The thing is - Dauntless Bodyguard IS a 1 drop and many hands will improve from being able to add that pressure early on. It also function well in later stages of the game. It functions very well with a Turn 1 Aether Vial > turn 2 2 drop and holding this up. I can see where your assessment is coming from but I have to largely disagree with it. It does allow for more explosive starts. All of our creatures are random 2/2s and 2/1s and this is the same but costs less. Going longer is the worst thing this deck can try to do. At the very least it requires testing. It seems to synergize well with almost every card in the deck. Savannah Lions isn't the prettiest thing but it helps take advantage of slower starts. And that's obviously not the best use of it - you want to have it protecting something. It allows for more dynamic turns 2 3 and 4 by allowing mana efficiency and deploying more spells faster.
Besides just arguing for Dauntless Bodyguard, I also wanted to hear opinions on cards I haven't seen mentioned for this deck:
Ethersworn Canonist for Storm/snap control
Avalanche Riders for Tron/Titan and a curve topper
Gavony Riders for the Mirror/other tribal
Orzhov Pontiff for creature matchups
Council of the Absolute for more Meddling Mage lockout
Hero of Oxid Ridge for a curve topper
Hanweir Garrison for value
Mentor of the Meek for grind
True Believer for Burn/Combo/Jund
Venser, Shaper Savant for a similar role as Hostage Taker
Big Game Hunter for Goyfs n Anglers
Eternal Witness for value and rebuying sideboard cards
Lyev Skyknight for a similar role to Reflector Mage. Flies and can turn off any nonland.
Renegade Rallier for that postcombat blowout
That's what I got for now. Surprised to never see these cards mentioned. And I realize they aren't going to blow anyone away just wanted to get some ideas kicking around and a conversation started.
Well, it's not that those cards were never discussed. You'd have to read a lot of stuff back to find it but most, if not all, 3cmc and less Humans have been discussed and/or tried back in the CoCo days.
I admid though, now that we are on Restoration Angel main, more 4cmc spells could be explored.
About Dauntless Bodyguard: I do think the card deserves a chance as a card that has uses both early and late, but NOT because the deck needs another one drop. The other thing is, this card needs other allready very good card in play to be excellent. And what would be the most likely target if played on a full board?
Canonist has been considered for this deck since the beginning, I think it was in the sideboard of the first 5c Humans list I saw. It's overkill imo.
Riders of Gavony is also "old tech", I think it's fine in a meta where you know you'll be facing a ton of tribal decks. I've been considering it because my local shop has multiple Humans, Elves, and Merfolk players.
There are more impactful 4drops than Oxid Ridge. Resto, Whirler Rogue, PnK, Hostage Taker, Venser.
Pontiff has a similar effect but I don't think one shot +1 effects are good enough. Hell we haven't run Mayor of Avubruk in months because static +1/+1 isn't good enough.
Garrison needs to attack to be good, it's snowbally but it does nothing the turn we cast it.
Venser has been talked about rather recently, I enjoy the card but I'm not sure it's strong enough. Might be stuck as card 61.
Rest of those cards just don't seem like cards I'd be happy enough to cast. Like E-wit is great for rebuying sideboard cards but if the counters company player has already taken a turn off to Qasali Pridemage my Grafdiggers Cage I feel like I've gained enough tempo to close out the game.
Deck isn't exactly solved, but it has had months of pros and pro testing teams trying to break it. New cards aside (I think Bodyguard is intriguing but I'm not one of the people who's been trying to play more 1-drops) I think if it costs less than 3 and is a Human and isn't being talked about there's probably a reason. I've just seen less innovation across the board than 4 months ago, there's probably a reason for it.
Those cards have been discussed and actually played. They're all meta calls, or fit subpar variants of the deck. The primer would deserve a list of all non-played cards, with their pros and cons (not in a vacuum, but with real applications). I think I'm done with explaining why a card isn't played.
It does allow for more explosive starts
A this point, you can run a Naya version with even more explosive starts. But Naya won't win you more games because it's not where Humans want to be right now. A 1-drop would have to be super strong to make the cut, because getting more explosives starts is NOT what the deck needs or wants. Mother of Runes or Benevolent Bodyguard ? Yes now we're discussing real cards.
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You made the criticism that Dauntless Bodyguard won't lead to more explosive starts, I argued that it can, now you say there's no value in it...
From a post on Reddit regarding Gut Shot vs Dismember in the SB:
"My understanding is that the importance is in getting ahead and snowballing. Having a one drop is very important to me and I mulligan most hands without one..."
The point is that a 2/1 for 1 is better to have than needing to mulligan for a 1 drop (all lands cast it as well). But this deck doesn't need more 1 drops for that reason. It needs more 1 drops so Vial on 1 is better, so you have more turn 2's and 3's casting 2 spells. it gets the ball rolling.
and the protection effect is pretty good. it doesn't target and it doesn't trigger. if you go to vial it in they need to respond to the vial activation. if you cast it they need to respond to it on the stack. and if they do in either case, you can pick something else. it protects against bolt push decay terminate kolaghan's command all burn anger verdict wrath, much more, and combat damage.
I mean, I don't mean to argue with you, I'm mostly trying to demonstrate the card's value to convince myself. It just seems so perfect. I admit I could be wrong.
and the protection effect is pretty good. it doesn't target and it doesn't trigger. if you go to vial it in they need to respond to the vial activation. if you cast it they need to respond to it on the stack. and if they do in either case, you can pick something else. it protects against bolt push decay terminate kolaghan's command all burn anger verdict wrath, much more, and combat damage.
Now this is where it gets interesting. Using the card in conjunction with Aether Vial as a form of counterspell. Now it has some sort of role.
The problem with this though, this is a two card combo, one of which is very unlikely to be on 1 the moment you really want this effect. I'd probably rather have Selfless Spirit from the side.
I mean, I don't mean to argue with you, I'm mostly trying to demonstrate the card's value to convince myself. It just seems so perfect. I admit I could be wrong.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! I'd urge you to playtest it for some time and report back. I'm still curious to hear what you (and others) think is the best target for the bodyguard.
You made the criticism that Dauntless Bodyguard won't lead to more explosive starts, I argued that it can, now you say there's no value in it...
I can argue with you that Kessig Malcontents can deal more damage than DBG on average and curved perfectly, so it leads to a more explosive start... while it's a 3-drop ! Behind the simplistic "1-drop = more explosiveness" hides a more complex definition of explosiveness. In Elves, without Elvish Archdruid, you lose explosiveness and no existing one-drop can outweigh it.
The point is that a 2/1 for 1 is better to have than needing to mulligan for a 1 drop (all lands cast it as well). But this deck doesn't need more 1 drops for that reason. It needs more 1 drops so Vial on 1 is better, so you have more turn 2's and 3's casting 2 spells. it gets the ball rolling.
I am with you on this. I never said we didn't need a 1-drop, I said we don't want this one. Because it's not a good 1-drop, it's a good Turn 3 play. If Wizards prints a 2/1 for W that I can play on Turn 1 without losing its textbox, I'll consider it.
and the protection effect is pretty good. it doesn't target and it doesn't trigger. if you go to vial it in they need to respond to the vial activation. if you cast it they need to respond to it on the stack. and if they do in either case, you can pick something else. it protects against bolt push decay terminate kolaghan's command all burn anger verdict wrath, much more, and combat damage.
It's actually pretty bad in comparison with the keywords "protection" & "hexproof". Our creatures are expendable, and if they're not, we need something that protect them no matter what, which we don't have currently, and that's why we can still lose to control and combo decks. Mother of Runes is a card you play on Turn 1 and protects you VS Dismember, Path to Exile, Vapor Snag, and many other cards with any of those 3 effects. In Spirits, Rattlechains is a good card too. "Indestructible" is good against only half of the removal spells, so to speak, and against half of our tough MUs. DBG solves only part of the issue, so it's consequently a subpar option.
Against wrath effects, we must change tools and protect our whole board, not just a singleton. That's why we run either Selfless Spirit or Xathrid Necromancer, which are subpar in Modern, but hey, we play with what we got. In Coco variants, we rather play Negate because it's on par with the power of Living End, All is Dust, and actually much more than wrath effects, it counters many win conditions.
The day Wizards prints a creature with Negate in the text box, or a weird flicker effect ala Eerie Interlude, we'll have a new staple for the archetype if it costs less than 4.
I mean, I don't mean to argue with you
I get you, and I don't want to be rude at all, I hope you understand I'm just going straight to the point with no agressivity behind my words.
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You made the criticism that Dauntless Bodyguard won't lead to more explosive starts, I argued that it can, now you say there's no value in it...
I can argue with you that Kessig Malcontents can deal more damage than DBG on average and curved perfectly, so it leads to a more explosive start... while it's a 3-drop ! Behind the simplistic "1-drop = more explosiveness" hides a more complex definition of explosiveness. In Elves, without Elvish Archdruid, you lose explosiveness and no existing one-drop can outweigh it.
The point is that a 2/1 for 1 is better to have than needing to mulligan for a 1 drop (all lands cast it as well). But this deck doesn't need more 1 drops for that reason. It needs more 1 drops so Vial on 1 is better, so you have more turn 2's and 3's casting 2 spells. it gets the ball rolling.
I am with you on this. I never said we didn't need a 1-drop, I said we don't want this one. Because it's not a good 1-drop, it's a good Turn 3 play. If Wizards prints a 2/1 for W that I can play on Turn 1 without losing its textbox, I'll consider it.
and the protection effect is pretty good. it doesn't target and it doesn't trigger. if you go to vial it in they need to respond to the vial activation. if you cast it they need to respond to it on the stack. and if they do in either case, you can pick something else. it protects against bolt push decay terminate kolaghan's command all burn anger verdict wrath, much more, and combat damage.
It's actually pretty bad in comparison with the keywords "protection" & "hexproof". Our creatures are expendable, and if they're not, we need something that protect them no matter what, which we don't have currently, and that's why we can still lose to control and combo decks. Mother of Runes is a card you play on Turn 1 and protects you VS Dismember, Path to Exile, Vapor Snag, and many other cards with any of those 3 effects. In Spirits, Rattlechains is a good card too. "Indestructible" is good against only half of the removal spells, so to speak, and against half of our tough MUs. DBG solves only part of the issue, so it's consequently a subpar option.
Against wrath effects, we must change tools and protect our whole board, not just a singleton. That's why we run either Selfless Spirit or Xathrid Necromancer, which are subpar in Modern, but hey, we play with what we got. In Coco variants, we rather play Negate because it's on par with the power of Living End, All is Dust, and actually much more than wrath effects, it counters many win conditions.
The day Wizards prints a creature with Negate in the text box, or a weird flicker effect ala Eerie Interlude, we'll have a new staple for the archetype if it costs less than 4.
I mean, I don't mean to argue with you
I get you, and I don't want to be rude at all, I hope you understand I'm just going straight to the point with no agressivity behind my words.
Technicaly, there are at least two :).
The problem is we dont really have the deck for it. 1) we don't have consistent mana to cast them, and 2) We can't utilize activated abilities that cost colored mana very well.
I think WotC is extra carefull with creating cards that have the "Human" creature subtype and have very powerful ETB effects.
We have another humans list in the Top8 of another big tournament, we are still top tier, but the decks are loading up on removal. Jeskai is back, and is a pain for creature decks.
Finally decided to play the best deck instead of trying to beat it. If you can't beat them, join them! 14 person MNM.
Round 1 vs. GR Eldrazi. He mulled to 4 and I put way too many things on board, including a large Champion of the Parish. In the next game, I have him shut down and swing for a lot, but he gets Engineered Explosives for 2, destroying 2 Meddling Mage and 2 Thalia's Lieutenant. He then gets a Smasher on board and races me, but I drop the Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Phantasmal Image, copying the Smasher to put him to 2 life. He then has a Matter Reshaper and leaves up Grove of the Burnwillows and Kessig Wolf Run. I am at 4 life now. I draw Phantasmal Image. He lets me gain a life and Lightning Bolts my other Image in response, but I still copy his Smasher and get lethal. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Hollow One. The first game is close, but I aggro him out and have the turn 3 Reflector Mage to get there. In the next game, he gets 2 Hollow One on turn 1, but I get some Thalia's Lieutenants, Champ, and race him because he took a lot of damage to get there, including double Street Wraith cycling. On the final turn, I play Horizon Canopy, Dismember a Hollow One to be at 1 life, cast a Mantis Rider, and swing for lethal. Whew! 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Lantern Control. He gets me in the first game, getting discard, and then Lantern and Codex Shredder immediately while I peel a million lands. By the time I barely have any lands left in the deck, he has killed my Noble Hierarch with Pyrite Spellbomb, has 2 Bridges, and has 3 Codex Shredder. I scoop. In the next game, I aggro him out with a turn 3 kill. In the final game, it is close, but he nabs my Meddling Mage on his turn 1 and I don't draw anything again until he has Codex Shredders and Lantern in play. I am about to lose, but he has to go, so he gives me the win. 1-2, but 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Mono Green Tron. Every time I've played this guy or watched his matches, he gets the nut hands. I usually just guess Tron pieces X 2, Map, Karn, and Ulamog and I'm right. He does Map, 2nd Tron piece. I do Meddling Mage on Karn Liberated after Champ. He plays...Walking Ballista. I kept a 2 land hand and miss a 3rd land drop, which doesn't allow me to play multiple things per turn and he does Worldbreaker. He attacks and I draw the 3rd land on turn 4 to Reflector Mage his Wurmcoil Engine and swing him low. But he gets his 3rd Karn and it's enough for me to scoop. I did have a Mantis Rider, but it got killed by the Worldbreaker as I got him to 1 life. Wish I had drawn a land in my first 3 draw steps. The 2nd game is similar. I do Kitesail Freebooter X 2 to get Karn and Ugin. But he immediately draws another Karn, and then another Karn and it's just too much, because when Ugin hits, there's no point in me going further. 0-2.
I go 3-1, which is somewhat rough because I can never 4-0 at this place. I would have ID'd with the guy, but I forgot it was round 4. I know he has always gotten turn 3 Tron whenever I've watched him or played him. I think I'm 2-3 or 2-4 vs. him and this includes with decks that beat Tron merely by him always going first in Game 1 and Tron/Karn into many other things. I thought I would have a chance with Mage on Karn, but there's just too many other things to draw, including the 2 of Walking Ballista.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Since the mainboard has been pretty set recently (except for dropping a thalia, guardian of thraben so you can run kessig malcontents and Restoration Angel), what are people thinking about the side board. According to mtgogoldish the meta side board is:
This makes it seem like people are bailing on graveyard hate in favor of creature and artifact hate. My side board is a bit different as load up a bit more for control match ups with :
I don't think mine is necessarily perfect but I wonder what happened to the anti control and graveyard cards.
Is the current plan to avoid control and dredge in the match ups? Based on sidebaords it seems we are throwing away the Tron match up.
On that note I would love to see someone break down the favord/even/unfavored match ups for the deck as I am still learning it and I am unsure if my wins are due to my deckbuilding choices or my opponents poor play.
The MtgGoldfish mashup SB you quote is a little bit out of place. 2 Gut Shot + 2 Stati + 1 Dismember isn't a thing.
In your SB, you have 6 anti control cards already, while the MtgGoldfish one has 4. I believe your choice of Rest in Peace is clever right now, it's a good anti control card (Mardu & Jeskai on the radar).
MUs are close for the most part, and there's a ton of decks right now. Please share the priority MUs you need to figure out, we can't break down everything unless it has the purpose of being added to the Primer. It's long, and it can't be written down every 10 pages.
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
In the main board my understanding of Humans is that disruption of your opponent is key. Dark Confidant does not provide direct disruption in itself, but it does provide more consistency and options when choosing how to stop your opponent from doing what they want to do. In a perfect world, with perfect hands Dark Confidant is not needed as the creatures on curve, and the mana to cast them are already readily available. Dark Confidant does improve those hands that are not so good.
Qasali Pridemage the anti-hate card. Akin to the recent boarding we have seen of Reclamation Sage, but with the drawback of not getting a 2/1 body after resolving the removal ability. My thought process is that we generally want to keep aether vial at two as our most reactive answers are at this mana cost.
Shalai, Voice of Plenty hexproof is powerful. There is nothing more fulfilling than vialing in a shalai against storm as they grapeshot you. Hexproof shuts down burn shooting you in the face. An honorable mention is shalai's ability in the jeskai control matchup to prevent single removal, and mass targeted removal.(I'm looking at you Settle the Wreckage) Also protects our super secret MVP gaddock teeg.
gaddock teeg is a powerful disruption tool against decks such as Jeskai Control, Storm, and other notable meta decks that run cards with a mana cost 4+ or x. Also counters a popular tech against humans engineered explosives.
A notable exclusion is hate for the mirror match. Although it is likely foolish to not try to side for this matchup, I feel mirrors are often too random. Games often come down to who curved out best, or who drew the most Thalia's Lieutenant/Reflector Mage.
Has anyone ever toyed with Corageous Outrider?
If it's effect were the same as Ringleader, it would probably be a core creature in the deck, but only giving you one creature...
Even then, it still replaces itself with a little selection. Makes Image/Resto search for an effect you don't already have on the field and he has a 3/4 body.
Pat Cox also has those 5 cards in his sideboard in his video he released yesterday
Yes and he claims it might be overloading along with Stati.
A winning list playing a weird SB isn't "a thing" to me. Resto is more of my definition of a thing because it's been adopted no matter what the meta is. The latest list you netdeck isn't necessarily the best thing to do.
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Regardless, they are for different things. Gut Shot gives you an advantage when you snipe mana dork or an early creature in the mirror. Staticaster clears tokens, souls, affinity flyers.
Mangara is a 141, while the others are 241s. Mangara has a weaker body, is irrelevant in combat, and doesn't do its thing before the next turn. Card is bad.
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Besides just arguing for Dauntless Bodyguard, I also wanted to hear opinions on cards I haven't seen mentioned for this deck:
Ethersworn Canonist for Storm/snap control
Avalanche Riders for Tron/Titan and a curve topper
Gavony Riders for the Mirror/other tribal
Orzhov Pontiff for creature matchups
Council of the Absolute for more Meddling Mage lockout
Hero of Oxid Ridge for a curve topper
Hanweir Garrison for value
Mentor of the Meek for grind
True Believer for Burn/Combo/Jund
Venser, Shaper Savant for a similar role as Hostage Taker
Big Game Hunter for Goyfs n Anglers
Eternal Witness for value and rebuying sideboard cards
Lyev Skyknight for a similar role to Reflector Mage. Flies and can turn off any nonland.
Renegade Rallier for that postcombat blowout
That's what I got for now. Surprised to never see these cards mentioned. And I realize they aren't going to blow anyone away just wanted to get some ideas kicking around and a conversation started.
I admid though, now that we are on Restoration Angel main, more 4cmc spells could be explored.
About Dauntless Bodyguard: I do think the card deserves a chance as a card that has uses both early and late, but NOT because the deck needs another one drop. The other thing is, this card needs other allready very good card in play to be excellent. And what would be the most likely target if played on a full board?
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
Canonist has been considered for this deck since the beginning, I think it was in the sideboard of the first 5c Humans list I saw. It's overkill imo.
Riders of Gavony is also "old tech", I think it's fine in a meta where you know you'll be facing a ton of tribal decks. I've been considering it because my local shop has multiple Humans, Elves, and Merfolk players.
There are more impactful 4drops than Oxid Ridge. Resto, Whirler Rogue, PnK, Hostage Taker, Venser.
Pontiff has a similar effect but I don't think one shot +1 effects are good enough. Hell we haven't run Mayor of Avubruk in months because static +1/+1 isn't good enough.
Garrison needs to attack to be good, it's snowbally but it does nothing the turn we cast it.
Venser has been talked about rather recently, I enjoy the card but I'm not sure it's strong enough. Might be stuck as card 61.
Rest of those cards just don't seem like cards I'd be happy enough to cast. Like E-wit is great for rebuying sideboard cards but if the counters company player has already taken a turn off to Qasali Pridemage my Grafdiggers Cage I feel like I've gained enough tempo to close out the game.
Deck isn't exactly solved, but it has had months of pros and pro testing teams trying to break it. New cards aside (I think Bodyguard is intriguing but I'm not one of the people who's been trying to play more 1-drops) I think if it costs less than 3 and is a Human and isn't being talked about there's probably a reason. I've just seen less innovation across the board than 4 months ago, there's probably a reason for it.
A this point, you can run a Naya version with even more explosive starts. But Naya won't win you more games because it's not where Humans want to be right now. A 1-drop would have to be super strong to make the cut, because getting more explosives starts is NOT what the deck needs or wants. Mother of Runes or Benevolent Bodyguard ? Yes now we're discussing real cards.
From a post on Reddit regarding Gut Shot vs Dismember in the SB:
"My understanding is that the importance is in getting ahead and snowballing. Having a one drop is very important to me and I mulligan most hands without one..."
The point is that a 2/1 for 1 is better to have than needing to mulligan for a 1 drop (all lands cast it as well). But this deck doesn't need more 1 drops for that reason. It needs more 1 drops so Vial on 1 is better, so you have more turn 2's and 3's casting 2 spells. it gets the ball rolling.
and the protection effect is pretty good. it doesn't target and it doesn't trigger. if you go to vial it in they need to respond to the vial activation. if you cast it they need to respond to it on the stack. and if they do in either case, you can pick something else. it protects against bolt push decay terminate kolaghan's command all burn anger verdict wrath, much more, and combat damage.
I mean, I don't mean to argue with you, I'm mostly trying to demonstrate the card's value to convince myself. It just seems so perfect. I admit I could be wrong.
Now this is where it gets interesting. Using the card in conjunction with Aether Vial as a form of counterspell. Now it has some sort of role.
The problem with this though, this is a two card combo, one of which is very unlikely to be on 1 the moment you really want this effect. I'd probably rather have Selfless Spirit from the side.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with that! I'd urge you to playtest it for some time and report back. I'm still curious to hear what you (and others) think is the best target for the bodyguard.
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
I can argue with you that Kessig Malcontents can deal more damage than DBG on average and curved perfectly, so it leads to a more explosive start... while it's a 3-drop ! Behind the simplistic "1-drop = more explosiveness" hides a more complex definition of explosiveness. In Elves, without Elvish Archdruid, you lose explosiveness and no existing one-drop can outweigh it.
I am with you on this. I never said we didn't need a 1-drop, I said we don't want this one. Because it's not a good 1-drop, it's a good Turn 3 play. If Wizards prints a 2/1 for W that I can play on Turn 1 without losing its textbox, I'll consider it.
It's actually pretty bad in comparison with the keywords "protection" & "hexproof". Our creatures are expendable, and if they're not, we need something that protect them no matter what, which we don't have currently, and that's why we can still lose to control and combo decks. Mother of Runes is a card you play on Turn 1 and protects you VS Dismember, Path to Exile, Vapor Snag, and many other cards with any of those 3 effects. In Spirits, Rattlechains is a good card too. "Indestructible" is good against only half of the removal spells, so to speak, and against half of our tough MUs. DBG solves only part of the issue, so it's consequently a subpar option.
Against wrath effects, we must change tools and protect our whole board, not just a singleton. That's why we run either Selfless Spirit or Xathrid Necromancer, which are subpar in Modern, but hey, we play with what we got. In Coco variants, we rather play Negate because it's on par with the power of Living End, All is Dust, and actually much more than wrath effects, it counters many win conditions.
The day Wizards prints a creature with Negate in the text box, or a weird flicker effect ala Eerie Interlude, we'll have a new staple for the archetype if it costs less than 4.
I get you, and I don't want to be rude at all, I hope you understand I'm just going straight to the point with no agressivity behind my words.
Technicaly, there are at least two :).
The problem is we dont really have the deck for it. 1) we don't have consistent mana to cast them, and 2) We can't utilize activated abilities that cost colored mana very well.
I think WotC is extra carefull with creating cards that have the "Human" creature subtype and have very powerful ETB effects.
We have another humans list in the Top8 of another big tournament, we are still top tier, but the decks are loading up on removal. Jeskai is back, and is a pain for creature decks.
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
Round 1 vs. GR Eldrazi. He mulled to 4 and I put way too many things on board, including a large Champion of the Parish. In the next game, I have him shut down and swing for a lot, but he gets Engineered Explosives for 2, destroying 2 Meddling Mage and 2 Thalia's Lieutenant. He then gets a Smasher on board and races me, but I drop the Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Phantasmal Image, copying the Smasher to put him to 2 life. He then has a Matter Reshaper and leaves up Grove of the Burnwillows and Kessig Wolf Run. I am at 4 life now. I draw Phantasmal Image. He lets me gain a life and Lightning Bolts my other Image in response, but I still copy his Smasher and get lethal. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Hollow One. The first game is close, but I aggro him out and have the turn 3 Reflector Mage to get there. In the next game, he gets 2 Hollow One on turn 1, but I get some Thalia's Lieutenants, Champ, and race him because he took a lot of damage to get there, including double Street Wraith cycling. On the final turn, I play Horizon Canopy, Dismember a Hollow One to be at 1 life, cast a Mantis Rider, and swing for lethal. Whew! 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Lantern Control. He gets me in the first game, getting discard, and then Lantern and Codex Shredder immediately while I peel a million lands. By the time I barely have any lands left in the deck, he has killed my Noble Hierarch with Pyrite Spellbomb, has 2 Bridges, and has 3 Codex Shredder. I scoop. In the next game, I aggro him out with a turn 3 kill. In the final game, it is close, but he nabs my Meddling Mage on his turn 1 and I don't draw anything again until he has Codex Shredders and Lantern in play. I am about to lose, but he has to go, so he gives me the win. 1-2, but 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Mono Green Tron. Every time I've played this guy or watched his matches, he gets the nut hands. I usually just guess Tron pieces X 2, Map, Karn, and Ulamog and I'm right. He does Map, 2nd Tron piece. I do Meddling Mage on Karn Liberated after Champ. He plays...Walking Ballista. I kept a 2 land hand and miss a 3rd land drop, which doesn't allow me to play multiple things per turn and he does Worldbreaker. He attacks and I draw the 3rd land on turn 4 to Reflector Mage his Wurmcoil Engine and swing him low. But he gets his 3rd Karn and it's enough for me to scoop. I did have a Mantis Rider, but it got killed by the Worldbreaker as I got him to 1 life. Wish I had drawn a land in my first 3 draw steps. The 2nd game is similar. I do Kitesail Freebooter X 2 to get Karn and Ugin. But he immediately draws another Karn, and then another Karn and it's just too much, because when Ugin hits, there's no point in me going further. 0-2.
I go 3-1, which is somewhat rough because I can never 4-0 at this place. I would have ID'd with the guy, but I forgot it was round 4. I know he has always gotten turn 3 Tron whenever I've watched him or played him. I think I'm 2-3 or 2-4 vs. him and this includes with decks that beat Tron merely by him always going first in Game 1 and Tron/Karn into many other things. I thought I would have a chance with Mage on Karn, but there's just too many other things to draw, including the 2 of Walking Ballista.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)This makes it seem like people are bailing on graveyard hate in favor of creature and artifact hate. My side board is a bit different as load up a bit more for control match ups with :
I don't think mine is necessarily perfect but I wonder what happened to the anti control and graveyard cards.
Is the current plan to avoid control and dredge in the match ups? Based on sidebaords it seems we are throwing away the Tron match up.
On that note I would love to see someone break down the favord/even/unfavored match ups for the deck as I am still learning it and I am unsure if my wins are due to my deckbuilding choices or my opponents poor play.
In your SB, you have 6 anti control cards already, while the MtgGoldfish one has 4. I believe your choice of Rest in Peace is clever right now, it's a good anti control card (Mardu & Jeskai on the radar).
MUs are close for the most part, and there's a ton of decks right now. Please share the priority MUs you need to figure out, we can't break down everything unless it has the purpose of being added to the Primer. It's long, and it can't be written down every 10 pages.
I am looking for some input on my 75:
4 Champion of the Parish
1 Dark Confidant
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Mantis Rider
4 Meddling Mage
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Reflector Mage
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Restoration Angel
1 Plains
4 Ancient Ziggurat
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Horizon Canopy
2 Seachrome Coast
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Aether Vial
SB:
2 Damping Sphere
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
2 Stony Silence
2 Gaddock Teeg
The method to my madness:
In the main board my understanding of Humans is that disruption of your opponent is key. Dark Confidant does not provide direct disruption in itself, but it does provide more consistency and options when choosing how to stop your opponent from doing what they want to do. In a perfect world, with perfect hands Dark Confidant is not needed as the creatures on curve, and the mana to cast them are already readily available. Dark Confidant does improve those hands that are not so good.
SB:
Mirran Crusader is great Jund hate, and can be a huge threat given enough +1/+1 counters. Also of note is hate against cards like death's shadow and Gurmag Angler.
Qasali Pridemage the anti-hate card. Akin to the recent boarding we have seen of Reclamation Sage, but with the drawback of not getting a 2/1 body after resolving the removal ability. My thought process is that we generally want to keep aether vial at two as our most reactive answers are at this mana cost.
Shalai, Voice of Plenty hexproof is powerful. There is nothing more fulfilling than vialing in a shalai against storm as they grapeshot you. Hexproof shuts down burn shooting you in the face. An honorable mention is shalai's ability in the jeskai control matchup to prevent single removal, and mass targeted removal.(I'm looking at you Settle the Wreckage) Also protects our super secret MVP gaddock teeg.
gaddock teeg is a powerful disruption tool against decks such as Jeskai Control, Storm, and other notable meta decks that run cards with a mana cost 4+ or x. Also counters a popular tech against humans engineered explosives.
A notable exclusion is hate for the mirror match. Although it is likely foolish to not try to side for this matchup, I feel mirrors are often too random. Games often come down to who curved out best, or who drew the most Thalia's Lieutenant/Reflector Mage.
It's literally a thing in the most recent 5-0 list from MtGO...
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1109734#online
If it's effect were the same as Ringleader, it would probably be a core creature in the deck, but only giving you one creature...
Even then, it still replaces itself with a little selection. Makes Image/Resto search for an effect you don't already have on the field and he has a 3/4 body.
Maybe it's something that can be tested.
WGUBR 5c Humans
GWR Naya Zoo
Legacy:
GW GW Maverick
R Goblins
Yes and he claims it might be overloading along with Stati.
A winning list playing a weird SB isn't "a thing" to me. Resto is more of my definition of a thing because it's been adopted no matter what the meta is. The latest list you netdeck isn't necessarily the best thing to do.