Most notably one of my grindier versions do not play grisly salvage, instead replacing it with 4 grapple with the past. Reason being its less restrictive on your mana, and if your opponent decides to destroy or manipulate your lands when you only have non basics and 1 forest out, grapple will still help you dig towards what you need. since you already are discarding quite a lot, you won't really be needing the grisly salvage's extra number of cards it dig.
It surprising to see Grisly Salvage getting replaced entirely by Grapple with the Past. I feel like the difference between 5 and 3 is huge but Grapple is a better card as utility spell. There were countless times I wanted to return Soulflayer that was discarded by turn 1 Thoughtseize by my opponent. Although I like your deck, I still feel like you should play a few Grisly Salvage in your deck just for the extra digging.
Phoenix is not very hard to trigger due to most of my games where I cast soulflayer on turn 3 or 4 i still have some red sources up to pay for its cost. Its also quite easy to trigger with lotleth troll discards.
Agree! I was able to recur phoenix multiple games today and managed to win some.
The aggro version has Flamewake Phoenix and Bloodghast in it(much like the B/R hollow one), in case you need to go the aggresive route in game 1 aside from casting your soulflayers. If you bust out a doublestriking soulflayer with 1 red mana up and a phoenix in your gy, you can get in for potentially 10 damage in that turn. This list has little lifelink in it so you may want to watch out for opposing aggro decks.
I have to say it quite risky to play 4 color without lifelink creatures. It might not matter against combo, midrange and control deck, but against aggro it going to backfire unless your deck is much faster then the opponent's deck.
A surprise thing I found is that almost nobody plays Kolaghan's Command in the sideboard. Why is that? It seem like a good include in our kind of deck. I've been thinking of replacing the Lingering Souls with this, as Lingering Souls doesn't seem to do too much in our strategy.
For me, my sideboard is already full of artifact hate and discard spell so I can't find a space for it. Beside that, there are too many good utility spells like Collective Brutality that I would prefer over Kolaghan's Command.
Granted the Soulflayer strategy is still very weak in hyper aggresive and combos matchups if we can't close out by turn 4 or 5, as our deck interact very little turn 1 and turn 2 against opposing creatures and no good way to deal with huge bombs, so I think we need to find a way to shore up these weaknesses which will help push our deck's standing a little higher in this new modern meta.
I think that why Zetalpa and Drogskol is a good card for this meta. Zetalpa provides speed, protection(sort of), and evasion. Drogskol provides speed, lifelink(crucial against aggro), and evasion. Although they are uncastable, they provide the most important keywords for Soulflayer. Having lifelink and double strike really helps against aggro match up. I do think Samut, Voice of Dissent is a better card against combo deck, but the lack of evasion can hurt sometimes.
Jund 2-0
Scapeshift 2-0
Jund 2-0
Merfolk 2-1
I'm glad this deck was able to outrun a combo and aggro deck. Scapeshift was bit easier to beat since they were creatureless the whole game. There was no way I could of beat Merfolk without Drogskol Reaver. I learned to always prioritize on discarding Drogskol over Zetalpa because indestructible/vigilance is pointless against merfolks with islandwalk, and lifelink is exceptionally important. Jund was the easiest to beat since they can't deal with Soulflayer once it has hexproof or indestructible beside Liliana of the Veil. Soulflayer was able to dodge Liliana's -2 thanks to Bomat Courier and Lotleth Troll.
Although I was not able to use Traverse the Ulvenwald/Bomat Courier trick, Bomat contributed to winning in many ways. I will keep testing with this card for few more games.
I never drew Ghor-Clan Rampager so I don't know if it necessary in this deck yet.
edit: I'm thinking of replacing 1 Ghor-Clan for 1 Chromanticore to help activate delirium and providing extra lifelink for Souflayer.
Just noticed that you have posted a Modern Cairn Wanderer thread previously with the deck list. I like Eldritch Evolution too haha. Think I can take some ideas and bring it over into the current Soulflayer build.
Round 1: Burn 2-1
game 1: No lifelink Soulflayer, died on turn 4
game 2: Soulflayer with double strike/haste was path'd but managed to play second flayer with haste and Flamewake Phoenix to end the game
game 3: Turn 2 Rest in Peace was a pain but 6/5 Lotleth Troll carried the game
Round 2: Affinity 2-0
game 1: Opponent concedes after I cast Soulflayer
game 2: Opponent mulligan to 5 card, I kept a hand with Ancient Grudge
Round 3: Jund 2-0
game 1: Played Sylvan Caryatid before casting Souflayer to protect Soulflayer from Liliana of the Veil, plan went well
game 2: Same plan as before, ended the game with 2 Soulflayer on the field
Round 4: BR Hollow One 2-0
game 1: Turn 3 Soulflayer with lifelink, hexproof, double strike, haste, trample, flying, indestructible, vigilance for the win
game 2: Turn 3 Souflayer with doublestrike, haste, trample, flying, indestructible, vigilance for the win
Round 5: Scapeshift 2-1
game 1: Died on turn 4 from Scapeshift
game 2: Won turn 4 by pumping double strike Souflayer with Ghor-Clan Rampager
game 3: Had to face turn 1 Relic of Progenitus but managed to win with 9/8 Lotleth Troll
I am pretty content with my current list. I would at least keep 1 Ghor-Clan Rampager in the maindeck for combo deck. I'll keep Chromanticore for now but it might not be a bad idea to replace it with Collective Brutality.
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How was Bomat Courier in your games? And how consistent is Traverse for you?
Bomat mainly helped activate delirium for Traverse. It also dealt a few damage and baited a few removal spells. They didn't survive long enough to benefit from it's activate ability but I'd say it was worth playing it. Traverse was almost always consistent unless opponent was playing graveyard hate. It was also useful to just grab a basic on turn 1 when there's only one land in hand but the rest of the hand is filled with good 2 mana spells like Grisly Salvage and Lotleth Troll.
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Red should be burn, Goblins, Dragons, draw/discard, and Standard-unplayable 5CMC cards with insane, lengthy effects that take 10 minutes to figure out what they do and another 20 to actually make their effects work on the field.
I'd love to hear a rundown of your league Yuseimax. Glad I picked up my foil Flayers a while ago
Here's the summary
Round 1: Burn 2-1
game 1: I kept a hand with Troll, Sylvan, Soulflayer and Ghor-clan. I Should have waited until turn 3 to cast the Troll because it got blazed on turn 2. I drew Drogskol but no discard outlet, died on turn 4
game 2: I mulligan to 6 card, kept a hand with land, Troll, Bomat, Loot, Traverse and Zetalpa. I cast Bomat on turn 1 expecting to bait a bolt or simply sacrificing it with Traverse on stack to grab a Soulflayer later on. Turn 2 I cast Loot discarding Flamewake Phoenix and Zetalpa. I drew another Traverse from Loot so I cast it in attempt to grab a basic land but opponent used bolt on Bomat in response. With a help of opponent I was able to grab Soulflayer instead of basic land. Soulflayer with double strike/haste was path'd but I managed to play second Soulflayer with haste and Flamewake Phoenix to end the game
game 3: I mulligan to 6 card, kept a hand with 2 land, Bomat, Loot, Zetalpa and Grisly Salvage. This time I cast Loot on turn 1 and drew Soulflayer and Lightning Axe. I discarded Bomat and Zetalpa. It seemed like a perfect Soulflayer set up until opponent cast Rest in Peace on turn 2. I was pretty devastated at this point but I managed to end the game with 7/6 Lotleth Troll
Round 2: Affinity 2-0
game 1: I kept a hand with 2 land, Zetalpa, Troll, Loot, Traverse and Grisly Salvage. I could of played Soulflayer on turn 3 but I wanted to give Soulflayer lifelink so I play Lotleth Troll instead since I had Drogskol in my hand. It was a risky move but my opponent didn't have enough creature and artifact to deal lethal damage to me. Turn 4 I cast Traverse, grabbed a Phoenix, and fed it to Soulflayer using Troll. Opponent conceded after I cast Soulflayer
game 2: Opponent mulligan to 5 card, I kept a hand with Ancient Grudge
Round 3: Jund 2-0
game 1: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Trolls, Grisly Salvage and Traverse. Turn 1 Opponent cast Inquisition of Kozilek discarding Troll. I set a land and pass the turn. Turn 2 Opponent cast Dark Confidant and passed the turn. I set a land and passed the turn. Turn 3 Opponent revealed Liliana of the Veil form bob. Opponent swung with bob and then cast another bob. At the opponent's end step I cast Grisly Salvage and the cards revealed was 2 Soulflayer, Sylvan, Drogskol, and Bomat. I grabbed a Soulflayer. I cast Sylvan from my hand during my turn. Turn 4 Opponent drew 2 land from bob, cast Liliana and forced me to sacrifice Sylvan. Opponent swung with 2 bob. On my turn I cast a Troll and Soulflayer delving Bomat, Sylvan and Drogskol. I swung with Soulflayer dealing 8 damage to player. Turn 5 Opponent cast Bloodbraid Elf on his turn and cascaded a Tarmogoyf. Opponent conceded.
game 2: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Traverse, Bomat, and Grisly Salvage. Turn 1 Opponent set a land and passed the turn. I cast Bomat and swung for 1 damage. Turn 2 Opponent set a land and passed the turn. I set a land and swung with Bomat but the opponent destroyed it with Abrupt Decay. I was excited to use Bomat's active ability the next turn but as long as it ends up in the graveyard I was fine. Turn 3 opponent set a land and passed the turn. I cast Grisly Salvage at his end step and revealed 2 Soulflayer, Drogskol, Bomat and Sylvan. I kept Soulflayer. I had 3 Traverse, Sylvan, Loot and Soulflayer in my hand. I cast Traverse to grab a land and then cast Loot discarding Traverse and Sylvan. I cast my second Traverse and grabbed a second Soulflayer. Turn 4 opponent cast Bloodbraid Elf and cascaded a Terminate which fizzled. Opponent swung with BBE and passed the turn. I cast Sylvan and Soulflayer delving Bomat, Drogskol and Sylvan. I swung with Soulflayer for 8 damage. Turn 5 Opponent swung with BBE. I did not block with Sylvan because I needed a creature to protect Soulflayer from Liliana. During the second main phase, opponent cast Liliana and forced me to sacrifice Sylvan. I cast my second Souflayer delving Sylvan and Bomat on my turn. I swung with both Soulflayer and dealt lethal damage to opponent
Round 4: BR Hollow One 2-0
game 1: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Loot, Sylvan and Zetalpa. Turn 1 I cast Loot and discarded Zetalpa and Sylvan. Opponent cast Flameblade Adept and passed the turn. Turn 2 I cast Loot and discarded Phoenix and Drogskol. I drew Soulflayer with the Loot. At this point the only card I was afraid was Burning Inquiry. Opponent cycled Street Wraith, cast Loot, cast Hollow One for 0 mana, set a land and recurred Bloodghast. He swung with an Adept for 4 damage. Turn 3 I cast Soulflayer delving Phoenix, Drogskol, Zetalpa and Sylvan. I swung with Soulflayer for 8 damage. Opponent conceded.
game 2: I kept a hand with a land, 2 Zetalpa, Traverse, Troll, Soulflayer, and Loot. Turn 1 opponent cast Adept and passed the turn. I cast Traverse and grabbed a basic Swamp. Turn 2 opponent cast 2 Loot, cast Hollow One for 0 mana and swung with Adept for 5 damage. I cast Lotleth Troll and passed my turn. Turn 3 opponent recurred Phoenix from his graveyard and swung with Phoenix, Hollow One and Adept. I block Hollow One with a Troll. Before damage I discarded Zetalpa and Sylvan to make Troll strong enough to trade with Hollow One. On the second main phase, opponent cast Gurmag Angler. I cast Loot on my turn discarding Zetalpa and Phoenix. I cast Soulflayer delving Zetalpa, Sylvan, and Phoenix. I swung with Soulflayer for 8 damage. Turn 4, opponent flashbacked Loot and then conceded
Round 5: Scapeshift 2-1
game 1: I mulligan to 6 card, kept a hand with 2 land, 2 Traverse, Loot and Grisly Salvage. Turn 1 I cast Loot and discarded a Traverse and land. Opponent suspended Search for Tomorrow and passed his turn. Turn 2 I set a land and passed the turn. Opponent cast Farseek, set a land and passed his turn. I cast Grisly Salvage on his end step and revealed 2 land, Bomat, Sylvan and Soulflayer. I grabbed a Soulflayer. Turn 3 I cast Traverse and grabbed Zetalpa and then I cast Loot to discard Zetalpa and Chromanticore. Opponent resolves Search for Tomorrow from suspend and cast Sakura-Tribe Elder. Turn 4 I cast Bomat and Soulflayer delving Bomat, Sylvan, Chromanticore and Zetalpa. I swung with Bomat and Soulflayer. Opponent blocked Bomat and then sacrificed the Elder. Opponent cast Scapeshift on his turn dealing lethal damage to me with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
game 2: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Sylvan, Loot, and Grisly Salvage. Turn 1 I cast Loot and discarded Zetalpa and Sylvan. Opponent suspended Search for Tomorrow. Turn 2 I set a land and passed the turn. Opponent cast Explore and set another land. I cast Grisly Salvage during his end step and revealed a land, Loot, Thoughtseize, Phoenix and Soulflayer. I grabbed Soulflayer. Turn 3 I cast Traverse and grabbed Ghor-Clan Rampager. I cast Souflayer delving Zetalpa, Sylvan and Phoenix. I swung with Soulflayer dealing 8 damage. Opponent resolved Search for Tomorrow from suspend, cast Elder, and hardcast Search for Tomorrow from his hand. Turn 4 I swung with Souflayer pumped with Ghor-Clan for lethal damage
game 3: I kept a hand with 2 land, Soulflayer, Sylvan, 2 Drogskol and Loot. It was an ideal hand. Turn 1 opponent cast Relic of Progenitus. I set a land and passed my turn. Turn 2 opponent suspended Search for Tomorrow and passed his turn. Relic eats my fetch land in response to me cracking it. I cast Sylvan in attempt to cast Soulflayer right after I resolve Loot the next turn. Turn 3 opponent cast an Explore, eats my fetch land in graveyard and passed the turn. At this point my graveyard was empty so my only hope was to draw another land in order to cast Soulflayer on my turn. I drew a Sylvan. I cast Loot anyways and discarded Zetalpa and Drogskol. I cast Lotleth Troll that I drew from Loot. During my end step, opponent attempted to bolt the Troll but I had enough creature card in my hand to keep the Troll alive. I discarded 2 Souflayer and Sylvan. Turn 4 opponent resolves Search for Tomorrow from suspend, hardcast Search for Tomorrow from his hand and then cracked the Relic. It was my turn and I drew a Phoenix. I discarded Phoenix from my hand using Troll and recurred it. I should have probably kept phoenix in the graveyard since I still had Drogskol and Soulflayer in my hand. Anyways I discarded Drogskol to pump the Troll and then swung with 7/6 Troll and Phoenix for 9 damage. Opponent had 9 life left. Turn 5 opponent casts Anger of the Gods and destroyed/exiled Sylvan and Phoenix, then cast Elder. I drew Drogskol Reaver on my turn. I swung with the 7/6 Troll. Opponent sacrificed Elder in response to Troll attacking. I discarded Drogskol and Soulflayer from my hand, making Troll a 9/8. If opponent decided to block and not sacrifice Elder, it wouldn't have been a lethal damage. It was most likely that he wasn't expecting me to have 2 creature card in my hand.
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While previously playing Sigarda, Host of Herons felt good vs monoblack and jund, the problem with this deck being able to cast her when necessary is more trouble than its worth, so I decided to let it go towards a 3rd Nighthawk in the main. Granted I loose the 5th hexproof creature, but 4 caryatids in this deck should suffice in making a indestructible and hexproof soulflayer as long as opponent isn't playing dismembers/languish/path to exiles. Even then, you can time when to cast soulflayer to avoid getting setback by those removals.
I also cut down the graveyard dig cards down to 4. Mainly because you have Bomat Courier to generate pseudo card advantage to you early, and when the game starts to go long, I rarely want to seen more than 2 copies of these cards in my deck. If you're instead playing Fanatical Firebrands, then you can probably put in grisly salvages & grapple with the past in either a 4/2 or 3/3 package. Chances of recurring a key creature to put onboard is also much higher. In the extra slots, I've put back Lingering Souls as a way to circumvent edict effects, since they're way easier to cast than dear Sigarda.
Sideboard has been updated a bit more featuring an extra Seal of primordium as a replacement over Wear // Tear to deal with enchantments more than 3cmc like Leyline of the Void, and its also your extra artifact removal vs affinity and lantern, etc. Slaughter Games and Thoughtseize are your package vs combo and control decks, and Damnation is there to deal with tokens and huge nasties from the midrange decks(reality smasher, huge goyfs, scoozes, etc) which your indestructible soulflayer has trouble getting through. Nihil Spellbomb is great, dealing with decks that uses their graveyard as an alternative resource(like mirror) is huge. Leyline of Sanctity is self explanatory, if you have it in your opening its good, else, you need to grind your way till you can cast this in time.
Overall, if the meta you face off is way more aggro, the Vampires can be swapped with Gifted Aetherborn, they're essentially the same except for the lower cmc Aetherborn has to offer, which could be huge facing aggro decks.
I'm keeping Ghor-Clan Rampager as a way to deal the last burst of damage to close out games where you don't have a double striking trampling Soulflayer. Notably you can recur Rampager with Grapple to deal another 4dmg the next time you attack.
Manabase may look a bit odd with the Sacred Foundry, but i figure this deck needs more red mana in the long game so its replaced Godless Shrine for me.
This deck is a lot slower since the only double strike and haste creature is Samut, but it has it's plus side. It a lot more resilient to graveyard hate, counter spells and Blood Moon which my other deck was weak to. This deck has Faerie Macabre in the mainboard to give Soulflayer flying more consistently since Samut lacks evasion by itself. Most creature are castable because the highest curve is 5 instead of 8. Having 8 mana dorks help cast those 5 drops as early as turn 3. I will start testing this deck as soon as I buy Collective Brutality.
I just grabbed the cheaper paper pieces of this list, it looks so awesome I couldn't resist. Thanks for the reports, it's great to read about the games when there isn't much coverage or streaming of it. If anyone has good videos other than from GP Lyon, I'd love to see them.
I really like your list Yusiemax, looks like a ton of options on T1 and T2 including 8 creatures to bin that can protect a T2/T3 Soulflayer w/ Hexproof or Indestructible. Any more thoughts on Birds of Paradise vs Bomat Courier? It seems like these are the 1 CMC creatures being tested currently:
Spark Elemtal - from the early lists/GP Lyon, best for chipping in damage, trample and haste for SF aggression and against blockers
I think Bomat and Firebrand are the best bets for the decks strategy. Bomat has some amazing corner cases of refilling your hand, but it is risky to rely on it as your haste keyword for Soulflayer. I could imagine a near full hand going into T2 or T3 and not being able to get him in the yard without throwing away your hand. He is also 2 mana to get in the yard vs Firebrand's 1.
If you're on the Traverse plan, that's more of a reason to lean towards Bomat Courier.
My last note on the deck is the sideboard. With Traverse + so many fetches MD and Thoughtseize SB, it seems like the deck could sideboard into almost a Jund Death's Shadow deck. I will be getting some MTGO reps in to see how the 'slug through the GY hate' plan is, I've just always enjoyed transformation plans. Death's Shadows, Planeswalkers and disruption don't rely on the Graveyard, and I think Yuseimax's maindeck has enough playables that we're not forced to leave unplayables in there.
DJ - Defender isn't in the keywords that Soulflayer can steal, fortunately!
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At first, Congratulations yuseimax, the deck is great, one stupid question, when you delve with the Soulflayer Sylvan Caryatid, ¿Has the Soulflayer hexproof and Defender? Can attack? Soulflayer copies defender's hability?
Can you post how sideboarding versus tier decks?
Thanks!!!your deck is great!!!
Thank you very much! Soulflayer does not gain defender when it delve Sylvan Caryatid because the only ability Soulflayer can gain is flying, first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, reach, trample, and vigilance. For the same reason Souflayer can't gain menace, protection, shroud, landwalk, etc.
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I really like your list Yusiemax, looks like a ton of options on T1 and T2 including 8 creatures to bin that can protect a T2/T3 Soulflayer w/ Hexproof or Indestructible. Any more thoughts on Birds of Paradise vs Bomat Courier?
Thank you! For 1 mana creature I would prefer Bomat Courier or Fanatical Firebrand if we're running Zetalpa, Primal Dawn and Drogskol Reaver like the decklist used in GP Lyon. Like you mentioned, whether to choose Bomat or Firebrand would depend on if we're running any Traverse the Ulvenwald. Traverse is less effective without having atleast 5 card type in a deck.
My last note on the deck is the sideboard. With Traverse + so many fetches MD and Thoughtseize SB, it seems like the deck could sideboard into almost a Jund Death's Shadow deck. I will be getting some MTGO reps in to see how the 'slug through the GY hate' plan is, I've just always enjoyed transformation plans. Death's Shadows, Planeswalkers and disruption don't rely on the Graveyard, and I think Yuseimax's maindeck has enough playables that we're not forced to leave unplayables in there.
One thing about Death's Shadow is that it'll most likely die if Souflayer with lifelink attacks. It is a good plan if we are not planning to play Souflayer at all or if we can adjust what Soulflayer delve so it doesn't gain lifelink.
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I like your deck a lot! I've been wanting to play Samut but I couldn't find the right number/combination of double strike creature to play. Do you think 6 double strike creature is enough to give Souflayer double strike consistently?
After losing to a jund today I wished I had Leyline of Sanctity in my sideboard. If I do make a jund splash white deck I'll definitely play 4.
I'm keeping Ghor-Clan Rampager as a way to deal the last burst of damage to close out games where you don't have a double striking trampling Soulflayer. Notably you can recur Rampager with Grapple to deal another 4dmg the next time you attack.
Manabase may look a bit odd with the Sacred Foundry, but i figure this deck needs more red mana in the long game so its replaced Godless Shrine for me.
Don't you miss more hexproof creature besides Caryatid ?
I think that maybe adding 2x Sagu Mauler might be an option as it is potentially even castable with a blue shockland or Caryatid or even just cast as a chump-blocking "morph".
Another keyword which I find missing from some lists is lifelink and Vault Skirge can help with that in place of the hasty 1-drops that are played in those lists as I value lifelink higher than haste.
I think the logic goes, if you’re willing to have blue mana, Striped Riverwinder is your easiest way to mulch up hexproof. If you don’t want blue mana, Carnage Tyrant is the same cmc and keywords as Sagu Mauler, a little bigger, uncounterable, but doesn’t have the morph shenanigans.
I like your deck a lot! I've been wanting to play Samut but I couldn't find the right number/combination of double strike creature to play. Do you think 6 double strike creature is enough to give Souflayer double strike consistently?
After losing to a jund today I wished I had Leyline of Sanctity in my sideboard. If I do make a jund splash white deck I'll definitely play 4.
Thanks!
Here's the thing I feel about doublestrike, its a good keyword that you want all the time, but having it without indestructible or hexproof on it just makes me feel more susceptible to a blowout. Also, there aren't as many creatures that combines double strike with other relevant keywords (flying and trample being the best pairs with double strike), so the creatures you can put in is a little more diversified. That being said, the deck worked alright with 6 doublestrike keyword for me, as I really only need it by turn 3 most of the time. Occasionally I still find myself going between 6 - 7 double strikers while tweaking the deck, so I'm still not fixed on the number. However I do think 6 Double Strike is the minimum number needed for the deck to continue getting that explosive play we want most of the time.
The keywords that I'm looking at more now are hexproof + indestructible, as these are the keywords that sticks your soulflayer and allow you to grind away at the long games. I used to have 5 indestructible and 5 hexproof creatures, but I took Sigarda out in favor of the extra power that Ghor-Clan offers after seeing your list. That said, I still want a little more hexproof creatures which are relevant to the style of the deck, but its hard to make space, even more so given how little creatures with hexproof that are really synergistic with the deck overall. Ideally I will want at least 6 sources of each relevant keyword in this deck but sometimes one can't ask for too much. I did consider Oketra the True as one of the other source of double strike and indestructible as well, but her other line of text doesn't play too well with the whole deck.
Speaking of Leyline, I was playing against my friend's Gift Storm postboard the other day and I dropped this t1. All he does the whole game after that is trying to draw and scry into his Empty the Warrens. Its funny he can't play gifts targeting me.
I'm not sure about going 4 of tho, as the extra copies of Leyline you draw will essentially be dead cards since your manabase don't really support double white.
Yup, its ok sometimes, but there are times where I wished it was some other lands. I may go for another blood crypt in that slot, since I don't have a lot of white cards that needs to be hardcasted now that Sigarda is not in the deck.
It surprising to see Grisly Salvage getting replaced entirely by Grapple with the Past. I feel like the difference between 5 and 3 is huge but Grapple is a better card as utility spell. There were countless times I wanted to return Soulflayer that was discarded by turn 1 Thoughtseize by my opponent. Although I like your deck, I still feel like you should play a few Grisly Salvage in your deck just for the extra digging.
Agree! I was able to recur phoenix multiple games today and managed to win some.
I have to say it quite risky to play 4 color without lifelink creatures. It might not matter against combo, midrange and control deck, but against aggro it going to backfire unless your deck is much faster then the opponent's deck.
For me, my sideboard is already full of artifact hate and discard spell so I can't find a space for it. Beside that, there are too many good utility spells like Collective Brutality that I would prefer over Kolaghan's Command.
I think that why Zetalpa and Drogskol is a good card for this meta. Zetalpa provides speed, protection(sort of), and evasion. Drogskol provides speed, lifelink(crucial against aggro), and evasion. Although they are uncastable, they provide the most important keywords for Soulflayer. Having lifelink and double strike really helps against aggro match up. I do think Samut, Voice of Dissent is a better card against combo deck, but the lack of evasion can hurt sometimes.
I really like both of your deck!
4x Soulflayer
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Lotleth Troll
4x Bomat Courier
3x Flamewake Phoenix
4x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
4x Drogskol Reaver
2x Ghor-Clan Rampager
other spell x12
4x Grisly Salvage
4x Faithless Looting
4x Traverse the Ulvenwald
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Blooming Marsh
2x Blackcleave Cliffs
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Blood Crypt
1x Stomping Ground
1x Swamp
1x Forest
4x Thoughtseize
2x Lightning Axe
4x Ancient Grudge
2x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Arupt Decay
1x Golgari Charm
Jund 2-0
Scapeshift 2-0
Jund 2-0
Merfolk 2-1
I'm glad this deck was able to outrun a combo and aggro deck. Scapeshift was bit easier to beat since they were creatureless the whole game. There was no way I could of beat Merfolk without Drogskol Reaver. I learned to always prioritize on discarding Drogskol over Zetalpa because indestructible/vigilance is pointless against merfolks with islandwalk, and lifelink is exceptionally important. Jund was the easiest to beat since they can't deal with Soulflayer once it has hexproof or indestructible beside Liliana of the Veil. Soulflayer was able to dodge Liliana's -2 thanks to Bomat Courier and Lotleth Troll.
Although I was not able to use Traverse the Ulvenwald/Bomat Courier trick, Bomat contributed to winning in many ways. I will keep testing with this card for few more games.
I never drew Ghor-Clan Rampager so I don't know if it necessary in this deck yet.
edit: I'm thinking of replacing 1 Ghor-Clan for 1 Chromanticore to help activate delirium and providing extra lifelink for Souflayer.
Just noticed that you have posted a Modern Cairn Wanderer thread previously with the deck list. I like Eldritch Evolution too haha. Think I can take some ideas and bring it over into the current Soulflayer build.
4x Soulflayer
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Lotleth Troll
4x Bomat Courier
3x Flamewake Phoenix
4x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
4x Drogskol Reaver
1x Chromanticore
1x Ghor-Clan Rampager
other spell x12
4x Grisly Salvage
4x Faithless Looting
4x Traverse the Ulvenwald
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Blooming Marsh
2x Blackcleave Cliffs
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Blood Crypt
1x Stomping Ground
1x Swamp
1x Forest
4x Thoughtseize
2x Lightning Axe
4x Ancient Grudge
2x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Arupt Decay
1x Golgari Charm
Round 1: Burn 2-1
game 1: No lifelink Soulflayer, died on turn 4
game 2: Soulflayer with double strike/haste was path'd but managed to play second flayer with haste and Flamewake Phoenix to end the game
game 3: Turn 2 Rest in Peace was a pain but 6/5 Lotleth Troll carried the game
Round 2: Affinity 2-0
game 1: Opponent concedes after I cast Soulflayer
game 2: Opponent mulligan to 5 card, I kept a hand with Ancient Grudge
Round 3: Jund 2-0
game 1: Played Sylvan Caryatid before casting Souflayer to protect Soulflayer from Liliana of the Veil, plan went well
game 2: Same plan as before, ended the game with 2 Soulflayer on the field
Round 4: BR Hollow One 2-0
game 1: Turn 3 Soulflayer with lifelink, hexproof, double strike, haste, trample, flying, indestructible, vigilance for the win
game 2: Turn 3 Souflayer with doublestrike, haste, trample, flying, indestructible, vigilance for the win
Round 5: Scapeshift 2-1
game 1: Died on turn 4 from Scapeshift
game 2: Won turn 4 by pumping double strike Souflayer with Ghor-Clan Rampager
game 3: Had to face turn 1 Relic of Progenitus but managed to win with 9/8 Lotleth Troll
I am pretty content with my current list. I would at least keep 1 Ghor-Clan Rampager in the maindeck for combo deck. I'll keep Chromanticore for now but it might not be a bad idea to replace it with Collective Brutality.
How was Bomat Courier in your games? And how consistent is Traverse for you?
Anyway, congratz. I'm gonna take your list for a spin on xmage and see what I can learn from it.
EDIT:
Wow Bomat is sure fun. Leave a red mana up and keep on attacking for the lols.
For now I think Thoughtseize is enough unless more combos start appearing in the meta.
Bomat mainly helped activate delirium for Traverse. It also dealt a few damage and baited a few removal spells. They didn't survive long enough to benefit from it's activate ability but I'd say it was worth playing it. Traverse was almost always consistent unless opponent was playing graveyard hate. It was also useful to just grab a basic on turn 1 when there's only one land in hand but the rest of the hand is filled with good 2 mana spells like Grisly Salvage and Lotleth Troll.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/80o5o4/50_lists_for_today_including_spicy_soulflayer/
Also there has been talks of improving Soulflayer suprise on reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/spikes/comments/80cplu/modern_improving_soulflayer_surprise/
Here's the summary
Round 1: Burn 2-1
game 1: I kept a hand with Troll, Sylvan, Soulflayer and Ghor-clan. I Should have waited until turn 3 to cast the Troll because it got blazed on turn 2. I drew Drogskol but no discard outlet, died on turn 4
game 2: I mulligan to 6 card, kept a hand with land, Troll, Bomat, Loot, Traverse and Zetalpa. I cast Bomat on turn 1 expecting to bait a bolt or simply sacrificing it with Traverse on stack to grab a Soulflayer later on. Turn 2 I cast Loot discarding Flamewake Phoenix and Zetalpa. I drew another Traverse from Loot so I cast it in attempt to grab a basic land but opponent used bolt on Bomat in response. With a help of opponent I was able to grab Soulflayer instead of basic land. Soulflayer with double strike/haste was path'd but I managed to play second Soulflayer with haste and Flamewake Phoenix to end the game
game 3: I mulligan to 6 card, kept a hand with 2 land, Bomat, Loot, Zetalpa and Grisly Salvage. This time I cast Loot on turn 1 and drew Soulflayer and Lightning Axe. I discarded Bomat and Zetalpa. It seemed like a perfect Soulflayer set up until opponent cast Rest in Peace on turn 2. I was pretty devastated at this point but I managed to end the game with 7/6 Lotleth Troll
Round 2: Affinity 2-0
game 1: I kept a hand with 2 land, Zetalpa, Troll, Loot, Traverse and Grisly Salvage. I could of played Soulflayer on turn 3 but I wanted to give Soulflayer lifelink so I play Lotleth Troll instead since I had Drogskol in my hand. It was a risky move but my opponent didn't have enough creature and artifact to deal lethal damage to me. Turn 4 I cast Traverse, grabbed a Phoenix, and fed it to Soulflayer using Troll. Opponent conceded after I cast Soulflayer
game 2: Opponent mulligan to 5 card, I kept a hand with Ancient Grudge
Round 3: Jund 2-0
game 1: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Trolls, Grisly Salvage and Traverse. Turn 1 Opponent cast Inquisition of Kozilek discarding Troll. I set a land and pass the turn. Turn 2 Opponent cast Dark Confidant and passed the turn. I set a land and passed the turn. Turn 3 Opponent revealed Liliana of the Veil form bob. Opponent swung with bob and then cast another bob. At the opponent's end step I cast Grisly Salvage and the cards revealed was 2 Soulflayer, Sylvan, Drogskol, and Bomat. I grabbed a Soulflayer. I cast Sylvan from my hand during my turn. Turn 4 Opponent drew 2 land from bob, cast Liliana and forced me to sacrifice Sylvan. Opponent swung with 2 bob. On my turn I cast a Troll and Soulflayer delving Bomat, Sylvan and Drogskol. I swung with Soulflayer dealing 8 damage to player. Turn 5 Opponent cast Bloodbraid Elf on his turn and cascaded a Tarmogoyf. Opponent conceded.
game 2: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Traverse, Bomat, and Grisly Salvage. Turn 1 Opponent set a land and passed the turn. I cast Bomat and swung for 1 damage. Turn 2 Opponent set a land and passed the turn. I set a land and swung with Bomat but the opponent destroyed it with Abrupt Decay. I was excited to use Bomat's active ability the next turn but as long as it ends up in the graveyard I was fine. Turn 3 opponent set a land and passed the turn. I cast Grisly Salvage at his end step and revealed 2 Soulflayer, Drogskol, Bomat and Sylvan. I kept Soulflayer. I had 3 Traverse, Sylvan, Loot and Soulflayer in my hand. I cast Traverse to grab a land and then cast Loot discarding Traverse and Sylvan. I cast my second Traverse and grabbed a second Soulflayer. Turn 4 opponent cast Bloodbraid Elf and cascaded a Terminate which fizzled. Opponent swung with BBE and passed the turn. I cast Sylvan and Soulflayer delving Bomat, Drogskol and Sylvan. I swung with Soulflayer for 8 damage. Turn 5 Opponent swung with BBE. I did not block with Sylvan because I needed a creature to protect Soulflayer from Liliana. During the second main phase, opponent cast Liliana and forced me to sacrifice Sylvan. I cast my second Souflayer delving Sylvan and Bomat on my turn. I swung with both Soulflayer and dealt lethal damage to opponent
Round 4: BR Hollow One 2-0
game 1: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Loot, Sylvan and Zetalpa. Turn 1 I cast Loot and discarded Zetalpa and Sylvan. Opponent cast Flameblade Adept and passed the turn. Turn 2 I cast Loot and discarded Phoenix and Drogskol. I drew Soulflayer with the Loot. At this point the only card I was afraid was Burning Inquiry. Opponent cycled Street Wraith, cast Loot, cast Hollow One for 0 mana, set a land and recurred Bloodghast. He swung with an Adept for 4 damage. Turn 3 I cast Soulflayer delving Phoenix, Drogskol, Zetalpa and Sylvan. I swung with Soulflayer for 8 damage. Opponent conceded.
game 2: I kept a hand with a land, 2 Zetalpa, Traverse, Troll, Soulflayer, and Loot. Turn 1 opponent cast Adept and passed the turn. I cast Traverse and grabbed a basic Swamp. Turn 2 opponent cast 2 Loot, cast Hollow One for 0 mana and swung with Adept for 5 damage. I cast Lotleth Troll and passed my turn. Turn 3 opponent recurred Phoenix from his graveyard and swung with Phoenix, Hollow One and Adept. I block Hollow One with a Troll. Before damage I discarded Zetalpa and Sylvan to make Troll strong enough to trade with Hollow One. On the second main phase, opponent cast Gurmag Angler. I cast Loot on my turn discarding Zetalpa and Phoenix. I cast Soulflayer delving Zetalpa, Sylvan, and Phoenix. I swung with Soulflayer for 8 damage. Turn 4, opponent flashbacked Loot and then conceded
Round 5: Scapeshift 2-1
game 1: I mulligan to 6 card, kept a hand with 2 land, 2 Traverse, Loot and Grisly Salvage. Turn 1 I cast Loot and discarded a Traverse and land. Opponent suspended Search for Tomorrow and passed his turn. Turn 2 I set a land and passed the turn. Opponent cast Farseek, set a land and passed his turn. I cast Grisly Salvage on his end step and revealed 2 land, Bomat, Sylvan and Soulflayer. I grabbed a Soulflayer. Turn 3 I cast Traverse and grabbed Zetalpa and then I cast Loot to discard Zetalpa and Chromanticore. Opponent resolves Search for Tomorrow from suspend and cast Sakura-Tribe Elder. Turn 4 I cast Bomat and Soulflayer delving Bomat, Sylvan, Chromanticore and Zetalpa. I swung with Bomat and Soulflayer. Opponent blocked Bomat and then sacrificed the Elder. Opponent cast Scapeshift on his turn dealing lethal damage to me with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
game 2: I kept a hand with 3 land, 2 Sylvan, Loot, and Grisly Salvage. Turn 1 I cast Loot and discarded Zetalpa and Sylvan. Opponent suspended Search for Tomorrow. Turn 2 I set a land and passed the turn. Opponent cast Explore and set another land. I cast Grisly Salvage during his end step and revealed a land, Loot, Thoughtseize, Phoenix and Soulflayer. I grabbed Soulflayer. Turn 3 I cast Traverse and grabbed Ghor-Clan Rampager. I cast Souflayer delving Zetalpa, Sylvan and Phoenix. I swung with Soulflayer dealing 8 damage. Opponent resolved Search for Tomorrow from suspend, cast Elder, and hardcast Search for Tomorrow from his hand. Turn 4 I swung with Souflayer pumped with Ghor-Clan for lethal damage
game 3: I kept a hand with 2 land, Soulflayer, Sylvan, 2 Drogskol and Loot. It was an ideal hand. Turn 1 opponent cast Relic of Progenitus. I set a land and passed my turn. Turn 2 opponent suspended Search for Tomorrow and passed his turn. Relic eats my fetch land in response to me cracking it. I cast Sylvan in attempt to cast Soulflayer right after I resolve Loot the next turn. Turn 3 opponent cast an Explore, eats my fetch land in graveyard and passed the turn. At this point my graveyard was empty so my only hope was to draw another land in order to cast Soulflayer on my turn. I drew a Sylvan. I cast Loot anyways and discarded Zetalpa and Drogskol. I cast Lotleth Troll that I drew from Loot. During my end step, opponent attempted to bolt the Troll but I had enough creature card in my hand to keep the Troll alive. I discarded 2 Souflayer and Sylvan. Turn 4 opponent resolves Search for Tomorrow from suspend, hardcast Search for Tomorrow from his hand and then cracked the Relic. It was my turn and I drew a Phoenix. I discarded Phoenix from my hand using Troll and recurred it. I should have probably kept phoenix in the graveyard since I still had Drogskol and Soulflayer in my hand. Anyways I discarded Drogskol to pump the Troll and then swung with 7/6 Troll and Phoenix for 9 damage. Opponent had 9 life left. Turn 5 opponent casts Anger of the Gods and destroyed/exiled Sylvan and Phoenix, then cast Elder. I drew Drogskol Reaver on my turn. I swung with the 7/6 Troll. Opponent sacrificed Elder in response to Troll attacking. I discarded Drogskol and Soulflayer from my hand, making Troll a 9/8. If opponent decided to block and not sacrifice Elder, it wouldn't have been a lethal damage. It was most likely that he wasn't expecting me to have 2 creature card in my hand.
I wasn't aware that people were discussing about Soulflayer in reddit. I'll check them out!
3 Bomat Courier
3 Flamewake Phoenix
3 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Samut, Voice of Dissent
1 Hazoret the Feverent
1 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
4 Soulflayer
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Lotleth Troll
Non-creature
2 Grisly Salvage
2 Grapple with the Past
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Faithless Looting
2 Lingering Souls
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
1 Blooming Marsh
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Verdant Catatombs
1 Marsh Flats
2 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Damnation
2 Slaughter Games
4 Thoughtseize
While previously playing Sigarda, Host of Herons felt good vs monoblack and jund, the problem with this deck being able to cast her when necessary is more trouble than its worth, so I decided to let it go towards a 3rd Nighthawk in the main. Granted I loose the 5th hexproof creature, but 4 caryatids in this deck should suffice in making a indestructible and hexproof soulflayer as long as opponent isn't playing dismembers/languish/path to exiles. Even then, you can time when to cast soulflayer to avoid getting setback by those removals.
I also cut down the graveyard dig cards down to 4. Mainly because you have Bomat Courier to generate pseudo card advantage to you early, and when the game starts to go long, I rarely want to seen more than 2 copies of these cards in my deck. If you're instead playing Fanatical Firebrands, then you can probably put in grisly salvages & grapple with the past in either a 4/2 or 3/3 package. Chances of recurring a key creature to put onboard is also much higher. In the extra slots, I've put back Lingering Souls as a way to circumvent edict effects, since they're way easier to cast than dear Sigarda.
Sideboard has been updated a bit more featuring an extra Seal of primordium as a replacement over Wear // Tear to deal with enchantments more than 3cmc like Leyline of the Void, and its also your extra artifact removal vs affinity and lantern, etc. Slaughter Games and Thoughtseize are your package vs combo and control decks, and Damnation is there to deal with tokens and huge nasties from the midrange decks(reality smasher, huge goyfs, scoozes, etc) which your indestructible soulflayer has trouble getting through. Nihil Spellbomb is great, dealing with decks that uses their graveyard as an alternative resource(like mirror) is huge. Leyline of Sanctity is self explanatory, if you have it in your opening its good, else, you need to grind your way till you can cast this in time.
Overall, if the meta you face off is way more aggro, the Vampires can be swapped with Gifted Aetherborn, they're essentially the same except for the lower cmc Aetherborn has to offer, which could be huge facing aggro decks.
I'm keeping Ghor-Clan Rampager as a way to deal the last burst of damage to close out games where you don't have a double striking trampling Soulflayer. Notably you can recur Rampager with Grapple to deal another 4dmg the next time you attack.
Manabase may look a bit odd with the Sacred Foundry, but i figure this deck needs more red mana in the long game so its replaced Godless Shrine for me.
4x Soulflayer
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Lotleth Troll
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Samut, Voice of Dissent
4x Chromanticore
3x Faerie Macabre
1x Hazoret the Fervent
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
other spell x12
4x Grisly Salvage
4x Faithless Looting
4x Traverse the Ulvenwald
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Wooded Foothills
1x Cavern of Souls
2x Mana Confluence
2x Overgrown Tomb
1x Blood Crypt
1x Stomping Ground
1x Swamp
1x Forest
4x Thoughtseize
2x Lightning Axe
4x Ancient Grudge
2x Collective Brutality
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Golgari Charm
This deck is a lot slower since the only double strike and haste creature is Samut, but it has it's plus side. It a lot more resilient to graveyard hate, counter spells and Blood Moon which my other deck was weak to. This deck has Faerie Macabre in the mainboard to give Soulflayer flying more consistently since Samut lacks evasion by itself. Most creature are castable because the highest curve is 5 instead of 8. Having 8 mana dorks help cast those 5 drops as early as turn 3. I will start testing this deck as soon as I buy Collective Brutality.
The only change I made from my 5-0 deck is swapping Blooming Marsh with Cavern of Souls so far.
I really like your list Yusiemax, looks like a ton of options on T1 and T2 including 8 creatures to bin that can protect a T2/T3 Soulflayer w/ Hexproof or Indestructible. Any more thoughts on Birds of Paradise vs Bomat Courier? It seems like these are the 1 CMC creatures being tested currently:
I think Bomat and Firebrand are the best bets for the decks strategy. Bomat has some amazing corner cases of refilling your hand, but it is risky to rely on it as your haste keyword for Soulflayer. I could imagine a near full hand going into T2 or T3 and not being able to get him in the yard without throwing away your hand. He is also 2 mana to get in the yard vs Firebrand's 1.
If you're on the Traverse plan, that's more of a reason to lean towards Bomat Courier.
My last note on the deck is the sideboard. With Traverse + so many fetches MD and Thoughtseize SB, it seems like the deck could sideboard into almost a Jund Death's Shadow deck. I will be getting some MTGO reps in to see how the 'slug through the GY hate' plan is, I've just always enjoyed transformation plans. Death's Shadows, Planeswalkers and disruption don't rely on the Graveyard, and I think Yuseimax's maindeck has enough playables that we're not forced to leave unplayables in there.
DJ - Defender isn't in the keywords that Soulflayer can steal, fortunately!
Metacall Discord - Modern MTG chat for decks, archetypes and tournament play.
Thank you very much! Soulflayer does not gain defender when it delve Sylvan Caryatid because the only ability Soulflayer can gain is flying, first strike, double strike, deathtouch, haste, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, reach, trample, and vigilance. For the same reason Souflayer can't gain menace, protection, shroud, landwalk, etc.
Thank you! For 1 mana creature I would prefer Bomat Courier or Fanatical Firebrand if we're running Zetalpa, Primal Dawn and Drogskol Reaver like the decklist used in GP Lyon. Like you mentioned, whether to choose Bomat or Firebrand would depend on if we're running any Traverse the Ulvenwald. Traverse is less effective without having atleast 5 card type in a deck.
Only time I would choose Birds of Paradise over Bomat/Firebrand is if we're running any Samut, Voice of Dissent.
One thing about Death's Shadow is that it'll most likely die if Souflayer with lifelink attacks. It is a good plan if we are not planning to play Souflayer at all or if we can adjust what Soulflayer delve so it doesn't gain lifelink.
I like your deck a lot! I've been wanting to play Samut but I couldn't find the right number/combination of double strike creature to play. Do you think 6 double strike creature is enough to give Souflayer double strike consistently?
After losing to a jund today I wished I had Leyline of Sanctity in my sideboard. If I do make a jund splash white deck I'll definitely play 4.
That is pretty cool! I didn't notice that trick.
Sacred Foundry seems bit scary since if you play that on T1 or T2 you can't play Grisly Salvage, Lotleth Troll, or Abrupt Decay on turn 2.
I think that maybe adding 2x Sagu Mauler might be an option as it is potentially even castable with a blue shockland or Caryatid or even just cast as a chump-blocking "morph".
Another keyword which I find missing from some lists is lifelink and Vault Skirge can help with that in place of the hasty 1-drops that are played in those lists as I value lifelink higher than haste.
Sure you can. Dragonskull summit, shocklands, painlands or you know.. Basics
I actually use 2 Mana Confluence instead of Blackcleave Cliffs in my deck now. It has it's down side but I like it so far.
Thanks!
Here's the thing I feel about doublestrike, its a good keyword that you want all the time, but having it without indestructible or hexproof on it just makes me feel more susceptible to a blowout. Also, there aren't as many creatures that combines double strike with other relevant keywords (flying and trample being the best pairs with double strike), so the creatures you can put in is a little more diversified. That being said, the deck worked alright with 6 doublestrike keyword for me, as I really only need it by turn 3 most of the time. Occasionally I still find myself going between 6 - 7 double strikers while tweaking the deck, so I'm still not fixed on the number. However I do think 6 Double Strike is the minimum number needed for the deck to continue getting that explosive play we want most of the time.
The keywords that I'm looking at more now are hexproof + indestructible, as these are the keywords that sticks your soulflayer and allow you to grind away at the long games. I used to have 5 indestructible and 5 hexproof creatures, but I took Sigarda out in favor of the extra power that Ghor-Clan offers after seeing your list. That said, I still want a little more hexproof creatures which are relevant to the style of the deck, but its hard to make space, even more so given how little creatures with hexproof that are really synergistic with the deck overall. Ideally I will want at least 6 sources of each relevant keyword in this deck but sometimes one can't ask for too much. I did consider Oketra the True as one of the other source of double strike and indestructible as well, but her other line of text doesn't play too well with the whole deck.
Speaking of Leyline, I was playing against my friend's Gift Storm postboard the other day and I dropped this t1. All he does the whole game after that is trying to draw and scry into his Empty the Warrens. Its funny he can't play gifts targeting me.
I'm not sure about going 4 of tho, as the extra copies of Leyline you draw will essentially be dead cards since your manabase don't really support double white.
Yup, its ok sometimes, but there are times where I wished it was some other lands. I may go for another blood crypt in that slot, since I don't have a lot of white cards that needs to be hardcasted now that Sigarda is not in the deck.