MTG Salvation

I don't agree with running any islands in the maindeck. The only situation I'd ever fetch a basic island is against blood moon, which I'm not afraid of (see below). Fetching basic plains is super relevant as always having white up is important and a challenge for our deck. Having basic forests is also important for saving life against the likes of burn and other aggro decks.

I am also not really afraid of blood moon with 4 skyspawners, 5-6 dorks, and 2-3 EE mainboard. I've only ever tied one game to skred, lost one to living end blood moon (which is a bad matchup even without the blood moons). I haven't lost to ponza or RW prison in like 6 or 7 matches. Moon decks often lack meaningful interaction for our fatties if they resolve, which is usually what happens anyway.

Plus with postboard threats like Batterskull or Thragtusk, we can still resolve fatties even against a moon.

I think the matchup against Eldrazitron is bad for us. Maybe time for a new sb list? Targetting ds/eldrazitron

Quote from janusfcb »

I honestly believe we are at least 55/45 against Eldrazi Tron. 1. I have a positive record against them. 2. I only feel like I lose to their best nut draws (mainly involving natural tron). 3. Other people I know who play both decks believe we are favored as well.

Disdainful Stroke, Stony Silence, and Pithing Needle/Thragtusk do really well against them. Don't try to fight them with Smashers (I board them out personally together with EE). Go for the win through better sideboard cards and Displacer/Drowner etc. Use your Paths against their Endbringers/TKSs or against their Walking Balistas if they play them before they can kill your Displacer/TKS (of course this only applies if you don't have a stony in hand/play). Sure they can fire some damage at your face, but then they don't get the land

Ohh and Phyrexian Metamorph is great against them as well...

the only way i can beat them is if i have a t2 TKS. After sb, should we aggressively mull for the counterpells? i haven't thought of removing RS post-board before. what i did was sided out 2x ee for 1x dismember n 1x worship. maybe i should have removed the skyspawners for the stubborn denials/negate?

Quote from janusfcb »

Wait, you don't play Stony Silence against them? You probably found the reason right there. Stony Silence is a must against Eldrazi Tron, Tron, Ad Nauseum, and Affinity. I'm really skeptical of running less than 3, and I don't think I can be convinced on running less than 2.

Against Eldrazi Tron it turns off Walking Ballista, Batterskull, Mind Stone, Expedition Map, and Basilisk Collar. There are simply no excuses not to run it. Their deck is bad enough already at generating mana outside of their nut draws. Turning off their only 4 tutors and mana stones make them awfully slow. Turning off Walking Ballista + Basilisk Collar is so great too.

It seems like you are trying to fight them how they would like it (trying to go as big). You can't.

i have not tried boarding in SS so far. it always seems a tad to slow imo but i shall definitely try it. i thought we would have a better chance if we just go aggro. thx for the input!

The people in my testing group and network all recommended running 3x Stony Silence. The card does work against decks we have trouble with G1:

G/X Tron
Eldrazi Tron
Ad Naus
Affinity

If you land it T2, those match ups become much easier to navigate. Janusfcb is right , even I wouldn't run less than 2. Hoses to many things that require hosing. Landing "stony" does not guarantee a win, we still need to draw into gas before a few of those decks start recovering from the early stumbles; It just so happens that our threats are extremely efficient with relevant etb's. Hence, the loss of tempo favors us.

Last metagame analysis I've read put the deck in Tier 2. Do you think it's still worth playing it?

Nope everyone knows you can't play tier 2 decks.

Has anyone managed some reps with the new Nissa?

Thx for the update guys. Do keep us posted on your findings. I think i can slot 2x of it in my 60. I'll post my findings here once i do get a chance.

I hope we are being sarcastic with the abandon ship comments I absolutely love this deck. So new Nissa is good! I'm glad I haven't sold her off yet, she's flexible enough to slot in, and sometimes we flood out "hard". Sea Gate Wreckage has put in work for me in the past but I think it's really hard to drop Ghost Quarter.

On a different note, I've seen some locals playing Nature's Claim over Natural State. I also played this at GP San Antonio but it was a nod to the fact that expected to see some leylines and batterskulls. The 4 life seems negligible, and it's upside as a catch all decent. Thoughts?

Naturalize is probably better than nature's claim. 4 life does matter. Naturalize also dodges chalice.

I'm not the biggest fan of nissa. She needs a high loyalty for us to take advantage of her and that's hard to maintain since she doesn't protect herself. She is also vulnerable to abrupt decay and inquisition and nonbos with stirrings and EE. I liked her at first but these are the conclusions I came to after testing her.

I like reclamation sage, because she can combo with displacer.

Elves is a difficult matchup! Id like to ask for suggestions on what should one sideboard in against it? Thanks

Chalice on 1 on the play is also a reasonable road block. It prevents their nut draws but with the cost of shutting off path and stirrings. They also have cavern.

You're right, it doesn't feel great and it shuts off lots of good cards against them. But to win bad matchups like elves sometimes you just have to bank on high variance plays. The other night I played against elves and landed a chalice on 1 on the play against a hand with 3 dorks and an archdruid. It slowed him down enough that I won with just a smasher that he couldn't answer in time.

If it were a 40/60 matchup I wouldn't bring such a double edged sword like chalice in. But it's like a 20/80 matchup in my experience so gimmicky plays can go a long way.

Cage is a great card against them that I would definitely bring in over chalice if I expected a lot of elves. I just think the card is too narrow if you're not also expecting gifts storm or dredge.

It's one of those things where if I happen to have a chalice in my board Id bring it in, but I wouldnt put a chalice in specifically for them.

A point on the new nissa - I think a shell that supports her should be running more colored mana than our traditional base. I'd probably want at least 9 true blue sources, and at least 5 if not 6 dorks to land her turn 2.

I think she's still a possible consideration. I'll be doing more testing.

I like the idea of cutting the 4th drowner in favor of a witness - I'll consider it. Drowner is great against shadow decks but super hard to resolve. Witness essentially acts as additional removal by picking back up whatever they thoughtseize away.

I agree on Sun's champion being too narrow. It's really only good in the mirror. I tested Gideon and I think his loyalty is too low to be that impactful against Elves/Dredge/Merfolk. Every time I've gotten him down he pretty much just acts as a fog, and I can't lethal on the way back.

Test batterskull. It's good for clocking Elves/Dredge/Merfolk when equipped to a flyer - turn 3 batterskull into worship is probably winning. It's also a bomb (albeit vulnerable) against fair decks.

Has anyone tested stubborn denial in the board? It seems like a better version of negate to me. I've had moderate success with it this far. 5-0 and 4-1 in several leagues and 3-1 at FNM.

I think there are pros and cons for SD. Eg. Ur on the draw n opp plays a t2 chalice. A 1 cmc counterspell does the job.

Anyone have an opinion on whether a 3rd Engineered Explosives is necessary? If not is having the extra sweeper worth it? I've been running two mainboard for a while now and I've been thinking of picking up a third.