I did see a deck with Declarations in the sb, but I am already main decking 3 Paths and I board the 4th. I'm not sure I would want Declarations in addition to 4 Paths. I haven't tried Kitchen Finks yet, but it seems ok. Maybe a few Voice of Resurgence in the sideboard? Domri Rade is the board has not impressed me. Thanks for the suggestions.
I did see a deck with Declarations in the sb, but I am already main decking 3 Paths and I board the 4th. I'm not sure I would want Declarations in addition to 4 Paths. I haven't tried Kitchen Finks yet, but it seems ok. Maybe a few Voice of Resurgence in the sideboard? Domri Rade is the board has not impressed me. Thanks for the suggestions.
I MD 4 paths and have 2 Declarations in the SB. In previous modern formats I had 3 Chained to the Rocks in the spot that Declaration is taking up, again plus 4 MD path. Jund's removal is mostly one for one and often more expensive than your creatures - with the exception of Anger which you can play around or just counter with Atarka's Command (easier in builds with Loam Lion) and Dromoka's Command (should have 1-2 in the SB). They really rely on Goyf, Finks, and sometimes Kalitas to partially stabilize. But if you have the removal they're in trouble. Finks might be fine, but I don't really like 3 drops unless they just KO the opponent - you have to be able to operate on 2 mana consistently - though in Bushwacker builds you should have 20 lands anyway so it's more defensible.
Edit: and vs stuff like Abzan Coco & Kiki Chord, you again just need to remove blockers. Ghor-Clan is good in all of these matchups where removal is good, but I don't like more than 2-3 MD because it's clunky at times. Trying to beat UWR is a fool's errand though. Pack the hate (Thali, Choke, maybe Blood Moon) and hope to get lucky. Or play a different deck.
Edit2: the general point is not to try to outgrind the grindy decks - you will fail. They're better equipped for mid-late stage interactions, so you want to keep the game in the early stage as long as possible. Little zoo wins by generating tempo - getting ahead of the opponent on board, then making efficient trades while beating down. Every time they Abrupt Decay your Nacatl while your other threats his for 2-4 damage, or you Path a Goyf while getting in for 4-6, you build up win equity. Declaration furthers that by answering Goyf at even mana and Finks & Kalitas at a mana advantage, again while hopefully beating down. Plus sometimes you get to hit two Goyfs at once.
I'm fine with my mainboard (might drop the Mountain for a GQ - still unsure). Can I get some sideboard advice?
Sigarda is for Jund (force them to have Damnation) and Zo-Zu is for scapeshift or other decks that want/get lots of land. He's mostly just a spice slot and I'd be fine cutting him if needed.
I don't have any Voices and at most might be able to get one before Saturday.
Some notes:
I love the take. I've toyed with an all out Company deck before with 12 3cmc guys (Thoctar as well). The only problem is that it greatly increases the hands that have super slow starts. If you just goldfish 7 card hands you'll see that you'll have 2 lands, and 2-3 2cmc and 2-3 3cmc guys fairly often. Also I think having more beats isn't necessarily the issue that the deck is facing problems with. I'd prefer to see -1/2 thoctar and maybe +1 scooze/noble.
As far as lands, I personally don't like basic mountain. I also don't like having less than 8 lands I can fetch up so I'd rather +1 GQ +1 forest/shock and -1 Arid Mesa.
As for boards, I like Tunnel Ignus more than Zo-Zu. Doesn't hurt you as much in the GR Titan deck since they board in a lot of burn.
Also, you have a lot of creatures in the board, but all of them (except Wilt) dies to Anger. Anger of the Gods is seeing a ton of play, make sure you don't overextend into it.
I'm fine with my mainboard (might drop the Mountain for a GQ - still unsure). Can I get some sideboard advice?
Sigarda is for Jund (force them to have Damnation) and Zo-Zu is for scapeshift or other decks that want/get lots of land. He's mostly just a spice slot and I'd be fine cutting him if needed.
I don't have any Voices and at most might be able to get one before Saturday.
Some notes:
I love the take. I've toyed with an all out Company deck before with 12 3cmc guys (Thoctar as well). The only problem is that it greatly increases the hands that have super slow starts. If you just goldfish 7 card hands you'll see that you'll have 2 lands, and 2-3 2cmc and 2-3 3cmc guys fairly often. Also I think having more beats isn't necessarily the issue that the deck is facing problems with. I'd prefer to see -1/2 thoctar and maybe +1 scooze/noble.
As far as lands, I personally don't like basic mountain. I also don't like having less than 8 lands I can fetch up so I'd rather +1 GQ +1 forest/shock and -1 Arid Mesa.
As for boards, I like Tunnel Ignus more than Zo-Zu. Doesn't hurt you as much in the GR Titan deck since they board in a lot of burn.
Also, you have a lot of creatures in the board, but all of them (except Wilt) dies to Anger. Anger of the Gods is seeing a ton of play, make sure you don't overextend into it.
While I sometimes have games where I don't do much turns 1 and 2, dropping a 4/4, 5/5 (Knight), or 5/4 on turn 3 is usually enough to begin to stabilize. I might add a Scooze though, you're right.
I run 3 basics because there's a lot of Path around here and I usually get them. On top of the fact that it's a shockless red source when I need it. I have been toying with making it a GQ though.
I also completely forgot about Ingus! Thanks!
And yeah - my best friend plays a lot of control so I have practice at not over-committing.
Thanks for your comments!
I'm in the same boat with you. Jund can be heavy in my meta at times and it always seems like a struggle. Get them to 1 life, then the deck just sputters out of gas.
Kitchen Finks has been very good for me in my sideboard strategy. Same with my own Scavenging Ooze. I've used Thalia also to good results.
As you also said- Voice is an option. I haven't tried him out yet myself but when I played Big Zoo that card was a beast.
When I play Bushwacker Zoo the two decks I most dislike are Abzan Company and Jeskai Control.
Jeskai Control is quite 60-40 in their flavor because they can play Lightning Helix to shut down your dudes also gain 3 life, Spell Snare to stop your Goyf/wacker/Atarka's Command, the sideboard also has Timely Reinforcement, Engineered Explosive, that deck have bunch of option to beat you.
Abzan Company is also quite difficult, especially when they turn 2 Kitchen Finks or Wall of Root on the play, that's why I always bring 3-4 Path inside the main deck.
I bring two Thalias in against Jund as well as the 4th Path. Usually between Engineered Explosives, Kitchen Finks, Anger of the Gods, Obistinate Baloth and now frikkin Kalitas it feels like an impossible matchup post board.
That being said, I no longer play Atarkas Commands at all, which may just be wrong. My decklist should be going up soon if they post LA states, but I am main decking 2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and they have been nothing short of amazing, especially against Jund. The rest of the deck is pretty stock but I love how resilient the Nissas make the deck. The only problem is they usually get discarded. I will try out Kitchen Finks before the GP this weekend. I will be playing Bushwhacker Zoo!
As far as the GP goes, I'm hoping since Abzan Coco got hated out of the Open this past weekend, that is is absent and since Jeskai won it will be public enemy number 1 so I can dodge both of those decks. I will post my final decklist before the GP and my results as well. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions/help!
Long time lurker and first time poster with a tournament report for SCG Open Indianapolis 5/14-5/15. This was my first SCG Open playing Big Zoo/ Naya Midrange with the following list. Sorry for any formatting mistakes.
Round 1 2-0 vs Jund Overall 1-0
Out
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gavony Township
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Ghost Quarter
Notably Plays: I misplayed against Dark Confidant slightly, I let the trigger go on the stack during his upkeep before pathing it when I should have instead done it on my turn. Game 2 Declaration in Stone was an all star taking out 2 Tarmogoyf's when I let the first one hit me for a few turns as a 2/3. When the 2nd one landed they had just become 4/5's and it was time for them to go. Last turn of game 2 I needed simply any removal spell to close out the game but I got my 2nd Declaration in Stone to hit both the Scavenging Ooze's he had played after Painful Truth's for 3 a turn or two before.
Round 2 2-0 vs Grixis Control Overall 2-0
Out
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gavony Township
In
2 Kozilek's Return
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Notable Plays: Game one I saw Young Pyromancer otherwise I might not have sided Kozilek's Return in. Late in game two while he was digging for answer's I finally saw he had Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in his deck which would have been a hard threat to deal with if I didn't have removal immediately. Game two ended fairly fast once I found Thrun that resolved and was unable to be dealt with.
Round 3 0-2 vs Abzan Titan's Overall 2-1
Out
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gavony Township
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Ghost Quarter
Notable Plays: This match went very strange for me from the start. Game one i mulligan down to a hand of 4 with a scryed Noble Hierarch on top and a Stirring Wildwood as my only land. This was the first weird part because I mulliganed a 6 with the same two mana sources in it. Game one went very well for my I landed an Elspeth-Knight Errant turn 3 a Knight of the Reliquary turn 4 and was presenting lethal to him on turn 6-7 before he finally drew removal for the Knight. After that he value engined with Sun Titan recurring Wall of Omens and Lone Missionary. Shortly after he landed Grave Titan and then Primeval Titan and I scooped. Game two I grinded him back and forth down to an eventual 13 where he stabilized and finished me off in 2 turns with Titan's. This deck was something I had never seen before and also something I thought impossible in modern. However after talking with team mates later we determined it was likely an unfavorable match up for me as it does something similar to me only bigger at every step of the game and is likely designed to beat up on midrange.
Round 4 2-1 vs Eldrazi Taxes Overall 3-1
Out
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Noble Hierarch
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Deglamer
1 Ghost Quarter
Notable Plays: Game one he locked me out with Leonin Arbiter fairly early and started Ghost Quartering and Path to Exiling me out of the game, then presenting me with ~6 power in the air that I have a hard time dealing with. Game 3 I cast a late Elspeth-Knight Errant for 4 with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben out. I had no 5th mana source and did not even realize I had done it until after the game when a spectator pointed it out. It was the turning point in the game that both of us missed and felt a bit scummy to win off the back of that, but lesson learned read the cards, don't cheat intentionally or not.
Round 5 0-1-1 vs Jeskai Nahiri Overall 3-2
Sideboarding:
No Notes we only had ~9minutes for game 2.
Notable Plays: Game one I spent 25 minutes and at least 10 turns attacking Nahiri to make sure an Emrakul didn't make me sack 6 permanents. After 10+ turns including at one point both Elspeth and Arlinn Kord on the field I failed. After which he ultimated nahiri and got Emrakul out attacking my Elspeth after which he could not present a clock. I pathed 3 of his 4 Celestial Collonades but the 4th finally got me. Game two I came out the gates with a fairly fast clock but I just couldn't get a big enough board presence to do anything and we drew game 2. This was the first time I had every played against this deck and the first time against Jeskai Control in nearly 3 years. Needless to say after this match and a later match against Jeskai Control again I need a sideboard plan for Nahiri.
Round 6 1-2 vs Kiln Fiend Combo Overall 3-3
Out
no notes
In
2 Kozilek's Return
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Notable Plays: Game one I had removal for his combo pieces and took him out in short order. Game 2 we grinded for a bit but a misplay against him with removal to his creature on his turn not mine while he was tapped out meant an apostles blessing saved his combo creature. Game three I played Knight of the Reliquary turn 2 and Elspeth-Knight Errant turn 3 and presented lethal turn 4. He untaps and top decks the 3rd spell required to make Kiln Fiend lethal me for 17 while I was hold a declaration in stone I could have just as easily played on my turn 3 to try and stop it. I was a bit overconfident in this match up, I knew about the combo and knew fairly well what to expect but I seriously doubted 17 damage in one turn was possible and lost the match because of this.
Round 7 0-2 vs Jeskai Control Overall 3-4 Drop
Out
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Noble Hierarch
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Deglamer
1 Ghost Quarter
Notable Plays: Same story as earlier in the day only this time I never saw a Nahiri and instead had Restoration Angels flickering Snapcaster Mages for Burn and swining for 3 at my Elspeth's both games. Game two was very close where he ended the game at 2 when I was finally out of gas/removal for his flying Celestial Collonade. Overall I think my deck performed admirably against the other midrange decks of the format which was all I seemed to be up against all day. I had a blast but was bummed that I had again come to a larger modern event and ended up paired against decks that were not part of the meta(kiln fiend, abzan titans, eldrazi taxes to a lesser extent) However even with match ups that I was unprepared for I think I performed fairly well and am looking to play this deck continuing on. Notable changes to the decklist I have made since then include the following.
Main
-1 Arlinn Kord
-1 Gavony Township
+1 Archangel Avacyn
+1 Horizon Canopy
Side
-2 Timely Reinforcements
-1 Deglamer
+2 Pulse of Murasa
+1 Pithing Needle
The maindeck Archangel Avacyn is to combat the local meta that is heavy Abzan/Jund and the Gavony Township is going out once I get my 2nd Horizon Canopy in the mail. I have won many games off getting to draw the one extra card from my singleton Horizon Canopy that a 2nd might be needed, also Gavony Township for 2-3 turns onto my dorks just isnt my play style. The sideboard change is in reaction to Nahiri(pithing needle) and a teamates reaction to Pulse of Murasa in his Abzan deck. Other cards I am considering testing against Nahiri include Celestial Purge(1-2 side), Thunderbreak Regent(1 in main) and Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker(1 in main).
Any comments, questions, or feedback would be greatly appreciated.
I've been toying around with ideas to deal with Kalitas and other matches that made the board go wide just enough to make trouble for us and I came upon a spicy card in Shinen of Life's Roar.
I'm unsure about it right now, but the ability to Lure off of a Bushwacker or basically bloodrush it late in the game looks like it could get around a few issues. I'm going to give it a shot in some playtesting to see how it can affect those situations.
Yes he will still gain life- but the hope is that there's enough damage on the board, or enough to kill him...like I said I'm not sold on the card but it seems interesting enough to try in some situations
I just don't like the fact that it doesn't run goyfs. Kird Apes over goyfs? You now have Walkers and enchantments that would be additional bonuses for Goyfs as well.
I like the concept, I'll test it out after the GP. My only question is - is Nahiri ultimate better than just running Elspeth and winning faster? It seems that Elspeth is a better walker for the deck imo.
It's one of those thing that every RW deck can try it. I've been messing with a 6 walker big zoo and her plus and minus is good anyways. She is a descent walker and however it will happen she will find a home in modern lol.
I've been toying around with ideas to deal with Kalitas and other matches that made the board go wide just enough to make trouble for us and I came upon a spicy card in Shinen of Life's Roar.
I'm unsure about it right now, but the ability to Lure off of a Bushwacker or basically bloodrush it late in the game looks like it could get around a few issues. I'm going to give it a shot in some playtesting to see how it can affect those situations.
I'm not sure how exactly this would get around Kalitas. Kalitas will still block, kill it and gain life so it will deal with one creature and gets life by doing it and he can't block more than one creature anyway. Perhaps I'm missing something but I don't see it being very useful.
Yes he will still gain life- but the hope is that there's enough damage on the board, or enough to kill him...like I said I'm not sold on the card but it seems interesting enough to try in some situations
You could just play a removal spell like Declaration in Stone on Kalitas instead. Sure, it doesn't neutralize all of their blockers for a turn like Shinen does, but it's not, you know, bad. If they have a bolt or decay your "removal" did nothing. And if you draw it in a position where you aren't attacking for lethal or near lethal, it's terrible. Even if you are in such a position, it still costs 4 mana to use immediately, even if you have a Bushwhacker to use it the good way, so often you'll have to cast it and wait a turn. Then even stuff like Maelstrom Pulse and Dreadbore kills it before it does anything. If you need to attack past big blockers in some matchups, just play more removal. Max out on paths and have a mix of Declaration in Stone and Ghor-Clan in you 75.
Hey Lantern,
Have you made any changes to accommodate the upswing in UWR Control or that new Dredge lists having popped-up?
I MD 4 paths and have 2 Declarations in the SB. In previous modern formats I had 3 Chained to the Rocks in the spot that Declaration is taking up, again plus 4 MD path. Jund's removal is mostly one for one and often more expensive than your creatures - with the exception of Anger which you can play around or just counter with Atarka's Command (easier in builds with Loam Lion) and Dromoka's Command (should have 1-2 in the SB). They really rely on Goyf, Finks, and sometimes Kalitas to partially stabilize. But if you have the removal they're in trouble. Finks might be fine, but I don't really like 3 drops unless they just KO the opponent - you have to be able to operate on 2 mana consistently - though in Bushwacker builds you should have 20 lands anyway so it's more defensible.
Edit: and vs stuff like Abzan Coco & Kiki Chord, you again just need to remove blockers. Ghor-Clan is good in all of these matchups where removal is good, but I don't like more than 2-3 MD because it's clunky at times. Trying to beat UWR is a fool's errand though. Pack the hate (Thali, Choke, maybe Blood Moon) and hope to get lucky. Or play a different deck.
Edit2: the general point is not to try to outgrind the grindy decks - you will fail. They're better equipped for mid-late stage interactions, so you want to keep the game in the early stage as long as possible. Little zoo wins by generating tempo - getting ahead of the opponent on board, then making efficient trades while beating down. Every time they Abrupt Decay your Nacatl while your other threats his for 2-4 damage, or you Path a Goyf while getting in for 4-6, you build up win equity. Declaration furthers that by answering Goyf at even mana and Finks & Kalitas at a mana advantage, again while hopefully beating down. Plus sometimes you get to hit two Goyfs at once.
Some notes:
I love the take. I've toyed with an all out Company deck before with 12 3cmc guys (Thoctar as well). The only problem is that it greatly increases the hands that have super slow starts. If you just goldfish 7 card hands you'll see that you'll have 2 lands, and 2-3 2cmc and 2-3 3cmc guys fairly often. Also I think having more beats isn't necessarily the issue that the deck is facing problems with. I'd prefer to see -1/2 thoctar and maybe +1 scooze/noble.
As far as lands, I personally don't like basic mountain. I also don't like having less than 8 lands I can fetch up so I'd rather +1 GQ +1 forest/shock and -1 Arid Mesa.
As for boards, I like Tunnel Ignus more than Zo-Zu. Doesn't hurt you as much in the GR Titan deck since they board in a lot of burn.
Also, you have a lot of creatures in the board, but all of them (except Wilt) dies to Anger. Anger of the Gods is seeing a ton of play, make sure you don't overextend into it.
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While I sometimes have games where I don't do much turns 1 and 2, dropping a 4/4, 5/5 (Knight), or 5/4 on turn 3 is usually enough to begin to stabilize. I might add a Scooze though, you're right.
I run 3 basics because there's a lot of Path around here and I usually get them. On top of the fact that it's a shockless red source when I need it. I have been toying with making it a GQ though.
I also completely forgot about Ingus! Thanks!
And yeah - my best friend plays a lot of control so I have practice at not over-committing.
Thanks for your comments!
Kitchen Finks has been very good for me in my sideboard strategy. Same with my own Scavenging Ooze. I've used Thalia also to good results.
As you also said- Voice is an option. I haven't tried him out yet myself but when I played Big Zoo that card was a beast.
Jeskai Control is quite 60-40 in their flavor because they can play Lightning Helix to shut down your dudes also gain 3 life, Spell Snare to stop your Goyf/wacker/Atarka's Command, the sideboard also has Timely Reinforcement, Engineered Explosive, that deck have bunch of option to beat you.
Abzan Company is also quite difficult, especially when they turn 2 Kitchen Finks or Wall of Root on the play, that's why I always bring 3-4 Path inside the main deck.
EDH: Xenagos, God of Revels.
That being said, I no longer play Atarkas Commands at all, which may just be wrong. My decklist should be going up soon if they post LA states, but I am main decking 2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and they have been nothing short of amazing, especially against Jund. The rest of the deck is pretty stock but I love how resilient the Nissas make the deck. The only problem is they usually get discarded. I will try out Kitchen Finks before the GP this weekend. I will be playing Bushwhacker Zoo!
As far as the GP goes, I'm hoping since Abzan Coco got hated out of the Open this past weekend, that is is absent and since Jeskai won it will be public enemy number 1 so I can dodge both of those decks. I will post my final decklist before the GP and my results as well. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions/help!
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Voice of Resurgence
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
[Spells]
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
1 Arlinn Kord
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Windswept Heath
2 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Raging Ravine
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Gavony Township
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Stony Silence
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Deglamer
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, The Last Troll
Round 1 2-0 vs Jund Overall 1-0
Out
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gavony Township
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Ghost Quarter
Notably Plays: I misplayed against Dark Confidant slightly, I let the trigger go on the stack during his upkeep before pathing it when I should have instead done it on my turn. Game 2 Declaration in Stone was an all star taking out 2 Tarmogoyf's when I let the first one hit me for a few turns as a 2/3. When the 2nd one landed they had just become 4/5's and it was time for them to go. Last turn of game 2 I needed simply any removal spell to close out the game but I got my 2nd Declaration in Stone to hit both the Scavenging Ooze's he had played after Painful Truth's for 3 a turn or two before.
Round 2 2-0 vs Grixis Control Overall 2-0
Out
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gavony Township
In
2 Kozilek's Return
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Notable Plays: Game one I saw Young Pyromancer otherwise I might not have sided Kozilek's Return in. Late in game two while he was digging for answer's I finally saw he had Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in his deck which would have been a hard threat to deal with if I didn't have removal immediately. Game two ended fairly fast once I found Thrun that resolved and was unable to be dealt with.
Round 3 0-2 vs Abzan Titan's Overall 2-1
Out
3 Qasali Pridemage
1 Gavony Township
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Ghost Quarter
Notable Plays: This match went very strange for me from the start. Game one i mulligan down to a hand of 4 with a scryed Noble Hierarch on top and a Stirring Wildwood as my only land. This was the first weird part because I mulliganed a 6 with the same two mana sources in it. Game one went very well for my I landed an Elspeth-Knight Errant turn 3 a Knight of the Reliquary turn 4 and was presenting lethal to him on turn 6-7 before he finally drew removal for the Knight. After that he value engined with Sun Titan recurring Wall of Omens and Lone Missionary. Shortly after he landed Grave Titan and then Primeval Titan and I scooped. Game two I grinded him back and forth down to an eventual 13 where he stabilized and finished me off in 2 turns with Titan's. This deck was something I had never seen before and also something I thought impossible in modern. However after talking with team mates later we determined it was likely an unfavorable match up for me as it does something similar to me only bigger at every step of the game and is likely designed to beat up on midrange.
Round 4 2-1 vs Eldrazi Taxes Overall 3-1
Out
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Noble Hierarch
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Deglamer
1 Ghost Quarter
Notable Plays: Game one he locked me out with Leonin Arbiter fairly early and started Ghost Quartering and Path to Exiling me out of the game, then presenting me with ~6 power in the air that I have a hard time dealing with. Game 3 I cast a late Elspeth-Knight Errant for 4 with Thalia, Guardian of Thraben out. I had no 5th mana source and did not even realize I had done it until after the game when a spectator pointed it out. It was the turning point in the game that both of us missed and felt a bit scummy to win off the back of that, but lesson learned read the cards, don't cheat intentionally or not.
Round 5 0-1-1 vs Jeskai Nahiri Overall 3-2
Sideboarding:
No Notes we only had ~9minutes for game 2.
Notable Plays: Game one I spent 25 minutes and at least 10 turns attacking Nahiri to make sure an Emrakul didn't make me sack 6 permanents. After 10+ turns including at one point both Elspeth and Arlinn Kord on the field I failed. After which he ultimated nahiri and got Emrakul out attacking my Elspeth after which he could not present a clock. I pathed 3 of his 4 Celestial Collonades but the 4th finally got me. Game two I came out the gates with a fairly fast clock but I just couldn't get a big enough board presence to do anything and we drew game 2. This was the first time I had every played against this deck and the first time against Jeskai Control in nearly 3 years. Needless to say after this match and a later match against Jeskai Control again I need a sideboard plan for Nahiri.
Round 6 1-2 vs Kiln Fiend Combo Overall 3-3
Out
no notes
In
2 Kozilek's Return
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Notable Plays: Game one I had removal for his combo pieces and took him out in short order. Game 2 we grinded for a bit but a misplay against him with removal to his creature on his turn not mine while he was tapped out meant an apostles blessing saved his combo creature. Game three I played Knight of the Reliquary turn 2 and Elspeth-Knight Errant turn 3 and presented lethal turn 4. He untaps and top decks the 3rd spell required to make Kiln Fiend lethal me for 17 while I was hold a declaration in stone I could have just as easily played on my turn 3 to try and stop it. I was a bit overconfident in this match up, I knew about the combo and knew fairly well what to expect but I seriously doubted 17 damage in one turn was possible and lost the match because of this.
Round 7 0-2 vs Jeskai Control Overall 3-4 Drop
Out
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Noble Hierarch
In
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Deglamer
1 Ghost Quarter
Notable Plays: Same story as earlier in the day only this time I never saw a Nahiri and instead had Restoration Angels flickering Snapcaster Mages for Burn and swining for 3 at my Elspeth's both games. Game two was very close where he ended the game at 2 when I was finally out of gas/removal for his flying Celestial Collonade. Overall I think my deck performed admirably against the other midrange decks of the format which was all I seemed to be up against all day. I had a blast but was bummed that I had again come to a larger modern event and ended up paired against decks that were not part of the meta(kiln fiend, abzan titans, eldrazi taxes to a lesser extent) However even with match ups that I was unprepared for I think I performed fairly well and am looking to play this deck continuing on. Notable changes to the decklist I have made since then include the following.
Main
-1 Arlinn Kord
-1 Gavony Township
+1 Archangel Avacyn
+1 Horizon Canopy
Side
-2 Timely Reinforcements
-1 Deglamer
+2 Pulse of Murasa
+1 Pithing Needle
The maindeck Archangel Avacyn is to combat the local meta that is heavy Abzan/Jund and the Gavony Township is going out once I get my 2nd Horizon Canopy in the mail. I have won many games off getting to draw the one extra card from my singleton Horizon Canopy that a 2nd might be needed, also Gavony Township for 2-3 turns onto my dorks just isnt my play style. The sideboard change is in reaction to Nahiri(pithing needle) and a teamates reaction to Pulse of Murasa in his Abzan deck. Other cards I am considering testing against Nahiri include Celestial Purge(1-2 side), Thunderbreak Regent(1 in main) and Sarkhan the Dragonspeaker(1 in main).
Any comments, questions, or feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: Made the decklist look right.
I'm unsure about it right now, but the ability to Lure off of a Bushwacker or basically bloodrush it late in the game looks like it could get around a few issues. I'm going to give it a shot in some playtesting to see how it can affect those situations.
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Something along the lines of:
22 lands
4 Noble
4 Nacatl
4 Goyf
4 Knight
3 Voice
2 Qasali
1 Emrakul
3 Oath of nissa
4 Bolt
3 Path
2 Elspeth
2 Nahiri
1 Arlinn
1 Ajani
6 Walkers, 7 non-walker removal, 22 creatures, and 3 oath to bring it all together. Not sure, but looks like it could work or get real clumpy.
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Can't see a Legion Loyalist here.
Did it drop from your decks entirely?
Green @ it's best
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You could just play a removal spell like Declaration in Stone on Kalitas instead. Sure, it doesn't neutralize all of their blockers for a turn like Shinen does, but it's not, you know, bad. If they have a bolt or decay your "removal" did nothing. And if you draw it in a position where you aren't attacking for lethal or near lethal, it's terrible. Even if you are in such a position, it still costs 4 mana to use immediately, even if you have a Bushwhacker to use it the good way, so often you'll have to cast it and wait a turn. Then even stuff like Maelstrom Pulse and Dreadbore kills it before it does anything. If you need to attack past big blockers in some matchups, just play more removal. Max out on paths and have a mix of Declaration in Stone and Ghor-Clan in you 75.