Went 3-1 at FNM only losing to affinity in the last round. Before that, didn't even drop a game! Felt pretty invincible until I found out I would face the dreaded affinity in the final round.
Decks I beat were esper control, blue tron and abzan liege. All of them were just too slow or unable to answer my threats along with dropping their own to put pressure on me. I love this deck so much! Will def play more soon.
I love this deck. Saw it at an FNM a few weeks back and it left quite the impression. Just a thought though, Steppe Lynx has done little to win me over. I keep seeing Kird Ape as a possible replacement but no mention of Loam Lion. I feel like I'm missing something as it the same card as Kird Ape but replaces the color slot for Steppe Lynx. Has this been suggested yet?
also, you would need to run more of the W/X shocks and that gets harder to fetch with the already solid fetch combination. i like godless shrine over sacred foundry, personally. minimizing the white cards pre=board is critical as you only need to focus on having one red source and two green (for kicked vines) with a black somewhere in there to cast the shadow prior to these spells. going to run the exact same 75 back again tonight and see what happens. hopefully i can skip the affinity match again (that was brutal!) and just 4-0!
what decks do you bring them in against and what do you side out? i can see them being better than death's shadow because of the (lower) life loss, and trample is CERTAINLY relevant!
I can't imagine ever siding out Death's Shadow. Hooting Mandrills comes in for the all-in type spells to help you grind rather than go all-in.
In my opinion, if you feel like you have to run the Copenhagen list, then the meta is too hostile to Suicide Zoo as an archetype. _matsugan's list is optimal, and living in the fear of Steppe Lynx, Lightning Bolt, and Temur Battle Rage being bad, replacing them with consistent grindy cards like Thoughtseize, Kird Ape, and VINES (meanwhile dropping a land in a deck that goes more for the long game?) is going to cost you games and matches that should be easy. Meanwhile, none of the hard matches are solved. Why live in that frustration?
Went 3-1 again last night with the Copenhagen 75. Beat scapeshift in a scary 2 games; lost to a strange sultai midrange deck (he 4-0'd) in 3 extremely grindy games on camera. Beat merfolk in 3 but they had some bad mulls (along with fantastic luck drawing what I thoughtseized immediately after 😠). Finally faced infect and agreed to split the packs but faced off to see if we could get the promo. Ended up 2-1 and got there right before he killed me. Damn the poison!
Really excited to keep playing different match-ups to see how they work with this deck. Not sure how I should be changing the sideboard from week-to-week or for different tournaments? Any thoughts?
Merfolk seems like it could be a much harder match if they don't mull to oblivion because of the swarm they can make pretty quickly.
Only reason I have sided 1 or 2 shadows out is because I want to try to reduce the amount of life lost to fetches and cycling cards. This could be VERY wrong and maybe it should be siding out the probes or wraiths to reduce life loss.
I have yet to face the burn matchup but it would make most sense to me that the cycling cards like street wraith and git probe come out first, possibly the baubles. Postmortem lunge seems an interesting fit to 'whip' back a large shadow and rage it up! Might have to give it a try.
My main question is what to do vs merfolk?! I have played it 3 times now and, only narrowly, won 2 of the 3 matches. The 3rd was a complete blowout. First match that I have lost 2-0 since I started playing it (14 total rounds now)
Thoughts for the fishes matchup?
Tonight ended up 2-1 beating an izzet brew and 1 merfolk, losing to another merfolk.
I will be running Aniteris 75 this Sunday, first timein paper. Beenplaying the steppe lynx anda anetaris list and found anetaris to be superior for most matches.
This isn't my list, but a buddy's of mine. He asked me to post it for advice and opinions. It's very similar to Fabrizio Anteri's 75 with some subtle changes, mostly in the sideboard. Thoughts?
Dismember: is good against a lot of things (twin, siege rhino's, spellskite's ect) and helps lower overall life total. Excellent card Nihil spellbomb: helps to take care of griselbran reanimator as well as Grixis control/delver decks Lightning bolt: comes in to replace thoughtseize against other "all-in" style decks such as burn, affinity or infect - spellskite is another excellent card for these match-ups
Twin can be race'd or the use of vines of vastwood/spellskite can stop Splinter Twin from resolving
Finally pyroclasm is just absolute destruction against affinity. You were looking for good sideboard tech vs affinity? This is it.
Burn is still the toughest matchup but leyline of sanctity takes up too many SB slots and can be drawn into making it horrible. Spellskite is an all-star here and lightning bolt comes in to replace the wraiths. Also death's shadow is actually amazing against burn as they can't do anything against it except for Path which we already have an answer to. I would say it's generally a 50/50 matchup post board.
Thoughts on the overall deck/SB strategy? We're not sure about faith's shield or hooting mandrills.
hey guys! Reporting back in on how the tourny went (horribly) and some thoughts on how the deck played and some changes to my list going forward.
The tourny was a flop and I went 0-3 but I know this is mostly due to my sub optimal list (4xwindswept heaths), inexperience with the deck, and just some bad luck. Even though I wasn't successful I figure any live testing is better than nothing.
Also, I forgot to add the rancor to my list before the tourny so I ended up running 2x vines in their place and +1 battle rage.
Match 1 vs Naya Zoo (1-2)
Game 1 was pretty uninteresting. I was able to out muscle his Nactls with my Nactls bc he couldnt find a mountain. Pumped with become Immense and won.
-2 baubles
+2 Dismember
Game 2. Much grindier game with us both trading creatures until he he stabilized with 2 goyfs and a scooze. I had nactls and kird apes on board but couldnt find a become immense to shrink his goyfs or a death's shadow to threaten. lost.
Game 3. Was a really close one going to time. But I knew right from the beginning I was at a disadvantage. My opening hand was good with a death shadow and swift spear as well as a become immense and battle rage. Unfortunately I only had a windswept heath in hand so I was faced with a hard decision of fetching a godless shrine or a stomping ground, unable to get a blood crypt. I went for the stomping ground which helped me in the early game with swiftspear + pumps until she got bolted. I didnt see another black mana until it was too late and I got Blood Moon'd unable to cast shadow and save myself. lost.
Thoughts: Get Verdant Catacombs. Kird Ape doesnt really help the board state when your up against goyfs they kinda just sit there. Steppe Lynx is at least an early threat like swiftspear and can be death fodder for goyf too.
Match 2 vs U Tron (0-2)
Game 1. Spilt my drink on my shoes, wet feet left me very flustered for this game. Game one awesome hand with an early death shadow possible as well as swiftspear turn 1 for 5 dmg. Royally messed up when i forgot he had a condescend when I tapped out for death shadow and it got counted. Couple of empty turns later he lands wurmcoil and i conceded.
+2 Ancient Grudge
-2 street wraiths
Game 2. Had to mull down to 5. Drew into Swiftspears and bolts. Got him down to 2 when he top decked a Platinum Angel. gg.
Thoughts: Dont be stupid. be patient.
Match 3 vs RW Prison Burn
Game 1. Gitaxian Probe let me see alot of Burn, so I played cautious for burn holding onto my death shadow for the right moment along side my battle rage. Until turn 3 he plays Ghostly Prison followed by a turn 4 Blood Moon. gg.
+2 Postmortem Lunge
-2 bauble
Game 2. Landed an early 2/2 death shadow and tried to ride him to victory with probes, wraiths, and fetches with a battle rage in hand. saw a turn 3 bloodmoon which was annoying but i had a 5/5 death shadow with battlerage online next turn with him at 15 life. Swung with death shadow 2 turns in a row only to kill myself when he played Deflecting Palm each time.
Thoughts: super hard match up. blood moon wrecks us if we dont have death shadow already on the board with a battlerage in hand. Postmortem Lunge seems good in theory but never is really relevant.
Overall it was a learning experience if nothing else. Ive tweaked my list and started testing more on cockatrice with more success beating UR twin, RW Burn(without leylines), Infect, and Storm.
Dismember: is good against a lot of things (twin, siege rhino's, spellskite's ect) and helps lower overall life total. Excellent card Nihil spellbomb: helps to take care of griselbran reanimator as well as Grixis control/delver decks Lightning bolt: comes in to replace thoughtseize against other "all-in" style decks such as burn, affinity or infect - spellskite is another excellent card for these match-ups
Twin can be race'd or the use of vines of vastwood/spellskite can stop Splinter Twin from resolving
Finally pyroclasm is just absolute destruction against affinity. You were looking for good sideboard tech vs affinity? This is it.
Burn is still the toughest matchup but leyline of sanctity takes up too many SB slots and can be drawn into making it horrible. Spellskite is an all-star here and lightning bolt comes in to replace the wraiths. Also death's shadow is actually amazing against burn as they can't do anything against it except for Path which we already have an answer to. I would say it's generally a 50/50 matchup post board.
Thoughts on the overall deck/SB strategy? We're not sure about faith's shield or hooting mandrills.
I like the idea of Pyroclasm against affinity, especially for your decklist where all your creatures are immune to it. If it tests out to be a truely viable SB strategy then kird ape may be the way to go instead of steppe lynx. Any reason pyroclasm is better than stony silence? Also you don't have any artifact hate in the SB is that because of your meta?
I think your on the right track with leylines it is quite cumbersome in the sideboard. And I've found that a Death's Shadow opening hand is just as good, while spellskite can eat all the bolts.
Not sure Faith's shield is necessary unless your up against some type of board wipe? why not just use vines or apostles blessing as protection?
Made some changes based on a number of games. From anetaris list, I upped the land count, swapped Kurd ape for steppe lynx and removed the vines and maxed out battle rage. Sort of a mix between the flex slots of the online list and his. Lightning bolt just doesn't feel good enough. I mean sometimes, the reach is nice, but for the most part I prefer having game against fast combo, at least game 1. It also somewhat help a with thebaffinity mu, grabbing playing before they play it.
Lynx is just moreexplosive, and if you're going into the late game, you probably already lost.
Dismember: is good against a lot of things (twin, siege rhino's, spellskite's ect) and helps lower overall life total. Excellent card Nihil spellbomb: helps to take care of griselbran reanimator as well as Grixis control/delver decks Lightning bolt: comes in to replace thoughtseize against other "all-in" style decks such as burn, affinity or infect - spellskite is another excellent card for these match-ups
Twin can be race'd or the use of vines of vastwood/spellskite can stop Splinter Twin from resolving
Finally pyroclasm is just absolute destruction against affinity. You were looking for good sideboard tech vs affinity? This is it.
Burn is still the toughest matchup but leyline of sanctity takes up too many SB slots and can be drawn into making it horrible. Spellskite is an all-star here and lightning bolt comes in to replace the wraiths. Also death's shadow is actually amazing against burn as they can't do anything against it except for Path which we already have an answer to. I would say it's generally a 50/50 matchup post board.
Thoughts on the overall deck/SB strategy? We're not sure about faith's shield or hooting mandrills.
I like the idea of Pyroclasm against affinity, especially for your decklist where all your creatures are immune to it. If it tests out to be a truely viable SB strategy then kird ape may be the way to go instead of steppe lynx. Any reason pyroclasm is better than stony silence? Also you don't have any artifact hate in the SB is that because of your meta?
I think your on the right track with leylines it is quite cumbersome in the sideboard. And I've found that a Death's Shadow opening hand is just as good, while spellskite can eat all the bolts.
Not sure Faith's shield is necessary unless your up against some type of board wipe? why not just use vines or apostles blessing as protection?
The reason we dont use stony silence is because if we dont play it on turn 2, Affinity will have already dropped their hand or equipped cranial plating by turn 3 easily. Its also a bad topdeck and its too narrow, working mainly against affinity and doing nothing for our other matchups where artifacts could be a problem. On the other hand, pyroclasm kills all their guys and none of ours, its a good topdeck or good in the opening 7. It can also be used against a wide variety of aggro decks. Lightning bolt is also in the side as a 4-of. We remove thoughtseize and replace it with bolt. Another way to quickly kill their creatures if we dont have pyroclasm. Any other deck that uses artifacts is something we can outrace, thus we decided against dedicated artifact hate.
Faiths shield is something that will come in against burn or other very aggressive decks (not including affinity). It's been very useful in keeping a creature alive or even us as we are usually below 5 life by the end. Vines is already in the MB and spellskite in the SB for removal heavy decks, as well as postmortem lunge will come in most G2 (against decks not running path) as people will try to remove Deaths shadow
PS: The reason we replace Steppe lynx with Kird ape is because Ape is so much more consistent. Steppe lynx is very bad in multiples and requires landfall, which in a deck that runs 16-17 lands, it just wont happen often enough. Also when people see kird ape and wild nacatl T1-2, they're expecting Zoo and might use removal on those guys, allowing us to safely play deaths shadow.
[quote from="footnmouth5 »" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/596672-suicide-zoo?comment=254"][quote from="Arkaedrian »" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/596672-suicide-zoo?comment=250"]PS: The reason we replace Steppe lynx with Kird ape is because Ape is so much more consistent. Steppe lynx is very bad in multiples and requires landfall, which in a deck that runs 16-17 lands, it just wont happen often enough. Also when people see kird ape and wild nacatl T1-2, they're expecting Zoo and might use removal on those guys, allowing us to safely play deaths shadow.
Yes. Kird Ape is way more aggressive and consistent. I do find the R/B/G version of this deck works better. You don't necessary need any W spells in this deck apart of Apostles Blessing, which you cast with life anyways. I would think Sacred Foundry does open up the sideboard to more possibilities but at the risk of diluting the original intention of the deck. Decks like Suicide Zoo can lose a lot of power when a Sideboard is built wrongly.
I do find that not all decks react to reactionary sideboarding well. Tempo decks do ok but hyper aggro decks do not.
The best card I find that should be in the Sideboard is Rancor. I always ran some mainboard and some in the Sideboard. Temur Battle Rage is nice and a great win con but Rancor gets the clock ticking early and is great at forcing your opponent to react / tap out and setting up for a kill.
What are everyone's thoughts on ghor clan rampager? It's a +4+4 trample at instant speed that can'tbe countered. I have been seeing it shown up in more traditional zoo decks.
What are everyone's thoughts on ghor clan rampager? It's a +4+4 trample at instant speed that can'tbe countered. I have been seeing it shown up in more traditional zoo decks.
It is a great card. Beats spellskite too. There are times where I nearly dropped battle rage for it. There are three considerations to make for this.
1- sometimes tbr and become immense win on turn 3 where gcr and become immense wouldn't.
2- would I have won those games anyway on turn 4?
3- is sacrificing some of the games where #2's answer is 'no' worth being better in the grindy games 2 and 3?
Another thing in this thread I keep seeing is that steppe Lynx is bad in multiples. My experience is that it really isn't. It is amazing when a fetch deals 8 to the opponent, or even 12, and in long games, attacking with 0/1s still creates an opportunity to combo off.
Okay everyone! The deck has gone through several rounds of playtesting (mainly against Tier 1 decks) and we've fixed the list. There are some quite significant changes to Anteri's list, but overall these changes make the deck much more difficult to fight against, much more consistent, and much less "all in". First thing's first, we completely removed the street wraiths. We really dont need 12 sources of card draw (Bauble, git. probe and Wraith) so we cut the wraith for some removal which the deck desperately needs. 3 lightning bolt and 1 dismember. To offset the card draw we get from wraith, we completely removed Kird Ape. Ape was just clunky and weird, and was an awful topdeck. Dark confidant is a target for removal, gives us massive card advantage if he isn't dealt with and lowers our life total - all part of the plan! Finally we felt that 2 vines of vastwood was almost never seen or used so we removed them and 1x temur battle rage for 3x putrid leech. It just makes so much more sense, makes the deck curve out better and streamlines the damage we take.
I've found through playtesting that it's not difficult to take 6-10 damage on TURN 1, just so we can play a Shadow on T2 and have him removed, leaving us virtually dead. The street wraiths make you keep bad hands as you can just draw more cards, but more often than not it was never drawing cards we wanted. Dark confidant does a much better job, adding removal gives us reach and finally, Putrid leech is just an all-star compared to kird ape.
Decks I beat were esper control, blue tron and abzan liege. All of them were just too slow or unable to answer my threats along with dropping their own to put pressure on me. I love this deck so much! Will def play more soon.
In my opinion, if you feel like you have to run the Copenhagen list, then the meta is too hostile to Suicide Zoo as an archetype. _matsugan's list is optimal, and living in the fear of Steppe Lynx, Lightning Bolt, and Temur Battle Rage being bad, replacing them with consistent grindy cards like Thoughtseize, Kird Ape, and VINES (meanwhile dropping a land in a deck that goes more for the long game?) is going to cost you games and matches that should be easy. Meanwhile, none of the hard matches are solved. Why live in that frustration?
Really excited to keep playing different match-ups to see how they work with this deck. Not sure how I should be changing the sideboard from week-to-week or for different tournaments? Any thoughts?
Merfolk seems like it could be a much harder match if they don't mull to oblivion because of the swarm they can make pretty quickly.
Only reason I have sided 1 or 2 shadows out is because I want to try to reduce the amount of life lost to fetches and cycling cards. This could be VERY wrong and maybe it should be siding out the probes or wraiths to reduce life loss.
Creatures 20
4x Death's Shadow
4x Monastery Swiftspear
4x Street Wraith
4x Wild Nacatl
4x Kird Ape
Spells 23
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Become Immense
2x Rancor
2x Temur Battlerage
3x Mutagenic Growth
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Mishra's Bauble
LAnds 16
1x Temple Garden
1x overgrown tomb
1x Blood Crypt
1x Stomping Ground
1x Godless Shrine
2x Marsh Flats
2x Wooded Foothills
3x Bloodstained Mire
4x Windswepth Heath
1x open slot (maybe vines?)
Sideboard 15
4x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Stony Silence
2x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Postmortem Lunge
2x Dismember
My main question is what to do vs merfolk?! I have played it 3 times now and, only narrowly, won 2 of the 3 matches. The 3rd was a complete blowout. First match that I have lost 2-0 since I started playing it (14 total rounds now)
Thoughts for the fishes matchup?
Tonight ended up 2-1 beating an izzet brew and 1 merfolk, losing to another merfolk.
Will report later.
My H/W list
1x Blood Crypt
3x Bloodstained Mire
1x Godless Shrine
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
4x Verdant Catacombs
2x Windswept Heath
2x Wooded Foothills
Sorcery (8)
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Thoughtseize
4x Death's Shadow
3x Kird Ape
4x Monastery Swiftspear
4x Street Wraith
4x Wild Nacatl
Instant (13)
4x Become Immense
3x Mutagenic Growth
4x Temur Battle Rage
2x Vines of Vastwood
Artifact (4)
4x Mishra's Bauble
2x Dismember
1x Faith's Shield
1x Hooting Mandrills
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Postmortem Lunge
2x Pyroclasm
2x Spellskite
Notes for the sideboard:
Dismember: is good against a lot of things (twin, siege rhino's, spellskite's ect) and helps lower overall life total. Excellent card
Nihil spellbomb: helps to take care of griselbran reanimator as well as Grixis control/delver decks
Lightning bolt: comes in to replace thoughtseize against other "all-in" style decks such as burn, affinity or infect - spellskite is another excellent card for these match-ups
Twin can be race'd or the use of vines of vastwood/spellskite can stop Splinter Twin from resolving
Finally pyroclasm is just absolute destruction against affinity. You were looking for good sideboard tech vs affinity? This is it.
Burn is still the toughest matchup but leyline of sanctity takes up too many SB slots and can be drawn into making it horrible. Spellskite is an all-star here and lightning bolt comes in to replace the wraiths. Also death's shadow is actually amazing against burn as they can't do anything against it except for Path which we already have an answer to. I would say it's generally a 50/50 matchup post board.
Thoughts on the overall deck/SB strategy? We're not sure about faith's shield or hooting mandrills.
RWG Burn
GW Abzan Company
The tourny was a flop and I went 0-3 but I know this is mostly due to my sub optimal list (4xwindswept heaths), inexperience with the deck, and just some bad luck. Even though I wasn't successful I figure any live testing is better than nothing.
Also, I forgot to add the rancor to my list before the tourny so I ended up running 2x vines in their place and +1 battle rage.
Match 1 vs Naya Zoo (1-2)
Game 1 was pretty uninteresting. I was able to out muscle his Nactls with my Nactls bc he couldnt find a mountain. Pumped with become Immense and won.
-2 baubles
+2 Dismember
Game 2. Much grindier game with us both trading creatures until he he stabilized with 2 goyfs and a scooze. I had nactls and kird apes on board but couldnt find a become immense to shrink his goyfs or a death's shadow to threaten. lost.
Game 3. Was a really close one going to time. But I knew right from the beginning I was at a disadvantage. My opening hand was good with a death shadow and swift spear as well as a become immense and battle rage. Unfortunately I only had a windswept heath in hand so I was faced with a hard decision of fetching a godless shrine or a stomping ground, unable to get a blood crypt. I went for the stomping ground which helped me in the early game with swiftspear + pumps until she got bolted. I didnt see another black mana until it was too late and I got Blood Moon'd unable to cast shadow and save myself. lost.
Thoughts: Get Verdant Catacombs. Kird Ape doesnt really help the board state when your up against goyfs they kinda just sit there. Steppe Lynx is at least an early threat like swiftspear and can be death fodder for goyf too.
Match 2 vs U Tron (0-2)
Game 1. Spilt my drink on my shoes, wet feet left me very flustered for this game. Game one awesome hand with an early death shadow possible as well as swiftspear turn 1 for 5 dmg. Royally messed up when i forgot he had a condescend when I tapped out for death shadow and it got counted. Couple of empty turns later he lands wurmcoil and i conceded.
+2 Ancient Grudge
-2 street wraiths
Game 2. Had to mull down to 5. Drew into Swiftspears and bolts. Got him down to 2 when he top decked a Platinum Angel. gg.
Thoughts: Dont be stupid. be patient.
Match 3 vs RW Prison Burn
Game 1. Gitaxian Probe let me see alot of Burn, so I played cautious for burn holding onto my death shadow for the right moment along side my battle rage. Until turn 3 he plays Ghostly Prison followed by a turn 4 Blood Moon. gg.
+2 Postmortem Lunge
-2 bauble
Game 2. Landed an early 2/2 death shadow and tried to ride him to victory with probes, wraiths, and fetches with a battle rage in hand. saw a turn 3 bloodmoon which was annoying but i had a 5/5 death shadow with battlerage online next turn with him at 15 life. Swung with death shadow 2 turns in a row only to kill myself when he played Deflecting Palm each time.
Thoughts: super hard match up. blood moon wrecks us if we dont have death shadow already on the board with a battlerage in hand. Postmortem Lunge seems good in theory but never is really relevant.
Overall it was a learning experience if nothing else. Ive tweaked my list and started testing more on cockatrice with more success beating UR twin, RW Burn(without leylines), Infect, and Storm.
-4 Kird Ape
+4 Steppe Lynx
-1 Godless Shrine
+1 Sacred Foundry
-2 Postmortem Lunge
+2 Rancor
Let me know what you guys think.
in all honesty?
i think its because the deck moved away from its initial YOLO concept and evolved into a Suicide (in terms of life) Naya-ish Zoo variant.
The original version of the deck used creatures with prowess (swiftspear, blistercoil, kiln fiend) like abilities to blow up your opponent.
now its just naya zoo-ish with Death's Shadow imho.
Active thread contributor of Jeskai Prowess Tempo
I like the idea of Pyroclasm against affinity, especially for your decklist where all your creatures are immune to it. If it tests out to be a truely viable SB strategy then kird ape may be the way to go instead of steppe lynx. Any reason pyroclasm is better than stony silence? Also you don't have any artifact hate in the SB is that because of your meta?
I think your on the right track with leylines it is quite cumbersome in the sideboard. And I've found that a Death's Shadow opening hand is just as good, while spellskite can eat all the bolts.
Not sure Faith's shield is necessary unless your up against some type of board wipe? why not just use vines or apostles blessing as protection?
Lynx is just moreexplosive, and if you're going into the late game, you probably already lost.
Kept his board.
My H/W list
The reason we dont use stony silence is because if we dont play it on turn 2, Affinity will have already dropped their hand or equipped cranial plating by turn 3 easily. Its also a bad topdeck and its too narrow, working mainly against affinity and doing nothing for our other matchups where artifacts could be a problem. On the other hand, pyroclasm kills all their guys and none of ours, its a good topdeck or good in the opening 7. It can also be used against a wide variety of aggro decks. Lightning bolt is also in the side as a 4-of. We remove thoughtseize and replace it with bolt. Another way to quickly kill their creatures if we dont have pyroclasm. Any other deck that uses artifacts is something we can outrace, thus we decided against dedicated artifact hate.
Faiths shield is something that will come in against burn or other very aggressive decks (not including affinity). It's been very useful in keeping a creature alive or even us as we are usually below 5 life by the end. Vines is already in the MB and spellskite in the SB for removal heavy decks, as well as postmortem lunge will come in most G2 (against decks not running path) as people will try to remove Deaths shadow
PS: The reason we replace Steppe lynx with Kird ape is because Ape is so much more consistent. Steppe lynx is very bad in multiples and requires landfall, which in a deck that runs 16-17 lands, it just wont happen often enough. Also when people see kird ape and wild nacatl T1-2, they're expecting Zoo and might use removal on those guys, allowing us to safely play deaths shadow.
RWG Burn
GW Abzan Company
Yes. Kird Ape is way more aggressive and consistent. I do find the R/B/G version of this deck works better. You don't necessary need any W spells in this deck apart of Apostles Blessing, which you cast with life anyways. I would think Sacred Foundry does open up the sideboard to more possibilities but at the risk of diluting the original intention of the deck. Decks like Suicide Zoo can lose a lot of power when a Sideboard is built wrongly.
I do find that not all decks react to reactionary sideboarding well. Tempo decks do ok but hyper aggro decks do not.
The best card I find that should be in the Sideboard is Rancor. I always ran some mainboard and some in the Sideboard. Temur Battle Rage is nice and a great win con but Rancor gets the clock ticking early and is great at forcing your opponent to react / tap out and setting up for a kill.
Active thread contributor of Jeskai Prowess Tempo
My H/W list
It is a great card. Beats spellskite too. There are times where I nearly dropped battle rage for it. There are three considerations to make for this.
1- sometimes tbr and become immense win on turn 3 where gcr and become immense wouldn't.
2- would I have won those games anyway on turn 4?
3- is sacrificing some of the games where #2's answer is 'no' worth being better in the grindy games 2 and 3?
Another thing in this thread I keep seeing is that steppe Lynx is bad in multiples. My experience is that it really isn't. It is amazing when a fetch deals 8 to the opponent, or even 12, and in long games, attacking with 0/1s still creates an opportunity to combo off.
I've found through playtesting that it's not difficult to take 6-10 damage on TURN 1, just so we can play a Shadow on T2 and have him removed, leaving us virtually dead. The street wraiths make you keep bad hands as you can just draw more cards, but more often than not it was never drawing cards we wanted. Dark confidant does a much better job, adding removal gives us reach and finally, Putrid leech is just an all-star compared to kird ape.
Let me know what you think of the changes!
1x Blood Crypt
3x Bloodstained Mire
2x Godless Shrine
1x Overgrown Tomb
2x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
4x Verdant Catacombs
2x Windswept Heath
2x Wooded Foothills
Sorcery (8)
4x Gitaxian Probe
4x Thoughtseize
4x Death's Shadow
3x dark confidant
4x Monastery Swiftspear
3x putrid leech
4x Wild Nacatl
Instant (12)
3x Become Immense
3x Mutagenic Growth
3x Temur Battle Rage
2x lightning bolt
1x dismember
Artifact (4)
4x Mishra's Bauble
2x Dismember
1x Ancient grudge
1x Hooting Mandrills
2x Nihil Spellbomb
2x destructive revelry
1x phyrexian unlife
2x Postmortem Lunge
2x Pyroclasm
2x Spellskite
RWG Burn
GW Abzan Company