I'm loving this deck so far, plays so much to my style. My current version is above.
It can win in so many ways, and from my (limited) insight it really forces my opponents to hold back (wanting to be able to stop the combo) allowing me just to play out however I want. I have sometimes even told my opponent what I am playing just to slow them down knowing they are waiting for 'it' to happen.
I have only used it for the past couple Modern nights, but its amazing so far. I was 3-0-1 the first time and 3-1 the second.
The deck can play a long game, win games it has no business doing so, and just combo off insanely quick sometimes (I have hit all 3... the T3 on the play, the unexpected Evolution into Sun Titan and 2x Saheeli's in the yard, and even the Lotus + Renegade + Fetch to generate 7 mana and play out both Saheeli and Felidar the same turn (playing Saheeli first to copy the Renegade again).
My one loss so far was a Bant Spirit deck with Company's where I kept a 5 land hand and drew the next 3 cards all lands (should had sent it back but it had a Birds and Saheeli). Then game 2 he hits all-star both times on back-to-back Company's (a Lord + other spirit on each). I have beat Dredge, Storm, Jund, Eldrazi Tron, Bant Eldrazi and U/W Bounce. Felt like any game was 50/50 just waiting to see if they were going to go off, or if I could combo.
I think this will easily replace my Bant Knightfall deck as my new go to. So much easier to both combo and just play out value creatures.
I definitely need to get more games in with it tho'... land sequencing has been an issue, where I have almost punted a few matches due to not knowing what I should get in which order.
Yeah I think I need to pick one up next time out and give it a try. I can see decks like Spirits, Humans, Slivers, etc., Company all having a similar outcomes if I can't combo off quick enough they will just overrun me.
Maybe go down a Blessed Alliance for it, 3x SB cards + the Thragtusk MD should be enough for burn.
When ~ enters the battlefield you may search your library for a Planeswalker card, reveal it and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library afterwards.
If a source would deal damage to a Planeswalker you control, prevent 1 of that damage. "
This card just got spoiled from HOU and while we are in the market for this type of planeswalker seatching effect, 5cmc is likely too high to make the cut..though with evolution this could be a very solid one of. Thoughts?
Well I got slaughtered yesterday. 0-4 but all 2-1 loses is something I guess. Players were holding out removal to stop the combo, have bigger creatures to out beat, and/or countered everything I could possibly throw at them.
Could just be a bad day and it happens, but I think a lot of people are figuring this deck out, it's hard to time when to cast a creature or go for a combo.
Changes for this tournament were adding a Finks to the main over a Scooze (would have liked to fit a second), squeezing the 4th path into the main, adding Magus, Lightcaster, and 2 Stony. Would have liked to play a Horizon Canopy, but couldn't get my hands on one. Not sure how I feel about the 1 Ghost Quarter.
Short Version:
Round 1: 0-2 vs Affinity
Round 2: 2-0 vs Burn
Round 3: 2-1 vs Naya Company
Round 4: 2-1 vs Devoted Elves
Round 5: ID, clean cut to top 8
Quarters: 2-1 vs Affinity
Semis: 2-0 vs BG Rock
Finals: Split
Round 1 vs Affinity: 0-2
This is not great game 1 unless you keep a fast combo hand, and even then Saheeli has to survive if you play her first. I kept a Voice, Oath, Evo -type hand, and quickly lost to a T1 Plating.
Out of the side, Manglehorn, Stony, Staticaster are of course great, and Linvala is alright. I think I made some mistakes sideboarding, which I fixed in the top 8.
Game 2 I kept an OK hand with Manglehorn, and lost to Etched Champion and flyers. Thought to myself, alright time to rattle 'em off.
Round 2 vs Burn: 2-0
I won both games at 3 life, fading 1 topdeck each time. Game 1 I combo'd, game 2 I Saheeli copied a voice token to push exact lethal through his topdecked Eidolon.
IN: Baloth, Blessed Alliance, Evo
OUT: Angel of Sanctions, Saheeli, Rallier
Round 3 vs Naya Company: 2-1
Game 1, I lost to Goyf and new Thalia beats. He had 3 Paths for my 3 Voices.
I brought in Baloth, Teeg, and maybe Blessed Alliance, Evo? Not sure if Teeg is worth is for just Company.
Game 2 was a real grind, with me flooding the board with value creatures in front of his Knight of the Reliquarys. I was recurring Path with Witness, and Ghost Quarter with Rallier since he mentioned only having 1 basic left in the deck. I eventually began attacking with a 7/7 token among others, when he cast company during my attack while I had 2 Voices in play. Trigger trigger. He died the next turn.
Game 2 ended with only 10 minutes remaining, so I began to shuffle and play quickly. I keep a hand with bird, Saheeli, and Felidar. We both play our dorks T1, and T2 I play Saheeli and tick up over a Voice, hoping he'll tap out for Company. He does, and I copy Birds for the 4th mana to combo.
Round 4 vs Devoted Elves: 2-1
I see a Devoted Druid on the bottom of his deck while he shuffles, so that was nice. T1 Llanowar lets me know it's Elves, which I know about but haven't seen or played against. He plays some dudes including a Druid, so I play carefully holding up a Path, and not deploying Saheeli so that she doesn't get attacked. Once he has no cards in hand, I play out both pieces.
IN: Teeg, Linvala, Staticaster, Evo
OUT: Finks, Rallier, 2 Voice
Game 2 I keep a hand with 2 Evo, because why else do I bring in bullets? I Evo away a dork T2 for Staticaster, which may have been a bit hasty. It eats a Path, but gets replaced by a Linvala which shuts him down. He Companys into Revoker naming my Saheeli in play, and we both do nothing while he develops his board. He eventually finds another Path and Ezuri-kills me.
Game 3 became a bit chaotic. Time again began to run down, with many players and the judges watching us. I have a Staticaster and some stuff in play, he has Druid, Ezuri, Archdruid, Revoker naming Saheeli. I had been holding up Path for a while, and wanted to Path his Revoker to begin copying Staticaster. But once Archdruid was no longer sick, he attacked, made mana, Overran, made more mana by untapping Druid, and repeat. He was doing this all quite sloppily, and I pointed out that the loop wasn't mana-neutral, which he seemed to think it was. Judges intervened, started keep track of P/T on paper, etc. This combat took about 10 mins with so much confusion. I realized I was dead to the attack, so I pathed Druid in response to the second Overrun, which he conceded to for some unknown reason. He may have been a bit tilted that I didn't Path sooner? I was not about to win on the crackback. OK then.
Round 5: ID, clean cut to top 8
Woohoo!
Quarters vs Affinity: 2-1
This was the same guy from round 1. Game 1 on the play, he starts beating me down with flyers. I remember regretting Pathing something instead of a Signal Pest. On my turn, I have the mana to cast only one of Finks, Saheeli, or Felidar. I'm forced to cast Finks since he's presenting exact lethal with flyers, and can't win the next turn.
Game 2 I combo him. Don't remember anything except him getting a GRV for casting a Vault Skirge off 2 colourless lands.
Game 3, Staticaster goes to WORK. Pinging things left and right, holding back multiple manlands. He has a Champion which begins to beat me down. I Manglehorn his Grafdigger's Cage since he has no other threats. At some point he tries to Dispatch something, and I notice he has only Champion and Mox Opal in play for Metalcraft. I'm hoping it will resolve and only tap my guy, but the judge notices that Mox Opal was his W mana source, so we had to rewind, and he got another GRV. He animated some lands to get metalcraft, one of which I got to pick off end of turn.
Doing nothing, I play a Saheeli which his Champion kills in 3 hits. I start chipping in, and I'm winning the race, so he has to hold back with Champion. Eventually I find an Evo with a Felidar in play. Witness back Saheeli. I had all 4 birds in play at the end.
Semis vs BG Rock: 2-0
Game 1 he IoK's off a Blooming Marsh, taking Witness over Path or Saheeli. He plays a Witness of his own and Pulses my Saheeli, but he runs out of resources doing things like T2 Fatal Push my Wall of Omens, which I am extremely OK with. He plays a Lili which I worried me, but I topdeck Felidar, flicker Wall, Saheeli.
I keep a stellar 6 on the draw of fetch, dork, Oath, Voice, Witness, Evo. My scry is a Tracker, which I kept, maybe greedy. He Pushes my dork and plays Bob on T2, which I have no Path for. T2 my Oath finds me a fetch. He decays my Oath, which I again could not be more OK with. I hit my 3rd land drop, and go with Witness back Oath over getting Voice into play, specifically because then my Evo can get a Sigarda next turn, which it does. We both play Trackers, and he continues to draw off Bob every turn, but he has no answer for Sigarda and she goes the distance. He dies at 3 life to Bob flipping Tracker.
Finals: Split with a Titanshift player, which I was eager to do.
Super happy with the result, deck is so fun and I think I played pretty well and focused for the most part. I was a little stunned as I kept winning, at my first IQ and second Comp REL event.
Feel free to give any criticism/recommendations on my list or play. 1 Finks and 1 Ghost Quarter I'm especially not ecstatic about.
1. I mean it does happen that I get flooded sometimes, yeah. Maybe the Cobras could come in and out as a meta call. On the whole, I have liked them.
2. I'm really attached to Angel of Sanctions. It's the answer to anything, but also good card advantage and a potent threat. Good vs Grixis Shadow, Eldrazi Tron. I rarely find myself siding it out. I haven't really thought about Angel vs Thragtusk, more Angel vs Sun Titan. On that note...
3. I do miss having Titan in the deck, but I don't miss drawing it early when it matters. I'm generally ok with clogged boards and playing the value game.
I do want to fit both a second GQ and a Horizon Canopy. I'm not sure what to cut though. Was considering basics.
And yeah I'm looking to try the second Finks as well. Saccing a dork for it is tough though, because often games against burn are about not having the time/mana to do what I want.
I was thinking, that most of the times we like to combo (although we can also be a great smasher with huge creatures).
What about including another combo inside? Talking about Pride Sovereign and Intruder Alarm. As we are playing blue for Saheeli Rai, may we can add another shockland or fastland with blue for being a bit more easy to combo. Some decks play birds + hierarch, so with 6 creatures producing mana, we can create an army of cats too without depending on the planeswalker.
Burn is not a match up you can ever lose as a GW deck. If you're having trouble it's on your end, not the deck. I have two kitchen finks, a thragtusk, a courser of kruphix, and three Eldritch evolutions to find them. That's all sideboard level hate that's main deck, and great no matter what. That's excluding our voices that block twice, the walls you might run, the birds that eat bolts, paths etc. There really isn't a dead card in the deck. Spend your mana and fetch basics and you'll be fine.
I also dropped Walls a long time ago. I personally just swapped them for a number of Kitchen Finks, and never looked back.
However, I play 7-8 dorks in almost all my lists, and feel like they are CRUCIAL to getting a fast enough start. Sometimes they eat removal, but then that's just less removal for our combo pieces. Especially if we take out Wall(2 drop) and replace those slots with higher CMC cards, your gonna need that ramp to keep the same tempo.
I also played Splicers in my original brews but have since moved on. Finks IMO is better. And the ability to consistently reset Finks with Cat, and Township is huge. Life, and chump blocks for daaaays. 3/2 ain't a bad body either, it adds up fast.
Reveillark hasn't been very good for me usually, and is generally too slow to make an actual impact. I wouldn't leave home without Angel of Sanctions, which gives you a perfect catch all to answer just about any problem you'll come across.
Your mana base looks rough. Only 21 lands. 3 Ghost Qrtr.. 5 Forest.... Why 5 forest? There's a lot I'm not feeling about that mana base. I feel like you're gonna be mulling way too many games, purely based on drawing bad combinations of lands?
Just found out about this deck 3 days ago and I'm instantly loving it. How often do you generally go for the combo instead of just value beatdown? And aside from Titan decks and Eldrazi Tron, what are this deck's bad matchups?
How often do you generally go for the combo instead of just value beatdown?
Lejoon pretty much said it above...
"But truly, I realized that the way you win the most games is by taxing your opponent on resources, put them in spots where they need to play to your plan and not to theirs."
Myself I go for it pretty much every time. The way I look at it is they need something to stop me or I just win, so why not go for it and make them change how they are playing so they don't just lose if they tap out on future turns, or don't hold onto (or have) removal for the combo.
The best part is stopping the combo for a turn, doesn't stop the deck (which can happen with some combo decks). You still have future plays such as bringing back key cards with E-Witness, Evolution for your Sun Titan with a couple Saheeli's in the yard for the alt combo, play your backup copies of the combo, etc... or just the value beat down as you mentioned.
I (personally) think because of the combo there are not a lot of outright 'bad' match-ups. We can win like a combo deck T3 or T4. That said, there are bad games. For myself decks that can out swarm us if we don't see any combo pieces. They typically have lords and out pace any damage we can send back their way. I know I will be picking up a Gaddock Teeg to cover decks with Collected Company, Chord, etc. Also anything with mass removal (Supreme Verdict) can set you back if you over commit to the beat down plan.
I think I'm going to be swapping my single Courser of Kruphix in the main for a single Ramunap Excavator, anyone tried this yet or thinking about it and have an opinion?
I feel the value of not missing land drops (playing fetches from the yard) and being able to recur Ghost Quarter (I have two main) is a lot better than I've had from the Courser.
EDIT: I'm also going to be trying a 1 of Dryad Arbor. An evolution target that I can fetch for and a recurring chump blocker with the Excavator. I'm all about the value train.
It was draft last night, but got in a few games, losing only one to a turn two Sire of Insanity on the draw.
This deck is incredibly powerful, no doubt about that. All star is Lotus Cobra without a doubt, going off turn 3 is possible without much effort if it isn't cleared out immediately.
Anyway, to the changes - didn't see either Dryad Arbor or Ramunap Excavator all night so no comment on them yet. But one other change I made worked really well. I'm playing a singleton Nissa, Steward of Elements main and wow was she impressive. With a saheeli scry she essentially just plays cards off the top of the library for free if you can get her to 3 loyalty (easy enough). Getting an extra land with a cobra in play let me go off with neither combo piece (just an evolution) in hand on turn three on the play:
Turn one: BoPs
Turn two: Cobra into fetch, crack fetch, play Nissa for 3, scry 2 - land as second card under Oath.
Turn three: with 7 mana available (land drop, Nissa land drop, BoPs, two land in play) play Oath seeing nothing useful, hit land drops evolve cobra into cat, blink Oath, take and play Saheeli for the win. Outrageous. I don't really have space to go to more than 1 in the main, but I will be leaving her in for sure. The threat of 10 power of flying lands when top decking her late game can't be ignored either.
OK, so basically what i'm going for is Aggressive Value. Voice of Resurgence, and Kitchen Finks for built in value. Renegade Rallier to bring back Voice & Goyf for Value city. Cat blinks Finks to reset them for even more value, blinks Rallier to bring back Voice or Goyf again for more value. Saheeli blink Rallier to keep on bringing back Voice & Goyf. Gavony Township resets Finks all over again.... You can see how it gets obnoxious real fast.
So far it's been very hard for opponents to deal with the constant pressure, and value, AND be able to still deal with the combo also. It's been a blast to play because it feels like there is always something to do, and a play to make, and with the constant onslaught of value, it's just been a blast.
I haven't been keeping track of any games, or taking notes, so I don't have anything like that. I've just been jamming out a ton of games on Cockatrice to get a feeling for a few ideas I had, and this one so far has felt by far the most consistent of things I had been trying.
I'm trying the 3 Crumble to Dust in the side because big mana decks can be so frustrating... Any tips for those match ups?
@Lord Hazanko: I like the effort to be more proactive but I agree with maniospas's concerns over difficulty growing Goyf and the lack of synergy. If you want to put on more pressure have you played with Strangleroot Geist? It's very aggressive while also being great Evo fodder. The full-art promo version also looks pretty slick, which is super important
--------------------------------------------
I have been working off of BanjoCaveman's SCG IQ Plus deck to build my first list:
First off, the deck is incredibly fun! So many neat interactions pop up game after game.
I completely agree that Angel of Sanctions is the nuts and I recommend anyone still running Thragtusk to give Angel a try. Great value against midrange, nicely resistant to discard & removal, hits any sort of problematic permanent..
Sun Titan has been a game-winning topdeck in a few grindy matches, but has clogged up my hand in others. I'm not sure where this belongs in the 75. I'm also still trying to get a feel for when it's better to Evo a Guardian into Titan vs when it's better to leave the Guardian and hope to draw into the combo / accrue "fake" tempo by threatening the combo.
Flooding out in a couple games has pushed me to add the 2x Horizon Canopy. Hopefully this doesn't hurt too much, but in general the manabase has the capacity to be relatively painless between dorks and Oath so I think this should be a largely positive change.
I have mixed feelings on Lotus Cobra. It enables some of the deck's most busted early tempo plays when you have a stream of fetches coming in -- doubly so when you can recur a fetch with Rallier, and it also gives good value when you flicker a land with Guardian. When you're just playing normal lands Cobra is basically a more expensive bird with less flexibility since you can only produce mana at sorcery speed. Worse still, I've had a couple games where I was stuck at 3 lands and Cobra couldn't do anything to help me cast my 4+ CMC cards. Overall I'm still inclined to run Cobra for the moment, but I wonder if you all have any thoughts on its occasional awkward or inconsistent performance. Perhaps running the 10th fetch in place of the 2nd Horizon Canopy would help it perform more consistently?
The other thing I'm still trying to figure out is my MB loadout of 3 CMC value creatures. I've chosen to run a 4-way split of Finks, Witness, Rallier, and Reflector, with the logic that we'll get more value out of Evo'ing for the ideal creature over the value we'd get from running a more consistent 3-of or 4-of and building around that value creature more.
Do you have any thoughts on Manglehorn vs Reclamation Sage? Manglehorn's upside of forcing artifacts to enter tapped seems more niche than Sage's ability to also hit enchantments. Blood Moon isn't super threatening against us since we're prepared to run Magus of the Moon ourselves anyways. I guess Phyrexian Unlife, Worship, Solemnity (?) or other enchantments might give us trouble, though.
I'm still trying to get a feel for sideboarding, but in general it looks like we often shave -1x Saheeli & -1x Guardian to fit in +1x Evolution & +1x Silver Bullet, and then fine tune our value creatures as needed?
It's based from BanjoCaveman's IQ deck. I only tested on cockatrice, but it seems consistent enough.
I lost my interest in magic since the banning of Spliter Twin, but this deck really is really fun. I'm planning to make it in MODO soon.
Some thoughts on the change.
1. The main deck scavenging ooze is the flex slot, more of an edge to Living End and Snapcaster Decks.
2. I replaced Ghost Quarter with Gavony Township. In the Eldrazi Tron and/or Tron matchup, I felt I don't have the luxury of getting rid of a land. Especially for Eldrazi Temple, where the damage is already done when it hits the battlefield. I'd rather make other match ups better than having ghost quarter. If I have more Renegade Ralliers then it might be better. I actually think Horizon Canopy is the best "utility land" we have. Maybe just going with 4 Horizon Canopy with 0 Razorverge Thickets, Ghost Quarter, and Gavony Township might be the right way to go.
3. Angel of Sanction is good, but I feel like having another 5+ drop but not sure what to cut and what to add. There were times that the opponent's board is empty and I don't want to cast the Angel, but I guess it's OK-ish since at that board state I'm likely to win.
4. I felt Devout Lightcaster is too narrow and makes the manabase really shaky, so I went with Mirran Crusader. A resolved Mirran Crusader is usually lights out for Grixis Death's Shadow and Abzan. Also Intrepid Hero does a similar job with Lightcaster while also being relevant for other matchups like Eldrazi decks.
5. On Blade Splicer vs. Kitchen Finks, I preferred to have extra life gain against burn. Blade Splicer is better at bashing people while Kitchen Finks is better at stabilizing so I think it's a matter preference. (Though Blade Splicer is a significantly better Blink Target.)
6. Due to Felidar Guardian, I think having other Planeswalkers could be beneficial, and is a strength this deck has compared to other creature-based combo decks, but not sure which one to go. The problem is most planeswalkers don't really helps the bad match-ups or are rather slow. Nahiri seems to fit this role for some extent. We could have two different "combo"s in the deck (Nahiri+Emrakul) with a very different build.
6. Due to Felidar Guardian, I think having other Planeswalkers could be beneficial, and is a strength this deck has compared to other creature-based combo decks, but not sure which one to go. The problem is most planeswalkers don't really helps the bad match-ups or are rather slow. Nahiri seems to fit this role for some extent. We could have two different "combo"s in the deck (Nahiri+Emrakul) with a very different build.
The other walkers have got to get real value from being used twice in a turn to be worth it though. And because of the blink aren't going to be hitting ults. I don't think Nahiri really fits this bill. Maybe the occasional double exile but I'm not feeling it. At 4 mana I'd want to play Chandra, torch - 8 damage to a creature feels strong as does 4 mana and pseudo draw two. To be honest though I'm not sure any planeswalker is going to get me more value than blinking oath or just the correct value creature for the match up. Plus I don't have to lose a silver bullet slot.
The build doesn't have to be extremely different to get Nahiri in, but the problem is protecting her. In Kikichord you have LOTS of walls and fatter creatures to protect her, but here we have a couple of wall of omens and the four felidars, but in this scenario we're talking about not playing felidar till nahiri is down so thats useless. I don't like it, and if I was into the nahiri plan i would still be on kiki chord.
The thing I am most interested in right now is Ramunap Excavator. I play Courser of Kruphix already, and one could replace the other, but I don't want to pretend they do the same thing. Courser essentially draws cards to get you closer to action, and gains you a bunch of life in the process. Ramunap uses cards you've already drawn to get value. I'm leaning towards Courser being better in almost every matchup, but I don't want to count out Ramunap as a sideboard card at least. We have an awful Tron matchup, as most GW decks do, so is including the Ramunap just futile?
Courser essentially draws cards to get you closer to action, and gains you a bunch of life in the process. Ramunap uses cards you've already drawn to get value.
I'm not sure I agree with this. They both let you play lands but the excavator is guaranteed (assuming you have a fetch out) whereas Courser has around a 40% chance to get you a land and reveals your next card (it arguably moves a land from the top deck to help get gas but as this is random we only get a tiny thinning bonus at the cost of giving information). Having now played with both out, the excavator leads to more degenerate stuff (if you can get a tracker out too it just becomes a card draw effect essentially and if you have a cobra it's gross) but the Courser's life gain is relevant in some match ups. Being able to recur a GQ is very good as a game 1 play against tron but if you don't have a dork you're kind of screwing yourself for mana turns 3-4 which are this decks big turns. I'm going to stick with the excavator for now, simply because I still win matches I probably shouldn't because I didn't reveal any cat combo until it won me a game (be it game 1,2 or 3).
This deck lets you grind so hard, I usually play Jeskai Saheeli but picking up the pieces and playing this version has been so much fun. You can really feel the accruement of at least virtual card advantage when the interactions pan out, and usually real card advantage as well. Both decks are fun but Jeskai does play a pretty controlling game with a flurry of bounces every so often, but this deck seems to have an interesting line at every turn. I play the one-of Sun Titan in the Jeskai version and I tried it here which has already won me two games with the Sun Titan loop. Lotus Cobra also really does potentiate the plays, I've only played about 10 games so far but it seems to run smooth enough with 4 BoP + 2 Lotus Cobra, but I'm sure the awkward draws are yet to come my way.
I'm coming from kiki-chord but was curious about modern Saheeli and really liked this evolution version over jeskai. I've sleeved up the deck and it's a lot of fun as others have said. I always liked evolution more than chord (and never liked coco for toolbox/combo) and was a big fan of the voice -> evolution -> rallier turn 3.
Like someone else suggested I am trying 2-3 Grove of the Burnwillows as we are focused on combo primarily and its great vs DS. Ludafish over on the kiki board uses a full playset. I think we can run fewer as we have better land filtering with Oath. Also it is good vs burn by not costing us life and never comes into play tapped.
Lot of the back and forth seems to be on the 5/6CC slots. I concede Angel of Sanctions seems like a good catch all, and its self recur gives a nice bonus for longer/control matchups. Sun Titan is one of my favorite EDH cards (in every white deck I have), but testing around it did seem to be a bit too greedy expecting to cast this when drawn often. It's sitting in hand tendency is annoying, and the probability of pulling off a 2x saheeli combo is fairly small. Main reason to use is recurring saheeli as otherwise Reveillark seems stronger here and great synergy with her and cat as well.
I had a couple of cards to suggest for these slots and curious what you all think:
Pia and Kiran Nalaar: This was a mainstay for Hoogland's Kiki lists and was also the most common target for evolution when was being tested. My list has the burnwillows for more red mana so I don't see RR being an issue. It gives a solid 4CC card to evo on turn 3 instead of getting a cat. Evo for cat from a Wall of Omens or Voice of Resurgence is pretty weak (combo setup aside) as the flicker target is gone. So its only really good there if you had a turn 1 Oath. Pia works great off of voice as she adds +3/+3 to the token. Also flickering pia can be great vs. strategies weak to Lingering Souls incessant blockers. We can even fling thopters or use them for air beatdown.
Cloudblazer: This crossed my mind watching some standard streams. This is something I thought of as a variation of Thragtusk . Less life and not a great blocker but it draws cards and helps us find combo pieces. Could evo into this and then saheeli -2 gain 4 life and draw 4 cards. Also at 2 power its a valid Reveillark target (as is Pia). I've already been using 1-2 reflector mage so I dont see the U/W being an issue to hardcast. Other option would be Mulldrifter have cheapoer evoke option but lose the life gain.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Felidar Guardian
2 Noble Hierarch
2 Lotus Cobra
2 Reflector Mage
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Wall of Omens
2 Renegade Rallier
1 Eternal Witness
1 Sun Titan
1 Thragtusk
Spells (14)
4 Oath of Nissa
4 Saheeli Rai
3 Path to Exile
3 Eldritch Evolution
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
1 Gavony Township
2 Forest
1 Plains
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Stony Silence
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Negate
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Reclamation Sage
I'm loving this deck so far, plays so much to my style. My current version is above.
It can win in so many ways, and from my (limited) insight it really forces my opponents to hold back (wanting to be able to stop the combo) allowing me just to play out however I want. I have sometimes even told my opponent what I am playing just to slow them down knowing they are waiting for 'it' to happen.
I have only used it for the past couple Modern nights, but its amazing so far. I was 3-0-1 the first time and 3-1 the second.
The deck can play a long game, win games it has no business doing so, and just combo off insanely quick sometimes (I have hit all 3... the T3 on the play, the unexpected Evolution into Sun Titan and 2x Saheeli's in the yard, and even the Lotus + Renegade + Fetch to generate 7 mana and play out both Saheeli and Felidar the same turn (playing Saheeli first to copy the Renegade again).
My one loss so far was a Bant Spirit deck with Company's where I kept a 5 land hand and drew the next 3 cards all lands (should had sent it back but it had a Birds and Saheeli). Then game 2 he hits all-star both times on back-to-back Company's (a Lord + other spirit on each). I have beat Dredge, Storm, Jund, Eldrazi Tron, Bant Eldrazi and U/W Bounce. Felt like any game was 50/50 just waiting to see if they were going to go off, or if I could combo.
I think this will easily replace my Bant Knightfall deck as my new go to. So much easier to both combo and just play out value creatures.
I definitely need to get more games in with it tho'... land sequencing has been an issue, where I have almost punted a few matches due to not knowing what I should get in which order.
http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/20765
11-3-1 @ GP Copenhagen: Top Stories of Grand Prix Copenhagen
Maybe go down a Blessed Alliance for it, 3x SB cards + the Thragtusk MD should be enough for burn.
http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/20765
Legendary creature - Human Warrior - 4/3
Vigilance
When ~ enters the battlefield you may search your library for a Planeswalker card, reveal it and put it into your hand. Shuffle your library afterwards.
If a source would deal damage to a Planeswalker you control, prevent 1 of that damage. "
This card just got spoiled from HOU and while we are in the market for this type of planeswalker seatching effect, 5cmc is likely too high to make the cut..though with evolution this could be a very solid one of. Thoughts?
Could just be a bad day and it happens, but I think a lot of people are figuring this deck out, it's hard to time when to cast a creature or go for a combo.
Modern Tallowisp Spirits - A Modern Tallowisp Deck UW
Eldrazi Ninjas - Summoning Octopus Jutsu YYYYAAAHHHH!
STANDARD
Naban Wizards
Mini-report forthcoming.http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/saheeli-evolution-scg-iq-24-june-2017/
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Voice of Resurgence
3 Wall of Omens
2 Lotus Cobra
1 Renegade Rallier
1 Eternal Witness
1 Kitchen Finks
4 Felidar Guardian
1 Angel of Sanctions
Spells
4 Oath of Nissa
4 Path to Exile
4 Saheeli Rai
3 Eldritch Evolution
4 Windswept Heath
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Verdant Catacombs
2 Temple Garden
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
2 Plains
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Manglehorn
1 Devout Lightcaster
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Stony Silence
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Eldritch Evolution
Changes for this tournament were adding a Finks to the main over a Scooze (would have liked to fit a second), squeezing the 4th path into the main, adding Magus, Lightcaster, and 2 Stony. Would have liked to play a Horizon Canopy, but couldn't get my hands on one. Not sure how I feel about the 1 Ghost Quarter.
Short Version:
Round 1: 0-2 vs Affinity
Round 2: 2-0 vs Burn
Round 3: 2-1 vs Naya Company
Round 4: 2-1 vs Devoted Elves
Round 5: ID, clean cut to top 8
Quarters: 2-1 vs Affinity
Semis: 2-0 vs BG Rock
Finals: Split
Round 1 vs Affinity: 0-2
This is not great game 1 unless you keep a fast combo hand, and even then Saheeli has to survive if you play her first. I kept a Voice, Oath, Evo -type hand, and quickly lost to a T1 Plating.
Out of the side, Manglehorn, Stony, Staticaster are of course great, and Linvala is alright. I think I made some mistakes sideboarding, which I fixed in the top 8.
Game 2 I kept an OK hand with Manglehorn, and lost to Etched Champion and flyers. Thought to myself, alright time to rattle 'em off.
Round 2 vs Burn: 2-0
I won both games at 3 life, fading 1 topdeck each time. Game 1 I combo'd, game 2 I Saheeli copied a voice token to push exact lethal through his topdecked Eidolon.
IN: Baloth, Blessed Alliance, Evo
OUT: Angel of Sanctions, Saheeli, Rallier
Round 3 vs Naya Company: 2-1
Game 1, I lost to Goyf and new Thalia beats. He had 3 Paths for my 3 Voices.
I brought in Baloth, Teeg, and maybe Blessed Alliance, Evo? Not sure if Teeg is worth is for just Company.
Game 2 was a real grind, with me flooding the board with value creatures in front of his Knight of the Reliquarys. I was recurring Path with Witness, and Ghost Quarter with Rallier since he mentioned only having 1 basic left in the deck. I eventually began attacking with a 7/7 token among others, when he cast company during my attack while I had 2 Voices in play. Trigger trigger. He died the next turn.
Game 2 ended with only 10 minutes remaining, so I began to shuffle and play quickly. I keep a hand with bird, Saheeli, and Felidar. We both play our dorks T1, and T2 I play Saheeli and tick up over a Voice, hoping he'll tap out for Company. He does, and I copy Birds for the 4th mana to combo.
Round 4 vs Devoted Elves: 2-1
I see a Devoted Druid on the bottom of his deck while he shuffles, so that was nice. T1 Llanowar lets me know it's Elves, which I know about but haven't seen or played against. He plays some dudes including a Druid, so I play carefully holding up a Path, and not deploying Saheeli so that she doesn't get attacked. Once he has no cards in hand, I play out both pieces.
IN: Teeg, Linvala, Staticaster, Evo
OUT: Finks, Rallier, 2 Voice
Game 2 I keep a hand with 2 Evo, because why else do I bring in bullets? I Evo away a dork T2 for Staticaster, which may have been a bit hasty. It eats a Path, but gets replaced by a Linvala which shuts him down. He Companys into Revoker naming my Saheeli in play, and we both do nothing while he develops his board. He eventually finds another Path and Ezuri-kills me.
Game 3 became a bit chaotic. Time again began to run down, with many players and the judges watching us. I have a Staticaster and some stuff in play, he has Druid, Ezuri, Archdruid, Revoker naming Saheeli. I had been holding up Path for a while, and wanted to Path his Revoker to begin copying Staticaster. But once Archdruid was no longer sick, he attacked, made mana, Overran, made more mana by untapping Druid, and repeat. He was doing this all quite sloppily, and I pointed out that the loop wasn't mana-neutral, which he seemed to think it was. Judges intervened, started keep track of P/T on paper, etc. This combat took about 10 mins with so much confusion. I realized I was dead to the attack, so I pathed Druid in response to the second Overrun, which he conceded to for some unknown reason. He may have been a bit tilted that I didn't Path sooner? I was not about to win on the crackback. OK then.
Round 5: ID, clean cut to top 8
Woohoo!
Quarters vs Affinity: 2-1
This was the same guy from round 1. Game 1 on the play, he starts beating me down with flyers. I remember regretting Pathing something instead of a Signal Pest. On my turn, I have the mana to cast only one of Finks, Saheeli, or Felidar. I'm forced to cast Finks since he's presenting exact lethal with flyers, and can't win the next turn.
IN: Manglehorn, Staticaster, Linvala, Evo, 2 Stony Silence, maybe Blessed Alliance?
OUT: Finks, Rallier, 4 Voice, maybe 1 Felidar?
Game 2 I combo him. Don't remember anything except him getting a GRV for casting a Vault Skirge off 2 colourless lands.
Game 3, Staticaster goes to WORK. Pinging things left and right, holding back multiple manlands. He has a Champion which begins to beat me down. I Manglehorn his Grafdigger's Cage since he has no other threats. At some point he tries to Dispatch something, and I notice he has only Champion and Mox Opal in play for Metalcraft. I'm hoping it will resolve and only tap my guy, but the judge notices that Mox Opal was his W mana source, so we had to rewind, and he got another GRV. He animated some lands to get metalcraft, one of which I got to pick off end of turn.
Doing nothing, I play a Saheeli which his Champion kills in 3 hits. I start chipping in, and I'm winning the race, so he has to hold back with Champion. Eventually I find an Evo with a Felidar in play. Witness back Saheeli. I had all 4 birds in play at the end.
Semis vs BG Rock: 2-0
Game 1 he IoK's off a Blooming Marsh, taking Witness over Path or Saheeli. He plays a Witness of his own and Pulses my Saheeli, but he runs out of resources doing things like T2 Fatal Push my Wall of Omens, which I am extremely OK with. He plays a Lili which I worried me, but I topdeck Felidar, flicker Wall, Saheeli.
IN: Sigarda, 2 Tracker, Baloth, Evo
OUT: 1 Saheeli, 1 Felidar, 2 Lotus Cobra, 1 Birds
I keep a stellar 6 on the draw of fetch, dork, Oath, Voice, Witness, Evo. My scry is a Tracker, which I kept, maybe greedy. He Pushes my dork and plays Bob on T2, which I have no Path for. T2 my Oath finds me a fetch. He decays my Oath, which I again could not be more OK with. I hit my 3rd land drop, and go with Witness back Oath over getting Voice into play, specifically because then my Evo can get a Sigarda next turn, which it does. We both play Trackers, and he continues to draw off Bob every turn, but he has no answer for Sigarda and she goes the distance. He dies at 3 life to Bob flipping Tracker.
Finals: Split with a Titanshift player, which I was eager to do.
Super happy with the result, deck is so fun and I think I played pretty well and focused for the most part. I was a little stunned as I kept winning, at my first IQ and second Comp REL event.
Feel free to give any criticism/recommendations on my list or play. 1 Finks and 1 Ghost Quarter I'm especially not ecstatic about.
Thanks for reading.
1. I mean it does happen that I get flooded sometimes, yeah. Maybe the Cobras could come in and out as a meta call. On the whole, I have liked them.
2. I'm really attached to Angel of Sanctions. It's the answer to anything, but also good card advantage and a potent threat. Good vs Grixis Shadow, Eldrazi Tron. I rarely find myself siding it out. I haven't really thought about Angel vs Thragtusk, more Angel vs Sun Titan. On that note...
3. I do miss having Titan in the deck, but I don't miss drawing it early when it matters. I'm generally ok with clogged boards and playing the value game.
I do want to fit both a second GQ and a Horizon Canopy. I'm not sure what to cut though. Was considering basics.
And yeah I'm looking to try the second Finks as well. Saccing a dork for it is tough though, because often games against burn are about not having the time/mana to do what I want.
What about including another combo inside? Talking about Pride Sovereign and Intruder Alarm. As we are playing blue for Saheeli Rai, may we can add another shockland or fastland with blue for being a bit more easy to combo. Some decks play birds + hierarch, so with 6 creatures producing mana, we can create an army of cats too without depending on the planeswalker.
An example deck with them:
20 x Lands
Creatures - 24
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Felidar Guardian
2 Restoration Angel
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
3 Pride Sovereign
4 Voice of Resurgence
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Renegade Rallier
4 Saheeli Rai
3 Intruder Alarm
2 Eldritch Evolution
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Path to Exile
We can also combo in 3rd turn:
Any thought about this?
Also Intruder Alarm works better with Thraben Doomsayer than Pride Sovereign (no mana needed to activate), there is also a 2-mana creature option in Steward of Solidarity.
It is probably better to build an entirely new deck around it, preferably with a way to tutor for Intruder Alarm
(like Idyllic Tutor/Drift of Phantasms).
Seems very good vs Death Shadow and Burn, two matchups that are somewhat difficult for us.
4 Slots is a lot though, but since it's the best deck in the format it seems reasonable.
However, I play 7-8 dorks in almost all my lists, and feel like they are CRUCIAL to getting a fast enough start. Sometimes they eat removal, but then that's just less removal for our combo pieces. Especially if we take out Wall(2 drop) and replace those slots with higher CMC cards, your gonna need that ramp to keep the same tempo.
I also played Splicers in my original brews but have since moved on. Finks IMO is better. And the ability to consistently reset Finks with Cat, and Township is huge. Life, and chump blocks for daaaays. 3/2 ain't a bad body either, it adds up fast.
Reflector Mage is consistently MVP in my games.
Reveillark hasn't been very good for me usually, and is generally too slow to make an actual impact. I wouldn't leave home without Angel of Sanctions, which gives you a perfect catch all to answer just about any problem you'll come across.
Your mana base looks rough. Only 21 lands. 3 Ghost Qrtr.. 5 Forest.... Why 5 forest? There's a lot I'm not feeling about that mana base. I feel like you're gonna be mulling way too many games, purely based on drawing bad combinations of lands?
Lejoon pretty much said it above...
"But truly, I realized that the way you win the most games is by taxing your opponent on resources, put them in spots where they need to play to your plan and not to theirs."
Myself I go for it pretty much every time. The way I look at it is they need something to stop me or I just win, so why not go for it and make them change how they are playing so they don't just lose if they tap out on future turns, or don't hold onto (or have) removal for the combo.
The best part is stopping the combo for a turn, doesn't stop the deck (which can happen with some combo decks). You still have future plays such as bringing back key cards with E-Witness, Evolution for your Sun Titan with a couple Saheeli's in the yard for the alt combo, play your backup copies of the combo, etc... or just the value beat down as you mentioned.
I (personally) think because of the combo there are not a lot of outright 'bad' match-ups. We can win like a combo deck T3 or T4. That said, there are bad games. For myself decks that can out swarm us if we don't see any combo pieces. They typically have lords and out pace any damage we can send back their way. I know I will be picking up a Gaddock Teeg to cover decks with Collected Company, Chord, etc. Also anything with mass removal (Supreme Verdict) can set you back if you over commit to the beat down plan.
http://www.cubetutor.com/visualspoiler/20765
I feel the value of not missing land drops (playing fetches from the yard) and being able to recur Ghost Quarter (I have two main) is a lot better than I've had from the Courser.
EDIT: I'm also going to be trying a 1 of Dryad Arbor. An evolution target that I can fetch for and a recurring chump blocker with the Excavator. I'm all about the value train.
This deck is incredibly powerful, no doubt about that. All star is Lotus Cobra without a doubt, going off turn 3 is possible without much effort if it isn't cleared out immediately.
Anyway, to the changes - didn't see either Dryad Arbor or Ramunap Excavator all night so no comment on them yet. But one other change I made worked really well. I'm playing a singleton Nissa, Steward of Elements main and wow was she impressive. With a saheeli scry she essentially just plays cards off the top of the library for free if you can get her to 3 loyalty (easy enough). Getting an extra land with a cobra in play let me go off with neither combo piece (just an evolution) in hand on turn three on the play:
Turn one: BoPs
Turn two: Cobra into fetch, crack fetch, play Nissa for 3, scry 2 - land as second card under Oath.
Turn three: with 7 mana available (land drop, Nissa land drop, BoPs, two land in play) play Oath seeing nothing useful, hit land drops evolve cobra into cat, blink Oath, take and play Saheeli for the win. Outrageous. I don't really have space to go to more than 1 in the main, but I will be leaving her in for sure. The threat of 10 power of flying lands when top decking her late game can't be ignored either.
What do you guys think of this one?
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Voice of Resurgence
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Renegade Rallier
2 Reflector Mage
1 Angel of Sanctions
4 Felidar Guardian
4 Saheeli Rai
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Path to Exile
2 Eldritch Evolution
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Gavony Township
2 Stony Silence
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Magus of the Moat
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
OK, so basically what i'm going for is Aggressive Value. Voice of Resurgence, and Kitchen Finks for built in value. Renegade Rallier to bring back Voice & Goyf for Value city. Cat blinks Finks to reset them for even more value, blinks Rallier to bring back Voice or Goyf again for more value. Saheeli blink Rallier to keep on bringing back Voice & Goyf. Gavony Township resets Finks all over again.... You can see how it gets obnoxious real fast.
So far it's been very hard for opponents to deal with the constant pressure, and value, AND be able to still deal with the combo also. It's been a blast to play because it feels like there is always something to do, and a play to make, and with the constant onslaught of value, it's just been a blast.
I haven't been keeping track of any games, or taking notes, so I don't have anything like that. I've just been jamming out a ton of games on Cockatrice to get a feeling for a few ideas I had, and this one so far has felt by far the most consistent of things I had been trying.
I'm trying the 3 Crumble to Dust in the side because big mana decks can be so frustrating... Any tips for those match ups?
--------------------------------------------
I have been working off of BanjoCaveman's SCG IQ Plus deck to build my first list:
4x Birds of Paradise
2x Noble Hierarch
2x Lotus Cobra
4x Voice of Resurgence
2x Wall of Omens
1x Eternal Witness
1x Kitchen Finks
1x Reflector Mage
1x Renegade Rallier
4x Felidar Guardian
1x Angel of Sanctions
1x Sun Titan
Spells (3)
4x Oath of Nissa
3x Path to Exile
3x Eldritch Evolution
4x Saheeli Rai
1x Breeding Pool
3x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
2x Horizon Canopy
1x Plains
2x Razorverge Thicket
1x Stomping Ground
2x Temple Garden
1x Verdant Catacombs
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
1x Gaddock Teeg
2x Stony Silence
1x Devout Lightcaster
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Eldritch Evolution
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Kitchen Finks
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Reclamation Sage
2x Tireless Tracker
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Obstinate Baloth
1x Sigarda, Host of Herons
First off, the deck is incredibly fun! So many neat interactions pop up game after game.
I completely agree that Angel of Sanctions is the nuts and I recommend anyone still running Thragtusk to give Angel a try. Great value against midrange, nicely resistant to discard & removal, hits any sort of problematic permanent..
Sun Titan has been a game-winning topdeck in a few grindy matches, but has clogged up my hand in others. I'm not sure where this belongs in the 75. I'm also still trying to get a feel for when it's better to Evo a Guardian into Titan vs when it's better to leave the Guardian and hope to draw into the combo / accrue "fake" tempo by threatening the combo.
Flooding out in a couple games has pushed me to add the 2x Horizon Canopy. Hopefully this doesn't hurt too much, but in general the manabase has the capacity to be relatively painless between dorks and Oath so I think this should be a largely positive change.
I have mixed feelings on Lotus Cobra. It enables some of the deck's most busted early tempo plays when you have a stream of fetches coming in -- doubly so when you can recur a fetch with Rallier, and it also gives good value when you flicker a land with Guardian. When you're just playing normal lands Cobra is basically a more expensive bird with less flexibility since you can only produce mana at sorcery speed. Worse still, I've had a couple games where I was stuck at 3 lands and Cobra couldn't do anything to help me cast my 4+ CMC cards. Overall I'm still inclined to run Cobra for the moment, but I wonder if you all have any thoughts on its occasional awkward or inconsistent performance. Perhaps running the 10th fetch in place of the 2nd Horizon Canopy would help it perform more consistently?
The other thing I'm still trying to figure out is my MB loadout of 3 CMC value creatures. I've chosen to run a 4-way split of Finks, Witness, Rallier, and Reflector, with the logic that we'll get more value out of Evo'ing for the ideal creature over the value we'd get from running a more consistent 3-of or 4-of and building around that value creature more.
Do you have any thoughts on Manglehorn vs Reclamation Sage? Manglehorn's upside of forcing artifacts to enter tapped seems more niche than Sage's ability to also hit enchantments. Blood Moon isn't super threatening against us since we're prepared to run Magus of the Moon ourselves anyways. I guess Phyrexian Unlife, Worship, Solemnity (?) or other enchantments might give us trouble, though.
I'm still trying to get a feel for sideboarding, but in general it looks like we often shave -1x Saheeli & -1x Guardian to fit in +1x Evolution & +1x Silver Bullet, and then fine tune our value creatures as needed?
Thanks!
// 23 Creature
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
2 Lotus Cobra
4 Voice of Resurgence
2 Wall of Omens
1 Eternal Witness
1 Renegade Rallier
4 Felidar Guardian
1 Angel of Sanctions
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kitchen Finks
// 4 Enchantment
4 Oath of Nissa
// 4 Instant
4 Path to Exile
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Gavony Township
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Plains
1 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
1 Stomping Ground
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
// 4 Planeswalker
4 Saheeli Rai
3 Eldritch Evolution
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Intrepid Hero
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Stony Silence
It's based from BanjoCaveman's IQ deck. I only tested on cockatrice, but it seems consistent enough.
I lost my interest in magic since the banning of Spliter Twin, but this deck really is really fun. I'm planning to make it in MODO soon.
Some thoughts on the change.
1. The main deck scavenging ooze is the flex slot, more of an edge to Living End and Snapcaster Decks.
2. I replaced Ghost Quarter with Gavony Township. In the Eldrazi Tron and/or Tron matchup, I felt I don't have the luxury of getting rid of a land. Especially for Eldrazi Temple, where the damage is already done when it hits the battlefield. I'd rather make other match ups better than having ghost quarter. If I have more Renegade Ralliers then it might be better. I actually think Horizon Canopy is the best "utility land" we have. Maybe just going with 4 Horizon Canopy with 0 Razorverge Thickets, Ghost Quarter, and Gavony Township might be the right way to go.
3. Angel of Sanction is good, but I feel like having another 5+ drop but not sure what to cut and what to add. There were times that the opponent's board is empty and I don't want to cast the Angel, but I guess it's OK-ish since at that board state I'm likely to win.
4. I felt Devout Lightcaster is too narrow and makes the manabase really shaky, so I went with Mirran Crusader. A resolved Mirran Crusader is usually lights out for Grixis Death's Shadow and Abzan. Also Intrepid Hero does a similar job with Lightcaster while also being relevant for other matchups like Eldrazi decks.
5. On Blade Splicer vs. Kitchen Finks, I preferred to have extra life gain against burn. Blade Splicer is better at bashing people while Kitchen Finks is better at stabilizing so I think it's a matter preference. (Though Blade Splicer is a significantly better Blink Target.)
6. Due to Felidar Guardian, I think having other Planeswalkers could be beneficial, and is a strength this deck has compared to other creature-based combo decks, but not sure which one to go. The problem is most planeswalkers don't really helps the bad match-ups or are rather slow. Nahiri seems to fit this role for some extent. We could have two different "combo"s in the deck (Nahiri+Emrakul) with a very different build.
The other walkers have got to get real value from being used twice in a turn to be worth it though. And because of the blink aren't going to be hitting ults. I don't think Nahiri really fits this bill. Maybe the occasional double exile but I'm not feeling it. At 4 mana I'd want to play Chandra, torch - 8 damage to a creature feels strong as does 4 mana and pseudo draw two. To be honest though I'm not sure any planeswalker is going to get me more value than blinking oath or just the correct value creature for the match up. Plus I don't have to lose a silver bullet slot.
The thing I am most interested in right now is Ramunap Excavator. I play Courser of Kruphix already, and one could replace the other, but I don't want to pretend they do the same thing. Courser essentially draws cards to get you closer to action, and gains you a bunch of life in the process. Ramunap uses cards you've already drawn to get value. I'm leaning towards Courser being better in almost every matchup, but I don't want to count out Ramunap as a sideboard card at least. We have an awful Tron matchup, as most GW decks do, so is including the Ramunap just futile?
I'm not sure I agree with this. They both let you play lands but the excavator is guaranteed (assuming you have a fetch out) whereas Courser has around a 40% chance to get you a land and reveals your next card (it arguably moves a land from the top deck to help get gas but as this is random we only get a tiny thinning bonus at the cost of giving information). Having now played with both out, the excavator leads to more degenerate stuff (if you can get a tracker out too it just becomes a card draw effect essentially and if you have a cobra it's gross) but the Courser's life gain is relevant in some match ups. Being able to recur a GQ is very good as a game 1 play against tron but if you don't have a dork you're kind of screwing yourself for mana turns 3-4 which are this decks big turns. I'm going to stick with the excavator for now, simply because I still win matches I probably shouldn't because I didn't reveal any cat combo until it won me a game (be it game 1,2 or 3).
Like someone else suggested I am trying 2-3 Grove of the Burnwillows as we are focused on combo primarily and its great vs DS. Ludafish over on the kiki board uses a full playset. I think we can run fewer as we have better land filtering with Oath. Also it is good vs burn by not costing us life and never comes into play tapped.
Lot of the back and forth seems to be on the 5/6CC slots. I concede Angel of Sanctions seems like a good catch all, and its self recur gives a nice bonus for longer/control matchups. Sun Titan is one of my favorite EDH cards (in every white deck I have), but testing around it did seem to be a bit too greedy expecting to cast this when drawn often. It's sitting in hand tendency is annoying, and the probability of pulling off a 2x saheeli combo is fairly small. Main reason to use is recurring saheeli as otherwise Reveillark seems stronger here and great synergy with her and cat as well.
I had a couple of cards to suggest for these slots and curious what you all think: