I genuinely despise the card (Aether Vial) in this deck. It forces weird curve choices, more complex mid-game decision trees, and is a horrible topdeck later on.
I can definitely understand the reasoning, however.
It's funny that you should mention "complex mid-game decision trees" as a reason you despise Vial; I think of that as a feature, rather than a bug. It rewards tight play and knowledge of the metagame.
At large events, especially 2-day events, fatigue is a very real thing. While I do appreciate the flexibility, having more choices isn't always a good thing.
The problem with Vial is that it gets less valuable as the game goes on. Sure, you can keep a Vial on 3 for when you topdeck a Flickerwisp, but you'll probably have a lot of unused mana late in a game. Typically, this is where manlands prove to be useful; they're our mana sinks in the late game.
My mana sink of choice is still Eldrazi Displacer, but I really love that card.
I appreciate the potential value of manlands; Shambling Vent used to be one of my favorite cards in the deck, but lately my goal is just increasing pressure via Displacer. I also would rather have my hands tied by CiPT lands as little as possible.
As for his other comments, I agree with his assessment on maximizing land usage. Windbrisk Heights is intriguing and I certainly miss Mutavault, but I'm not quite ready to give up Lingering Souls and Wasteland Strangler just yet. I think the B splash deprives the luxury of crazy land choices.
I think Windbrisk Heights is okay, but I don't know how he can depend on having 3 creatures to attack with, in order to activate it. The removal in Modern is everywhere, and I regularly have opponents that prevent me from having a surplus of creatures to stop them from being overwhelmed.
Heights is probably better with Lingering Souls, because Souls creates a lot of creatures. But it's clear that for mono-white like this list, he was forced to play Blade Splicer instead, just to be able to go wide enough that Heights has value. It seems fragile to me, especially when your opponents are going to instant-speed remove your Splicer to be able to block your Golem and Mutavault.
I applaud the deck creator for his metagame choices and I congratulate him on his T8. But I think he got lucky with his matchups and his presumably-confused opponents, because I don't even think I could take his list to my LGS and win with it.
I think more credit is due than that. It was the right list for the meta, which is the key to the archetype. It's as much a builder's deck as it is a player's deck. There's a lot of smart things going on here and I agree that much of what we used to rely on Vial for we can now do off the back of other cards. That said, the versatility of mana uses Vial allows is huge in the late game. He's not wrong, but that doesn't make it the universal truth. D&T is possibly the most YMMV deck in Modern. I think the potential for explosive starts on the back of a T1 Heights is enormous and, as many Kytheon devotees can attest, It's not that difficult of an effect to trigger. That said, I hate CiPT lands in any deck, but especially here. The hardest part,from my perspective, is having the leftover W to activate while keeping a tight lock on the board...that and the aggravation of making every land drop but being one mana down every turn starting out.
Another proponent of Lingering Souls. What matches would you side it in for? What would go out?
A lot of the old-timers are fans of Lingering Souls. Catmix and I also maindeck it regularly.
The question should be "which matches do you side it out for?" And the answer is not many of them. The card is basically a 4-for-1, so you only side it out if you would have lost by the time you can get value out of it. I'll occasionally take it out against Burn, because getting double taxed by Eidolon is really bad. It's not great against Bogles or Infect, but it will necessitate that your opponent find something that provides trample or lifelink.
“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))
The problem with Vial is that it gets less valuable as the game goes on. Sure, you can keep a Vial on 3 for when you topdeck a Flickerwisp, but you'll probably have a lot of unused mana late in a game. Typically, this is where manlands prove to be useful; they're our mana sinks in the late game.
My mana sink of choice is still Eldrazi Displacer, but I really love that card.
I appreciate the potential value of manlands; Shambling Vent used to be one of my favorite cards in the deck, but lately my goal is just increasing pressure via Displacer. I also would rather have my hands tied by CiPT lands as little as possible.
I want to like Displacer, but I don't run Eldrazi Temple, and all of my games fall into one of two categories:
1) they're over before Displacer is relevant
2) they're against control decks that run very few creatures and a lot of removal
The end result is that Displacer just isn't nearly as effective for me as the manlands typically are.
As for his other comments, I agree with his assessment on maximizing land usage. Windbrisk Heights is intriguing and I certainly miss Mutavault, but I'm not quite ready to give up Lingering Souls and Wasteland Strangler just yet. I think the B splash deprives the luxury of crazy land choices.
I think Windbrisk Heights is okay, but I don't know how he can depend on having 3 creatures to attack with, in order to activate it. The removal in Modern is everywhere, and I regularly have opponents that prevent me from having a surplus of creatures to stop them from being overwhelmed.
Heights is probably better with Lingering Souls, because Souls creates a lot of creatures. But it's clear that for mono-white like this list, he was forced to play Blade Splicer instead, just to be able to go wide enough that Heights has value. It seems fragile to me, especially when your opponents are going to instant-speed remove your Splicer to be able to block your Golem and Mutavault.
I applaud the deck creator for his metagame choices and I congratulate him on his T8. But I think he got lucky with his matchups and his presumably-confused opponents, because I don't even think I could take his list to my LGS and win with it.
I think more credit is due than that. It was the right list for the meta, which is the key to the archetype. It's as much a builder's deck as it is a player's deck. There's a lot of smart things going on here and I agree that much of what we used to rely on Vial for we can now do off the back of other cards. That said, the versatility of mana uses Vial allows is huge in the late game. He's not wrong, but that doesn't make it the universal truth. D&T is possibly the most YMMV deck in Modern. I think the potential for explosive starts on the back of a T1 Heights is enormous and, as many Kytheon devotees can attest, It's not that difficult of an effect to trigger. That said, I hate CiPT lands in any deck, but especially here. The hardest part,from my perspective, is having the leftover W to activate while keeping a tight lock on the board...that and the aggravation of making every land drop but being one mana down every turn starting out.
I agree with you that this is the YMMY deck in Modern.
Heights is a very questionable call to me. The upside is that it's a Vial-substitute on a land, but the downside is that your opponent controls whether or not you can activate it. Sure, we run a lot of creatures, but many reactive decks won't let you keep three creatures on the board.
Ultimately, I think this actually leads to a change in D&T strategy. With Heights (or to a lesser extent Kytheon), a player may intentionally make a "bad" attack for value later. For example, I may opt to swing my Arbiter into a Tarmogoyf, because I know that I have a Thought-Knot Seer under my Heights. I'm basically trading the Arbiter for the TKS at that point, but it feels like a decent upgrade in most matchups where I'm staring down a Tarmogoyf. This line of play simply doesn't exist for a traditional D&T deck. To the deckbuilder's credit, there are a lot of useful interactions here, for example:
1) Attack with three creatures, activate Heights revealing Path to Exile before blockers are declared
2) Attack with three creatures, activate Heights during your end step revealing Flickerwisp
I think that Heights is a creative reimagining of Vial.
However, I stand by my statement that I probably couldn't take this build into my LGS and win with it. I don't know what that says about the competition at my LGS, but it's a pretty competitive place. Most pilots that can keep me off my creatures are going to do it, control decks and attrition decks especially. Some pilots with linear, noninteractive strategies are going to ignore what I do and try to win by T4. But it's hard to envision matchups where I can consistently enable Heights in such a way that my variance is reduced.
I'm actually surprised that pilot didn't have any copies of Sun Titan. As hard as it is to get to 6 mana, being able to reveal it off of Heights or pitch it to Shining Shoal gives it a little more mileage.
Playing millions of cards every turn... Slowly and systematically obliterating any chance my opponent has of winning... Clicking the multitude of locking mechanisms into place... Not even trying to win myself until turn 10+ once I have nigh absolute control... Watching my opponent desperately trying to navigate the labyrinthine prison that I've constructed... Seeing the light of hope fade and ultimately extinguished in an excruciatingly slow manner... THAT'S fun Magic.
We have 2-3 users that are dramatically making this thread incomprehensible and non-productive for anyone else to possibly join in the discussion. This needs to change.
Every time I see [ktkenshinx] post in here, I get the impression of a stern dad walking in on a bunch of kids trying to do something dumb and just shaking his head in disappointment.
Near Mint: The same as Slightly Played, but we threw some Altoids in the box we stored it in to cover up the scent of dead mice. Slightly Played: The base condition for all MTG cards. This card looks OK, but there’s one minor annoying ding in it that will always irritate and distract you whenever you draw it. Moderately Played: This card looks like it survived the Tet Offensive tucked inside the waistband of GI underwear. It may smell like it, too. Heavily Played: This card looks like the remains of Mohammed Atta’s passport after 9/11. It may be playable if you double-sleeve it to stop the chunks from falling out. The condition formerly known as "Washing Machine Grade" Damaged: This card is the unfortunate victim of a Mirrorweave/March of the Machines/Chaos Confetti/Mindslaver combo.
[M]aking counterfeit cards is the absolute height of dishonesty. Ask yourself this question: Since most people...are totally cool with the use of proxies...what purpose do [high] quality counterfeit cards serve?
Played some games and it went pretty well with E&T.
-Against Grixis Control, 3-1
First game I had Thalia, TKS, TKS, TKS, but he managed to topdeck 2 terminates and spancaster, losed to that.
Second game I had RiP from the beggining, and thalia + displacer beated to death.
Third game I started with RiP again, was a long game due to a lot of removal from my opponent, but the hand disruption from scullers and TKS won the game.
Fourth gamee I had no RiP, but I drawed 2 displacers, flickerwisp, 2 TkS, 2 Wasteland... and had vial on 3. So pretty much, my opponent couldnt do a single play.
-Against mono-W D&T, 2-1
First game I started destroying his only plains with arbiter on board, we did not have vial, so I got ahead and wasteland strangler + TKS won the game.
Second game again without vial, but he beated me with flyers and a Resto Angel.
Third game we both had vial, and displacer + temples + flickerwisp made it to the end.
-Against UW Spirits, 2-1
First game I got ahead with removal and hand disruption, he didnt find an answer to TKS.
Second game I kept a slow hand and he won attacking with flyers.
Third game I started to lose, but drawed a Displacer with vial on 3 and 1 plains + 3 temples on board. Tapped his attackers every turn while casting my creatures off vial and beated him.
Not sure if it's been discussed elsewhere in the thread (not really keen to read back 50 pages to see), but what are everyone's thoughts on Thraben Inspector vs Wall of Omens for the low drop draw, in Mono-White? Most of the builds I've seen topping have been running inspectors, then the Vial-less build ran Omens instead, as some similar flicker builds do.
Not sure if it's been discussed elsewhere in the thread (not really keen to read back 50 pages to see), but what are everyone's thoughts on Thraben Inspector vs Wall of Omens for the low drop draw, in Mono-White? Most of the builds I've seen topping have been running inspectors, then the Vial-less build ran Omens instead, as some similar flicker builds do.
Thoughts?
You're not going to find much discussion about this, because neither of those cards are particularly aggressive.
By contrast, Wall of Omens is almost never used, although it did just see play in the list that T8'd GP Vancouver. Typically, if it doesn't swing, we don't usually want it.
Most of the conventional wisdom is going to suggest that you probably shouldn't run either, but if you have to play one, it should be Thraben Inspector, unless you have a very specific reason for wanting to run Wall of Omens instead.
Playing millions of cards every turn... Slowly and systematically obliterating any chance my opponent has of winning... Clicking the multitude of locking mechanisms into place... Not even trying to win myself until turn 10+ once I have nigh absolute control... Watching my opponent desperately trying to navigate the labyrinthine prison that I've constructed... Seeing the light of hope fade and ultimately extinguished in an excruciatingly slow manner... THAT'S fun Magic.
We have 2-3 users that are dramatically making this thread incomprehensible and non-productive for anyone else to possibly join in the discussion. This needs to change.
Every time I see [ktkenshinx] post in here, I get the impression of a stern dad walking in on a bunch of kids trying to do something dumb and just shaking his head in disappointment.
Near Mint: The same as Slightly Played, but we threw some Altoids in the box we stored it in to cover up the scent of dead mice. Slightly Played: The base condition for all MTG cards. This card looks OK, but there’s one minor annoying ding in it that will always irritate and distract you whenever you draw it. Moderately Played: This card looks like it survived the Tet Offensive tucked inside the waistband of GI underwear. It may smell like it, too. Heavily Played: This card looks like the remains of Mohammed Atta’s passport after 9/11. It may be playable if you double-sleeve it to stop the chunks from falling out. The condition formerly known as "Washing Machine Grade" Damaged: This card is the unfortunate victim of a Mirrorweave/March of the Machines/Chaos Confetti/Mindslaver combo.
[M]aking counterfeit cards is the absolute height of dishonesty. Ask yourself this question: Since most people...are totally cool with the use of proxies...what purpose do [high] quality counterfeit cards serve?
Not sure if it's been discussed elsewhere in the thread (not really keen to read back 50 pages to see), but what are everyone's thoughts on Thraben Inspector vs Wall of Omens for the low drop draw, in Mono-White? Most of the builds I've seen topping have been running inspectors, then the Vial-less build ran Omens instead, as some similar flicker builds do.
Thoughts?
You're not going to find much discussion about this, because neither of those cards are particularly aggressive.
By contrast, Wall of Omens is almost never used, although it did just see play in the list that T8'd GP Vancouver. Typically, if it doesn't swing, we don't usually want it.
Most of the conventional wisdom is going to suggest that you probably shouldn't run either, but if you have to play one, it should be Thraben Inspector, unless you have a very specific reason for wanting to run Wall of Omens instead.
Why does the conventional wisdom disagree with Craig Wescoe, a prominent professional famous for playing in this archetype? What does the conventional wisdom know that he doesn't? Or perhaps on the flip side, what does he know that we don't?
So decided to go the Wu route for upcoming TCGplayer States next weekend. I have been testing a lot of different variations etc... over the weekend and against the tier 1 and two decks currently and came up with the following list. I originally had 3x mausoleum wanderer which was great early game but horrible mid to late game so ultimately ended up dropping him for 4th thalia, third selfless spirit and moved a mindcensor up from the board. this way i still have odds of having a T2 play. This also opened up 2 slots in board (took out dispel as well wince the pierce tested better across the field) to add s leyline. originally i only had 2x haunt and 4x quarter as uncolored lands but once running the numbers taking into account vial figured i could add 2x more colorless so added 2 tec edge, and hasn't been a problem yet. I went with leyline since current meta has a lot of grindy decks that rely heavily on discard and burn is t1/t1.5. other than that the blue splash of 3 reflector, 3 queller and 2 geist seems great. the more i use reflector the more i love it, more than once in testing i was able to vial in reflector mage ir to liliana +1 in order to bounce a threat(usually goyf) and back-swing from there was more than enough to win either on spot or shortly after. queller is a bit fragile in format, but even just as tempo and forcing opponent to target queller instead of tax is well worth it, also gets around un-counterable shenanigans. The real reason i went with blue is it covers a lot of weaknesses in our deck giving us much better game versus sligh aggro decks like elves humans and the like buying an extra couple times to stabilize and/or win. ghostly prison I'm not sure how many use this card but its always 2-3 of in all my builds, for the same reason i went blue just shores up some hard matches, hurts tribal decks, affinity, infect oddly enough eldrazi since they cant attack and add bigger threats to board, I bring in versus storm along with leyline so goblins aren't as menacing. spell pierce tested better than any other counter against the field with my buddy and i discussing each time it came up if another card would have been better and especially with thalia active pierce was great. Good thing my buddy has pretty much all modern decks and runs junk consistently was able to help me tweak and tune taxes to an unknown meta (California states in pretty far from my local meta.) Any input would be appreciated and i will discuss the choice or take advise into consideration and test.
Why does the conventional wisdom disagree with Craig Wescoe, a prominent professional famous for playing in this archetype? What does the conventional wisdom know that he doesn't? Or perhaps on the flip side, what does he know that we don't?
I honestly dont even think hes that great, he gets to grind more and he gets more publicity but his lists has always been a lean towards white weenie rather than control.
For me at least, Death and Taxes has always been control, disrupt as you incrementally threaten. White weenie is just beats, and stompy can beat better and red can race better so i never really cared for any of his lists except for Legacy where he plays the more traditional DnT with his brand of flavor.
DnT especially is a type of control deck that requires you to understand fully how other decks work due to the nature of cards like sculler, TKS, and revokers. I wouldnt really trust someone who plays -only- white to have an amazing grasp of DnT.
I honestly dont even think hes that great, he gets to grind more and he gets more publicity but his lists has always been a lean towards white weenie rather than control.
For me at least, Death and Taxes has always been control, disrupt as you incrementally threaten. White weenie is just beats, and stompy can beat better and red can race better so i never really cared for any of his lists except for Legacy where he plays the more traditional DnT with his brand of flavor.
DnT especially is a type of control deck that requires you to understand fully how other decks work due to the nature of cards like sculler, TKS, and revokers. I wouldnt really trust someone who plays -only- white to have an amazing grasp of DnT.
Is there anyone who you would consider to be an "authority" on Death and Taxes? I don't get the chance to play nearly enough games to playtest many many variations, so it's important to me to have a source I can rely on to provide an experienced, skilled take on the deck at any given time.
I honestly dont even think hes that great, he gets to grind more and he gets more publicity but his lists has always been a lean towards white weenie rather than control.
For me at least, Death and Taxes has always been control, disrupt as you incrementally threaten. White weenie is just beats, and stompy can beat better and red can race better so i never really cared for any of his lists except for Legacy where he plays the more traditional DnT with his brand of flavor.
DnT especially is a type of control deck that requires you to understand fully how other decks work due to the nature of cards like sculler, TKS, and revokers. I wouldnt really trust someone who plays -only- white to have an amazing grasp of DnT.
Is there anyone who you would consider to be an "authority" on Death and Taxes? I don't get the chance to play nearly enough games to playtest many many variations, so it's important to me to have a source I can rely on to provide an experienced, skilled take on the deck at any given time.
for modern i cant think of anyone except the regulars in this thread. Jendo and Catmix alwaays tries to innovate so you can look at their streams and formulate your own opinion on what works for you.
this deck in modern seems to have many variations that just sticks to people's tendencies. I for one cannot move away from EnT, every time i try any other variation i miss the scullers and processing shenanigans.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Standard UWUW Spirit FlashUW Modern BWEldrazi and TaxesBW UMono Blue ControlU WURGRestore BalanceWURG Legacy WDeath and TaxesW
Craig Wesco formulates decks to his profile. Yes many of the cards in his decks are the same as ours but he is trying to be a white weenie deck more than "death and taxes." Hence cards like honor of the pure. If you watch his games and like his play-style by all means make a deck close to his and you will succeed. Most people in this forum prefer the traditional lists which is fine offers many different lines. I have watched jendo and catmix on stream as well as analyzed gliter, charons and others play-style from post. and there are many times I would choose different lines, not better or worse but different. So i respect all of their input but also take into consideration my choices play style and mental strategies and use it to tweak my own builds. The beauty of death and taxes is that it offers even more lines of play than most control decks have, due to utility of wisp and other blink effects plenty of aggressive and controlling lines. there are of course bad lines and losing lines of play, but the beauty of death and taxes as a whole is that there are dozens of winning lines that fit each individual player and once you realize what lines you take and how you play the deck you can build to those strengths. If you love the aggressive splicer blink close out games ASAP while slowing opponents down a little along the way I would try wesco's list and adjust fire from there. personally I like analyzing the meta and knowing the decks and using that information to know my opponent's outs or interactions and playing in a manner to shut off opponent's outs to what i am doing on the board, so I make decks that help me accomplish that. This is why I don't tell people that my lists are superior or that people should play them, I do recommend new players play a stock list to see what they want to do with the deck then build from there.
Not sure if it's been discussed elsewhere in the thread (not really keen to read back 50 pages to see), but what are everyone's thoughts on Thraben Inspector vs Wall of Omens for the low drop draw, in Mono-White? Most of the builds I've seen topping have been running inspectors, then the Vial-less build ran Omens instead, as some similar flicker builds do.
Thoughts?
You're not going to find much discussion about this, because neither of those cards are particularly aggressive.
By contrast, Wall of Omens is almost never used, although it did just see play in the list that T8'd GP Vancouver. Typically, if it doesn't swing, we don't usually want it.
Most of the conventional wisdom is going to suggest that you probably shouldn't run either, but if you have to play one, it should be Thraben Inspector, unless you have a very specific reason for wanting to run Wall of Omens instead.
Why does the conventional wisdom disagree with Craig Wescoe, a prominent professional famous for playing in this archetype? What does the conventional wisdom know that he doesn't? Or perhaps on the flip side, what does he know that we don't?
When I say "conventional wisdom", I mean the more-or-less consensus among the old-timers in this thread. Thraben Inspector has been tested pretty extensively and the results were certainly more mixed than Wescoe's recent opinion (emphasis mine):
The biggest innovation made recently was Thraben Inspector. The green-white version has Noble Hierarch as a one-drop to put onto the battlefield from Aether Vial on the second turn, but the best the mono-white version could do was play Judge's Familiar. Thraben Inspector wildly overperformed for me in testing and in the tournament. If you don't have a two-drop creature after your first turn Vial, you can tap the Vial to put Thraben Inspector onto the battlefield and then immediately sacrifice the clue with your two mana. Or when you play out your Flickerwisp or Restoration Angel just to get a flier onto the board to pressure the opponent, you can incidentally blink the Thraben Inspector to make a clue. Then, if you keep drawing gas you'll win the game, but if you start flooding out, the clues essentially act as extra Horizon Canopies to keep the engine rolling. Ideally you want to be blinking Blade Splicer to make Golem Tokens (aka the best Etched Champion blockers in the format), but getting a clue is highly underrated. It's actually quite good in this deck. I'm confident enough to call it the best white one-drop in Modern (outside of Soul Sisters).
Wescoe is a white weenie player. He's only a D&T player when it's positioned well in the metagame (e.g., never), otherwise he plays various kinds of hatebears and mono-white aggro.
We don't know anything that Wescoe doesn't.
There are a spectrum of Modern D&T decks, all ranging from aggro to control. Wescoe is almost always on aggro, and he's rarely on control. His deck choices are presumably based on the metagame, but they're also based on his ability to pilot them against a wide variety of different decks in tournaments that go 15 rounds. As Chalupacabra recently pointed out, complex decision trees aren't always your friend.
The people in this thread have a lot of experience metagaming their way through small and mid-size tournaments. We all pilot versions of this deck that we're beyond comfortable with; all of our playtesting allows us to punish less-experienced opponents with our knowledge of the format. Sometimes, we even have players in this thread that spike major tournaments, the last one probably being Elliot Smith with this list in January.
Again, we don't know anything that Wescoe doesn't. And Wescoe doesn't know anything that we don't. But Wescoe has his playstyles and we have ours.
Is there anyone who you would consider to be an "authority" on Death and Taxes? I don't get the chance to play nearly enough games to playtest many many variations, so it's important to me to have a source I can rely on to provide an experienced, skilled take on the deck at any given time.
There isn't one D&T deck, so there isn't one single authority on it. You'll get good advice in here, but you want to be getting advice from people who regularly pilot your version of the deck.
EDIT: Brutal Sarnath by HugeElfBoy. Well played, sir.
Playing millions of cards every turn... Slowly and systematically obliterating any chance my opponent has of winning... Clicking the multitude of locking mechanisms into place... Not even trying to win myself until turn 10+ once I have nigh absolute control... Watching my opponent desperately trying to navigate the labyrinthine prison that I've constructed... Seeing the light of hope fade and ultimately extinguished in an excruciatingly slow manner... THAT'S fun Magic.
We have 2-3 users that are dramatically making this thread incomprehensible and non-productive for anyone else to possibly join in the discussion. This needs to change.
Every time I see [ktkenshinx] post in here, I get the impression of a stern dad walking in on a bunch of kids trying to do something dumb and just shaking his head in disappointment.
Near Mint: The same as Slightly Played, but we threw some Altoids in the box we stored it in to cover up the scent of dead mice. Slightly Played: The base condition for all MTG cards. This card looks OK, but there’s one minor annoying ding in it that will always irritate and distract you whenever you draw it. Moderately Played: This card looks like it survived the Tet Offensive tucked inside the waistband of GI underwear. It may smell like it, too. Heavily Played: This card looks like the remains of Mohammed Atta’s passport after 9/11. It may be playable if you double-sleeve it to stop the chunks from falling out. The condition formerly known as "Washing Machine Grade" Damaged: This card is the unfortunate victim of a Mirrorweave/March of the Machines/Chaos Confetti/Mindslaver combo.
[M]aking counterfeit cards is the absolute height of dishonesty. Ask yourself this question: Since most people...are totally cool with the use of proxies...what purpose do [high] quality counterfeit cards serve?
Thanks guys, very informative responses. Honestly the number of variations is overwhelming with this deck; it's hard for me to figure out which "style" I want to be playing at the end of the day! Wescoe's list, Eldrazi and Taxes, Spirits and Taxes, B/W Taxes, they're all so fun and different O_O
Hi guys, i'm glad to report I was able to enter my first ever Top 8 using the deck below and was able to reach 4th place. Still didn't know how to sideboard but I just winged it since no replied here. lol. Anyway, I have a few question:
1. What creatures do we remove against Jund & Junk? I was able to win with a timely Tidehollow, Strangler and on the back of RIP, wasn't able to draw Gideon to know if he carries his weight against this deck.
2. Against Merfolk and Elves, what do we do? lol. I actually switched out Wrath of god for Gideon, but when I was playing against Elves and was able to draw Gideon (not sure why I inserted him against them. lol), wished it was *** instead. @_@
Hope someone replies, and could someone freaking make a thread for specifically Eldrazi Taxes?? I'm not that experienced to make one myself but I really think a thread of its own would be nice.
Hi guys, i'm glad to report I was able to enter my first ever Top 8 using the deck below and was able to reach 4th place. Still didn't know how to sideboard but I just winged it since no replied here. lol. Anyway, I have a few question:
1. What creatures do we remove against Jund & Junk? I was able to win with a timely Tidehollow, Strangler and on the back of RIP, wasn't able to draw Gideon to know if he carries his weight against this deck.
2. Against Merfolk and Elves, what do we do? lol. I actually switched out Wrath of god for Gideon, but when I was playing against Elves and was able to draw Gideon (not sure why I inserted him against them. lol), wished it was *** instead. @_@
Hope someone replies, and could someone freaking make a thread for specifically Eldrazi Taxes?? I'm not that experienced to make one myself but I really think a thread of its own would be nice.
Every list is different. What I do vs. Jund/Junk as Mono-White would be very different to what you'd do. I have maindeck Spellskites which can help protect the Arbiters from removal.
Vs. Elves/Eldrazi/Merfolk I board out 2 Resto Angels and board in 2 Magus of the Moat. Magus is a very strong bridge vs. those decks as they tend to be low on removal spells as they rely on brute force and swinging through rather than clearing a path with spells. Worship would probably work better for builds light on Thalia or running Lingering Souls. I run 4 GQ/4 Tec Edge so it's unrealistic me trying to hit 5 land to play Worship through Thalia.
Thanks guys, very informative responses. Honestly the number of variations is overwhelming with this deck; it's hard for me to figure out which "style" I want to be playing at the end of the day! Wescoe's list, Eldrazi and Taxes, Spirits and Taxes, B/W Taxes, they're all so fun and different O_O
Hope someone replies, and could someone freaking make a thread for specifically Eldrazi Taxes?? I'm not that experienced to make one myself but I really think a thread of its own would be nice.
One of the keys to doing well with this deck is understanding that, unlike most decks in the format, there is not now, nor will ever be, an optimized list.
It doesn't work that way.
Whether you call it D&T, E&T, W/X Flicker, or Bobo the Wonder Snake; all of the decks are built on the same core concepts and fundamental principles. This is why an E&T thread or Spirits&Taxes thread makes no sense to those who know the deck. It would be like calling every different options package of a car by a different model name. It didn't work for Alfa Romeo, and it won't work for us.
In fact, it's exactly this kind of splintering that hurts the deck. Constant renaming and reclassification of the deck has made information gathering and assessment of its meta position nearly impossible.
The best advice for people new to the archetype is to try a traditional white build for a few, then splash, trim, and substitute to your heart's content until you find a build that you feel addresses both the meta and your playstyle.
“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))
This is my current list, as far as most lists go I find it's very vanilla but that also means it's very consistent and easy to grasp for anyone new to D&T. It has weak spots but overall I find it naturally nerfs Modern due to the over-reliance on fetchlands for fix greedy mana. It also works well as it never loses out on tempo/struggles for colour with the land. It lets it consistently play threats on time.
Hi guys, i'm glad to report I was able to enter my first ever Top 8 using the deck below and was able to reach 4th place. Still didn't know how to sideboard but I just winged it since no replied here. lol. Anyway, I have a few question:
1. What creatures do we remove against Jund & Junk? I was able to win with a timely Tidehollow, Strangler and on the back of RIP, wasn't able to draw Gideon to know if he carries his weight against this deck.
2. Against Merfolk and Elves, what do we do? lol. I actually switched out Wrath of god for Gideon, but when I was playing against Elves and was able to draw Gideon (not sure why I inserted him against them. lol), wished it was *** instead. @_@
Hope someone replies, and could someone freaking make a thread for specifically Eldrazi Taxes?? I'm not that experienced to make one myself but I really think a thread of its own would be nice.
Every list is different. What I do vs. Jund/Junk as Mono-White would be very different to what you'd do. I have maindeck Spellskites which can help protect the Arbiters from removal.
Vs. Elves/Eldrazi/Merfolk I board out 2 Resto Angels and board in 2 Magus of the Moat. Magus is a very strong bridge vs. those decks as they tend to be low on removal spells as they rely on brute force and swinging through rather than clearing a path with spells. Worship would probably work better for builds light on Thalia or running Lingering Souls. I run 4 GQ/4 Tec Edge so it's unrealistic me trying to hit 5 land to play Worship through Thalia.
Thanks guys, very informative responses. Honestly the number of variations is overwhelming with this deck; it's hard for me to figure out which "style" I want to be playing at the end of the day! Wescoe's list, Eldrazi and Taxes, Spirits and Taxes, B/W Taxes, they're all so fun and different O_O
Hope someone replies, and could someone freaking make a thread for specifically Eldrazi Taxes?? I'm not that experienced to make one myself but I really think a thread of its own would be nice.
One of the keys to doing well with this deck is understanding that, unlike most decks in the format, there is not now, nor will ever be, an optimized list.
It doesn't work that way.
Whether you call it D&T, E&T, W/X Flicker, or Bobo the Wonder Snake; all of the decks are built on the same core concepts and fundamental principles. This is why an E&T thread or Spirits&Taxes thread makes no sense to those who know the deck. It would be like calling every different options package of a car by a different model name. It didn't work for Alfa Romeo, and it won't work for us.
In fact, it's exactly this kind of splintering that hurts the deck. Constant renaming and reclassification of the deck has made information gathering and assessment of its meta position nearly impossible.
The best advice for people new to the archetype is to try a traditional white build for a few, then splash, trim, and substitute to your heart's content until you find a build that you feel addresses both the meta and your playstyle.
The reason I am suggesting the Eldrazi Taxes to splinter off in its own thread is some people may only use/play the Mono-W variant, which is good and all but would say "I use Mono-W so I'll probably doing something different from you" then suggest a card from their SB which if you look at the list of Eldrazi Taxes, they don't use that card most of the time. Yes, I agree, starting with the traditional Mono-W would probably help me learn the basic of said archetype but why can't I learn using the deck I already have and from people who actually uses it and CAN reply most of the time and SHARE their experience without being swallowed by the other posts of the other variants of said deck? I was able to complete the Eldrazi Taxes deck due to some of the cards being given to me by my friends and some being sold to me for very cheap prices, I don't want to spend resources on building the Mono-W version just to follow your old school way of learning something, when you have an alternative of pooling people who specifically plays the deck in one thread and have them help each other out without being drowned with posts from other variants.
How are you liking geist right now? I've been off him for some time, but perhaps it's his time to shine again.
I like reflector mage much more than splicer in this build. It moves dudes out of the way for geist and accomplishes a similar goal to splicer in an anti creature fashion, but better imo. Have you tried venser, shaper savant? I've absolutely fallen in love with this card for WU.
Have you tested ceremonious rejection at all? I've really liked it in the board. It hits a lot of decks and is unconditional if it's going to hit something (i.e. not pay 2 or countered).
Also, I think you might want fecthes and much less hallowed fountain. I do this to reduce the amount of islands in my deck because merfolk is a thing and it goes from favorable to unfavorable when you give them auto unblockablitiy.
I appreciate the potential value of manlands; Shambling Vent used to be one of my favorite cards in the deck, but lately my goal is just increasing pressure via Displacer. I also would rather have my hands tied by CiPT lands as little as possible. I think more credit is due than that. It was the right list for the meta, which is the key to the archetype. It's as much a builder's deck as it is a player's deck. There's a lot of smart things going on here and I agree that much of what we used to rely on Vial for we can now do off the back of other cards. That said, the versatility of mana uses Vial allows is huge in the late game. He's not wrong, but that doesn't make it the universal truth. D&T is possibly the most YMMV deck in Modern. I think the potential for explosive starts on the back of a T1 Heights is enormous and, as many Kytheon devotees can attest, It's not that difficult of an effect to trigger. That said, I hate CiPT lands in any deck, but especially here. The hardest part,from my perspective, is having the leftover W to activate while keeping a tight lock on the board...that and the aggravation of making every land drop but being one mana down every turn starting out. Once you splash B, you never go back?
- 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
1) they're over before Displacer is relevant
2) they're against control decks that run very few creatures and a lot of removal
The end result is that Displacer just isn't nearly as effective for me as the manlands typically are.
I agree with you that this is the YMMY deck in Modern.
Heights is a very questionable call to me. The upside is that it's a Vial-substitute on a land, but the downside is that your opponent controls whether or not you can activate it. Sure, we run a lot of creatures, but many reactive decks won't let you keep three creatures on the board.
Ultimately, I think this actually leads to a change in D&T strategy. With Heights (or to a lesser extent Kytheon), a player may intentionally make a "bad" attack for value later. For example, I may opt to swing my Arbiter into a Tarmogoyf, because I know that I have a Thought-Knot Seer under my Heights. I'm basically trading the Arbiter for the TKS at that point, but it feels like a decent upgrade in most matchups where I'm staring down a Tarmogoyf. This line of play simply doesn't exist for a traditional D&T deck. To the deckbuilder's credit, there are a lot of useful interactions here, for example:
1) Attack with three creatures, activate Heights revealing Path to Exile before blockers are declared
2) Attack with three creatures, activate Heights during your end step revealing Flickerwisp
I think that Heights is a creative reimagining of Vial.
However, I stand by my statement that I probably couldn't take this build into my LGS and win with it. I don't know what that says about the competition at my LGS, but it's a pretty competitive place. Most pilots that can keep me off my creatures are going to do it, control decks and attrition decks especially. Some pilots with linear, noninteractive strategies are going to ignore what I do and try to win by T4. But it's hard to envision matchups where I can consistently enable Heights in such a way that my variance is reduced.
I'm actually surprised that pilot didn't have any copies of Sun Titan. As hard as it is to get to 6 mana, being able to reveal it off of Heights or pitch it to Shining Shoal gives it a little more mileage.
This is the best thing I've read in a while.
WUDeath&TaxesWG
Legacy
UBRGDredgeUBRG
UHigh TideU
URGLandsURG
WR Card Choice List
WUR American D&T
WUB Esper D&T
The Reserved List
Heat Maps
-Against Grixis Control, 3-1
First game I had Thalia, TKS, TKS, TKS, but he managed to topdeck 2 terminates and spancaster, losed to that.
Second game I had RiP from the beggining, and thalia + displacer beated to death.
Third game I started with RiP again, was a long game due to a lot of removal from my opponent, but the hand disruption from scullers and TKS won the game.
Fourth gamee I had no RiP, but I drawed 2 displacers, flickerwisp, 2 TkS, 2 Wasteland... and had vial on 3. So pretty much, my opponent couldnt do a single play.
-Against mono-W D&T, 2-1
First game I started destroying his only plains with arbiter on board, we did not have vial, so I got ahead and wasteland strangler + TKS won the game.
Second game again without vial, but he beated me with flyers and a Resto Angel.
Third game we both had vial, and displacer + temples + flickerwisp made it to the end.
-Against UW Spirits, 2-1
First game I got ahead with removal and hand disruption, he didnt find an answer to TKS.
Second game I kept a slow hand and he won attacking with flyers.
Third game I started to lose, but drawed a Displacer with vial on 3 and 1 plains + 3 temples on board. Tapped his attackers every turn while casting my creatures off vial and beated him.
2 Godless Shrine
2 Concealed Courtyard
4 Caves of Koilos
2 Shambling Vent
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Vault of the Archangel
3 Plains
1 Swamp
Spells
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Wasteland Strangler
2 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
4 Thought-knot Seer
1 Restoration Angel
2 Gonti, Lord of Luxury
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Stony Silence
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Rest in Peace
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Zealous Persecution
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Fatal Push
1 Big game hunter
1 Celestial Purge
Thinking about cuting the single Restoration Angel for a single Fatal Push. 5 main 1cc removal spells cant be that bad for this deck.
Thoughts?
You'll find that Craig Wescoe is a fan of Thraben Inspector, and it plays nicely in builds running Smuggler's Copter.
By contrast, Wall of Omens is almost never used, although it did just see play in the list that T8'd GP Vancouver. Typically, if it doesn't swing, we don't usually want it.
Most of the conventional wisdom is going to suggest that you probably shouldn't run either, but if you have to play one, it should be Thraben Inspector, unless you have a very specific reason for wanting to run Wall of Omens instead.
WUDeath&TaxesWG
Legacy
UBRGDredgeUBRG
UHigh TideU
URGLandsURG
WR Card Choice List
WUR American D&T
WUB Esper D&T
The Reserved List
Heat Maps
Why does the conventional wisdom disagree with Craig Wescoe, a prominent professional famous for playing in this archetype? What does the conventional wisdom know that he doesn't? Or perhaps on the flip side, what does he know that we don't?
4 Aether Vial
Creature 29
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Flickerwisp
2 Blade Splicer
2 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Reflector Mage
3 Spell Queller
1 Ephara, God of the Polis
3 Selfless Spirit
1 Aven Mindcensor
4 Path to Exile
Land 23
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Adarkar Wastes
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Moorland Haunt
1 Island
3 Plains
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Spellskite
2 Ghostly Prison
2 Rest in Peace
1 Worship
2 Stony Silence
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Spell Pierce
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
I honestly dont even think hes that great, he gets to grind more and he gets more publicity but his lists has always been a lean towards white weenie rather than control.
For me at least, Death and Taxes has always been control, disrupt as you incrementally threaten. White weenie is just beats, and stompy can beat better and red can race better so i never really cared for any of his lists except for Legacy where he plays the more traditional DnT with his brand of flavor.
DnT especially is a type of control deck that requires you to understand fully how other decks work due to the nature of cards like sculler, TKS, and revokers. I wouldnt really trust someone who plays -only- white to have an amazing grasp of DnT.
UWUW Spirit FlashUW
Modern
BWEldrazi and TaxesBW
UMono Blue ControlU
WURGRestore BalanceWURG
Legacy
WDeath and TaxesW
Is there anyone who you would consider to be an "authority" on Death and Taxes? I don't get the chance to play nearly enough games to playtest many many variations, so it's important to me to have a source I can rely on to provide an experienced, skilled take on the deck at any given time.
for modern i cant think of anyone except the regulars in this thread. Jendo and Catmix alwaays tries to innovate so you can look at their streams and formulate your own opinion on what works for you.
this deck in modern seems to have many variations that just sticks to people's tendencies. I for one cannot move away from EnT, every time i try any other variation i miss the scullers and processing shenanigans.
UWUW Spirit FlashUW
Modern
BWEldrazi and TaxesBW
UMono Blue ControlU
WURGRestore BalanceWURG
Legacy
WDeath and TaxesW
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Wescoe is a white weenie player. He's only a D&T player when it's positioned well in the metagame (e.g., never), otherwise he plays various kinds of hatebears and mono-white aggro.
We don't know anything that Wescoe doesn't.
There are a spectrum of Modern D&T decks, all ranging from aggro to control. Wescoe is almost always on aggro, and he's rarely on control. His deck choices are presumably based on the metagame, but they're also based on his ability to pilot them against a wide variety of different decks in tournaments that go 15 rounds. As Chalupacabra recently pointed out, complex decision trees aren't always your friend.
The people in this thread have a lot of experience metagaming their way through small and mid-size tournaments. We all pilot versions of this deck that we're beyond comfortable with; all of our playtesting allows us to punish less-experienced opponents with our knowledge of the format. Sometimes, we even have players in this thread that spike major tournaments, the last one probably being Elliot Smith with this list in January.
Again, we don't know anything that Wescoe doesn't. And Wescoe doesn't know anything that we don't. But Wescoe has his playstyles and we have ours.
There isn't one D&T deck, so there isn't one single authority on it. You'll get good advice in here, but you want to be getting advice from people who regularly pilot your version of the deck.
EDIT: Brutal Sarnath by HugeElfBoy. Well played, sir.
WUDeath&TaxesWG
Legacy
UBRGDredgeUBRG
UHigh TideU
URGLandsURG
WR Card Choice List
WUR American D&T
WUB Esper D&T
The Reserved List
Heat Maps
1. What creatures do we remove against Jund & Junk? I was able to win with a timely Tidehollow, Strangler and on the back of RIP, wasn't able to draw Gideon to know if he carries his weight against this deck.
2. Against Merfolk and Elves, what do we do? lol. I actually switched out Wrath of god for Gideon, but when I was playing against Elves and was able to draw Gideon (not sure why I inserted him against them. lol), wished it was *** instead. @_@
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Thought-Knot Seer
4x Eldrazi Displacer
4x Tidehollow Sculler
4x Flickerwisp
3x Wasteland Strangler
2x Dark Confidant
1x Blade Splicer
1x Kitchen Finks
4x Path to Exile
4x Concealed Courtyard
4x Cave of Koilos
4x Eldrazi Temple
4x Ghost Quarter
2x Plains
2x Shambling Vents
1x Swamp
1x Godless Shrine
2x Blessed Alliance
2x Kor Firewalker
3x Rest in Peace
3x Stony Silence
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1x Sin Collector
2x Zealous Persecution
Hope someone replies, and could someone freaking make a thread for specifically Eldrazi Taxes?? I'm not that experienced to make one myself but I really think a thread of its own would be nice.
Every list is different. What I do vs. Jund/Junk as Mono-White would be very different to what you'd do. I have maindeck Spellskites which can help protect the Arbiters from removal.
Vs. Elves/Eldrazi/Merfolk I board out 2 Resto Angels and board in 2 Magus of the Moat. Magus is a very strong bridge vs. those decks as they tend to be low on removal spells as they rely on brute force and swinging through rather than clearing a path with spells. Worship would probably work better for builds light on Thalia or running Lingering Souls. I run 4 GQ/4 Tec Edge so it's unrealistic me trying to hit 5 land to play Worship through Thalia.
It doesn't work that way.
Whether you call it D&T, E&T, W/X Flicker, or Bobo the Wonder Snake; all of the decks are built on the same core concepts and fundamental principles. This is why an E&T thread or Spirits&Taxes thread makes no sense to those who know the deck. It would be like calling every different options package of a car by a different model name. It didn't work for Alfa Romeo, and it won't work for us.
In fact, it's exactly this kind of splintering that hurts the deck. Constant renaming and reclassification of the deck has made information gathering and assessment of its meta position nearly impossible.
The best advice for people new to the archetype is to try a traditional white build for a few, then splash, trim, and substitute to your heart's content until you find a build that you feel addresses both the meta and your playstyle.
- 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
4x Aether Vial
4x Judge's Familiar
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Serra Avenger
2x Selfless Spirit
4x Aven Mindcensor
3x Restoration Angel
4x Ghost Quarter
4x Tectonic Edge
1x Eiganjo Castle
1x Flagstones of Trokair
13x Plains
Sideboard
2x Burrenton Forge-tender
2x Rest in Peace
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Magus of the Moat
2x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Spellskite
I'll just say thank you on this one.
The reason I am suggesting the Eldrazi Taxes to splinter off in its own thread is some people may only use/play the Mono-W variant, which is good and all but would say "I use Mono-W so I'll probably doing something different from you" then suggest a card from their SB which if you look at the list of Eldrazi Taxes, they don't use that card most of the time. Yes, I agree, starting with the traditional Mono-W would probably help me learn the basic of said archetype but why can't I learn using the deck I already have and from people who actually uses it and CAN reply most of the time and SHARE their experience without being swallowed by the other posts of the other variants of said deck? I was able to complete the Eldrazi Taxes deck due to some of the cards being given to me by my friends and some being sold to me for very cheap prices, I don't want to spend resources on building the Mono-W version just to follow your old school way of learning something, when you have an alternative of pooling people who specifically plays the deck in one thread and have them help each other out without being drowned with posts from other variants.
How are you liking geist right now? I've been off him for some time, but perhaps it's his time to shine again.
I like reflector mage much more than splicer in this build. It moves dudes out of the way for geist and accomplishes a similar goal to splicer in an anti creature fashion, but better imo. Have you tried venser, shaper savant? I've absolutely fallen in love with this card for WU.
Have you tested ceremonious rejection at all? I've really liked it in the board. It hits a lot of decks and is unconditional if it's going to hit something (i.e. not pay 2 or countered).
Also, I think you might want fecthes and much less hallowed fountain. I do this to reduce the amount of islands in my deck because merfolk is a thing and it goes from favorable to unfavorable when you give them auto unblockablitiy.
4 tectonic edge
4 ghost quarter
2 sea gate wreckage
2 horizon canopy
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Eiganjo Castle
9 Plains
8 non creature spells
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Selfless Spirit
2 Spellskite
1 Phyrexian Revoker
3 blade splicer
3 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Fiend Hunter
4 Flickerwisp
3 Restoration Angel
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Ghostly Prison
1 Worship
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Sundering Growth
2 Plains
1 Forest
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Temple Garden
2 Brushland
3 Horizon Canopy
4 Ghost Quarter
2 stirring wildwood
2 Gavony Township
1 tectonic edge
1 gemstone caverns
10 noncreature spells
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
2 Collected Company
28 creatures
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Spellskite
1 Selfless Spirit
4 Flickerwisp
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Courser of Kruphix
1 Eternal Witness
1 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Restoration Angel
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Ghostly Prison
1 Worship
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Concealed Courtyard
2 Godless Shrine
1 Shambling Vent
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Plains
1 Gemstone Caverns
8 Noncreature Spells
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Flickerwisp
4 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Spellskite
2 Selfless Spirit
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Rest in Peace
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Sin Collector
2 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Worship
3 Brushland
3 Eldrazi Temple
1 Forest
2 Gavony Township
1 Gemstone Caverns
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
2 Stirring Wildwood
1 Temple Garden
10 noncreature spells
4 Aether Vial
2 Ancient Stirrings
4 Path to exile
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Leonin Arbiter
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Spellskite
1 Scavenging Ooze
3 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Flickerwisp
1 Eternal Witness
4 Thought-knot seer
2 Reality Smasher
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Worship
1 Spellskite
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Seachrome Coast
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Moorland Haunt
2 Mutavault
1 Island
2 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy
1 adarkar wastes
1 flooded strand
9 noncreature spells
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
1 detention sphere
28 creatures
3 Spell Queller
3 Selfless Spirit
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 eldrazi displacer
3 Reflector Mage
4 Flickerwisp
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 leonin arbiter
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
2 spellskite
2 Rest in Peace
2 stony silence
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 ghostly prison
2 burrenton forge-tender
2 Surgical Extraction
1 kira, great glass-spinner
1 blessed alliance