can some one give me a better explanation why when i blink my leonin arbiter my opponent must pay 2 more (so the total is 4 ?)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
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Boros/Naya/Mardu Burn Abzan Rhino non Noble Hierach not active Jund Tarmoless not active
DnT White
Living End Jund Restore Balance Non Borderpost/ Borderpost not active U/W Titan Control not active Mardu Nahiri/Control not active
can some one give me a better explanation why when i blink my leonin arbiter my opponent must pay 2 more (so the total is 4 ?)
when the leonin is blinked, the game looks at it as a new creature, and so his tax must be paid (the 2 Mana already paid are lost). However, mind it that you can't, say, ghost quarter your opponent, and after they pay two, you blink the leonin. Paying two Mana is a special action that does not use the stack, and is activated when they have priority, so you do not get priority back if he let the GQ resolve. It works, however, if he preemptively pay two for a Sakura tribe elder, or fetch land, THEN activate the hability and pass priority to you. You can then blink the arbiter and then they'll have e to pay 2 more Mana. Also,if they activate the search hability and pass priority to you without paying 2 Mana, they can only have the opportunity to pay it IF you do something. If you pass priority back, they can't pay for the leonin tax.
@Spiderspace
Hi, I am very interested in knowing more about the deck with which spiderspace did 5-2 in a modern challenge recently. Could you explain the reasoning behind the sideboard and their particular matchup? Thank you for the information.
Have a good day everyone!
Also @Bearscape (since it looks like you based your list off mine)
I don't recall all the matchups at this point in time, but I can tell you that my losses were to humans (as would be expected) and to G tron. Vs humans, I've been in love with ghostly prison. The card comes in vs a lot of decks, but since humans started to play kessig malcontents more, ghostly has started to look worse. The tron loss was due to variance clear and simple. I mulled to 5 g1 and almost got him. G2 I drew all 4 vials and all my plains.
I do like gideon of the trials as a versatile pseudo removal card that can grind and is also decent burn hate.
To note, I was trying it again as well as gelid shackles because Theau Murray talked about them and I thought it was time to try the later and give the former another shot. That's also why I was playing stony which is a strong SB card, but one that I like less and less in mono W as cards like copter and inspector pull so much weight.
I do like the gideon, but I'm not in love with shackles. It's kind of like a weaker, but more versatile sunlance, but it just doesn't do enough in my opinion. I can see it being better vs E tron and it has potential in some other big creature MUs, but sunlance doesn't require the repeated mana investment. You may consider trying to get Theau's take, but I don't love the card.
Eidolon of rhetoric is just such a powerful and versatile SB card. It has hidden applications beyond hosing storm. For instance, stopping tron from playing multiple eggs in a turn is very nice. it also hoses snappy without doing nothing else in a game the way rest in peace might vs control.
Overall, the deck is strong and resilient. I'm uncertain if I want stony or not, ghostly probably needs to become something else to have a shot vs humans (worship perhaps?), I like the double gid-fathers, 2 BFT felt right, and eidolon is just a sweet card.
EDIT: I was boarding out copters for stonies if I wanted that effect.
Grats on your recent results with GW SpiderSpace! Any chance you'll be posting your thoughts on your card choices/matchups?
I tend to not post a lot of tournament reports here anymore often because they get buried in comments and then people ask about something that's on the page just before and so it doesn't seem worthwhile to spend time unless someone asks me for them as you have.
That GW list is probably my most perfected variance of D&T and is a list I have worked on for a long time. I just explained ghostly and eidolon above. I should add that eidolon is more necessary in GW as I'm on 3 thalia to accommodate for cocos.
I added field of ruin because of tron's uptick in presence. I like it more vs tron and affinity as you can use them when they have less lands than 4 while I don't feel I need the extra help vs control decks where tectonic edge is better. The mana is still quite clean (and relatively simple) though. Voice of resurgence is nice for grinding capabilities. In fact, this list grinds better than many versions of D&T with cards like that, ewit, and coco, while still being able to be very aggressive with acceleration from hierarch.
I should note that I used to run rip, but this list has GY cards that are excellent in most places you'd want rip, so I moved over to relic of progenitus to not hose myself. Additionally, running stony here feels much easier than in mono W as vial is the only MD artifact.
EE is just a great SB option that cleans up tokens (lingering souls and empty the warrens anyone?) and can be brought in for aggro MUs like humans or affinity.
reclamation sage is a nice SB option. I think it's better than qasali pridemage as I think pridemage is a MD kinda card in a coco shell, it's nice to abuse etb abilities.
ramunap excavator grinds well vs control decks while also being a good option for the greedier decks of the format like DS and humans and also coming in vs big mana decks as that extra oomph (tron variants and valakut).
If you have any questions about particular cards or MUs, please do ask. I'd be happy to answer them.
can some one give me a better explanation why when i blink my leonin arbiter my opponent must pay 2 more (so the total is 4 ?)
when the leonin is blinked, the game looks at it as a new creature, and so his tax must be paid (the 2 Mana already paid are lost). However, mind it that you can't, say, ghost quarter your opponent, and after they pay two, you blink the leonin. Paying two Mana is a special action that does not use the stack, and is activated when they have priority, so you do not get priority back if he let the GQ resolve.
This is incorrect. Though paying for arbiters ability does not use the stack, it is still considered to be taking an action, and therefore the stack does not resolve until both players pass priority without taking an action. If your opponent pays 2 mana for arbiter, you will receive priority again and be able to blink arbiter before the stack resolves.
This is incorrect. Though paying for arbiters ability does not use the stack, it is still considered to be taking an action, and therefore the stack does not resolve until both players pass priority without taking an action. If your opponent pays 2 mana for arbiter, you will receive priority again and be able to blink arbiter before the stack resolves.
1. I GQ my opponent land (GQ on the stack and the priority goes to my opponent)
2. My opponent do special action (pay 2 mana for leonin arbiter trigger abilites) so the game make the priority to my opponent
3. Because my opponent get priority the game pass back the priority to me (so the stack have not resolve) and because the priority back to me I blink the artbiter
4. in results my opponent must pay 2 mana more (do another special action) if he want to search for basic land from gq abilities
Are the interactions correct ?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
------
Boros/Naya/Mardu Burn Abzan Rhino non Noble Hierach not active Jund Tarmoless not active
DnT White
Living End Jund Restore Balance Non Borderpost/ Borderpost not active U/W Titan Control not active Mardu Nahiri/Control not active
That is correct. You cannot respond to your opponent paying two mana to avoid arbiters effect, however you can say "after you pay 2 and I receive priority before the search resolves, I cast restoration angel targeting leonin arbiter". You will always receive priority again after your opponent pays 2 for arbiter and before a search effect resolves
That is correct. You cannot respond to your opponent paying two mana to avoid arbiters effect, however you can say "after you pay 2 and I receive priority before the search resolves, I cast restoration angel targeting leonin arbiter". You will always receive priority again after your opponent pays 2 for arbiter and before a search effect resolves
I'm not sure that's actually correct; definitely not how it works on MTGO.
Thoughts on the UW list here? The blue splash is something that seems to come up somewhat regularly here, but can't recall seeing the Eldrazi twist. Seemed to work exceptionally well for the pilot in the Modern Challenge.
Got a question. Why Thalia, Heretic Cathar? I mean which of the two abilities are you using most in modern? I get that non basics and creatures ETB tapped is fairly powerful but by the time on turn three you can drop her by cast or vial isn't it past the turn you need it for disruption? Wouldn't Imposing Sovereign be a better option in some ways since at 3cc Thalia is competing with a lot of the other creatures in the deck for both mana and vial drop turns? Or even Selfless Spirit?
I want to thank @deathandcatmix, @SpiderSpace, @CharonsObol and the other D&T luminaries on this thread. You guys are great.
I know I'm very behind in responding to this, but thanks for the acknowledgment. I've been very busy with other things recently, but I try to stay up to date reading the thread, even if I'm late in responding to it. I'm glad you're enjoying playing with D&T and welcome to the thread!
Got a question. Why Thalia, Heretic Cathar? I mean which of the two abilities are you using most in modern? I get that non basics and creatures ETB tapped is fairly powerful but by the time on turn three you can drop her by cast or vial isn't it past the turn you need it for disruption? Wouldn't Imposing Sovereign be a better option in some ways since at 3cc Thalia is competing with a lot of the other creatures in the deck for both mana and vial drop turns? Or even Selfless Spirit?
On the curve, the nonbasic land tax is very good against a lot of decks, preventing most midrange and control strategies from efficiently curving out. It is especially relevant against tri-color decks using fetchlands, because both the fetchland and maybe the found shockland will enter the battlefield tapped. Late game, the creature tax messes with Snapcaster Mage (which now enters the battlefield tapped) and it prevents your opponent from immediately winning with something like Kiki-combo or Thopter-Sword.
Although Thalia, Heretic Cathar is better on T2 than T3 (just ask the WG players who curve into it T2 on the play using Hierarch), it is still very disruptive T3 onward. Your comment about using Imposing Sovereign or Selfless Spirit instead is a little misguided though. Yes, this deck is filled with 3-drops and it could really use one more powerful 2-drop instead. But it's unlikely that by pulling Thalia, Heretic Cathar from a flex slot that the next best option would be Imposing Sovereign or Selfless Spirit. In other words, yes, we would rather have those taxes on a 2-drop. But no, Thalia, Heretic Cathar fills a unique role in the deck that is not filled by Imposing Sovereign or Selfless Spirit.
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?
I prefer RiP. It completely neuters the GW value/Bant or Saheeli decks, its powerful enough against tarmogoyf decks to be worth the card disadvantage, and is much more powerful against Dredge than relic.
The downside is that because of the card disadvantage it is far less good against snapcaster decks (I would bring relic in against Jeskai, I don't bring RiP against them) and it is obviously better to draw multiple relics than RiPs.
Hey everyone! I was finally able to get the last few pieces I needed to run the deck at a smallish local tournament this past weekend. My current list is below, but there are some changes I'm planning to make. Saturday was my first actual event with the deck, and aside from a small amount of practice and some reading of the forums here beforehand I really didn't have all that much experience going into things. My sideboarding is probably atrocious as I'm still learning the deck, so forgive me for probably making some absurd sideboarding mistakes. The biggest problem I've run into is figuring out what to take out in general. Everything just feels so important to the plan so I've mostly just cut down on the top end of the deck so far, but I don't think that feels correct.
Planned Changes: After playing the deck on Saturday, there are a few changes I'm planning to make. +2 Eldrazi Displacer, +2 Shefet Dunes; -2 Plains, -1 Aven Mindcensor, -1 ???. I have yet to decide on what the last card I'm going to remove is. I haven't been too impressed with Aven Mindcensor just yet, but I don't think I want to cut them entirely from the deck.
With that out of the way, on to the actual tournament report. Again, my sideboarding decisions (particularly what I took out) are probably abhorrent. I apologize. I wound up going 1-2-drop as I had a bit of a headache that started in the middle of round 1 and just got worse as the night went on.
Round 1: GW Valuetown (1-2) Game 1: Started out with a fantastic hand (2 lands, Vial, Thalia, Leonin, Inspector, Wisp). Unfortunately I wound up drawing a string of lands and my decent opening hand wound up fizzling out fairly fast after the first few turns of the game as I had nothing else to do.
Game 2: I managed to cut him off white a few times, and it was fairly easy to just beat him down at that point and Flickerwisp out his white lands when he managed to get them into play. Game 3: I was fairly far ahead and managed to whittle him down to 5 before he dropped a creature that I simply couldn't deal with and I never saw a single Path. I don't remember the name of the creature, but it was a 4/4 that costed 2GG and manifested the top 2 cards of his library every one of his end steps. By the time I was able to even think about removing it I was so far behind that it didn't even matter.
Round 2: Saheeli Evolution (2-0) Game 1: I once again had a hand that was just about as good as a starting hand could get. This time around instead of drawing lands I drew into a string of Land destruction that let me destroy all the lands he had in play by turn 4 and earned a quick concession.
Game 2: Mulled to 6 and kept a slow-ish hand. He opened up with an absolutely terrifying turn 3 in which he strung together Lotus Cobra triggers off a fetchland, Renegade Ralliered the fetchland back for more triggers, and ended the turn with a fairly scary board that required nothing more than an Evolution to win on the spot. A Path combined with several Inspectors allowed me to stabilize and vials on 3 and 4 respectively allowed me to blow him out with a few cheeky Flickerwisp plays. I did make pretty huge mistake that almost lost me the game by blocking one of his dudes with my Forge Tender, but it wound up not making much of a difference.
Round 3: Jund (0-2) Game 1: He opens up with a Thoughtseize, says "Oh, you're on THAT deck." and proceeds to play a turn 2 Bob that nearly kills him. I manage to whittle him down to 1, then draw nothing but lands in the late game and he manages to pull out the win.
Game 2: I had pretty much no hope this game as everything I played was removed within a turn of it hitting the board. He managed to activate Last Hope's ultimate, and that closed things out handily.
Game 3: I was fairly far ahead and managed to whittle him down to 5 before he dropped a creature that I simply couldn't deal with and I never saw a single Path. I don't remember the name of the creature, but it was a 4/4 that costed 2GG and manifested the top 2 cards of his library every one of his end steps. By the time I was able to even think about removing it I was so far behind that it didn't even matter.
Round 3: Jund (0-2) Game 1: He opens up with a Thoughtseize, says "Oh, you're on THAT deck." and proceeds to play a turn 2 Bob that nearly kills him. I manage to whittle him down to 1, then draw nothing but lands in the late game and he manages to pull out the win.
Game 2: I had pretty much no hope this game as everything I played was removed within a turn of it hitting the board. He managed to activate Last Hope's ultimate, and that closed things out handily.
Lessons I've learned against GBx decks: Take out all vials. Jund it's really hard and now they have Last Hope to shut us down significantly out of the game. I know the feeling...
Anyway, I wish better lucky on your next tournament! I can't see a single card to disagree. Just personal choices, though
...
Lessons I've learned against GBx decks: Take out all vials. Jund it's really hard and now they have Last Hope to shut us down significantly out of the game. I know the feeling...
Anyway, I wish better lucky on your next tournament! I can't see a single card to disagree. Just personal choices, though
Yep, Whisperwood Elemental was the one. With no way to remove it that thing gets scary fast. I'll definitely give the no-vials sideboard plan a shot the next time I run up against a GBx deck... which could be awhile. The 3-ish individuals that were all on Jund (one with a completely foiled out list) aren't regulars and only show up every few months. Other than flooding out on lands multiple times I was definitely pretty happy with how the deck performed. I've thought about cutting 1 Resto Angel and going down to 22 lands... but I'm not quite sure if I want to do that just yet.
That is correct. You cannot respond to your opponent paying two mana to avoid arbiters effect, however you can say "after you pay 2 and I receive priority before the search resolves, I cast restoration angel targeting leonin arbiter". You will always receive priority again after your opponent pays 2 for arbiter and before a search effect resolves
Many thx Dressedspring for the explanation
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern
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Boros/Naya/Mardu Burn Abzan Rhino non Noble Hierach not active Jund Tarmoless not active
DnT White
Living End Jund Restore Balance Non Borderpost/ Borderpost not active U/W Titan Control not active Mardu Nahiri/Control not active
In my local meta we usually have two Lantern players, three Grixis DS, one abzan player and one esper control player.
I have been thinking about putting two Aegis of the Gods in my sideboard to bring in in those match ups to better handle hand/deck disruption.
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Boros/Naya/Mardu Burn
Abzan Rhino non Noble Hierachnot activeJund Tarmolessnot activeDnT White
Living End Jund
Restore Balance Non Borderpost/ Borderpostnot activeU/W Titan Controlnot activeMardu Nahiri/Controlnot activeAlso @Bearscape (since it looks like you based your list off mine)
I don't recall all the matchups at this point in time, but I can tell you that my losses were to humans (as would be expected) and to G tron. Vs humans, I've been in love with ghostly prison. The card comes in vs a lot of decks, but since humans started to play kessig malcontents more, ghostly has started to look worse. The tron loss was due to variance clear and simple. I mulled to 5 g1 and almost got him. G2 I drew all 4 vials and all my plains.
I do like gideon of the trials as a versatile pseudo removal card that can grind and is also decent burn hate.
To note, I was trying it again as well as gelid shackles because Theau Murray talked about them and I thought it was time to try the later and give the former another shot. That's also why I was playing stony which is a strong SB card, but one that I like less and less in mono W as cards like copter and inspector pull so much weight.
I do like the gideon, but I'm not in love with shackles. It's kind of like a weaker, but more versatile sunlance, but it just doesn't do enough in my opinion. I can see it being better vs E tron and it has potential in some other big creature MUs, but sunlance doesn't require the repeated mana investment. You may consider trying to get Theau's take, but I don't love the card.
Eidolon of rhetoric is just such a powerful and versatile SB card. It has hidden applications beyond hosing storm. For instance, stopping tron from playing multiple eggs in a turn is very nice. it also hoses snappy without doing nothing else in a game the way rest in peace might vs control.
Overall, the deck is strong and resilient. I'm uncertain if I want stony or not, ghostly probably needs to become something else to have a shot vs humans (worship perhaps?), I like the double gid-fathers, 2 BFT felt right, and eidolon is just a sweet card.
EDIT: I was boarding out copters for stonies if I wanted that effect.
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
I tend to not post a lot of tournament reports here anymore often because they get buried in comments and then people ask about something that's on the page just before and so it doesn't seem worthwhile to spend time unless someone asks me for them as you have.
That GW list is probably my most perfected variance of D&T and is a list I have worked on for a long time. I just explained ghostly and eidolon above. I should add that eidolon is more necessary in GW as I'm on 3 thalia to accommodate for cocos.
I added field of ruin because of tron's uptick in presence. I like it more vs tron and affinity as you can use them when they have less lands than 4 while I don't feel I need the extra help vs control decks where tectonic edge is better. The mana is still quite clean (and relatively simple) though. Voice of resurgence is nice for grinding capabilities. In fact, this list grinds better than many versions of D&T with cards like that, ewit, and coco, while still being able to be very aggressive with acceleration from hierarch.
I should note that I used to run rip, but this list has GY cards that are excellent in most places you'd want rip, so I moved over to relic of progenitus to not hose myself. Additionally, running stony here feels much easier than in mono W as vial is the only MD artifact.
EE is just a great SB option that cleans up tokens (lingering souls and empty the warrens anyone?) and can be brought in for aggro MUs like humans or affinity.
reclamation sage is a nice SB option. I think it's better than qasali pridemage as I think pridemage is a MD kinda card in a coco shell, it's nice to abuse etb abilities.
ramunap excavator grinds well vs control decks while also being a good option for the greedier decks of the format like DS and humans and also coming in vs big mana decks as that extra oomph (tron variants and valakut).
If you have any questions about particular cards or MUs, please do ask. I'd be happy to answer them.
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
This is incorrect. Though paying for arbiters ability does not use the stack, it is still considered to be taking an action, and therefore the stack does not resolve until both players pass priority without taking an action. If your opponent pays 2 mana for arbiter, you will receive priority again and be able to blink arbiter before the stack resolves.
1. I GQ my opponent land (GQ on the stack and the priority goes to my opponent)
2. My opponent do special action (pay 2 mana for leonin arbiter trigger abilites) so the game make the priority to my opponent
3. Because my opponent get priority the game pass back the priority to me (so the stack have not resolve) and because the priority back to me I blink the artbiter
4. in results my opponent must pay 2 mana more (do another special action) if he want to search for basic land from gq abilities
Are the interactions correct ?
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Boros/Naya/Mardu Burn
Abzan Rhino non Noble Hierachnot activeJund Tarmolessnot activeDnT White
Living End Jund
Restore Balance Non Borderpost/ Borderpostnot activeU/W Titan Controlnot activeMardu Nahiri/Controlnot activeI'm not sure that's actually correct; definitely not how it works on MTGO.
Thoughts on the UW list here? The blue splash is something that seems to come up somewhat regularly here, but can't recall seeing the Eldrazi twist. Seemed to work exceptionally well for the pilot in the Modern Challenge.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/magic-fundamentals/magic-rulings/magic-rulings-archives/543598-special-actions-and-passing-priority
Or if you want to see me struggle with the same concept, check out this rules thread involving two special actions.
Big Thalia is excellent as a disruption tool.
On the curve, the nonbasic land tax is very good against a lot of decks, preventing most midrange and control strategies from efficiently curving out. It is especially relevant against tri-color decks using fetchlands, because both the fetchland and maybe the found shockland will enter the battlefield tapped. Late game, the creature tax messes with Snapcaster Mage (which now enters the battlefield tapped) and it prevents your opponent from immediately winning with something like Kiki-combo or Thopter-Sword.
Although Thalia, Heretic Cathar is better on T2 than T3 (just ask the WG players who curve into it T2 on the play using Hierarch), it is still very disruptive T3 onward. Your comment about using Imposing Sovereign or Selfless Spirit instead is a little misguided though. Yes, this deck is filled with 3-drops and it could really use one more powerful 2-drop instead. But it's unlikely that by pulling Thalia, Heretic Cathar from a flex slot that the next best option would be Imposing Sovereign or Selfless Spirit. In other words, yes, we would rather have those taxes on a 2-drop. But no, Thalia, Heretic Cathar fills a unique role in the deck that is not filled by Imposing Sovereign or Selfless Spirit.
WUDeath&TaxesWG
Legacy
UBRGDredgeUBRG
UHigh TideU
URGLandsURG
WR Card Choice List
WUR American D&T
WUB Esper D&T
The Reserved List
Heat Maps
Death & Taxes
Fish
Teysa, Orzhov Scion
Roon of the Hidden Realm
Xenagos, God of Revels
The downside is that because of the card disadvantage it is far less good against snapcaster decks (I would bring relic in against Jeskai, I don't bring RiP against them) and it is obviously better to draw multiple relics than RiPs.
12 Plains
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Eiganjo Castle
Creatures (27)
4 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thraben Inspector
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Aether Vial
2 Smuggler's Copter
Instant (4)
4 Path to Exile
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Sunlance
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Dusk // Dawn
Planned Changes: After playing the deck on Saturday, there are a few changes I'm planning to make. +2 Eldrazi Displacer, +2 Shefet Dunes; -2 Plains, -1 Aven Mindcensor, -1 ???. I have yet to decide on what the last card I'm going to remove is. I haven't been too impressed with Aven Mindcensor just yet, but I don't think I want to cut them entirely from the deck.
With that out of the way, on to the actual tournament report. Again, my sideboarding decisions (particularly what I took out) are probably abhorrent. I apologize. I wound up going 1-2-drop as I had a bit of a headache that started in the middle of round 1 and just got worse as the night went on.
Round 1: GW Valuetown (1-2)
Game 1: Started out with a fantastic hand (2 lands, Vial, Thalia, Leonin, Inspector, Wisp). Unfortunately I wound up drawing a string of lands and my decent opening hand wound up fizzling out fairly fast after the first few turns of the game as I had nothing else to do.
Game 3: I was fairly far ahead and managed to whittle him down to 5 before he dropped a creature that I simply couldn't deal with and I never saw a single Path. I don't remember the name of the creature, but it was a 4/4 that costed 2GG and manifested the top 2 cards of his library every one of his end steps. By the time I was able to even think about removing it I was so far behind that it didn't even matter.
Round 2: Saheeli Evolution (2-0)
Game 1: I once again had a hand that was just about as good as a starting hand could get. This time around instead of drawing lands I drew into a string of Land destruction that let me destroy all the lands he had in play by turn 4 and earned a quick concession.
Round 3: Jund (0-2)
Game 1: He opens up with a Thoughtseize, says "Oh, you're on THAT deck." and proceeds to play a turn 2 Bob that nearly kills him. I manage to whittle him down to 1, then draw nothing but lands in the late game and he manages to pull out the win.
UBRGDredge
Under Construction
WUBAd Nauseam
Anyway, I wish better lucky on your next tournament! I can't see a single card to disagree. Just personal choices, though
Yep, Whisperwood Elemental was the one. With no way to remove it that thing gets scary fast. I'll definitely give the no-vials sideboard plan a shot the next time I run up against a GBx deck... which could be awhile. The 3-ish individuals that were all on Jund (one with a completely foiled out list) aren't regulars and only show up every few months. Other than flooding out on lands multiple times I was definitely pretty happy with how the deck performed. I've thought about cutting 1 Resto Angel and going down to 22 lands... but I'm not quite sure if I want to do that just yet.
UBRGDredge
Under Construction
WUBAd Nauseam
Many thx Dressedspring for the explanation
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Boros/Naya/Mardu Burn
Abzan Rhino non Noble Hierachnot activeJund Tarmolessnot activeDnT White
Living End Jund
Restore Balance Non Borderpost/ Borderpostnot activeU/W Titan Controlnot activeMardu Nahiri/Controlnot activeI have been thinking about putting two Aegis of the Gods in my sideboard to bring in in those match ups to better handle hand/deck disruption.
For the Lantern match up I already have two Stony Silence and one Kataki, War's Wage but I feel that I need more, since I board out 2-3 Thraben Inspector Due to Stony.