Played at a local PPTQ yesterday with a slightly modified list from the one I posted a few pages back. I let one of my friends tell me I needed to modify the deck some, and it felt worse. I have bad memory, but here’s a summary:
Record: 3-3
Round 1 vs. Mono B Rack Won 2-1
G1 Aggro’d him, won with a surprise Thalia’s Lieutenant off of a Windbrisk.
G2 he dropped 3 Racks after I belched my hand, and I couldn’t get an angel or anthem.
G3 same as first game
Round 2 vs Ad Nauseum Lost 1-2
We both misplayed so badly we should have received a loss for this one. Dude was kinda shady and may have cheated, but I’ll watch him more closely next time.
Round 3 vs BW miracles Lost 0-2
He usually had answers and when he didn’t, he drew into them. I used GQ to keep him off Azcanta, and had two angels in play at one point, but then he had Lyra with Jace and Teferi on board *facepalms*
Round 4 vs. Burn Lost 1-2
G1 I won despite playing through ALL FOUR SKULLCRACKS. G2 he just drew the right stuff. G3 made me sick... opening hand, GQ, 6 creatures. Mull to six gets me six lands. Mull to five is 2 Plains, a Champion of the Parish, Angel, and Path. Drew no life gain. Shoulda won this one. Still hurts.
Round 5 vs. big Zoo with Blood Moon 2-0
Shocker here, but I won 2-0. She had nothing for me.
Round 6 vs. Opp who dropped and didn’t tell anybody he dropped 2-0
Played a miracles player for fun and won 2-1.
I’m still mad about that burn match. Maybe I shoulda gone to 4.
Fun night either way, and I’m going to try it again next week with my original list.
Has anyone given any thought to Hangarback Walker as a 1-of to tutor for Ranger of Eos? When we have the mana for ranger we can cast it as a 2/2 and 2 thopters as additional triggers. Early on is not too terrible, it's a Doomed Traveler for 2 with the option of growing when unable to attack.
Vs Midrange and Control it has build-in wrath/removal protection, it's capable of stalling the board and can be a lategame investment.
This is kinda out there, but I've been experimenting with Enduring Renewal combos in the Soul Sisters shell. The following is a very rough draft of my idea:
The combo here is Walking Ballista/Hangarback Walker + Enduring Renewal. With Renewal in play, you can cast one of these creatures for 0 mana, it'll enter as a 0/0 and immediately die, then Renewal will return it to your hand. This means infinite cast/ETB/death triggers.
Sister + Renewal + 0-drop = infinite life. Note you can do this with a Ballista already in play
Monument + Renewal + 0-drop = infinite tokens
Sister + Monument + Renewal + 0-drop = infinite life AND tokens
Monument + Whitemane = 1/1 and 2 life per mana
Ranger of Eos can tutor both the 0-drops and the Sisters, meaning you can assemble a Renewal combo easily or just grind out a longer game
Whitemane can save Sisters from removal while comboing, or return a Hangarback to hand to go off with Renewal
Pridemate gives the deck the normal angle of attack as well
Windbrisk Heights is amazing with several combos to assemble, especially as it circumvents Renewal's drawback
I'm not advocating that this is by any means better than the established builds (I presume it isn't), but it does give the deck another angle of attack, and it helps to have an infinite combo to fall back on in difficult matchups. You can still easily grind out games, and Hangarback/Ballista help with that. You have 7 bombs in Renewal/Monument, your creatures that make these work are redundant and tutorable, and you can play a normal game without relying on these bombs. However, I didn't find room for any anthem effects, which may be an issue.
I actually started from BW Enduring Renewal with Blood Artists and Disciple of the Vault, but found it too inconsistent and all-in for my liking. That's why I'm trying it in a pre-established shell like Soul Sisters where it's not necessarily plan A. I do like the evoke creature idea, though. Shame Reveillark is so slow...
Sup guys, I've been testing this Soul Sisters + Humans breed. It takes the better of both worlds, lifegain combined with a serious clock. A good alternative for people who don't want to cash out for Caverns, Vials and such.
Oblivion Ring sucks, but I like having an out to Ensnaring Bridge or other troublesome permanents maindeck. What do you guys think?
I’ve been trying a similar list. Did you see mine? I would be running gather, but I only have two. My suggestions would be:
1. Only run 3 Thalia, since she’s Legendary.
2. Ajani’s Pridemate is always a 4-of, even in our slightly modified shell.
3. Windbrisk Heights is still really good; you can drop a Lieutenant, an Angel, or sideboard card off of it.
4. I ran without Honor of the Pure at a local PPTQ and sorely missed it. I’d find a way to work it in, if I were you.
Good luck and be sure to provide event reports!
*EDIT*
I’ve also wanted to run Cavern of Souls, which would help immensely with the control matchup. Abzan Falconer would also help as a pseudo-lord in matchups where the evasion matters.
Aight, I’m going to skip my tournament report for this weekends PPTQ because, honestly, it was bad. It was full of Mardu Control, Jeskai control, Tron, and Humans. I did come away with some good info, though.
Once you have decided planeswalkers are the way to go it's difficult to choose the best one...
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Can advance the board state and also attack on it's own, also might let you run fewer dedicated anthem's effects. It's probably the most solid choice but will not really shake things up.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant It's really solid, the ability to both increase board presence give pump+evasion while increasing loyalty it's very good.
Karn, Scion of Urza Without any real sinergy to the rest of the deck, it's still a good card advantage source and has the ability to create bodies.
Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants My issue with this one is that the best ability is the -2 while the -7 would be really usefull in closing the game and the +1 is not excellent.
Elspeth Tirel Has some really nice sinergies with the deck, but the 5CMC it's an issue in a lot of situations... Sometimes Vs midrange decks it will be late to the party.
I only played 3 games, so I didn’t get to test him much. I’ll try him some more and report. He was pretty good vs. Jeskai, until all my threats got removed. I couldn’t get my sideboard cards in most of my matchups, so a Mark of Asylum could have saved that match for me. Bolt, Snap - Bolt, Path, Snap - Path, Helix, Electrolyze, Verdict, and Staticaster all made for a long match. Same with Mardu. They just have so many ways to kill or prevent our threats. Had I known I’d meet that sort of meta, I’d have had some Return to the Ranks in the side.
I only played 3 games, so I didn’t get to test him much. I’ll try him some more and report. He was pretty good vs. Jeskai, until all my threats got removed. I couldn’t get my sideboard cards in most of my matchups, so a Mark of Asylum could have saved that match for me. Bolt, Snap - Bolt, Path, Snap - Path, Helix, Electrolyze, Verdict, and Staticaster all made for a long match. Same with Mardu. They just have so many ways to kill or prevent our threats. Had I known I’d meet that sort of meta, I’d have had some Return to the Ranks in the side.
I see your point, looks like Elspeth Tirel it's back on the bench.
RD1 2014 Jeskai flash
G1 was pretty close, he was beating down with 2 resto angels against my 2 auriok champions most the time, he hand one card in handed and if I resolve archangel I win, if not I lose, it was a remand so I lost..
G2 Mull to 6 its a one lander with all 2 drops. keep and never find a 2nd land.
RD2 Storm
G1 Seems like the pilot hasnt played the deck long, kind of stumbling with mana count and lines of play, I had a quick start and curved decently. He fizzles after storming to 18 and puts me to 8 with no cards left in his hand and he just never answers any more of the threats I play.
G2 I have 3 lands, soul warden, pridemate, spectral,surgical.. I draw a shalai for turn so I curve turns 1-4, I end up never having to use the surgical.
RD3 Jund
G1 double spectral makes easy work
G2 flood
G3 He has 3 draw steps and 3 bob triggers to find a kill spell for archangel and never does.
RD4 Hollow one
G1 opponent plays T1 burning inquiry and never follows up with anything besides a single gurmag that gets path'd before he can trigger phoenix, I dont think their deck has any answer for archangel
G2 Opponent has a decent start with blood ghasts but auriok champions stone wall them. Eventually opponent triggers 2 phoenix off a hollow one. I play an archangel and opponent relaizes he HAS to swing with phoenixs and just scoops
Rd5 Mardu pyro
G1 I run him over with soul warden into auriok into spectral into another spectral
G2 He boards into a control deck and rips my hand apart and 1 for 1s everything. eventually plays an ensnaring bridge with no cards in hand, So I just build a board and gain life so he has no way to win either, I eventually ghost quarter/field of ruin him off a lot of lands and he isnt able to cast the bedlam reveler he draws so I get to alpha strike with a squad of 1/1s
Rd6 living end
We ID into top 8, however with me having 12 sideboard cards I considered playing it out
Quarter finals Dredge
G1 goes super long, opponent has 1 card in deck left, 4 tapped amalgams and blood ghasts from swinging last turn on board and two untapped narcomebas against my 2 auriok champions and vampire token with me at 2 life and him at 4. I play a legion landing to go to 4.Activate shefet dunes. declare attacks with the 2 aurioks and the previous vampire, flip legions landing, before blocks activate it, go to 6. pay 4 life to dismember a narcomeba getitng in for exact lethal
G2 I have 12 sideboard cards, T1 soul warden, T2 RIP, T3 ghostly Prison, T4 spectral, opponent scoops
Semi Finals UW terminus control
G1 this match up is a joke, opponent mulls to 5 and it doesnt matter, I cant think of a deck more geared to beat soul sisters than UW, terminus,verdict, paths, counter spells....
G2 isnt much better.
Deck ran fine, I think I had favorable match ups against all the decks I played except UW, There really isnt much you can do to make it better with out splashing a color but that will make your other matches potentially worse for something that still is going to be a bad match.
I like the list, and look forward to hearing about your success with the deck in the future. Shalai is a card I’ve been considering myself. One question, though: why the squadron hawks? They’re normally played in lists with Martyr. Was it just as an evasive and recurring beater?
I like the list, and look forward to hearing about your success with the deck in the future. Shalai is a card I’ve been considering myself. One question, though: why the squadron hawks? They’re normally played in lists with Martyr. Was it just as an evasive and recurring beater?
Card advantage, deck thinning, fits the flier sub theme, shuffle effect after you bottom a card you need you didn’t select with windbrisk heights... honestly I’ve always been confused as to why more people don’t have it in their lists
Relly good results, and I agree 100% on the UW matchup, it's almost impossible to bring it home.
Personally I've found Squadron Hawks really slow in a lot of situations, and I see you run no anthem effect to make them more aggressive. You also have the smallest soul sisters package I've ever seen, with just 7 of them. Ranger of Eos if missing, but you have other tools to get card advantage.
If I can ask a direct question, how are the Shefet Dunes working out for you? I've been tempted to run them but I'm still undecided...
Relly good results, and I agree 100% on the UW matchup, it's almost impossible to bring it home.
Personally I've found Squadron Hawks really slow in a lot of situations, and I see you run no anthem effect to make them more aggressive. You also have the smallest soul sisters package I've ever seen, with just 7 of them. Ranger of Eos if missing, but you have other tools to get card advantage.
If I can ask a direct question, how are the Shefet Dunes working out for you? I've been tempted to run them but I'm still undecided...
Soul sister cards on their own are awful in modern, they are there just a synergy pieces, ideally I only want to see 2 a game. They synergize with archangel and ajani but also I have so many "go wide" or constant low cost evasive creatures (hawk/spirits) that it just lets me use my life as a resource to keep swinging in. I dont play anthem effects because every turn I need to play some kind of creature, the deck relys a lot on attacking in 3s (heights and landing) so I cant take a turn off to play a honor of the pure and top decking those when you need a creature feels bad.
Ranger of Eos only has 4 targets and doesnt fly so it will hardly ever be able to attack as a 3/2 and doesnt fetch anything "good"
Shefet Dunes has won me a lot of games, like the dredge match I wrote about, the critical mass of creatures you put out make it worth while, and being a mono color deck I think it is wise to shove as many utility lands as possible in the deck, and there really isn't a downside to playing it especially if you're playing more sister effects than I am.
Record: 3-3
Round 1 vs. Mono B Rack Won 2-1
G1 Aggro’d him, won with a surprise Thalia’s Lieutenant off of a Windbrisk.
G2 he dropped 3 Racks after I belched my hand, and I couldn’t get an angel or anthem.
G3 same as first game
Round 2 vs Ad Nauseum Lost 1-2
We both misplayed so badly we should have received a loss for this one. Dude was kinda shady and may have cheated, but I’ll watch him more closely next time.
Round 3 vs BW miracles Lost 0-2
He usually had answers and when he didn’t, he drew into them. I used GQ to keep him off Azcanta, and had two angels in play at one point, but then he had Lyra with Jace and Teferi on board *facepalms*
Round 4 vs. Burn Lost 1-2
G1 I won despite playing through ALL FOUR SKULLCRACKS. G2 he just drew the right stuff. G3 made me sick... opening hand, GQ, 6 creatures. Mull to six gets me six lands. Mull to five is 2 Plains, a Champion of the Parish, Angel, and Path. Drew no life gain. Shoulda won this one. Still hurts.
Round 5 vs. big Zoo with Blood Moon 2-0
Shocker here, but I won 2-0. She had nothing for me.
Round 6 vs. Opp who dropped and didn’t tell anybody he dropped 2-0
Played a miracles player for fun and won 2-1.
I’m still mad about that burn match. Maybe I shoulda gone to 4.
Fun night either way, and I’m going to try it again next week with my original list.
Vs Midrange and Control it has build-in wrath/removal protection, it's capable of stalling the board and can be a lategame investment.
Vs Aggro and Combo its too slow, but Ranger can then fetch Soul Warden or Serra Ascendant.
It also has INSANE sinergy with Archangel of Thune, but this is just icing on the cake.
NB I'm currenlty choosing Benalish Marshal over Honor of the Pure, so the non-white nature of the card is not a problem.
3x Soul's Attendant
2x Auriok Champion
4x Ajani's Pridemate
3x Whitemane Lion
4x Walking Ballista
4x Hangarback Walker
3x Ranger of Eos
4x Oketra's Monument
3x Enduring Renewal
4x Path to Exile
19x Plains
4x Windbrisk Heights
The combo here is Walking Ballista/Hangarback Walker + Enduring Renewal. With Renewal in play, you can cast one of these creatures for 0 mana, it'll enter as a 0/0 and immediately die, then Renewal will return it to your hand. This means infinite cast/ETB/death triggers.
Any thoughts?
I actually started from BW Enduring Renewal with Blood Artists and Disciple of the Vault, but found it too inconsistent and all-in for my liking. That's why I'm trying it in a pre-established shell like Soul Sisters where it's not necessarily plan A. I do like the evoke creature idea, though. Shame Reveillark is so slow...
Oblivion Ring sucks, but I like having an out to Ensnaring Bridge or other troublesome permanents maindeck. What do you guys think?
20 Plains
2 Ghost Quarter
Creatures [30]
4 Soul Warden
4 Soul's Attendant
3 Auriok Champion
3 Ajani's Pridemate
2 Benalish Marshal
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Archangel of Thune
3 Path to Exile
3 Gather the Townsfolk
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Return to the Ranks
2 Suppression Field
2 Disenchant
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Return to the Ranks
1 Brave the Elements
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Path to Exile
1 Relic of Progenitus
1. Only run 3 Thalia, since she’s Legendary.
2. Ajani’s Pridemate is always a 4-of, even in our slightly modified shell.
3. Windbrisk Heights is still really good; you can drop a Lieutenant, an Angel, or sideboard card off of it.
4. I ran without Honor of the Pure at a local PPTQ and sorely missed it. I’d find a way to work it in, if I were you.
Good luck and be sure to provide event reports!
*EDIT*
I’ve also wanted to run Cavern of Souls, which would help immensely with the control matchup. Abzan Falconer would also help as a pseudo-lord in matchups where the evasion matters.
I feel blessed alliance should be a 2 of. But i have boggles in my meta. It does great work as a removal in the aggro match-ups.
I tried Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants for its and shiggles. He was good, but not good enough.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is REALLY good in a humans shell. She was great in every match where she hit the board.
I’m beginning to get behind Bobo in the idea that we need four main deck Leyline of Sanctity.
In a humans shell, Militia Bugler might be the three-drop to get behind.
I’ll post an updated deck list later.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Can advance the board state and also attack on it's own, also might let you run fewer dedicated anthem's effects. It's probably the most solid choice but will not really shake things up.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant It's really solid, the ability to both increase board presence give pump+evasion while increasing loyalty it's very good.
Karn, Scion of Urza Without any real sinergy to the rest of the deck, it's still a good card advantage source and has the ability to create bodies.
Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants My issue with this one is that the best ability is the -2 while the -7 would be really usefull in closing the game and the +1 is not excellent.
Elspeth Tirel Has some really nice sinergies with the deck, but the 5CMC it's an issue in a lot of situations... Sometimes Vs midrange decks it will be late to the party.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion Really a powerhouse, but the CMC6 it's a big issue.
Personally I have a soft spot for Elspeth in both forms, so my pick is usually 1/1 split between Elspeth, Knight-Errant and Elspeth Tirel.
What's your idea in this matter?
I only played 3 games, so I didn’t get to test him much. I’ll try him some more and report. He was pretty good vs. Jeskai, until all my threats got removed. I couldn’t get my sideboard cards in most of my matchups, so a Mark of Asylum could have saved that match for me. Bolt, Snap - Bolt, Path, Snap - Path, Helix, Electrolyze, Verdict, and Staticaster all made for a long match. Same with Mardu. They just have so many ways to kill or prevent our threats. Had I known I’d meet that sort of meta, I’d have had some Return to the Ranks in the side.
I see your point, looks like Elspeth Tirel it's back on the bench.
Elspeth, Knight Errant is currently my PW pick!!
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/28-03-18-soul-sisters/
RD1 2014 Jeskai flash
G1 was pretty close, he was beating down with 2 resto angels against my 2 auriok champions most the time, he hand one card in handed and if I resolve archangel I win, if not I lose, it was a remand so I lost..
G2 Mull to 6 its a one lander with all 2 drops. keep and never find a 2nd land.
RD2 Storm
G1 Seems like the pilot hasnt played the deck long, kind of stumbling with mana count and lines of play, I had a quick start and curved decently. He fizzles after storming to 18 and puts me to 8 with no cards left in his hand and he just never answers any more of the threats I play.
G2 I have 3 lands, soul warden, pridemate, spectral,surgical.. I draw a shalai for turn so I curve turns 1-4, I end up never having to use the surgical.
RD3 Jund
G1 double spectral makes easy work
G2 flood
G3 He has 3 draw steps and 3 bob triggers to find a kill spell for archangel and never does.
RD4 Hollow one
G1 opponent plays T1 burning inquiry and never follows up with anything besides a single gurmag that gets path'd before he can trigger phoenix, I dont think their deck has any answer for archangel
G2 Opponent has a decent start with blood ghasts but auriok champions stone wall them. Eventually opponent triggers 2 phoenix off a hollow one. I play an archangel and opponent relaizes he HAS to swing with phoenixs and just scoops
Rd5 Mardu pyro
G1 I run him over with soul warden into auriok into spectral into another spectral
G2 He boards into a control deck and rips my hand apart and 1 for 1s everything. eventually plays an ensnaring bridge with no cards in hand, So I just build a board and gain life so he has no way to win either, I eventually ghost quarter/field of ruin him off a lot of lands and he isnt able to cast the bedlam reveler he draws so I get to alpha strike with a squad of 1/1s
Rd6 living end
We ID into top 8, however with me having 12 sideboard cards I considered playing it out
Quarter finals Dredge
G1 goes super long, opponent has 1 card in deck left, 4 tapped amalgams and blood ghasts from swinging last turn on board and two untapped narcomebas against my 2 auriok champions and vampire token with me at 2 life and him at 4. I play a legion landing to go to 4.Activate shefet dunes. declare attacks with the 2 aurioks and the previous vampire, flip legions landing, before blocks activate it, go to 6. pay 4 life to dismember a narcomeba getitng in for exact lethal
G2 I have 12 sideboard cards, T1 soul warden, T2 RIP, T3 ghostly Prison, T4 spectral, opponent scoops
Semi Finals UW terminus control
G1 this match up is a joke, opponent mulls to 5 and it doesnt matter, I cant think of a deck more geared to beat soul sisters than UW, terminus,verdict, paths, counter spells....
G2 isnt much better.
Deck ran fine, I think I had favorable match ups against all the decks I played except UW, There really isnt much you can do to make it better with out splashing a color but that will make your other matches potentially worse for something that still is going to be a bad match.
Card advantage, deck thinning, fits the flier sub theme, shuffle effect after you bottom a card you need you didn’t select with windbrisk heights... honestly I’ve always been confused as to why more people don’t have it in their lists
Personally I've found Squadron Hawks really slow in a lot of situations, and I see you run no anthem effect to make them more aggressive. You also have the smallest soul sisters package I've ever seen, with just 7 of them. Ranger of Eos if missing, but you have other tools to get card advantage.
If I can ask a direct question, how are the Shefet Dunes working out for you? I've been tempted to run them but I'm still undecided...
Soul sister cards on their own are awful in modern, they are there just a synergy pieces, ideally I only want to see 2 a game. They synergize with archangel and ajani but also I have so many "go wide" or constant low cost evasive creatures (hawk/spirits) that it just lets me use my life as a resource to keep swinging in. I dont play anthem effects because every turn I need to play some kind of creature, the deck relys a lot on attacking in 3s (heights and landing) so I cant take a turn off to play a honor of the pure and top decking those when you need a creature feels bad.
Ranger of Eos only has 4 targets and doesnt fly so it will hardly ever be able to attack as a 3/2 and doesnt fetch anything "good"
Shefet Dunes has won me a lot of games, like the dredge match I wrote about, the critical mass of creatures you put out make it worth while, and being a mono color deck I think it is wise to shove as many utility lands as possible in the deck, and there really isn't a downside to playing it especially if you're playing more sister effects than I am.
I'll give a chance to Shefet Dunes!
2 Windbrisk Heights
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Ajani's Pridemate
3 Martyr of Sands
3 Serra Ascendant
4 Soul's Attendant
3 Soul Warden
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Spectral Procession
4 Path to Exile
4 Honor of the Pure
1 Swamp
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Auriok Champion
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Lingering Souls
2 Godless Shrine
2 Rest in Peace
2 Suppression Field
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Stony Silence
1 Damping Sphere
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Brave the Elements