Ajani Vengeant - is an obvious inclusion and a possible win-con.
Myth Realized - can be dropped early and grow with all the non-creature spells in the deck and provide a blocker or a big finisher while dodging sorcery speed removal (the sweepers in the deck) and being a mana-sink in case of flooding out in the late game.
Genju of the Spires - probably a surprising choice (as nobody plays it) but it is our "Manland" (as RW colors have the worst manlands and I don't think that Needle Spires is any good).
It can trade with most creatures (without first-strike) on defense or attack for 6 after the board is cleared.
The recursion is also a major point in it's favor.
Brion Stoutarm - another unorthodox inclusion.
It's lifelink and 4/4 body can help stabilize and block and the "Fling" ability (which also heals because of the lifelink) can combo nicely with Genju (which can be recurred) and a big Myth.R to win games.
Baneslayer Angel - the big finisher of the deck which also helps stabilize with it's first strike+lifelink.
Can be a good target for Nahiri's tutor ability.
Alternative finishers can be: Chandra Nalaar or Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker.
Nahiri, the Harbinger - the +2 can help filter out cards (for GDD to reuse) while upticking towards the -8 which can find Baneslayer Angel/Goblin Dark-Dwellers.
The -2 can help deal with a variety of problematic permanents (the notable exception being artifacts that don't "tap").
Goblin Dark-Dwellers - the Red Snapcaster Mage of the deck that provides a lot value and big evasive body to beatdown or block with.
Great synergy with Nahiri and possible win-con with the burn spells in the deck.
I'm looking for feedback on the deck to make it as competitive as possible (it seems rather good against aggro/creature decks but probably vulnerable to Control decks).
Also, does Ratchet Bomb have a place in the mainboard over 1-2x of the Day of Judgment ?
It can be activated on the opponent's turn and hit non-creature permanents as well.
It's an interesting deck, but you need to capitalize on some abilities. If you're going to run sorceries or instants, most of them need to be cmc three or less. They help you survive the early game and goblin dark dwellers can reuse them. I would up your nahiri by 1 and decrease your myth realized by the same amount. A late game nahiri is not a dead draw, but more than one MR is. Mainly because nahiri can always pitch nahiri, but the MR needs to hit turn one or two to be worth it, otherwise it also gets pitched to nahiri. Nahiri, 99.99% of the time, is going to find a GDD with her ultimate.
If you're going to run sorceries/instants 3 or less, then I would suggest stone rain or molten rain over crumble to dust. Again, GDD is going to be your finisher of choice most of the time. This depends, of course, on if you need to hit lands or not. Same with the already mentioned timely reinforcements. It's definitely better than dragon's claw. You might consider wear/tear as your artifact/enchantment removal. Depending on your meta, one or two might even be maindeck worthy.
You're awfully heavy on creature removal. Currently, you have 20 spells maindeck, of which 16 are recurrable with GDD. Do you really need ghostly prison in the side? I would really consider freeing up a few slots for something else, either wall of omens for early defense or kitchen finks for a bit of lifegain (burn is most likely still everywhere and only lightning helix does anything useful to them). You could even run a few more lands (you are a control deck and you can always pitch excess to nahiri!). It's 2 color, it's control, I see no reason not to consider at least two needle spires and 4 temple of triumph. Even ghost quarter as a 2 or 3 of isn't the worst idea, depending upon your expected meta. I wouldn't run quite so many fetches, though. No need for 8, I think. Six is probably plenty, and I expect that you want at least 24 lands. You can also run 2 of each of the color fetches you want and really mess people up who don't know your deck..if they see you with flooded strand they just might assume you're jeskai control with the same game plan and board accordingly game two.
I like brion stoutarm, but not here. The only giant I would consider in this deck is a 2 of sun titan. I hear recursion is good and recurring pitched/sacrificed fetch lands is pretty solid...or a few early permanent based answers.
I apologize if I rambled on too much, but I have a lot of experience playing offbeat control decks. Red/white is excellent against creature decks, but a dog to stack control strategies. You can beat discard strategies with enough recursion if you can get it online fast enough (and manlands, even needle spires, are pretty good against sorcery speed removal) and red/white aren't the worst colors for recursion. With the recently unbanned ancestral visions and sword of the meek, I really suggest some permanent artifact hate. Your biggest trouble will be tron (they just do late game "up yours, control!" better than anyone else ) and thopter/sword esper strategies (counter+combo). Both are fairly vulnerable to permanent based artifact hate so I would get three stony silence in the sideboard ultra quick. If they are all over your meta, then 3 maindeck is a good idea. I also suggest some grave hate, but not your own. Depending on what you face, tormod's crypt is probably the best option especially if you consider my advice and run sun titan. Otherwise, relic of progenitus and rest in peace are excellent cards, though you will be siding out gdd to use them.
To make a long story short, this is a meta deck. There are many questions to be answered before playing it.
What does your meta look like? Does it really warrant 20 dedicated creature hate spells (granted, 8 can hit players, but still...) to the exclusion of many other viable strategies?
If your meta has a ton of grixis and esper decks, can you handle them? Blue is your bane, remember that! Discard can be handled, but you better be able to get the recursion going!
Is your deck fast enough? Does it always make its land drops? Do you need a bit of artifact ramp? Boros signet might be needed. Control decks do need their mana!
Blood Moon I can get behind, but boom/bust? This really isn't a good deck for that. Boom/bust is more for an aggro deck looking to close it out. Blood moon sits around giving a control player time to take it home while still having mana open for answers.
I said perhaps because you can have a singleton to use it with goblin dark-dwellers, there's an antecedent in the angelmoon.deck which runs moons while using Guardian Seraph. Here's an instant tech video. Maybe that deck can be useful as a template of sorts? though I'm worried about card draw or filtering (besides Nahiri). In the meanwhile I would run the following core:
Path to exile doesn't make as much sense since you would be helping opponents to overcome moon, while giving them life wouldn't be relevant if you lock their mana base and then hit them with 6 annihilator.
path to exile may give them mana to overcome blood moon, but it also deals with things that only a wrath effect could otherwise deal with. I would argue that it's a necessary evil, even in a deck using land destruction or blood moon. I would rather see the large eldrazi gone than beating my face in...
path to exile may give them mana to overcome blood moon, but it also deals with things that only a wrath effect could otherwise deal with. I would argue that it's a necessary evil, even in a deck using land destruction or blood moon. I would rather see the large eldrazi gone than beating my face in...
Condemn only hits attackers, unfortunately. path to exile hits anything, up to and including utility creatures or blockers. That's a huge difference in power level.
Here's John pellman list. Say what you like but I think having simian spirit guide plus challice of the void was a great call. I don't like that many planeswalkers but his decklist should be the starting point.
The above mentioned R/W list looks interesting but it's not really what I'm going for and more like the R/W Lockdown decks here.
I've actually seen the R/W Angel Moon deck before I made mine and thought I could improve upon this idea. Blood Moon is really powerful but I'm not sure that it fits my gameplan with Goblin Dark-Dwellers and Nahiri, the Harbinger and also costs a lot
(Nahiri recently spiked as well so I'm not sure when I should get her) so I'll not use it in the near future.
About the lands, I rarely was low on mana and the few times I was I managed to hold on with my removal spells (Unless it was a turn 3 Tron in which case I could do nothing pre-board).
I think I can probably fit in a couple of Needle Spires and I also want to try a copy of Slayers' Stronghold.
The deck is indeed rather slow (that's why I want Myth Realized as my first turn play) and I as well thought about adding some acceleration (Boros Signet is probably the best option) but I'm afraid it will dillute the deck too much of cards that actually impact the board.
I also consider moving some of the Wrath's (probably Day of Judgment) to the SB for 2x Ratchet Bombs that can deal with more things and at instant-speed.
Is it a good idea ?
Another idea I have is to maybe put the 2x Kor Firewalkers in the mainboard (instead of Genju maybe) to have more early plays and gain some life.
It can also improve the Burn (and Zoo) matchup pre-board.
What do you think ?
I'm not sure if I need some land hate here and I don't know which cards can help me deal with Blue decks which pack lots of counterspells. Ghostly Prison and Chained to the Rocks are the SB cards I'm most likely to replace.
Maybe some extra Burn like Searing Blaze can be good here.
About the lands, I rarely was low on mana and the few times I was I managed to hold on with my removal spells (Unless it was a turn 3 Tron in which case I could do nothing pre-board).
I think I can probably fit in a couple of Needle Spires and I also want to try a copy of Slayers' Stronghold.
I probably wouldn't try slayer's stronghold, though it isn't bad. If you reach the late game where it matters, you might be better off just burning to the dome. With lightning helix/lightning bolt, that's probably a more effective use of your mana
The deck is indeed rather slow (that's why I want Myth Realized as my first turn play) and I as well thought about adding some acceleration (Boros Signet is probably the best option) but I'm afraid it will dilute the deck too much of cards that actually impact the board.
Yes, but it's dead past the first turn. That's why I would only run three at most. At least Nahiri can pitch it, but that's every card in your deck.
I also consider moving some of the Wrath's (probably Day of Judgment) to the SB for 2x Ratchet Bombs that can deal with more things and at instant-speed.
Is it a good idea ?
If you see tokens everywhere, then yes, ratchet bomb can be pretty good. However, you're in white. White can kill every single thing out there. Ratchet bomb is bad for you! Disenchant would be more effective, I think.
Yes, needle spires. Is it a great man land to compare to come others? Not really. But you can already nuke creatures all day long and needle spires can't be countered and taps for your relevant colors. It's also hard as all get out to kill with anything but lightning bolt or similar. Abrupt decay and discard can't handle it either.
Wurmcoil engine, I guess? You don't need too many creatures since you have something like 20 ways of killing them maindeck. Goblin dark dwellers+ planes walkers is probably all the finishers you need. Concentrate on staying alive and dealing with stuff otherwise. Also, sun titan can return lands too, and you do run 8 fetchlands. There is also kitchen finks
Another idea I have is to maybe put the 2x Kor Firewalkers in the mainboard (instead of Genju maybe) to have more early plays and gain some life.
It can also improve the Burn (and Zoo) matchup pre-board.
What do you think ?
That's a meta call. Do you have tons of burn? Great idea. do you not? Bad idea. Timely reinforcements helps more here, I think. You have zoo /burn issues with 20 + forms of creature kill maindeck? How?????
I'm not sure if I need some land hate here and I don't know which cards can help me deal with Blue decks which pack lots of counterspells. Ghostly Prison and Chained to the Rocks are the SB cards I'm most likely to replace.
Maybe some extra Burn like Searing Blaze can be good here.
Recursion deals with blue decks pretty hard. Just get more card advantage than they do. If you were mono white, I would say sun titan or similar+emeria and play for the long game. They have lots of issues with decks like that. It's hard to get the kind of engine online you would need for that in a red/white deck, though.
Also, why such a chaotic sideboard?? You have tons of creature kill main, so why more in the sideboard? Deflecting palm is good in what match up? You have lightning bolt/lightning helix/path to exile. You need chained to the rocks for what reason?
Where is oblivion ring or similar? It can handle non land things.
1. The deck seems more mana-hungry now so I consider adding Boros Signet but am not sure what to remove.
2. I'm also not sure if 8 sweepers isn't too much and how good Pyroclasm actually is now.
Maybe I should play some more burn like Searing Blaze instead ?
Awkward moment for me when I realized that you had this thread started already. I called mine by a different name but we're obviously building the same deck.
I think 22 lands is definitely too low. I've got 23 in mine, and that's with a lower curve.
I've had really awkward experiences any time I've leaned too much on sweepers. They did more for you back in 1997, but now even an aggro deck can react to it with card-advantage (or at least pseudo-card advantage) and since it leaves planeswalkers on the table they really don't solve problems as effectively as they once did.
The most interesting thing to me is your attempt to provide a home for Myth Realized. How is that working out?
Myth Realized is pretty good so far (especially if it's in my opening hand), that's why I decided to keep it and drop Genju of the Spires which was my other first turn play.
I think I'd go the other way on the sweepers and keep pyroclasm.
I think Lightning Bolt depresses the number of x/3 creatures in the format anyways, but Modern format players want to get tons of value from their turn 2 and 3 plays. It's not so much that there aren't bunches of Nacatls running around - there are good reasons to want to deal 3 damage instead of 2 - but that there are more important things that you should be doing on your own turn 3.
Another way to look at it - 2 cmc for 2 global damage is very much on curve because it will efficiently clean up most mass weenie problems, but adding a point of damage to any card doesn't exactly justify the extra mana. How much worse would Nacatls be if they cost 2, but provided a 1 dmg ping? Would they even be playable? At the least you've got to admit that they wouldn't have been good enough to get banned.
Anger of the Gods is a trap card. Avoid it unless you can come up with a specific sequence that demands exactly that amount of damage on that turn.
It does, but there's still an overall weakness. Pyroclasm affects the board earlier. It is fast enough to stop a turn 3 kill. Wrath of God blasts almost everything. In between those extremes you get a spell that has a lot more in common with pyroclasm than wrath of god, but the mana differential is exactly in the middle. Anger of the Gods is comparatively weak.
That 3 cmc could've been reckoner, blade splicer, brimaz or tons of other cards that give you a completely different sort of utility, but do it with much greater efficiency.
None of those replace Anger's role in creature control, but you can compensate by having different sorts of options at 1 and 2 cmc.
Or maybe go with 4x Ratchet Bomb ?
It can deal with more permanent types and activated on the opponent's turn, but can't be reused with Goblin Dark-Dwellers.
Boros Reckoner can actually be pretty good with Pyroclasm.
I thought about using Brimaz but I'm not sure he fits the deck.
I love Reckoner with Pyroclasm but it's never worked out for me to run just Reckoner. Need to have at least a little bit higher creature count or else the minimum 4 removal spells that most decks run will almost always trade effectively against him.
I'm not trying to lead to any particular deck construction BTW. I am trying to play devil's advocate for both of our benefit. I'm hoping it will help me too.
About the card choices in the deck:
Ajani Vengeant - is an obvious inclusion and a possible win-con.
Myth Realized - can be dropped early and grow with all the non-creature spells in the deck and provide a blocker or a big finisher while dodging sorcery speed removal (the sweepers in the deck) and being a mana-sink in case of flooding out in the late game.
Genju of the Spires - probably a surprising choice (as nobody plays it) but it is our "Manland" (as RW colors have the worst manlands and I don't think that Needle Spires is any good).
It can trade with most creatures (without first-strike) on defense or attack for 6 after the board is cleared.
The recursion is also a major point in it's favor.
Brion Stoutarm - another unorthodox inclusion.
It's lifelink and 4/4 body can help stabilize and block and the "Fling" ability (which also heals because of the lifelink) can combo nicely with Genju (which can be recurred) and a big Myth.R to win games.
Baneslayer Angel - the big finisher of the deck which also helps stabilize with it's first strike+lifelink.
Can be a good target for Nahiri's tutor ability.
Alternative finishers can be: Chandra Nalaar or Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker.
Nahiri, the Harbinger - the +2 can help filter out cards (for GDD to reuse) while upticking towards the -8 which can find Baneslayer Angel/Goblin Dark-Dwellers.
The -2 can help deal with a variety of problematic permanents (the notable exception being artifacts that don't "tap").
Goblin Dark-Dwellers - the Red Snapcaster Mage of the deck that provides a lot value and big evasive body to beatdown or block with.
Great synergy with Nahiri and possible win-con with the burn spells in the deck.
Here is the decklist:
2x Baneslayer Angel
2x Brion Stoutarm
4x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
Instant (12)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Lightning Helix
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (8)
2x Anger of the Gods
4x Day of Judgment
2x Pyroclasm
2x Genju of the Spires
4x Myth Realized
Planeswalker (4)
2x Ajani Vengeant
2x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Land (22)
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Clifftop Retreat
4x Mountain
4x Plains
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Windswept Heath
2x Chained to the Rocks
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Deflecting Palm
1x Timely Reinforcements
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Kor Firewalker
2x Stony Silence
2x Wear // Tear
I'm looking for feedback on the deck to make it as competitive as possible (it seems rather good against aggro/creature decks but probably vulnerable to Control decks).
Should I add Ghost Quarter or Crumble to Dust to deal with lands (over some of the creature hate maybe) ?
Would Timely Reinforcements be a better SB card than Dragon's Claw ?
(It's good against Burn but can heal against other aggro decks too)
Also, should I include some utility lands (over Clifftop Retreat) ? If so which ones ?
(Ghost Quarter/Haunted Fengraf/Slayers' Stronghold/Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion/Quicksand/Rogue's Passage)
What about Ojutai Exemplars ? Can it be better than Brion Stoutarm in this deck ?
Some more non-creature top-end options are:
Chandra Nalaar and Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, should they be included instead of Brion Stoutarm (or Baneslayer Angel) ?
Also, does Ratchet Bomb have a place in the mainboard over 1-2x of the Day of Judgment ?
It can be activated on the opponent's turn and hit non-creature permanents as well.
How are Haunted Plate Mail and Opal Guardian as more options for permanents that turn into creatures ?
Or maybe Genju of the Fields or Awaken the Ancient ?
If you're going to run sorceries/instants 3 or less, then I would suggest stone rain or molten rain over crumble to dust. Again, GDD is going to be your finisher of choice most of the time. This depends, of course, on if you need to hit lands or not. Same with the already mentioned timely reinforcements. It's definitely better than dragon's claw. You might consider wear/tear as your artifact/enchantment removal. Depending on your meta, one or two might even be maindeck worthy.
You're awfully heavy on creature removal. Currently, you have 20 spells maindeck, of which 16 are recurrable with GDD. Do you really need ghostly prison in the side? I would really consider freeing up a few slots for something else, either wall of omens for early defense or kitchen finks for a bit of lifegain (burn is most likely still everywhere and only lightning helix does anything useful to them). You could even run a few more lands (you are a control deck and you can always pitch excess to nahiri!). It's 2 color, it's control, I see no reason not to consider at least two needle spires and 4 temple of triumph. Even ghost quarter as a 2 or 3 of isn't the worst idea, depending upon your expected meta. I wouldn't run quite so many fetches, though. No need for 8, I think. Six is probably plenty, and I expect that you want at least 24 lands. You can also run 2 of each of the color fetches you want and really mess people up who don't know your deck..if they see you with flooded strand they just might assume you're jeskai control with the same game plan and board accordingly game two.
I like brion stoutarm, but not here. The only giant I would consider in this deck is a 2 of sun titan. I hear recursion is good and recurring pitched/sacrificed fetch lands is pretty solid...or a few early permanent based answers.
I apologize if I rambled on too much, but I have a lot of experience playing offbeat control decks. Red/white is excellent against creature decks, but a dog to stack control strategies. You can beat discard strategies with enough recursion if you can get it online fast enough (and manlands, even needle spires, are pretty good against sorcery speed removal) and red/white aren't the worst colors for recursion. With the recently unbanned ancestral visions and sword of the meek, I really suggest some permanent artifact hate. Your biggest trouble will be tron (they just do late game "up yours, control!" better than anyone else ) and thopter/sword esper strategies (counter+combo). Both are fairly vulnerable to permanent based artifact hate so I would get three stony silence in the sideboard ultra quick. If they are all over your meta, then 3 maindeck is a good idea. I also suggest some grave hate, but not your own. Depending on what you face, tormod's crypt is probably the best option especially if you consider my advice and run sun titan. Otherwise, relic of progenitus and rest in peace are excellent cards, though you will be siding out gdd to use them.
To make a long story short, this is a meta deck. There are many questions to be answered before playing it.
What does your meta look like? Does it really warrant 20 dedicated creature hate spells (granted, 8 can hit players, but still...) to the exclusion of many other viable strategies?
If your meta has a ton of grixis and esper decks, can you handle them? Blue is your bane, remember that! Discard can be handled, but you better be able to get the recursion going!
Is your deck fast enough? Does it always make its land drops? Do you need a bit of artifact ramp? Boros signet might be needed. Control decks do need their mana!
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
1 Emrakul, the aeons torn
4 blood moon
4 goblin dark-dwellers
4 lightning bolt
4 condemn
Path to exile doesn't make as much sense since you would be helping opponents to overcome moon, while giving them life wouldn't be relevant if you lock their mana base and then hit them with 6 annihilator.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
So does condemn and doesn't gives them lands.
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
The above mentioned R/W list looks interesting but it's not really what I'm going for and more like the R/W Lockdown decks here.
I've actually seen the R/W Angel Moon deck before I made mine and thought I could improve upon this idea.
Blood Moon is really powerful but I'm not sure that it fits my gameplan with Goblin Dark-Dwellers and Nahiri, the Harbinger and also costs a lot
(Nahiri recently spiked as well so I'm not sure when I should get her) so I'll not use it in the near future.
About the lands, I rarely was low on mana and the few times I was I managed to hold on with my removal spells (Unless it was a turn 3 Tron in which case I could do nothing pre-board).
I think I can probably fit in a couple of Needle Spires and I also want to try a copy of Slayers' Stronghold.
The deck is indeed rather slow (that's why I want Myth Realized as my first turn play) and I as well thought about adding some acceleration (Boros Signet is probably the best option) but I'm afraid it will dillute the deck too much of cards that actually impact the board.
I also consider moving some of the Wrath's (probably Day of Judgment) to the SB for 2x Ratchet Bombs that can deal with more things and at instant-speed.
Is it a good idea ?
About the finishers/attackers in the deck:
1. Any better options that Genju of the Spires ?
What about: Opal Guardian, Haunted Plate Mail, Awaken the Ancient or Genju of the Fields (which more of a defensive creature) ?
2. Any alternatives to Brion Stoutarm ? Sun Titan is too costly imho at 6 mana and I have nothing relevant to recur with him (only Genju and Myth.R).
What about: Ojutai Exemplars, Stormbreath Dragon, Flame-Wreathed Phoenix, Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, Chandra Nalaar,
Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, Hellkite Tyrant or maybe Purity ?
*I would love Batterskull here but it's way too expensive.
Another idea I have is to maybe put the 2x Kor Firewalkers in the mainboard (instead of Genju maybe) to have more early plays and gain some life.
It can also improve the Burn (and Zoo) matchup pre-board.
What do you think ?
About the Sideboard:
I've replaced Dragon's Claw with Timely Reinforcements and Dawn Charm with Ratchet Bomb (which I consider moving to the MD) and it looks like this now:
2x Chained to the Rocks
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Deflecting Palm
1x Timely Reinforcements
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Kor Firewalker
2x Stony Silence
2x Wear // Tear
I'm not sure if I need some land hate here and I don't know which cards can help me deal with Blue decks which pack lots of counterspells.
Ghostly Prison and Chained to the Rocks are the SB cards I'm most likely to replace.
Maybe some extra Burn like Searing Blaze can be good here.
Oh that's the kind of deck I was looking for, thanks.
Recursion deals with blue decks pretty hard. Just get more card advantage than they do. If you were mono white, I would say sun titan or similar+emeria and play for the long game. They have lots of issues with decks like that. It's hard to get the kind of engine online you would need for that in a red/white deck, though.
Also, why such a chaotic sideboard?? You have tons of creature kill main, so why more in the sideboard? Deflecting palm is good in what match up? You have lightning bolt/lightning helix/path to exile. You need chained to the rocks for what reason?
Where is oblivion ring or similar? It can handle non land things.
No grave hate? I suggested it earlier, I believe.
Land hate is good for tron decks. May I suggest sun titan+ghost quarter and laugh?
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
Boros Charm and Monastery Swiftspear seem rather out of place in a control deck.
And maindeck 4x Kor Firewalker and Timely Reinforcements seem rather strange as well.
4x Ajani Vengeant seems a bit much to me and land count is probably way too low even with Simian Spirit Guide which accelerate but can't substitute a land.
I would like to read your reasoning for the card choices.
What I do agree with is the Nahiri+Emrakul package which seems like a good idea.
Some changes I would make to my version would be:
+2x Nahiri, the Harbinger, +1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, +1x Chandra Nalaar, +1x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker.
-2x Genju of the Spires, -2x Brion Stoutarm, -1x Baneslayer Angel.
And in the SB:
-2x Chained to the Rocks, -2x Ghostly Prison
+2x Tormod's Crypt, +1x Crumble to Dust, +1x Timely Reinforcements.
The updated deck looks like this:
1x Baneslayer Angel
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
Instant (12)
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Lightning Helix
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (8)
2x Anger of the Gods
4x Day of Judgment
2x Pyroclasm
Enchantment (4)
4x Myth Realized
2x Ajani Vengeant
4x Nahiri, the Harbinger
1x Chandra Nalaar
1x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Land (22)
4x Bloodstained Mire
3x Needle Spires
4x Mountain
4x Plains
4x Sacred Foundry
3x Windswept Heath
2x Tormod's Crypt
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Deflecting Palm
2x Timely Reinforcements
1x Crumble to Dust
2x Kor Firewalker
2x Stony Silence
2x Wear // Tear
1. The deck seems more mana-hungry now so I consider adding Boros Signet but am not sure what to remove.
2. I'm also not sure if 8 sweepers isn't too much and how good Pyroclasm actually is now.
Maybe I should play some more burn like Searing Blaze instead ?
3. Would Chandra's Phoenix be good here as a recurring creature ?
Any other options for recurring/resilient creatures ?
(Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Ojutai Exemplars)
4. Which cards can help me protect the Planeswalkers ?
Are 8 PW's too much for this deck ?
I think 22 lands is definitely too low. I've got 23 in mine, and that's with a lower curve.
I've had really awkward experiences any time I've leaned too much on sweepers. They did more for you back in 1997, but now even an aggro deck can react to it with card-advantage (or at least pseudo-card advantage) and since it leaves planeswalkers on the table they really don't solve problems as effectively as they once did.
The most interesting thing to me is your attempt to provide a home for Myth Realized. How is that working out?
and leaving out Pyroclasm and Day of Judgment.
It can free some slots which I can use to add 4x Boros Signet for more mana (I like them better here than Simian Spirit Guide/Mind Stone/Fellwar Stone).
Myth Realized is pretty good so far (especially if it's in my opening hand), that's why I decided to keep it and drop Genju of the Spires which was my other first turn play.
I think Lightning Bolt depresses the number of x/3 creatures in the format anyways, but Modern format players want to get tons of value from their turn 2 and 3 plays. It's not so much that there aren't bunches of Nacatls running around - there are good reasons to want to deal 3 damage instead of 2 - but that there are more important things that you should be doing on your own turn 3.
Another way to look at it - 2 cmc for 2 global damage is very much on curve because it will efficiently clean up most mass weenie problems, but adding a point of damage to any card doesn't exactly justify the extra mana. How much worse would Nacatls be if they cost 2, but provided a 1 dmg ping? Would they even be playable? At the least you've got to admit that they wouldn't have been good enough to get banned.
Anger of the Gods is a trap card. Avoid it unless you can come up with a specific sequence that demands exactly that amount of damage on that turn.
Kitchen Finks, Bloodghast, Gravecrawler, Strangleroot Geist, Geralf's Messenger.
That 3 cmc could've been reckoner, blade splicer, brimaz or tons of other cards that give you a completely different sort of utility, but do it with much greater efficiency.
None of those replace Anger's role in creature control, but you can compensate by having different sorts of options at 1 and 2 cmc.
Or maybe go with 4x Ratchet Bomb ?
It can deal with more permanent types and activated on the opponent's turn, but can't be reused with Goblin Dark-Dwellers.
Boros Reckoner can actually be pretty good with Pyroclasm.
I thought about using Brimaz but I'm not sure he fits the deck.
I'm not trying to lead to any particular deck construction BTW. I am trying to play devil's advocate for both of our benefit. I'm hoping it will help me too.