Played a Tri-Wizard (Team Std/Modern/Legacy) event: 23 teams, 5 rounds, top 8.
We went 3-0, draw into 1st place in Top 8, and lost in the finals. I played Bant Spirits and sadly lost to Burn. Honestly, the event was super narrow in Modern by matches: 1-1-1 (we were going to game 3 in match #3, but my team mates already won, so no point) vs. Eldrazi Tron, 1-0 vs. Grixis Death Shadow, 1-0 vs. Affinity, 0-1 vs. Burn (I think I misplayed on the second to last turn of game 3 for the entire tournament... ***** happens.) Burn feels like a slightly unfavorable match.
Bant Spirits is amazing, but CoCo is of course a bit random. The deck has to play like you don't have CoCo and then CoCo is just extra value.
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
vs. Burn based on the build I posted:
-1 Phantasmal Image (all out)
-2 Nebelgast Herald
-3 Selfless Spirit
+2 Blessed Alliance (lifegain + removal)
+2 Eidolon of Rhetoric (slows them down and is even good with Shrine because they can only increment it with one spell per turn.)
+2 Worship (if they can't kill this, they can't win because they can't kill GoST)
PI can't target anything relevant.
Herald also has little value in targets. Tapping 1 haste guy isn't good enough.
Selfless Spirit is strictly meh.
You absolutely need GoST to race. Next to Mausoleum Wanderer and Spell Queller, it is your key. you also want something good to equip Steel of the Godhead to, and that is the best. Definitely a match where having two Steel is great.
Rattleshains lets you flash in Wanderer and GoST as well as protect resolved Quellers by itself and by giving Captain flash, which is great for blowouts.
This is one of the decks that makes we want to drop Phantasmal entirely for the 2nd Steel.
If you are going 3 GoST, I think you need at least 1 Steel of the Godhead. Aside from letting you take over games with Geist, it is your best out to Burn game 1. Also ends Death Shadow matches because 4 damage and a dead Geist became 8 damage, which usually just kills them.
Worship is awesome, but definitely only a sideboard card.
If you plan on facing combo and control, I highly recommend Eidolon of Rhetoric as a two-of in the deck. Resolve it against Ad Nauseum and you win. Makes Snapcaster Mage look dumb. Makes Storm cry blood. Living end decks drop trow. Also serviceable against Burn to slow then down. Plus it combos with Spell Queller, since if they kill Queller with Eidolon in play, they cannot cast the spell Queller exiled. It is just gone.
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Against Scapeshift, you need to see a good curve. 4 lands, 3 CMC3 creatures isn't good enough unless you have 3 Spell Queller or two Spell Queller and a Mausoleum Wanderer. that is also a good match for Eidolon of Rhetoric because it is hard for them to kill, stops multiple ramps, and makes Spell Queller pure exile.
@Don Ohnic
I think that is a judgment call. I prefer to always have two lands even with Hierarch, but let's say against Affinity if you have that opener and Kataki or Stony silence, I think you need to keep because dropping those on turn 2 is worth the risk. Or if your opponent is playing a deck that is essentially dependent on Path to Exile, that might also be a good keep, as you either start with 2 mana on turn 2 with a possible land off the draw or they Path Hierarch and you have 2 mana anyway. On the other hand, against Jund or Junk or E-Tron or someting else where you absolutely need to reliably hit 2 mana by turn 2, and possible 3, I would not keep that. Also, if your hand I CMC3 cards, then I would mulligan as well.
Ultimately, you need to know what you are playing against and consider what you, in turn, can play, but it is not an inherently bad keep.
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Personally, I tried UW Spirits with Vial and over many dozens of games found it inferior in Modern to straight Bant CoCo. Mostly the problem was that Vial isn't good enough and you would draw them dead late, whereas CoCo is never dead if you flood. Also, with Hierarch, you can do more powerful plays early since it is the best 1 drop and even late game, a Hierarch feels better than a Vial. Now, if we had Mother of Ruins and Stoneforge Mystic...
I certainly hate CoCo at times, but the 2 for 1 is usually very powerful, either by getting me creatures or clearing 6 bad draws out of the way. Given Modern as a format and how weak counter magic is, as well as the value of 2-for-1's, I can't see going back to Vial.
That said, that is just my experience.
Private Mod Note
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I was taking a break from Bant Spirits for a month and half and playing green white value town. But man did I miss spell quelling. So I'm back at it again doing several revisions. I've cut a land since I found so many times that I was flooding. Even with the Horizon canopies I was having issues.
I am not a Leyline fan in this deck, especially as a 2-of. 2nd Worship and Eidolon of Rhetoric are actually often better, since Eidolon stops Search + Primeval, since they can only cast one spell a turn. The next turn, they have to pay for their search, so they can't cast Primeval for 2 turns. This is also one of the best matches for Nebelgast Herald. Always keep in Wanderer against Shift decks, use them on sorcery speed land fetching and save Quellers for Scapeshift. With Worship, that ought to be enough.
Also, Worship and Eidolon are solid versus Burn and Storm and essentially an auto-win against Merfolk if it resolves. Also, Queller or Path Storm's creatures; that is most important.
Eidolon is also a house versus Control. It turns all of their turns into single cast decisions, exactly what they don't want to do versus our tempo game.
GBx Mid-range is just a tough match. Too much removal and powerful creatures plus Lilianas. +2-3 GY hate , +2 Blessed Alliance and one reason I run Dusk // dawn. If you blow up their board and then get 3-4 creatures back the next turn or two, it is a huge tempo reversal. Don't keep 1 land hands with Hierarch, you will get punished hard. Also, try to avoid hands with really good 3 drops and lands and no early plays, since they will steal your value cards and drop a 2 drop you can't do anything about. This is a match where starts like 3 lands, Hierarch, Wanderer, Rattleshains, path are great so they use up hand destruction. Keep Wanderer in on the play and probably 2 out on the draw. Image on Tarmogoyf or Siege Rhino is very useful, especially later on. Remember, we are a tempo deck, we rely on synergy and they are just mono good-stuff, so you have to make their first couple of turns kind of bad. I like Relic more than RiP in this match because it comes down on turn 1 and starts punishing them every turn and you can keep up 1 mana to sac it, sort of like vs. Grixis Death's shadow. Also, RiP negates Mooreland Haunt, but that land is super good in this match. Nebelgast to tap that stupid 2 drop that lets them look at their top 3 cards and re-arrange them is a very high-value play, especially since every other flash card is then tapping it. They (Junk) only have Lingering Souls to defend themselves in the air, so again, GY hate and Wanderer.
I am not a fan of Unified Will. It might be win-more against the decks without removal and it is bad against GBx midrange. Besides, I like 3 pieces of graveyard hate. If we had ways to dig for specific 1-ofs, maybe Will would be better, but unlike Merfolk, we have tons of 3 drops and no draw. Remember, Merfolk has 8 cantrips built-in, 4 of which they can cast off of Vial and even they often prefer Dispel/Negate/Remand/Spell Pierce to Will.
I will continue to push people to try a 1-of Nikko-Onna vs. Blood Moon, Control (if you see D-Sphere), other decks using Worship and even Burn if they are going heavy on enchantments. Remember, in a CoCo deck with no draw spells, 1-of creatures are much, much better than even 2-of Instant/Sorcery that don't add to an existing effect (Blessed Alliance, for example, are removal 5 and 6, not really 2-ofs.)
Bant Spirits without an auto Geist of Saint Traft include..? Seems like that should be changed.
Also Essence Flux is a neat little tool with several interactions in various different shells.
Not sure how it fares in a straight aggro version, but its worth tinkering about with
With an opportunity to play on the weekend and the nearest Standard tournament quite a bit further, I got the cheapest pieces that were keeping my deck from solid playability. In two tournaments over the weekend I went 1-2 and 3-1 with the following list. In the first tournament I lost to a standard Construct Tribal deck, beat Jund and lost to Merfolk while punting hard. In the second tournament, I beat Affinity and Kiki-Chord, lost to Jund and beat Grixis Shadow.
What specific auras, with the exception of Steel, that we could run in conjunction with tallowisp? Pacifism seems interesting, but there must be better ones... Thoughts?
Threads of disloyalty seems interesting. Gift of Immortality? Are there any good flash ones?
What specific auras, with the exception of Steel, that we could run in conjunction with tallowisp? Pacifism seems interesting, but there must be better ones... Thoughts?
Threads of disloyalty seems interesting. Gift of Immortality? Are there any good flash ones?
Threads does seem strong where it applies. Tough casting cost, though. By my super small sample size, I have lost to Jund, Merfolk (I did punt this) and Eldrazi Tron. Threads would be great for the first two. Looking through auras that restrict blocking, attacking and activated abilities (there are a lot of them!), Arrest is more expensive, but provides more functionality than Pacifism.
Sadly you cannot search for Threads of Disloyalty. Tallowisp can only search for the text "Enchant Creature" and anything else on it, it can't search it up.
We went 3-0, draw into 1st place in Top 8, and lost in the finals. I played Bant Spirits and sadly lost to Burn. Honestly, the event was super narrow in Modern by matches: 1-1-1 (we were going to game 3 in match #3, but my team mates already won, so no point) vs. Eldrazi Tron, 1-0 vs. Grixis Death Shadow, 1-0 vs. Affinity, 0-1 vs. Burn (I think I misplayed on the second to last turn of game 3 for the entire tournament... ***** happens.) Burn feels like a slightly unfavorable match.
Bant Spirits is amazing, but CoCo is of course a bit random. The deck has to play like you don't have CoCo and then CoCo is just extra value.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
-1 Phantasmal Image (all out)
-2 Nebelgast Herald
-3 Selfless Spirit
+2 Blessed Alliance (lifegain + removal)
+2 Eidolon of Rhetoric (slows them down and is even good with Shrine because they can only increment it with one spell per turn.)
+2 Worship (if they can't kill this, they can't win because they can't kill GoST)
PI can't target anything relevant.
Herald also has little value in targets. Tapping 1 haste guy isn't good enough.
Selfless Spirit is strictly meh.
You absolutely need GoST to race. Next to Mausoleum Wanderer and Spell Queller, it is your key. you also want something good to equip Steel of the Godhead to, and that is the best. Definitely a match where having two Steel is great.
Rattleshains lets you flash in Wanderer and GoST as well as protect resolved Quellers by itself and by giving Captain flash, which is great for blowouts.
This is one of the decks that makes we want to drop Phantasmal entirely for the 2nd Steel.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I've been putting a mainboard Bant Tamiyo in the deck and have been enjoying that lately. How does Nissa do for you in the deck?
Also Good luck!
If you are going 3 GoST, I think you need at least 1 Steel of the Godhead. Aside from letting you take over games with Geist, it is your best out to Burn game 1. Also ends Death Shadow matches because 4 damage and a dead Geist became 8 damage, which usually just kills them.
Worship is awesome, but definitely only a sideboard card.
If you plan on facing combo and control, I highly recommend Eidolon of Rhetoric as a two-of in the deck. Resolve it against Ad Nauseum and you win. Makes Snapcaster Mage look dumb. Makes Storm cry blood. Living end decks drop trow. Also serviceable against Burn to slow then down. Plus it combos with Spell Queller, since if they kill Queller with Eidolon in play, they cannot cast the spell Queller exiled. It is just gone.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
FYI dropped back to 1 Steel of the Godhead, 1 Phantasmal Image. Image is just too much utility to not run 1.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I think that is a judgment call. I prefer to always have two lands even with Hierarch, but let's say against Affinity if you have that opener and Kataki or Stony silence, I think you need to keep because dropping those on turn 2 is worth the risk. Or if your opponent is playing a deck that is essentially dependent on Path to Exile, that might also be a good keep, as you either start with 2 mana on turn 2 with a possible land off the draw or they Path Hierarch and you have 2 mana anyway. On the other hand, against Jund or Junk or E-Tron or someting else where you absolutely need to reliably hit 2 mana by turn 2, and possible 3, I would not keep that. Also, if your hand I CMC3 cards, then I would mulligan as well.
Ultimately, you need to know what you are playing against and consider what you, in turn, can play, but it is not an inherently bad keep.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I certainly hate CoCo at times, but the 2 for 1 is usually very powerful, either by getting me creatures or clearing 6 bad draws out of the way. Given Modern as a format and how weak counter magic is, as well as the value of 2-for-1's, I can't see going back to Vial.
That said, that is just my experience.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Anyways I'd like some feedback on possible sideboard cards to consider and any other feedback. I love my bant spirits so much, I foiled out the deck a few months ago and finally have a ton of the sideboard options done as well.
I am thinking 2 leylines, 1 worship, 2 unified will, 1 path (4th), 1 engineered explosives (2nd), 2 Kataki, 1 Stony Silence, 2 Rest in Peace, 2 Blessed Alliance, 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
Very scared of Valakut and G/B value. Takes major mistakes on their part for me to win.
Also, I find myself sideboarding out Wanderer's in pretty much every match except Storm or Delver, neither of which I have seen in months. Am I wrong?
Also, Worship and Eidolon are solid versus Burn and Storm and essentially an auto-win against Merfolk if it resolves. Also, Queller or Path Storm's creatures; that is most important.
Eidolon is also a house versus Control. It turns all of their turns into single cast decisions, exactly what they don't want to do versus our tempo game.
GBx Mid-range is just a tough match. Too much removal and powerful creatures plus Lilianas. +2-3 GY hate , +2 Blessed Alliance and one reason I run Dusk // dawn. If you blow up their board and then get 3-4 creatures back the next turn or two, it is a huge tempo reversal. Don't keep 1 land hands with Hierarch, you will get punished hard. Also, try to avoid hands with really good 3 drops and lands and no early plays, since they will steal your value cards and drop a 2 drop you can't do anything about. This is a match where starts like 3 lands, Hierarch, Wanderer, Rattleshains, path are great so they use up hand destruction. Keep Wanderer in on the play and probably 2 out on the draw. Image on Tarmogoyf or Siege Rhino is very useful, especially later on. Remember, we are a tempo deck, we rely on synergy and they are just mono good-stuff, so you have to make their first couple of turns kind of bad. I like Relic more than RiP in this match because it comes down on turn 1 and starts punishing them every turn and you can keep up 1 mana to sac it, sort of like vs. Grixis Death's shadow. Also, RiP negates Mooreland Haunt, but that land is super good in this match. Nebelgast to tap that stupid 2 drop that lets them look at their top 3 cards and re-arrange them is a very high-value play, especially since every other flash card is then tapping it. They (Junk) only have Lingering Souls to defend themselves in the air, so again, GY hate and Wanderer.
I am not a fan of Unified Will. It might be win-more against the decks without removal and it is bad against GBx midrange. Besides, I like 3 pieces of graveyard hate. If we had ways to dig for specific 1-ofs, maybe Will would be better, but unlike Merfolk, we have tons of 3 drops and no draw. Remember, Merfolk has 8 cantrips built-in, 4 of which they can cast off of Vial and even they often prefer Dispel/Negate/Remand/Spell Pierce to Will.
I will continue to push people to try a 1-of Nikko-Onna vs. Blood Moon, Control (if you see D-Sphere), other decks using Worship and even Burn if they are going heavy on enchantments. Remember, in a CoCo deck with no draw spells, 1-of creatures are much, much better than even 2-of Instant/Sorcery that don't add to an existing effect (Blessed Alliance, for example, are removal 5 and 6, not really 2-ofs.)
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Also Essence Flux is a neat little tool with several interactions in various different shells.
Not sure how it fares in a straight aggro version, but its worth tinkering about with
Who isn't including GoST?
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Phantasmal Image
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Drogskol Captain
1 Eternal Witness
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Spell Queller
Spells
4 Path to Exile
1 Steel of the Godhead
4 Collected Company
1 Breeding Pool
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Gavony Township
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
2 Windswept Heath
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Blessed Alliance
2 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Stony Silence
1 Detention Sphere
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Kira, Great Glass Spinner
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Steel of the Godhead
Edit: MTGO league 5-0. New target acquired.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Threads of disloyalty seems interesting. Gift of Immortality? Are there any good flash ones?
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
There is also Prison Term as a better Arrest (though more mana intensive).
Modern Tallowisp Spirits - A Modern Tallowisp Deck UW
Eldrazi Ninjas - Summoning Octopus Jutsu YYYYAAAHHHH!
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Naban Wizards