Still testing stuff for GP LA. Currently on two flickerwisp, two kalitas, two dismember and the fetid Heath as a 23d land. Heavily slanted to beating midrange, aggro, and collected company decks.
See again, you guys really sound like you should be playing Dead guy to me. Just take out all the terrible hatebears cards, add thoughtsieze and lil.
In other news, the week I swap my militants and splicers for Hierarch and smiter is the week I go 4-0. Also got 3 free wins off of arbiter so take that 2-drop haters!
@glitter: I agree whole heartedly. Actually looking at adding militant to my bw eldrazi taxes somehow. Serves the same purpose as lists running relic mb (which I can't do),but not only does it get early cards in exile,but also it is a must kill for quite a few decks like storm, snapcaster decks, and annoyance to goyf based decks, grim lavamancer and other recursion. So it draws early removal away from better taxes, provides early aggression that bw lacks and at worst trades with oponent's t1 goblin guide, seems like a lot of good from a 1-drop.
I absolutely agree, they're not dumb muscle, they just seem to have a very narrow focus: hand disruption, along with Tidehollow Sculler, and processing exiled cards to kill something on the board. The thing is, for this to be powerful you need at least 3, maybe 4 pieces on the board (Displacer, Vial/Wisp or both, Strangler, TKS/Sculler), because you need a blink effect in order to soft-lock your opponent's draws; without it, the strong hand disruption that the Eldrazi package provides quickly loses its utility. When your opponent is top-decking, drawing another TKS is very uninteresting. The same is true for Strangler when there are no targets to kill: it becomes a *gasp* 3/2 for 3. None of them having evasion seems like a big deal to me too.
That being said, I recognize I don't yet have any data to back my claims, so for now it's just theory.
I'll need to keep testing and see how things evolve. Maybe I'll learn to love our new Eldrazi overlords!
Would love to see your monowhite list if you don't mind sharing. I am currently running 2x Wall but admitted it was a flex spot wherein I'm trying multiple cards. Otherwise, my creature base is a typical monowhite build with an Eldrazi splash:
Next guinea pigs for the Wall of Omens spot are Judge's Familiar, Aegis of the Gods, and Brimaz. While I love Brimaz and have fond memories of him in an old standard GW heroic build, I feel like that will gum up the 3 drop a little too much...really looking for an impactful 2-drop that makes sense as a 2-of.
Would love to see your monowhite list if you don't mind sharing. I am currently running 2x Wall but admitted it was a flex spot wherein I'm trying multiple cards. Otherwise, my creature base is a typical monowhite build with an Eldrazi splash:
Next guinea pigs for the Wall of Omens spot are Judge's Familiar, Aegis of the Gods, and Brimaz. While I love Brimaz and have fond memories of him in an old standard GW heroic build, I feel like that will gum up the 3 drop a little too much...really looking for an impactful 2-drop that makes sense as a 2-of.
Id ditch the walls, one avenger and one displacer for 4 dryad militant. You could also ditch the remaining two avengers for brimaz, or swap the kitchen fi ks for him too.
Personally I also find the ELdrazi & Taxes worse than just straight mono white.
Way more awkward hands like when only wastes mana is a ghost quarter you need to use with arbiter etc.
Especially that last point came up quite a bit. Even if I did have additional wastes, without an active vial or eldrazi temple thought knot seer becomes hard to cast if you also want to aggressively disrupt their mana.
For the monowhite lists I have really been liking 2 Judge's Familiar. Sure it's a low power creature but at least it adds some more turn 1 plays. It also helps protect Thalia and Arbiter a bit.
In general the lack of turn 1 plays outside of AEther vial is quite difficult. This week I lost the die roll to bushwacker zoo and because of that I lost the match (had I won the die roll I would have won). Going up to 2 sunlance in the sideboard in an attempt to give me more turn 1 possibilities.
Longtime lurker, first time poster.
Agree on both points. Even a small secondary splash (be it black, blue, or red) really hurts your base if not careful. It's not like hatebears where you get the dorks to even you out.
I think if you're running mono-white, 2 familiars (at least) are a necessity. It can trade with an affinity fliers and protect the t2 arbiter/thalia plays. I'm running 3 now and considering going for the full set.
I think if you're running mono-white, 2 familiars (at least) are a necessity. It can trade with an affinity fliers and protect the t2 arbiter/thalia plays. I'm running 3 now and considering going for the full set.
Hey, me too! Just ordered a promo playset, they look sweet.
here ias the list I am gonna try for the 5k this weekend. Went to a lot of 3 ofs (may be wrong) in order to add the dryad militants, for aforementioned reasons (early exile aggresion/protection from aggression and early target. looking at the list's at least mildly relevant (sometimes very relevant) versus Jund, coco, infect (blocker that forces pump and anti become immense), burn (great against since it blocks early creatures even better if they run lavamancer), junk, kiki chord, scapeshift (nulls snapcaster but that's it), and all 3 color control variants. Also a lot of 3 ofs to see what I want to cut for GP LA.
here ias the list I am gonna try for the 5k this weekend. Went to a lot of 3 ofs (may be wrong) in order to add the dryad militants, for aforementioned reasons (early exile aggresion/protection from aggression and early target. looking at the list's at least mildly relevant (sometimes very relevant) versus Jund, coco, infect (blocker that forces pump and anti become immense), burn (great against since it blocks early creatures even better if they run lavamancer), junk, kiki chord, scapeshift (nulls snapcaster but that's it), and all 3 color control variants. Also a lot of 3 ofs to see what I want to cut for GP LA.
Interesting, really looking forward to hearing the results. I've been seeing more people forego any Mirran Crusader, but I feel like it puts great pressure up in the jund matchup despite being bolt-able. Especially if you're running one of the swords. Regardless, good luck!
@Stubbs Mirran makes it into the 75 of every non-edrazi taxes list I make, just not enough room for him currently in the main with the eldrazi and i like finks a little more in the side, also when running 2+ crusader I switch sword to fire and ice (if running. He is still a VERY good card just like avenger and brimaz but no room in the packed eldrazi list.
@Stubbs Mirran makes it into the 75 of every non-edrazi taxes list I make, just not enough room for him currently in the main with the eldrazi and i like finks a little more in the side, also when running 2+ crusader I switch sword to fire and ice (if running. He is still a VERY good card just like avenger and brimaz but no room in the packed eldrazi list.
I am going to the 5K tomorrow as well. Let's get together!
@Elf Makes sense. Finks is crucial to balance that life loss in the B/W build, and it's already hard to mess with the main too much. I really like the move to 3 scullers. That B/W can be such a killer to fix your mana to.
Round 1 Jeskai Delver (2-1)[1-0]:
Game 1 he managed to get in enough damage to with Bolts and Snaps to lethal me as I was stabilizing. Game 2 I won pretty handedly by ripping out a Lightning Angel from hand with a turn 2 TKS and then Turn 3 I stuck a strangler to kill Delver and Displacer at EOT which sealed the game. Game 3 I really shouldn't have won. I won off the back of a really hard bluff. I was winning the game when he top decked a Lightning Angel. With no real way to remove it in hand and it having Vigilance I knew I needed an answer soon. I topdecked a land and opted not to swing I blinked Angel with Displacer in response to him bolting my Displacer (I had no flickerwisp or anything of the sort to save it). I then topdecked an Aether Vial and realized that topdeck likely signified that I had lost. However like brashest of champions, I animated my Shambling Vent and swung in with the team. He flashes in a Snap to trade with my Strangler and takes the rest. This signifies 2 things to me. 1.) He doesn't have removal in hand and 2.) He is worried about me having a second Wasteland Strangler with which I could kill Lighting Angel post combat which also means he doesn't have another threat in hand. He topdecks a path for my Shambling Vent but takes a Strangler hit and a Thalia hit which put him down to 2. I am at 4 and have to fade a bolt. He draws and knocks me down to 1. I draw and swing in and he extends the hand. I reveal my hand as a just topdecked Kalitas and a Vial. He had double Wear\\Tears. I think that was the hardest I have ever bluffed my way to victory. Had he just started blocking my guys, he'd have won the race and I'd be out of dudes. (Card trial notes: Kalitas only showed up too late at the end so I wasn't able to actually use him but Smasher would have been very solid there as it REALLY would have been lethal even if he had topdecked say a Snapcaster to block the other attacker. Relic did some work on his GY to keep his snapcasters muted in the 3rd game but they felt more like a luxury. The ability to crack them for a card was nice though.)
Round 2 Burn (2-0)[2-0]:
I ripped apart his hand early in both games of anything that targets creatures. I then used Wasteland Strangler to kill his dudes and my damage outraced his. Game 2 he had to mull to 4 and it quickly became no contest as I stuck a Finks with a Displacer on board.
Round 3 Burn (2-0)[3-0]:
This kid is well known in my shop for having the best luck when playing burn out of anyone I know (he also knows the deck well enough and took it undefeated at regionals back in Jan). I was hesitant about how this matchup would be but overall it hasn't been too bad. He got some bad beats on the draws and set up a possible kill from 13 on me in game 2 but wasn't able to pull it off (Boros Charm, Skull Crack and I assumed he had a Bolt in hand and was trying to topdeck a second). Between Thalia, Arbiter and Finks out of the SB I feel alright about the matchup. Turns out when you can't answer 3 power creatures which come down fast.. they tend to kill you quickly.
Round 4 Affinity (2-0)[4-0]:
For as much as people say they get awkward hands, maybe I just have a feel for them. Game 1 Displacer did a ton of work as I beat him down with TKS. Game 2 I kept one of those "awkward hands" it had a Temple, GQ, Kataki, Stony, TKS, Path, Strangler. Worst case I figured I'd GQ my own Temple to stick either Kataki or Stony based on his play. I then lead with Temple that way on the off chance I draw a 2nd Temple, I have the turn 2 TKS. Instead I topdeck Caves of Koilos and it's as they say "Ogre Battle 64". I Play Stony Silence to shut off a Mox and Citadel. He plays a Pithing Needle and names Displacer. I then play Kataki and he sacs his board and pays for the Vault Skirge and Needle. He does find a 3rd land but scoops when I play TKS. He was so far behind at that point he likely couldn't find an out.
All in all it was a good day. Not just because I won (which admittedly makes all days better) but also I didn't have to face the same coin-flip Jund matchup all 3 rounds. Instead I pulled the Hyper Aggro card and faced all those. Turns out we do ok on that front. I am unsold on Relic and think the Militants are definitely worth a shot. Not super sold on Kalitas really but another lifelinker is always a welcome addition (especially one the is non-boltable and gives bonus value). I may try Sword of Light and Shadow and see if I like that.
Round 1 Jeskai Delver (2-1)[1-0]:
Game 1 he managed to get in enough damage to with Bolts and Snaps to lethal me as I was stabilizing. Game 2 I won pretty handedly by ripping out a Lightning Angel from hand with a turn 2 TKS and then Turn 3 I stuck a strangler to kill Delver and Displacer at EOT which sealed the game. Game 3 I really shouldn't have won. I won off the back of a really hard bluff. I was winning the game when he top decked a Lightning Angel. With no real way to remove it in hand and it having Vigilance I knew I needed an answer soon. I topdecked a land and opted not to swing I blinked Angel with Displacer in response to him bolting my Displacer (I had no flickerwisp or anything of the sort to save it). I then topdecked an Aether Vial and realized that topdeck likely signified that I had lost. However like brashest of champions, I animated my Shambling Vent and swung in with the team. He flashes in a Snap to trade with my Strangler and takes the rest. This signifies 2 things to me. 1.) He doesn't have removal in hand and 2.) He is worried about me having a second Wasteland Strangler with which I could kill Lighting Angel post combat which also means he doesn't have another threat in hand. He topdecks a path for my Shambling Vent but takes a Strangler hit and a Thalia hit which put him down to 2. I am at 4 and have to fade a bolt. He draws and knocks me down to 1. I draw and swing in and he extends the hand. I reveal my hand as a just topdecked Kalitas and a Vial. He had double Wear\\Tears. I think that was the hardest I have ever bluffed my way to victory. Had he just started blocking my guys, he'd have won the race and I'd be out of dudes. (Card trial notes: Kalitas only showed up too late at the end so I wasn't able to actually use him but Smasher would have been very solid there as it REALLY would have been lethal even if he had topdecked say a Snapcaster to block the other attacker. Relic did some work on his GY to keep his snapcasters muted in the 3rd game but they felt more like a luxury. The ability to crack them for a card was nice though.)
Round 2 Burn (2-0)[2-0]:
I ripped apart his hand early in both games of anything that targets creatures. I then used Wasteland Strangler to kill his dudes and my damage outraced his. Game 2 he had to mull to 4 and it quickly became no contest as I stuck a Finks with a Displacer on board.
Round 3 Burn (2-0)[3-0]:
This kid is well known in my shop for having the best luck when playing burn out of anyone I know (he also knows the deck well enough and took it undefeated at regionals back in Jan). I was hesitant about how this matchup would be but overall it hasn't been too bad. He got some bad beats on the draws and set up a possible kill from 13 on me in game 2 but wasn't able to pull it off (Boros Charm, Skull Crack and I assumed he had a Bolt in hand and was trying to topdeck a second). Between Thalia, Arbiter and Finks out of the SB I feel alright about the matchup. Turns out when you can't answer 3 power creatures which come down fast.. they tend to kill you quickly.
Round 4 Affinity (2-0)[4-0]:
For as much as people say they get awkward hands, maybe I just have a feel for them. Game 1 Displacer did a ton of work as I beat him down with TKS. Game 2 I kept one of those "awkward hands" it had a Temple, GQ, Kataki, Stony, TKS, Path, Strangler. Worst case I figured I'd GQ my own Temple to stick either Kataki or Stony based on his play. I then lead with Temple that way on the off chance I draw a 2nd Temple, I have the turn 2 TKS. Instead I topdeck Caves of Koilos and it's as they say "Ogre Battle 64". I Play Stony Silence to shut off a Mox and Citadel. He plays a Pithing Needle and names Displacer. I then play Kataki and he sacs his board and pays for the Vault Skirge and Needle. He does find a 3rd land but scoops when I play TKS. He was so far behind at that point he likely couldn't find an out.
All in all it was a good day. Not just because I won (which admittedly makes all days better) but also I didn't have to face the same coin-flip Jund matchup all 3 rounds. Instead I pulled the Hyper Aggro card and faced all those. Turns out we do ok on that front. I am unsold on Relic and think the Militants are definitely worth a shot. Not super sold on Kalitas really but another lifelinker is always a welcome addition (especially one the is non-boltable and gives bonus value). I may try Sword of Light and Shadow and see if I like that.
Round 1 Jeskai Delver (2-1)[1-0]:
Game 1 he managed to get in enough damage to with Bolts and Snaps to lethal me as I was stabilizing. Game 2 I won pretty handedly by ripping out a Lightning Angel from hand with a turn 2 TKS and then Turn 3 I stuck a strangler to kill Delver and Displacer at EOT which sealed the game. Game 3 I really shouldn't have won. I won off the back of a really hard bluff. I was winning the game when he top decked a Lightning Angel. With no real way to remove it in hand and it having Vigilance I knew I needed an answer soon. I topdecked a land and opted not to swing I blinked Angel with Displacer in response to him bolting my Displacer (I had no flickerwisp or anything of the sort to save it). I then topdecked an Aether Vial and realized that topdeck likely signified that I had lost. However like brashest of champions, I animated my Shambling Vent and swung in with the team. He flashes in a Snap to trade with my Strangler and takes the rest. This signifies 2 things to me. 1.) He doesn't have removal in hand and 2.) He is worried about me having a second Wasteland Strangler with which I could kill Lighting Angel post combat which also means he doesn't have another threat in hand. He topdecks a path for my Shambling Vent but takes a Strangler hit and a Thalia hit which put him down to 2. I am at 4 and have to fade a bolt. He draws and knocks me down to 1. I draw and swing in and he extends the hand. I reveal my hand as a just topdecked Kalitas and a Vial. He had double Wear\\Tears. I think that was the hardest I have ever bluffed my way to victory. Had he just started blocking my guys, he'd have won the race and I'd be out of dudes. (Card trial notes: Kalitas only showed up too late at the end so I wasn't able to actually use him but Smasher would have been very solid there as it REALLY would have been lethal even if he had topdecked say a Snapcaster to block the other attacker. Relic did some work on his GY to keep his snapcasters muted in the 3rd game but they felt more like a luxury. The ability to crack them for a card was nice though.)
Round 2 Burn (2-0)[2-0]:
I ripped apart his hand early in both games of anything that targets creatures. I then used Wasteland Strangler to kill his dudes and my damage outraced his. Game 2 he had to mull to 4 and it quickly became no contest as I stuck a Finks with a Displacer on board.
Round 3 Burn (2-0)[3-0]:
This kid is well known in my shop for having the best luck when playing burn out of anyone I know (he also knows the deck well enough and took it undefeated at regionals back in Jan). I was hesitant about how this matchup would be but overall it hasn't been too bad. He got some bad beats on the draws and set up a possible kill from 13 on me in game 2 but wasn't able to pull it off (Boros Charm, Skull Crack and I assumed he had a Bolt in hand and was trying to topdeck a second). Between Thalia, Arbiter and Finks out of the SB I feel alright about the matchup. Turns out when you can't answer 3 power creatures which come down fast.. they tend to kill you quickly.
Round 4 Affinity (2-0)[4-0]:
For as much as people say they get awkward hands, maybe I just have a feel for them. Game 1 Displacer did a ton of work as I beat him down with TKS. Game 2 I kept one of those "awkward hands" it had a Temple, GQ, Kataki, Stony, TKS, Path, Strangler. Worst case I figured I'd GQ my own Temple to stick either Kataki or Stony based on his play. I then lead with Temple that way on the off chance I draw a 2nd Temple, I have the turn 2 TKS. Instead I topdeck Caves of Koilos and it's as they say "Ogre Battle 64". I Play Stony Silence to shut off a Mox and Citadel. He plays a Pithing Needle and names Displacer. I then play Kataki and he sacs his board and pays for the Vault Skirge and Needle. He does find a 3rd land but scoops when I play TKS. He was so far behind at that point he likely couldn't find an out.
All in all it was a good day. Not just because I won (which admittedly makes all days better) but also I didn't have to face the same coin-flip Jund matchup all 3 rounds. Instead I pulled the Hyper Aggro card and faced all those. Turns out we do ok on that front. I am unsold on Relic and think the Militants are definitely worth a shot. Not super sold on Kalitas really but another lifelinker is always a welcome addition (especially one the is non-boltable and gives bonus value). I may try Sword of Light and Shadow and see if I like that.
Don't let Sheepz see this post
Does he not like the cut down to 3 Flickerwisps? I had to make cuts somewhere and every card in the list is pulling it's weight in force. It's also the hardest on CMC to cast which is partially why I cut one. It worked out well I'd say.
@exatraz: comment from earlier in the threats where he claimed he would kill a kitten for every flickerwisp cut, hence why you occasionally see the comment "think of the kittens." When used correctly it is one of the most powerful cards in the deck regardless of build. And what separates gw version from Hate bears.
@exatraz: comment from earlier in the threats where he claimed he would kill a kitten for every flickerwisp cut, hence why you occasionally see the comment "think of the kittens." When used correctly it is one of the most powerful cards in the deck regardless of build. And what separates gw version from Hate bears.
Ah I see. Well now I am in on said joke. But I apologize for nothing. With the Eldrazi land base getting WW is harder than saw W2 for Displacer. I'm never going to cut too low though as it is very very very good.
Went 4-1 again in a league with the mono white list. It felt solid although I did have to really work for some of the wins. Also still making small mistakes because I;m not super familiar with MTGO.
Last match was vs UWR so I brought in Sword of Fire and Ice. The sword never really felt like something that was truly ever going to do anything. I need to spend to much mana on it to be useful. Sure it makes all of my guys threats but that deck (and most decks where the sword would be good) already wants to kill all the things. Furthermore I really don't have much mana lying around as I have found I am very aggressively using my lands. I run 4 Horizon Canopy that I sac pretty often. All of this makes me doubt the inclusion of the swords in the sideboard. I might actually go back to running a one of Hero of Bladehold in the sideboard that I used to bring in vs lightning bolt decks. They don't have a ton of answers for her. She is also okay to bring in vs some of the slower combo decks as a supercharged clock.
I agree that I think Sword of F&I is too cute though I do like Light and Shadow simply because it actually gets you your creatures back as well if I gave you the choice when you draw a card off of F&I to draw a creature or a random card I bet you'd want the creature.
See again, you guys really sound like you should be playing Dead guy to me. Just take out all the terrible hatebears cards, add thoughtsieze and lil.
In other news, the week I swap my militants and splicers for Hierarch and smiter is the week I go 4-0. Also got 3 free wins off of arbiter so take that 2-drop haters!
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
I absolutely agree, they're not dumb muscle, they just seem to have a very narrow focus: hand disruption, along with Tidehollow Sculler, and processing exiled cards to kill something on the board. The thing is, for this to be powerful you need at least 3, maybe 4 pieces on the board (Displacer, Vial/Wisp or both, Strangler, TKS/Sculler), because you need a blink effect in order to soft-lock your opponent's draws; without it, the strong hand disruption that the Eldrazi package provides quickly loses its utility. When your opponent is top-decking, drawing another TKS is very uninteresting. The same is true for Strangler when there are no targets to kill: it becomes a *gasp* 3/2 for 3. None of them having evasion seems like a big deal to me too.
That being said, I recognize I don't yet have any data to back my claims, so for now it's just theory.
I'll need to keep testing and see how things evolve. Maybe I'll learn to love our new Eldrazi overlords!
2 Wall of Omens
3 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Aven Mindcensor
3 Blade Splicer
3 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Flickerwisp
2 Kitchen Finks
4 Thought-Knot Seer
Next guinea pigs for the Wall of Omens spot are Judge's Familiar, Aegis of the Gods, and Brimaz. While I love Brimaz and have fond memories of him in an old standard GW heroic build, I feel like that will gum up the 3 drop a little too much...really looking for an impactful 2-drop that makes sense as a 2-of.
Longtime lurker, first time poster.
Agree on both points. Even a small secondary splash (be it black, blue, or red) really hurts your base if not careful. It's not like hatebears where you get the dorks to even you out.
I think if you're running mono-white, 2 familiars (at least) are a necessity. It can trade with an affinity fliers and protect the t2 arbiter/thalia plays. I'm running 3 now and considering going for the full set.
Affinity
Death & Taxes
Mardu Nahiri
Forcing people to merge with twitch is stupid
Hey, me too! Just ordered a promo playset, they look sweet.
3 dryad militant
3 Thalia, guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin arbiter
3 tidehollow sculler
4 flickerwisp
3 wasteland strangler
2 eldrazi displacer
2 aven mindcensor
4 thought-knot seer
spells 9
4 aether vial
4 path to exile
1 sword of light and shadow
4 caves of koilos
4 eldrazi temple
4 godless shrine
4 ghost quarter
2 plains
2 shambling vent
1 swamp
1 wastes
1 fetid heath
2 surgical extraction
2 anguished unmaking
2 kitchen finks
2 burrenton forge-tender
2 stony silence
2 sunlance
2 Ghostly prison
1 spellskite
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Interesting, really looking forward to hearing the results. I've been seeing more people forego any Mirran Crusader, but I feel like it puts great pressure up in the jund matchup despite being bolt-able. Especially if you're running one of the swords. Regardless, good luck!
Affinity
Death & Taxes
Mardu Nahiri
Forcing people to merge with twitch is stupid
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
I am going to the 5K tomorrow as well. Let's get together!
http://www.wizardryfoundry.com
Current Deck:
Affinity
Death & Taxes
Mardu Nahiri
Forcing people to merge with twitch is stupid
4x Wasteland Strangler
4x Eldrazi Displacer
4x Tidehollow Sculler
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Thought-knot Seer
3x Flickerwisp
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4x Aether Vial
2x Relic of Progenitus
Spells(4):
4x Path to Exile
Lands(22):
4x Ghost Quarter
3x Godless Shrine
3x Shambling Vent
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Eldrazi Temple
2x Swamp
1x Plains
1x Westvale Abbey
Today I was experimenting both with Relic of Progenitus and Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in Thoughtseize and Reality Smasher slots respectively.
Round 1 Jeskai Delver (2-1)[1-0]:
Game 1 he managed to get in enough damage to with Bolts and Snaps to lethal me as I was stabilizing. Game 2 I won pretty handedly by ripping out a Lightning Angel from hand with a turn 2 TKS and then Turn 3 I stuck a strangler to kill Delver and Displacer at EOT which sealed the game. Game 3 I really shouldn't have won. I won off the back of a really hard bluff. I was winning the game when he top decked a Lightning Angel. With no real way to remove it in hand and it having Vigilance I knew I needed an answer soon. I topdecked a land and opted not to swing I blinked Angel with Displacer in response to him bolting my Displacer (I had no flickerwisp or anything of the sort to save it). I then topdecked an Aether Vial and realized that topdeck likely signified that I had lost. However like brashest of champions, I animated my Shambling Vent and swung in with the team. He flashes in a Snap to trade with my Strangler and takes the rest. This signifies 2 things to me. 1.) He doesn't have removal in hand and 2.) He is worried about me having a second Wasteland Strangler with which I could kill Lighting Angel post combat which also means he doesn't have another threat in hand. He topdecks a path for my Shambling Vent but takes a Strangler hit and a Thalia hit which put him down to 2. I am at 4 and have to fade a bolt. He draws and knocks me down to 1. I draw and swing in and he extends the hand. I reveal my hand as a just topdecked Kalitas and a Vial. He had double Wear\\Tears. I think that was the hardest I have ever bluffed my way to victory. Had he just started blocking my guys, he'd have won the race and I'd be out of dudes. (Card trial notes: Kalitas only showed up too late at the end so I wasn't able to actually use him but Smasher would have been very solid there as it REALLY would have been lethal even if he had topdecked say a Snapcaster to block the other attacker. Relic did some work on his GY to keep his snapcasters muted in the 3rd game but they felt more like a luxury. The ability to crack them for a card was nice though.)
Round 2 Burn (2-0)[2-0]:
I ripped apart his hand early in both games of anything that targets creatures. I then used Wasteland Strangler to kill his dudes and my damage outraced his. Game 2 he had to mull to 4 and it quickly became no contest as I stuck a Finks with a Displacer on board.
Round 3 Burn (2-0)[3-0]:
This kid is well known in my shop for having the best luck when playing burn out of anyone I know (he also knows the deck well enough and took it undefeated at regionals back in Jan). I was hesitant about how this matchup would be but overall it hasn't been too bad. He got some bad beats on the draws and set up a possible kill from 13 on me in game 2 but wasn't able to pull it off (Boros Charm, Skull Crack and I assumed he had a Bolt in hand and was trying to topdeck a second). Between Thalia, Arbiter and Finks out of the SB I feel alright about the matchup. Turns out when you can't answer 3 power creatures which come down fast.. they tend to kill you quickly.
Round 4 Affinity (2-0)[4-0]:
For as much as people say they get awkward hands, maybe I just have a feel for them. Game 1 Displacer did a ton of work as I beat him down with TKS. Game 2 I kept one of those "awkward hands" it had a Temple, GQ, Kataki, Stony, TKS, Path, Strangler. Worst case I figured I'd GQ my own Temple to stick either Kataki or Stony based on his play. I then lead with Temple that way on the off chance I draw a 2nd Temple, I have the turn 2 TKS. Instead I topdeck Caves of Koilos and it's as they say "Ogre Battle 64". I Play Stony Silence to shut off a Mox and Citadel. He plays a Pithing Needle and names Displacer. I then play Kataki and he sacs his board and pays for the Vault Skirge and Needle. He does find a 3rd land but scoops when I play TKS. He was so far behind at that point he likely couldn't find an out.
All in all it was a good day. Not just because I won (which admittedly makes all days better) but also I didn't have to face the same coin-flip Jund matchup all 3 rounds. Instead I pulled the Hyper Aggro card and faced all those. Turns out we do ok on that front. I am unsold on Relic and think the Militants are definitely worth a shot. Not super sold on Kalitas really but another lifelinker is always a welcome addition (especially one the is non-boltable and gives bonus value). I may try Sword of Light and Shadow and see if I like that.
Don't let Sheepz see this post
Does he not like the cut down to 3 Flickerwisps? I had to make cuts somewhere and every card in the list is pulling it's weight in force. It's also the hardest on CMC to cast which is partially why I cut one. It worked out well I'd say.
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Ah I see. Well now I am in on said joke. But I apologize for nothing. With the Eldrazi land base getting WW is harder than saw W2 for Displacer. I'm never going to cut too low though as it is very very very good.
To read more about the monthly MTGS metagame update and its data, check out the post below:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/566735-modern-metagame-discussion-thread-updated-1-15?comment=1186
I agree that I think Sword of F&I is too cute though I do like Light and Shadow simply because it actually gets you your creatures back as well if I gave you the choice when you draw a card off of F&I to draw a creature or a random card I bet you'd want the creature.
We made it boys, we made it