing their black and red spells with the closest match you could find in Bant colours. By this I mean that you've got monastery mentor that works best with burns spells and at that point he is mostly outdone by young pyromancer, hence why we don't really see him played much. Also, Serum Visions works best in the decks that have hard removal answers or a combo but here the only reliably useful targets are path and beast within whereas other decks like grixis have way more universally applicable spells and a straighter game plan. I would try focusing your strategy a little more and think about what you want to be doing each turn. What are the steps that will get you to a win as early as possible while not letting your opponent get there before you? You should be able to point out the core cards that take you all the way, then build off that game plan.
Above all else, I'd like to recommend that you play test your deck thoroughly and come to your own conclusions about specific cards. Prove me wrong about all my rambling!! I hope that process is a fun one for you, it's one my favourite parts of magic
Hi! Thanks for the reply. I've tweaked the decklist a little. mentor is not in the list and was replaced with Vendilion Clique. Manlands was changed to lumbering falls and stirring wild wood. Serum visions IMO is useful to draw. But, I may replace it with 2x mana leak, 1 think twice and 1 bant charm as replacement.
The goal is to swing with Geist and/or other creatures with the aid of utility to help push damage or protect the creatures
If you cut serum, you'll have fairly little hope of getting goyf very big, in which case I would agree with cutting him.
Voice, pridemage, more ooze, or even more mana dorks and 3-drops might be fine replacements.
I also think a single think twice is kind of useless. Something that cantrips, like remand or azorius charm might just be better. Even compulsive research seems stronger.
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4x Noble Hierarch
3x Sylvan Caryatid
2x Deft Duelist
2x Eternal Witness
2x Geist of Saint Traft
3x Troll Ascetic
3x Witchstalker
2x Thrun, the Last Troll
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
2x Sun Titan
2x Beast Within
4x Path to Exile
Enchantment (5)
1x Detention Sphere
4x Worship
Sorcery (2)
2x Harmonize
Land (23)
1x Breeding Pool
1x Celestial Colonnade
1x Forest
1x Gavony Township
2x Ghost Quarter
1x Hallowed Fountain
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Plains
4x Temple Garden
3x Treetop Village
4x Windswept Heath
I have yet to test it as it is a rather expensive decklist to experiment with.
Wall of Denial can be a good option against Eldrazi and other aggro decks.
Swords have always been clunky in Modern, and are particularly bad in a format rife with Kolaghan's Command. I would consider trying Spectral Flight instead.
For the sideboard you should have a method of protecting Worship against decks that are able to remove it, such as Negate, Hindering Light, or Simic Charm.
I agree with Raalic that Simic Charm is an underrated card. All three modes line up with the gameplan of a Bant aggro-control deck.
One problem with Worship-centric decks is they encourage you to play mediocre creatures like Troll Ascetic and Witchstalker (my draft has these too...). Thrun isn't a bad card, but seems obsolete with the demise of Twin, the matchup he was strongest in. Geist requires a specific shell to be really effective. Sigarda is actually very strong, but you can only play so many copies of a 5-mana Legend.
A potential alternative to playing lackluster Hexproof creatures in Worship is "going wide" with token producing cards, or cards that replace themselves, like Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks. Nissa, Voice of Zendikar may even be worth trying.
The deck revolves around Shorecrasher Mimic and Bant/Simic spells that keep it big and support it. Works just fine without a Mimic in your opening hand, but they tend to lead to the biggest blowouts (particularly when followed by a Rafiq). Yes, it is weak to bolt, but I urge you guys to test it if only for fun. Some of the plays can be quite entertaining.
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Shorecrasher Mimic
3 Bounding Krasis
4 Rhox War Monk
2 Stoic Angel
2 Rafiq of the Many
2 Bant Charm
4 Simic Charm
4 Path to Exile
4 Favor of the Overbeing
2 Spectral Flight
Land (23)
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
2 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Forest
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Gavony Township
2 Treetop Village
2 Hinterland Harbor
CG
1 Birds of Paradise
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Invisible Stalker
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Slippery Bogle
3 Boar Umbra
3 Path to Exile
3 Rancor
4 Spectral Flight
4 Unflinching Courage
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
3 Crumble to Dust
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Spellskite
3 Stony Silence
3 Surgical Extraction
I've been playing this since I dismantled my Knightfall deck. What do you guys think? It's kinda like a bigger bogle that's not as afraid of chalice as the usual bogle. Qasali pridemage kills opponent spellskite and provide exalted, Stomping ground allows me to play crumble to dust in the side. Thinking of dropping those sideboard spellskite of worship tech..
TappedOut
Would love to have more input to improve!
Unfortunately, Blue doesn't have a lot to contribute to this straegy in terms of token makers (Talrand's Invocation?), so this direction might be better suited to a Junk deck.
This is a cool idea. I think Stubborn Denial might be a nice addition.
2x Birds of Paradise
4x Noble Hierarch
2x Scavenging Ooze
4x Voice of Resurgence
4x Loxodon Smiter
4x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Vendilion Clique
Instant (16)
4x Path to Exile
2x Spell Snare
2x Mana Leak
4x Remand
4x Cryptic Command
1x Breeding Pool
1x Celestial Colonnade
2x Flooded Strand
2x Forest
1x Gavony Township
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Hallowed Fountain
4x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Plains
1x Stirring Wildwood
1x Temple Garden
2x Windswept Heath
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Engineered Explosives
2x Rest in Peace
2x Snapcaster Mage
2x Spellskite
3x Stony Silence
3x Spell Pierce
Starting from turn 1, what do we need to do? We don't have discard, bummer. We don't have bolt, again bummer. Counters or deck manipulation? hmm, an option indeed however, what do we set up into..? we miss the best delve spells and we don't have efficient removal. HOWEVER, we have dorks! Eh, that was my epiphany anyways, not that extreme I know I know, but the next step is the important one. I added 2x birds of paradise to the core list. This gave the Bant strategy some shape. A little. Now I wondered, are we doing 3-drop again? Yeah I think so: 4x geist of saint traft and 4x loxodon smiter cover our bases against discard and removal that we don't get to use. I read an article a while ago talking about this duo and I've been reluctant but I think I just needed to keep pushing forward to create a good shell.
So what about turn 3? Well let's assume best case scenario, what is the most powerful 4 mana spell Bant could be casting at this point? I thought of two actually. First was Elspeth, Knight-Errant because creatures + beat face is all good fun together. She has potential but then I thought - hold on, what is a spell that none of those other decks in the format can play on turn 3? And that's when I included 4x cryptic command to the core. It's a nuts card. Let's crank them out as fast as we can, they provide pure tempo with each cast. Plus, tap down blockers for the alpha swing? yes please. I was happy with this advancement. dork - 3 drop - cryptic looks like a phenomenal line of play. There is a lot of value there and so far not many other decks are doing it. Sultai and RUG can both do it if they want but none get the full value of hierarch - plus they have different game plans and less impressive 3 drops.
So now, what if we don't have that turn 1 dork? What if we don't have the 3 drop or the cryptic? Time to add some cards at cmc of 2. Obviously first pick is 4x voice of resurgence, no arguments here I hope. Clutch board presence. Now.. how about a 2cmc counter? I chose 4x remand but only because I was already thinking about the potential filler spots.
Remand cycles through the deck which is nice and plus it is strong, everyone knows this. But, thinking of what else blue has to offer I thought of 2x vendilion clique and the two go hand-in-hand nicely. Remand then cycle away the card is fun to do. Also, clique solves the issue of having 4x geist around - just cycle away the one sitting in your hand. Also everyone knows the other benefits of clique 3/1 flash yadda yadda it can come out turn 2 with a dork yay! Then who else should join as a 2-of: 2x mana leak as alternative remand 4-6; 2x spell snare to push through removal and counters (and I know it hits a ton of stuff) but I like it for the turn 1 dork, turn 2 voice + snare as backup; and finally - assuming 22 lands will do us fine - who is left to add. I thought another 2 drop was needed and since we don't care about the grave so far let's hate on it with 2x scavenging ooze because I've painfully considered all of your comments and.. I give in - tarmogoyf doesn't have the support that he needs in a Bant shell, no reliable bolt or discard spells means he's usually tiny. But now you have to listen to me when I say snapcaster mage ought to be no more than a 2-of for the same reasons!! I'm considering running him in the sideboard against longer grindy matchups where he would be useful to flash back cryptics but mainboard right now he is weak and not supported.
As for the lands, well that's everyone's preference but notably I went with gavony township because the dorks need love late game, ghost quarter because land hate is becoming a necessity, and celestial colonnade the best manland. THE BEST. Also stirring wildwood is here too to help with mana and be defensive when needed, I thought hard about it and he was the right choice for me. 4 toughness and defends against flyers - screw you affinity.
Okay that was a big rant, I know - I'm sorry!! - I keep doing these as of late but it's for a good reason. I want to keep opening discussion about Bant and hopefully give others into my thought process. If I can do that - even if my philosophy is terribly misguided - maybe you can at the very least find something that makes sense and run with it. Find the good logic and build upon it. Shut me down all you want, that helps too! Criticism can be progress if it improves on the design. Also, by writing these I can look back at myself and the discussion we have to inform my next attempt. Anyways, I've gone on long enough.
I sympathize with your inclination to try and return to the "core" Bant cards, but the unfortunate reality is that Bant lacks a true identity in Modern.
Legacy Bant, despite being a Tier 2 deck these days, still very much has a unique advantage other Blue goodstuff midrange decks like Esper Deathblade and Shardless BUG can't match: acceleration. With Hierarch and Green Sun's Zenith affording 6-8 turn 1 ramp spells, a Bant deck can leverage a mana advantage to disrupt the opponent with Wasteland/Daze or cast powerful spells like Jace, the Mind Sculptor better than any other Blue midrange deck.
Modern is obviously a totally different format, and is one where Bant doesn't offer that kind of unique advantage. There are plenty of good cards in Bant colors, but a Bant deck can never seem to become greater than the sum of its parts.
Noble Hierarch is a great aggressive card that is begging to be played with Geist, but we lack the removal options a WUR deck has to push him through. Tarmogoyf is another great Green card, but we're a much worse Tarmogoyf deck than Jund or Junk.
Access to Blue should theoretically give access to cantrips and permission, but Serum Visions is appallingly bad, and the permission available is expensive and/or narrow.
Basically, I'm not enthusiastic about Bant aggro-control in Modern. However, there are two cards in our shard that I am enthusiastic about playing: Gavony Township and Celestial Colonnade.
(As an aside, neither are great right now with all the Ghost Quarters around, BUT I'm confident Eldrazi will be hit by a banning at some point and we will see fewer Ghost Quarters)
Most of my brewing in Modern Bant has centered around ramp-oriented lists that can utilize these lands alongside big, stupid spells that are (hopefully) a pain for many Modern decks to deal with. I think the banning of Splinter Twin was a huge boon for this style of deck (tapping out for expensive spells and basically on only 4 Paths for efficient, instant-speed interaction), and that is what inspired me to come back to this archetype.
I may crash and burn miserably, but I am determined to try SOMETHING along these lines in paper soon.
Add in some coursor of kruphix? It works and it's fun, I tried that before, but you are definitely going to get overrun by all the aggro in the format.
TappedOut
Would love to have more input to improve!
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1260983
Probably needs some tweaking, buts looks like a lot of fun to play.
Its not a bad idea, but it doesn't take advantage of blue very much.
Going G/W will probably be more consistent.
I would drop: Riders of Gavony, Reflector Mage and Avacyn's Pilgrim.
And consider adding: Steward of Valeron (Honored Hierarch), Mayor of Avabruck, Kytheon, Hero of Akros, Skinshifter, Blade Splicer and Experiment One
(or Student of Warfare/Warden of the First Tree) and maybe Mirror Entity.
Mirran Crusader and Paladin En-Vec can also be considered.
Yes, I'm quite familiar with this archetype-Mythic Bant is probably my favorite deck of all time.
I am testing a Sovereigns list, but don't own Lotus Cobras. That kind of invalidates the Cobra/Knight/Fetchland engine, so I'm currently trying out configurations of other "dorks" like Sylvan Caryatid, Coiling Oracle, Sakura-Tribe Elder, and Courser of Kruphix alongside 4-8 one-drops. Courser has really impressed me so far, its an all-around solid card.
This does fundamentally change the way the deck plays though. You don't have access to explosive Lotus Cobra openings, which I believe necessitates playing some more reactive cards. The upside of this is greater robustness against aggressive strategies or removal. I did some brief testing online against Jund with a Lotus Cobra list and found that the deck became really bad when all your dorks got killed. However, that might be a risk worth taking because of how huge the payoff can be.
2x Breeding Pool
4x Celestial Colonnade
4x Flooded Strand
2x Forest
1x Hallowed Fountain
3x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Plains
2x Razorverge Thicket
1x Temple Garden
Planeswalker (3)
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
4x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Monastery Mentor
4x Noble Hierarch
2x Scavenging Ooze
2x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
Instant (11)
1x Beast Within
2x Cryptic Command
2x Ojutai's Command
4x Path to Exile
2x Simic Charm
Sorcery (4)
4x Serum Visions
3x Kitchen Finks
2x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Meddling Mage
2x Qasali Pridemage
2x Spellskite
1x Stony Silence
2x Supreme Verdict
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
I haven't test this list yet, but it seems decent on paper. I want to hear all the critics and suggestions to improve this if possible. Thanks in advance!
Creature (18)
4x Geist of Saint Traft
Stupidly strong if resolved. I love how it beats for 6 damage in turn 3 and he is very difficult to remove. Combat tricks will help to get him past damage.
2x Monastery Mentor
Mentor with 18+ non-creature spells becomes absurdly overpowered. If nothing else, he spawns 2-3 tokens per game which enables as blockers or as threats to put pressure
4x Noble Hierarch
This for Exalted and mana dork. Alternative is Birds of Paradise
2x Scavenging Ooze
Stupidly strong against graveyard shenanigans. Grows bigger as well.
2x Snapcaster Mage
Flash, flashback, chump blocker. All for 2 mana.
4x Tarmogoyf
Because we play green...
Instant (11)
1x Beast Within
1-off catch-all removal. The 3/3 may be a hassle to deal but it may be better than some other things on board.
2x Cryptic Command
counter-draw-tap-bounce. Utility max!
2x Ojutai's Command
Another 4 modes of utility. Love it! The recursion of Tarmogoyf or Snapcaster Mage is hilarious!
4x Path to Exile
Do I need to explain why?
2x Simic Charm
Another utility card. Bounce, giant growth or hexproof my permanents is really useful!
Sorcery (4)
4x Serum Visions
Dig and filter!
Sideboard (15)
3x Kitchen Finks
Against burn and aggro strategies.
2x Leyline of Sanctity
Against combo, target player
2x Meddling Mage
Combo, control variants
2x Qasali Pridemage
Anti artifact and enchantment
2x Spellskite
Anti ability and target aura etc... you know...
1x Stony Silence
More artifact hate
2x Supreme Verdict
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
Anti- control
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
I've tested with Beast Within before and it is a very very tricky card to get right. If you don't have the 3/4 goyf to back it up you are in a bit of trouble. That said it is the best card in your deck that can reliably grow the goyf to a meaningful size.
I should premise this by saying that recently I've come to the conclusion that Goyf is just not a good card for Bant. Unless you run a whack build trying to get card types into the graveyard, we have no consistent efficient way of getting goyf to grow big and strong. Without discard and universal removal, goyf mostly sucks for us. Path exiles and counter spells have to be timed just right. So you can guess that if I were to tweak this I'd take out the tarmos and if I had to replace them with a creature I'd say 4x Voice of Resurgence.
My overall impression of your deck is that you've sorta taken what works in the other shards and tried replacing their black and red spells with the closest match you could find in Bant colours. By this I mean that you've got monastery mentor that works best with burns spells and at that point he is mostly outdone by young pyromancer, hence why we don't really see him played much. Also, Serum Visions works best in the decks that have hard removal answers or a combo but here the only reliably useful targets are path and beast within whereas other decks like grixis have way more universally applicable spells and a straighter game plan. I would try focusing your strategy a little more and think about what you want to be doing each turn. What are the steps that will get you to a win as early as possible while not letting your opponent get there before you? You should be able to point out the core cards that take you all the way, then build off that game plan.
Above all else, I'd like to recommend that you play test your deck thoroughly and come to your own conclusions about specific cards. Prove me wrong about all my rambling!! I hope that process is a fun one for you, it's one my favourite parts of magic
The goal is to swing with Geist and/or other creatures with the aid of utility to help push damage or protect the creatures
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Voice, pridemage, more ooze, or even more mana dorks and 3-drops might be fine replacements.
I also think a single think twice is kind of useless. Something that cantrips, like remand or azorius charm might just be better. Even compulsive research seems stronger.