Sup nerds? I have been playtesting and altering this build for a decent amount of time now, I really liked u/deaddrift's deck so I started from there, making minor changes along the way. I am a broke college student and play on a budget without Lili or Bob. I wonder if this deck is trying to do too much? I usually begin with heavy discard, then pack rat or ayli/persecutor depending on the board state. All in all I have found success with this and plan on taking it to Modern FNM next week. Let me know if I messed up on the formating, feel free to comment on the deck.
Thanks for the feedback, I have to say I am impressed with Ayli/Percy. Also Phyrexian Arena is a house in this shell, it wouldn't really work with Bob as you would be taking 4cmc creatures and Sorin to the face!
If you're not playing with fetch lands anyway, maybe you could include Leonin Arbiter or Aven Mindcensor? They have worked well for me in a BW control shell.
I took out 4x Pack Rats from the main deck and replaced them with 2x Ayli, 1x Zealous Persecution and a 3rd Wasteland Strangler.
I've wanted to try Ayli for a long time and I have to say that she has been excellent. She stonewalls so many creatures in the format with her 3 toughness, and Deathtouch means she trades with most anything that doesn't fly. I don't have any Abyssal Persecutor type tricks to abuse with her sac ability, but it has helped get me there a significant number of times by providing a few extra life points. This deck wants the game to go long and Ayli is excellent at facilitating that.
I've been impressed enough with the Wasteland Strangler that I added the 3rd copy. Processing cards from underneath Sculler is just too good to pass up. I will admit that they sometimes disappoint when there is nothing to process, but the good out-weighs the bad, I think.
A couple quick SB notes: I found I was boarding the Pack Rats out in almost every match. I left one in the board to bring in against things like Jund, that feels like enough. I also dropped 2x Fulminator Mage from the board to make way for Celestial Purge. I don't see enough Eldrazi or Tron at my store to worry about LD (not to mention they are probably too-slow against Eldrazi anyway). If I was seeing these decks I would probably put the Fulminators back in and swap some number of my manlands for Tec Edge/Ghost Quarter in the main. I'm trying out the one Relic Warder as another tool against Affinity that also pairs well with Strangler, but I haven't had that match come up yet.
I went 2-1 at my local store last night. I'll type up a report later and post it.
I think that Fiend Hunter could pair nicely with Wasteland Strangler. It does kind of the same thing as Strangler while also feeding the other Stranglers at the same time. Maybe try a 2/2 split?
I think that Fiend Hunter could pair nicely with Wasteland Strangler. It does kind of the same thing as Strangler while also feeding the other Stranglers at the same time. Maybe try a 2/2 split?
I've considered Fiend Hunter, but I'm weary of pushing my curve any higher because of Bob and also how important it is that I'm casting things T1 and T2. I'm running 3 Stranglers right now, maybe I could go 2 Stranglers and try out a single Fiend Hunter.
Here's a report from Tuesday night playing the deck I updated on page 34 of this thread.
Round 1 - Jund
I was paired against my buddy on the deck that I have played far and away the most games against. I know the matchup inside and out and know that I am favoured because these games go long and my manlands and lifegain give me the edge. It also helps to know exactly how he will sideboard.
Game 1: Opponent mills to 5 and I have discard/answers for everything he tries to do as I'm on the play. Not much to see here.I Inquisition a Confidant from his hand turn 1, then I Thoughtseize an ooze and Path his Goyf. Then it's just beats with Spirits and Scullers until he's dead.
Game 2: This was just a war of attrition. I hit his turn 2 Confidant with Darkblast then Scullered him on my turn 2. Turn 3 I cast Wasteland Strangler processing the card under Sculler and killing an Ooze. He forgot about the Darkblast and cast another Confidant, so I dredged it back and killed it. Once we got to topdecks I basically had inevitability between Lingering Souls and Manlands.
Round 2 - Mono Black
I'm familiar with the deck this guy is playing from watching Frank Lepore's stream, but I have never actually played against it
Game 1: I don't remember exactly how this game went except that we traded discard and removal for the first few turns. I focused on getting rid of Nighthawks since I knew Spirits would be my path to victory. I eventually went Sorin->Emblem then Zealous Persecution with 4 spirits on the board to get the kill a turn before Obliterator would have killed me. I couldn't find a Path for it, so I just ate beats. Ayli came in and saved the day a turn before my lethal swing, letting me sac a Strangler and Sculler to gain 4 life and buy me a turn.
Game 2: Couldn't find Paths or Celestial Purge, took big beats from Obliterator. At 1 life it looked like I was going to be able to take the game after assembling a next-turn lethal board with a bunch of spirits and a Sorin emblem while holding a Zealous Persecution. I had enough blocks on the ground to live through his turn and sac to the Obliterator. I made a Gut Shot joke and then he drew Geth's Verdict.
Game 3: I actually blew this one. This was a long and grindy game where I eventually gummed the ground up with Ayli, Kalitas and Shambling Vents and picked him apart with Spirits. We went to turns. Turn 3 I took him to 4 life with 4 spirits on board, feeling confident that I would have him when turn 5 came to me. I was at 10 life and neglected to use my Vault of the Archangel to gain the 4 life from my attack. Turn 4 he drew and slammed a Gray Merchant for 10 exactly and won. If I remembered to Vault, I would have taken the draw.
Round 3 - Goblin Burn
I played against this guy last week and learned that 10 life is not a safe life total, despite what I may have thought previously. I now have nightmares about getting double goblin-bombed
Game 1: I am a luck sack. Stabilized at 2 life and took board control figuring that he would just draw into burn and kill me. He whiffed 3 turns in a row and Shambling Vents pushed me back up to 8 life while I built up Spirits. By the time he drew anything it was too late. I feel like this one was gifted to me, as I usually plan to lose game 1 in this matchup.
I have been on BW Eldrazi Processor but am starting to look ahead to the inevitable upcoming… demise of that deck. My Modern card pool is kind of limited (though not in Orzhov fortunately) so I was all kinds of psyched about the early BFZ processor builds, but then the PT happened. It's too bad that the pushed C cards from Oath are going to kill the cool (and appropriately powered) Processor builds in Modern, but hey, them's the breaks.
I am thinking about trying this out as soon as the Ayli's arrive, any thoughts? Pack Rat--my original reason to get into this build type--consistently felt weak and it got sided out a lot. It was great about one game in seven or eight that I played it, but more often it felt slow, underpowered, and vulnerable. I especially didn't like how a single kill spell nerfed the whole horde. However, it did help with late game dead draws, and I think without it the 1 CMC discard spells have to get cut lower than previously, because they are such a terrible late-game topdeck. I also really liked Percy (a "man's card," as I once heard him described), so I'm gonna try him as a one-of for a while.
Will post up when I try it out but it may be a while. Looking at Kalitas, I wonder if there is practical synergy with Gravecrawler. I also never thought about the Madness mechanic with Pack Rat. (I really wanna like Pack Rat.) Got a few Big Game Hunters on the way just in case that ability picks up steam.
[EDIT]: Just found out that Leyline is a nonbo with Kalitas because the opponent gets to choose which exile effect occurs. Rest in Peace would work the same way. So I will play the above list with 3 Relic of Progenitus instead of the Leylines, as my SB graveyard hate. I might also replace 1-2 Path to Exile with Dismembers, especially if I try Kalitas as a 3-of, as I am thinking I may do.
The biggest problem with this deck, for me, was that it lacked enough threats for how much life we lost with our lands and bob. This was about a year ago and a lot of new stuff has been printed since then. The wasteland strangler / tidehollow seems good if it hits, but is too fragile for just a plain 3/2 beater for 3 mana. Tidehollow died (for me) when kolaghan's command became so popular. Thought-knot seer is amazing and I am definatly thinking about having it as a finisher, but a lot of people are running Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet mainboard. Has anybody tried out something like this:
Confidant, Thoughtseize, fetches and shocks are bad for the life total, for sure. Shambling Vent helps, as do Kalitas, Sorin III, and Vault of the Archangel. I actually think Auriok Champion is pretty good in this build; I am liking my one-of a lot in testing.
I am thinking that maybe Kalitas synergizes well with Sorins II and III and Bloodghast in a midrange shell. Auriok Champion is very good with token makers and free graveyard recurrence. Sculler and Strangler are actually hitting a lot for me in my testing and I would kind of hate to see them go, especially since Sculler is great fodder for Kalitas if it missed when cast, or after Strangler has processed its target. Strangler is unusual because it hits Etched Champion and also dodges Apostle's Blessing.
Maybe Liliana, as good as she is, could be better replaced by more creatures to keep the direct pressure on, going less control and more aggro. Just spitballing here, but what about:
This could be too many 4-drops for Bob, though lifegain options are up a lot here. Elspeth is amazing with Vent, as has been mentioned on this thread before, and she would also obviously kill it with Kalitas, and with Sorin II's tokens, which have lifelink but not flying.
The mana base is stretched with the demanding BW, BB, and WW needs. Urborg would help a little with this, and also allows saving a fetch aside for Bloodghast as needed.
In play testing, I don't like the nonbo between Path and Kalitas. If the lifegain options are strong enough and Kalitas becomes a major driver in this build, maybe Dismember becomes a better play all around. Victim of Night has been dead for me a few times now that Kalitas is a thing, and I think that may need to go as well.
I agree with all the things deaddrift said about Strangler/Sculler. At this point I wouldn't give them up. Going turn 1 Inquisition, Turn 2 Sculler, Turn 3 Strangler is good enough that I don't mind the games where it doesn't pan out that way and your Sculler bites the dust early or you have nothing to process in the early turns. In those cases your Sculler still absorbed a removal spell that could have gone somewhere else, and by the mid to late game there is almost always something to process for Strangler thanks to Path/Kalitas/Other Scullers.
He's also right that against Affinity Strangler saves you from opposing Etched Champions quite well, both as a blocker and with his ability. This is the same reason I run 3 Mutavault in my deck.
herfs, that creature base looks interesting, and very similar to what I look like post-board in a lot of matchups. I guess it comes down to what you want to be doing with the deck. That collection of guys gives you more creature based pressure at the cost of discard. I have found the deck at its best when you are starving the opponent out of resources and then taking over the game with Manlands/Tokens/Sorin when you pull ahead.
I think of it a bit like a slower Jund, but with many more ways to gain back the life we lose to Bob/Shocks/Fetches. Maindeck I run 4 Shambling Vent, 2 Ayli, 2 Kalitas, Vault of the Archangel, and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. Unless I'm playing burn, sitting at something around 4 life (or lower, if they're not on bolt) doesn't phase me. Eventually when we're both on topdecks my life will tick up while theirs ticks down. That kind of game favours us.
Thinking about running Sculler alongside Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim with the idea of saccing it in response to the ETB trigger for permanent exile. I'll report back.
Well to be honest, I have to credit MTGS user kevinsera for this idea. He suggested it to me a day or two ago.
We were both on the BW Eldrazi Processor midrange train, and met on that thread in January, but we both gave it up after the OGW Pro Tour debacle. I kinda feel like nobody I really want to play with or against is actually playing the current Eldrazi builds. Those decks feel like they have no integrity, because they are so obviously broken. It's not who I want to be as a Magic player. But if Wizards were to sanction Mimic, TKS, and Reality Smasher, instead of the mana base, I would seriously consider going back to the deck. It was a fun and powerful, but not overpowered, build.
! went 3-1-1 today at FNM modern, losing 2-0 to a Grixis Midrange deck with no counters (!!!), tied RG Tron 1-1-1, and beating Dredgevine, Affinity, and UG Infect, all 2-1. All five 45 minute matches went to turns.
I have not been getting value out of Kalitas. My Grixis opponent sure did, but I do not have enough removal (nor with Path do I have the right kind of removal), to make him shine. Without a heavy buy-in to targeted kill spells I do not think he is the right answer for this build, at least in the current angle I have been pursuing. I played him as a 2-of tonight and have been testing on cockatrice as a 3-of for a few days.
I think there may be a heavy removal build that makes Kalitas work. I also think there may be a heavy removal/Ayli/Abyssal Persecutoer build that might work. There may be a heavy discard build with Lili, Pack Rat, and maybe Madness cards that could work. I do not think I've quite hit upon it yet.
3-1 last night in a field of ~40. Went 2-0 in each of my first three matches, against a Temur midrange homebrew and two UG Infect decks. (Wow, is Infect an easy matchup for this build. Affinity too.) Lost 1-2 to a WURb Kiki/Resto build, misplayed and tapped out G2 and then drew badly all game G3 and lost to his P&KN and Souls tokens.
I wasn't sold on Kalitas and went back to a Persecutor build for a second go 'round. Here is the deck I played:
I would have won the last match if I hadn't tapped out in G2, allowing the combo; and then I lost to his tokens in G3. I am going to drop one Victim of Night for one Zealous Persecution main to help with tokens, Bob, Pyromancer, and the like.
I sure do love me some Abyssal Persecutor. That card is a house, and now with Ayli we have more ways to get rid of him, including for lifegain in response to an opponent's removal. Sea Gate Wreckage drew me several cards last night and is definitely staying unless I make some other major changes. With seven other C lands it seems likely to be reasonably reliable in the late game, when I want it.
Anguished Unmaking (Instant, 1BW exile target nonland permanant, you loose 3 life). I guess this is the vindicate for modern, it is much better than utter end. I am excited to try it out.
I think that it is great for our deck to get rid of random cards and will probably run 2 of them. The hardest decision is which art do I like better?
Heavy discard in the main deck and plenty of token producers to keep them from going too wide sounds fair.
Draft My Cube!
2x Grafted Wargear
Land(24):
4x Godless Shrine
2x Polluted Delta
4x Isolated Chapel
2x Plains
2x Shambling Vent
2x Ghost Quarter
7x Swamp
1x Vault of the Archangel
Planeswalker(1):
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrem
4x Pack Rat
Enchantment (3):
3x Phyrexian Arena
Instant (9):
1x Dismember
4x Go for the Throat
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (11):
3x Despise
4x Duress
4x Lingering Souls
1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2x Languish
2x Celestial Purge
2x Kataki, War's Wage
2x Kor Firewalker
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Mirran Crusader
2x Timely Reinforcements
Draft My Cube!
4x Godless Shrine
4x Marsh Flats
3x Mutavault
2x Plains
4x Shambling Vent
3x Swamp
1x Vault of the Archangel
2x Verdant Catacombs
1x Bloodstained Mire
Planeswalker(1):
1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Creature(15):
4x Dark Confidant
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2x Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
4x Tidehollow Sculler
3x Wasteland Strangler
1x Darkblast
1x Zealous Persecution
1x Doom Blade
4x Path to Exile
1x Slaughter Pact
Sorcery (12)
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Lingering Souls
4x Thoughtseize
1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2x Kitchen Finks
3x Kor Firewalker
3x Stony Silence
2x Zealous Persecution
2x Celestial Purge
1x Leonin Relic Warder
1x Pack Rat
I took out 4x Pack Rats from the main deck and replaced them with 2x Ayli, 1x Zealous Persecution and a 3rd Wasteland Strangler.
I've wanted to try Ayli for a long time and I have to say that she has been excellent. She stonewalls so many creatures in the format with her 3 toughness, and Deathtouch means she trades with most anything that doesn't fly. I don't have any Abyssal Persecutor type tricks to abuse with her sac ability, but it has helped get me there a significant number of times by providing a few extra life points. This deck wants the game to go long and Ayli is excellent at facilitating that.
I've been impressed enough with the Wasteland Strangler that I added the 3rd copy. Processing cards from underneath Sculler is just too good to pass up. I will admit that they sometimes disappoint when there is nothing to process, but the good out-weighs the bad, I think.
A couple quick SB notes: I found I was boarding the Pack Rats out in almost every match. I left one in the board to bring in against things like Jund, that feels like enough. I also dropped 2x Fulminator Mage from the board to make way for Celestial Purge. I don't see enough Eldrazi or Tron at my store to worry about LD (not to mention they are probably too-slow against Eldrazi anyway). If I was seeing these decks I would probably put the Fulminators back in and swap some number of my manlands for Tec Edge/Ghost Quarter in the main. I'm trying out the one Relic Warder as another tool against Affinity that also pairs well with Strangler, but I haven't had that match come up yet.
I went 2-1 at my local store last night. I'll type up a report later and post it.
I've considered Fiend Hunter, but I'm weary of pushing my curve any higher because of Bob and also how important it is that I'm casting things T1 and T2. I'm running 3 Stranglers right now, maybe I could go 2 Stranglers and try out a single Fiend Hunter.
Round 1 - Jund
I was paired against my buddy on the deck that I have played far and away the most games against. I know the matchup inside and out and know that I am favoured because these games go long and my manlands and lifegain give me the edge. It also helps to know exactly how he will sideboard.
Game 1: Opponent mills to 5 and I have discard/answers for everything he tries to do as I'm on the play. Not much to see here.I Inquisition a Confidant from his hand turn 1, then I Thoughtseize an ooze and Path his Goyf. Then it's just beats with Spirits and Scullers until he's dead.
Board out: 4x Thoughtseize, 4x Inquisition
Board In: 2x Kitchen Finks, 1x Pack Rat, 2x Celestial Purge, 1x Blood Baron, 2x Zealous Persecution
Game 2: This was just a war of attrition. I hit his turn 2 Confidant with Darkblast then Scullered him on my turn 2. Turn 3 I cast Wasteland Strangler processing the card under Sculler and killing an Ooze. He forgot about the Darkblast and cast another Confidant, so I dredged it back and killed it. Once we got to topdecks I basically had inevitability between Lingering Souls and Manlands.
Round 2 - Mono Black
I'm familiar with the deck this guy is playing from watching Frank Lepore's stream, but I have never actually played against it
Game 1: I don't remember exactly how this game went except that we traded discard and removal for the first few turns. I focused on getting rid of Nighthawks since I knew Spirits would be my path to victory. I eventually went Sorin->Emblem then Zealous Persecution with 4 spirits on the board to get the kill a turn before Obliterator would have killed me. I couldn't find a Path for it, so I just ate beats. Ayli came in and saved the day a turn before my lethal swing, letting me sac a Strangler and Sculler to gain 4 life and buy me a turn.
Board out 1x Doomblade, 1x Slaughter Pact, 1x Darkblast, 4x Inquisition
Board in 2x Kitchen Finks, 2x Celestial Purge, 2x Zealous Persecution, 1x Blood Baron
Game 2: Couldn't find Paths or Celestial Purge, took big beats from Obliterator. At 1 life it looked like I was going to be able to take the game after assembling a next-turn lethal board with a bunch of spirits and a Sorin emblem while holding a Zealous Persecution. I had enough blocks on the ground to live through his turn and sac to the Obliterator. I made a Gut Shot joke and then he drew Geth's Verdict.
Game 3: I actually blew this one. This was a long and grindy game where I eventually gummed the ground up with Ayli, Kalitas and Shambling Vents and picked him apart with Spirits. We went to turns. Turn 3 I took him to 4 life with 4 spirits on board, feeling confident that I would have him when turn 5 came to me. I was at 10 life and neglected to use my Vault of the Archangel to gain the 4 life from my attack. Turn 4 he drew and slammed a Gray Merchant for 10 exactly and won. If I remembered to Vault, I would have taken the draw.
Round 3 - Goblin Burn
I played against this guy last week and learned that 10 life is not a safe life total, despite what I may have thought previously. I now have nightmares about getting double goblin-bombed
Game 1: I am a luck sack. Stabilized at 2 life and took board control figuring that he would just draw into burn and kill me. He whiffed 3 turns in a row and Shambling Vents pushed me back up to 8 life while I built up Spirits. By the time he drew anything it was too late. I feel like this one was gifted to me, as I usually plan to lose game 1 in this matchup.
Board out: 4x Inquisition, 4x Thoughtseize, 1x Slaughter Pact
Bord in: 3x Kor Firewalker, 2x Kitchen Finks, 2x Zealous Persecution, 2x Celestial Purge
Game 2: I snap-keep a hand with 2 Kor Firewalker and two white sources. He never stands a chance.
I have been on BW Eldrazi Processor but am starting to look ahead to the inevitable upcoming… demise of that deck. My Modern card pool is kind of limited (though not in Orzhov fortunately) so I was all kinds of psyched about the early BFZ processor builds, but then the PT happened. It's too bad that the pushed C cards from Oath are going to kill the cool (and appropriately powered) Processor builds in Modern, but hey, them's the breaks.
I am thinking about trying this out as soon as the Ayli's arrive, any thoughts? Pack Rat--my original reason to get into this build type--consistently felt weak and it got sided out a lot. It was great about one game in seven or eight that I played it, but more often it felt slow, underpowered, and vulnerable. I especially didn't like how a single kill spell nerfed the whole horde. However, it did help with late game dead draws, and I think without it the 1 CMC discard spells have to get cut lower than previously, because they are such a terrible late-game topdeck. I also really liked Percy (a "man's card," as I once heard him described), so I'm gonna try him as a one-of for a while.
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Fetid Heath
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Plains
3 Swamp
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
4 Shambling Vent
Creature (15)
1 Auriok Champion
1 Abyssal Persecutor
1 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Dark Confidant
2 Go for the Throat
2 Victim of Night
4 Path to Exile
Sorcery (9)
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Lingering Souls
Planeswalker (4)
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Damnation
2 Disenchant
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Pithing Needle
2 Spellskite
2 Stony Silence
3 Leyline of the Void
[EDIT]: Just found out that Leyline is a nonbo with Kalitas because the opponent gets to choose which exile effect occurs. Rest in Peace would work the same way. So I will play the above list with 3 Relic of Progenitus instead of the Leylines, as my SB graveyard hate. I might also replace 1-2 Path to Exile with Dismembers, especially if I try Kalitas as a 3-of, as I am thinking I may do.
Creature Base
CBW midrange deck
CBW eldrazi processor deck
CBW bw eldrazi shadow midrange
I am thinking that maybe Kalitas synergizes well with Sorins II and III and Bloodghast in a midrange shell. Auriok Champion is very good with token makers and free graveyard recurrence. Sculler and Strangler are actually hitting a lot for me in my testing and I would kind of hate to see them go, especially since Sculler is great fodder for Kalitas if it missed when cast, or after Strangler has processed its target. Strangler is unusual because it hits Etched Champion and also dodges Apostle's Blessing.
Maybe Liliana, as good as she is, could be better replaced by more creatures to keep the direct pressure on, going less control and more aggro. Just spitballing here, but what about:
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
4 Shambling Vent
2 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Fetid Heath
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
4 Dark Confidant
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
2 Auriok Champion
2 Bloodghast
Planeswalkers (3):
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
Instant (7):
3 Path to Exile
2 Go for the Throat
2 Dismember
The mana base is stretched with the demanding BW, BB, and WW needs. Urborg would help a little with this, and also allows saving a fetch aside for Bloodghast as needed.
In play testing, I don't like the nonbo between Path and Kalitas. If the lifegain options are strong enough and Kalitas becomes a major driver in this build, maybe Dismember becomes a better play all around. Victim of Night has been dead for me a few times now that Kalitas is a thing, and I think that may need to go as well.
He's also right that against Affinity Strangler saves you from opposing Etched Champions quite well, both as a blocker and with his ability. This is the same reason I run 3 Mutavault in my deck.
herfs, that creature base looks interesting, and very similar to what I look like post-board in a lot of matchups. I guess it comes down to what you want to be doing with the deck. That collection of guys gives you more creature based pressure at the cost of discard. I have found the deck at its best when you are starving the opponent out of resources and then taking over the game with Manlands/Tokens/Sorin when you pull ahead.
I think of it a bit like a slower Jund, but with many more ways to gain back the life we lose to Bob/Shocks/Fetches. Maindeck I run 4 Shambling Vent, 2 Ayli, 2 Kalitas, Vault of the Archangel, and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad. Unless I'm playing burn, sitting at something around 4 life (or lower, if they're not on bolt) doesn't phase me. Eventually when we're both on topdecks my life will tick up while theirs ticks down. That kind of game favours us.
We were both on the BW Eldrazi Processor midrange train, and met on that thread in January, but we both gave it up after the OGW Pro Tour debacle. I kinda feel like nobody I really want to play with or against is actually playing the current Eldrazi builds. Those decks feel like they have no integrity, because they are so obviously broken. It's not who I want to be as a Magic player. But if Wizards were to sanction Mimic, TKS, and Reality Smasher, instead of the mana base, I would seriously consider going back to the deck. It was a fun and powerful, but not overpowered, build.
! went 3-1-1 today at FNM modern, losing 2-0 to a Grixis Midrange deck with no counters (!!!), tied RG Tron 1-1-1, and beating Dredgevine, Affinity, and UG Infect, all 2-1. All five 45 minute matches went to turns.
I have not been getting value out of Kalitas. My Grixis opponent sure did, but I do not have enough removal (nor with Path do I have the right kind of removal), to make him shine. Without a heavy buy-in to targeted kill spells I do not think he is the right answer for this build, at least in the current angle I have been pursuing. I played him as a 2-of tonight and have been testing on cockatrice as a 3-of for a few days.
I think there may be a heavy removal build that makes Kalitas work. I also think there may be a heavy removal/Ayli/Abyssal Persecutoer build that might work. There may be a heavy discard build with Lili, Pack Rat, and maybe Madness cards that could work. I do not think I've quite hit upon it yet.
I wasn't sold on Kalitas and went back to a Persecutor build for a second go 'round. Here is the deck I played:
4 Marsh Flats
4 Godless Shrine
3 Ghost Quarter
3 Shambling Vent
2 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Fetid Heath
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
Creatures (15)
3 Abyssal Persecutor
3 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Auriok Champion
2 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
2 Dark Confidant
2 Wasteland Strangler
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Sorceries (9)
4 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
Instants (7)
4 Path to Exile
2 Victim of Night
1 Go for the Throat
Enchantment (1)
1 Oblivion RIng
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Damnation
2 Disenchant
2 Stony Silence
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Ratchet Bomb
I sure do love me some Abyssal Persecutor. That card is a house, and now with Ayli we have more ways to get rid of him, including for lifegain in response to an opponent's removal. Sea Gate Wreckage drew me several cards last night and is definitely staying unless I make some other major changes. With seven other C lands it seems likely to be reasonably reliable in the late game, when I want it.
I think that it is great for our deck to get rid of random cards and will probably run 2 of them. The hardest decision is which art do I like better?
CBW midrange deck
CBW eldrazi processor deck
CBW bw eldrazi shadow midrange