Yeah, the only way I can think of beating a Bridge without removing it is purposefully ignoring your counter-triggers on Freeblade and using Mirror Entity to power up 0 power Freeblades / Druids after attacking...but that's just soooooooo unlikely. Most of us run some number of answers to it in the board. Pridemage is probably one of the better ones since it interacts well with Vial/CoCo
You're completely right about Gideon/Return in the grindy matchups. Sadly Modern seems to have degenerated into a world of linear super aggro decks (Burn, Zoo, Affinity, Menfolk, Elves, etc.) and Tron/Eldrazi...I've seen a single UW Control and a single Abzan deck at my LGS since the ban changes...
Reckless Bushwhacker is really bad imho. If you don't surge it, it sucks. Surge doesn't go well with Collected Company or Aether Vial. I can see it being ridiculous in an explosive turn with say a Druid giving you 8 mana on turn 3...I'll try it i guess, no harm done.
I really want to try Deflecting Palm in the board...it seems great vs. Infect/Affinity/Tron/Eldrazi and I just want to enjoy the moment where you blow someone out (not sure if it's actually good though)
Some more random testing done. All games were without sideboarding.
vs. Deathcloud (4-1)
Seems a pretty good matchup. They often spend turns ramping (utopia sprawl, Garruk Wildspeaker etc. Evangel is amazing at getting through blockers, specifically Lingering Souls tokens. Basically we're just too fast for them unless they have a very good draw. That's how i lost: T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Abrupt Decay, T3 Liliana of the Veil, T4 Garruk Wildspeaker + Flashback the Lingering Souls just discarded with Lili, T5 Deathcloud for 4 taking out my hand and board and leaving him with 2 Planeswalkers. That shows you that their game plan has potential, but ours is generally just too fast.
Yes, I'd say you're correct. Luckily for us combo isn't as prevalent in the meta right now. The top combo decks are Ad Nauseam at 2.6% and Scapeshift at 2.2%...Ad Nauseam is a pretty bad matchup. Haven't played it in a while, but I remember that if they had multiple copies of Angel's Grace or Phyrexian Unlife they could just stop me from winning and go off the next turn...if not they often lost the race or had to use their one "don't die" card to survive attacks and therefore couldn't go off.
Scapeshift on the other hand is quite easy...they're really slow and we're really fast.
In Aggro/Midrange matchups unsurprisingly the hardest ones seem to be colourless decks, since Evangel doesn't do anything there and it is probably the most powerful card in the deck. Affinity is a difficult race that you can easily lose to Infect damage even if you have Lifeline. Eldrazi has the potential of ridiculous draws and always ends up stalling the board with massive bodies, which are kind of hard to attack through since Evangel doesn't give a helping hand. Firemantle Mage is our best source of evasion there and that isn't always good enough. That's the matchup where I wish we had some reach in the deck since I've often found myself getting in for damage early and then just being unable to apply the last 5 or so points...
Well... you are missing infect, I've played some pre board matches against it and won only 1 out of 6 games. It is very hard to outrace infect. You really need either spellskite or melira, sylvok outcast. Maybe i'm just playing it the wrong way, but it felt really tough.
On a side note, what are you guys running post twin ban in the sideboards?
So I tested captain's claws in a vial build and it was a house. I had just been pyroclasmed to clear the board with claws sitting there. Drew battlesinger, cast, attach, and immediately swing for 5. Next turn, 7. It just took over triggering allies and adding more dudes.
Someone mentioned they might be too slow, but for what they do they're cheap, and if you vial in dudes you have mana left to cast/activate.
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Well... you are missing infect, I've played some pre board matches against it and won only 1 out of 6 games. It is very hard to outrace infect. You really need either spellskite or melira, sylvok outcast. Maybe i'm just playing it the wrong way, but it felt really tough.
On a side note, what are you guys running post twin ban in the sideboards?
Completely forgot about Infect when I was thinking about combo decks...I just classed it as aggro, but it's at least as much of a combo deck. I've barely played the matchup, we only have 1 infect player locally. I guess I'd bring in Paths, Deflecting Palms and Thalias. Racing should be hard, our T3 kills are much less likely than theirs.
My SB changes week in week out but this is what i have constructed right now:
probably worth noting that my meta has gone huge on Affinity and I'm trying a plan vs. Tron where I use Stony to slow them down and just go underneath them rather than using Crumble. Not sure if it's worth it yet.
So I tested captain's claws in a vial build and it was a house. I had just been pyroclasmed to clear the board with claws sitting there. Drew battlesinger, cast, attach, and immediately swing for 5. Next turn, 7. It just took over triggering allies and adding more dudes.
Someone mentioned they might be too slow, but for what they do they're cheap, and if you vial in dudes you have mana left to cast/activate.
It always looked slow to me on paper, but you may be right. I'll give it a go for sure. I can see the value in it, I'm just not sure a meta full of hyper-aggressive decks is where I'll want it...
Edit: How many did you run?
I think you need a plan for control/grindy decks in addition to races. I am slowly putting together allies now that I have completed CoCo Elves and CoCo Slivers.
I'm going with 3 claws right now. You still want dudes first, but if you can go vial, blademaster-vial in freeblade, on turn three you can vial in a dude then cast and equip claws.
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So I tested captain's claws in a vial build and it was a house. I had just been pyroclasmed to clear the board with claws sitting there. Drew battlesinger, cast, attach, and immediately swing for 5. Next turn, 7. It just took over triggering allies and adding more dudes.
Someone mentioned they might be too slow, but for what they do they're cheap, and if you vial in dudes you have mana left to cast/activate.
I might not get math right here, but I think you should have swung for 6 and then 7.
battlesinger is a 1/1, that turns into a 2/1 due to the trigger
Attach captains claw, making him a 3/1, attach and create a 1/1 ally, battlesinger triggers, making him a 4/1 and the new ally a 2/1, that's 6 damage.
Next turn, have a 1/1, and a 2/1, attack, create another 1/1, trigger battle singer, you now have two 2/2 and a 3/1, that's 7.
A bushwacker at this turn would just have been brutal.
what is our contingency plan against B/W eldrazi or any other Eldrazi decks? I'm starting to think that crumble to dust and artifact hate is not going to stop them much...
Updated my SB after some theory testing. I haven't had time to bring the deck out for a run as my cards are all over the place, in 2 different countries specifically...
- 1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: On theory, it's good against attrition-based decks. He helps to sustain the mid-late games and also a bonus ally Trigger will never hurt.
- 2x Leyline of Sanctity: with all the combo and eldrazi decks that uses the magical word: "target player", This has to be in here...
what is our contingency plan against B/W eldrazi or any other Eldrazi decks? I'm starting to think that crumble to dust and artifact hate is not going to stop them much...
I'm afraid the plan is similar to Affinity: Go under them and use Firemantle Mage to push through damage. Crumble to Dust on Eldrazi Temple slows them most down on T3 with Harabaz Druid, but that is nothing to rely on imo. The longer the game goes, the more payoff cards they can play. I think it boils down to winning by ~T4 or not at all. Didn't playtest the MU tmuch though, that's just my impression. Leyline of Sanctity might help against all their discard, but then you still have to deal with their beaters.
Indeed, Crumble to Dust doesn't do enough against Eldrazi. The games I've won have been by either going under them, as you said, plus a game where I had a massive Blademaster and he literally couldn't attack or block profitably. Obviously that just folds the moment they draw Ulamog/Path, but it worked once Leyline of Sanctity definitely helps but you have to have it in your starting hand to be useful here (I know, that's kind of always the case and the point of leylines...). Deflecting Palm seems very good in theory, I haven't been able to play Eldrazi since including it in my board yet though.
Speed is key, what makes the matchup harder for us than say Zoo is that we don't have any reach to push through the final points of damage and heavily rely on Firemantle Mage to push through if they have plenty of blockers.
Updated my SB after some theory testing. I haven't had time to bring the deck out for a run as my cards are all over the place, in 2 different countries specifically...
- 1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: On theory, it's good against attrition-based decks. He helps to sustain the mid-late games and also a bonus ally Trigger will never hurt.
- 2x Leyline of Sanctity: with all the combo and eldrazi decks that uses the magical word: "target player", This has to be in here...
- 1x Tuktuk Scrapper: Ulti-hate against artifacts, cos' I'm not playing them (kinda)
I'm sure you realise you have zero creature removal in both the main and side? I'm not saying it's not correct, just wondering why? Path to Exile is an amazing card almost always found as 4 copies across our 75. Have you found yourself more successful without them?
Deck looks solid.
Your MD looks a lot like mine (mine is +1 Land, +1 Bladewhirl, +2 Shapeshifter, -1 Join the Ranks, -1 Druid, -1 Survivalist, -1 Entity).
In your sideboard, Tuktuk Scrapper has always disappointed me personally. It's at 4 mana which is the key cost to be excluded by CoCo and doesn't do enough to warrant it's cost imo. For 4 mana I'd rather be casting Creeping Corrosion or Shatterstorm...
I haven't had the opportunity to test this list out yet.. It's mainly just paper theory atm. I would include 4x path if I could squeeze them in somewhere. But for now, I'm relying more on the effects of coco and join the ranks to get the evasion. Will probably swap aether vials for path and try. But I do get by games and matches in my previous builds without 4x path. The reliance is that the deck had to be consistent in its early game pressure and damage output to render the opponents into the danger zone.
Tuktuk is a big gamble card. If he resolved, the affinity player is more or less dead. Sure 4 cmc means he cannot be coco-ed, but he's not the only sideboard strategy I have against affinity. Lifegain works against them quite well. Partly also why I ran 3 harabaz Druid. Helps ramp up faster into the 4 drops
In general my deck has a bunch of 1-ofs because I want to maximize the effect of a single Rally trigger per turn.
Ondu Cleric has been significantly better than Lantern Scout against Affinity. Mainly because they can sac a chump blocker to Arcbound Ravager and we generally can't prevent them from gaining from Vault Skirge.
The second Firemantle Mage is in to stay (only due to the colorless-heavy meta; otherwise he is potentially redundant). Against Eldrazi/Affinity, every game he's come into play I've won, and the only games that I've lost have been in the ones where he didn't.
Especially against Affinity, trample has actually been a difference-maker. I'm thinking I may want to run an additional Bramblewood Paragon (since there is incremental synergy with Oran-Rief Survivalist).
Hagra Diabolist has been incredible as a reach solution. In one game I played T1 Freeblade, T2 Druid (attack for 2), T3 Diabolist (drain for 3, attack for 3). On his turn he stabilized the board with a T4 Thought-Knot Seer. On my T4 I cast Collected Company which drained for 10 (!!), then dropped another Freeblade which drained for 6 to end the game before combat. I am not sure how I will do this, but I suspect that I should be targeting putting him into play turn 3 and tone down the aggro strategy.
Lead the Stampede has been surprisingly excellent. It's been important to be able to dig up a specific creature.
It hasn't gotten to that point yet, but I suspect Captain's Claws would be really good. I find myself casting an Ally each turn just to get triggers, Claws does that for us.
I completely agree with early aggression being key. I personally run my paths in the board because G1 I just try and be as linear as possible. G2 we're all going to change somewhat away from that and bring in specific answers. It doesn't have to be Path, you can bring in better matchup specific stuff most likely. Path is just a really universal card saving me SB spaces...It's great vs. Infect, Affinity, Eldrazi, Tron, Knightfall, Kiki Chord, etc...so I'm not saying it's wrong not to run them, just that it's a very slot efficient SB card to consider...or MB depending on your meta.
Resolving a Tuktuk against Affinity indeed means they will likely die. Resolving Shatterstorm meabs they will certainly die...
Lifegain helps, however some spot removal for Inkmoths is needed as you can still just lose to Infect damage.
I know where you are coming from. I agree it's the best removal and a real waste to not play them. ATM now I cannot find 4 slots in the side to jam the paths in. I left the 4 paths in the maybe and looking at the local meta before deciding how to jam the 4 cards in my 75
In general my deck has a bunch of 1-ofs because I want to maximize the effect of a single Rally trigger per turn.
Ondu Cleric has been significantly better than Lantern Scout against Affinity. Mainly because they can sac a chump blocker to Arcbound Ravager and we generally can't prevent them from gaining from Vault Skirge.
The second Firemantle Mage is in to stay (only due to the colorless-heavy meta; otherwise he is potentially redundant). Against Eldrazi/Affinity, every game he's come into play I've won, and the only games that I've lost have been in the ones where he didn't.
Especially against Affinity, trample has actually been a difference-maker. I'm thinking I may want to run an additional Bramblewood Paragon (since there is incremental synergy with Oran-Rief Survivalist).
Hagra Diabolist has been incredible as a reach solution. In one game I played T1 Freeblade, T2 Druid (attack for 2), T3 Diabolist (drain for 3, attack for 3). On his turn he stabilized the board with a T4 Thought-Knot Seer. On my T4 I cast Collected Company which drained for 10 (!!), then dropped another Freeblade which drained for 6 to end the game before combat. I am not sure how I will do this, but I suspect that I should be targeting putting him into play turn 3 and tone down the aggro strategy.
Lead the Stampede has been surprisingly excellent. It's been important to be able to dig up a specific creature.
It hasn't gotten to that point yet, but I suspect Captain's Claws would be really good. I find myself casting an Ally each turn just to get triggers, Claws does that for us.
Sweet deck! It's good to see these lists are all becoming similar but still innovative in the flex slots
What is the best way for allies to get past ensnaring bridge? It's pretty prevalent in my meta and I don't like scooping round 1 when it drops.
Removing it, any artifact hate will do...most lists run some form in the sideboard.
Alternatively, get 0 power creatures (+1/+1 counter triggers are a may so you can choose to let your Freeblades be 0/1...Mirror Entity sees play as a one of reasonably often and it can be used to get those 0 power creatures up after attacking...also as said above, CoCo/Vial after attacking...
Sorry, I should clarify that I'm usually not looking for a specific creature (I should correct my comment about my inclusion of Lead the Stampede mainboard), just something that provides some evasion or keyword that I don't already have on board. So Lead the Stampede or Collected Company is usually good enough. We usually don't have enough unrestricted green mana or creatures to support Chord of Calling anyways.
Re: Ensnaring Bridge, I boarded in 2 Hagra Diabolists originally to respond to Lantern Control. IMO, that's a pretty solid solution against Control decks in general, especially since I usually have a Cavern of Souls and Ally Encampment in play. Eldrazi decks can have their Reality Smashers, I'll have my Stalled-Board-State Smasher.
On the topic of Ensnaring Bridge, I'm toying to sideboard 1 piece against Eldrazi and Tron decks... Also for whichever decks that have high power. Maybe drop the boros charm for Ensnaring Bridge. What you guys think?
Quick report: went 6-3 at SCGRegionals in Seattle for 49th out of 346. Decklist to come in a later post when I've got more time. Results:
1: 2-1 vs. Mardu Tokens (B/W Tokens, splashing red for Bolt.)
2: 0-2 vs. Kiki Chord
3: 1-2 vs. Naya Allies. Yes, the mythical mirror match.
4: 2-0 vs. Naya Burn
5: 2-1 vs. Bogles
6: 2-1 vs. Naya Knightfall
7: 2-1 vs. Mono Blue Turns
8: 2-0 vs. Grixis Control
9: 1-2 vs. Grixis Control
Last round was a very tight match against a quality opponent. A win would have easily put me in top 32, but things just didn't fall my way. Can't complain at all about how the day panned out. I'm now 15-8 overall with the deck split over five tourneys. Very happy with it, but will have to revisit the approach now that we're all under Eldrazi Overlords.
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You're completely right about Gideon/Return in the grindy matchups. Sadly Modern seems to have degenerated into a world of linear super aggro decks (Burn, Zoo, Affinity, Menfolk, Elves, etc.) and Tron/Eldrazi...I've seen a single UW Control and a single Abzan deck at my LGS since the ban changes...
Reckless Bushwhacker is really bad imho. If you don't surge it, it sucks. Surge doesn't go well with Collected Company or Aether Vial. I can see it being ridiculous in an explosive turn with say a Druid giving you 8 mana on turn 3...I'll try it i guess, no harm done.
I really want to try Deflecting Palm in the board...it seems great vs. Infect/Affinity/Tron/Eldrazi and I just want to enjoy the moment where you blow someone out (not sure if it's actually good though)
vs. Deathcloud (4-1)
Seems a pretty good matchup. They often spend turns ramping (utopia sprawl, Garruk Wildspeaker etc. Evangel is amazing at getting through blockers, specifically Lingering Souls tokens. Basically we're just too fast for them unless they have a very good draw. That's how i lost: T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Abrupt Decay, T3 Liliana of the Veil, T4 Garruk Wildspeaker + Flashback the Lingering Souls just discarded with Lili, T5 Deathcloud for 4 taking out my hand and board and leaving him with 2 Planeswalkers. That shows you that their game plan has potential, but ours is generally just too fast.
vs. Knightfall (3-1) (aggro list with Steppe Lynx, Geist of Saint Traft, Voice of Resurgence, Loxodon Smiter. Curve stops at 4 for CoCo)
Again, pretty good matchup. Kabira Evangel and Lantern Scout are great here for racing. Kazandu Blademaster just walls off the ground quite quickly and Akoum Battlesinger provides the explosive damage. No MD way of interacting with them meant I did lose the one time he got the combo on T3 (Noble Hierarch, T2 Knight of the Reliquary, T3 Retreat to Coralhelm and go off, then trample over with Kessig Wolf Run for lethal).
Scapeshift on the other hand is quite easy...they're really slow and we're really fast.
In Aggro/Midrange matchups unsurprisingly the hardest ones seem to be colourless decks, since Evangel doesn't do anything there and it is probably the most powerful card in the deck. Affinity is a difficult race that you can easily lose to Infect damage even if you have Lifeline. Eldrazi has the potential of ridiculous draws and always ends up stalling the board with massive bodies, which are kind of hard to attack through since Evangel doesn't give a helping hand. Firemantle Mage is our best source of evasion there and that isn't always good enough. That's the matchup where I wish we had some reach in the deck since I've often found myself getting in for damage early and then just being unable to apply the last 5 or so points...
On a side note, what are you guys running post twin ban in the sideboards?
Someone mentioned they might be too slow, but for what they do they're cheap, and if you vial in dudes you have mana left to cast/activate.
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Completely forgot about Infect when I was thinking about combo decks...I just classed it as aggro, but it's at least as much of a combo deck. I've barely played the matchup, we only have 1 infect player locally. I guess I'd bring in Paths, Deflecting Palms and Thalias. Racing should be hard, our T3 kills are much less likely than theirs.
My SB changes week in week out but this is what i have constructed right now:
4 Stony Silence
2 Deflecting Palm
2 Lantern Scout
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
It always looked slow to me on paper, but you may be right. I'll give it a go for sure. I can see the value in it, I'm just not sure a meta full of hyper-aggressive decks is where I'll want it...
Edit: How many did you run?
4 Ally Encampment
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
4 Windswept Heath
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Akoum Battlesinger
2 Firemantle Mage
2 Spellskite
3 Kalistria Healer
2 Lantern Scout
2 Spellskite
4 Kabira Evangel
4 Collected Company
4 Aether Vial
4 Path of Exile
1 Rest in Peace
2 Gideon
1 Captain Claws
1 Stony Silence
2 Mark of Asylum
2 Rally the Ancestors
2 Ondu Cleric
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I might not get math right here, but I think you should have swung for 6 and then 7.
battlesinger is a 1/1, that turns into a 2/1 due to the trigger
Attach captains claw, making him a 3/1, attach and create a 1/1 ally, battlesinger triggers, making him a 4/1 and the new ally a 2/1, that's 6 damage.
Next turn, have a 1/1, and a 2/1, attack, create another 1/1, trigger battle singer, you now have two 2/2 and a 3/1, that's 7.
A bushwacker at this turn would just have been brutal.
More testing has had me going...
Turn one vial
Turn two claws, eot vial in freeblade
Turn three attach claws and cast or vial (maybe both) in dudes.
It's not as fast but I can drop something like kabira evangel in time to attack with protection from colors.
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RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
4x Akoum Battlesinger
4x Expedition Envoy
2x Firemantle Mage
4x Hada Freeblade
3x Harabaz Druid
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Lantern Scout
1x Mirror Entity
3x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Instant (5)
4x Collected Company
1x Join the Ranks
4x Ally Encampment
1x Arid Mesa
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Forest
2x Plains
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
Artifact (4)
4x AEther Vial
1x Boros Charm
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Crumble to Dust
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Natural State
1x Ondu Cleric
2x Return to the Ranks
2x Spellskite
1x Suppression Field
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
Sideboard:
- 1x Boros Charm: Alternative Finisher; Great against decks with heavy wipes and if I need the extra push of damage
- 1x Chameleon Colossus: Great against B/x decks running black based removal and/or creatures
- 1x Crumble to Dust: I hate Tron cos I'm not playing it.
- 1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar: On theory, it's good against attrition-based decks. He helps to sustain the mid-late games and also a bonus ally Trigger will never hurt.
- 2x Leyline of Sanctity: with all the combo and eldrazi decks that uses the magical word: "target player", This has to be in here...
- 2x Natural State: Destroy artifact/enchantments... enough said?
- 1x Ondu Cleric: Against burn, affinity and any other aggro mirrors.
- 2x Return to the Ranks: Great against attrition decks
- 2x Spellskite: Windmill slam this against infect and boggle, laugh. Same goes to burn
- 1x Suppression Field: 1-off mega hate against Modern.
- 1x Tuktuk Scrapper: Ulti-hate against artifacts, cos' I'm not playing them (kinda)
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Indeed, Crumble to Dust doesn't do enough against Eldrazi. The games I've won have been by either going under them, as you said, plus a game where I had a massive Blademaster and he literally couldn't attack or block profitably. Obviously that just folds the moment they draw Ulamog/Path, but it worked once
Leyline of Sanctity definitely helps but you have to have it in your starting hand to be useful here (I know, that's kind of always the case and the point of leylines...). Deflecting Palm seems very good in theory, I haven't been able to play Eldrazi since including it in my board yet though.
Speed is key, what makes the matchup harder for us than say Zoo is that we don't have any reach to push through the final points of damage and heavily rely on Firemantle Mage to push through if they have plenty of blockers.
I'm sure you realise you have zero creature removal in both the main and side? I'm not saying it's not correct, just wondering why? Path to Exile is an amazing card almost always found as 4 copies across our 75. Have you found yourself more successful without them?
Deck looks solid.
Your MD looks a lot like mine (mine is +1 Land, +1 Bladewhirl, +2 Shapeshifter, -1 Join the Ranks, -1 Druid, -1 Survivalist, -1 Entity).
In your sideboard, Tuktuk Scrapper has always disappointed me personally. It's at 4 mana which is the key cost to be excluded by CoCo and doesn't do enough to warrant it's cost imo. For 4 mana I'd rather be casting Creeping Corrosion or Shatterstorm...
Tuktuk is a big gamble card. If he resolved, the affinity player is more or less dead. Sure 4 cmc means he cannot be coco-ed, but he's not the only sideboard strategy I have against affinity. Lifegain works against them quite well. Partly also why I ran 3 harabaz Druid. Helps ramp up faster into the 4 drops
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Oran-Rief Survivalist
3 Harabaz Druid
1 Ondu Cleric
1 Kor Bladewhirl
1 Bramblewood Paragon
4 Kabira Evangel
2 Firemantle Mage
1 Lantern Scout
1 Abzan Falconer
1 Mirror Entity
3 Aether Vial
Land (19)
4 Ally Encampment
3 Cavern of Souls
1 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
2 Reflecting Pool
2 Plains
1 Forest
Instant (6)
4 Collected Company
2 Path to Exile
Sorcery (1)
1 Lead the Stampede
2 Stony Silence
2 Natural State
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Path to Exile
1 Ghostway
1 Inspiring Call
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Vryn Wingmare
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Spellskite
1 Hagra Diabolist
Some notes:
Resolving a Tuktuk against Affinity indeed means they will likely die. Resolving Shatterstorm meabs they will certainly die...
Lifegain helps, however some spot removal for Inkmoths is needed as you can still just lose to Infect damage.
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Sweet deck! It's good to see these lists are all becoming similar but still innovative in the flex slots
Removing it, any artifact hate will do...most lists run some form in the sideboard.
Alternatively, get 0 power creatures (+1/+1 counter triggers are a may so you can choose to let your Freeblades be 0/1...Mirror Entity sees play as a one of reasonably often and it can be used to get those 0 power creatures up after attacking...also as said above, CoCo/Vial after attacking...
Re: Ensnaring Bridge, I boarded in 2 Hagra Diabolists originally to respond to Lantern Control. IMO, that's a pretty solid solution against Control decks in general, especially since I usually have a Cavern of Souls and Ally Encampment in play. Eldrazi decks can have their Reality Smashers, I'll have my Stalled-Board-State Smasher.
4x Akoum Battlesinger
4x Expedition Envoy
2x Firemantle Mage
4x Hada Freeblade
3x Harabaz Druid
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Lantern Scout
1x Mirror Entity
3x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Instant (5)
4x Collected Company
1x Join the Ranks
4x Ally Encampment
1x Arid Mesa
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Forest
2x Plains
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
Artifact (4)
4x AEther Vial
1x Boros Charm ---> swap for Ensnaring Bridge
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Crumble to Dust
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Natural State
1x Ondu Cleric
2x Return to the Ranks
2x Spellskite
1x Suppression Field
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
1: 2-1 vs. Mardu Tokens (B/W Tokens, splashing red for Bolt.)
2: 0-2 vs. Kiki Chord
3: 1-2 vs. Naya Allies. Yes, the mythical mirror match.
4: 2-0 vs. Naya Burn
5: 2-1 vs. Bogles
6: 2-1 vs. Naya Knightfall
7: 2-1 vs. Mono Blue Turns
8: 2-0 vs. Grixis Control
9: 1-2 vs. Grixis Control
Last round was a very tight match against a quality opponent. A win would have easily put me in top 32, but things just didn't fall my way. Can't complain at all about how the day panned out. I'm now 15-8 overall with the deck split over five tourneys. Very happy with it, but will have to revisit the approach now that we're all under Eldrazi Overlords.