Played this list in a tournament today. Went 1-2 then dropped. I played against a bunch of bad decks, and it turns out sometimes we just can't answer bad cards.
Round 1 was against Merfolk. He was running Fated Infatuation and Triton Shorestalker. He had to read every card I played, and didn't know that I could activate vial at instant speed. Game 1 he scooped because I played a Flickerwisp from Vial in response to him targetting Master of Waves with a Fated Infatuation, and was mad that he didn't get to scry. At the end he commented that "his deck would love Aether Vial" leading me to believe it was a budget deck. Games 2 he mulliganed to 5 and I am pretty sure his hand was 4 islands and Thassa. I scullered the thassa and he drew Triton Shorestalkers and Lords off the top every turn. Game three I had him dead unless he had exactly 2 creatures that couldn't be Fated Infatuation, Thassa or Merfolk Sovereign, and a Rapid Hybridization, and I had to not have a removal spell or flickerwisp or resto angel. He did, and I didn't. Didn't see any Paths in any of these games.
Round 2 was against Merfolk again, but worse. No Thassa, still no Vials (and didn't know what Vial was). Games went similar, but I actually drew Path to Exile a few times. Imagine that. I won.
Round 3 was against Goblins. Hurray for mono-colored creature based matchups. Game one he had the nuts, Foundry Street into Goblin Guide + Legion Loyalist and then a bunch of other 1 drops and burn spells. I couldn't keep up. For the record, this guy commented that he couldn't afford Goblin Guides so he only had 1 in the deck. He ALSO didn't have Aether vials, and commented about how good they would be in his deck. Game 2 went alright. I played big toughness creatures and vialed in Thalia to block, the usual. Game 3 he killed me by drawing at least 3 Goblin Grenades, I think it may have been 4.
When I looked at all of the other decks in the room, they were all USA Twin, Tron variants, a few storms, scapeshifts, junds and pods. One guy was running the event deck, which probably would have actually been bad for me. I got paired up against the only 2 merfolk decks in the room back to back, and the only 3 monocolored decks in the room back to back to back. Tough luck.
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That's tough, merfolk isn't a good match up really, though it folds to a well placed EE. How's familiar working for you? I cut it from my black list to focus on other aspects. I've found black just doesn't run the full Thalia familar package as cleanly as the other builds. It feels like it pulls the decks in different directions.
I'm not sure what else I would run in those slots. Maybe some number of Dismembers in the main, a fourth Blade Splicer. I don't know. I have loved Judge's Familiar. It's also nice as just another evasive attacker. Sometimes you can just kill them by attack with owls for a bunch of turns in a stalemate.
Having turn 1 Vial into turn 2 Arbiter or Thalia or Sculler with that Force Spike backup is amazing, and the deck is very reliant on resolving its 2 drops. I can't imagine running anything else in those slots.
Being more control-ish, however, black may be able to benefit more from the Spirit of the Labyrinth + Mikokoro synergy. Having more draws to feed pack rat is great. I tested it for a while in Mono White and I didn't really like it though.
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I've been wondering something removal wise. Running the black version, I of course have other options than the mono white or GW version. One such card that i've been debating the value of is DarkBlast. Should hushwing become popularized, this is my solution. However, I'm wondering if the board things that modern has enough x/1s in it to justify one offing it maindeck anyway? I've never used the card myself, but it looks like it could be very relevant in a number of match ups, and has a lot of value as a singleton. I got this idea from deadguy ale which already runs one. If I ever bring back jotun grunt, there is certainly value there as well. Opinions?
I imagine the situations in which you would cast Darkblast more than once are more marginal than the times you need to kill a creature with 2 toughness or more. I think I would prefer a single Dismember in the main over Darkblast.
I've been wondering something removal wise. Running the black version, I of course have other options than the mono white or GW version. One such card that i've been debating the value of is DarkBlast. Should hushwing become popularized, this is my solution. However, I'm wondering if the board things that modern has enough x/1s in it to justify one offing it maindeck anyway? I've never used the card myself, but it looks like it could be very relevant in a number of match ups, and has a lot of value as a singleton. I got this idea from deadguy ale which already runs one. If I ever bring back jotun grunt, there is certainly value there as well. Opinions?
I imagine the situations in which you would cast Darkblast more than once are more marginal than the times you need to kill a creature with 2 toughness or more. I think I would prefer a single Dismember in the main over Darkblast.
Probably but I like how darkblast can be used to mess with combat math and snipe x/2s when used with orzhov pontiff
Has anyone tried out running Cloudshift? It allows us to do flicker tricks and it only costs 1, so casting it through Thalia isn't a big deal.
I have also been thinking about adding Mangara to the deck again. I really like him as just a catch-all answer to anything, and just happens to be even better if you have a flicker effect. People say that the meta has sped up and that he's just too slow now, but I don't think that's the case. You're looking at turn 4 minimum to have him out and able to use his ability. That also puts a turn 1 vial at 3 which allows for wisp tricks. I think re-introducing stonecloaker to the mix, and maybe even the previously mentioned Cloudshift, and you have a lot of ways you can do tricky things. Even when he's not doing tricky things, he still answers some things that the deck has trouble answering otherwise, such as Pithing Needle, Blood Moon (for splash builds), Torpor Orb (And Hushwing Gryff soon!) and Emrakul. There were plenty of times when I just used an honest Mangara activation and it was enough.
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Has anyone tried out running Cloudshift? It allows us to do flicker tricks and it only costs 1, so casting it through Thalia isn't a big deal.
I have also been thinking about adding Mangara to the deck again. I really like him as just a catch-all answer to anything, and just happens to be even better if you have a flicker effect. People say that the meta has sped up and that he's just too slow now, but I don't think that's the case. You're looking at turn 4 minimum to have him out and able to use his ability. That also puts a turn 1 vial at 3 which allows for wisp tricks. I think re-introducing stonecloaker to the mix, and maybe even the previously mentioned Cloudshift, and you have a lot of ways you can do tricky things. Even when he's not doing tricky things, he still answers some things that the deck has trouble answering otherwise, such as Pithing Needle, Blood Moon (for splash builds), Torpor Orb (And Hushwing Gryff soon!) and Emrakul. There were plenty of times when I just used an honest Mangara activation and it was enough.
Cloudshift does not do enough on its own, especially when taxed by Thalia. Running 4 flickerwisps and 2-4 resto angels is enough. I have run two Mangara for years now and will not give them up because he is one of the truly "unfair" things this deck can do. Most decks concede after 2 activations, my record is 6 activations in one game. I agree he is slow, but the entire point of the deck is to slow the game down. The decks he really shines against for me are the fair non-red beat down decks like merfolk, mono-green, and soulsisters. They have little removal you need to worry about, and having removal #5-9+ is great against them. Of course, my most often use for him is land destruction. An end of turn ghostquarter, followed by a flickered Mangara to knock someone from 4 to 2 lands and then hitting again with Mangara on your turn to leave them with one land is really fun! Even without the flicker, it is a killer blow to many decks.
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My Modern decks: Death and Taxes, Hatebears, Well Oiled Machine, Merfolk, Nyx Wave, Soul Sisters, Stompy, Matyr Proc, Naya Zoo, Robots (I refuse to call it affinity!), Bogles, Kiki Chord
“Modern has provided us a non-rotating format that is far more accessible than Legacy or Vintage, but still retains many of the qualities that people enjoy in those formats—such as a more stable metagame, the ability to play and tweak the same deck week after week, and simply a much more powerful card pool than Standard.”
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
Has anybody considered a Rancor as a one or two of in the GW lists? I've found that late in the game sometimes you need something to break through, and a recurring +2/+0 trampler can mean the difference. Suddenly a dinky and useless 2/2 Arbiter (assuming late game and he matters much less) becomes a 4/2 trampling threat, or a 3/4 restoration angel becomes a 5/4 that can go through other angels. It only costs G, so the Thalia tax won't really matter.
I'd maybe cut 1 Qasali Pridemage to make room for the Rancor.
I'm also interested in Mangara! What does everyone think? Does he just not cut it without karakas?
Been tested endlessly, I don't think he quite cuts it to be honest. Not having karakas REALLY hurts. We just don't want a 3 mana removal spell with summoning sickness.
I'm also interested in Mangara! What does everyone think? Does he just not cut it without karakas?
Tried and traded.
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“Modern has provided us a non-rotating format that is far more accessible than Legacy or Vintage, but still retains many of the qualities that people enjoy in those formats—such as a more stable metagame, the ability to play and tweak the same deck week after week, and simply a much more powerful card pool than Standard.”
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
PTQ semi finalist list. SUFFOCATION side!? Can someone explain because I am beyond lost on that one.
Edit: mistranslation from French of "choke". Sideboard makes much more sense now, my bad haha. They're not splashing blue with heirarches to cast a sub par blue hate instant hahahaha.
I've been wondering something removal wise. Running the black version, I of course have other options than the mono white or GW version. One such card that i've been debating the value of is DarkBlast. Should hushwing become popularized, this is my solution. However, I'm wondering if the board things that modern has enough x/1s in it to justify one offing it maindeck anyway? I've never used the card myself, but it looks like it could be very relevant in a number of match ups, and has a lot of value as a singleton. I got this idea from deadguy ale which already runs one. If I ever bring back jotun grunt, there is certainly value there as well. Opinions?
A neat - if, perhaps, obvious - trick is to cast Darkblast during one's own upkeep and then dredge for it to finish off a two-toughness creature.
Edit: Too obvious, I guess. I should have finished reading the new posts before spamming the board.
I've been wondering something removal wise. Running the black version, I of course have other options than the mono white or GW version. One such card that i've been debating the value of is DarkBlast. Should hushwing become popularized, this is my solution. However, I'm wondering if the board things that modern has enough x/1s in it to justify one offing it maindeck anyway? I've never used the card myself, but it looks like it could be very relevant in a number of match ups, and has a lot of value as a singleton. I got this idea from deadguy ale which already runs one. If I ever bring back jotun grunt, there is certainly value there as well. Opinions?
A neat - if, perhaps, obvious - trick is to cast Darkblast during one's own upkeep and then dredge for it to finish off a two-toughness creature.
Edit: Too obvious, I guess. I should have finished reading the new posts before spamming the board.
I went down to one pontiff side and removed a dismember to diversify my removal into a dismember, a darkblast, and a slaughter pact side. Ran a few games and I'm LOVING it. I think it was very much the right choice. Oh and I removed a second brimaz main for an Akroma. Hasn't done anything yet, but I think it's worth using given how it's swung games for members of the board in the past, and I am running the full resto package to compliment it. I'll report back on testing later, but I feel I have made a step in the proper direction for the build.
Side note; rats continue to do work for me, have not acquired Mutas yet, will probably not due to til post rotation. Also I'm nervous about nutting text edges for them or adding more colorless land, it will take some thought.
I'm trying this out. It's a build more based around the flicker tricks. It's also 61 cards. 23 lands feels like so many when you run Vial and you curve out at 4, and 22 Lands just doesn't feel like enough. 61 Cards lowers that ratio ever so slightly, so I think it's fine.
The sentiment was made that "Cloudshift doesn't do enough," but I disagree. At worst, it saves your creature from a removal spell. At best, it allows you more chances to do the ridiculous things that we all know the deck can do with flickerwisp and Resto Angel, but for only 1 mana. With Thalia, it's 2, but that's still a cheap price to pay for an instant speed 3/3 First Strike, or an exile effect from flickerwisp, or an exile permanently with Mangara, or exiling TWO cards with Tidehollow Sculler.
Also I don't think this was really touched on in the primer (I looked at the parts pertaining to Arbiter and didn't see it) but paying the 2 to ignore Leonin Arbiter's ability is a special action, meaning you can only do it when you have priority, not while a spell is resolving. The relevance of that is that your opponent has to pay the 2 mana before their search ability or spell resolves. That means you can respond by cloudshifting or resto angeling your arbiter. Then he becomes a new object, and they have to pay another 2 to ignore the new effect. Cloudshift makes this an actual reality a decent amount of times. Just food for thought.
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3 Judge's Familiar
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Pack Rat
4 Flickerwisp
3 Blade Splicer
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Restoration Angel
//Spells
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Mutavault
4 Godless Shrine
3 Caves of Koilos
2 Isolated Chapel
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Plains
2 Swamp
3 Stony Silence
3 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Rest in Peace
1 Celestial Flare
1 Pithing Needle
2 Dismember
1 Disenchant
Round 1 was against Merfolk. He was running Fated Infatuation and Triton Shorestalker. He had to read every card I played, and didn't know that I could activate vial at instant speed. Game 1 he scooped because I played a Flickerwisp from Vial in response to him targetting Master of Waves with a Fated Infatuation, and was mad that he didn't get to scry. At the end he commented that "his deck would love Aether Vial" leading me to believe it was a budget deck. Games 2 he mulliganed to 5 and I am pretty sure his hand was 4 islands and Thassa. I scullered the thassa and he drew Triton Shorestalkers and Lords off the top every turn. Game three I had him dead unless he had exactly 2 creatures that couldn't be Fated Infatuation, Thassa or Merfolk Sovereign, and a Rapid Hybridization, and I had to not have a removal spell or flickerwisp or resto angel. He did, and I didn't. Didn't see any Paths in any of these games.
Round 2 was against Merfolk again, but worse. No Thassa, still no Vials (and didn't know what Vial was). Games went similar, but I actually drew Path to Exile a few times. Imagine that. I won.
Round 3 was against Goblins. Hurray for mono-colored creature based matchups. Game one he had the nuts, Foundry Street into Goblin Guide + Legion Loyalist and then a bunch of other 1 drops and burn spells. I couldn't keep up. For the record, this guy commented that he couldn't afford Goblin Guides so he only had 1 in the deck. He ALSO didn't have Aether vials, and commented about how good they would be in his deck. Game 2 went alright. I played big toughness creatures and vialed in Thalia to block, the usual. Game 3 he killed me by drawing at least 3 Goblin Grenades, I think it may have been 4.
When I looked at all of the other decks in the room, they were all USA Twin, Tron variants, a few storms, scapeshifts, junds and pods. One guy was running the event deck, which probably would have actually been bad for me. I got paired up against the only 2 merfolk decks in the room back to back, and the only 3 monocolored decks in the room back to back to back. Tough luck.
Standard: B/x Devotion
Modern: Death & Taxes
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Top 16 - TCGPlayer Diamond 5k 4/5/14
Having turn 1 Vial into turn 2 Arbiter or Thalia or Sculler with that Force Spike backup is amazing, and the deck is very reliant on resolving its 2 drops. I can't imagine running anything else in those slots.
Being more control-ish, however, black may be able to benefit more from the Spirit of the Labyrinth + Mikokoro synergy. Having more draws to feed pack rat is great. I tested it for a while in Mono White and I didn't really like it though.
Standard: B/x Devotion
Modern: Death & Taxes
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I imagine the situations in which you would cast Darkblast more than once are more marginal than the times you need to kill a creature with 2 toughness or more. I think I would prefer a single Dismember in the main over Darkblast.
Probably but I like how darkblast can be used to mess with combat math and snipe x/2s when used with orzhov pontiff
I have also been thinking about adding Mangara to the deck again. I really like him as just a catch-all answer to anything, and just happens to be even better if you have a flicker effect. People say that the meta has sped up and that he's just too slow now, but I don't think that's the case. You're looking at turn 4 minimum to have him out and able to use his ability. That also puts a turn 1 vial at 3 which allows for wisp tricks. I think re-introducing stonecloaker to the mix, and maybe even the previously mentioned Cloudshift, and you have a lot of ways you can do tricky things. Even when he's not doing tricky things, he still answers some things that the deck has trouble answering otherwise, such as Pithing Needle, Blood Moon (for splash builds), Torpor Orb (And Hushwing Gryff soon!) and Emrakul. There were plenty of times when I just used an honest Mangara activation and it was enough.
Standard: B/x Devotion
Modern: Death & Taxes
Top 8 - TCGPlayer Qualifier 7/23/11
Top 4 - Free $500 FNM 10/2/12
Top 8 - Star City Games OT 4/20/13
Top 8 - Star City Games Super IQ 5/25/13
Top 8 - TCGPlayer 1k 10/5/13
Top 16 - TCGPlayer Diamond 5k 4/5/14
Cloudshift does not do enough on its own, especially when taxed by Thalia. Running 4 flickerwisps and 2-4 resto angels is enough. I have run two Mangara for years now and will not give them up because he is one of the truly "unfair" things this deck can do. Most decks concede after 2 activations, my record is 6 activations in one game. I agree he is slow, but the entire point of the deck is to slow the game down. The decks he really shines against for me are the fair non-red beat down decks like merfolk, mono-green, and soulsisters. They have little removal you need to worry about, and having removal #5-9+ is great against them. Of course, my most often use for him is land destruction. An end of turn ghostquarter, followed by a flickered Mangara to knock someone from 4 to 2 lands and then hitting again with Mangara on your turn to leave them with one land is really fun! Even without the flicker, it is a killer blow to many decks.
Should it go in the main? There I'm not so sure. I'd hate to draw into it against Merfolk or a number of other decks.
Edit: Also, don't forget that Darkblast can kill x/2 creatures. Play it on your upkeep, dredge, play it again.
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
How to Use Spoiler Tags
Starting Over: The Origins of the Mulligan Rule
Practical Approach to Slow Play
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 2: SWARM and TOOLBOX
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 3
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 4
These videos are by MTG Salvation Moderator Lantern!
Introduction to Tempo
Controlling Tempo
Elements of Tempo
Roadblocks to Tempo
How Not To Build A Deck - Tempo
Learn How To Sideboard, Dammit!
Mulligan's Island
The Art of the Mulligan
The Art of the Mulligan: Eight Case Studies
Fundamentals: The Mulligan
Some Mulligan Exercises
A Mulligan Is Worth Three Cards
The Mulligan Debate
Common Sense: The Art of the Mulligan
Who's The Beatdown?
3 Caves of Koilos
3 Eldrazi Temple
2 Fetid Heath
3 Godless Shrine
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Plains
3 Shambling Vent
2 Tectonic Edge
Artifacts (4):
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
Creatures (29):
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Fiend Hunter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Flooded Strand
6 Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
Creatures (16):
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stormchaser Mage
2 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mutagenic Growth
3 Spell Pierce
3 Twisted Image
3 Vapor Snag
Sorceries (8):
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
1 Forked Bolt
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Repeal
2 Roast
1 Spell Snare
2 Spellskite
1 Vapor Snag
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Copperline Gorge
5 Mountain
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (14):
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Atarka's Command
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Searing Blaze
Sorceries (8):
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
2 Deflecting Palm
4 Destructive Revelry
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Path to Exile
2 Rending Volley
3 Skullcrack
19 Forest
3 Treetop Village
Creatures (24):
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Dryad Militant
2 Dungrove Elder
4 Experiment One
4 Leatherback Baloth
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Rancor
Instants (10):
3 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Dismember
2 Choke
2 Gut Shot
2 Deglamer
2 Feed the Clan
2 Oxidize
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Skylasher
1 Unravel the Æther
I'd maybe cut 1 Qasali Pridemage to make room for the Rancor.
Sample Deck List;
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
4 Bladesplicer
4 Flickerwisp
2 Aven Mindcensor
3 Restoration Angel
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
4 Aether Vial
1 Rancor
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Temple Garden
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Gavony Township
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Plains
1 Forest
I'll side it over my second dismember I got side currently. Hmm now I just need to decide how I'm gonna jam my Akroma and Mutas in.
Been tested endlessly, I don't think he quite cuts it to be honest. Not having karakas REALLY hurts. We just don't want a 3 mana removal spell with summoning sickness.
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
How to Use Spoiler Tags
Starting Over: The Origins of the Mulligan Rule
Practical Approach to Slow Play
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 2: SWARM and TOOLBOX
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 3
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 4
These videos are by MTG Salvation Moderator Lantern!
Introduction to Tempo
Controlling Tempo
Elements of Tempo
Roadblocks to Tempo
How Not To Build A Deck - Tempo
Learn How To Sideboard, Dammit!
Mulligan's Island
The Art of the Mulligan
The Art of the Mulligan: Eight Case Studies
Fundamentals: The Mulligan
Some Mulligan Exercises
A Mulligan Is Worth Three Cards
The Mulligan Debate
Common Sense: The Art of the Mulligan
Who's The Beatdown?
3 Caves of Koilos
3 Eldrazi Temple
2 Fetid Heath
3 Godless Shrine
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Plains
3 Shambling Vent
2 Tectonic Edge
Artifacts (4):
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
Creatures (29):
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Fiend Hunter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Flooded Strand
6 Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
Creatures (16):
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stormchaser Mage
2 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mutagenic Growth
3 Spell Pierce
3 Twisted Image
3 Vapor Snag
Sorceries (8):
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
1 Forked Bolt
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Repeal
2 Roast
1 Spell Snare
2 Spellskite
1 Vapor Snag
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Copperline Gorge
5 Mountain
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (14):
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Atarka's Command
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Searing Blaze
Sorceries (8):
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
2 Deflecting Palm
4 Destructive Revelry
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Path to Exile
2 Rending Volley
3 Skullcrack
19 Forest
3 Treetop Village
Creatures (24):
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Dryad Militant
2 Dungrove Elder
4 Experiment One
4 Leatherback Baloth
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Rancor
Instants (10):
3 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Dismember
2 Choke
2 Gut Shot
2 Deglamer
2 Feed the Clan
2 Oxidize
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Skylasher
1 Unravel the Æther
Yesssss I'd love it hahahaha
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
3 Scavneging Ooze
3 Aven Mindsensor
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Aether vial
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Flickerswip
4 Path to exil
4 Blade Splicer
4 Restoration Angel
2 Gavony Township
4 Razorverge Thicket
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Temple Garden
2 Dismember
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Aven Mindsensor
2 Creeping Corrosion
2 Suffocation
2 Burrenton Forge Tender
1 Gaddock teeg
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Mark of Asylum
PTQ semi finalist list. SUFFOCATION side!? Can someone explain because I am beyond lost on that one.
Edit: mistranslation from French of "choke". Sideboard makes much more sense now, my bad haha. They're not splashing blue with heirarches to cast a sub par blue hate instant hahahaha.
It seems to be in good hands.
Good bye,
Tom
A neat - if, perhaps, obvious - trick is to cast Darkblast during one's own upkeep and then dredge for it to finish off a two-toughness creature.
Edit: Too obvious, I guess. I should have finished reading the new posts before spamming the board.
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
I went down to one pontiff side and removed a dismember to diversify my removal into a dismember, a darkblast, and a slaughter pact side. Ran a few games and I'm LOVING it. I think it was very much the right choice. Oh and I removed a second brimaz main for an Akroma. Hasn't done anything yet, but I think it's worth using given how it's swung games for members of the board in the past, and I am running the full resto package to compliment it. I'll report back on testing later, but I feel I have made a step in the proper direction for the build.
Side note; rats continue to do work for me, have not acquired Mutas yet, will probably not due to til post rotation. Also I'm nervous about nutting text edges for them or adding more colorless land, it will take some thought.
3 Judge's Familiar
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Flickerwisp
3 Blade Splicer
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Restoration Angel
2 Mangara of Corondor
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
2 Cloudshift
//Land
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
1 Eiganjo Castle
6 Plains
3 Swamp
3 Stony Silence
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Rest in Peace
1 Pithing Needle
2 Dismember
1 Disenchant
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
I'm trying this out. It's a build more based around the flicker tricks. It's also 61 cards. 23 lands feels like so many when you run Vial and you curve out at 4, and 22 Lands just doesn't feel like enough. 61 Cards lowers that ratio ever so slightly, so I think it's fine.
The sentiment was made that "Cloudshift doesn't do enough," but I disagree. At worst, it saves your creature from a removal spell. At best, it allows you more chances to do the ridiculous things that we all know the deck can do with flickerwisp and Resto Angel, but for only 1 mana. With Thalia, it's 2, but that's still a cheap price to pay for an instant speed 3/3 First Strike, or an exile effect from flickerwisp, or an exile permanently with Mangara, or exiling TWO cards with Tidehollow Sculler.
Also I don't think this was really touched on in the primer (I looked at the parts pertaining to Arbiter and didn't see it) but paying the 2 to ignore Leonin Arbiter's ability is a special action, meaning you can only do it when you have priority, not while a spell is resolving. The relevance of that is that your opponent has to pay the 2 mana before their search ability or spell resolves. That means you can respond by cloudshifting or resto angeling your arbiter. Then he becomes a new object, and they have to pay another 2 to ignore the new effect. Cloudshift makes this an actual reality a decent amount of times. Just food for thought.
Standard: B/x Devotion
Modern: Death & Taxes
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