Ok, I’m with you in the sense that Geralf’s Messenger is inherently worse then Kitchen Finks simply by having Undying instead of Persist. In this case though, we don’t have any way to put counters on our dudes, only remove them, so I can’t really say I see the issue. And sure, if life gain is what we need - and I’m not saying it isn’t - Finks is certainly better.
Not being abel to block the turn he enters is the big drawback in my opinion, but I’m not certain that issue and the mere existence of Kitchen Finks makes it bad enough to just dismiss. If we get the chance to blink him I’m sure we all will be able to figure out not to do it before blocks. But even if that’s what happens we still get the angel to block with instead.
You say that the space in the deck where I would run Geralf’s Messenger is where we need card advantage, anti-aggro and preassure. While I agree that the Messenger is worse than Kitchen Fink and Brimaz at blocking I do believe that he brings both pressure and card advantage. Two dudes, one bigger than the other and two Shock-to-the-face in one card. And if you reset him you get to do it all over again. Sure he gets smaller, but only until he dies again. And even when he is small he's as big as Kitchen Finks ever gets. We can even sack him to Liliana for the reach if we need it.
I haven’t play the deck yet though, so it’s totally possible that I’m wrong and should be all in on the Pack Rat plan. I just feel that we have enough early plays that Pack Rat might just as well be a five-drop that don’t kill you when you reveal them with Bob =)
Hello, I am mainly a death and taxes player but I have a lot of interest in this deck. My big question is though how are you offsetting the life loss from confidant? The deck doesn't look like it kills THAT fast and vault is the only life gain card from what I can see :/ does it hit that consistently?
I saw you went 4-0 in the last modern event, congrats! How did the games go? Anything you would add or take out? What were the toughest matches?
I don't remember 2 of the matches form that particular event, but I did beat r/g tron two matches in a row for round 3 and 4, it felt amazing, and it was pretty simple too. Before I was just trying to kill them asap, so I'd, stupidly, over-extend, and they always drew the o-stone. But now I'm playing against it like I do against control decks, put out 2-3 threats at a time. I do board out 3 rats against them because they have so many sweepers, most play 4 o-stone, and then pair it with either 4 pyroclasm, 4 firespout, or 4 all is dust, or some combination of those 3. Lingering souls and mutavault are all-stars in terms of threats for the tron matchup (seriously mutavault was THE reason I beat both of them), obviously fulminator, memoricide, and stony silence aren't bad either
Hello, I am mainly a death and taxes player but I have a lot of interest in this deck. My big question is though how are you offsetting the life loss from confidant? The deck doesn't look like it kills THAT fast and vault is the only life gain card from what I can see :/ does it hit that consistently?
I (and a few other people) agree with you. Generally the life loss is fine (obviously you'd have to kill bob at some point), but it does come up sometimes. So....
As you guys have seen I was playing desecration demon for awhile. Me and a friend I'm working on this with were talking about how affinity, zoo, and pod, will probably be able to regularly sacrifice to tap it. So he came up with the idea of Baneslayer Angel. It fills the same role as the demon (be able to beat jund board states, and fly over clogged boards) so I gave it a shot. Holy crap is she insane if you can cast her! I ended up 4-0ing a daily last night with her in my deck over the demon (beat jund, delver, mono-green infect, and u/w control), and she won me at least 4 games, 1 of which it wouldn't have mattered if she was the demon, one because she had lifelink, and the other 2 were because you can't sac to tap her. I will admit though, there were a few games where I couldn't cast her and ended up just discarding her to a pack rat. She is kinda slow too since she's a 5-drop. But it's nearly impossible to lose if you resolve her and they don't have removal for her immediately, so I'm trying her out, and I will probably have her in my deck for the Austin ptq on sunday.
I am also considering cutting the disfigure for a dismember.
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If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Alternatively, how do people feel about either Blood Baron of Vizkopa or Obzedat, Ghost Council as finishers? Both are very hard to remove, Blood Baron to pretty much and wraths and Obdezat only path to exile. That and Obzedat comes with an immediate lifeswing.
Alternatively, how do people feel about either Blood Baron of Vizkopa or Obzedat, Ghost Council as finishers? Both are very hard to remove, Blood Baron to pretty much and wraths and Obdezat only path to exile. That and Obzedat comes with an immediate lifeswing.
The problem with both of these is that they get walled by a goyf, baneslayer angel has flying.
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If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Alternatively, how do people feel about either Blood Baron of Vizkopa or Obzedat, Ghost Council as finishers? Both are very hard to remove, Blood Baron to pretty much and wraths and Obdezat only path to exile. That and Obzedat comes with an immediate lifeswing.
They are extremely difficult to kill though, and can win a game on an empty board.
Baneslayer Angel is basically unblockable but she can die to Path to Exile +Doom Blade/Dismember/Flame Sash.
Obviously every card dies to something, it's more a matter of resilience to removal vs. how useful it is once cast.
This deck has lots of removal and discard of its own, so its likely the opponent has run out of removal/cards/blockers.
I guess you're only casting 5-drops if the Pack-Rat plan didn't go through, vs. a clogged board or opponent with lots of removal.
Obzedat can't fly or dodge Path to Exile, but let's compare Baneslayer to BBoV.
Vs. Jund/X decks, Baneslayer Angel is probably better, because she flies over all of their creatures and her lifelink means they can't race via: Raging Ravine + Tarmogoyf +1 Bane. Vs. U/R/x decks, Baneslayer Angel and Blood Baron of Vizkopa both die to Bolt + Snap + Bolt/Electrolyze. BBoV dies to any Flame Sash but Bane dodges that. BBoV dodges Path to Exile which is huge. +1 BBoV. Vs. Birthing Pod, lots of mana dorks + green ground creatures makes BBoV worse, but she dodges Shriekmaw and Nekrataal + Voice of Resurgence Blocks. Baneslayer is more likely to attack the next turn, but far more likely to get killed. Tough choice here. +0. Vs. Tron, Baneslayer flies over Wurmcoil Engine and can strike for lethal. She also flies over UTron's Treasure Mages and Solemn Simulacrums. +1 Bane. Vs. Hatebears, They are all in on Path to Exile and white blockers in the ground and air. +1 BBoV Vs. Affinity, Galvanic Blast kills both. Baneslayer can block any fliers they have left, or fly over Etched Champions + ground creatures. +1 Bane. Vs. Scapeshift, They are playing Electrolyze over bolt now which is harder to cast + snap + flashback. Which means that they would have to Snapcaster Mage block + Izzet charm + Electrolyze + Bolt. +1 Bane. Vs. Hexproof, BBoV dodges Path to Exile and can hold off their Kor Spiritdancer if she doesn't have Spirit Mantle. +1 BBoV.
Another finisher to consider is Batterskull. While it still loses on its own to goyf or a big ooze, we have plenty of creatures to equip it to that can let us outclass them. Lingering souls tokens with batterskull are essentially a more resilient baneslayer.
Alternatively, how do people feel about either Blood Baron of Vizkopa or Obzedat, Ghost Council as finishers? Both are very hard to remove, Blood Baron to pretty much and wraths and Obdezat only path to exile. That and Obzedat comes with an immediate lifeswing.
They are extremely difficult to kill though, and can win a game on an empty board.
Baneslayer Angel is basically unblockable but she can die to Path to Exile +Doom Blade/Dismember/Flame Sash.
Obviously every card dies to something, it's more a matter of resilience to removal vs. how useful it is once cast.
This deck has lots of removal and discard of its own, so its likely the opponent has run out of removal/cards/blockers.
I guess you're only casting 5-drops if the Pack-Rat plan didn't go through, vs. a clogged board or opponent with lots of removal.
Obzedat can't fly or dodge Path to Exile, but let's compare Baneslayer to BBoV.
Vs. Jund/X decks, Baneslayer Angel is probably better, because she flies over all of their creatures and her lifelink means they can't race via: Raging Ravine + Tarmogoyf +1 Bane. Vs. U/R/x decks, Baneslayer Angel and Blood Baron of Vizkopa both die to Bolt + Snap + Bolt/Electrolyze. BBoV dies to any Flame Sash but Bane dodges that. BBoV dodges Path to Exile which is huge. +1 BBoV. Vs. Birthing Pod, lots of mana dorks + green ground creatures makes BBoV worse, but she dodges Shriekmaw and Nekrataal + Voice of Resurgence Blocks. Baneslayer is more likely to attack the next turn, but far more likely to get killed. Tough choice here. +0. Vs. Tron, Baneslayer flies over Wurmcoil Engine and can strike for lethal. She also flies over UTron's Treasure Mages and Solemn Simulacrums. +1 Bane. Vs. Hatebears, They are all in on Path to Exile and white blockers in the ground and air. +1 BBoV Vs. Affinity, Galvanic Blast kills both. Baneslayer can block any fliers they have left, or fly over Etched Champions + ground creatures. +1 Bane. Vs. Scapeshift, They are playing Electrolyze over bolt now which is harder to cast + snap + flashback. Which means that they would have to Snapcaster Mage block + Izzet charm + Electrolyze + Bolt. +1 Bane. Vs. Hexproof, BBoV dodges Path to Exile and can hold off their Kor Spiritdancer if she doesn't have Spirit Mantle. +1 BBoV.
Baneslayer doesn't die to galvanic blast, she's a 5/5
The reason I chose her was to be able to race jund's threats and fly over pod board states, I feel like our matchups with these other decks are fine, so that was the hole I was looking to plug up and I think baneslayer is the right choice for that. Pod can kill her with shriekmaw, but it's a 1-of and we should be able to keep them off of 4 drops, although I can easily see them being able to pod up shriekmaw. However, it's a 1-of and they need that or one of their abrupt decays to kill brimaz anyway, so there's already a good amount of pressure on shriekmaw. The best plan of attack against pod in my experience is to either keep them off of creatures (which is pretty hard to do) or go all-in on a turn 2 pack rat holding removal specifically for scavenging ooze. But baneslayer is a good backup if they are able to slow the rat down.
Private Mod Note
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If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
When writing the post I was thinking Baneslayer Angel was a 4/4.
I was wrong. Batterskull is another decent 5 drop thread that does well in grindy games. Restoration Angel is another great card, but she seems difficult to play well in this list. We could start to experiment with Blade Splicer and other ETB creatures if anyone has ideas for that, as I think Restoration Angel is almost unkillable in modern, and she can bring so much value to a game.
Baneslayer doesn't die to galvanic blast, she's a 5/5
The reason I chose her was to be able to race jund's threats and fly over pod board states, I feel like our matchups with these other decks are fine, so that was the hole I was looking to plug up and I think baneslayer is the right choice for that. Pod can kill her with shriekmaw, but it's a 1-of and we should be able to keep them off of 4 drops, although I can easily see them being able to pod up shriekmaw. However, it's a 1-of and they need that or one of their abrupt decays to kill brimaz anyway, so there's already a good amount of pressure on shriekmaw. The best plan of attack against pod in my experience is to either keep them off of creatures (which is pretty hard to do) or go all-in on a turn 2 pack rat holding removal specifically for scavenging ooze. But baneslayer is a good backup if they are able to slow the rat down.
If you need something specifically for jund and pod, Mirran Crusader is definitely the way to go. He might die to bolt, but Baneslayer dies to a ton of stuff he doesn't die to.
I ended up going 5-3, I really punted the last round, which I'll get to in a bit, so I SHOULD have gone 6-2 but whatever
R1 g/b 2-0, baneslayer won me both games, she's amazing against this deck, just run them out of their pulse(s), and your golden.
R2 twin 2-0, slaughter pact blew him out both games.
R3 jund 2-1, again, baneslayer took it down. I really like this matchup because, aside from unanswered confidants, it's very skill-intensive and fun.
R4 affinity 2-0 this matchup is a bye.
R5 U/W tron 0-2 this is supposed to be a good matchup post board, and should be the easiest tron variant to beat, but I only drew 1 fulminator for ld, blew up his only tower (another was gone because of a gifts), and low-and-behold he draws his 3rd the next turn, anyway I just didn't draw what I needed :/
R6 merfolk 1-2 I feel like I played this round well, and made good decisions. He just kept drawing into lords, I feel like we need something to deal with their runaway draws, 1 damnation is not enough for this.
R7 jund burn (splashed green for destructive revelry and ancient grudge), beat him game 1 because of pack rat, beat him game 2 because of leyline. This is an interesting build of burn though because he can deal with leylines with his destructive revelry.
R8 affinity 0-2 PUNTED SO FREAKIN HARD!!! For some reason it slipped my mind that mutavault can block etched champion (realized literally 1 minute after conceding game 2 ), and he won both games off of a plated champion. This is the one round where I made glaring mistakes. It didn't really matter in the end though, we weren't playing for top 8 or anything. Although my opponent did get 16th so there's that.
Overall I'm really proud of how I did (obviously excluding that last match). I think we need a way to deal with merfolk, and whatever we choose will also shore up the pod matchup a bit too. I saw a TON of merfolk, at least 1 made top 8 (I think it was 2), there was also a lot of affinity, jund, angel pod, and tron at the top tables. Almost no twin to be seen, instead there was kiki control (the shaun McLaren deck).
The 1 card that underperformed for me was brimaz, and I would like to replace him, but I can't think of anything better. While he is amazing against pod and odd things like hatebears and zoo (neither of which see much play), he's really not fast at closing a game out, and if he does close a game out against a top deck that isn't pod then really anything could have.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
The 1 card that underperformed for me was brimaz, and I would like to replace him, but I can't think of anything better. While he is amazing against pod and odd things like hatebears and zoo (neither of which see much play), he's really not fast at closing a game out, and if he does close a game out against a top deck that isn't pod then really anything could have.
Potential options for replacing Brimaz: Hero of Bladehold -> Probably has the fastest clock. Resilient vs. removal (dodges bolt, helix, electrolyze, abrupt decay). Mirran Crusader -> Slower clock without swords or anthems, but he blocks and attacks through Melira pod well. Dodges aburpt decay, slaughter pact, any black removal.
More Baneslayer Angels? Linvaala Keeper of Silence? She's obviously great vs Pod/Twin/Kiki decks. Not the fastest clock though. Celestial Crusader? Do you find that you still have Rats or Souls tokens Calciderm?
I don't want more angels because it's sometimes hard to cast them, 2 is the perfect number. Plus if I had more I'd be more likely I'd flip one with bob, which has happened once already.
I don't want hero because it's an aggressive threat, I want something that can deal with creatures.
I've never seen celestial crusader before, but it dies to bolt, so I'm not a big fan, and it doesn't fill the hole I'd like to fill.
I have considered calciderm before but I can just see a deck waiting out his time counters with a clogged board state.
I really don't like crusader for this spot because he dies to bolt. He would be a descent board card for pod and potentially jund (although not super exciting there, he'd be better against g/b).
The only card I'd really be interested in is linvala, but my problem is with aggressive decks not necessarily pod.
After sleeping on it and going through gatherer again, I think brimaz is probably just the best card for the slot.
Honestly I didn't think I'd see any merfolk at the ptq, but since my area apparently has a lot of it, I have to address it. My merfolk matchup isn't great because they just go spreading seas, into lord, into lord, into master of waves, gg, so brimaz isn't great against them since everything is unblockable and they have like 3-5 tokens from master. And if the land kira it's way more difficult.
I'm considering dropping the leylines since there's basically no combo in my region that it effects aside from burn, I'm sure I'd see the odd storm deck or shift deck, but they either where at the tournament and didn't do well, or they just weren't present. If I dropped the leylines it would probably be for 2 wraths and another memoricide. The wraths also increase my chances against pod (It's about a 50/50 matchup right now).
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Have you thought instead, changing removal spells around? I know people are against the idea but potential sweeper cards such as bile blight or zealous persecution could be used. Especially zealous persecution while blocking with Brimaz can kill a goyf. Keep in mind Since there a pack rats in the deck any card can easily just form another rat if it can't be utilized.
Craig Wescoe played my list to a top 4 finish in a ptq, except he didn't play the dismembers and instead played the 4th rat and a disfigure.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Well, congrats Chris. That's pretty cool.
This time a pro player net-decked you, haha.
Most of the deck's evolution is due to you and your friend.
I would expect the deck to slowly start gaining popularity once people realize the power of Pack Rat.
Craig Wescoe played my list to a top 4 finish in a ptq, except he didn't play the dismembers and instead played the 4th rat and a disfigure.
Dude congrats! That's awesome. I so want swords to be good but I have a feeling it's just too slow. I'm playing in an event this weekend and then two PTQs next weekend so we will see. I think I might end up running rats even though I'm still surprised they are as effective as they are. I pretty sure I'm just too dumb to get it lol.
Not being abel to block the turn he enters is the big drawback in my opinion, but I’m not certain that issue and the mere existence of Kitchen Finks makes it bad enough to just dismiss. If we get the chance to blink him I’m sure we all will be able to figure out not to do it before blocks. But even if that’s what happens we still get the angel to block with instead.
You say that the space in the deck where I would run Geralf’s Messenger is where we need card advantage, anti-aggro and preassure. While I agree that the Messenger is worse than Kitchen Fink and Brimaz at blocking I do believe that he brings both pressure and card advantage. Two dudes, one bigger than the other and two Shock-to-the-face in one card. And if you reset him you get to do it all over again. Sure he gets smaller, but only until he dies again. And even when he is small he's as big as Kitchen Finks ever gets. We can even sack him to Liliana for the reach if we need it.
I haven’t play the deck yet though, so it’s totally possible that I’m wrong and should be all in on the Pack Rat plan. I just feel that we have enough early plays that Pack Rat might just as well be a five-drop that don’t kill you when you reveal them with Bob =)
I saw you went 4-0 in the last modern event, congrats! How did the games go? Anything you would add or take out? What were the toughest matches?
I don't remember 2 of the matches form that particular event, but I did beat r/g tron two matches in a row for round 3 and 4, it felt amazing, and it was pretty simple too. Before I was just trying to kill them asap, so I'd, stupidly, over-extend, and they always drew the o-stone. But now I'm playing against it like I do against control decks, put out 2-3 threats at a time. I do board out 3 rats against them because they have so many sweepers, most play 4 o-stone, and then pair it with either 4 pyroclasm, 4 firespout, or 4 all is dust, or some combination of those 3. Lingering souls and mutavault are all-stars in terms of threats for the tron matchup (seriously mutavault was THE reason I beat both of them), obviously fulminator, memoricide, and stony silence aren't bad either
I (and a few other people) agree with you. Generally the life loss is fine (obviously you'd have to kill bob at some point), but it does come up sometimes. So....
As you guys have seen I was playing desecration demon for awhile. Me and a friend I'm working on this with were talking about how affinity, zoo, and pod, will probably be able to regularly sacrifice to tap it. So he came up with the idea of Baneslayer Angel. It fills the same role as the demon (be able to beat jund board states, and fly over clogged boards) so I gave it a shot. Holy crap is she insane if you can cast her! I ended up 4-0ing a daily last night with her in my deck over the demon (beat jund, delver, mono-green infect, and u/w control), and she won me at least 4 games, 1 of which it wouldn't have mattered if she was the demon, one because she had lifelink, and the other 2 were because you can't sac to tap her. I will admit though, there were a few games where I couldn't cast her and ended up just discarding her to a pack rat. She is kinda slow too since she's a 5-drop. But it's nearly impossible to lose if you resolve her and they don't have removal for her immediately, so I'm trying her out, and I will probably have her in my deck for the Austin ptq on sunday.
I am also considering cutting the disfigure for a dismember.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
The problem with both of these is that they get walled by a goyf, baneslayer angel has flying.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
I think their big problem is that they both cant get through a Tarmogoyf or a big Scavenging Ooze.
They also die to Snapcaster Mage block + Lightning Bolt/Electrolyze.
Also blocked by Wurmcoil Engine.
They are extremely difficult to kill though, and can win a game on an empty board.
Baneslayer Angel is basically unblockable but she can die to Path to Exile +Doom Blade/Dismember/Flame Sash.
Obviously every card dies to something, it's more a matter of resilience to removal vs. how useful it is once cast.
This deck has lots of removal and discard of its own, so its likely the opponent has run out of removal/cards/blockers.
I guess you're only casting 5-drops if the Pack-Rat plan didn't go through, vs. a clogged board or opponent with lots of removal.
Obzedat can't fly or dodge Path to Exile, but let's compare Baneslayer to BBoV.
Vs. Jund/X decks, Baneslayer Angel is probably better, because she flies over all of their creatures and her lifelink means they can't race via: Raging Ravine + Tarmogoyf +1 Bane.
Vs. U/R/x decks, Baneslayer Angel and Blood Baron of Vizkopa both die to Bolt + Snap + Bolt/Electrolyze. BBoV dies to any Flame Sash but Bane dodges that. BBoV dodges Path to Exile which is huge. +1 BBoV.
Vs. Birthing Pod, lots of mana dorks + green ground creatures makes BBoV worse, but she dodges Shriekmaw and Nekrataal + Voice of Resurgence Blocks. Baneslayer is more likely to attack the next turn, but far more likely to get killed. Tough choice here. +0.
Vs. Tron, Baneslayer flies over Wurmcoil Engine and can strike for lethal. She also flies over UTron's Treasure Mages and Solemn Simulacrums. +1 Bane.
Vs. Hatebears, They are all in on Path to Exile and white blockers in the ground and air. +1 BBoV
Vs. Affinity, Galvanic Blast kills both. Baneslayer can block any fliers they have left, or fly over Etched Champions + ground creatures. +1 Bane.
Vs. Scapeshift, They are playing Electrolyze over bolt now which is harder to cast + snap + flashback. Which means that they would have to Snapcaster Mage block + Izzet charm + Electrolyze + Bolt. +1 Bane.
Vs. Hexproof, BBoV dodges Path to Exile and can hold off their Kor Spiritdancer if she doesn't have Spirit Mantle. +1 BBoV.
That puts Baneslayer Angel at 4.
Blood Baron of Vizkopa at 3.
Of course that's only some matchups and my quick analysis, what do you guys think?
Baneslayer doesn't die to galvanic blast, she's a 5/5
The reason I chose her was to be able to race jund's threats and fly over pod board states, I feel like our matchups with these other decks are fine, so that was the hole I was looking to plug up and I think baneslayer is the right choice for that. Pod can kill her with shriekmaw, but it's a 1-of and we should be able to keep them off of 4 drops, although I can easily see them being able to pod up shriekmaw. However, it's a 1-of and they need that or one of their abrupt decays to kill brimaz anyway, so there's already a good amount of pressure on shriekmaw. The best plan of attack against pod in my experience is to either keep them off of creatures (which is pretty hard to do) or go all-in on a turn 2 pack rat holding removal specifically for scavenging ooze. But baneslayer is a good backup if they are able to slow the rat down.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
I was wrong.
Batterskull is another decent 5 drop thread that does well in grindy games.
Restoration Angel is another great card, but she seems difficult to play well in this list. We could start to experiment with Blade Splicer and other ETB creatures if anyone has ideas for that, as I think Restoration Angel is almost unkillable in modern, and she can bring so much value to a game.
If you need something specifically for jund and pod, Mirran Crusader is definitely the way to go. He might die to bolt, but Baneslayer dies to a ton of stuff he doesn't die to.
4 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
2 Temple of Silence
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Plains
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Mutavault
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Vault of the Archangel
Creatures: 14
3 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Dark Confidant
3 Pack Rat
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Baneslayer Angel
1 Slaughter Pact
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Darkblast
4 Path to Exile
1 Smother
4 Lingering Souls
2 Dismember
Planeswalkers: 3
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Disenchant
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Damnation
2 Memoricide
3 Leyline of Sanctity
I ended up going 5-3, I really punted the last round, which I'll get to in a bit, so I SHOULD have gone 6-2 but whatever
R1 g/b 2-0, baneslayer won me both games, she's amazing against this deck, just run them out of their pulse(s), and your golden.
R2 twin 2-0, slaughter pact blew him out both games.
R3 jund 2-1, again, baneslayer took it down. I really like this matchup because, aside from unanswered confidants, it's very skill-intensive and fun.
R4 affinity 2-0 this matchup is a bye.
R5 U/W tron 0-2 this is supposed to be a good matchup post board, and should be the easiest tron variant to beat, but I only drew 1 fulminator for ld, blew up his only tower (another was gone because of a gifts), and low-and-behold he draws his 3rd the next turn, anyway I just didn't draw what I needed :/
R6 merfolk 1-2 I feel like I played this round well, and made good decisions. He just kept drawing into lords, I feel like we need something to deal with their runaway draws, 1 damnation is not enough for this.
R7 jund burn (splashed green for destructive revelry and ancient grudge), beat him game 1 because of pack rat, beat him game 2 because of leyline. This is an interesting build of burn though because he can deal with leylines with his destructive revelry.
R8 affinity 0-2 PUNTED SO FREAKIN HARD!!! For some reason it slipped my mind that mutavault can block etched champion (realized literally 1 minute after conceding game 2 ), and he won both games off of a plated champion. This is the one round where I made glaring mistakes. It didn't really matter in the end though, we weren't playing for top 8 or anything. Although my opponent did get 16th so there's that.
Overall I'm really proud of how I did (obviously excluding that last match). I think we need a way to deal with merfolk, and whatever we choose will also shore up the pod matchup a bit too. I saw a TON of merfolk, at least 1 made top 8 (I think it was 2), there was also a lot of affinity, jund, angel pod, and tron at the top tables. Almost no twin to be seen, instead there was kiki control (the shaun McLaren deck).
The 1 card that underperformed for me was brimaz, and I would like to replace him, but I can't think of anything better. While he is amazing against pod and odd things like hatebears and zoo (neither of which see much play), he's really not fast at closing a game out, and if he does close a game out against a top deck that isn't pod then really anything could have.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Potential options for replacing Brimaz:
Hero of Bladehold -> Probably has the fastest clock. Resilient vs. removal (dodges bolt, helix, electrolyze, abrupt decay).
Mirran Crusader -> Slower clock without swords or anthems, but he blocks and attacks through Melira pod well. Dodges aburpt decay, slaughter pact, any black removal.
More Baneslayer Angels?
Linvaala Keeper of Silence? She's obviously great vs Pod/Twin/Kiki decks. Not the fastest clock though.
Celestial Crusader? Do you find that you still have Rats or Souls tokens
Calciderm?
I don't want hero because it's an aggressive threat, I want something that can deal with creatures.
I've never seen celestial crusader before, but it dies to bolt, so I'm not a big fan, and it doesn't fill the hole I'd like to fill.
I have considered calciderm before but I can just see a deck waiting out his time counters with a clogged board state.
I really don't like crusader for this spot because he dies to bolt. He would be a descent board card for pod and potentially jund (although not super exciting there, he'd be better against g/b).
The only card I'd really be interested in is linvala, but my problem is with aggressive decks not necessarily pod.
After sleeping on it and going through gatherer again, I think brimaz is probably just the best card for the slot.
Honestly I didn't think I'd see any merfolk at the ptq, but since my area apparently has a lot of it, I have to address it. My merfolk matchup isn't great because they just go spreading seas, into lord, into lord, into master of waves, gg, so brimaz isn't great against them since everything is unblockable and they have like 3-5 tokens from master. And if the land kira it's way more difficult.
I'm considering dropping the leylines since there's basically no combo in my region that it effects aside from burn, I'm sure I'd see the odd storm deck or shift deck, but they either where at the tournament and didn't do well, or they just weren't present. If I dropped the leylines it would probably be for 2 wraths and another memoricide. The wraths also increase my chances against pod (It's about a 50/50 matchup right now).
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Craig Wescoe played my list to a top 4 finish in a ptq, except he didn't play the dismembers and instead played the 4th rat and a disfigure.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
This time a pro player net-decked you, haha.
Most of the deck's evolution is due to you and your friend.
I would expect the deck to slowly start gaining popularity once people realize the power of Pack Rat.
Dude congrats! That's awesome. I so want swords to be good but I have a feeling it's just too slow. I'm playing in an event this weekend and then two PTQs next weekend so we will see. I think I might end up running rats even though I'm still surprised they are as effective as they are. I pretty sure I'm just too dumb to get it lol.
He gave you credit:
https://twitter.com/Nacatls4Life