Here's the list I brewed, I'm pretty satisfied of what I came up with, it seems nice! Anyone would like to try this one? Anyway, I currently am thinking of removing Geist Of Saint Traft, Phantasmal Image and Boros Charm for 4x Remand in order to be more tempo-oriented and keep the curve even lower.
Feel free to leave suggestions, impressions, feedbacks of any sorts =)
I've thought about eidolon from playing vs burn. I've used phantasmal image to copy it and win the game a couple of times, so the idea of including seems not so bad. But i abandoned the idea for a few reasons.
Splashing comes at a cost. Playing a spell with double mana symbols of your splash color is pretty awkward. This means no more fetching basic island/plains on your first 2 turns, meaning more damage and more vulnerability to blood moon (even if your splash color is red). Losing more life to lands can make eidolon lose you the race.
I DO like eidolon vs various ensnaring bridge decks, because they are forced to cast their stuff to keep their hands empty. The card seems like a dangerous wager vs an aggro field, but it may be good enough, please keep us posted with your results.
I like the idea of Jeskai, though I haven't really tested it. It makes the most sense if I went back to Snapcaster Mage instead of Thalia, Guardian of thraben. I would build it more like this:
I don't think you can go more than 2 Snapcaster with only 9 spells to flashback. I dropped TGoT and some Selfless Spirit because Selfless is frequently my worst spirit. I could see running 0 and going to 3 Snapcaster Mage and another Boros Charm. What I didn't want to do was slow down our attack too much, so I didn't want to go down more than 3-4 creatures (3 TGoT, 1 Selfless, 1 Kira, and then Engineered Explosives) and Thalia is obviously something you can drop in favor of being more aggressive, and Selfless and Kira IMO are the most situational spirits (Nebelgast is actually a huge tempo value card and I like it the more I play it.) Also, Boros Charm should probably just be a 3rd Lightning Helix or even Jeskai Charm, even though I think that card is kind of bad at CMC 3.
Might need a basic Mountain, but I am really leery of more than 3 red mana, especially with 10 fetches. UW remains our core (Still only 6 spells with R in them) and what we need to hit for ALL of our creatures. I could, of course, drop the GQs, but I think that is a mistake.
Not clear if Wear // tear or Smash to Smithereens or Vandalblast would be better than Stony + Kataki + Disenchant. The counterspells become better with 2 Snapcaster and all that burn gives us reach, which is something this deck did not have.
Even though Snapcaster is generally a cmc 3 or 4, I think this is a pretty good curve now as well:
1 CMC 14
2 CMC 13
3 CMC 11
That is not irrelevant, especially given that 3 of the 1 cmc and 3 of the 2 cmc = 18 damage and 9 lifegain.
Hi fellas, i have had a few games yesterday and i have suffered again from UW control.
I have been unlucky and i didn't find any spell queller in 2 games, but i've had the feeling i can't deal with multiple supreme virdicts/ restoration angel.
I'm not sure about what to do aginst this type of deck, should i try to race it ? what should be our plan gainst those decks?
What are the key cards, in mainboard and sideboard?
Edit: reading their deck lists i can see they don't run many anti artifact spells. what do you think about 2x isochrone scepter in the sideboard to keep hitting theri spells with remand, or imprinting other instants ?
Same goes for meatchups aginst Storm. I feel i can make it with Eidolon of Rhetoric and rest in peace, too bad my oppo got 2x Wear // tear in his hand. what is your plan when you know you are facing storm?
thanks
You can't do much but try and bait out their S. Verdicts. You can also try adding in manlands to still give them pressure and dodge S. Verdicts. Spirit of the Labyrinth is also a good card to go with.
Quick report, i decided to try out smuggler's copter in the 2 drop slot. Unfortunately i drew zero during today's tournament, bummer.
Still went 4-0 beating ponza 2-0, hardened scales aggro 2-0, mono red prison 2-1 and dredge 2-1. A lot of the games got closed real quick.
Also made a minor change, now playing with only 3 colorless mana producing lands. 4 was too much.
I did get to play with copter in a game i played for fun with one of my opponents, and it might be what we are looking for until another playable 2 drop spirit (if ever) is printed. The 3/3 stats are nice, gets through 1 or 2 power flying blockers. The loot is awesome, even getting just one or two triggers is huge. Obviously that was just one game but i'll keep you guys posted on further testing this week!
I had epiphany for testing UWR Spirits, given the bad matchups, especially since I was really not liking Snapcaster Mage even with 10 instants. I really prefer TGT and hate, so I was thinking, how best to hate out other decks? UWr already offers Blood Moon and Deflecting Palm, so why not put them main? Then I just run Lightning Helix in the side for Burn, Affinity and other aggro decks where the lifegain matters. I might find space in the sideboard for one more Blood Moon because there is nothing wrong with punishing the big mana decks that are proliferating. Without their big mana, they are worse than we are. Also, I am giving Echoing truth a try in place of Disenchant (thanks Ace1 for the idea.) I might go back to 2 TGT and 4 Path.
Not sure what to think of this, must be a meta call... but, first thing, you need to turn that seachrome coast into a second plains for your mana to be almost good under moon. And I don't think taking a ton of additional damage is worth it, you're gonna die to burn and aggro.
But more importantly path to exile plus blood moon is a huge nonbo. You're gonna want to path big threats and give your opponents basics, negating all the work your moons do! Playing both path and moon in the same deck is nonsense.
What "big mana" deck are you specifically having trouble beating?
Does anyone have a list or has anyone tried a more controlling build in a somewhat similar vein to Faeries utilising a large of number of Cryptics and the tempo / synergy of the Spirits? Or do you guys feel the styles don't mesh very well?
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 don't think they mesh well. Faeries are creature light because few faeries are good and bitterblossom is great at spamming the board with bodies to make up for that. Spirits have to be tempo because of how the good spirits work. Building a tribal deck is different than building a good stuff deck with a clear strategy. Tribal deck's strategy is dictated by the good tribal cards available. This is why you don't build a control merfolk deck: the good cards are 2 mana lords so you build an aggro deck to abuse them. The good spirits are tempo oriented, and you need to build the deck playing into these cards's strenghts.
@Ace1
Damn you for having logic. Here I was all excited to figure out how to do Prison Spirits and you ruin it by pointing out how bad the best removal spell is with it. Ah well, back to my old build, which I have been getting a lot of 3-0-1 and 4-0 with anyway.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Hello all been following and reading the forum for a while. For a pure U/W version not doing the Tallowisp stuff has anyone tried Obelisk of Urd? Since we are kinda short on Lords I've been using Metallic Mimic but I find that she is too prone to creature removal alone and has Geist of Saint Traft syndrome because she doesn't have flying. Thoughts?
Favorable Winds seems much easier to cast as an anthem effect.
6 mana (even with convoke) is quite a lot for this deck.
Yeah I definitely see that perspective. I guess I was trying to use something that could still be used with Geist of Saint Traft or Eidolon of Rhetoric or other non flying spirits. Sometimes it feels like the deck misses out on some tech options because they don't have flying and making those creatures beefier with more power/toughness kinda makes the lack of flying irrelevant.
I've tried all 3. Wouldn't Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit be harder to cast based on its double W cost? In the current build I'm using on xmage favorable winds seems nice. my only thing is sometimes the deck runs out of gas and i need a creature to be threat and drawing more favorable winds or more aether vial sucks.
I've thought about eidolon from playing vs burn. I've used phantasmal image to copy it and win the game a couple of times, so the idea of including seems not so bad. But i abandoned the idea for a few reasons.
Splashing comes at a cost. Playing a spell with double mana symbols of your splash color is pretty awkward. This means no more fetching basic island/plains on your first 2 turns, meaning more damage and more vulnerability to blood moon (even if your splash color is red). Losing more life to lands can make eidolon lose you the race.
I DO like eidolon vs various ensnaring bridge decks, because they are forced to cast their stuff to keep their hands empty. The card seems like a dangerous wager vs an aggro field, but it may be good enough, please keep us posted with your results.
4 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding tarn
3 arid mesa
2 hallowed fountain
2 steam vents
1 sacred foundry
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Seachrome coast
1 Moorland haunt
2 Ghost Quarter
Creatures 25
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Rattlechains
4 Spell Queller
4 Drogskol captain
3 Nebelgast Herald
2 Selfless Spirit
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Aether vial
Instants & sorceries 9
3 Path to exile
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
1 Boros charm
2 Rest in peace
2 Stony silence
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Deflecting palm
2 Disenchant
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 flashfreeze
I don't think you can go more than 2 Snapcaster with only 9 spells to flashback. I dropped TGoT and some Selfless Spirit because Selfless is frequently my worst spirit. I could see running 0 and going to 3 Snapcaster Mage and another Boros Charm. What I didn't want to do was slow down our attack too much, so I didn't want to go down more than 3-4 creatures (3 TGoT, 1 Selfless, 1 Kira, and then Engineered Explosives) and Thalia is obviously something you can drop in favor of being more aggressive, and Selfless and Kira IMO are the most situational spirits (Nebelgast is actually a huge tempo value card and I like it the more I play it.) Also, Boros Charm should probably just be a 3rd Lightning Helix or even Jeskai Charm, even though I think that card is kind of bad at CMC 3.
Might need a basic Mountain, but I am really leery of more than 3 red mana, especially with 10 fetches. UW remains our core (Still only 6 spells with R in them) and what we need to hit for ALL of our creatures. I could, of course, drop the GQs, but I think that is a mistake.
Not clear if Wear // tear or Smash to Smithereens or Vandalblast would be better than Stony + Kataki + Disenchant. The counterspells become better with 2 Snapcaster and all that burn gives us reach, which is something this deck did not have.
Eidolon of Rhetoric is largely there for matches where Snapcaster Mage comes out (control and combo, for example.)
Even though Snapcaster is generally a cmc 3 or 4, I think this is a pretty good curve now as well:
1 CMC 14
2 CMC 13
3 CMC 11
That is not irrelevant, especially given that 3 of the 1 cmc and 3 of the 2 cmc = 18 damage and 9 lifegain.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
You can't do much but try and bait out their S. Verdicts. You can also try adding in manlands to still give them pressure and dodge S. Verdicts. Spirit of the Labyrinth is also a good card to go with.
Modern Tallowisp Spirits - A Modern Tallowisp Deck UW
Eldrazi Ninjas - Summoning Octopus Jutsu YYYYAAAHHHH!
STANDARD
Naban Wizards
Restoration Angel can be played around by only attacking into 4 open mana with a removal spell in hand (or Nebelgast Herald).
2 Selfless Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
3 Spell Queller
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Tallowisp
Spells
4 Path to Exile
4 Reach Through Mist
Enchantments
1 Unflinching Courage
1 Angelic Destiny
1 Weight of Conscience
1 Spectral Flight
1 Steel of the Godhead
1 Oppressive Rays
4 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Plains
2 Glacial Fortress
1 Mistveil Plains
2 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Gavony Township
2 Seachrome Coast
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
2 Disenchant
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Kami of False Hope
1 Gift of Immortality
2 Negates
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
1 Detention Sphere
2 Spell Pierce
Modern Tallowisp Spirits - A Modern Tallowisp Deck UW
Eldrazi Ninjas - Summoning Octopus Jutsu YYYYAAAHHHH!
STANDARD
Naban Wizards
Play 4x of the "good spirits": Spell Queller and Selfless Spirit.
Still went 4-0 beating ponza 2-0, hardened scales aggro 2-0, mono red prison 2-1 and dredge 2-1. A lot of the games got closed real quick.
4 path to exile
artifacts: 4
4 aether vial
2 smuggler's copter
creatures: 28
4 mausoleum wanderer
4 selfless spirit
4 rattlechains
2 thalia, guardian of thraben
2 phantasmal image
4 spell queller
4 drogskol captain
4 nebelgast herald
4 flooded strand
2 polluted delta
2 windswept heath
2 hallowed fountain
2 plains
2 island
3 seachrome coast
2 cavern of souls
2 moorland haunt
1 ghost quarter
2 echoing truth
2 blessed alliance
2 ceremonious rejection
2 rest in peace
2 stony silence
2 burrenton forge-tender
2 eidolon of rhetoric
1 Kira, great glass-spinner
Also made a minor change, now playing with only 3 colorless mana producing lands. 4 was too much.
I did get to play with copter in a game i played for fun with one of my opponents, and it might be what we are looking for until another playable 2 drop spirit (if ever) is printed. The 3/3 stats are nice, gets through 1 or 2 power flying blockers. The loot is awesome, even getting just one or two triggers is huge. Obviously that was just one game but i'll keep you guys posted on further testing this week!
4 Flooded Strand
3 Scalding tarn
3 arid mesa
2 hallowed fountain
2 steam vents
1 sacred foundry
1 Plains
2 Island
1 Seachrome coast
1 Moorland haunt
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Rattlechains
4 Spell Queller
4 Drogskol captain
3 Nebelgast Herald
3 Selfless Spirit
3 Thalia, Guardian of thraben
2 Phantasmal Image
Artifact: 4
4 Aether vial
Enchantments 2
2 Blood Moon
Instants 5
3 Path to exile
2 Deflecting palm
3 Rest in peace
2 Stony silence
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Echoing Truth
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Lightning Helix
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Kira, Great-Glass Spinner
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
But more importantly path to exile plus blood moon is a huge nonbo. You're gonna want to path big threats and give your opponents basics, negating all the work your moons do! Playing both path and moon in the same deck is nonsense.
What "big mana" deck are you specifically having trouble beating?
Damn you for having logic. Here I was all excited to figure out how to do Prison Spirits and you ruin it by pointing out how bad the best removal spell is with it. Ah well, back to my old build, which I have been getting a lot of 3-0-1 and 4-0 with anyway.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
6 mana (even with convoke) is quite a lot for this deck.
Yeah I definitely see that perspective. I guess I was trying to use something that could still be used with Geist of Saint Traft or Eidolon of Rhetoric or other non flying spirits. Sometimes it feels like the deck misses out on some tech options because they don't have flying and making those creatures beefier with more power/toughness kinda makes the lack of flying irrelevant.
Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit would be better imho.
But I'd prefer Favorable Winds over both.
I've tried all 3. Wouldn't Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit be harder to cast based on its double W cost? In the current build I'm using on xmage favorable winds seems nice. my only thing is sometimes the deck runs out of gas and i need a creature to be threat and drawing more favorable winds or more aether vial sucks.