Gideon's Lawkeeper is not aggresive enough and this deck can't afford to constantly pay mana and not attack.
I would definetly cut him and up Path to Exile to 4x.
*Btw some interesting cards I came across that might be more options to get damage through are: Bathe in Light and Ruthless Invasion.
They are as good as Brave the Elements of course but might be copies 5-8 of it if necessary.
With 4 Champions and 4 Lieutenants, Gather the Townsfolk does some serious pumping. If you've played Goblins, you'll know how quickly an unanswered Foundry Street Denizen + Mogg War Marshal can eat away at your opponent's life. Champion + Gather is like that, but toughness gets boosted as well, and doesn't go away at EOT.
4 Thalia and 13 noncreature spells does not seem like the best idea. I think more 1-drops is better, since more 1s = more chance of Lieutenant pumping something on turn 2. Boros Elite and Kytheon are also dependent on having extra bodies in play to function, so that's another pull to playing more 1s. Herald of Anafenza seems like a decent contender; the deck already plays Thraben Inspector after all, and Herald has the same mana cost, stats and function (mana sink).
Yes right, they are also human soldiers and I like them, I just found it a pity that I wouldn't max out on their abilities for not having so much allies. For this, I would have to play at least Expedition Envoy I think, who in turn is no soldier and is just like Elite Vanguard on his own...
I chose Thalia and Kytheon as full playsets even though they are legendary, because I just find them too good, built around them, want to play them early and they both have a target on their forehead. It can be annoying drawing multiples if not needed.
About the Starcity decklist:
Very interesting and I see some similarities to my brew. Just 2 Path to Exile the only main removal. Maybe I should cut one Gideon's Lawkeeper from my list to add the 4th Brave the Elements. 13(!) noncreature spells with Thalia? Suprises me. Thraben Inspector: so, is she good enough? Maybe, I should try her as well. What matchup does he bring Knight of the White Orchid? Isn't that a wasted sideboard slot?
I assume the knight of the white orchids are sided in when he is on the draw as it can lead to some pretty explosive turn 3's. In a super aggressive deck like this you cant really afford to draw 2, or dare I say, 3 kytheons. I would do no more than 3. Same with thalia. I am also surprised to see so many non creatures with thalia. Gather is a great card but I would do that or thalia, not both. Also don't think that 4 brave the elements is really necessary. I would start with 2 main and side the others. Ideally you only need to get in one alpha strike to finish them off.
I like that list- it's very similar to the one that I plan to try during my next FNM. The last time I tried Gather the Townsfolk was before Thalia's Lieutenant came out, and I think it has real potential now. I still think you can easily go down to 18 lands, and that 4 Honor of the Pure may be too many, but otherwise I think it's a very solid deck.
From goldfishing, this deck seems slower than Goblins. The main difference is that Goblins' boosts are mostly temporary (both Bushwhackers, Atarka's Command) while this deck's boosts are permanent (Champion, Lieutenant, Elite), but Goblins also have haste. With Goblins your plan is to rush fast and get them to a low life total, at which point it doesn't really matter if your creatures are now dinky 1/1s; you can alpha strike/burn your opponent out.
This deck is more about building big guys. Your main goal is to try to get your guys to 3 or 4 power. The problem is that it takes time to set those up, and by the time they are "on", their stats might not be good enough. A 3/3 attacking on turn 2 is good (see Wild Nacatl), but a 3/3 attacking on turn 3 might just get walled by a Goyf or something. That's why I wouldn't skimp on Path or Brave the Elements in this deck: they both help push damage through blockers.
The creature base is decent. I try to avoid playing 1-power 1-drops - the only ones I have are Doomed Traveler and Hada Freeblade (which has upside potential). I don't think you have to go all out and include Kazandu Blademaster, just Envoy and Freeblade are enough. It's kind of like playing Kytheon with the mindset that he will just be a 2/1 most of the time, and if he manages to become 4/4, that's a nice bonus, but not something you should count on.
There's little downside to including Horizon Canopy. It gives you some late-game flood protection and lets you cut Thraben Inspector. The life payment can help you get to fateful hour for Gather the Townsfolk.
Icatian Javelineers is an interesting choice, but I suppose there are a lot of 1-toughness targets for it in the current meta. Knight of the White Orchid still seems mediocre to me, and even the pilot admitted in the Deck Tech he wasn't thrilled with it. I'll be interested to see how these lists end up doing, it's exciting to see others picking up the mono-white aggro deck!
Interesting to see this Humans deck, but based on the 2 names from the video that were running the deck (Steve Rubin and Dan Musser), it doesn't sound like it performed particularly well. I'm not terribly surprised, if I'm being honest. Their version feels way too syenergy-based for me. None of the cards are particularly powerful on their own. The nice thing about running cards like Steppe Lynx, Figure of Destiny, and Student of Warfare is that they are essentially standalone 3 or 4 power creatures.
I'm planning on taking Goyfs to GP Charlotte this coming weekend. All that's left to decide is if I'm bringing the 32 1-drop version, or if I want to bring a slightly beefier version that cuts all the sub-par 1-drops and instead plays things like Honor of the Pure, Spectral Procession, and possibly Raise the Alarm and Mirran Crusader/Hero of Bladehold/Elspeth, Knight-Errant/some sort of more expensive threat. I've been getting so frustrated with Soldier of the Pantheon, Mardu Woe-Reaper, and especially Boros Elite that I'm definitely leaning towards the beefier version, but I'm still thinking about it. Cutting Soldier, Woe-Reaper, and Elite also means cutting Champion of the Parish, and I'm not sure I want to do that just yet.
I thought about it too, probably needs some testing to determine the optimal number to run.
It will certainly make the deck better imho.
They are indeed pretty good but probably better in a more reactive deck that looks to remove the opponent's threats/dorks and replenish the counters (like the Emeria deck).
In an aggro deck they seem rather weak.
Would you choose them over Thraben Inspector which provides the only card draw of the deck ?
Kytheon is usually removed rather quickly or flipped so drawing more than one isn't that bad.
Well, after much hemming and hawing, I decided to play Goyfs, though I'm playing a version I posted about a while back with Spectral Procession. I just got back from a GPT, where I made it to the semi-finals by beating Dredge, Jeskai Sneaky-Kiki, and some crazy Valakut/Nahiri ramp deck before losing to Eldrazi Taxes. Here's the 75 I'm running with this weekend:
Round 1: Umbral Mantle Combo (L 0-2)
I'd never seen a deck like this before, but the pilot tied for first so it was undoubtedly very good. Basically it uses Umbral Mantle and an assortment of other cards to generate infinite mana and/or deal infinite damage. Both games were reasonably close, but he combo'd out both times with Umbral Mantle to win.
Round 2: BW Titan Control(W 2-0)
Similar to the GW list I faced last time, but with cards like Reassembling Skeleton to stall the early game and ramp into bigger plays like Sun Titan. I was fast enough in both games to win before any huge creatures hit the field.
Round 4: Elves (L 1-2)
Not a great matchup for this deck, but surprisingly close. This player also tied for first, meaning that both of the matches I lost were to first place finishers. I lost a fairly close Game 1, won Game 2 on Turn 4 thanks to Brave the Elements, and then got steamrolled in Game 3 because I kept an otherwise perfect 1-land hand and didn't draw another land until it was far too late. Definitely a tougher matchup than Merfolk.
I greatly preferred this version of the deck over my last one. Thraben Inspector and Gather the Townsfolk gave a lot of consistency to the deck, which was definitely missing from the previous version. I'm pretty happy with this build, and aside from the sideboard additions I mentioned earlier, I don't foresee myself making too many changes before the next tournament.
Well, I made day 2 on a 6-3 record. I'll follow up with a tournament report after this thing is done, but the abbreviated version: it was a tale of two tournaments for me. I started off 4-0 and proceeded to go 1-3, finally winning the last round to secure a spot tomorrow. Losses were to Eldrazi Tron, Jeskai Ascendancy combo, and Nacatl Burn. Wins were against Boros Burn, Gruul Aggro, Tezzeret Grixis, G/W Death and Taxes, Jeskai Nahiri, and B/G with Eldrazi.
Round 1: Burn, W 2-0. My opponent was attending her first GP and was not terribly experienced in competitive Magic. All the same, she was playing a dangerous deck, so I had to take her seriously. Both games went roughly the same: She was able to get me down to a perilously low life total, but a few Raise the Alarm chump blocks here and there were able to save enough life for my creatures to get in for lethal. I believe I would have lost to a more experienced opponent.
Round 2: Gruul Aggro, W 2-0. Game 1 went fairly easily for me, as my opponent had to mulligan to 5 and was stuck on 1 land for too long to get into the game. Game 2 was much closer and involved me having to play around Ghor-Clan Rampager for several turns while representing a Path that I did not have. I kept swinging in the air with however many Spirits I felt I could get away with, chipping away at his life total until it started getting serious. Eventually I did, in fact, draw the Path I needed, and was able to swing with enough to survive a crackback. He had to chump block, drew a card, and conceded.
Round 3: Tezzeret Grixis, W 2-1. Game 1 I simply steamrolled my opponent, as I was able to deploy my hand very quickly and opponent simply didn't have enough answers for my gigantic board. Game 2 my opponent was able to deal with my threats one at a time, and I kept drawing sideboard cards instead of threats. Eventually he's able to turn enough artifacts into 5/5s and kills me. Game 3 was basically a carbon copy of game 1.
Round 4: G/W Death and Taxes, W 2-1. Game 1 I wasn't sure if my opponent was on Death and Taxes or Hatebears, but either way it's a pretty bad matchup since their creatures are generally slightly bigger and better, which is exactly how game 1 played out. Of note is that if it wasn't for my opponent's Mutavault, I had lethal with Honor + Brave. Game 2 was extremely close with multiple trades, both of us getting in for 1 or 2 damage here and there, but eventually a well-timed Brave wins me the game. There's not much to tell with game 3: my opponent floods out horribly and I quickly take it.
Round 5: Eldrazi Tron, L 1-2. For those of you who didn't know, GP Charlotte day 1 was riddled with technical difficulties. In round 4, pairings had been completely random, there were multiple delays, all because of issues with the pairing software. I believe that the total delay time between rounds 4 and 5 was close to 3 hours. While it's not an excuse, I did feel as though prior to the delay, I was in the zone, and by the time round 5 started, I was out of it. Game 1 I'm able to quickly get my opponent down to 3 life, but 2 Kozilek's Returns wipe my board and I simply can't find the resources to fight back against Thought-Knot Seers and Reality Smashers. Game 2 I get off to a much slower start, but my opponent isn't able to find his Returns, and that's all the time I need to win the game in short order. Game 3 I feel like I punted. For some reason, I thought Return did 3 damage instead of 2, so I made a series of suboptimal plays that left my Student as a 1/1 and my Lynx without a fetchland. I could have easily blanked my opponent's Return but instead played right into it, and there was simply no coming back.
Round 6: Jeskai Ascendancy, L 0-2. It feels like around the middle rounds of a big tournament, the wheels start coming off for me, and this tournament was no different. I'm able to get a pretty good board and am pressuring my opponent, but I don't draw any spells, and my opponent simply turn 3 kills me. Game 2 went a little better, and the highlight was being able to Mana Tithe my opponent's Manamorphose, which then caused him to fizzle. I didn't have enough pressure, though, and he immediately killed me the next turn.
Round 7: Nahiri Jeskai, W 2-0. This is, more or less, the deck that inspired me to drop from 32 1-drops to 16 and add token makers. Game 1 my opponent was able to make short work of my early threats, even getting up to 23 life from a flashed back Lightning Helix, but then I stuck a Procession with Honor out. My opponent plays a Nahiri, which I start attacking while drawing nothing but lands for a few turns. I'm eventually able to kill Nahiri #1, which is immediately replaced by a second. I'm finally able to find a Raise the Alarm and begin attacking face. My opponent is unable to deal with so many threats and dies soon after. Game 2 starts much the same way, with my opponent able to deal with my early game but without the resources to deal with a constant stream of threats. The deciding mistake, however, was playing Anger of the Gods against my board of Lynx, Kytheon, and leveled up Student with an Honor of the Pure out. I crack a Fetch and exile Kytheon, my opponent realizes what he's done, and I topdeck a land to get in for exactsies the next turn.
Round 8: Nacatl Burn, L 1-2. I just need 1 of the next 2 to make day 2, but of course I'd much rather go in 7-2 than 6-3. Game 1 I mulligan into a fairly slow hand, and my opponent's turn 1 Nacatl tells me that I've already lost. Game 2 is an extremely interesting, interactive game. I'm able to find a Firewalker early, and my opponent isn't able to deal with my larger 1-drop threats. Raise the Alarm overperformed here, and likely saved me at least 6 damage. Game 3 I had an interesting mulligan decision: my opening was 1 land, 2 Firewalker, 2 Raise the Alarm, a Student, and a Brave. I thought long and hard but ultimately mulliganed. I still don't know if that's correct. If I draw a land, I almost surely win. If I don't, I surely lose. I wind up keeping a middling 6, and my opponent has an excellent hand that makes short work of me.
Round 9: B/G Colorless, W 2-0. I honestly don't remember much about these games. My opponent was essentially playing Jund except he replaced the red for colorless so he could play Eldrazi. This is the kind of matchup that I put Spectral Procession in for, and it did not disappoint.
Round 10: Nahiri Jeskai, L 1-2. My first (and only) round of day 2 was against Nahiri Jeskai, which I consider to be a good matchup for this version. Unfortunately I flood out game 1, which allows my opponent to tick Nahiri up to ultimate. Game 2 goes the way the matchup should: My opponent has answers to my early threats but can't kill everything. Game 3 I think my exhaustion finally caught up to me. My opponent dealt with my early threats but I was stuck drawing lands and spells, and I wasn't able to keep up. As I felt things snowballing out of control, I made several costly mistakes that got my Figure killed unnecessarily, and my opponent was able to ultimate Nahiri for the win.
After the tournament, there are a few cards that I think could be swapped out for more/different threats. First, I think the Mana Tithes can go. As much as I love the card, they simply don't have an impact later in the game, and this version of the deck tends to go later into the game than the 32 one-drop version. I think that the deck could also afford to cut a Path, though it's not necessary. I do think the token makers earned their keep, but I could see shaving the numbers to add more single-body threats. Cards I would strongly consider adding to the main would be Brimaz or Hero of Bladehold. I just wish there were better options at 2, because I feel that's where the most help is needed. Right now, the normal turn 2 play is 1-drop, hold up a mana, which is certainly fine, but a solid 2-drop (I'm not counting Thalia as solid in this version since there are so many spells) could go a long way.
As for the sideboard, I was really unhappy with the Elspeths and Stony Silences. I think the Stonys are worth keeping around for now, since I just didn't face decks like Affinity, R/G Tron, or Lantern Control where they might do some work, but the Elspeths were just a strategic mistake. I originally included them for the grindier decks like Jund and Jeskai, but I don't think they're necessary. I would have much rather had maybe another removal spell and another piece of graveyard hate, such as Grafdigger's Cage, or maybe some number of Angel's Grace.
All in all it's hard to call a day 2 finish anything other than a success, especially running a deck like this and without the kind of time to test and study up on the metagame that I would like. Still, after starting 4-0, a 6-4 finish felt pretty frustrating nonetheless.
Congrats to OP for making day two at a major tournament with this sweet brew!
I've been playing around a lot with spectral procession, and I have to say, the card is very good. In conjunction with honor of the pure, spectral procession really helps to shore up a lot of matches. It gets past blockers when you don't draw brave the elements and holds back affinity for at least a few turns. So, I've been playtesting a budget version similar to OP's online for the past week now.
This deck was relatively cheap for the modern format and I have been winning the majority of my games. Sometimes this list has slow openers but often comes back with the token producers and anthem effects or by blowing out the aggro opponent with a well timed brave the elements to wipe out most of their team. I actually won a real crazy game against boggles two days ago where the opponent swung out with a 9/7 trample vigilance lifelink first striking boggle and I killed it by blocking with every creature I had and braving for green. Every deck I've played against thus far feels like I have at least a 50% chance of winning every game, even on slow openers or a mull to 6 and 5. The only deck I have not been able to beat once is affinity. They always seem to have a way out from any of my hate cards.
I cast stony silence, die to signal pests. I draw gut shot, they equip cranial plating to ornithopter. I cast spectral procession, they cast steel overseer and run my tokens over. Is anybody else having problems with robots? Any advice for how to better overcome them? I'm starting to consider more narrow hate cards just because I'm tired of always losing to this deck. Stuff like marrow shards or corrosive gale. Hell maybe I'll just pick up 3-4 kataki, war's wage. But I really hate to have a card in my sideboard that literally hurts no one but affinity
For this deck? Not especially. 3 mana is sooooo expensive, and I don't think the tapped lands ability + first strike and +1/+1 is worth tacking an extra mana onto Imposing Sovereign for this deck. I am excited about it for my mono White Death and Taxes list, though.
As for this deck, I've finally come around to the absurd power of Thalia's Lieutenant and have shifted this into mono White Humans. I've dropped the Lynxes and Figures and am currently running the following 75 to good success in the tournament practice room of MTGO:
I tried out Honor of the Pure but it just feels so clunky. It seems much better suited to a deck that is able to generate multiple threats with one card, like tokens. Speaking of tokens, I am not a fan of Gather the Townsfolk. The 1/1s do absolutely nothing on their own, and although they obviously get much better with Lieutenant or Honor, I don't feel that the card is worth it. I feel like the fact that you get 2 threats for 1 card doesn't matter in this deck: you're trying to kill the opponent however you can, and you don't get extra points for winning with cards in hand. I'm perfectly content to spew my hand onto the battlefield if it means winning. I understand the argument that Gather allows you to hold back more threats in the case of a board wipe. The problem with that is that the Gather tokens don't generate enough pressure. They just Path your Champion after you pass the turn and you've got 2 power on the board, which gives them all the time in the world they need to draw into more answers.
For this deck? Not especially. 3 mana is sooooo expensive, and I don't think the tapped lands ability + first strike and +1/+1 is worth tacking an extra mana onto Imposing Sovereign for this deck. I am excited about it for my mono White Death and Taxes list, though.
As for this deck, I've finally come around to the absurd power of Thalia's Lieutenant and have shifted this into mono White Humans. I've dropped the Lynxes and Figures and am currently running the following 75 to good success in the tournament practice room of MTGO:
Lands
17 Plains
Spells
4 Brave the Elements
3 Path to Exile
2 Mana Tithe
Creatures
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Boros Elite
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Mardu Woe-Reaper
3 Student of Warfare
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben[/deck]
I tried out Honor of the Pure but it just feels so clunky. It seems much better suited to a deck that is able to generate multiple threats with one card, like tokens. Speaking of tokens, I am not a fan of Gather the Townsfolk. The 1/1s do absolutely nothing on their own, and although they obviously get much better with Lieutenant or Honor, I don't feel that the card is worth it. I feel like the fact that you get 2 threats for 1 card doesn't matter in this deck: you're trying to kill the opponent however you can, and you don't get extra points for winning with cards in hand. I'm perfectly content to spew my hand onto the battlefield if it means winning. I understand the argument that Gather allows you to hold back more threats in the case of a board wipe. The problem with that is that the Gather tokens don't generate enough pressure. They just Path your Champion after you pass the turn and you've got 2 power on the board, which gives them all the time in the world they need to draw into more answers.
Should we just be playing mono white savanna lions? That way when they try to remove our stuff, they are just wasting their stuff on our 1 mana threats.
Also, what are your thoughts on imposing sovereign in the main? Here is what I am thinking for a deck
Should we just be playing mono white savanna lions? That way when they try to remove our stuff, they are just wasting their stuff on our 1 mana threats.
Also, what are your thoughts on imposing sovereign in the main? Here is what I am thinking for a deck
I hate to say it, but I think the Goyfs deck is just outclassed by Humans. I don't think we necessarily have to play all Lions, like Dragon Hunter. After all, the only real differences between Goyfs and what I'm playing now are that I've cut Lynxes and Figures and added Lieutenants, Inspectors, and Thalias. I just think the power of Lieutenant justifies an all Human deck, even more than Champion ever did, and I'm not missing the inconsistency that Lynx often suffered from. I would also say that the point is not to have the opponent feel like they're wasting their removal on a 2/1 vs. a Goyf, but rather that they are overwhelmed by the redundancy of our threats. I'm running 34 creatures; I doubt you're running 34 removal spells.
As for Sovereign, I feel like it's adding a 2-drop, which I'm already not crazy about, to solve a problem that we already have the tools to solve. Against creature decks, we have Path for individual blockers, and against a wall of blockers, we can often build up our board and wait for the lethal Brave. Rare is the deck that both runs a bunch of blockers and can punish us for overextending with sweepers.
Should we just be playing mono white savanna lions? That way when they try to remove our stuff, they are just wasting their stuff on our 1 mana threats.
Also, what are your thoughts on imposing sovereign in the main? Here is what I am thinking for a deck
I hate to say it, but I think the Goyfs deck is just outclassed by Humans. I don't think we necessarily have to play all Lions, like Dragon Hunter. After all, the only real differences between Goyfs and what I'm playing now are that I've cut Lynxes and Figures and added Lieutenants, Inspectors, and Thalias. I just think the power of Lieutenant justifies an all Human deck, even more than Champion ever did, and I'm not missing the inconsistency that Lynx often suffered from. I would also say that the point is not to have the opponent feel like they're wasting their removal on a 2/1 vs. a Goyf, but rather that they are overwhelmed by the redundancy of our threats. I'm running 34 creatures; I doubt you're running 34 removal spells.
As for Sovereign, I feel like it's adding a 2-drop, which I'm already not crazy about, to solve a problem that we already have the tools to solve. Against creature decks, we have Path for individual blockers, and against a wall of blockers, we can often build up our board and wait for the lethal Brave. Rare is the deck that both runs a bunch of blockers and can punish us for overextending with sweepers.
It's on the short list of cards I toy with from time to time. More often than not when I include it it's in the board, but it's a perfectly fine card and a reasonable meta choice.
I think the new card Repel the Abominable can be really good for this deck.
I've already posted this in the Modern Humans thread but I think it is relevant here as well.
Gideon's Lawkeeper is not aggresive enough and this deck can't afford to constantly pay mana and not attack.
I would definetly cut him and up Path to Exile to 4x.
Boros Elite and Elite Vanguard are rather underwhelming creatures, I would go with Student of Warfare, Hada Freeblade and Expedition Envoy instead.
Thraben Inspector is probably a bit slow fo this deck (though with 4x Thalia's Lieutenant and 4x Honor of the Pure he might be good).
*Btw some interesting cards I came across that might be more options to get damage through are: Bathe in Light and Ruthless Invasion.
They are as good as Brave the Elements of course but might be copies 5-8 of it if necessary.
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Mutavault
4 Boros Elite
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Brave the Elements
2 Path to Exile
4 Gather the Townsfolk
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Rest in Peace
4 Stony Silence
2 Gut Shot
2 Mana Tithe
2 Path to Exile
4 Thalia and 13 noncreature spells does not seem like the best idea. I think more 1-drops is better, since more 1s = more chance of Lieutenant pumping something on turn 2. Boros Elite and Kytheon are also dependent on having extra bodies in play to function, so that's another pull to playing more 1s. Herald of Anafenza seems like a decent contender; the deck already plays Thraben Inspector after all, and Herald has the same mana cost, stats and function (mana sink).
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Big Johnny.
I'm also not sure that 4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben in the MD is really necessary.
I assume the knight of the white orchids are sided in when he is on the draw as it can lead to some pretty explosive turn 3's. In a super aggressive deck like this you cant really afford to draw 2, or dare I say, 3 kytheons. I would do no more than 3. Same with thalia. I am also surprised to see so many non creatures with thalia. Gather is a great card but I would do that or thalia, not both. Also don't think that 4 brave the elements is really necessary. I would start with 2 main and side the others. Ideally you only need to get in one alpha strike to finish them off.
I like that list- it's very similar to the one that I plan to try during my next FNM. The last time I tried Gather the Townsfolk was before Thalia's Lieutenant came out, and I think it has real potential now. I still think you can easily go down to 18 lands, and that 4 Honor of the Pure may be too many, but otherwise I think it's a very solid deck.
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Boros Elite
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Hada Freeblade
2 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Brave the Elements
3 Honor of the Pure
This deck is more about building big guys. Your main goal is to try to get your guys to 3 or 4 power. The problem is that it takes time to set those up, and by the time they are "on", their stats might not be good enough. A 3/3 attacking on turn 2 is good (see Wild Nacatl), but a 3/3 attacking on turn 3 might just get walled by a Goyf or something. That's why I wouldn't skimp on Path or Brave the Elements in this deck: they both help push damage through blockers.
The creature base is decent. I try to avoid playing 1-power 1-drops - the only ones I have are Doomed Traveler and Hada Freeblade (which has upside potential). I don't think you have to go all out and include Kazandu Blademaster, just Envoy and Freeblade are enough. It's kind of like playing Kytheon with the mindset that he will just be a 2/1 most of the time, and if he manages to become 4/4, that's a nice bonus, but not something you should count on.
There's little downside to including Horizon Canopy. It gives you some late-game flood protection and lets you cut Thraben Inspector. The life payment can help you get to fateful hour for Gather the Townsfolk.
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Big Johnny.
With 4x Caverns and 4x Canopy's Warden of the First Tree (or Skarrgan Pit-Skulk) can also be an option.
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Big Johnny.
(http://www.starcitygames.com/events/coverage/monowhite_humans_with_dan_muss.html)
Icatian Javelineers is an interesting choice, but I suppose there are a lot of 1-toughness targets for it in the current meta. Knight of the White Orchid still seems mediocre to me, and even the pilot admitted in the Deck Tech he wasn't thrilled with it. I'll be interested to see how these lists end up doing, it's exciting to see others picking up the mono-white aggro deck!
I'm planning on taking Goyfs to GP Charlotte this coming weekend. All that's left to decide is if I'm bringing the 32 1-drop version, or if I want to bring a slightly beefier version that cuts all the sub-par 1-drops and instead plays things like Honor of the Pure, Spectral Procession, and possibly Raise the Alarm and Mirran Crusader/Hero of Bladehold/Elspeth, Knight-Errant/some sort of more expensive threat. I've been getting so frustrated with Soldier of the Pantheon, Mardu Woe-Reaper, and especially Boros Elite that I'm definitely leaning towards the beefier version, but I'm still thinking about it. Cutting Soldier, Woe-Reaper, and Elite also means cutting Champion of the Parish, and I'm not sure I want to do that just yet.
I would try out a build like this:
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4x Student of Warfare
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
4x Thraben Inspector
1x Hanweir Militia Captain
4x Gather the Townsfolk
Enchantment (4)
4x Honor of the Pure
Instant (8)
4x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
Land (19)
4x Mutavault
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Eiganjo Castle
10x Plains
Possible 1-of options (instead of Hanweir Militia Captain):
Thraben Doomsayer, Mikaeus, the Lunarch, Mentor of the Meek or Bygone Bishop.
Wojek Siren also seems good in this deck as a cheap +1/+1 for the team.
It will certainly make the deck better imho.
They are indeed pretty good but probably better in a more reactive deck that looks to remove the opponent's threats/dorks and replenish the counters (like the Emeria deck).
In an aggro deck they seem rather weak.
Would you choose them over Thraben Inspector which provides the only card draw of the deck ?
Kytheon is usually removed rather quickly or flipped so drawing more than one isn't that bad.
What I can say is that Gather the Townsfolk is insane in this deck and can lead to really fast openings similar to Zoo/8-Whack Goblins.
For instance:
turn 1: Champion of the Parish into turn 2: Gather the Townsfolk into turn 3: Thalia's Lieutenant+Brave the Elements/Path to Exile/1-drop creature is not that uncommon and leads to a board of:
5/5, two 2/2 and 1/1 which is pretty good.
Well, after much hemming and hawing, I decided to play Goyfs, though I'm playing a version I posted about a while back with Spectral Procession. I just got back from a GPT, where I made it to the semi-finals by beating Dredge, Jeskai Sneaky-Kiki, and some crazy Valakut/Nahiri ramp deck before losing to Eldrazi Taxes. Here's the 75 I'm running with this weekend:
8 Plains
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
Creatures
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Student of Warfare
4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Spectral Procession
4 Brave the Elements
4 Path to Exile
2 Mana Tithe
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Kor Firewalker
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Dismember
1 Sunlance
1 Celestial Flare
1 Sundering Growth
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
I'll follow up with a tournament report if it's worth reporting on. Good luck to everyone playing this weekend!
4x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Student of Warfare
4x Boros Elite
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
3x Mardu Woe-Reaper
3x Thraben Inspector
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
4x Brave the Elements
3x Path to Exile
3x Gather the Townsfolk
2x Honor of the Pure
Land (18)
18x Plains
3x Sunlance
3x Nevermore
3x Revoke Existence
2x Rest in Peace
2x Banishing Light
2x Swift Justice
The main changes were removing Hada Freeblade and Expedition Envoy for Mardu Woe-Reaper, Thraben Inspector, and Gather the Townsfolk. The sideboard still needs work- I'm ordering a couple of Stony Silence and Leyline of Sanctity to bring it up to par.
Round 1: Umbral Mantle Combo (L 0-2)
I'd never seen a deck like this before, but the pilot tied for first so it was undoubtedly very good. Basically it uses Umbral Mantle and an assortment of other cards to generate infinite mana and/or deal infinite damage. Both games were reasonably close, but he combo'd out both times with Umbral Mantle to win.
Round 2: BW Titan Control(W 2-0)
Similar to the GW list I faced last time, but with cards like Reassembling Skeleton to stall the early game and ramp into bigger plays like Sun Titan. I was fast enough in both games to win before any huge creatures hit the field.
Round 3: Mono Black Devotion (W 2-1)
This was a really cool deck, it ran a lot of cards with high black devotion costs (Gatekeeper of Malakir,Geralf's Messenger, Phyrexian Obliterator) and also included Gray Merchant of Asphodel to capitalize on them. I won Game 1 quickly enough, but lost Game 2 largely due to Whip of Erebos. Game 3 was close too, but I was able to pull it off.
Round 4: Elves (L 1-2)
Not a great matchup for this deck, but surprisingly close. This player also tied for first, meaning that both of the matches I lost were to first place finishers. I lost a fairly close Game 1, won Game 2 on Turn 4 thanks to Brave the Elements, and then got steamrolled in Game 3 because I kept an otherwise perfect 1-land hand and didn't draw another land until it was far too late. Definitely a tougher matchup than Merfolk.
I greatly preferred this version of the deck over my last one. Thraben Inspector and Gather the Townsfolk gave a lot of consistency to the deck, which was definitely missing from the previous version. I'm pretty happy with this build, and aside from the sideboard additions I mentioned earlier, I don't foresee myself making too many changes before the next tournament.
8 Plains
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
Creatures
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Figure of Destiny
4 Student of Warfare
4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Brave the Elements
4 Path to Exile
2 Mana Tithe
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Spectral Procession
4 Kor Firewalker
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Celestial Flare
1 Dismember
1 Sundering Growth
1 Sunlance
Round 1: Burn, W 2-0. My opponent was attending her first GP and was not terribly experienced in competitive Magic. All the same, she was playing a dangerous deck, so I had to take her seriously. Both games went roughly the same: She was able to get me down to a perilously low life total, but a few Raise the Alarm chump blocks here and there were able to save enough life for my creatures to get in for lethal. I believe I would have lost to a more experienced opponent.
Round 2: Gruul Aggro, W 2-0. Game 1 went fairly easily for me, as my opponent had to mulligan to 5 and was stuck on 1 land for too long to get into the game. Game 2 was much closer and involved me having to play around Ghor-Clan Rampager for several turns while representing a Path that I did not have. I kept swinging in the air with however many Spirits I felt I could get away with, chipping away at his life total until it started getting serious. Eventually I did, in fact, draw the Path I needed, and was able to swing with enough to survive a crackback. He had to chump block, drew a card, and conceded.
Round 3: Tezzeret Grixis, W 2-1. Game 1 I simply steamrolled my opponent, as I was able to deploy my hand very quickly and opponent simply didn't have enough answers for my gigantic board. Game 2 my opponent was able to deal with my threats one at a time, and I kept drawing sideboard cards instead of threats. Eventually he's able to turn enough artifacts into 5/5s and kills me. Game 3 was basically a carbon copy of game 1.
Round 4: G/W Death and Taxes, W 2-1. Game 1 I wasn't sure if my opponent was on Death and Taxes or Hatebears, but either way it's a pretty bad matchup since their creatures are generally slightly bigger and better, which is exactly how game 1 played out. Of note is that if it wasn't for my opponent's Mutavault, I had lethal with Honor + Brave. Game 2 was extremely close with multiple trades, both of us getting in for 1 or 2 damage here and there, but eventually a well-timed Brave wins me the game. There's not much to tell with game 3: my opponent floods out horribly and I quickly take it.
Round 5: Eldrazi Tron, L 1-2. For those of you who didn't know, GP Charlotte day 1 was riddled with technical difficulties. In round 4, pairings had been completely random, there were multiple delays, all because of issues with the pairing software. I believe that the total delay time between rounds 4 and 5 was close to 3 hours. While it's not an excuse, I did feel as though prior to the delay, I was in the zone, and by the time round 5 started, I was out of it. Game 1 I'm able to quickly get my opponent down to 3 life, but 2 Kozilek's Returns wipe my board and I simply can't find the resources to fight back against Thought-Knot Seers and Reality Smashers. Game 2 I get off to a much slower start, but my opponent isn't able to find his Returns, and that's all the time I need to win the game in short order. Game 3 I feel like I punted. For some reason, I thought Return did 3 damage instead of 2, so I made a series of suboptimal plays that left my Student as a 1/1 and my Lynx without a fetchland. I could have easily blanked my opponent's Return but instead played right into it, and there was simply no coming back.
Round 6: Jeskai Ascendancy, L 0-2. It feels like around the middle rounds of a big tournament, the wheels start coming off for me, and this tournament was no different. I'm able to get a pretty good board and am pressuring my opponent, but I don't draw any spells, and my opponent simply turn 3 kills me. Game 2 went a little better, and the highlight was being able to Mana Tithe my opponent's Manamorphose, which then caused him to fizzle. I didn't have enough pressure, though, and he immediately killed me the next turn.
Round 7: Nahiri Jeskai, W 2-0. This is, more or less, the deck that inspired me to drop from 32 1-drops to 16 and add token makers. Game 1 my opponent was able to make short work of my early threats, even getting up to 23 life from a flashed back Lightning Helix, but then I stuck a Procession with Honor out. My opponent plays a Nahiri, which I start attacking while drawing nothing but lands for a few turns. I'm eventually able to kill Nahiri #1, which is immediately replaced by a second. I'm finally able to find a Raise the Alarm and begin attacking face. My opponent is unable to deal with so many threats and dies soon after. Game 2 starts much the same way, with my opponent able to deal with my early game but without the resources to deal with a constant stream of threats. The deciding mistake, however, was playing Anger of the Gods against my board of Lynx, Kytheon, and leveled up Student with an Honor of the Pure out. I crack a Fetch and exile Kytheon, my opponent realizes what he's done, and I topdeck a land to get in for exactsies the next turn.
Round 8: Nacatl Burn, L 1-2. I just need 1 of the next 2 to make day 2, but of course I'd much rather go in 7-2 than 6-3. Game 1 I mulligan into a fairly slow hand, and my opponent's turn 1 Nacatl tells me that I've already lost. Game 2 is an extremely interesting, interactive game. I'm able to find a Firewalker early, and my opponent isn't able to deal with my larger 1-drop threats. Raise the Alarm overperformed here, and likely saved me at least 6 damage. Game 3 I had an interesting mulligan decision: my opening was 1 land, 2 Firewalker, 2 Raise the Alarm, a Student, and a Brave. I thought long and hard but ultimately mulliganed. I still don't know if that's correct. If I draw a land, I almost surely win. If I don't, I surely lose. I wind up keeping a middling 6, and my opponent has an excellent hand that makes short work of me.
Round 9: B/G Colorless, W 2-0. I honestly don't remember much about these games. My opponent was essentially playing Jund except he replaced the red for colorless so he could play Eldrazi. This is the kind of matchup that I put Spectral Procession in for, and it did not disappoint.
Round 10: Nahiri Jeskai, L 1-2. My first (and only) round of day 2 was against Nahiri Jeskai, which I consider to be a good matchup for this version. Unfortunately I flood out game 1, which allows my opponent to tick Nahiri up to ultimate. Game 2 goes the way the matchup should: My opponent has answers to my early threats but can't kill everything. Game 3 I think my exhaustion finally caught up to me. My opponent dealt with my early threats but I was stuck drawing lands and spells, and I wasn't able to keep up. As I felt things snowballing out of control, I made several costly mistakes that got my Figure killed unnecessarily, and my opponent was able to ultimate Nahiri for the win.
As for the sideboard, I was really unhappy with the Elspeths and Stony Silences. I think the Stonys are worth keeping around for now, since I just didn't face decks like Affinity, R/G Tron, or Lantern Control where they might do some work, but the Elspeths were just a strategic mistake. I originally included them for the grindier decks like Jund and Jeskai, but I don't think they're necessary. I would have much rather had maybe another removal spell and another piece of graveyard hate, such as Grafdigger's Cage, or maybe some number of Angel's Grace.
All in all it's hard to call a day 2 finish anything other than a success, especially running a deck like this and without the kind of time to test and study up on the metagame that I would like. Still, after starting 4-0, a 6-4 finish felt pretty frustrating nonetheless.
I've been playing around a lot with spectral procession, and I have to say, the card is very good. In conjunction with honor of the pure, spectral procession really helps to shore up a lot of matches. It gets past blockers when you don't draw brave the elements and holds back affinity for at least a few turns. So, I've been playtesting a budget version similar to OP's online for the past week now.
4 student of warfare
4 soldier of the pantheon
3 kytheon, hero of akros
4 thalia's lieutenant
4 gather the townsfolk
4 spectral procession
4 brave the elements
4 honor of the pure
1 gut shot
19 plains
1 eiganjo castle
4 thalia, guardian of thraben
3 stony silence
4 rest in peace
2 sundering growth
2 gutshot
This deck was relatively cheap for the modern format and I have been winning the majority of my games. Sometimes this list has slow openers but often comes back with the token producers and anthem effects or by blowing out the aggro opponent with a well timed brave the elements to wipe out most of their team. I actually won a real crazy game against boggles two days ago where the opponent swung out with a 9/7 trample vigilance lifelink first striking boggle and I killed it by blocking with every creature I had and braving for green. Every deck I've played against thus far feels like I have at least a 50% chance of winning every game, even on slow openers or a mull to 6 and 5. The only deck I have not been able to beat once is affinity. They always seem to have a way out from any of my hate cards.
I cast stony silence, die to signal pests. I draw gut shot, they equip cranial plating to ornithopter. I cast spectral procession, they cast steel overseer and run my tokens over. Is anybody else having problems with robots? Any advice for how to better overcome them? I'm starting to consider more narrow hate cards just because I'm tired of always losing to this deck. Stuff like marrow shards or corrosive gale. Hell maybe I'll just pick up 3-4 kataki, war's wage. But I really hate to have a card in my sideboard that literally hurts no one but affinity
For this deck? Not especially. 3 mana is sooooo expensive, and I don't think the tapped lands ability + first strike and +1/+1 is worth tacking an extra mana onto Imposing Sovereign for this deck. I am excited about it for my mono White Death and Taxes list, though.
As for this deck, I've finally come around to the absurd power of Thalia's Lieutenant and have shifted this into mono White Humans. I've dropped the Lynxes and Figures and am currently running the following 75 to good success in the tournament practice room of MTGO:
17 Plains
Spells
4 Brave the Elements
3 Path to Exile
2 Mana Tithe
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Boros Elite
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Mardu Woe-Reaper
3 Student of Warfare
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
I tried out Honor of the Pure but it just feels so clunky. It seems much better suited to a deck that is able to generate multiple threats with one card, like tokens. Speaking of tokens, I am not a fan of Gather the Townsfolk. The 1/1s do absolutely nothing on their own, and although they obviously get much better with Lieutenant or Honor, I don't feel that the card is worth it. I feel like the fact that you get 2 threats for 1 card doesn't matter in this deck: you're trying to kill the opponent however you can, and you don't get extra points for winning with cards in hand. I'm perfectly content to spew my hand onto the battlefield if it means winning. I understand the argument that Gather allows you to hold back more threats in the case of a board wipe. The problem with that is that the Gather tokens don't generate enough pressure. They just Path your Champion after you pass the turn and you've got 2 power on the board, which gives them all the time in the world they need to draw into more answers.
Should we just be playing mono white savanna lions? That way when they try to remove our stuff, they are just wasting their stuff on our 1 mana threats.
Also, what are your thoughts on imposing sovereign in the main? Here is what I am thinking for a deck
18 plains
Spells
4 path to exile
4 brave the elements
2 honor of the pure
4 thalia's Lieutenant
4 imposing sovereign
4 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 soldier of the pantheon
4 mardu woe-reaper
4 thraben inspector
4 champion of the parish
4 dragon hunter
I hate to say it, but I think the Goyfs deck is just outclassed by Humans. I don't think we necessarily have to play all Lions, like Dragon Hunter. After all, the only real differences between Goyfs and what I'm playing now are that I've cut Lynxes and Figures and added Lieutenants, Inspectors, and Thalias. I just think the power of Lieutenant justifies an all Human deck, even more than Champion ever did, and I'm not missing the inconsistency that Lynx often suffered from. I would also say that the point is not to have the opponent feel like they're wasting their removal on a 2/1 vs. a Goyf, but rather that they are overwhelmed by the redundancy of our threats. I'm running 34 creatures; I doubt you're running 34 removal spells.
As for Sovereign, I feel like it's adding a 2-drop, which I'm already not crazy about, to solve a problem that we already have the tools to solve. Against creature decks, we have Path for individual blockers, and against a wall of blockers, we can often build up our board and wait for the lethal Brave. Rare is the deck that both runs a bunch of blockers and can punish us for overextending with sweepers.
What do you think about ajani, caller of the pride
It's on the short list of cards I toy with from time to time. More often than not when I include it it's in the board, but it's a perfectly fine card and a reasonable meta choice.
I've already posted this in the Modern Humans thread but I think it is relevant here as well.
I consider including in my Humans list:
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4x Student of Warfare
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Thraben Inspector
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
1x Hanweir Militia Captain
4x Gather the Townsfolk
Enchantment (4)
4x Honor of the Pure
Instant (8)
4x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
Land (19)
4x Mutavault
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Eiganjo Castle
10x Plains
Other cards that seem interesting are: Proclamation of Rebirth (probably for the Sb), Wojek Siren, Thraben Doomsayer (probably too slow at 3 mana).