DeathandCatmix, I gotta say Magus of the Moat is an absolute house from the SB. Love that tech. I'm running 3 in the SB and roflstomping merfolk, allies, kiki chord/Creature toolbox variants. Helped me win a lot of matches I had zero business winning in the modern leagues. Gone 4-1 a few times now hoping to get a 5-0 finish soon.
LOL! Yea there is just too many times where they are stopped dead in their tracks to a 0/3. Having two never seems like enough ( I don't seem to draw them consistently after boarding) and you are tempting me to run the 3rd now! I really appreciate you testing some cards I suggest. I know its not easy to see these kooky cards and take them serious but I appreciate you giving me a chance and also helping validate my experience with this area of deck development! I really hope you get that 5-0!
@Jonathanveedot I am totally on board with Eternal Witness! Its literally the equivalent to Snapcaster in green. I've been working on so many variations of Death and Taxes and I have a list based on abusing the looping value of E Wit. I'm not going to post it for multiple reasons but I will once I have some validity behind it. Also, if you are running my list in the tags, I highly recommend you run the Lingering Taxes list. The Death and Taxes list needs work and curving consideration.
@Everyone Here goes a list I can recommend! I've been sad that I hadn't prepared a red splash for debate in some time and decided to get on that! I think red is very close to being formidable in the format. Blood mooning the opponent is pretty good it turns out!
Any reason for Sunlance in sideboard instead of Lightning Bolt if you are running a W/R list? 6 ways to get red mana, or 10 if you count flagstones, seems enough to use bolts in sideboard over sunlance.
Hi everyone!
Long-time lurker, first-time poster here!
*Warning - Wall of Text*
I've been playing D&T for quite a while, toying around with green and black splashes to some extent, but always found my way back to the mono-white iteration. Although, that might have something to do with my personal intrinsic appreciation for a smooth single-color deck.
This forum has always been great - very supportive of new players and new ideas. As I've been lurking around, reading all the discussion, new tech, and theories (while still tinkering with my own builds and trying my darnd-est to be innovative myself), one of my favorite things to read are the tournament reports. I love reading how the games play out, where certain cards shine, and others lose their glimmer depending on the matchup. So, I thought what better way for me to finally get in on the discussion than to contribute the best way I know how - an LGS tourney report. It was a simple four rounds a couple days ago, so I apologize in advance if my details are a little fuzzy. Also, since this is my first post, it includes some general theories/discussion points for the archetype overall. Here's what I sleeved up:
The metagame was totally unknown. I life constraints have kept me from getting to tourneys as much as I want to, so I tried to be prepared for anything. Before the actual report a couple comments on card choices and misc notes.
2x Spellskite maindeck - It's modern's version of Mother of Runes.I forget where I read it, but it's something that has caused me to put these main deck ever since, and I've very rarely been upset with that decision. So many wonderful interactions that mess with the opponent's business.
2x Eldrazi Displacer - I picked these up as singles right before the matches, and it was an amazing investment. We all love Flickerwisp and it's lovely intricacies, and this does them, too. At instant speed. All the time. You'll see in the report why I think people might want to do some testing of their own with this guy.
3x Icatian Javelineers - Ah, the infamous flex 1-drop slot. I've tried Judge's Familiar, Dryad Militant, and Student of Warfare. I've even gotten so desperate as to try Herald of Anafenza. So much as I try, the 1-drop slot has never really felt fulfilling. I will continue to search Gatherer and test until I'm fully satisfied. Hopefully one day. I chose these guys, because they're good utility on board that can shoot Birds, Hierarchs, a large number of robots, and even more recently some mimics.
2x Quicksand - Please don't judge me. I usually try to add a little bit of experimentation in each iteration I actually play. My thoughts were to hit a number of ground swingers or at the very least mess up some combat math on bigger fellas.
1x Dismsmber - Finally, I like playing a fifth removal spell. In the past, this has sometimes been a Sunlance, lately I need to take out bigger and badder things. The other consideration I've been mulling over has been Valorous Stance, especially lately with the menace running around.
Report:
Again I apologize where details are fuzzy, but I tried to keep a little record of games as a whole, and where certain interactions or cards shined, or turned more lack-luster.
Round 1 vs Matt (Lantern Control)
G1:
I can't remember the beginnings but I was able to get him down to low life before he played out two Ensnaring Bridge. I had a large board, with an Eldrazi Displacer and Flickerwisp, but no colorless land to activate. On my turn, with the top of my deck revealed, and it not being good, I opt to [cardPath to Exile]Path[/card] my own guy to reset the top and hope for something good and get a Ghost Quarter. I play it and pass. During his next end step, I displace my Flickerwisp, getting rid of one Bridge, then during my pre-combat main, do it again to get rid of the other, and attack for lethal. Eldrazi Displacer already pulling it's weight.
G2:
I mull to six, keep the scry. My opponent plays turn 1 Codex Shredder and mill my scry. I hate it, but I love it - that was slick. I attack a couple times, but he gets going faster than the last game and mills me out.
G3:
Turn 2 Chalice set to 1 beats lantern control if they can't find Abrupt Decay. He didn't
1-0
Round 2 vs Dan (UR Eldrazi)
G1:
Dan is on the play and starts with Cavern of Souls naming Eldrazi. Dead giveaway. Fortunately, I have T2 Arbiter, a pair of Ghost Quarters and additional beaters to shore it up quickly.
G2:
Dan rushes out of the gates with an Eldrazi Temple and Eldrazi Mimic. I play my T1 Javelineers and shoot it down the following turn. However, multiple Drowner of Hope and Vile Aggregate as well as Hurkyl's Recall bouncing my Vials stomp me down despite Golem Tokens trying their best.
G3:
My T1 Vial helps get power out fast. Blade Splicers shore things up as he plays out his guys. He gets to throwing down a 5/5 Endless One, but Flickerwisp takes care of that. More Drowner of Hope and Vile Aggregate shenanigans ensue. While I get an Eldrazi Displacer Eventually, I draw my Ratchet Bomb and pop it for 0, killing off a number of Scion, and displacing a Flickerwisp to remove his final blocker and attack for lethal.
2-0
I think this match went well, however, I would be hesitant to say anything about the deck's viability to beat the menace overall. I'm interested to play against the new U/W iteration, but I still think it's not as bad as some decks chances.
Round 3 vs Johnny (Bant Collected Company)
G1:
Johnny plays out Birds and a couple Voice of Resurgence. I was able to play out a T2 Spellskite for blocks and a T3 Brimaz to start an offensive force. He blocked with some Voice, I blinked the token. Next turn, he tried blocking the Brimaz again, and finish it off with a Dromoka's Command, pumping another of his his guys, then fighting with Brimaz. I gladly took 4 damage to give Spellskite a token, and have that creature fight with it as well. Sad face across the table, while Brimaz and Flickerwisp finish the job.
G2:
He starts strong again, with Birds, but this time, I have the Javelineers to shoot it out of the air and slow him down. However, he plays out Loxodon Smiter, and some more Voice of Resurgence. My Rest in Peace does a good job keeping them from getting too crazy and Blade Splicer goes on blocking duty. He Chord of Calling for Thassa, God of the Sea, hitting even harder. Eventually, he plays Geist of Saint Traft and that's enough for me.
G3:
I play out Vial, followed by Rest in Peace, and some dudes. Johnny plays Birds and a pair of Hierarchs, followed by Voice and Qasali Pridemage to take out my Rest in Peace, and a Reclamation Sage for the vial. That made it an easy choice to play out my Ratchet Bomb to 1 and popping it, leaving him with just 2 lands and a Voice, which I overrun with dudes.
3-0
Round 4 vs Inbo (Suicide Zoo)
G1:
Inbo opens with a fetch and a Steppe Lynx, followed by a Monastery Swiftspear. I have a Spellskite on T2, and through loads of pump and burn spells from him and combat trickery, I eventually land enough fliers to get him to zero. Spellskite ruled the school here both blocking and sucking away him pump for his dudes.
G2:
He starts with a Wild Nacatl, then a Monastery Swiftspear, then two more Wild Nacatl. I had a Thalia, and too many three-drops with not enough lands. He gets me with some the trio of 1/1 Nacatls (since I Ghost Quartered his Sacred Foundry in a futile attempt to stem the bleeding.
G3:
I have a hand full of 2-drops, and two lands, but don't see any others until it's too late. He plays out a Monastery Swiftspear, a Death's Shadow, and a Hooting Mandrills that run me down after some well-fought combat situations
Final score 3-1
Final thoughts:
I, along with everyone else here, think the deck has legs. I love having something that doesn't have a specific, set, optimized list online, and tinkering to where I feel comfortable. There are a few changes I would make and am already in the works on, like changing up the mana base to accommodate more colorless, including a single Sea Gate Wreckage (I found myself empty-handed quite often). As well as the new interaction some people have been talking about with Wall of Resurgence and Blinkmoth Nexus, which I find wildly interesting. Here's some final notes on cards in particular:
Eldrazi Displacer - I've seen a number of people ask how it is. It's great. I used to play Restoration Angel as the blink/finisher for when the games get long and/or grindy, but every time I drew the Displacer in the late game, it felt good. Being only a 3-drop makes a big difference in a deck with a low curve and using lands as spells rather than mana. Also to note, I am looking to up my colorless land count to help make his ability easier to attain.
Ratchet Bomb - I am definitely going to be adding one more to my sideboard. It did a lot of work in a lot of games and after playing with it, I feel it has even more applications than what I saw that day. (Honestly, I would prefer Engineered Explosives, but that's for another deck on another day.)
Vryn Wingmare/Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - The taxing with these two never really felt as strong as it has in the past. Probably because I played mostly creature oriented opponents, but I feel that is the current trend. I might cut the Wingmares entirely and even trim Thalias down to three. More theory and more testing.
Quicksand - Lol. I didn't see it. If I had, I don't know how it would have been. I'm still interested in it's applications, but right now I think I'm going to be testing a little more on the Wall of Resurgence and Blinkmoth Nexus cuteness.
Icatian Javelineers - They did what I wanted them to do. Each time I had them, I think I would have been disappointed with one of the other options. I will continue to search and to test, always hoping that Wizards will give us something better. I have ideas, and I can always dream.
Future posts/reports will be more concise, and hopefully more detailed, so I can continue to contribute to the necessary data on the deck.
I'm not seeing what value creatures you're talking about. We can run everything they can. Perhaps the only thing that I've never seen played in a dntbears build is courser. Kiki is cute but easily disrupted by our removal, search hate or land destruction.
Wg can far and away out stompy them in any portion of the game. Wb has better removal and disruption. W flicker shenanigans and cutting the chord are what will let you pull through. Plus you have loads of flyers.
Private Mod Note
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Your success in playing dnt/hatebears is determined largely by your ability to read and prepare for the meta that you will be playing in. Furthermore, it has an absolutely brutal learning curve. Expect to lose; a lot.
@bmchu168 I am probably a fool for not adapting to use Eldrazi Displacer! I just haven't found him to be a card I want to play currently. As you said, I want my threats in the air and I want as little mana investment as possible. There could be a meta where he shines but I'm not in love with what the build have to look like to carry his weight. Maybe I'll test him again to be sure...idk. I do love restoration angel as a card in this meta at the moment. she is easily my 77th and 78th card out in my 75.
Main Deck Magus: I would rather main deck Worship over magus. It will be better against more matches and doesn't cut off some of our attackers by accident.
@Majiger I don't love sunlance either. I'm really just looking for a 5th affect and 6th that is still on color scheme. Bolt is more flexible but can be trapped in hand at pivotal moments against unforgivingly fast decks. Other cards I would think about are journey to nowhere, warping wail, roast, and dismember. This was just building off of "known good" information from testing. I move really slow when testing new cards and I'm also very deliberant when finalizing a list so it tends to make me not suggest cards that I'm not highly well-versed with. But to answer, you might be correct to have that just be so lightning bolts!
@oakel Welcome! I'm loving the tournament report you posted and the list as well! Javelineers can be such savages against the right deck! Hope to continue seeing you and other new players speaking up in the forum! Some of the best cards (from my perspective) were suggestions from newer subscribers to the forum!\\
DeathandCatmix, I gotta say Magus of the Moat is an absolute house from the SB. Love that tech. I'm running 3 in the SB and roflstomping merfolk, allies, kiki chord/Creature toolbox variants. Helped me win a lot of matches I had zero business winning in the modern leagues. Gone 4-1 a few times now hoping to get a 5-0 finish soon.
LOL! Yea there is just too many times where they are stopped dead in their tracks to a 0/3. Having two never seems like enough ( I don't seem to draw them consistently after boarding) and you are tempting me to run the 3rd now! I really appreciate you testing some cards I suggest. I know its not easy to see these kooky cards and take them serious but I appreciate you giving me a chance and also helping validate my experience with this area of deck development! I really hope you get that 5-0!
@Jonathanveedot I am totally on board with Eternal Witness! Its literally the equivalent to Snapcaster in green. I've been working on so many variations of Death and Taxes and I have a list based on abusing the looping value of E Wit. I'm not going to post it for multiple reasons but I will once I have some validity behind it. Also, if you are running my list in the tags, I highly recommend you run the Lingering Taxes list. The Death and Taxes list needs work and curving consideration.
@Everyone Here goes a list I can recommend! I've been sad that I hadn't prepared a red splash for debate in some time and decided to get on that! I think red is very close to being formidable in the format. Blood mooning the opponent is pretty good it turns out!
...
Yea dude, WG is pretty sweet. I ran 2 Witnesses with 2 Coco and full vials. It was niiiice. I think it's better in a midrangey kind of meta tho.
I'm def gonna try the lingering taxes list. It looks legit. It's an interesting strategy with multiple angles, and the inclusion of lingering souls is nice since it's a card this deck can have trouble with if it isn't immediately answered, so it sort of negates that. I wish it'd get some shine in mtgo leagues.
Just so people know, crucible of worlds is some old school tech that can wreck in this deck. Might be worth considering for some builds if you haven't already.
What about psychogenic probe? At a shock onto path and ghost quarter could add up.
The main issue I see with Psychogenic Probe would be building the deck to be aggressive enough to take advantage of the life loss it generates. Also it would have to be a sideboard card, because even when Leonin Arbiter is not taxing search effects outside of your own at least it's still a bear.
@hugeelfboy, there are three problems with pschogenic probe. A it costs two mana at sorcery speed and can't be cheated in with vial; B it doesn't have a body; and C it wants be cast on the curve to punish fetches.
At one mana as is or two/three mana with an appropriate body it would be a conditional card in the current meta. As is, I don't think it's what we're looking for.
Private Mod Note
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Your success in playing dnt/hatebears is determined largely by your ability to read and prepare for the meta that you will be playing in. Furthermore, it has an absolutely brutal learning curve. Expect to lose; a lot.
Thanks for the warm welcome, guys! @Jumex_To @deathandcatmix (<Using 'guys' as a colloquial term, no judgements here.) It feels good to finally get in on the discussions.
I was looking at some of the recent lists posted, and particularly at ones from @deathandcatmix and @Jendo87 that feature Phyrexian Revoker. I know the little fella has always been in the large pool of 'playables' for the deck, but seeing it pop up a couple more times main-deck have gotten me re-thinking it. A couple questions for you guys (mostly current builds and metagames) on it:
What decks are you initially pulling it in for? Against what opponents does it really shine for you?
How often does he feel like a dead card in G1?
What cards specifically are you looking to hit? (Maybe a little list to help see what I might be missing that he can hose.)
I'm looking for some more fuel for the mind-thinking fire!
I dont like Phirexian Revoker main, unless its one and you have chord, he's just a dead card in a lot of matchups, as a sideboard card its good imo, but never more than two.
A friend of mine and great magic player once said "if you think a card will not be good in 2 or 3 matchups, that card does not belong in the main deck"
@cloud030 enough to be resilient to removal. With magus being a card I board in, I'm conscience of what options I have at flying as oppose to more beaters. But around a 8-9 seems reasonable. That's not assuming blink moth or lingering souls.
@ltglitter yea I posted a couple comments above this about how those are probably more correct than my initial Sunlance use for the red splash. It was just s fail safe option.
A minimum of 12 flyers is what I would recommend. In my list that's gone 4-1 twice and a 3-2 finish in the League's (all of the losses were to eldrazi or the new uw control builds sprouting up), I run 12 flyers (4 Flickerwisp, 2 Serra Avengers, 1 Aven Mindcensor, 3 Lingering Souls, 2 Blinkmoth). The great thing is that Magus of the moat buys you so much time that you can actually just draw topdeck into it. But 12 is bare minimum as there were definitely times we just sat in a stalemate waiting for me to draw my flyers. I'm sure with cat mixes build of 16 flyers should be much less frequent.
@oakel and relesbao, linvala fills much of the same niche and is almost never a dead card if you can play it. The upside of revoker is that it can stop non-creatures like lili. Going in blind; I'd choose linvala. Going into a certain type of meta; I'd choose one or more revokers.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Your success in playing dnt/hatebears is determined largely by your ability to read and prepare for the meta that you will be playing in. Furthermore, it has an absolutely brutal learning curve. Expect to lose; a lot.
Aw, thanks @deathandcatmix!
As I was hunting back through your old posts (before you were so courteous and added the link : ) there were a couple of interesting posts. Firstly, you're definitely starting to convert me over to your philosophy of gumming-up the ground, and getting slick in the skies for the wins. I'm considering even more card changes for some more rounds at the LGS, now. You've bugged my brain, bud.
Secondly, your old post about the next evolution of the deck involving Nyx-Fleece Ram and some number of equipment to deal with the evolving metagame was very thought-provoking. Have those theories changed since piloting your Lingering Taxes build? Did you get to do some testing with equipment (minus the Stoneforge Mystic, sadly) before you landed where you are now?
@dsmonsta Aw man, I always seem to forget about Linvala and she might be more my alley with an unknown metagame.
@oakel no problem! Glad you checked it out! Nyx-Fleece is something that has always been on my mind but the 0/5 was just hard to justify. @skeet70 use run an alteration of Lingering Taxes which he equipped a sword or two of X and Y and favored them in the list. Looking at future meta, it seems that our aggressive matches are easier answered in the 75 leaving us a more focused deck with slots to better attack midrange and control decks. Making the opponent have to fight between equipment, creatures and lands is somewhat very affective. I haven't tested future dnt yet but have started he building process. I'm hoping to take a tailored list to the next IQ but it depends what the meta looks like after this week.
@joshb8116 I'm not very profound with blue but I think you have access to better answers in general. I wish I could be more of a help than that.
Has anyone ever tried Spreading Seas with their blue splash, and/or against Eldrazi?
I'm thinking of just putting 4 in my sideboard and bringing them in against Eldrazi, and any other matchups that they might be relevant in (Tron, Jund, Abzan, etc.) I like the idea of just going -4 Thalia, +4 Seas against Eldrazi. That plus the GQs in the main deck would slow them down a lot.
I play Wb DnT for 1 year or so. @skeet70 convinced me to build it when I was talking to him in chat. For that reason my build had Sword of Light and Shadow. Lately I'm testing with @deathcatandmix ideas of a heavy equipment deck and so far so good!
Godsend is bestial with serra avenger or brimaz. Bumps them up to 6 and 7 toughness, respectively, their vigilance also stalls the game completely while you swing away without fear of losing creatures.
Mortarpod pulled its weight more often than not. Specially when Ensnaring Bridge hits the table.
Batterskull was never boarded in. 5 cmc is too much in here. But I'll keep it here and see where it goes.
Basilisk Collar is probably getting cut. Never boarded in, and I feel I'll never do. It's removal spell number 8. Probably better off as the third Sunlance
Steelshaper's gift is flexible as hell. Infect cries when you t1 steelshaper into t2 mortarpod. Against chord and decks with dorks this is almost better than Sunlance as it leaves behind the equipment to be flickered/equipped to a spirit.
Any reason for Sunlance in sideboard instead of Lightning Bolt if you are running a W/R list? 6 ways to get red mana, or 10 if you count flagstones, seems enough to use bolts in sideboard over sunlance.
Long-time lurker, first-time poster here!
*Warning - Wall of Text*
I've been playing D&T for quite a while, toying around with green and black splashes to some extent, but always found my way back to the mono-white iteration. Although, that might have something to do with my personal intrinsic appreciation for a smooth single-color deck.
This forum has always been great - very supportive of new players and new ideas. As I've been lurking around, reading all the discussion, new tech, and theories (while still tinkering with my own builds and trying my darnd-est to be innovative myself), one of my favorite things to read are the tournament reports. I love reading how the games play out, where certain cards shine, and others lose their glimmer depending on the matchup. So, I thought what better way for me to finally get in on the discussion than to contribute the best way I know how - an LGS tourney report. It was a simple four rounds a couple days ago, so I apologize in advance if my details are a little fuzzy. Also, since this is my first post, it includes some general theories/discussion points for the archetype overall. Here's what I sleeved up:
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Spellskite
4 Flickerwisp
3 Blade Splicer
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Eldrazi Displacer
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Vryn Wingmare
2 Restoration Angel
3 Icatian Javelineers
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
Lands (22)
13 Plains
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Quicksand
1 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Rest in Peace
1 Mark of Asylum
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Auriok Champion
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Stony Silence
1 Kataki, War's wage
The metagame was totally unknown. I life constraints have kept me from getting to tourneys as much as I want to, so I tried to be prepared for anything. Before the actual report a couple comments on card choices and misc notes.
Report:
Again I apologize where details are fuzzy, but I tried to keep a little record of games as a whole, and where certain interactions or cards shined, or turned more lack-luster.
Round 1 vs Matt (Lantern Control)
G1:
I can't remember the beginnings but I was able to get him down to low life before he played out two Ensnaring Bridge. I had a large board, with an Eldrazi Displacer and Flickerwisp, but no colorless land to activate. On my turn, with the top of my deck revealed, and it not being good, I opt to [cardPath to Exile]Path[/card] my own guy to reset the top and hope for something good and get a Ghost Quarter. I play it and pass. During his next end step, I displace my Flickerwisp, getting rid of one Bridge, then during my pre-combat main, do it again to get rid of the other, and attack for lethal. Eldrazi Displacer already pulling it's weight.
G2:
I mull to six, keep the scry. My opponent plays turn 1 Codex Shredder and mill my scry. I hate it, but I love it - that was slick. I attack a couple times, but he gets going faster than the last game and mills me out.
G3:
Turn 2 Chalice set to 1 beats lantern control if they can't find Abrupt Decay. He didn't
1-0
Round 2 vs Dan (UR Eldrazi)
G1:
Dan is on the play and starts with Cavern of Souls naming Eldrazi. Dead giveaway. Fortunately, I have T2 Arbiter, a pair of Ghost Quarters and additional beaters to shore it up quickly.
G2:
Dan rushes out of the gates with an Eldrazi Temple and Eldrazi Mimic. I play my T1 Javelineers and shoot it down the following turn. However, multiple Drowner of Hope and Vile Aggregate as well as Hurkyl's Recall bouncing my Vials stomp me down despite Golem Tokens trying their best.
G3:
My T1 Vial helps get power out fast. Blade Splicers shore things up as he plays out his guys. He gets to throwing down a 5/5 Endless One, but Flickerwisp takes care of that. More Drowner of Hope and Vile Aggregate shenanigans ensue. While I get an Eldrazi Displacer Eventually, I draw my Ratchet Bomb and pop it for 0, killing off a number of Scion, and displacing a Flickerwisp to remove his final blocker and attack for lethal.
2-0
I think this match went well, however, I would be hesitant to say anything about the deck's viability to beat the menace overall. I'm interested to play against the new U/W iteration, but I still think it's not as bad as some decks chances.
Round 3 vs Johnny (Bant Collected Company)
G1:
Johnny plays out Birds and a couple Voice of Resurgence. I was able to play out a T2 Spellskite for blocks and a T3 Brimaz to start an offensive force. He blocked with some Voice, I blinked the token. Next turn, he tried blocking the Brimaz again, and finish it off with a Dromoka's Command, pumping another of his his guys, then fighting with Brimaz. I gladly took 4 damage to give Spellskite a token, and have that creature fight with it as well. Sad face across the table, while Brimaz and Flickerwisp finish the job.
G2:
He starts strong again, with Birds, but this time, I have the Javelineers to shoot it out of the air and slow him down. However, he plays out Loxodon Smiter, and some more Voice of Resurgence. My Rest in Peace does a good job keeping them from getting too crazy and Blade Splicer goes on blocking duty. He Chord of Calling for Thassa, God of the Sea, hitting even harder. Eventually, he plays Geist of Saint Traft and that's enough for me.
G3:
I play out Vial, followed by Rest in Peace, and some dudes. Johnny plays Birds and a pair of Hierarchs, followed by Voice and Qasali Pridemage to take out my Rest in Peace, and a Reclamation Sage for the vial. That made it an easy choice to play out my Ratchet Bomb to 1 and popping it, leaving him with just 2 lands and a Voice, which I overrun with dudes.
3-0
Round 4 vs Inbo (Suicide Zoo)
G1:
Inbo opens with a fetch and a Steppe Lynx, followed by a Monastery Swiftspear. I have a Spellskite on T2, and through loads of pump and burn spells from him and combat trickery, I eventually land enough fliers to get him to zero. Spellskite ruled the school here both blocking and sucking away him pump for his dudes.
G2:
He starts with a Wild Nacatl, then a Monastery Swiftspear, then two more Wild Nacatl. I had a Thalia, and too many three-drops with not enough lands. He gets me with some the trio of 1/1 Nacatls (since I Ghost Quartered his Sacred Foundry in a futile attempt to stem the bleeding.
G3:
I have a hand full of 2-drops, and two lands, but don't see any others until it's too late. He plays out a Monastery Swiftspear, a Death's Shadow, and a Hooting Mandrills that run me down after some well-fought combat situations
Final score 3-1
Final thoughts:
I, along with everyone else here, think the deck has legs. I love having something that doesn't have a specific, set, optimized list online, and tinkering to where I feel comfortable. There are a few changes I would make and am already in the works on, like changing up the mana base to accommodate more colorless, including a single Sea Gate Wreckage (I found myself empty-handed quite often). As well as the new interaction some people have been talking about with Wall of Resurgence and Blinkmoth Nexus, which I find wildly interesting. Here's some final notes on cards in particular:
Future posts/reports will be more concise, and hopefully more detailed, so I can continue to contribute to the necessary data on the deck.
Wg can far and away out stompy them in any portion of the game. Wb has better removal and disruption. W flicker shenanigans and cutting the chord are what will let you pull through. Plus you have loads of flyers.
Main Deck Magus: I would rather main deck Worship over magus. It will be better against more matches and doesn't cut off some of our attackers by accident.
@Majiger I don't love sunlance either. I'm really just looking for a 5th affect and 6th that is still on color scheme. Bolt is more flexible but can be trapped in hand at pivotal moments against unforgivingly fast decks. Other cards I would think about are journey to nowhere, warping wail, roast, and dismember. This was just building off of "known good" information from testing. I move really slow when testing new cards and I'm also very deliberant when finalizing a list so it tends to make me not suggest cards that I'm not highly well-versed with. But to answer, you might be correct to have that just be so lightning bolts!
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-Catmix
WWModern Death And Taxes (w/ Militia Bugler) (JUL '19)
GWModern Maverick (JUL '19)
WBCatmix on Twitch!
WWCatmix on Youtube
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Yea dude, WG is pretty sweet. I ran 2 Witnesses with 2 Coco and full vials. It was niiiice. I think it's better in a midrangey kind of meta tho.
I'm def gonna try the lingering taxes list. It looks legit. It's an interesting strategy with multiple angles, and the inclusion of lingering souls is nice since it's a card this deck can have trouble with if it isn't immediately answered, so it sort of negates that. I wish it'd get some shine in mtgo leagues.
Just so people know, crucible of worlds is some old school tech that can wreck in this deck. Might be worth considering for some builds if you haven't already.
The main issue I see with Psychogenic Probe would be building the deck to be aggressive enough to take advantage of the life loss it generates. Also it would have to be a sideboard card, because even when Leonin Arbiter is not taxing search effects outside of your own at least it's still a bear.
At one mana as is or two/three mana with an appropriate body it would be a conditional card in the current meta. As is, I don't think it's what we're looking for.
I was looking at some of the recent lists posted, and particularly at ones from @deathandcatmix and @Jendo87 that feature Phyrexian Revoker. I know the little fella has always been in the large pool of 'playables' for the deck, but seeing it pop up a couple more times main-deck have gotten me re-thinking it. A couple questions for you guys (mostly current builds and metagames) on it:
I'm looking for some more fuel for the mind-thinking fire!
A friend of mine and great magic player once said "if you think a card will not be good in 2 or 3 matchups, that card does not belong in the main deck"
@ltglitter yea I posted a couple comments above this about how those are probably more correct than my initial Sunlance use for the red splash. It was just s fail safe option.
@oakel I wrote a write up about this two weeks ago! Check it out http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/562814-wx-death-and-taxes?comment=7280
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A minimum of 12 flyers is what I would recommend. In my list that's gone 4-1 twice and a 3-2 finish in the League's (all of the losses were to eldrazi or the new uw control builds sprouting up), I run 12 flyers (4 Flickerwisp, 2 Serra Avengers, 1 Aven Mindcensor, 3 Lingering Souls, 2 Blinkmoth). The great thing is that Magus of the moat buys you so much time that you can actually just draw topdeck into it. But 12 is bare minimum as there were definitely times we just sat in a stalemate waiting for me to draw my flyers. I'm sure with cat mixes build of 16 flyers should be much less frequent.
As I was hunting back through your old posts (before you were so courteous and added the link : ) there were a couple of interesting posts. Firstly, you're definitely starting to convert me over to your philosophy of gumming-up the ground, and getting slick in the skies for the wins. I'm considering even more card changes for some more rounds at the LGS, now. You've bugged my brain, bud.
Secondly, your old post about the next evolution of the deck involving Nyx-Fleece Ram and some number of equipment to deal with the evolving metagame was very thought-provoking. Have those theories changed since piloting your Lingering Taxes build? Did you get to do some testing with equipment (minus the Stoneforge Mystic, sadly) before you landed where you are now?
@dsmonsta Aw man, I always seem to forget about Linvala and she might be more my alley with an unknown metagame.
@joshb8116 I'm not very profound with blue but I think you have access to better answers in general. I wish I could be more of a help than that.
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Thalia is good vs. Tron.
Don't side her out.
I play Wb DnT for 1 year or so. @skeet70 convinced me to build it when I was talking to him in chat. For that reason my build had Sword of Light and Shadow. Lately I'm testing with @deathcatandmix ideas of a heavy equipment deck and so far so good!
My current list is:
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Serra Avenger
2 Spellskite
4 Flickerwisp
4 Wall of Resurgence
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Spells (14)
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
3 Lingering Souls
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Mortarpod
1 Godsend
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Godless Shrine
1 Eiganjo Castle
3 Plains
2 Worship
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Nyx-Fleece Ram
1 Batterskull
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Steelshaper's Gift
2 Sunlance
Godsend is bestial with serra avenger or brimaz. Bumps them up to 6 and 7 toughness, respectively, their vigilance also stalls the game completely while you swing away without fear of losing creatures.
Mortarpod pulled its weight more often than not. Specially when Ensnaring Bridge hits the table.
Batterskull was never boarded in. 5 cmc is too much in here. But I'll keep it here and see where it goes.
Basilisk Collar is probably getting cut. Never boarded in, and I feel I'll never do. It's removal spell number 8. Probably better off as the third Sunlance
Steelshaper's gift is flexible as hell. Infect cries when you t1 steelshaper into t2 mortarpod. Against chord and decks with dorks this is almost better than Sunlance as it leaves behind the equipment to be flickered/equipped to a spirit.
Nyx-Fleece Ram is a wall with lifegain. next.
No one expects the Worship inquisition.
I'm open to new ideas and general talk. Keep taxing.