It wouldn't, unfortunately. Traverse finds creatures or lands, which hits 4 or 5 of your scales enablers (the effects you most want multiples of), while Stirrings hits colorless cards. Both find Township, so if you want to play aggro into Township using Stirrings as your wincon, then sure. But Traverse finds Constrictor, where neither finds Hardened Scales. If you're also running Metallic Mimic and/or Steel Overseer, Stirrings becomes better than Traverse. Without those cards, I don't think it is.
Ancient Stirrings can also find Basilisk Collar for the combo with Walking Ballista (or just as a decent equipment) and the SB can be tuned to maximize Stirrings with as many artifacts as possible.
I like Steel Overseer much better than Metallic Mimic here (not all the artifact creatures share a creature type anyway).
I kept the White just for the utility lands, Path to Exile might also be the better option over Fatal Push. Abrupt Decay (despite not playing with the counters theme) is just a much better card/removal than Dromoka's Command.
I'm thinking of moving in a more interactive direction, and after building scales versions with individually better green creatures and a more synergistic artifact version, I think the artifact version, with more and broader interaction, will end up being better. Thanks for the ideas about Ancient Stirrings! That helped a lot making this shell feel strong. My list ended up with similar numbers and selections to yours.
Here's where I got to with a Stompy shell using individually better bodies. It feels like a zoo deck that tried to turn into Abzan midrange, and I am pretty sure it isn't better. The strength of this deck is really the interaction between any bodies and Ravager with Scales effects in play. In addition, Modular is pretty relevant, even when you're stuck playing a Worker on turn 1. It disrupts your opponent's mana if they care enough about the potential trigger value in the early game, and if they don't you easily generate 4-5 additional counters off of it when you value off with a ravager.
I think the white microsplash is worth it just for the awesome utility lands and like D()Dennis14 said i loaded the sideboard with artifacts. Traverse seems fine as a 2-of, drawing later should be good. Animation module looks pretty good in the steel overseer version.
Sadly i won't be able to actually play and test the deck for about a month or two. I own very few of the cards so I will have to get the pieces little by little. Still would like some thoughs from people who play the deck, because the modular version looks awesome and a blast to play!
I still think you want a 4-of discard effect in the board. Fatal push is really bad in the tron matchup and you probably want some way to interact with them. It also helps in the non interactive combo matchups and the control matchups. All of which make fatal push look abysmal.
I agree that the deck wants a 4 of discard spell, but I think it needs to be maindeck. Assuming the artifact core for the moment, most of your bodies resist non-Path removal in some fashion, through Modular or otherwise. Abrupt decay covers more permanents than Push, and in a deck with limited removal slots, the extra versatility is great, but it still doesn't deal with spell based combo or big mana very well. Thoughtseize main shores up all of these weaknesses and gives you an out to slow hands with Constrictors but no Scales.
Part of the problem with abrupt decay and the reason I didn't put it in the initial list is that it's 2 mana and makes the deck more clunky than it already is.
I don't really like the direction of this list, the 3-card combo seems way too fragile to be good and Commune with the Gods is a decent cantrip but not great at 2-mana in what is essentially an aggro deck.
It also doesn't run any interaction (or a way to cash in Hangarback Walker) besides two copies of the situational Dromoka's Command which not nearly enough. Birds of Paradise seems unnecessary as well.
Although Steel overseer has immense synergy with the +1/+1 system, it is too slow. I find it is either "win more" or too slow to be effective. It is a removal soak for sure, everyone loves pathing this thing, but due to its summmoning sickness, I feel bad playing it, since I feel it sets me back a turn where I could inflict damage, and I never attack with it, as it is usually better activating. With non-artifact creatures in the mix (even JUST winding constrictor), I would not run it, no matter how tempting.
1) 18 lands might be a little too land light
2) Super weak to board wipes
3) I haven't tested against tron/combo but I assume that match up is going to be miserable
4) Deck is meh without atleast one hardened scales or snake
I'm considering something like Hooded Hydra or Epochrasite or Chasm Skulker or Predator Ooze as an additional hedge against baord wipes besides just hangarback.
Other aggro decks are also a 50/50 match up so I might take out the pushes for Basilisk collar. Obviously best with ballista so I can just shoot other creatures down but it also allows me to just put it on a fatty and gain a bunch of life.
Some cards that have been great,
1) Solidarity of Heroes can just end the game on the spot. Doubling the +1/+1 counters on a ballista can just kill people. Also important to note that scales and snake do apply to it.
2) Evolutionary leap is great as a sac outlet and is a good hedge against removal.
I tested with Traverse for a bit but it seemed too hard to get delirium up and running. Maybe mainboarding thoughtseize/inquisition instead of abrupt decays/pushes would help but I feel like I never want to be using those in the early turns. Mainboard Mishra's Bauble would also probably help.
I don't know how I feel about Arcbound Worker. Easily the worst creature since it doesn't do much but it makes Arcbound Ravager better. I might up the Bob count since this deck isn't very good at generating card advantage.
What really strikes me about BG Scales is the redundancy available. 2 sets of nearly everything, snake and scales, ballista and hangerback walker, abrupt decay and fatal push, inquisition and thoughtseize, Bob and Tireless tracker. Scooze is better than Goyf if you get a snake scale on the field, and lilliana slots into the plan just fine.
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Pauper: UB Wight Phantasm RB Burn UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
I've poked around the idea a little, but since I lack the $$ for Arcbound Ravagers and Dark Confidants it seems like the ideal build is out of my reach. My versions have been much more stompy focused with things like Lotleth Troll, Avatar of the Resolute, and Servant of the Scale/Simic Initiate.
What really strikes me about BG Scales is the redundancy available. 2 sets of nearly everything, snake and scales, ballista and hangerback walker, abrupt decay and fatal push, inquisition and thoughtseize, Bob and Tireless tracker. Scooze is better than Goyf if you get a snake scale on the field, and lilliana slots into the plan just fine.
I have it built as more of an affinity deck, with ornithopter and springleaf drum as early ramp, and the typical affinity manlands, did not include scooze. It is explosive and very strong. I kept feeling like I was playing a slightly crappy affinity deck, but I like +1/+1 counters for some reason. It was somewhat midrange, as walking ballista can control the game removing creatures, until you can attack in for the kill or machine gun the opposing player to death.
What really strikes me about BG Scales is the redundancy available. 2 sets of nearly everything, snake and scales, ballista and hangerback walker, abrupt decay and fatal push, inquisition and thoughtseize, Bob and Tireless tracker. Scooze is better than Goyf if you get a snake scale on the field, and lilliana slots into the plan just fine.
I have it built as more of an affinity deck, with ornithopter and springleaf drum as early ramp, and the typical affinity manlands, did not include scooze. It is explosive and very strong. I kept feeling like I was playing a slightly crappy affinity deck, but I like +1/+1 counters for some reason. It was somewhat midrange, as walking ballista can control the game removing creatures, until you can attack in for the kill or machine gun the opposing player to death.
I watched Caleb's stream of the affinity version, but it looked extremely fragile to me. In every game he ended up netdecking while the opponent had four plus cards, and in games where an opponent hit 2 poeces of hand disruption it fizzled. The big mana version he tried was even worse, as it needed to stick a 1 drop turn 1 to take off.
The deck os already affinity rock, I just think pushing more towards the rock side would nake it more consistent.
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Pauper: UB Wight Phantasm RB Burn UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Nothing big but enough. Also 5 other top 8s in 2017
In my playtesting it seems like an alright deck that is weak to hand disruption. I can win games and all but it doesn't feel like anything special. Are any of the advantages it has enough to play it over another deck? I do like the 22 creature version better. A BG deck that has time to assemble its powerful plays rather than going all in and hoping to get lucky.
I honestly haven't really thought about brewing with this deck again until just recently. I recently started thinking about what the matchup looks like against Trondrazi or Death's Shadow. I was thinking about sleeving it back up. I'll wait until I see some more spoilers though.
What the deck needs is a 1cc creature with P/T value, like Narnam Renegade. Something like a 1/2 Creature with Trample and "If you control two or more lands, this creature enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.'
I took the deck to a 40 person, competitive tourney on Sunday and was pretty disappointed with a few things. I didn't have an ideal sideboard because the storms in the US significantly delayed my order but I played a similar list to Ryan Davies, with 3 Dromoka's Command and 3 Inquisition of Kozilek instead of the 2 Thoughtseize. For lands, I also used 2 Marsh Flats over 1x Verdant Catacombs and 1xWindswept Heath. I only had 1 scooze so I decided to test 1 Metallic Mimic. Overall, I came in about the middle of the pack. The deck felt fairly weak to hand disruption but removal was a bigger concern. Engineered Explosives is also a killer. I had the most difficulty playing against Eldrazi&Taxes and Burn, GDS felt like a fair matchup when they didn't have a godly hand, and I steamrolled a couple of Jund players.
Hangarback was MVP. I made some mistakes keeping hands I shouldn't have and my sideboard was less than Ideal but I did run a Collective Brutality and it was a huge play every time I drew it. I found that Ancient Stirrings was not impressive whatsoever. It's a bad turn one play and whenever I played it, I would have preferred a Traverse the Ulvenwald. Pendelhaven was also pretty irrelevant because the biggest problem was Fatal Push. It probably helps blocking things like Goblin Guide but if you're leaving a green mana open early game, I feel like you've already lost.
I'm going to be going back to Traverse and adding a Plains over Pendelhaven. I really, really wanted to like Metallic Mimic but it has bad stats and the only time I got it out on t2, I got 2-for-1'd trying to play a ballista when the mimic got pushed in response. Late game, it's not a good draw whatsoever. Ooze was insane when I got to play it and I would definitely main at least 2. As said previously, Arcbound Worker is extremely underwhelming. I'm tempted to cut all of them and cut the Arcbound Ravager count down to 2 in order to run more removal and hand disruption.
With less creatures, Dromoka's Command probably loses some usefulness compared to more efficient removal like path and abrupt decay. I'll be experimenting with that once I get the cards and I'll report back. I did struggle with card draw but having hand disruption made it more even. Tireless Tracker is more appealing to me than Dark Confidant because it's stronger against push and grows in the late game. If I end up cutting down on ravagers, it might end up losing some utility but I plan on testing it out in both versions once I can get my hands on some. The meta at my LGS is very heavy on Death's Shadow decks, E&Taxes, and Tron, so that's primarily what I'm going to be considering when making changes. I think that most popular aggressive decks are too disruptive for the build I tried to be viable where I am so I'm going to try to see if I can hit a sweet spot with a more midrange list.
Hopefully interest hasn't died out because the deck is a lot of fun and it would be awesome to find a list slightly more competitive. If people are still set on the non-artifact version, depending on my results and whether or not more people on this forum are interested in a more midrange build, it might be time to split the lists into different threads. Thoughts?
Saw this thread and thought I would post my sons list as it has been performing well at our local LGS. Many components of the aggro lists I see here with a few win out of nowhere conditions thrown in. With Rite of Passage on the board, a topdeck Walking Ballista is usually game, sometimes regardless of removal. With a Hornet Nest on board and Dromoka's Command in hand, you can force a fight with their creatures and create an army of 1/1 flying deathtouchers. If you have Hardened Scales / Winding Constrictor out and an available Oran-Rief, the Vastwood, you now have an army of 3/3 or 4/4 flying deathtouch.
What do people think of the interaction of glissa the traitor and walking balista?
Depends on the deck. The interaction you are referring to between glissa, the traitor and ballista is that, assuming you have a counter multiplier, you use counters on the ballista to kill a creature, get it back, cast it X = 2 for a 2/2 ballista? The interaction isn't terrible, but it depends on what is leaving to make room for Glissa, which would have to be worse than a chandra's pyrohelix each turn.
I think we got some nice cards from RIX. I tried to play a Simic version just before the set was released and it happens that we got an interesting one for that variant : Hadana's Climb / Winged Temple of Orazca
I just tested it in standard, and Cub into this can be badbreaking very quickly : attacking for 10 in the air by turn 4 !
I was already switching among Spike Feeder, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Plaxcaster Frogling and Rishkar, Peema Renegade without enough success. Nissa was overall the better of the 3, and that's a very crucial point in the curve, right after you drop a Constrictor or a 2-drop, you want something that can add and/or move counters so it helps your Ballistas and evolve creatures (especially Raptor in a blue version).
In white, there's Paladin of Atonement that brings my attention. With 12 fetchlands, 4 ravlands and 4 Ballistas, there's a chance it makes white the better option (all GWx are appealing from this point).
Has anyone tried Managorger Hydra? How is it?
I like Steel Overseer much better than Metallic Mimic here (not all the artifact creatures share a creature type anyway).
Here is my proposed build:
4x Arcbound Worker
4x Walking Ballista
4x Hangarback Walker
4x Arcbound Ravager
4x Steel Overseer
4x Winding Constrictor
Enchantment (4)
4x Hardened Scales
Instant (7)
3x Fatal Push
4x Abrupt Decay
Sorcery (4)
4x Ancient Stirrings
Artifact (1)
1x Basilisk Collar
4x Verdant Catacombs
2x Windswept Heath
1x Marsh Flats
3x Overgrown Tomb
1x Temple Garden
1x Godless Shrine
4x Blooming Marsh
1x Forest
1x Swamp
1x Gavony Township
1x Vault of the Archangel
4x Thoughtseize
3x Scavenging Ooze
2x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Pithing Needle
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Spellskite
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Fatal Push
1x Maelstrom Pulse
I kept the White just for the utility lands, Path to Exile might also be the better option over Fatal Push.
Abrupt Decay (despite not playing with the counters theme) is just a much better card/removal than Dromoka's Command.
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Walking Ballista
3 Arcbound Worker
3 Arcbound Ravager
4 Winding Constrictor
2 Steel Overseer
2 Dark Confidant
Instants: 5
2 Fatal Push
3 Abrupt Decay
Sorceries: 9
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Hardened Scales
Lands: 20
2 Gavony Township
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
2 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Pithing Needle
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Spellskite
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Lingering Souls
2 Scavenging Ooze
Here's where I got to with a Stompy shell using individually better bodies. It feels like a zoo deck that tried to turn into Abzan midrange, and I am pretty sure it isn't better. The strength of this deck is really the interaction between any bodies and Ravager with Scales effects in play. In addition, Modular is pretty relevant, even when you're stuck playing a Worker on turn 1. It disrupts your opponent's mana if they care enough about the potential trigger value in the early game, and if they don't you easily generate 4-5 additional counters off of it when you value off with a ravager.
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Walking Ballista
4 Narnam Renegade
3 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Winding Constrictor
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Dark Confidant
2 Fatal Push
2 Bioshift
2 Abrupt Decay
Sorceries: 6
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
Enchantments:
4 Hardened Scales
Lands: 21
2 Gavony Township
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
2 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
2 Forest
2 Swamp
4 hangarback walker
4 walking ballista
4 arcbound worker
4 arcbound ravager
4 steel overseer
4 winding constrictor
sorceries: 6
4 ancient stirrings
2 traverse the ulvenwald
instants: 4
4 fatal push
enchantments: 4
4 hardened scales
2 animation module
lands: 20
4 verdant catacombs
4 windswept heath
1 overgrown tomb
1 temple garden
3 forest
1 swamp
4 blooming marsh
1 vault of the archangel
1 gavony township
1 grafdigger's cage
1 torpor orb
1 basilisk collar
2 pithing needle
2 relic of progenitus
2 filigree familiar
2 scrap trawler
2 golgari charm
2 maelstrom pulse
I think the white microsplash is worth it just for the awesome utility lands and like D()Dennis14 said i loaded the sideboard with artifacts. Traverse seems fine as a 2-of, drawing later should be good. Animation module looks pretty good in the steel overseer version.
Sadly i won't be able to actually play and test the deck for about a month or two. I own very few of the cards so I will have to get the pieces little by little. Still would like some thoughs from people who play the deck, because the modular version looks awesome and a blast to play!
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/kevincrimin-03022017-rogues-alley-modern-snakes-passage/
I don't really like the direction of this list, the 3-card combo seems way too fragile to be good and Commune with the Gods is a decent cantrip but not great at 2-mana in what is essentially an aggro deck.
It also doesn't run any interaction (or a way to cash in Hangarback Walker) besides two copies of the situational Dromoka's Command which not nearly enough.
Birds of Paradise seems unnecessary as well.
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
2 Dark Confidant
4 Hangarback Walker
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Servant of the Scale
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
Enchantment: 6
2 Evolutionary Leap
4 Hardened Scales
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Fatal Push
3 Solidarity of Heroes
Land: 18
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Spike Feeder
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
Problems I've noticed:
1) 18 lands might be a little too land light
2) Super weak to board wipes
3) I haven't tested against tron/combo but I assume that match up is going to be miserable
4) Deck is meh without atleast one hardened scales or snake
I'm considering something like Hooded Hydra or Epochrasite or Chasm Skulker or Predator Ooze as an additional hedge against baord wipes besides just hangarback.
Other aggro decks are also a 50/50 match up so I might take out the pushes for Basilisk collar. Obviously best with ballista so I can just shoot other creatures down but it also allows me to just put it on a fatty and gain a bunch of life.
Some cards that have been great,
1) Solidarity of Heroes can just end the game on the spot. Doubling the +1/+1 counters on a ballista can just kill people. Also important to note that scales and snake do apply to it.
2) Evolutionary leap is great as a sac outlet and is a good hedge against removal.
I tested with Traverse for a bit but it seemed too hard to get delirium up and running. Maybe mainboarding thoughtseize/inquisition instead of abrupt decays/pushes would help but I feel like I never want to be using those in the early turns. Mainboard Mishra's Bauble would also probably help.
I don't know how I feel about Arcbound Worker. Easily the worst creature since it doesn't do much but it makes Arcbound Ravager better. I might up the Bob count since this deck isn't very good at generating card advantage.
A pretty good finish for the "Affinity" version of "Hardened Scales aggro".
Here is a new build with the Archangel-Feeder combo and almost no artifacts (only W.Ballista):
https://www.channelfireball.com/videos/channel-calebd-modern-big-mana-scales/
Something like:
4 walking ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
4 scavenging ooze
2 thoughtseize
4 fatal push
4 abrupt decay
4 hardened scales
What really strikes me about BG Scales is the redundancy available. 2 sets of nearly everything, snake and scales, ballista and hangerback walker, abrupt decay and fatal push, inquisition and thoughtseize, Bob and Tireless tracker. Scooze is better than Goyf if you get a snake scale on the field, and lilliana slots into the plan just fine.
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post
I have it built as more of an affinity deck, with ornithopter and springleaf drum as early ramp, and the typical affinity manlands, did not include scooze. It is explosive and very strong. I kept feeling like I was playing a slightly crappy affinity deck, but I like +1/+1 counters for some reason. It was somewhat midrange, as walking ballista can control the game removing creatures, until you can attack in for the kill or machine gun the opposing player to death.
I watched Caleb's stream of the affinity version, but it looked extremely fragile to me. In every game he ended up netdecking while the opponent had four plus cards, and in games where an opponent hit 2 poeces of hand disruption it fizzled. The big mana version he tried was even worse, as it needed to stick a 1 drop turn 1 to take off.
The deck os already affinity rock, I just think pushing more towards the rock side would nake it more consistent.
UB Wight Phantasm
RB Burn
UR Faerie Rites of Initiation
Legacy:
R Burn
CG-Post
4 Blooming Marsh
1 Forest
1 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
2 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Windswept Heath
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Dark Confidant
4 Hangarback Walker
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
Noncreature (13)
3 Dromoka's Command
3 Fatal Push
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Hardened Scales
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Choke
3 Lingering Souls
1 Pithing Needle
1 Spellskite
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Thoughtseize
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Forest
1 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Pendelhaven
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Windswept Heath
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Hangarback Walker
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
NonCreature (18)
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Dromoka's Command
3 Fatal Push
2 Thoughtseize
4 Hardened Scales
1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
3 Feed the Clan
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Lingering Souls
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Torpor Orb
Nothing big but enough. Also 5 other top 8s in 2017
In my playtesting it seems like an alright deck that is weak to hand disruption. I can win games and all but it doesn't feel like anything special. Are any of the advantages it has enough to play it over another deck? I do like the 22 creature version better. A BG deck that has time to assemble its powerful plays rather than going all in and hoping to get lucky.
What the deck needs is a 1cc creature with P/T value, like Narnam Renegade. Something like a 1/2 Creature with Trample and "If you control two or more lands, this creature enters the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it.'
Hangarback was MVP. I made some mistakes keeping hands I shouldn't have and my sideboard was less than Ideal but I did run a Collective Brutality and it was a huge play every time I drew it. I found that Ancient Stirrings was not impressive whatsoever. It's a bad turn one play and whenever I played it, I would have preferred a Traverse the Ulvenwald. Pendelhaven was also pretty irrelevant because the biggest problem was Fatal Push. It probably helps blocking things like Goblin Guide but if you're leaving a green mana open early game, I feel like you've already lost.
I'm going to be going back to Traverse and adding a Plains over Pendelhaven. I really, really wanted to like Metallic Mimic but it has bad stats and the only time I got it out on t2, I got 2-for-1'd trying to play a ballista when the mimic got pushed in response. Late game, it's not a good draw whatsoever. Ooze was insane when I got to play it and I would definitely main at least 2. As said previously, Arcbound Worker is extremely underwhelming. I'm tempted to cut all of them and cut the Arcbound Ravager count down to 2 in order to run more removal and hand disruption.
With less creatures, Dromoka's Command probably loses some usefulness compared to more efficient removal like path and abrupt decay. I'll be experimenting with that once I get the cards and I'll report back. I did struggle with card draw but having hand disruption made it more even. Tireless Tracker is more appealing to me than Dark Confidant because it's stronger against push and grows in the late game. If I end up cutting down on ravagers, it might end up losing some utility but I plan on testing it out in both versions once I can get my hands on some. The meta at my LGS is very heavy on Death's Shadow decks, E&Taxes, and Tron, so that's primarily what I'm going to be considering when making changes. I think that most popular aggressive decks are too disruptive for the build I tried to be viable where I am so I'm going to try to see if I can hit a sweet spot with a more midrange list.
Hopefully interest hasn't died out because the deck is a lot of fun and it would be awesome to find a list slightly more competitive. If people are still set on the non-artifact version, depending on my results and whether or not more people on this forum are interested in a more midrange build, it might be time to split the lists into different threads. Thoughts?
4 Walking Ballista
4 Avatar of the Resolute
3 Strangleroot Geist
4 Winding Constrictor
2 Hornet Nest
3 Managorger Hydra
4 Predator Ooze
1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
Spells:13
4 Hardened Scales
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Dromoka's Command
3 Rite of Passage
3 Blooming Marsh
2 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
3 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Spike Feeder
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Nature's Claim
2 Golgari Charm
2 Stony Silence
3 Leyline of Sanctity
Depends on the deck. The interaction you are referring to between glissa, the traitor and ballista is that, assuming you have a counter multiplier, you use counters on the ballista to kill a creature, get it back, cast it X = 2 for a 2/2 ballista? The interaction isn't terrible, but it depends on what is leaving to make room for Glissa, which would have to be worse than a chandra's pyrohelix each turn.
I think we got some nice cards from RIX. I tried to play a Simic version just before the set was released and it happens that we got an interesting one for that variant :
Hadana's Climb / Winged Temple of Orazca
I just tested it in standard, and Cub into this can be badbreaking very quickly : attacking for 10 in the air by turn 4 !
I was already switching among Spike Feeder, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, Plaxcaster Frogling and Rishkar, Peema Renegade without enough success. Nissa was overall the better of the 3, and that's a very crucial point in the curve, right after you drop a Constrictor or a 2-drop, you want something that can add and/or move counters so it helps your Ballistas and evolve creatures (especially Raptor in a blue version).
Here's where I am right now :
4 Experiment One
4 Narnam Renegade
4 Winding Constrictor
4 Walking Ballista
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
4 Hardened Scales
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Thoughtseize
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Polluted Delta
2 Breeding Pool
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Botanical Sanctum
1 Forest
1 Swamp
3 Natural State
3 Fatal Push
3 Duress
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Golgari Charm
In white, there's Paladin of Atonement that brings my attention. With 12 fetchlands, 4 ravlands and 4 Ballistas, there's a chance it makes white the better option (all GWx are appealing from this point).