I am currently on 2 Rhonas, 3 Dungrove Elder with 21 lands. I am currently undecided if I should go 4 Elf, 1 Rhonas or cut 1 Wasteland Viper and make 4 Elf, 2 Rhonas.
Nice to see another person playing with Elder in the main. I have one in the main as well.
@The Fluff: How many 1 drops are you playing? I'm running 3 playsets of 1 drops with 8 fetches and I'm running only 2 Leatherback Baloths, so I'm planning to just replace those 2 with the new elf. However, for no fetches build I'd play 2 playsets of 1 drops, 4 elf + 2 baloth and 2x Blossoming Defense with 22 lands probably. I wouldn't want my 3 drops to get path'ed or push'ed easily.
Currently have seven 1 drops and a full set of rancor + 4 vines in the main. Currently on 6 fetches and only one cipt land. Have also temporarily removed Rhonas from the deck, replaced him with one Elder.. Rhonas has become a liability since my meta is even more removal heavy these days. Wanted to try Blossoming Defense, but currently don't have any - well, vines would do for now.
My build is a UG with 0 Aspect of Hydra list. Turn 1 dryad or another one drop creature ... turn 2 rancor + vines or stubborn denial or spell pierce backup is my usual play.
Right now I have 5 3-drops, being 3 Baloths and 2 Rhonas. I'm thinking about whether to go 3 Champion 2 Rhonas, or go 4-1. Going into a blind meta, what do you guys think about this? I'm tempting to go 3-2, but I'm not sure yet.
EDIT: the full-art version of Champion has been spoiled/leaked!! (It's a rare, by the way)
How has 2 Rhonas worked for you, and what kind of decks do you usually face?
Do you have a link to the pic please? I want to see too. Thanks.
First off I got a nice lol from the "very non-budget abzan build" description . See not going with mana dorks at the moment, and 6 3CC spells. Did a double take as missed at first and was surprised to see Aspect of Hydra in abzan list. Though I suppose having Strangleroot, Avatar and Champion that's already enough to warrant it. Better seeing only 1 anafenza. I do still think BM can hurt because you can't fetch a plains for Dromoka and to play in response you need to be holding up 2 mana immediately. Ponza matchup 1 BM + 1 Stone rain on forest and you can't cast Champion anymore either. Understandably while they are durdling LD you can be smashing their face, but still there does seem to be a real increased chance of getting blown out. That said you figure how often you end up facing that and how much the abzan setup helps vs field. I'd at least play a couple of Natural State in the side.
From testing so far what turn are you usually getting in for lethal?
As far as I can see, it's an elf with a sword, standig on top of a giant beast in front of a big tree. It is very blurred though, so we'll have to wait for a good picture to come out.
I believe the elf is riding a beast that is climbing straight down the tree towards you. I was wondering why an elf was 5/4, but seeing the mount I'm not surprised anymore.
So is this card replacing Leatherback Baloth or Kalonian Tusker? It seems that we now have many options in the 3-drop slot (Rhonas the Indomitable being another). Should we consider playing mana dorks now? Nevertheless, our mana curve is going to change with this printing.
I don't know what to tell you if you haven't already cut Kalonian Tusker before this.
Edit: Sorry don't want to be condescending but Tuskers should go first based on card power level. If you for some reason play too many 3 drops then consider Baloth for your curve.
About the mana dorks topic. I'm comfortable running several dorks in a deck like Ponza to quickly cast stone rains or stormbreath dragons. But in a deck like Stompy... since our highest cmc is usually 3 mana, perhaps it's better to just naturally curve into our best threats.. baloth, elf knight, and Rhonas? The strength of this deck is that everyone is actually a threat. Having dorks increases the amount of bad topdecks. And what cards would the dorks replace if we ever try to have them in this deck?
When you're running Rancor and Rhonas, everything has the potential to be a threat. That's the thing I like most about those cards. Llanowar Elves growing to 7/1 is nothing to sneeze at.
Mana dorks need a lot of investment and the payoff is not high in stompy. They die to every any kind of removal out there, and what they do is cast a 4/5 on turn 2 that will get chump blocked when it swings, or at best cast a 5/4 on turn 2 that will die to a smaller portion (which is still a huge set) of removals. And you'll end up having a mana dork on the battlefield with almost no other effect to the game, well maybe except chump blocking in later turns.
Well, obviously it dies to first strike. So does a lot of our stuff. We have other pump spells for that. "Dies to X" is not, in itself, ever a reason to not play a given creature. Context matters. In this case, the context is "what are you replacing to fit in Elvish Mystic?"
A turn two L.Baloth, plus Rancor and AoH will smash in for at least 11 on turn 3, and can potentially be lethal with just another one or two things breaking right. This will get even more effective when S.L.Champion is available. Ramp stompy can make some rediculous kills.
In my case, people convinced me that Dryad Militants and Treetop Villages were better than ramp elves. But not everyone will agree.
But what if you end up having a hand with just 1 or 2 cmc creatures, or no ramp and some 3 cmc ones? Both cases are highly likely as you will most probably run 4x mana dork and 6-7x 3 cmc creatures. I guess a top deck mana dork would make you lose more games than a turn 2 3cmc creature wins you games.
However, I would like to see a list, and of course would be happy to see you having success with it. It's just I feel like our 3 drops are not powerful enough to ramp into. As the only "ramping into" play is a turn 1 mana dork, unlike other decks that you can play your ramp spells/creatures in turn 2-3-4 and on turn 4-5-6 you can play 7-8-9 cmc spells which are worth ramping into.
If ever we are using manadorks, would the card we take out would be Experiment One? Since E1 is also a bad topdeck, having 4 dorks + 4 E1 makes 8 bad topdecks. However, taking out E1 would make Avatars slightly worse, since there would be less creatures with +1/+! counters.
I have no problem drawing E1 in turns 2 or 3, or even 4. A turn 4 play of E1 + Geist + rancor or 1 mana up is still a strong play. My point is if your goal is to ramp into a 3 drop, then it means you should play a mana dork on turn 1, right? That's why I also wanted to see the list.
A card saying "play me on turn 1 or i'm a chump blocker" is not of stompy material. If a counter argument would be it can attack the next turn, then drawing into a manland or even a fetchland to fetch a Dryad Arbor are better options.
A hypothetical ramp deck might look something like what I posted near the bottom of page 16, replacing EO with DM. I've toyed around with the ramp build, and it isn't awful, but losing a turn 1 elf is arguably more annoying than an EO or DM. This is why I respect it, but don't advocate for it.
I also agree that Elves make EO worse, and dropping EO makes AotR worse. Neither is a deal breaker on its own, but together they are enough of a negative impact to warrant consideration.
This leads to one of the odd things about Stompy--while we have great synergies (counter-accumulating creatures, AoH), it often encourages us to overcommit to the board. This can be really bad versus control decks.
Nice to see another person playing with Elder in the main. I have one in the main as well.
Currently have seven 1 drops and a full set of rancor + 4 vines in the main. Currently on 6 fetches and only one cipt land. Have also temporarily removed Rhonas from the deck, replaced him with one Elder.. Rhonas has become a liability since my meta is even more removal heavy these days. Wanted to try Blossoming Defense, but currently don't have any - well, vines would do for now.
My build is a UG with 0 Aspect of Hydra list. Turn 1 dryad or another one drop creature ... turn 2 rancor + vines or stubborn denial or spell pierce backup is my usual play.
How has 2 Rhonas worked for you, and what kind of decks do you usually face?
Do you have a link to the pic please? I want to see too. Thanks.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
First off I got a nice lol from the "very non-budget abzan build" description . See not going with mana dorks at the moment, and 6 3CC spells. Did a double take as missed at first and was surprised to see Aspect of Hydra in abzan list. Though I suppose having Strangleroot, Avatar and Champion that's already enough to warrant it. Better seeing only 1 anafenza. I do still think BM can hurt because you can't fetch a plains for Dromoka and to play in response you need to be holding up 2 mana immediately. Ponza matchup 1 BM + 1 Stone rain on forest and you can't cast Champion anymore either. Understandably while they are durdling LD you can be smashing their face, but still there does seem to be a real increased chance of getting blown out. That said you figure how often you end up facing that and how much the abzan setup helps vs field. I'd at least play a couple of Natural State in the side.
From testing so far what turn are you usually getting in for lethal?
I'm on mobile, so I hope it works! I wonder what the normal version will look like
Hopefully, the normal has good art.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
Budget Modern: GStompyG | R8-WhackR
And it looks very much like a kavu to me.
I like the pseud-trample this card has too.
Edit: Sorry don't want to be condescending but Tuskers should go first based on card power level. If you for some reason play too many 3 drops then consider Baloth for your curve.
Sexy Sig by mchief111 @ Rising Studios
EDH
G Isao
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
Mana dorks need a lot of investment and the payoff is not high in stompy. They die to every any kind of removal out there, and what they do is cast a 4/5 on turn 2 that will get chump blocked when it swings, or at best cast a 5/4 on turn 2 that will die to a smaller portion (which is still a huge set) of removals. And you'll end up having a mana dork on the battlefield with almost no other effect to the game, well maybe except chump blocking in later turns.
A turn two L.Baloth, plus Rancor and AoH will smash in for at least 11 on turn 3, and can potentially be lethal with just another one or two things breaking right. This will get even more effective when S.L.Champion is available. Ramp stompy can make some rediculous kills.
In my case, people convinced me that Dryad Militants and Treetop Villages were better than ramp elves. But not everyone will agree.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
However, I would like to see a list, and of course would be happy to see you having success with it. It's just I feel like our 3 drops are not powerful enough to ramp into. As the only "ramping into" play is a turn 1 mana dork, unlike other decks that you can play your ramp spells/creatures in turn 2-3-4 and on turn 4-5-6 you can play 7-8-9 cmc spells which are worth ramping into.
Nexus MTG News // Nexus - Magic Art Gallery // MTG Dual Land Color Ratios Analyzer // MTG Card Drawing Odds Calculator
Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
A card saying "play me on turn 1 or i'm a chump blocker" is not of stompy material. If a counter argument would be it can attack the next turn, then drawing into a manland or even a fetchland to fetch a Dryad Arbor are better options.
I also agree that Elves make EO worse, and dropping EO makes AotR worse. Neither is a deal breaker on its own, but together they are enough of a negative impact to warrant consideration.
This leads to one of the odd things about Stompy--while we have great synergies (counter-accumulating creatures, AoH), it often encourages us to overcommit to the board. This can be really bad versus control decks.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB