Hostage Taker looks like fun and has a high ceiling but I worry that shaving copies of Path for Hostage Taker will help our already-OK midrange matchups while making it harder to quickly/efficiently interact with faster creature decks like Affinity / Vizier / Storm (?).
Based on Karsten's rationale, this would give:
-12 natural green sources to cast CoCo by T3*
-9 natural white sources to cast Path*
-20 green sources for creatures
-17 white sources for creatures
-14 blue sources for creatures
-14 black sources for creatures
-14 red sources for creatures
*If you add 4 Hierarch and 2 Avacyn's Pilgrim, that would add an additional 2 green sources, 3 white sources, and 2 blue sources by the article's reasoning. That makes casting CoCo and path more viable earlier in the game.
I don't have Horizon Canopy available to me currently which is why it's not included. I could also see adding 1 Reflecting Pool or one Mana Confluence for one of the Thickets to hedge your bets with creatures.
I would appreciate any feedback you could offer, thanks!
Fair point about Overgrown Tomb and Mantis Rider. That seems to be the only situation would prevent a T3 Rider though, smart mulligans should be able to take care of that. I'm not as worried about a T2 Mage, that card seems to play better T4-ish after you've gotten more insight into their hand/deck. The only problem with switching to white shocks is that it makes it a lot harder to cast CoCo.
Round 1 vs. Abzan
I think it's a good matchup. Game one he pushed my Champion and than Thoughtseize on a Path in my hand. Turn 4 i had the Retreat/Knight combo and finished the game.
Game two he had three Goyfs... After landing my Bojuka Bog he filled his graveyard again and had to much power.
Game three Reflector Mage was my MVP and after hitting an awesome CoCo with two Lieutenants he conceded.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Burn (Rakdos)
A matchup I don't like... luckily i playtested this matchup about 30 times with a friend the day before.
Game one he burned pretty aggro and I was on 4 life. He was in topdeck mode and had a Swiftspear on the board. He missed his land and wasn't able to flashback Bump in the Night.
Game two he played some Vexing Devils. I don't like this card because it has no impact and I can either block it or play a Path/Reflector. In my turn i cast a CoCo hit a Reflector Mage and a Lieutenant and swing for the win!
2-0
Round 3 vs. Eldrazi Tron
I really like this matchup. It's fun to play and even they do unfair thins a CoCo can bring you back.
Game one he plays Dismember on my turn one Champion. I follow with Champion and Hierarch. He plays another Tronland. I play Coco into double Lieutenant. Nice.
Game two I made some huuuge missplays... Turn three I concede.
Game three was sweet! I start with a Hierarch and he with Land, Bomb. Turn two i play a Stony Silence wich was gamewinning in the end. He plays a Ballista on 3. I play dudes to pump my team. We stall a little bit. He plays Hangarback Walker on 3. I have 3 outs wich I have to topdeck. I draw... Reflector Mage!!! Bounce his Walker on swing for lethal! The next turn he would draw All is Dust. That's magic.
3-0
Round 4 vs. Elves
Never played before and I think they have the better matchup.
Game one I try to build a board with big Dudes... Turn 4 Chord of Calling into Vizier into infinite mana into 10000x Overrun
Game two I tried to resolve my combo first wich I had on the hand... unfortunately I had no Hierarch. Turn three his combo was faster. Chord into Vizier into infinite Mana into Chord into Ezuri...
The good thing: The round was super fast so I could go outside and eat something
3-1
Round 5 vs. Living End
Also never played it before but I know what the Deck is about.
Game one my opponent underrated my deck and after resolving a Living End with just 3 creatures in the grave I play CoCo, CoCo, another CoCo and win.
Game two he was just too fast and comboed off turn 3. No chance.
Game three I played a Meddling Mage on turn two. In response he goes for Living End to "counter" my Mage... It was enough.
3-2
Round 6 vs. EldraziStomp
A cool deck and a nice opponent. I know him from my LGS and I know what he is playing.
Game one I played Champions, Lieutenants and CoCo. Too much to handle.
Game two he keeps a 5 card hand... he Dismembers my Champion and ramps into Smasher. I take the 5 dmg and play Reflector Mage. My turn, CoCo, double Lieutenant, a lot of triggers, a lot of damage and the win!
4-2
The best cards: Reflector Mage just tooooo good!!! Knight of the Reliquary can be a huge threat for the opponent. Hitting it after a Company is also always good! Thalia, Heretic Cathar I really like her. 3/2 first strike is very nice. Her tax effect is also pretty annoying for the opponent. Don't know if I go on two and cut a Eternal Witness.
The cool thing about the deck is (after saying it's not cool a few post earlier :rolleyes:) I can combo off first game. Even the scry 1 trigger is ok. After boarding I don't need to play Dork on turn one to play 3cmc on turn 2. I can, depending on the matchup, play aggro and go wide with Champion. Also I can play the midrange plan and play big threats (Knight) and take the game with a Company.
Company vs. Vial
I talked with a lot of players wich version I play and why I play this. I see CoCo as a removal, pump, two-creatur-spell, combopiece. Often my opponent needs a answer otherwise he is dead. While I think 4c CoCo is a bit tricky (but absolutely playable!) going 4/5c is easier with the Vial. Also you can play a more taxes-style-deck with the Vial.
The deck is legit, once I saw it win you can tell it's not just a "flash in the pan." It acts like a better version of slivers since it has interactions with the other player and not just its own creatures.
Commander GUR Maelstrom Wanderer BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith RRR Feldon of the Third Path WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
After some more thought on Vial vs CoCo I agree they are each capable of some high-tempo openers and tricksy instant speed plays, and each has their own flavor of beneficial resiliency.
To me the greatest incentive to potentially play Vial over CoCo is the ability to run the full playset of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben without hurting ourselves. Thalia v1 is best against decks with lots of "air" cantrips, discard, counterspells, artifacts / enchantments / planeswalkers.
She seems potentially game-winning against Storm, Ad Nausam, Classic Gx Tron, Titanshift, 8-rack, and Dredge. She is potentially decent against Grixis Shadow, Ux Control, BGx midrange, and Burn -- in these matchups she is more likely to be removed but will at least trade evenly at 2 mana and 1 card, and in some cases can slow them down significantly and be MVP. She seems poorly positioned against evasive creature swarm decks (Affinity, Elves, Fish). I'm not sure yet how she is against Eldrazi Tron: there are a lot of large creatures capable of outclassing her in combat that she also doesn't get to tax, but slowing down Chalice, Map, Karn, and All is Dust might be critical for getting under them to win. I'm also not sure how useful she is against creature combo decks like Counters Company and Bant Knightfall.
The prevalence of Affinity hurts her somewhat, but I think that otherwise she is very well positioned for the global meta, which definitely gives the Vial list some points. Overall this has swayed me to at least consider and test the Vial version despite my belief that CoCo is a slightly stronger engine for the tribe than Vial.
I think my biggest issue with little Thalia is that she's good against decks we're already good against and bad against the decks we're bad against. I'd be more interested if she improved creature matchups (Affinity/Elves/Fish type decks), but she doesn't. She can be solid against burn if they're stuck on mana, but she usually just serves as a small speed bump. This is why I run Thalia 2.0, which is a card that does help in our bad matchups (and is still useful in our good matchups as well). Also, running a full 4 is....risky.
Hard to tell with so few reps, but I feel like Vial helps racing aggro, letting us puke our hand a bit faster. It helps with one landers too, and we shock oursleves less overall. That's several points where I'd say it counterbalances 4x Freebooter + 3-4x Thalia V1. Btw I'm on 3 Thalias only in my Vial list, I'm certain we have better to do with the 4th slot than another one. I currently have 2 Hostage Takers for example, good in creature MUs.
The SB has 3x Fiend Hunters that easily switch with 3x Thalia in most creature MUs.
In case of Merfolk being a meta call, we can adjust the manabase so we don't play any Island ravland at all.
Maybe the choice will be clearer with Rivals of Ixalan.
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
I am personally not a fan of the full four Thalia 2, for the reasons you detailed. Honestly, I don't even particularly care for vial as a card. The deck plays fine with out it and it's not as if the "tricksy" vial plays feel anywhere near the level of legacy DnT. A lot of these cards you're perfectly fine with or actively prefer to play at sorcery speed. The main consideration for me is the mana is hella painful in the coco lists and I'm not willing to drop Mantis Rider because it's been an all star. If coco was white and I got be base white, gaining white sideboard cards and casting my white creatures I'd be all for it. Honestly, I'm still somewhat for coco, as my base white manabase fetching Temple Guardian as a priority has been reasonable.
I think another thing being overlooked is the fact that the Vial list can quicky get "shut down" by the likes of Torpor Orb, Hushwing Gryff or, if someone wanted to be particularly ironic, Tocatli Honor Guard. If these lists continue to gain traction, I would definitely expect some of these cards to come in as sideboard tech. The CoCo lists at least have Path to Exile as an out to the latter 2, but the Vial list suddenly becomes a bunch of 1/1s and 2/2s.
Interesting analysis on the history and emergence of our beloved tribe as a viable modern deck!
And @kingcars, EtB killers like Torpor Orb would kill both deck types haha, I don’t think there’s any way to swing it. Even with Path, you can’t use it on torpor orb, and you lose tempo with path if you use it on something like the Honor Guard. Also, your final statement also applies to the CoCo variant All in all, we’ll just have to concede that something like Torpor Orb would hurt both styles a ton.
Round 1 I 2-0'd The Rack, Round 2 I swept Grixis Shadow, and Round 3 I beat UR Breach 2-1. I split with a guy on Cheerios of all things. We played a match for fun and he absolutely destroyed me.
Some quick thoughts:
--Mana base felt smooth, colors weren't too big of an issue. Reflecting Pool really only messed me up once, when I had to mull to five versus UR Breach because Pool kept being the only land in hand (still managed to win that game). I think that this configuration for the mana base allows for an easier casting of Collected Company, and makes mana smoother for all the color requirements
--I didn't really miss Path in the 75. Cutting it made my CoCos a little more consistent. It's possible I would want them in the board at some point though.
--Company shone today, namely in the Grixis Shadow matchup, letting me grind through his Fatal Pushes and the like. Didn't get to live the Eternal Witness dream though.
--This list really misses Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. It's absence was certainly felt versus Cheerios. I'd probably want to fit 2 in the main and 1 in the side. It's a non-bo with Company, but worth it to slow things down.
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EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
Is playing only 2 copies is a consideration for you ? That's where I am with the land right now.
I didn't really miss Path in the 75
You didn't encounter creature decks, that's why. It can be very awkward to play 4 PtE and 4 Ref Mages in a meta with few creature decks. Burn, Affi, Merf, Elves, Drazi, Coco and Chord decks, etc... the format is full of decks where you want to be prepared G1. That said, cutting a couple PtE doesn't sound ridiculous, that's actually what I did for 2 Hostage Takers.
This list really misses Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. It's absence was certainly felt versus Cheerios
I guess it would've helped vs 8rack too. It's ok VS most ramp and combo decks, which seems to be a ton of decks in your local meta !
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
If the 5C humans deck continues to be rampant, I'd imagine more sweepers being played in SBs?
Unless you can quickly use Thalia's Lieutenants to buff your team to 4 toughness, a timely Anger of the Gods seems brutal (that card is playable out of SBs in Grixis DS and Jeskai Control, I can see it in UR Storm IF they need it). Pyroclasm and Kozilek's Return also hits the deck but perhaps not as hard.
Is Xathrid Necromancer really that much better than Sin Collector in the Vial list? Sin Collector can pick out all of the same wraths except O-Stone, doesn't have the same weakness to Anger of the Gods, and has more utility in some other matchups like Burn.
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/frank-analysis-how-many-colored-mana-sources-do-you-need-to-consistently-cast-your-spells/
I use this article as my guide when trying to build mana bases, and I've been playing around with the following:
1 Breeding Pool
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Unclaimed Territory
4 Windswept Heath
Based on Karsten's rationale, this would give:
-12 natural green sources to cast CoCo by T3*
-9 natural white sources to cast Path*
-20 green sources for creatures
-17 white sources for creatures
-14 blue sources for creatures
-14 black sources for creatures
-14 red sources for creatures
*If you add 4 Hierarch and 2 Avacyn's Pilgrim, that would add an additional 2 green sources, 3 white sources, and 2 blue sources by the article's reasoning. That makes casting CoCo and path more viable earlier in the game.
I don't have Horizon Canopy available to me currently which is why it's not included. I could also see adding 1 Reflecting Pool or one Mana Confluence for one of the Thickets to hedge your bets with creatures.
I would appreciate any feedback you could offer, thanks!
W Humans
Modern
G Stompy
EDH
GWU Rafiq
Fair point about Overgrown Tomb and Mantis Rider. That seems to be the only situation would prevent a T3 Rider though, smart mulligans should be able to take care of that. I'm not as worried about a T2 Mage, that card seems to play better T4-ish after you've gotten more insight into their hand/deck. The only problem with switching to white shocks is that it makes it a lot harder to cast CoCo.
W Humans
Modern
G Stompy
EDH
GWU Rafiq
Thanks for the info on your work with the deck! What changes would you make to the list you posted based on your experiences?
W Humans
Modern
G Stompy
EDH
GWU Rafiq
Yesterday I played a 50+ player event with my human list. Finisehd 4-2 and made the 9th place!
Here is my list:
3x Avacyn's Pilgrim
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
2x Mayor of Avabruck
1x Meddling Mage
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Reflector Mage
4x Knight of the Reliquary
1x Eternal Witness
1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4x Path to Exile
4x Collected Company
2x Retreat to Coralhelm
3x Wooded Foothills
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Flooded Strand
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Unclaimed Territory
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Kessig Wolf Run
2x Temple Garden
1x Breeding Pool
1x Stomping Ground
1x Hallowed Fountain
2x Forest
1x Plains
1x Vithian Renegades
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Meddling Mage
1x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Blessed Alliance
2x Burrenton Forge-Tender
1x Bojuka Bog
2x Negate
1x Tireless Tracker
2x Izzet Staticaster
2x Stony Silence
Some cardchoices:
Meddling Mage in the Main because I expected a lot of Storm
Thalia, Heretic Cathar is a bomb! Even lategame it's a good card against Reality Smasher
Bojuka Bog because I would never leave the house without graveyard hate. Rest in Peace "kills" my Knight so Bog is a good alternative wich I can tutor with my Knight.
Negate because I don't own Unified Will
Also Budget:
Wooded Foothills
Unclaimed Territory
Round 1 vs. Abzan
I think it's a good matchup. Game one he pushed my Champion and than Thoughtseize on a Path in my hand. Turn 4 i had the Retreat/Knight combo and finished the game.
Game two he had three Goyfs... After landing my Bojuka Bog he filled his graveyard again and had to much power.
Game three Reflector Mage was my MVP and after hitting an awesome CoCo with two Lieutenants he conceded.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Burn (Rakdos)
A matchup I don't like... luckily i playtested this matchup about 30 times with a friend the day before.
Game one he burned pretty aggro and I was on 4 life. He was in topdeck mode and had a Swiftspear on the board. He missed his land and wasn't able to flashback Bump in the Night.
Game two he played some Vexing Devils. I don't like this card because it has no impact and I can either block it or play a Path/Reflector. In my turn i cast a CoCo hit a Reflector Mage and a Lieutenant and swing for the win!
2-0
Round 3 vs. Eldrazi Tron
I really like this matchup. It's fun to play and even they do unfair thins a CoCo can bring you back.
Game one he plays Dismember on my turn one Champion. I follow with Champion and Hierarch. He plays another Tronland. I play Coco into double Lieutenant. Nice.
Game two I made some huuuge missplays... Turn three I concede.
Game three was sweet! I start with a Hierarch and he with Land, Bomb. Turn two i play a Stony Silence wich was gamewinning in the end. He plays a Ballista on 3. I play dudes to pump my team. We stall a little bit. He plays Hangarback Walker on 3. I have 3 outs wich I have to topdeck. I draw... Reflector Mage!!! Bounce his Walker on swing for lethal! The next turn he would draw All is Dust. That's magic.
3-0
Round 4 vs. Elves
Never played before and I think they have the better matchup.
Game one I try to build a board with big Dudes... Turn 4 Chord of Calling into Vizier into infinite mana into 10000x Overrun
Game two I tried to resolve my combo first wich I had on the hand... unfortunately I had no Hierarch. Turn three his combo was faster. Chord into Vizier into infinite Mana into Chord into Ezuri...
The good thing: The round was super fast so I could go outside and eat something
3-1
Round 5 vs. Living End
Also never played it before but I know what the Deck is about.
Game one my opponent underrated my deck and after resolving a Living End with just 3 creatures in the grave I play CoCo, CoCo, another CoCo and win.
Game two he was just too fast and comboed off turn 3. No chance.
Game three I played a Meddling Mage on turn two. In response he goes for Living End to "counter" my Mage... It was enough.
3-2
Round 6 vs. EldraziStomp
A cool deck and a nice opponent. I know him from my LGS and I know what he is playing.
Game one I played Champions, Lieutenants and CoCo. Too much to handle.
Game two he keeps a 5 card hand... he Dismembers my Champion and ramps into Smasher. I take the 5 dmg and play Reflector Mage. My turn, CoCo, double Lieutenant, a lot of triggers, a lot of damage and the win!
4-2
The best cards:
Reflector Mage just tooooo good!!!
Knight of the Reliquary can be a huge threat for the opponent. Hitting it after a Company is also always good!
Thalia, Heretic Cathar I really like her. 3/2 first strike is very nice. Her tax effect is also pretty annoying for the opponent. Don't know if I go on two and cut a Eternal Witness.
The cool thing about the deck is (after saying it's not cool a few post earlier :rolleyes:) I can combo off first game. Even the scry 1 trigger is ok. After boarding I don't need to play Dork on turn one to play 3cmc on turn 2. I can, depending on the matchup, play aggro and go wide with Champion. Also I can play the midrange plan and play big threats (Knight) and take the game with a Company.
Company vs. Vial
I talked with a lot of players wich version I play and why I play this. I see CoCo as a removal, pump, two-creatur-spell, combopiece. Often my opponent needs a answer otherwise he is dead. While I think 4c CoCo is a bit tricky (but absolutely playable!) going 4/5c is easier with the Vial. Also you can play a more taxes-style-deck with the Vial.
Legacy: Maverick
Pauper: UB Delver
Watch out for those unexpected Human Frailtys
GURB Grixis/Jund Shadow
RBG Dredge
xUx U Ballista Tron
Commander
GUR Maelstrom Wanderer
BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius
BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth
WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
RRR Feldon of the Third Path
WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
To me the greatest incentive to potentially play Vial over CoCo is the ability to run the full playset of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben without hurting ourselves. Thalia v1 is best against decks with lots of "air" cantrips, discard, counterspells, artifacts / enchantments / planeswalkers.
She seems potentially game-winning against Storm, Ad Nausam, Classic Gx Tron, Titanshift, 8-rack, and Dredge. She is potentially decent against Grixis Shadow, Ux Control, BGx midrange, and Burn -- in these matchups she is more likely to be removed but will at least trade evenly at 2 mana and 1 card, and in some cases can slow them down significantly and be MVP. She seems poorly positioned against evasive creature swarm decks (Affinity, Elves, Fish). I'm not sure yet how she is against Eldrazi Tron: there are a lot of large creatures capable of outclassing her in combat that she also doesn't get to tax, but slowing down Chalice, Map, Karn, and All is Dust might be critical for getting under them to win. I'm also not sure how useful she is against creature combo decks like Counters Company and Bant Knightfall.
The prevalence of Affinity hurts her somewhat, but I think that otherwise she is very well positioned for the global meta, which definitely gives the Vial list some points. Overall this has swayed me to at least consider and test the Vial version despite my belief that CoCo is a slightly stronger engine for the tribe than Vial.
The SB has 3x Fiend Hunters that easily switch with 3x Thalia in most creature MUs.
In case of Merfolk being a meta call, we can adjust the manabase so we don't play any Island ravland at all.
Maybe the choice will be clearer with Rivals of Ixalan.
Interesting analysis on the history and emergence of our beloved tribe as a viable modern deck!
And @kingcars, EtB killers like Torpor Orb would kill both deck types haha, I don’t think there’s any way to swing it. Even with Path, you can’t use it on torpor orb, and you lose tempo with path if you use it on something like the Honor Guard. Also, your final statement also applies to the CoCo variant All in all, we’ll just have to concede that something like Torpor Orb would hurt both styles a ton.
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
3 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Meddling Mage
4 Mantis Rider
4 Reflector Mage
2 Eternal Witness
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Reflecting Pool
4 Uncharted Territory
3 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Blood Crypt
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Plains
3 Arashin Cleric
3 Sin Collector
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Vithian Renegades
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
Round 1 I 2-0'd The Rack, Round 2 I swept Grixis Shadow, and Round 3 I beat UR Breach 2-1. I split with a guy on Cheerios of all things. We played a match for fun and he absolutely destroyed me.
Some quick thoughts:
--Mana base felt smooth, colors weren't too big of an issue. Reflecting Pool really only messed me up once, when I had to mull to five versus UR Breach because Pool kept being the only land in hand (still managed to win that game). I think that this configuration for the mana base allows for an easier casting of Collected Company, and makes mana smoother for all the color requirements
--I didn't really miss Path in the 75. Cutting it made my CoCos a little more consistent. It's possible I would want them in the board at some point though.
--Company shone today, namely in the Grixis Shadow matchup, letting me grind through his Fatal Pushes and the like. Didn't get to live the Eternal Witness dream though.
--This list really misses Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. It's absence was certainly felt versus Cheerios. I'd probably want to fit 2 in the main and 1 in the side. It's a non-bo with Company, but worth it to slow things down.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
Is playing only 2 copies is a consideration for you ? That's where I am with the land right now.
You didn't encounter creature decks, that's why. It can be very awkward to play 4 PtE and 4 Ref Mages in a meta with few creature decks. Burn, Affi, Merf, Elves, Drazi, Coco and Chord decks, etc... the format is full of decks where you want to be prepared G1. That said, cutting a couple PtE doesn't sound ridiculous, that's actually what I did for 2 Hostage Takers.
I guess it would've helped vs 8rack too. It's ok VS most ramp and combo decks, which seems to be a ton of decks in your local meta !
Unless you can quickly use Thalia's Lieutenants to buff your team to 4 toughness, a timely Anger of the Gods seems brutal (that card is playable out of SBs in Grixis DS and Jeskai Control, I can see it in UR Storm IF they need it). Pyroclasm and Kozilek's Return also hits the deck but perhaps not as hard.