Isnt Light up the Stage NONBO with Vial?
I dont know how to feel about this.
It just doesn't sinergize (thalia + Company is a nonbo), it would have been a crazy engine otherwise. This is why I think it will require the structure of the deck to be coherent with the effect of the card.
I would like to hear a piece of advice from you guys.
Second game is on and my opponent sides 2-3 Anger of the Gods. Its fourth Turn and I have a Spell Qualler in hand. Shall I play it in the end of his turn to keep the pressure or save it in case of Anger of the God?
Which way is the best way to play?
I would like to hear a piece of advice from you guys.
Second game is on and my opponent sides 2-3 Anger of the Gods. Its fourth Turn and I have a Spell Qualler in hand. Shall I play it in the end of his turn to keep the pressure or save it in case of Anger of the God?
Which way is the best way to play?
Well, we'd need some more details here, however: as a general rule I do not overextend my resources into a field threatened by wraths once my clock is at least 3 damages per turn and I'm winning the race. I actually like to hold back spell queller against Anger of the Gods decks because you never know.
Things that might change my mind are the absence of a clock , a faster clock from my opponent that demnds presence on the board, the presnce of a selfless spirit on the battlefield, or abundance of resources in my hand ( a second spell queller or counterspells).
Do you have a sideboard guide for this Esper list?
Not yet, just jumped on this configuration of the deck. Some choiches are all but intuitive too, like that of keeping lingering souls mb against midrange when you also want RiP to shut down their clock. They re both very good cards against them but the conflict between the two is real.
Do you have a sideboard guide for this Esper list?
Since I've also been playing Esper, I feel like I should give my input, though keep in mind that my list is likely not as optimal, since I'm not running Aether Vial. The sideboard has been pretty tricky for me to refine so far, but you'll probably want the mainstays of Rest in Peace and Stony Silence. I run a pair of each, though you may consider more RiP if you feel it necessary. I run 2 copies of Remorseful Cleric mainboard, so I'm already packing some graveyard hate and don't feel like I need more than 2 more copies of RiP in the board.
Blessed Alliance is still one of my favorite sideboard cards, and I strongly recommend running it. Its versatility makes it good against Infect, Bogles, and Burn, and it can be easily brought in in any matchup where your opponent is likely to attack with only one big creature (I'm thinking it would be solid against Amulet Titan), or any time that life gain is relevant. Likewise, Disdainful Stroke is great for the deck because it can deal with a multitude of threats. It stops all of Tron's win conditions, Collected Company, Primeval Titan, Scapeshift, Bedlam Reveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, and Terminus, among other things. Plus, since it's an instant, it doesn't interfere with your plan to play at instant speed.
Another card that seems really powerful is Eidolon of Rhetoric. I found myself wanting to bring it in for many matchups, so I finally went out and grabbed a second copy. Given the prevalence of decks like Izzet Phoenix and Storm that want to play a ton of spells each turn and which are reliant on Lightning Bolt for removal, Eidolon is amazing; it will just completely shut down their game plan, or at least slow it to a crawl while you continue your beatdown. Since you're running Esper, Zealous Persecution could be a consideration. I finally cut it from the main deck, but it's a surprisingly relevant board wipe/anthem effect in many situations. It will kill elves, Bird of Paradise, Noble Hierarch, Snapcaster Mage, Dark Confidant, Young Pyromancer, Inkmoth Nexus, annoying Infect creatures, Dryad Arbor, Bogles, and lingering souls tokens. Plus, it only costs 2 mana and is an instant. I think it definitely merits some consideration.
I also like running Geist of Saint Traft as a 2 of in the sideboard. It's not optimal in a lot of matchups, but you'll likely want some additional pressure against control decks, and Geist can definitely help you there. I thought of running Dovin, Grand Arbiter or another planeswalker, but I decided that it would be too slow to fit with the tempo plan. Lastly, Unmoored Ego is a nice way to cripple combo decks. If you name something like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Living End, or a Tron piece, you can basically win the game on the spot. It is slow though, and combo decks aren't exactly the most popular things right now; even Izzet Phoenix doesn't care that much if you get rid of all their birds, since they still have Thing in the Ice and Young Pyromancer to continue applying pressure.
As a final note, I've come to agree with some of the other people here who've decided that discard spells aren't really what the deck wants, even from the sideboard. I've been running 2 Thoughtseize for a while, and while they can occasionally be useful, they're bad draws late, and generally don't help your game plan enough to be worth the tempo loss. I'm experimenting with Collective Brutality, since it has multiple uses and I've heard positive feedback on it. I'll have to test it and see if it's too slow, since it is at sorcery speed.
Question to anybody playing with Curious Obsession: is the last copy an auto side out against UW control in game 2 and 3?
I think I've read about one guy here playing with it having his plan centered on defending the enchanted spirit, which makes a lot of sense, but still I'm not sure about this kind of plan.
I can also see a list with the full playset of rattlechains, or an esper list with additional creatures (lingering souls) being a good shell for the single copy of that enchantment to force control to respond and extend into your answers.
Iam still not commited that Esper List is playable one. UW is the most viable and BANT is the most AGGRO. Even though Iam sure any list can win you a gameday or even a big event, you still should choose UW or BANT list to go for a 1st Place
Iam still not commited that Esper List is playable one. UW is the most viable and BANT is the most AGGRO. Even though Iam sure any list can win you a gameday or even a big event, you still should choose UW or BANT list to go for a 1st Place
I think your statement contradicts itself. Whether Esper is the most viable build or not is, of course, open for debate (though I tend to think it has several advantages over Bant and even U/W), but even if it isn't, it's still certainly playable. I'm not going to pretend that my anecdotal experiences are worth much of anything, but I've personally had a great deal of success running Esper (though it's admittedly a very light splash for lingering souls and fatal push in the mainboard, along with a few tech options out of the sideboard). It's quite powerful and offers far better interaction with many of the other meta decks running around in modern right now.
(though it's admittedly a very light splash for lingering souls and fatal push in the mainboard, along with a few tech options out of the sideboard). It's quite powerful and offers far better interaction with many of the other meta decks running around in modern right now.
I believe that is actually the right approach to Esper. The kit of early removals and the power of lingering souls as a top deck are something UW misses. I believe UW sits in between a version trying to hit the gas pedal (Bant), and a version that is good at taking the control role (Esper). But it misses something, there's no real reason to stay in between beside the manabase. It misses another card advantage engine, it's forced to play striclty a tempo game (Thalia isn't part of the successful lists just by chance), but when that tempo-plan fails it's over. It's a worse version at playing both an aggro and a control strategy, given the pool of cards we have right now.
I've been playing UW for two years and now I've splashed my version with black I can see such big upsides that I'm not getting back.
"Once you go black..." they say, you know.
On a slightly related topic, I've been refining my list after reading through everyone's comments throughout this thread and I think I've finally settled on what I'm bringing to my LGS's Thursday night Modern event tomorrow. I'll be sure to give a report on how things go, but as always I'd appreciate peoples' last minute thoughts on the deck. One slight note is that, while I'm planning on running the darkslick shores, after Streex's comments on the mana base, I don't actually have it yet, though I know that the store has a copy that I'm planning on grabbing beforehand.
Since you have no vial, you have to make sure you have control of the board in the early stage of the game, I'd jam one collective brutality at the very least, two would be better. Your curve is very high I'd trim the two ojutai's command. I like the card, it's very efficient and it's one very good card advantage engine, I did tested it one year ago, but it's so heavy on the curve.
The one thing I see in your list is the number of 3 cmc drops, they are 12 + 2 commands, it's exposing you to the risk of opening clunky hands.
Bigone bishop is worse than than Curious Obsession: I can see how obsession is much better in a Vial shell, because you have multiple interactions available and you better exploit the mana advantage, which is fueled by the enchantment, but still it's a good card that wins me games even when I don't have the vial. I find it very important against combo to dig you deck.
I also think Countersquall is one of the best counterspells in modern, in particular in a deck like ours trying to race the opponent. You'll be surprised to see how those two lifes mattered at the end of the race. People love Negate, this is a Negate with upsides.
Your blue sources are fine, also good luck with shambling vents. I haven't tried it yet, but I have paid attention at the games whre I have drawn tar pit and pretended that to be a SV, and I still believe Tar Pit is the kind of land we need. It ignores blockers and races incredibly well, I think it's the kind of utility we want and need in this version.
Persecution in a card I like, once in a while you wipe out your opponent's silly elves and you feel like a bos;, my issue with that is it's no longer a good metagame for it. Mardu pyromancer is gone, and other decks just partially care about that -1 -1 effect, I believe now it's more important to have a coulpe Detention Steves, even more because KCI has transformed into 4c Prison, which is disgusting and demands an answer to their permanents. Looking at your 75s I see no answers to Ensnaring Bridge once it has resolved. This is a bug in your list in my opinion.
As a final suggestion, I'd consider one favourable winds in your mainboard, probably in replacement of one remorseful cleric. You have no vial, which is the best play against control. FW lets you commit less creatures, it encreases your clock by spending less resources, it's hard to remove, and if they do, they are spending a D Sphere to take that away, which lets you respond since it comes at sorcery speed and is also tempo negative for them at the very least.
I dont' know your meta, but let me stress the power of collective brutality (very skill intensive spell to be honest) to keep up with the early developement of the board, or to better interact with your opponent's hand.
Thanks as always for your thoughts Streex! I really appreciate them!
I did some testing with a copy of Collective Brutality in my board (which is what I have right now) but after testing I ended up dropping it. I know that in the right shell or meta game, it's incredibly powerful, but it just didn't feel that relevant in my list, and I didn't really feel that great whenever I drew it. I think part of that might be because I'm already running so many removal spells that having such a conditional piece of removal doesn't really add much to the list. Of course, it absolutely destroys burn and the hand attack option can be sweet, but I just wasn't very happy with it. Maybe if the meta seems to suit it, I'll put it back in and possibly grab another copy.
I do have quite a few 3 drops, but that's generally where the list tops off, and they're pretty much the core of the deck (I can't cut the captains or quellers for obvious reasons, and I already shaved down 1 lingering souls after finding it to be a poor draw in multiples most of the time). The commands are pretty experimental, and might end up being cut, but I want to test with them for a bit; one of the biggest problems that I've had with the deck is running out of gas late in the game, leaving you at the mercy of top decks.
I'd disagree with your comparison of Bishop and Obsession. Obsession seems amazing in the right shell, but I look at it as an aura enchantment that invites 2 for ones, and a dead draw late in the game. At worst, Bishop is a 2/3 flier with a relevant creature type for the deck, and given that nearly half the cards in my deck are creatures, it converts every single one of those into a source of card draw. Even if the creature gets countered, the clue still spawns and it can start chaining quite easily later on. It's definitely not something I want multiple copies of, since it doesn't interact quite as well as the other spirits in the list, but it seems quite powerful. Of course, I haven't run Bishop in more than a year, but even back then it usually satisfied me with how it performed. If it's not working out, I'll look at exchanging it for something else (like Obsession).
I've seen quite a few lists here running Countersquall, and I understand the attraction. But, I'm not really running any negates right now that I'd like to upgrade to Countersquall, and don't want to run too many counter spells. I like Disdainful Stroke as my counter spell of choice, because it hits everything that my removal/quellers can't interact with: Primeval Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, Teferi, Jace, etc... A negate effect can't hit some of the big, threatening creatures that Stroke can keep off my back.
I'm also generally pretty happy with the mana base, though I'll be happier once I pick up that Darkslick Shores. I'm hoping that Vents will work but I won't feel too bad if I end up cutting it for something else.
I used to run 2x Persecution in my main list, and I finally decided that it wasn't good against the meta there. However, I like having a single copy in the board, because it does hit so many relevant creatures (Dryad Arbor, Glistener Elf, Blighted Agent, Slippery Bogle, Snapcaster Mage, Dark Confidant, most elves, Thalia's Lieutenant, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Champion of the Parish, Young Pyromancer and its tokens, etc...) If my meta gets to a point where I never want to board it in, it'll get cut, but it still seems functional at the moment.
As for dealing with 4 color prison and Ensnaring Bridge, I must admit that I haven't played against the deck, or any list that's resolved a bridge. I'm curious about arguments for why Deputy of Detention is better than Detention Sphere (outside of a vial package, where the answer is obvious), and what you think of alternatives. I've certainly considered the potential of facing a deck running ensnaring bridge, but I wasn't sure what the most appropriate answer would be. The potential cards I'd thought about were Forsake the Worldly, Echoing Truth, Cast Out, Detention Sphere, and Crush Contraband, as well as the traditional Disenchant or Conclave Tribunal. What are your thoughts about pros/cons on those and the preferred means of attack?
I'm pretty biased, but I'm not a fan of Favorable Winds, or any card that does nothing on its own. I tried putting together a standard deck back when Ixalan came out that featured Favorable Winds and a bunch of efficient fliers, and was not pleased in the slightest with how it performed. I understand the advantages against control, but as far as I can tell, I'd rather play the waiting game against control; eventually, they have to tap out to play something (or to counter an instant speed creature), and that's when you can start pressuring. Winds on the board doesn't do much other than buff Spirit Tokens, obviously creating a faster clock, but if I have creatures that can actually stick for a turn or two, I consider myself in a pretty good position already. Also, my plan for control is pretty much already set: manlands+ GoST out of the board with Disdainful Strokes to keep them off Jace/Teferi/Cryptic Command/Terminus. Again, I'm looking to be rather flexible, and if play shows that FW is worth putting in, I'll certainly test it out, but I'm not too high on it currently.
And, I'll be sure to try recording my results and sharing them here, along with my thoughts. I usually have a hard time remembering specifics from my early matches, but I'll try to take decent notes this time around.
Alright, post tournament report time! I made my last minute adjustments to my list by buying the copy of Darkslick Shores that I'd said I'd include, and also swapped out a copy of Disdainful Stroke from my sideboard for Echoing Truth, so I'd at least have some response to an Ensnaring Bridge. Seeing as today was Valentine's Day, I wasn't sure if we'd have enough people to fire, but I think we had about 10 people show up. I got my first round pairing, and started play.
M 1
I was rather confused as to what I was playing when I started this game. I won the die roll and started on the play. While I didn't have a turn 1 Wanderer, I was able to establish a decent sized board. My opponent played a Relentless Dead which was not something I expected to see. I flashed out a Rattlechains during their end step and, not wanting to let them get value, I pushed the zombie during my main phase while they were tapped out before adding a Supreme Phantom to the board and applying pressure. I dropped a Spell Queller on a Phyrexian Obliterator, which felt amazing, then proceeded to push damage through with my fliers and Creeping Tar Pit, getting a win.
Having some idea of what to expect, I dropped 2 Lingering Souls for my RiPs out of the sideboard and we went to G2. My opponent played a Thoughtseize and took a Queller out of my hand, though my grip was pretty stacked. I proceeded to play out a pair of Rattlechains, while my opponent developed a pair of Relentless Dead. He tried to Inquisition of Kozilek me when I was on 4 cards, but I flashed out a Supreme Phantom and pathed one of his creatures, leaving only a pair of basic lands for him to see. He tried racing me with Bloodghast, but he couldn't match the speed of my deck, and my Shambling Vent would have eaten one of his creatures while gaining life regardless.
Apparently, the deck was Mono B Devotion, and my opponent just never got around to being able to resolve Gray Merchant of Asphodel, since I was applying so much pressure. This felt like a great matchup, and I gladly took a 1-0 start.
M 2
Things went downhill from there, however. The next match saw me paired up against a really strange Sultai control deck stacked full of counter spells and removal, with Wilderness Reclamation and Blue Sun's Zenith to keep digging through his deck and grinding me out. I just could not get anything to stick or resolve in either game and ended up getting absolutely crushed. I wonder if I should have mulliganed harder for Rattlechains, Selfless Spirit, or Mausoleum Wanderer, but I'm not convinced that I could have won even with those cards. I'd really love to hear some feedback on suggestions on how to beat this in the future. I don't think that the deck is too powerful by any means, but I just don't really know how to combat it.
M 3 This one hurt a bit. I was up against a humans deck, and their G1 curve was brilliant, with vial on 1, a Kitesail Freebooter taking my Fatal Push, with Noble Hierarch and Reflector Mage to really smash my game plan. I lost G1, but managed to grind out a win in G2, with double Captain and double Supreme Phantom backed by Selfless Spirit to hold off his creatures, while Tar Pit punched in for damage each turn. On game 3, I thought I had a decent start, by pushing a T1 Champion of the Parish and having a decent curve of creatures, but his double reflector mage, mantis rider and Noble Hierarch really let him push me into a corner. To make things even worse, he had a T3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar that I didn't have a way to deal with, meaning my creatures couldn't even come out to block and trade. I managed to get some value via Blessed Alliance from the Board, but it wasn't enough to stop his curve, and he ended up winning.
M 4 I was feeling a bit disappointed after the previous rounds, and pairings ended up being rather awkward due to drops. I ended up playing against a Tron player (who was either 2-1 or 3-0) after being paired up. Game 1 was a disaster, as despite attempting to apply pressure and curve out, I just could not come back from a T4 Tron into Wurmcoil (which I pathed) into Ulamog into a Walking Ballista. I didn't have much of a shot at winning that one, but I knew exactly which cards I was bringing out of the board here. Game 2 I managed to apply quick pressure, and my Stony Silence and Disdainful Strokes kept her threats off the board so that I could crack through for the win. Game 3 ended up being a nail biter. I landed Stony Silence on T2, but she hit natural Tron on 3; fortunately, she didn't have much to do with the mana, playing a walking ballista for 3 and finding All is Dust off of an Ancient Stirrings. I was slightly annoyed, because I had Unmoored Ego in hand, and if I'd been on the play, I could have kept her off Tron for the whole game. Instead, I had to settle for using it to snag the All is Dust, to keep my Silence on the field, and saw that her hand was World Breaker and Sylvan Scrying, both dead cards without green mana. I played pretty conservatively, slowly building my board state and using Disdainful Stroke to counter Ugin. She ended up ghost quartering herself to find a forest, cast the World Breaker (which ate another Stroke after exiling my stony silence), then cracked a chromatic star/sphere to add more green in order to cast the scrying and replace the Tron land. However, she didn't have mana to pump the Ballista, which had to settle for dropping to 1 counter and shooting down my selfless spirit (which was sacrificed in response). I had a Phantom and Remorseful Cleric left, which really pressured her life total and kept her from really going off; she had Oblivion Stone, but decided to cast a Thragtusk in order to stabilize her health. This was where my adjustments really shone, as Ojutai's Command countered the creature and brought my selfless spirit back to the battlefield. I figured she'd slipped up, and she realized it too before asking if we could go back and let her respond to the stack by cracking the O Stone before the selfless spirit hit the field again. Being 1-2 at this point, I was torn because I was happy to take advantage of a misplay by my opponent, but I decided that, since we hadn't actually advanced the game state, I'd allow her to crack the stone and clear the board. However, I was able to dump my hand, which was another Selfless Spirit and a Supreme Phantom, putting her life total to 6. Next turn, she top decked Karn Liberated and tried exiling one of my spirits, which I sacrificed in response, before scrying for a ghost quarter to stop my potential win with Creeping Tar Pit. However, another Supreme Phantom off the top gave me exact lethal, finally ending the game.
Final Record: 2-2; 3rd place
I can't say I'm exactly thrilled by how the deck performed, but I did better than my record would suggest, since I'm pretty sure the decks I lost to ended up placing first and second. I think that the list is amazing against certain decks, but my tempo was too far behind in dealing with humans, and I couldn't deal with their tempo removal (mainly reflector mage). When I hit my lords and low cost creatures, I could contest the board well, but bad or even mediocre draws are ruinous. I still think control is generally a terrible matchup, but I could very well be playing wrongly against control decks. I also think I need to mulligan a bit harder for certain starts, because I'm reluctant to go below 7 if I have a serviceable hand, which often isn't good enough to deal with the nuts draws that you can encounter.
I'm pretty happy with Ojutai's Command though. I only cast it once, and only drew it one other time (against humans, where I didn't live long enough to get use of out it. Maybe it'll get cut, but the advantage it creates is incredible.
Now that I actually have some comparison, I definitely see why vials are so useful, but I'm not sure how to address the other big issue with the deck: its lack of sustainability. Particularly against control, I find myself being ground out of cards far too quickly, leaving me trying to top deck threats while they continue sitting on a heap of cards. The single copy of Bygone Bishop can help with that, but it ended up countered or immediately killed whenever I cast it. I still like the card, but it needs to have support to protect it (either from Captain, Wanderer, or Selfless Spirit).
As a final point, I might be adding vials quicker than I thought. Another player was looking to build Hardened Scales Affinity, and I ended up trading 3 ballistas, two hangar back walkers, and an Eldrazi Temple for a pair of Vials. I also have a $50 discount with my LGS, so I should be able to add at least a third vial that way. The issue now though is figuring out what to cut: I can safely cut one land, but I'm not sure what other cards to drop in the list. I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on that, as well as any other comments!
First I'd like to start with my thoughts about the deck in general. First and foremost I personally think that UW build is the best Spirit build out there. Its more tribal oriented and much more sideboard viable. It's a perfect example of a Tempo deck with all kinds of tools to beat any kind of archetype out there in the Modern world. Especially the sideboard. My sideboard is tweaked to fight pretty much any deck out there. Be it control, aggro or combo. A few cards in the sideboard can also be substituted according to the local metagame.
Manabase:
20 lands is more than enough that you need to comfortably play the game. A bit overlanding wont harm cause it will allow you to play your creatures and keep some mana for the spells. By the time I write this Iam thinking of mayyybe cutting 1x land for another Path to Exile but Iam not certain about it yet.
Creatures:
Well, here comes the sweetest part. Deputy of Detention is a sick card by itself. A creature with a Detention Sphere effect which can target any card on the battlefield is INSANE! Since I added 2x copies my overall pressure during the game and viability rose immnensly! A MUST HAVE in any creature deck out there. I'am even thinking of addind another copy to the main or sideboard. The card is just to good not to play it.
I also tested with TIthe Takerin the main and my results were not so good with it. First, the guy rarely dies. Usually it gets exiled and I dont get a spirit creature in return. Second,the tax mode during my turn doesnt really effect my opponent. If I drop him turn 2, the opp will just crack the fetch in responce. If I drop it later my opp will have enough lands to play around it. So its pretty much a dead-effect card in most of the game. No synergies what'so'ever.. so I brought back 2x Remorseful Cleric instead the to the main.
As far as Geist of Saint Traft goes, well, this guy is not maindeckable. People put him in the main due to the insane amount for controll decks out there. Now, there is no purpose to have him in the main.. well, unless you have a Tron/Control local meta.
The rest of the creature base is quite similar to other lists. Best spirits in one deck for your opponent to deal with.
Spells:
I used to run 4 copies of Path to Exile but recently I ran into so many articels about how good Echoing Truth was that I decided to run it main and it works incredibly fine. There is no match that this card would be dead in your hand. Its an allaround solution to any threat out there. Of cource, Path to Exile can be crucial from time to time (thats why I am thinking of cutting 1x more land to fit it in) but as I always say - we mostly rely on our creatures not spells
Sideboard:
I dont have much to say about it. Its tweaked vs any deck in Modern. The only thing I am being curious is how to side against Humans. Kira, Great Glass-Spinner may not be enough. I would also like to see another Deputy of Detention and Nebelgast Herald in this match but unfortunatly I dont have any space to spare in my sideboard at the moment. I would like to hear a piece of advice on it from you guys
There are two decks that I think matches against are tough for us
1) Infect
Turn 4 kill is horrible. Very hard to deal with, very hard to counter and almost impossible to block unless they attack us with their lands
2) Elves
These guys spamm a huge amount of elve power to the battlefield as soon as turn 3 and later help themselves out with Collected Company
There isnt much we can do about it. Our only hope is if our opponent's plan for a quick win somehow will be disrupted by a misplay or a bad draw.
Talking about current modern Tier 1-2 - I dont see a deck which can overrun us completly dead here.
UR Phoenix can be tough sometimes but we are pretty much as fast as them.
Amulet Titan? Stop kidding me, this deck is way too slow
Shadow? Well, a resolved Liliana or some kind of mass removal in the main or sideboard can make our life tough but its still winnable.
Tron? Well, even if he hits Tron turn 3 we still have a gap in 1-2 turns to finish him off. It will all depend on your start. If you start slow you lose. Ive been in situations with Tron where Iam leaving him with 1 life left and no option to take it after he resolved Ugin and Karn..
Well, I hope my take on the archetype will be usefull to some.
Anyway, I would like to hear your thoughts about my build, matchups and sideboarding.
Thank you
As far as your mana base goes, I would not recommend dropping below 20 lands. Even at 20 in my own build, I've had many games where I've failed to hit my all-important third land drop, with vial either not showing up or removed by an opportunistic opponent. I also think it's worthwhile to fit a couple of Field of Ruin in your utility slots. It's an extra tool against tron and amulet, and it takes out Celestial Colonnade in control matchups, a card that gives spirits no end of grief if the game lasts long enough.
I have yet to find myself matched against infect, but my primary piece of advice would be to bulk up on Blessed Alliance, preferably at the expense of Kor Firewalker. The former is good to bring in against a variety of decks that attack with one creature as well as burn, and the latter is really only good against burn and maybe storm. Curving wanderer into Thalia into queller is already enough to make life miserable for burn and storm, anyways. On that note, you might want a second Eidolon of Rhetoric as well.
I ended up matched against elves earlier this week. I got destroyed in game one, but I managed to out-race my opponent game two with a pair each of wanderer and supreme, slowing my opponent down with a queller with Shaman of the Pack's name on it as well as a rather ineffective Damping Sphere. Game 3 I won by repeatedly taking his Elvish Archdruids off the table. Definitely very touch-and-go, for sure.
I made it, 5-0 MTGO Competitive League with Esper Spirits on my second attempt with it.
The list I played is the one you see below, which is my usual. Just made a little change, down an Echoing truth, up an Unmoored Ego, because it wins some games single-handedly. The main reason for it is Tron, I want a 3rd piece other than the two stony silences to shut them down. It's true it may come too late,but when thyey hit tron on turn 3 it's over anyways. When they dont, Ego makes them play a fair game. I did like it.
On the other hand, Echoing Truth is good at bouncing bridges and cages for a turn, letting you alpha strike your opponent. Detention Steve comes at the risky cost of being removed. The reason why I like it over Detention Sphere is that it's vialable (I've added an image to prove how good is the instant speed nature of this interaction) and blocks, which makes it awesome against burn in my opinion: it has solved the problem of boarding in cards to deal with ensnaring bridge. Also hitting thing in the ice -resetting their counters -is as much as relevant. It suffers Torpor Orb, and this is a card I'm watching out for when I'm against prison decks, other than that, I prefer gambling on the Torpor Orb scenario( in case I don't get to use Jace as an alternative win con) to leaving out Unmoored Ego, Especially if I am to attend a 20+ people tourney.
To be fair, Ego is also spendable to call bridges and solve the problem in one shot.
Alright, so now that vials are actually a thing for me (I'm planning on picking up the other two copies today), this is what my adjusted list is looking like. For the 4 vials coming in, I shaved down my Remorseful Clerics, 1 copy of Fatal Push, and a land (the second Watery Grave). I also decided to take out the copy of shambling vent and replace it with a fourth flooded strand, not because it wasn't good, but just because I'm tired of getting land flooded, and having 8 fetchlands keeps my land count constant while also giving me the ability to thin my deck of other lands. Hopefully having the playset of vials will make my control matchups a bit more winnable, because those have continued to be a nightmare despite my attempts to alleviate the problem.
I'm also looking to potentially make a few slight sideboard changes. Notably, I think swapping Zealous Persecution for a copy of Settle the Wreckage sounds quite good, as it hits the same major targets while being far more useful against the other go-wide strategies in modern (humans, elves, other spirit decks, etc...). If I can actually find copies, I'll also end up trading out Echoing Truth for a Deputy of Detention. Having the deputy as a 2x seems good, but I'm struggling to really find cards I'd be willing to cut for a second copy. Do people have any additional suggestions/recommendations based on these changes, or have alternative/superior adjustments they'd suggest?
One thing I can't agree with is Geist in Esper. Geist is all what Esper is not planning to do: This version keeps the control of the early turns, makes land drops, ticks vial up, then races back the opponent. Of course you re still taking the aggro role against controls and big mana, but Geist isn't necessary when we have lingering souls to sustain the beat down.
Geist is not necessary when you properly use your resources, finding the right balance between committing to the board and saving some gas in case of the board being sweeped.
This is the first thing I'd change in a list with black.
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It just doesn't sinergize (thalia + Company is a nonbo), it would have been a crazy engine otherwise. This is why I think it will require the structure of the deck to be coherent with the effect of the card.
Second game is on and my opponent sides 2-3 Anger of the Gods. Its fourth Turn and I have a Spell Qualler in hand. Shall I play it in the end of his turn to keep the pressure or save it in case of Anger of the God?
Which way is the best way to play?
Well, we'd need some more details here, however: as a general rule I do not overextend my resources into a field threatened by wraths once my clock is at least 3 damages per turn and I'm winning the race. I actually like to hold back spell queller against Anger of the Gods decks because you never know.
Things that might change my mind are the absence of a clock , a faster clock from my opponent that demnds presence on the board, the presnce of a selfless spirit on the battlefield, or abundance of resources in my hand ( a second spell queller or counterspells).
Not yet, just jumped on this configuration of the deck. Some choiches are all but intuitive too, like that of keeping lingering souls mb against midrange when you also want RiP to shut down their clock. They re both very good cards against them but the conflict between the two is real.
Since I've also been playing Esper, I feel like I should give my input, though keep in mind that my list is likely not as optimal, since I'm not running Aether Vial. The sideboard has been pretty tricky for me to refine so far, but you'll probably want the mainstays of Rest in Peace and Stony Silence. I run a pair of each, though you may consider more RiP if you feel it necessary. I run 2 copies of Remorseful Cleric mainboard, so I'm already packing some graveyard hate and don't feel like I need more than 2 more copies of RiP in the board.
Blessed Alliance is still one of my favorite sideboard cards, and I strongly recommend running it. Its versatility makes it good against Infect, Bogles, and Burn, and it can be easily brought in in any matchup where your opponent is likely to attack with only one big creature (I'm thinking it would be solid against Amulet Titan), or any time that life gain is relevant. Likewise, Disdainful Stroke is great for the deck because it can deal with a multitude of threats. It stops all of Tron's win conditions, Collected Company, Primeval Titan, Scapeshift, Bedlam Reveler, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, and Terminus, among other things. Plus, since it's an instant, it doesn't interfere with your plan to play at instant speed.
Another card that seems really powerful is Eidolon of Rhetoric. I found myself wanting to bring it in for many matchups, so I finally went out and grabbed a second copy. Given the prevalence of decks like Izzet Phoenix and Storm that want to play a ton of spells each turn and which are reliant on Lightning Bolt for removal, Eidolon is amazing; it will just completely shut down their game plan, or at least slow it to a crawl while you continue your beatdown. Since you're running Esper, Zealous Persecution could be a consideration. I finally cut it from the main deck, but it's a surprisingly relevant board wipe/anthem effect in many situations. It will kill elves, Bird of Paradise, Noble Hierarch, Snapcaster Mage, Dark Confidant, Young Pyromancer, Inkmoth Nexus, annoying Infect creatures, Dryad Arbor, Bogles, and lingering souls tokens. Plus, it only costs 2 mana and is an instant. I think it definitely merits some consideration.
I also like running Geist of Saint Traft as a 2 of in the sideboard. It's not optimal in a lot of matchups, but you'll likely want some additional pressure against control decks, and Geist can definitely help you there. I thought of running Dovin, Grand Arbiter or another planeswalker, but I decided that it would be too slow to fit with the tempo plan. Lastly, Unmoored Ego is a nice way to cripple combo decks. If you name something like Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle, Living End, or a Tron piece, you can basically win the game on the spot. It is slow though, and combo decks aren't exactly the most popular things right now; even Izzet Phoenix doesn't care that much if you get rid of all their birds, since they still have Thing in the Ice and Young Pyromancer to continue applying pressure.
As a final note, I've come to agree with some of the other people here who've decided that discard spells aren't really what the deck wants, even from the sideboard. I've been running 2 Thoughtseize for a while, and while they can occasionally be useful, they're bad draws late, and generally don't help your game plan enough to be worth the tempo loss. I'm experimenting with Collective Brutality, since it has multiple uses and I've heard positive feedback on it. I'll have to test it and see if it's too slow, since it is at sorcery speed.
I think I've read about one guy here playing with it having his plan centered on defending the enchanted spirit, which makes a lot of sense, but still I'm not sure about this kind of plan.
I can also see a list with the full playset of rattlechains, or an esper list with additional creatures (lingering souls) being a good shell for the single copy of that enchantment to force control to respond and extend into your answers.
I think your statement contradicts itself. Whether Esper is the most viable build or not is, of course, open for debate (though I tend to think it has several advantages over Bant and even U/W), but even if it isn't, it's still certainly playable. I'm not going to pretend that my anecdotal experiences are worth much of anything, but I've personally had a great deal of success running Esper (though it's admittedly a very light splash for lingering souls and fatal push in the mainboard, along with a few tech options out of the sideboard). It's quite powerful and offers far better interaction with many of the other meta decks running around in modern right now.
I believe that is actually the right approach to Esper. The kit of early removals and the power of lingering souls as a top deck are something UW misses. I believe UW sits in between a version trying to hit the gas pedal (Bant), and a version that is good at taking the control role (Esper). But it misses something, there's no real reason to stay in between beside the manabase. It misses another card advantage engine, it's forced to play striclty a tempo game (Thalia isn't part of the successful lists just by chance), but when that tempo-plan fails it's over. It's a worse version at playing both an aggro and a control strategy, given the pool of cards we have right now.
I've been playing UW for two years and now I've splashed my version with black I can see such big upsides that I'm not getting back.
"Once you go black..." they say, you know.
4 mausoleum wanderer
4 rattlechains
2 remorseful cleric
4 selfless spirit
4 supreme phantom
1 bygone bishop
4 spell queller
4 drogskol captain
Spells (11)
4 fatal push
2 path to exile
3 lingering souls
2 ojutai's command
1 cavern of souls
1 creeping tar pit
1 darkslick shores
3 flooded strand
1 godless shrine
1 hallowed fountain
2 island
2 plains
4 polluted delta
2 seachrome coast
1 shambling vent
1 swamp
2 watery grave
2 blessed alliance
3 disdainful stroke
2 rest in peace
2 stony silence
1 zealous persecution
2 eidolon of rhetoric
2 geist of saint traft
1 unmoored ego
The one thing I see in your list is the number of 3 cmc drops, they are 12 + 2 commands, it's exposing you to the risk of opening clunky hands.
Bigone bishop is worse than than Curious Obsession: I can see how obsession is much better in a Vial shell, because you have multiple interactions available and you better exploit the mana advantage, which is fueled by the enchantment, but still it's a good card that wins me games even when I don't have the vial. I find it very important against combo to dig you deck.
I also think Countersquall is one of the best counterspells in modern, in particular in a deck like ours trying to race the opponent. You'll be surprised to see how those two lifes mattered at the end of the race. People love Negate, this is a Negate with upsides.
Your blue sources are fine, also good luck with shambling vents. I haven't tried it yet, but I have paid attention at the games whre I have drawn tar pit and pretended that to be a SV, and I still believe Tar Pit is the kind of land we need. It ignores blockers and races incredibly well, I think it's the kind of utility we want and need in this version.
Persecution in a card I like, once in a while you wipe out your opponent's silly elves and you feel like a bos;, my issue with that is it's no longer a good metagame for it. Mardu pyromancer is gone, and other decks just partially care about that -1 -1 effect, I believe now it's more important to have a coulpe Detention Steves, even more because KCI has transformed into 4c Prison, which is disgusting and demands an answer to their permanents. Looking at your 75s I see no answers to Ensnaring Bridge once it has resolved. This is a bug in your list in my opinion.
As a final suggestion, I'd consider one favourable winds in your mainboard, probably in replacement of one remorseful cleric. You have no vial, which is the best play against control. FW lets you commit less creatures, it encreases your clock by spending less resources, it's hard to remove, and if they do, they are spending a D Sphere to take that away, which lets you respond since it comes at sorcery speed and is also tempo negative for them at the very least.
I dont' know your meta, but let me stress the power of collective brutality (very skill intensive spell to be honest) to keep up with the early developement of the board, or to better interact with your opponent's hand.
Let me know your results.
I did some testing with a copy of Collective Brutality in my board (which is what I have right now) but after testing I ended up dropping it. I know that in the right shell or meta game, it's incredibly powerful, but it just didn't feel that relevant in my list, and I didn't really feel that great whenever I drew it. I think part of that might be because I'm already running so many removal spells that having such a conditional piece of removal doesn't really add much to the list. Of course, it absolutely destroys burn and the hand attack option can be sweet, but I just wasn't very happy with it. Maybe if the meta seems to suit it, I'll put it back in and possibly grab another copy.
I do have quite a few 3 drops, but that's generally where the list tops off, and they're pretty much the core of the deck (I can't cut the captains or quellers for obvious reasons, and I already shaved down 1 lingering souls after finding it to be a poor draw in multiples most of the time). The commands are pretty experimental, and might end up being cut, but I want to test with them for a bit; one of the biggest problems that I've had with the deck is running out of gas late in the game, leaving you at the mercy of top decks.
I'd disagree with your comparison of Bishop and Obsession. Obsession seems amazing in the right shell, but I look at it as an aura enchantment that invites 2 for ones, and a dead draw late in the game. At worst, Bishop is a 2/3 flier with a relevant creature type for the deck, and given that nearly half the cards in my deck are creatures, it converts every single one of those into a source of card draw. Even if the creature gets countered, the clue still spawns and it can start chaining quite easily later on. It's definitely not something I want multiple copies of, since it doesn't interact quite as well as the other spirits in the list, but it seems quite powerful. Of course, I haven't run Bishop in more than a year, but even back then it usually satisfied me with how it performed. If it's not working out, I'll look at exchanging it for something else (like Obsession).
I've seen quite a few lists here running Countersquall, and I understand the attraction. But, I'm not really running any negates right now that I'd like to upgrade to Countersquall, and don't want to run too many counter spells. I like Disdainful Stroke as my counter spell of choice, because it hits everything that my removal/quellers can't interact with: Primeval Titan, Wurmcoil Engine, Teferi, Jace, etc... A negate effect can't hit some of the big, threatening creatures that Stroke can keep off my back.
I'm also generally pretty happy with the mana base, though I'll be happier once I pick up that Darkslick Shores. I'm hoping that Vents will work but I won't feel too bad if I end up cutting it for something else.
I used to run 2x Persecution in my main list, and I finally decided that it wasn't good against the meta there. However, I like having a single copy in the board, because it does hit so many relevant creatures (Dryad Arbor, Glistener Elf, Blighted Agent, Slippery Bogle, Snapcaster Mage, Dark Confidant, most elves, Thalia's Lieutenant, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, Champion of the Parish, Young Pyromancer and its tokens, etc...) If my meta gets to a point where I never want to board it in, it'll get cut, but it still seems functional at the moment.
As for dealing with 4 color prison and Ensnaring Bridge, I must admit that I haven't played against the deck, or any list that's resolved a bridge. I'm curious about arguments for why Deputy of Detention is better than Detention Sphere (outside of a vial package, where the answer is obvious), and what you think of alternatives. I've certainly considered the potential of facing a deck running ensnaring bridge, but I wasn't sure what the most appropriate answer would be. The potential cards I'd thought about were Forsake the Worldly, Echoing Truth, Cast Out, Detention Sphere, and Crush Contraband, as well as the traditional Disenchant or Conclave Tribunal. What are your thoughts about pros/cons on those and the preferred means of attack?
I'm pretty biased, but I'm not a fan of Favorable Winds, or any card that does nothing on its own. I tried putting together a standard deck back when Ixalan came out that featured Favorable Winds and a bunch of efficient fliers, and was not pleased in the slightest with how it performed. I understand the advantages against control, but as far as I can tell, I'd rather play the waiting game against control; eventually, they have to tap out to play something (or to counter an instant speed creature), and that's when you can start pressuring. Winds on the board doesn't do much other than buff Spirit Tokens, obviously creating a faster clock, but if I have creatures that can actually stick for a turn or two, I consider myself in a pretty good position already. Also, my plan for control is pretty much already set: manlands+ GoST out of the board with Disdainful Strokes to keep them off Jace/Teferi/Cryptic Command/Terminus. Again, I'm looking to be rather flexible, and if play shows that FW is worth putting in, I'll certainly test it out, but I'm not too high on it currently.
And, I'll be sure to try recording my results and sharing them here, along with my thoughts. I usually have a hard time remembering specifics from my early matches, but I'll try to take decent notes this time around.
M 1
I was rather confused as to what I was playing when I started this game. I won the die roll and started on the play. While I didn't have a turn 1 Wanderer, I was able to establish a decent sized board. My opponent played a Relentless Dead which was not something I expected to see. I flashed out a Rattlechains during their end step and, not wanting to let them get value, I pushed the zombie during my main phase while they were tapped out before adding a Supreme Phantom to the board and applying pressure. I dropped a Spell Queller on a Phyrexian Obliterator, which felt amazing, then proceeded to push damage through with my fliers and Creeping Tar Pit, getting a win.
Having some idea of what to expect, I dropped 2 Lingering Souls for my RiPs out of the sideboard and we went to G2. My opponent played a Thoughtseize and took a Queller out of my hand, though my grip was pretty stacked. I proceeded to play out a pair of Rattlechains, while my opponent developed a pair of Relentless Dead. He tried to Inquisition of Kozilek me when I was on 4 cards, but I flashed out a Supreme Phantom and pathed one of his creatures, leaving only a pair of basic lands for him to see. He tried racing me with Bloodghast, but he couldn't match the speed of my deck, and my Shambling Vent would have eaten one of his creatures while gaining life regardless.
Apparently, the deck was Mono B Devotion, and my opponent just never got around to being able to resolve Gray Merchant of Asphodel, since I was applying so much pressure. This felt like a great matchup, and I gladly took a 1-0 start.
M 2
Things went downhill from there, however. The next match saw me paired up against a really strange Sultai control deck stacked full of counter spells and removal, with Wilderness Reclamation and Blue Sun's Zenith to keep digging through his deck and grinding me out. I just could not get anything to stick or resolve in either game and ended up getting absolutely crushed. I wonder if I should have mulliganed harder for Rattlechains, Selfless Spirit, or Mausoleum Wanderer, but I'm not convinced that I could have won even with those cards. I'd really love to hear some feedback on suggestions on how to beat this in the future. I don't think that the deck is too powerful by any means, but I just don't really know how to combat it.
M 3 This one hurt a bit. I was up against a humans deck, and their G1 curve was brilliant, with vial on 1, a Kitesail Freebooter taking my Fatal Push, with Noble Hierarch and Reflector Mage to really smash my game plan. I lost G1, but managed to grind out a win in G2, with double Captain and double Supreme Phantom backed by Selfless Spirit to hold off his creatures, while Tar Pit punched in for damage each turn. On game 3, I thought I had a decent start, by pushing a T1 Champion of the Parish and having a decent curve of creatures, but his double reflector mage, mantis rider and Noble Hierarch really let him push me into a corner. To make things even worse, he had a T3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar that I didn't have a way to deal with, meaning my creatures couldn't even come out to block and trade. I managed to get some value via Blessed Alliance from the Board, but it wasn't enough to stop his curve, and he ended up winning.
M 4 I was feeling a bit disappointed after the previous rounds, and pairings ended up being rather awkward due to drops. I ended up playing against a Tron player (who was either 2-1 or 3-0) after being paired up. Game 1 was a disaster, as despite attempting to apply pressure and curve out, I just could not come back from a T4 Tron into Wurmcoil (which I pathed) into Ulamog into a Walking Ballista. I didn't have much of a shot at winning that one, but I knew exactly which cards I was bringing out of the board here. Game 2 I managed to apply quick pressure, and my Stony Silence and Disdainful Strokes kept her threats off the board so that I could crack through for the win. Game 3 ended up being a nail biter. I landed Stony Silence on T2, but she hit natural Tron on 3; fortunately, she didn't have much to do with the mana, playing a walking ballista for 3 and finding All is Dust off of an Ancient Stirrings. I was slightly annoyed, because I had Unmoored Ego in hand, and if I'd been on the play, I could have kept her off Tron for the whole game. Instead, I had to settle for using it to snag the All is Dust, to keep my Silence on the field, and saw that her hand was World Breaker and Sylvan Scrying, both dead cards without green mana. I played pretty conservatively, slowly building my board state and using Disdainful Stroke to counter Ugin. She ended up ghost quartering herself to find a forest, cast the World Breaker (which ate another Stroke after exiling my stony silence), then cracked a chromatic star/sphere to add more green in order to cast the scrying and replace the Tron land. However, she didn't have mana to pump the Ballista, which had to settle for dropping to 1 counter and shooting down my selfless spirit (which was sacrificed in response). I had a Phantom and Remorseful Cleric left, which really pressured her life total and kept her from really going off; she had Oblivion Stone, but decided to cast a Thragtusk in order to stabilize her health. This was where my adjustments really shone, as Ojutai's Command countered the creature and brought my selfless spirit back to the battlefield. I figured she'd slipped up, and she realized it too before asking if we could go back and let her respond to the stack by cracking the O Stone before the selfless spirit hit the field again. Being 1-2 at this point, I was torn because I was happy to take advantage of a misplay by my opponent, but I decided that, since we hadn't actually advanced the game state, I'd allow her to crack the stone and clear the board. However, I was able to dump my hand, which was another Selfless Spirit and a Supreme Phantom, putting her life total to 6. Next turn, she top decked Karn Liberated and tried exiling one of my spirits, which I sacrificed in response, before scrying for a ghost quarter to stop my potential win with Creeping Tar Pit. However, another Supreme Phantom off the top gave me exact lethal, finally ending the game.
Final Record: 2-2; 3rd place
I can't say I'm exactly thrilled by how the deck performed, but I did better than my record would suggest, since I'm pretty sure the decks I lost to ended up placing first and second. I think that the list is amazing against certain decks, but my tempo was too far behind in dealing with humans, and I couldn't deal with their tempo removal (mainly reflector mage). When I hit my lords and low cost creatures, I could contest the board well, but bad or even mediocre draws are ruinous. I still think control is generally a terrible matchup, but I could very well be playing wrongly against control decks. I also think I need to mulligan a bit harder for certain starts, because I'm reluctant to go below 7 if I have a serviceable hand, which often isn't good enough to deal with the nuts draws that you can encounter.
I'm pretty happy with Ojutai's Command though. I only cast it once, and only drew it one other time (against humans, where I didn't live long enough to get use of out it. Maybe it'll get cut, but the advantage it creates is incredible.
Now that I actually have some comparison, I definitely see why vials are so useful, but I'm not sure how to address the other big issue with the deck: its lack of sustainability. Particularly against control, I find myself being ground out of cards far too quickly, leaving me trying to top deck threats while they continue sitting on a heap of cards. The single copy of Bygone Bishop can help with that, but it ended up countered or immediately killed whenever I cast it. I still like the card, but it needs to have support to protect it (either from Captain, Wanderer, or Selfless Spirit).
As a final point, I might be adding vials quicker than I thought. Another player was looking to build Hardened Scales Affinity, and I ended up trading 3 ballistas, two hangar back walkers, and an Eldrazi Temple for a pair of Vials. I also have a $50 discount with my LGS, so I should be able to add at least a third vial that way. The issue now though is figuring out what to cut: I can safely cut one land, but I'm not sure what other cards to drop in the list. I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on that, as well as any other comments!
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Flooded Strand
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Mutavault
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
2 Island
Creatures (32)
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Rattlechains
4 Supreme Phantom
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Spell Queller
3 Selfless Spirit
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Phantasmal Image
2 Remorseful Cleric
2 Deputy of Detention
3 Path to Exile
1 Echoing Truth
4 Aether Vial
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Damping Sphere
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Negate
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Blessed Alliance
First I'd like to start with my thoughts about the deck in general. First and foremost I personally think that UW build is the best Spirit build out there. Its more tribal oriented and much more sideboard viable. It's a perfect example of a Tempo deck with all kinds of tools to beat any kind of archetype out there in the Modern world. Especially the sideboard. My sideboard is tweaked to fight pretty much any deck out there. Be it control, aggro or combo. A few cards in the sideboard can also be substituted according to the local metagame.
Manabase:
20 lands is more than enough that you need to comfortably play the game. A bit overlanding wont harm cause it will allow you to play your creatures and keep some mana for the spells. By the time I write this Iam thinking of mayyybe cutting 1x land for another Path to Exile but Iam not certain about it yet.
Creatures:
Well, here comes the sweetest part. Deputy of Detention is a sick card by itself. A creature with a Detention Sphere effect which can target any card on the battlefield is INSANE! Since I added 2x copies my overall pressure during the game and viability rose immnensly! A MUST HAVE in any creature deck out there. I'am even thinking of addind another copy to the main or sideboard. The card is just to good not to play it.
I also tested with TIthe Takerin the main and my results were not so good with it. First, the guy rarely dies. Usually it gets exiled and I dont get a spirit creature in return. Second,the tax mode during my turn doesnt really effect my opponent. If I drop him turn 2, the opp will just crack the fetch in responce. If I drop it later my opp will have enough lands to play around it. So its pretty much a dead-effect card in most of the game. No synergies what'so'ever.. so I brought back 2x Remorseful Cleric instead the to the main.
As far as Geist of Saint Traft goes, well, this guy is not maindeckable. People put him in the main due to the insane amount for controll decks out there. Now, there is no purpose to have him in the main.. well, unless you have a Tron/Control local meta.
The rest of the creature base is quite similar to other lists. Best spirits in one deck for your opponent to deal with.
Spells:
I used to run 4 copies of Path to Exile but recently I ran into so many articels about how good Echoing Truth was that I decided to run it main and it works incredibly fine. There is no match that this card would be dead in your hand. Its an allaround solution to any threat out there. Of cource, Path to Exile can be crucial from time to time (thats why I am thinking of cutting 1x more land to fit it in) but as I always say - we mostly rely on our creatures not spells
Sideboard:
I dont have much to say about it. Its tweaked vs any deck in Modern. The only thing I am being curious is how to side against Humans. Kira, Great Glass-Spinner may not be enough. I would also like to see another Deputy of Detention and Nebelgast Herald in this match but unfortunatly I dont have any space to spare in my sideboard at the moment. I would like to hear a piece of advice on it from you guys
There are two decks that I think matches against are tough for us
1) Infect
Turn 4 kill is horrible. Very hard to deal with, very hard to counter and almost impossible to block unless they attack us with their lands
2) Elves
These guys spamm a huge amount of elve power to the battlefield as soon as turn 3 and later help themselves out with Collected Company
There isnt much we can do about it. Our only hope is if our opponent's plan for a quick win somehow will be disrupted by a misplay or a bad draw.
Talking about current modern Tier 1-2 - I dont see a deck which can overrun us completly dead here.
UR Phoenix can be tough sometimes but we are pretty much as fast as them.
Amulet Titan? Stop kidding me, this deck is way too slow
Shadow? Well, a resolved Liliana or some kind of mass removal in the main or sideboard can make our life tough but its still winnable.
Tron? Well, even if he hits Tron turn 3 we still have a gap in 1-2 turns to finish him off. It will all depend on your start. If you start slow you lose. Ive been in situations with Tron where Iam leaving him with 1 life left and no option to take it after he resolved Ugin and Karn..
Well, I hope my take on the archetype will be usefull to some.
Anyway, I would like to hear your thoughts about my build, matchups and sideboarding.
Thank you
I have yet to find myself matched against infect, but my primary piece of advice would be to bulk up on Blessed Alliance, preferably at the expense of Kor Firewalker. The former is good to bring in against a variety of decks that attack with one creature as well as burn, and the latter is really only good against burn and maybe storm. Curving wanderer into Thalia into queller is already enough to make life miserable for burn and storm, anyways. On that note, you might want a second Eidolon of Rhetoric as well.
I ended up matched against elves earlier this week. I got destroyed in game one, but I managed to out-race my opponent game two with a pair each of wanderer and supreme, slowing my opponent down with a queller with Shaman of the Pack's name on it as well as a rather ineffective Damping Sphere. Game 3 I won by repeatedly taking his Elvish Archdruids off the table. Definitely very touch-and-go, for sure.
The list I played is the one you see below, which is my usual. Just made a little change, down an Echoing truth, up an Unmoored Ego, because it wins some games single-handedly. The main reason for it is Tron, I want a 3rd piece other than the two stony silences to shut them down. It's true it may come too late,but when thyey hit tron on turn 3 it's over anyways. When they dont, Ego makes them play a fair game. I did like it.
On the other hand, Echoing Truth is good at bouncing bridges and cages for a turn, letting you alpha strike your opponent. Detention Steve comes at the risky cost of being removed. The reason why I like it over Detention Sphere is that it's vialable (I've added an image to prove how good is the instant speed nature of this interaction) and blocks, which makes it awesome against burn in my opinion: it has solved the problem of boarding in cards to deal with ensnaring bridge. Also hitting thing in the ice -resetting their counters -is as much as relevant. It suffers Torpor Orb, and this is a card I'm watching out for when I'm against prison decks, other than that, I prefer gambling on the Torpor Orb scenario( in case I don't get to use Jace as an alternative win con) to leaving out Unmoored Ego, Especially if I am to attend a 20+ people tourney.
To be fair, Ego is also spendable to call bridges and solve the problem in one shot.
So this is my list now :
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Supreme Phantom
4 Spell Queller
4 Drogskol Captain
Spells: 15
4 Aether Vial
1 Curious Obsession
3 Fatal Push
2 Path to Exile
2 Collective Brutality
3 Lingering Souls
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted delta
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
1 godless shrine
2 Seachrome coast
2 Darkslick shore
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest In Peace
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Unmoored Ego
2 Countersquall
1 Unified Will
1 Favorable winds
2 Deputy of Detention
1 Nebelgast Herald
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Opponents were Dredge, Faeries, UR Phoenix, Mono red Phoenix, Mono red Phoenix.
No need to say how much the black splash is paying off.
4 mausoleum wanderer
4 rattlechains
4 selfless spirit
4 supreme phantom
1 bygone bishop
4 spell queller
4 drogskol captain
Spells (14)
4 aether vial
3 fatal push
2 path to exile
3 lingering souls
2 ojutai's command
1 cavern of souls
1 creeping tar pit
1 darkslick shores
4 flooded strand
1 godless shrine
1 hallowed fountain
2 island
2 plains
4 polluted delta
2 seachrome coast
1 swamp
1 watery grave
2 blessed alliance
3 disdainful stroke
2 rest in peace
2 stony silence
1 zealous persecution
2 eidolon of rhetoric
2 geist of saint traft
1 unmoored ego
Alright, so now that vials are actually a thing for me (I'm planning on picking up the other two copies today), this is what my adjusted list is looking like. For the 4 vials coming in, I shaved down my Remorseful Clerics, 1 copy of Fatal Push, and a land (the second Watery Grave). I also decided to take out the copy of shambling vent and replace it with a fourth flooded strand, not because it wasn't good, but just because I'm tired of getting land flooded, and having 8 fetchlands keeps my land count constant while also giving me the ability to thin my deck of other lands. Hopefully having the playset of vials will make my control matchups a bit more winnable, because those have continued to be a nightmare despite my attempts to alleviate the problem.
I'm also looking to potentially make a few slight sideboard changes. Notably, I think swapping Zealous Persecution for a copy of Settle the Wreckage sounds quite good, as it hits the same major targets while being far more useful against the other go-wide strategies in modern (humans, elves, other spirit decks, etc...). If I can actually find copies, I'll also end up trading out Echoing Truth for a Deputy of Detention. Having the deputy as a 2x seems good, but I'm struggling to really find cards I'd be willing to cut for a second copy. Do people have any additional suggestions/recommendations based on these changes, or have alternative/superior adjustments they'd suggest?
Geist is not necessary when you properly use your resources, finding the right balance between committing to the board and saving some gas in case of the board being sweeped.
This is the first thing I'd change in a list with black.