MTG Salvation

I have been running Pridemage and Scooze in the main. They're both so good against a lot of decks out there. I agree that the problem is that thopter-sword is usually going to be played in a control shell, so the combination of removal, board wipes and counters can keep us from comboing a lot of the time. The life and tokens start to matter a lot more when we are forced to go on the beatdown plan. I wish I could find the space for a couple of Voices in the main, even though they're very hit or miss sometimes, they help a lot against control in general.

If thopters are an issue you may want to main rec sage over pridemage. Rec sage will represent more damage (and card advantage) than pridemage in that matchup.

Voice of Resurgence, while good against verdict is miserable against path to exile, which those decks will be running (and snaps too). I wouldn't try to bank on voices to win you beat down matches against thopter decks.

I think what he means is that you actually have to sacrifice the Pridemage to destroy a Thopter Foundry, while the Rec Sage effect is ETB.

Rec sage provides card advantage, which is good against control decks. Most importantly it provides a clock (sometimes can be a 4-turn clock with this deck's hierarchs and townships). 2 power bodies do a lot of work in modern attrition matchups.

Remember that we're talking about a singleton. You need to assume you'll chord for it more often than you'll draw it and play it. If you're just running out pridemage you also expose it to removal, so I would take that into account as well--having your pridemage get pathed when there're no targets is pretty poor.

It's not really all that flexible at hitting instant speed targets because it's clearly telegraphed; people just play around it.

If Thopters are a serious threat I'd probably prefer mainboarding rec sage and sideboarding pridemage.

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how would thrun perform in this blue heavy meta?

Bad beats last Friday. I resolved the combo and went to 420 life vs. UW Thopters to be stylish, and then he topdecked a Path. He actually managed to beat me down in the turns he had. Next time I'm going to 420 million

My default is 8 Billion each time I need to go through it to Scry.

Quote from Mewcus »

how would thrun perform in this blue heavy meta?

Thrun seems like a fine 1-of if you're getting a lot of counterspells. He still dies to wrath, but you can witness him back in long games.

Dauntless escort is usually my priority vs. verdict decks.

After a bit of post-ban playtesting, this is what I will be running this week:


I was a big fan of Thune-Feeder in the eldrazi meta. Most Eldrazi decks didn't have a lot of removal and blew it trying to stop the Melira combo, so the second combo was actually relevant then. The Archangel itself was also very, very good against Eldrazi and BGx, allowing you to fly over their threats and gain some life back. I really liked having a game ending threat available to fight BGx (especially Jund), and the Sigarda seems even better at it, being pratically unremovable once she's on the field. It's quite a bit better against control too (it can still get countered or wiped but so can the Angel).

I also went back to a 2/2 split on Path and Decay on the side (previously 3/1). Without Eldrazi in the format, Path loses bit of efficiency, and Decay is just so versatile, and might be really useful if Thopter Sword becomes a thing.

Even though I'd hoped to find a spot for a couple of Voice of Resurgence in the main, I feel like keeping the main deck focused on the combo is still the best plan, since a fast combo G1 is essentially the only way to beat some of the fast combo decks (Ad Nauseam, Storm, etc). Voice is great against BGx and control, but it's just useless against a good part of the field (Affinity, Burn, Infect, previously mentioned fast combo), so I'm keeping them all on the side, for now.

What are you all running?

After some testing, I find that what you really want to do vs. the UWx Gifts-type decks is to have six mana available and Chord in your hand. They run several combos:

1) Mindslaver lock: Academy Ruins + Mindslaver + 12 mana. This is the most dangerous combo they run. Sac the Slaver, put it on your library with Ruins, and then play it and sac it again. To get tons of mana, they run Urzatron. This combo is the most dangerous because it can win through infinite life by eventually decking us. If they do this, you can stop it at instant speed by Chording for a Scooze in response to the Mindslaver sac trigger and exiling the Mindslaver. Fulminator is less good since they run Crucible of Worlds.

2) ThopterSword: This is a non-infinite combo that I'm sure you've heard of. Scooze is still the best card here, but you'll need more green mana than they have artifacts to really disrupt it. When they sac Sword, remove it for G, they'll sac another artifact in response, so remove it for G again, etc. You can also grab Phyrexian Revoker but he will get removed. Try to wait until you can play Scooze with mana to spare: the Revoker can probably buy you a few turns.

3) Big critter + Unburial Rites: You can Gifts for up to four cards. If you Gifts for two, both will end up in the yard. You can Chord up the Scooze and eat the creature they target with Rites to stop this. They will probably go Elesh Norn vs. us.

The deck doesn't really apply pressure, but it can tutor up boardwipes, so factor that into your game plan.

Quote from weirdfish42 »

After a bit of post-ban playtesting, this is what I will be running this week:

TheBullwark's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
2x Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit 4x Birds of Paradise 3x Eternal Witness 1x Fiend Hunter 4x Kitchen Finks 2x Melira, Sylvok Outcast 1x Murderous Redcap 3x Noble Hierarch 1x Qasali Pridemage 1x Scavenging Ooze 2x Spellskite 3x Viscera Seer 2x Wall of Roots	2x Forest 3x Gavony Township 1x Godless Shrine 2x Overgrown Tomb 1x Plains 3x Razorverge Thicket 1x Swamp 2x Temple Garden 4x Verdant Catacombs 4x Windswept Heath 4x Chord of Calling 4x Collected Company	Sideboard 2x Abrupt Decay 1x Burrenton Forge-Tender 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric 1x Kataki, War's Wage 1x Orzhov Pontiff 2x Path to Exile 1x Phyrexian Revoker 1x Reclamation Sage 1x Sigarda, Host of Herons 1x Sin Collector 3x Voice of Resurgence

I was a big fan of Thune-Feeder in the eldrazi meta. Most Eldrazi decks didn't have a lot of removal and blew it trying to stop the Melira combo, so the second combo was actually relevant then. The Archangel itself was also very, very good against Eldrazi and BGx, allowing you to fly over their threats and gain some life back. I really liked having a game ending threat available to fight BGx (especially Jund), and the Sigarda seems even better at it, being pratically unremovable once she's on the field. It's quite a bit better against control too (it can still get countered or wiped but so can the Angel).

I also went back to a 2/2 split on Path and Decay on the side (previously 3/1). Without Eldrazi in the format, Path loses bit of efficiency, and Decay is just so versatile, and might be really useful if Thopter Sword becomes a thing.

Even though I'd hoped to find a spot for a couple of Voice of Resurgence in the main, I feel like keeping the main deck focused on the combo is still the best plan, since a fast combo G1 is essentially the only way to beat some of the fast combo decks (Ad Nauseam, Storm, etc). Voice is great against BGx and control, but it's just useless against a good part of the field (Affinity, Burn, Infect, previously mentioned fast combo), so I'm keeping them all on the side, for now.

What are you all running?

I think the archangel/feeder combo is still relevant. Kalitas has leaked out of jund and wormed his way into any creature based deck that has black and scooze is a viable main board option in a tons of decks. Not to mention relic of progenitus and rest in peace. It's actually kinda surprising how much of the field runs graveyard hate considering how many decks rely on graveyards to operate, so its always good to give yourself options. I definitely agree that I am on the fence about the voices though, but I am definitely expecting an uptick in counter control and have even added a grand abolisher to the side board

Quote from Richard Arschmann »

Bad beats last Friday. I resolved the combo and went to 420 life vs. UW Thopters to be stylish, and then he topdecked a Path. He actually managed to beat me down in the turns he had. Next time I'm going to 420 million

does anyone have tips for playing this deck online? because you can't go "infinite" and this has happened to me before.

Anyone that used Dauntless Escort, did it work as intended or is it not reliable enough to have in time for Verdict, Wrath?

I run one main and it's a beast. Stops so much. Does beats and enables some awesome blocking that otherwise you might lose out on

I actually agree, they aren't bad. I wouldn't take them out if I ran them maindeck, but I wouldn't put them in from the side either.

I always board in escort vs verdict decks and it does as intended -- either I run it out and beat down forcing them to deal with it, or threaten to chord it in response to verdict which requires them to plays around it. Its ability to protect itself from path and come back with witness is pretty clutch for a long game.

Any creature you try to slot in needs to answer the question: What do I do that is better than more eternal witnesses and/or spellskites?

Knight is generally going to be worse than an eternal witness G1 and often G2.

Quote from Avanost »

Hi everyone! Im new ot the deck and i wanted to ask you about some doubts i had while testing this beauty:
First of all, i know that Voice of resurgence is exceptionally good on paper but i also feel like he is much better in matchups we already are more likely to win, and sometimes it is kinda lackluster.
I already read that some of you dropped it from the maindeck entirely, and i wanted to try this out too.
I eventually came up adding a Scooze a knight of the reliquiary and im pretty impressed by the latter! She ramps,fixes mana, gets Townships, thins our deck by a LOT when searching for a fetch while becoming huge at the same time. I think she could be even better then voice in grindy matchups and way less situational. What do you think about her?
Or maybe we could add a mirran crusader?
Do we have other options that can compete for the beater spot or is the beater spot a mistake on its own, since we grow even birds up so much that they become a threat?

Maybe Knight of Reliquary can also, bring out Boseiju in counterspell land.