@Kring: The builds with Cobra are explosive, they have the chance to win on turn 2 with the god hand, and on turn 3 they can often combo or bring a powerful 5-drop into play. If your metagame demands speed (decks like Tron, Storm, Hollow One, Titanshift), that's where you probably want to be.
In a metagame where you expect most of your opponents to have interaction in the early turns, Cobra gets a lot worse in my opinion. Lightning Bolt, Thoughtseize, Mana Leak, Leonin Arbiter or similar effects will often ruin the Cobra starts, and I prefer having a higher number of Birds + Hierarchs in those matchups instead of Cobra. The recent unbannings propelled interactive decks to the front, so for now I don't think Cobra is well positioned. Renegade Rallier, however, can really shine against these decks, unless they interact with the graveyard (Grafdigger's Cage, Scavenging Ooze).
Regarding Renegade Rallier, it's smoothing effect on mana screw (because of the option to grab fetchlands) is quite a significant factor. Part of the reason I get away with so few lands is the balance of dorks and ralliers and oaths. So Rallier provides some value in the form of deck-building efficiency as well (that is, sometimes you draw whatever it is you put in your deck instead of the 23rd land).
From my playtesting so far, I don't want ralliers (even in a lotus build) unless I have a good density of early drops that are likely to end up in my graveyard (coiling oracle is a bit of a bomb in that regard, of course. Wall of omens is probably decent but is unlikely to die early enough, voice is obviously strong). There'll likely be a breakpoint when it starts to get quite good. And of course, a second oath is good but quite unreliable to draw TWO oaths early, and have the mana to play them efficiently, etc.
Has anyone tried a wall-of-omens heavy build? I saw a list running 4, and I was immediately intrigued, but lost the list! I worry that it puts us in the extremely durdly category, but I wonder if anyone has examined control-ish builds? I suppose those would be Jeskai. Yeah, nevermind, mostly forget this part.
Good luck with it EnkerSS! FYI, currently I am testing a 3rd Horizon Canopy in place of the Gavony Township. Both mitigate flood, but Canopy produces colored mana and triggers revolt. My current local meta barely has any aggro, so taking a little more damage from my lands seems acceptable.
Tried a new place for FNM last night that had some great prizes. Unfortunately the turnout wasn't great, and I paired against the 2 people I went with. I went 3-0, coming in 1st and winning a snapcaster mage.
Round 1
BW Tokens
Played against my gf here, this is a great matchup for us unless their hand consist of 3 hand disruption spells, 2 removal spells and 2 lands. Easy wins, frustrating start.
Round 2
Bant Spirits
So now I'm actually tilted by our misfortune (my brother amd gf even played round 3). My little brother plays UW spirits, and I managed to get Bant together for him. I actually really, really don't like this matchup. Queller is great against us. We also lack flyers. A few test matches pre tournament were rough. G1 one I killed him T2 and game 2 I landed Gaddock Teeg shutting off his coco and comboed him out T6.
Round 3
Bloodbraid Jund
This guy grinds GBx, and we have played before. Really solid player, I have been getting him with Saheeli but he always beats me when I'm on my other decks. G1 I have a fast hand and combo him after he taps out for bloodbraid elf. G2 my hand is slow and I manage to play my spicy tech (ruric thar) to stabilize. He rips bloodbraid elf off the top, and kills me with one extra attacker. G3 he tapped out around t6 for elf after hand disruption tore me up to start the game. Board is stalled, he has a couple cards in hand and I have kiki in play. Resto off the top is all she wrote.
I have a team tournament today, and am the modern player. Will let you guys know how it goes!
If I understand the Dominaria Release Notes correctly, as soon as the set is released, Saheeli will no longer be able to deal damage to planeswalkers with the +1 ability. While it doesn't come up all the time, pressuring planeswalkers has been an important feature of Saheeli for me, and losing that option will hurt.
I don't think you're right Kring, everything that deals damage to "target player" will receive errata to be able to target planeswalkers too. The only effects that will actually functionally change are the ones dealing damage to "each opponent", "each player" or "defending player" (all without the word "target"), these will no longer have the option to deal damage to planeswalkers. So, in practice, there aren't that many cards that will be affected in Modern. Some that I can think of are Saheeli Rai, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Eidolon of the Great Revel, Atarka's Command, The Rack, Searing Blood, Stormbreath Dragon and Molten Rain.
Has anyone tried Dire Fleet Daredevil? It seems like it's a great silver-ish bullet for harvesting cards in certain matchups, but I guess I can't really see it being worth evolving/chording into, and it's not worth running enough copies to draw it?
@maniospas, I largely agree. My only point is that Renegade Rallier is a card that is hugely versatile. You can't analyse it on just one axis, because on that axis it is almost always going to be a sub-par option (Eternal Witness is almost strictly-better in a grind sense). It's body is also a consideration occasionaly. You have to take all the corner cases into account, because they add up. In this case, they currently add up to being just a bit sub-par. But I think there's likely some builds where the corner cases add up to being quite powerful. Thanks, I'll have a look at the draw options you mention. Agreed they look like a bit of a dud - they're hugely powerful, but they slow down average tempo pretty massively if you're running more than 1-2 copies I suspect.
@Shelldell I was about to ask about people's thoughts on the best build for being removal-heavy, but I think you just answered my question. Thanks!
Saucy bits include: Jace AND BBE, no Evolutions, no Voice, and a full set of Fiery Justices in the main. I think this list is rather untuned, but goodness if it's not all in on the thing we do. It's almost like a more powerful version of the Aether Vial lists that did decently for a stretch around the Holidays.
I don't see what BBE is doing in there, though. Seems like it hits a dud a LOT, which is an awful shame for four mana. But it does dig a bit deeper, so does increase the speed at which you can dig up the combo pieces I guess?
Wait what? The only card that isn't a 4-of is ... BBE? And the sideboard looks like a joke. No cheap removal at all in the 75, hardly anything to interact with Storm, Affinity, Bogles or Burn. Maybe there is potential in this approach with Jace + BBE, but the list itself doesn't convince me at first glance.
BBE + Jace is insane value for sure, but would rather have more in the deck to ensure living long enough to do those shenanigans. 2nd turn feels clunky (dork on 1, dork + oracle on 2 is the only play that really capitalizes on it, and even then you're now a bit excessive with ramping). I don't know what you'd slot in, but a three drop might be helpful (Courser would be good except is a bit of a non-bo with Jace?)
5-0 is not a terribly impressive record, but I could be missing something for sure. I do think it's quite neat with all the synergies. Evolution would be tricky in the deck, but wonder if chord could work? I don't think the curves quite work? I think it'd be cool to have something that works better with Eternal Witness, it feels clunky to have e-wit but not paths.
Rallier - agreed.
Anyone tinker with 6 drops some more? Many of my games, a 6/6 that can be chump blocked that can slowly grab 3 drops isn't that inspiring (Unless playing the value build where the three drops are a bit more inspiring). What about things like Armada Wurm? It gives much better blink value.
I don't see what Armada Wurm offers that you can't get from much easier to cast 5-drops like Regisaur Alpha or Wingmate Roc. My experience with 6-drops in the Saheeli Evolution archetype hasn't been great, even 5-drops can be challenging in the fast matchups. I'm happy with a single 5-drop or maybe 2, but the best options at 6 mana are probably Sun Titan, Inferno Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, Carnage Tyrant, Ruric Thar, the Unbowed and Realm Razer.
So I have been playtesting this still. I understand the boom-bust nature of Cobra, but I have honestly loved it. It gives the deck the "unfair" angle that otherwise the deck lacks. I have won so many games where my opponent didn't answer a Cobra, and I am not just referring to the nutty turn 2/3 kills. I also am still a BIG fan of Rallier. Honestly, I don't understand where the hate for him comes from. Against the unfair decks he is a ramp/combo tool that allows us to not only keep up, but also puts pressure on our opponent and against the fair decks helps pull me out of early disruption and removal by creating card advantage. I actively want to draw at least one of him in basically every game. Plus, cascading into him off Bloodbraid is the dumbest thing in the world (in a good way). You have to learn how to set it up, and it took me some practice to ensure that I was sequencing my lands properly, but once I got the hang of it has been nothing short of backbreaking.
The deck does still have those awkward draws where you just flood into oblivion or get so out tempo'd early that you never are given a chance to re-assert yourself. I will continue to work on this version.
I recently tested a Glorybringer as a removal spell that also assists with the aggro plan that Bloodbraid provides but it was pretty terrible outside a few cute scenarios. I have moved back to Reflector Mage as a MD removal tutor. We will see how this goes, it might be right to just some Path's MD. Also am not sure if Thragtusk is any good. He cost a ton and only really generates relevant advantage if I can then build off him with Cat or Saheeli. He hasn't been terrible, but he might not be what I want. I had an Ooze in my previous build and it might be more of a useful tool here, especially with playing Cobra. Everything else in the MD has pulled its weight quite well.
As for the SB, Gearhulk was sweet originally but now has felt less so. I liked a Wrath effect against go-wide decks but I don't know how much we really need it. I'll keep him for now but he is close to being cut. I also probably want to some GY removal somewhere, which the previously mentioned Ooze would help with.
I changed a few lands since the last time (Forest, Sacred Foundry, Horizon Canopy instead of Plains, Stomping Ground, Gavony Township), nothing else.
Now I am at 19-6 overall since adding Siege Rhino and Blade Splicer to my deck, and won 3 out of 6 tournaments that I played. There was a lot of luck involved here and there (for example I won all four die rolls tonight, which was very relevant), but after 25 matches with great results I really have to say the deck is amazing and I love how the games play out. It can play a fair game extremely well, and every now and then just has the combo in addition to that.
Tonight's matches were against Blue Tron, Green Tron, UB Control and RB Hollow One. I only assembled the combo once (vs Green Tron). Again, Blade Splicer was absolutely great whenever I drew it. It has so many relevant synergies and is really good on both offense and defense - just the perfect allrounder card. Maybe I will even add a third one for next time.
In my testing, flooding on splicers is not nice in certain matchups, so I'm not certain about the third one for sure, but by all means try it.
Yeah I can see that. I might give the third one a try anyway, but maybe playing two Splicers is actually fine. The card somehow serves as the perfect glue for holding the whole deck together, since it has a very high floor: It's easy to cast, always does exactly what it's meant to do (no fail rate like with Rallier, hardly any way to hate it) and there are few situations where it isn't a relevant draw.
If you could, I'd appreciate some comments regarding the non-creature one-ofs: which muchups do they try to supplement with a 5th effect? (I can't imagine them being anything other than a 5th effect, because one-ofs are otherwise a bit inconsistent, since necessarily some of them should be strictly superior.)
I assume you are referring to Elspeth, Path and Collective Brutality?
Elspeth is just a threat that dodges sweepers, spot removal, and breaks board stalls by sending a big creature to the air (usually Rhino or Voice tokens). It can also negate an opposing attacker by providing chump blockers, or kill planeswalkers with unexpected "haste" damage thanks to its second ability. The only reason I'm not running more than one is its high mana cost and the fact that it's a little low impact vs Burn, Tron or Storm. I want at least 2 Felidars for the combo, a few Rhinos for the fair plan and Wingmate Roc as a high impact 5-drop for Evolution, so more than one Elspeth would be too much. In a list without the combo (I played that a few months ago, before I first tried Saheeli in Modern), I really like a second Elspeth.
My local metagame has quite few control decks, most of them with no creatures other than a few Snapcasters, and a couple of regular Tron players. Path isn't exactly great against these decks, and drawing multiples is an easy way to lose the game. I don't feel comfortable with no removal at all either, so I decided to hedge and just play one Path in the main (with quite a few more spot removals in the sideboard). It's strange, but has been working well for me. When I am facing control decks, I just keep topdecking threat after threat until they eventually run out of answers - with more reactive cards that wouldn't work.
Collective Brutality fills another flexible slot, and I could see playing a second Path instead. Brutality is better against Control, Titanshift, Burn and decks that benefit from the extra land that Path provides (Company, Ponza, Storm). But drawing multiples against Humans, Tron or Bogles would be awful, so once again just a single copy main and a second in the sideboard.
This leaves room for 2 Lingering Souls, which are proactive vs Control, but also help immensely against Jund and Affinity. In a different metagame, Lingering Souls, Path and Brutality could be distributed differently between main and side, or be different cards entirely. These are my most flexible spots, but I like my configuration for my current meta.
I guess my approach is just fundamentally different: While you want to maximize consistency, I view cards like Elspeth, Path and Brutality as optional and to some degree interchangeable: In most games I am fine whether I draw them or not, and when I find them I can decide how to best apply them. If I have one of each, that gives me choices, and I can pick the one best suited for a specific situation. At the same time, a higher number of different cards makes it tougher for the opponent to anticipate my actions.
But whenever I have multiple Paths in hand, I will eventually have to make use of them, and they all do the same thing. If that thing isn't what I need, I'd rather have a mix of flexible cards that are less likely to all be bad at the exact same time.
A resolved Inferno Titan is a really big problem, no question. My deck is weak to that card, but I can accept that because Ponza decks usually run less than 4 of those and there are no great answers to it outside of countermagic anyway (Path answers it, but only after it killed 1-2 creatures, and if you use Path in the earlier turns on something else, it ramps them towards Titan. Also, it can't even hit Stormbreath Dragon). So in my eyes the best bet is to ignore the card and hope for the best. They don't have it all the time, and sometimes you can win before it hits the board. (Using spot removal on their mana creatures and Utopia Sprawls helps a lot with that.)
Tracker is less of a problem because of cards like Lingering Souls, Rhino, Elspeth and Wingmate Roc: They give me lots of ways to deal damage around blockers on the ground, completely ignoring the body and card advantage Tracker provides. Add the combo into the mix, and stabilizing the board can be very tough against me. Letting them have a Tracker isn't optimal, but I'm not trying to trade 1 for 1 and win the long game anyway against Ponza. I'd rather put them under pressure, or after sideboarding work on their mana with Fatal Push, Reclamation Sage and Avalanche Riders - they are surprisingly weak to that.
@Emzed, loving the lingering souls! I just started running them in Kiki Chord and they're crazy good so far.
Your build is the next on my list to try. I'm about $10 away from it except for the noble Hierarchs. Reckon it'll manage without them? Not sure what I'd put in to replace them, suggestions would be appreciated.
15 player tournament, 2-2 with 5c Rhino Saheeli (almost the exact list I posted before, but swapped a Verdant Catacombs for a second Marsh Flats)
I lost to Titanshift 1-2 in the first round, then beat Burn and Abzan Counters Company without dropping a game, and lost to 4c Counters Company 0-2. I had the combo three times, but in one case flickering Rhino was just as lethal as the combo itself, so it didn't really matter.
The metagame was a little strange and way different from the shop where I usually play: 3 Titanshift, 2 Burn, 2 Hollow One and 2 Company decks, as well as a couple of other archetypes. Notably missing were Jund, Tron, Storm and Affinity. My sideboard wasn't optimal for that, but I know better what to expect there in the future.
The Aven Mindcensors were really weak today, I will have to find something to replace them. Maybe a couple of counterspells are a better way to combat Titanshift, Storm and similar combo decks.
@Shanti: Noble Hierarch is crucial for the deck, both as mana fixing and because the exalted triggers really matter a ton. Maybe you can try replacing them with a 4th Bird, Lotus Cobra or Avacyn's Pilgrim, but casting turn 2 Saheeli into turn 3 Rhino will be a lot tougher without Hierarch.
4 Noble Hierarch
X Birds of Paradise
4 Felidar Guardian
X Voice of Resurgence (?)
4 Coiling Oracle
X Eternal Witness
X Reflector Mage (?)
X Bloodbraid Elf
4 Saheeli Rai
X Jace, the Mindsculptor
X Fiery Justice (?)
4 Oath of Nissa
X Flooded Strand
X Windswept Heath
X Misty Rainforest
X Temple Garden
X Steam Vents
X Sacred Foundry
X Breeding Pool
X Stomping Ground
X Hallowed Fountain
X Island
X Forest
X Plains
Sideboard:
3 Rhox War Monk
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
3 Crumble to Dust
2 Stony Silence
2 Fiery Justice
1 Thragtusk
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 (??? Gold Card, old Border)
I think they said on stream that the deck had a total of 7 Jace + BBE, which I assume means 3 Jace and 4 BBE. As for the unknown old bordered gold card, there aren't many options as to what it could be. Most likely Fiery Justice or Meddling Mage.
I'm pretty sure I saw a Sun Titan in the deck too.
In a metagame where you expect most of your opponents to have interaction in the early turns, Cobra gets a lot worse in my opinion. Lightning Bolt, Thoughtseize, Mana Leak, Leonin Arbiter or similar effects will often ruin the Cobra starts, and I prefer having a higher number of Birds + Hierarchs in those matchups instead of Cobra. The recent unbannings propelled interactive decks to the front, so for now I don't think Cobra is well positioned. Renegade Rallier, however, can really shine against these decks, unless they interact with the graveyard (Grafdigger's Cage, Scavenging Ooze).
From my playtesting so far, I don't want ralliers (even in a lotus build) unless I have a good density of early drops that are likely to end up in my graveyard (coiling oracle is a bit of a bomb in that regard, of course. Wall of omens is probably decent but is unlikely to die early enough, voice is obviously strong). There'll likely be a breakpoint when it starts to get quite good. And of course, a second oath is good but quite unreliable to draw TWO oaths early, and have the mana to play them efficiently, etc.
Has anyone tried a wall-of-omens heavy build? I saw a list running 4, and I was immediately intrigued, but lost the list! I worry that it puts us in the extremely durdly category, but I wonder if anyone has examined control-ish builds? I suppose those would be Jeskai. Yeah, nevermind, mostly forget this part.
Round 1
BW Tokens
Played against my gf here, this is a great matchup for us unless their hand consist of 3 hand disruption spells, 2 removal spells and 2 lands. Easy wins, frustrating start.
Round 2
Bant Spirits
So now I'm actually tilted by our misfortune (my brother amd gf even played round 3). My little brother plays UW spirits, and I managed to get Bant together for him. I actually really, really don't like this matchup. Queller is great against us. We also lack flyers. A few test matches pre tournament were rough. G1 one I killed him T2 and game 2 I landed Gaddock Teeg shutting off his coco and comboed him out T6.
Round 3
Bloodbraid Jund
This guy grinds GBx, and we have played before. Really solid player, I have been getting him with Saheeli but he always beats me when I'm on my other decks. G1 I have a fast hand and combo him after he taps out for bloodbraid elf. G2 my hand is slow and I manage to play my spicy tech (ruric thar) to stabilize. He rips bloodbraid elf off the top, and kills me with one extra attacker. G3 he tapped out around t6 for elf after hand disruption tore me up to start the game. Board is stalled, he has a couple cards in hand and I have kiki in play. Resto off the top is all she wrote.
I have a team tournament today, and am the modern player. Will let you guys know how it goes!
If I understand the Dominaria Release Notes correctly, as soon as the set is released, Saheeli will no longer be able to deal damage to planeswalkers with the +1 ability. While it doesn't come up all the time, pressuring planeswalkers has been an important feature of Saheeli for me, and losing that option will hurt.
RBW Mardu Pyro
X Eldrazi
Pauper:
X Affinity
G Stompy
Bolt is in this category, it can target.
RBW Mardu Pyro
X Eldrazi
Pauper:
X Affinity
G Stompy
@maniospas, I largely agree. My only point is that Renegade Rallier is a card that is hugely versatile. You can't analyse it on just one axis, because on that axis it is almost always going to be a sub-par option (Eternal Witness is almost strictly-better in a grind sense). It's body is also a consideration occasionaly. You have to take all the corner cases into account, because they add up. In this case, they currently add up to being just a bit sub-par. But I think there's likely some builds where the corner cases add up to being quite powerful. Thanks, I'll have a look at the draw options you mention. Agreed they look like a bit of a dud - they're hugely powerful, but they slow down average tempo pretty massively if you're running more than 1-2 copies I suspect.
@Shelldell I was about to ask about people's thoughts on the best build for being removal-heavy, but I think you just answered my question. Thanks!
Saucy bits include: Jace AND BBE, no Evolutions, no Voice, and a full set of Fiery Justices in the main. I think this list is rather untuned, but goodness if it's not all in on the thing we do. It's almost like a more powerful version of the Aether Vial lists that did decently for a stretch around the Holidays.
I don't see what BBE is doing in there, though. Seems like it hits a dud a LOT, which is an awful shame for four mana. But it does dig a bit deeper, so does increase the speed at which you can dig up the combo pieces I guess?
5-0 is not a terribly impressive record, but I could be missing something for sure. I do think it's quite neat with all the synergies. Evolution would be tricky in the deck, but wonder if chord could work? I don't think the curves quite work? I think it'd be cool to have something that works better with Eternal Witness, it feels clunky to have e-wit but not paths.
Rallier - agreed.
Anyone tinker with 6 drops some more? Many of my games, a 6/6 that can be chump blocked that can slowly grab 3 drops isn't that inspiring (Unless playing the value build where the three drops are a bit more inspiring). What about things like Armada Wurm? It gives much better blink value.
The deck does still have those awkward draws where you just flood into oblivion or get so out tempo'd early that you never are given a chance to re-assert yourself. I will continue to work on this version.
I recently tested a Glorybringer as a removal spell that also assists with the aggro plan that Bloodbraid provides but it was pretty terrible outside a few cute scenarios. I have moved back to Reflector Mage as a MD removal tutor. We will see how this goes, it might be right to just some Path's MD. Also am not sure if Thragtusk is any good. He cost a ton and only really generates relevant advantage if I can then build off him with Cat or Saheeli. He hasn't been terrible, but he might not be what I want. I had an Ooze in my previous build and it might be more of a useful tool here, especially with playing Cobra. Everything else in the MD has pulled its weight quite well.
As for the SB, Gearhulk was sweet originally but now has felt less so. I liked a Wrath effect against go-wide decks but I don't know how much we really need it. I'll keep him for now but he is close to being cut. I also probably want to some GY removal somewhere, which the previously mentioned Ooze would help with.
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Bloodbraid Elf
4x Lotus Cobra
4x Renegade Rallier
4x Voice of Resurgence
2x Felidar Guardian
1x Reflector Mage
1x Thalia's Lancers
1x Thragtusk
1x Tireless Tracker
Spells(12)
4x Eldritch Evolution
4x Oath of Nissa
4x Saheeli Rai
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Windswept Heath
3x Flooded Strand
2x Forest
2x Horizon Canopy
2x Plains
1x Breeding Pool
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
2x Path to Exile
2x Stony Silence
1x Avalanche Riders
1x Blood Moon
1x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Glen Elendra Archmage
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Obstinate Baloth
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Reclamation Sage
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
4x Noble Hierarch
3x Birds of Paradise
4x Voice of Resurgence
1x Qasali Pridemage
2x Blade Splicer
1x Renegade Rallier
1x Vengeful Rebel
3x Siege Rhino
2x Felidar Guardian
1x Wingmate Roc
Other Spells 16
4x Oath of Nissa
4x Saheeli Rai
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3x Eldritch Evolution
1x Path to Exile
1x Collective Brutality
2x Lingering Souls
4x Windswept Heath
4x Verdant Catacombs
1x Marsh Flats
1x Breeding Pool
1x Godless Shrine
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Temple Garden
3x Forest
1x Plains
1x Swamp
3x Horizon Canopy
1x Gaddock Teeg
2x Aven Mindcensor
1x Sin Collector
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Avalanche Riders
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Path to Exile
2x Fatal Push
1x Abrupt Decay
1x Collective Brutality
1x Stony Silence
2x Rest in Peace
I changed a few lands since the last time (Forest, Sacred Foundry, Horizon Canopy instead of Plains, Stomping Ground, Gavony Township), nothing else.
Now I am at 19-6 overall since adding Siege Rhino and Blade Splicer to my deck, and won 3 out of 6 tournaments that I played. There was a lot of luck involved here and there (for example I won all four die rolls tonight, which was very relevant), but after 25 matches with great results I really have to say the deck is amazing and I love how the games play out. It can play a fair game extremely well, and every now and then just has the combo in addition to that.
Tonight's matches were against Blue Tron, Green Tron, UB Control and RB Hollow One. I only assembled the combo once (vs Green Tron). Again, Blade Splicer was absolutely great whenever I drew it. It has so many relevant synergies and is really good on both offense and defense - just the perfect allrounder card. Maybe I will even add a third one for next time.
Yeah I can see that. I might give the third one a try anyway, but maybe playing two Splicers is actually fine. The card somehow serves as the perfect glue for holding the whole deck together, since it has a very high floor: It's easy to cast, always does exactly what it's meant to do (no fail rate like with Rallier, hardly any way to hate it) and there are few situations where it isn't a relevant draw.
I assume you are referring to Elspeth, Path and Collective Brutality?
Elspeth is just a threat that dodges sweepers, spot removal, and breaks board stalls by sending a big creature to the air (usually Rhino or Voice tokens). It can also negate an opposing attacker by providing chump blockers, or kill planeswalkers with unexpected "haste" damage thanks to its second ability. The only reason I'm not running more than one is its high mana cost and the fact that it's a little low impact vs Burn, Tron or Storm. I want at least 2 Felidars for the combo, a few Rhinos for the fair plan and Wingmate Roc as a high impact 5-drop for Evolution, so more than one Elspeth would be too much. In a list without the combo (I played that a few months ago, before I first tried Saheeli in Modern), I really like a second Elspeth.
My local metagame has quite few control decks, most of them with no creatures other than a few Snapcasters, and a couple of regular Tron players. Path isn't exactly great against these decks, and drawing multiples is an easy way to lose the game. I don't feel comfortable with no removal at all either, so I decided to hedge and just play one Path in the main (with quite a few more spot removals in the sideboard). It's strange, but has been working well for me. When I am facing control decks, I just keep topdecking threat after threat until they eventually run out of answers - with more reactive cards that wouldn't work.
Collective Brutality fills another flexible slot, and I could see playing a second Path instead. Brutality is better against Control, Titanshift, Burn and decks that benefit from the extra land that Path provides (Company, Ponza, Storm). But drawing multiples against Humans, Tron or Bogles would be awful, so once again just a single copy main and a second in the sideboard.
This leaves room for 2 Lingering Souls, which are proactive vs Control, but also help immensely against Jund and Affinity. In a different metagame, Lingering Souls, Path and Brutality could be distributed differently between main and side, or be different cards entirely. These are my most flexible spots, but I like my configuration for my current meta.
I guess my approach is just fundamentally different: While you want to maximize consistency, I view cards like Elspeth, Path and Brutality as optional and to some degree interchangeable: In most games I am fine whether I draw them or not, and when I find them I can decide how to best apply them. If I have one of each, that gives me choices, and I can pick the one best suited for a specific situation. At the same time, a higher number of different cards makes it tougher for the opponent to anticipate my actions.
But whenever I have multiple Paths in hand, I will eventually have to make use of them, and they all do the same thing. If that thing isn't what I need, I'd rather have a mix of flexible cards that are less likely to all be bad at the exact same time.
Tracker is less of a problem because of cards like Lingering Souls, Rhino, Elspeth and Wingmate Roc: They give me lots of ways to deal damage around blockers on the ground, completely ignoring the body and card advantage Tracker provides. Add the combo into the mix, and stabilizing the board can be very tough against me. Letting them have a Tracker isn't optimal, but I'm not trying to trade 1 for 1 and win the long game anyway against Ponza. I'd rather put them under pressure, or after sideboarding work on their mana with Fatal Push, Reclamation Sage and Avalanche Riders - they are surprisingly weak to that.
Your build is the next on my list to try. I'm about $10 away from it except for the noble Hierarchs. Reckon it'll manage without them? Not sure what I'd put in to replace them, suggestions would be appreciated.
I lost to Titanshift 1-2 in the first round, then beat Burn and Abzan Counters Company without dropping a game, and lost to 4c Counters Company 0-2. I had the combo three times, but in one case flickering Rhino was just as lethal as the combo itself, so it didn't really matter.
The metagame was a little strange and way different from the shop where I usually play: 3 Titanshift, 2 Burn, 2 Hollow One and 2 Company decks, as well as a couple of other archetypes. Notably missing were Jund, Tron, Storm and Affinity. My sideboard wasn't optimal for that, but I know better what to expect there in the future.
The Aven Mindcensors were really weak today, I will have to find something to replace them. Maybe a couple of counterspells are a better way to combat Titanshift, Storm and similar combo decks.
@Shanti: Noble Hierarch is crucial for the deck, both as mana fixing and because the exalted triggers really matter a ton. Maybe you can try replacing them with a 4th Bird, Lotus Cobra or Avacyn's Pilgrim, but casting turn 2 Saheeli into turn 3 Rhino will be a lot tougher without Hierarch.
RBW Mardu Pyro
X Eldrazi
Pauper:
X Affinity
G Stompy
GWU Knightfall Spirit Company GWU
GWB Abzan Evolution GWB
4c Saheeli Rai
4 Noble Hierarch
X Birds of Paradise
4 Felidar Guardian
X Voice of Resurgence (?)
4 Coiling Oracle
X Eternal Witness
X Reflector Mage (?)
X Bloodbraid Elf
4 Saheeli Rai
X Jace, the Mindsculptor
X Fiery Justice (?)
4 Oath of Nissa
X Flooded Strand
X Windswept Heath
X Misty Rainforest
X Temple Garden
X Steam Vents
X Sacred Foundry
X Breeding Pool
X Stomping Ground
X Hallowed Fountain
X Island
X Forest
X Plains
Sideboard:
3 Rhox War Monk
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
3 Crumble to Dust
2 Stony Silence
2 Fiery Justice
1 Thragtusk
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 (??? Gold Card, old Border)
I'm pretty sure I saw a Sun Titan in the deck too.