@reaper639 Board out your birds of Paradise and Retreat to Coralhelm. Board in other threats plus a land if you have it. Obviously try to land a 2 drop on turns 2 or 3. If it gets countered then so be it. Use your flash creatures at the end of their turn. This will allow them to use up their mana and leave holes for you to land creatures on your turn. Or you have a beater that can chip in some damage. If you draw Collected Company wait to use it on your opponent's end step until you have a great follow up for you turn, something like Knight of the Reliquary, Scavenging Ooze, and use that for it maximum.
Jeskai/UW Control play more board sweeps then Grixis/UB Control. Even so you want to ride 1 or 2 threats until they remove them. Then start over with the flash plan described above. Selfless Spirit changes the game plan there. Depending on the number of cards in hand you can be slightly more agressive. Note: Never Spell Queller removal spells against control. Just setting yourself up for a blow out. Use them as flash attackers on your opponent's end step.
As for side boarding take out some Path to Exiles for some Negates, Disdainful Stroke, Unified Will, it depends on your control opponent's win con. For instance someone at my local meta trys to win with Ajani Vengeant in his Jeskai Control list. I always board out 2 of my Paths for Negates. On the other hand there is a Grixis control player who uses Tasigur and Gurmag Angler to win late. I always keep in my Paths for this guy and never board in any counter magic.
Lastly, I have boarded in one Nissa, Steward of Elements. It has been great against control. Its flexible mana costs allows me to play it at different points of the matchup. In addition in really taxes control's counter spells becasue they dont have great ways to deal with it once its on the board.
@Dreadnaught33 Honestly, having gone all in with the 3 drops has changed the way I view the deck entirely. With 4 Noble Hierarch, 4 Birds of Paradise, and 4 Lotus Cobra, I've had some of the most unbelievable plays I've had the chance of producing. With Lotus Cobra every fetch land yields 3 mana, which is exactly enough mana to cast the 3 drop creatures that I've filled my deck with. I've always been playing triple Tireless Tracker because she's basically copies 5-7 of Knight of the Reliquary, but the problem is that she's very mana intensive. With Lotus Cobra, it completely changes that entirely. Producing so much free mana allows you to crack clues (giving you a mana sink for all the mana), while at the same time holding up mana to present Collected Company or Spell Queller, Reflector Mage-ing their board to pieces, or just developing your board with Knights and Trackers.
Also, all these 3 drops also makes your CoCo much better than previous iterations of Bant Knightfall. Before, you were stuck with casting Collected Company and if you checked the top 6 cards and only got a Voice of Resurgence & Qasali Pridemage, you were just a sad, sad, sad boy. Now, you have means to run away with the game in terms of Card Advantage with large numbers of Trackers and Courser of Kruphix, impact your opponents board by bouncing their creatures to oblivion with Reflector Mage, "Counter" must-stop spells on the stack with Spell Queller, and just accelerate your way to the finish line with Lotus Cobra and your best card, Knight of the Reliquary.
I do agree that the two drops we had (Voice, Selfless Spirit, Scavenging Ooze, Qasali pridemage, & Spellskite) were excellent at providing utility but that's all they provided. The only creature among the 2 drops that stood out as a powerhouse, that provided a means of winning games while providing utility, in the current modern format was Scavenging Ooze. I do feel somewhat naked without my beloved Qasali Pridemage but replacing it with more 3 drops just felt much more powerful than anything else, even if the extra exalted was nothing to scoff at (Fliers + Exalted is fuqn nutty).
I think there should be some room for utility 2 drops but this is all so new to me so I'm having a hard time finding space. I'm still testing and refining because 4 Lotus Cobra is uncharted waters, but I think this is where people who are willing to improve upon the deck should start.
@reaper639 Someone here on this forum (I forget who) made a post about how the Control MU should go. It was an excellent post. It really helps describe how the match up should go and how you should maneuver it; every game is different however and you should fine tune your decisions likewise. It's within the 100+ pages I believe so it shouldn't be too hard to find. It should give you a good idea on how the games should go. On top of that, there was a discussion about the control MU where that post was.
Hey guys. So how do you find your aggro/burn MU's are? Traditionally finks helps leverage that with the life gain, but it seems a lot of the company lists are moving away from finks. Are people still running them MB? Also, is there room for rhox war monk as well? My meta has some cheaper, more agro-centered decks, so just wondering. Thanks!
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Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Mono-U Control
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Sen Triplets
Mizzix of the Izmagnus
Derevi Stax
VolThrun
Marchesa, The Black Rose
Olivia Voldaren, Vampire Tribal
@Draken I think you should be more specific on what Aggro MU you want clarification on. In regards to Burn, deploying a Courser of Kruphix or two is an auto-win sometimes. Other than the double Courser scenario, in my opinion, burn is a bad MU unless you interact with them on the stack via Spell Queller or counterspells, and pair that life gain.
Finks only ever nets you 2 life and that's it; your opponent is never going to attack into a Kitchen Finks or point a burn spell at it unless they have to. That being said, it is pretty good BECAUSE they will never attack into it and it improves your longevity in the game. Rhox War Monk is something you can flirt with in the sideboard between 1-2 copies I think but it's a bit narrow, only hitting a small number of match-ups.
Thanks! I'm still refining the deck and I'm trying to figure out what ratio of utility creatures I need to include, let alone the creatures already included.
Reflector Mage just feels so good in all honesty. Kelvin put 4 copies in his Vizier Knightfall deck at the GP. It adds a lot more interactive elements to the deck. A lot of the current metagame is being dominated by creature based decks, Death's Shadow, Vizier Combo, Eldrazi, elves, affinity, and dredge to name a few. Having more than Path to Exile and creature combat to deal with your opponents synergies takes a boat load off the demand the deck has on those cards and Spell Queller. Maybe running 3 Reflector Mage/1 Vendilion Clique is correct though.
Increasing the ramp and shifting the curve away from two drops towards more 3 drops seems like a reasonable way to handle the often decried lack of powerful 2 drops. On that plan:
How much ramp is necessary? 8x 1 cmc guys + 4x Cobra seems like overkill.
I think Scavenging Ooze still deserves a spot (or 3) just due to his raw power.
If we're expecting to increase our clock significantly by this change in strategy, can Courser of Kruphix get swapped out for more aggressive options?
Vendilion Clique plays very nicely with Reflector Mage vs decks that rely on specific creatures. I'm not sure we should be cutting Reflector Mages for Cliques: I think we should be finding room for both of them side by side
I agree, I think that I'd switch back to 7 dorks with 4 lotus cobra. I think I'd start with 2 reflector mages, putting in 2 scoozes. 2 cliques and the other 2 mages in the board. I think 2 courser might not be necessary, I like 2 against burn and zoo but that's about it.
Ever since my OP about this errant expression of the deck, I've realized you want to stay at 22 or even go up to 23 lands. Once you get your synergies going, it's imperative that you always get your land drops via Knight of the Reliquary, Courser of Kruphix, or simply drawing them and putting them into play. You WANT to flood out when you have these synergies in play. I'm even contemplating on how to fit in the 11th fetch land in the land base.
Nissa seems a bit medium in this deck. If you want a card that doesn't get hit off Collected Company then you probably want to play Vizier of the Menagerie.
Mana Dorks to Vizier of the Menagerie = Lands to Courser of Kruphix.
Playing Lands AND Mana Dorks are huge to the amount of mana you can use. A lot of the time with Knight of the Reliquary, you're taking so much lands out of your deck, alongside the assitance of Courser of Kruphix, that you often have only 4-5 lands in play. You're either drawing gas or you're drawing Mana Dorks. With Vizier, you fix this issue entirely. Tthe excess Mana Dorks act as lands, giving you more mana available to do things like cracking clues, casting creatures, all the while floating mana for Collected Company or Spell Queller.
This is not to say you should include Vizier, but it's certainly a much more attractive option than Nissa.
4 Reflector Mage is so FUQN GOOD THO. CLIQUE IS OK.
The 8 Mana Dorks and 4 Cobra actually feels CORRECT. You have so many 3 drops alongside Collected Company that the Mana is critical to the success of the deck. Sometimes you flood out but alas, 'tis the pay off of playing mana dorks in general.
I also believe that as well, but it's hard to find the space for Scavenging Ooze. Still testing though.
Rhonas is bad here.
Courser is vital to the deck. If you want more Aggressive options having 4 Tireless Tracker (basically copies 5-8 of Knight of the Reliquary) would be perfect for aggression and board dominance.
I also believe that Reflector Mage shouldn't be cut. It's actually excellent in modern. The Format is being dominated by Creature based decks right now. Being able to decimate their board state and tempo them out, all the while developing your board with gigantic Knights and Trackers, drawing so many cards, holding up mana for CoCo and Queller, and shenanigans from Knight of the Reliquary (all of this thanks to the Mana available from Lotus Cobra, Mana dorks, Courser, and Knight of the Reliquary) is so powerful.
@Bentobocx Thanks! I'll have to try courser or two. Incremental life gain is a good way to beat burn, but I am surprised on the low-to-no #finks. I guess here theres no sac outlet to infinite with...
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Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Mono-U Control
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Sen Triplets
Mizzix of the Izmagnus
Derevi Stax
VolThrun
Marchesa, The Black Rose
Olivia Voldaren, Vampire Tribal
Went undefeated tonight with Chew's List. Ran great. 4 E wit and 4 reflector mages did some serious work throughout the night. Combo'd three times with Retreat (all in game 1s), and with vizier at least 4 times. Record for the evening was 8-1
Went undefeated tonight with Chew's List. Ran great. 4 E wit and 4 reflector mages did some serious work throughout the night. Combo'd three times with Retreat (all in game 1s), and with vizier at least 4 times. Record for the evening was 8-1
The idea is simple: integrate the Vizier combo with minimal impact to the main Knightfall plan. No Duskwatch Recruiter-Ballista nonsense: I can Chord straight into Rhonas the Indomitable, Coco into it, or use Kessig Wolf-Run for infinite damage. I'm taking a middle ground between Eli Kassis' list and Kelvin Chew's by running 3 Vizier of Remedies.
The Knightfall plan is largely intact: 4 Knight, 2 Retreat, 7 dorks, 3 paths, and 3 Spell Queller. I'm running 21 lands rather than the usual 22 to compensate for the fact that there are 11 manadorks counting Devoted Druid. The fact that there are 4 utility lands helps mitigate mana flooding. We unfortunately lose out on Tireless Tracker and Courser of Kruphix value, and Vendillion Clique is totally impossible for us to cast, but that's ok because we have Eternal Witness value instead! Witness was already a totally reasonable option, and now it helps us combo off and use all out mana every turn. It's great and it would not be unreasonable to try and fit in a fourth.
Though I'm in no way knocking Eli Kassis' and Kelvin Chew's builds here (both are brilliant players), the main advantage of this list over their lists, in my opinion, is that we get to keep Path to Exile and Spell Queller.
Path is arguably the best removal spell in modern at the moment. There's a reason it's the most-played spell in the format at the moment. It permanently deals with threats from all of the top decks: Death's Shadow, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Thought-Knot Seer, Endbringer, Goblin Electromancer, not to mention Kitchen Finks and Devoted Druid (though note that Druid can self-destruct to avoid being exiled). There's just no way cutting Path is right.
As for Spell Queller, it's catch-all disruption, and it increases the density of instant-speed threats, making our deck trickier and less predictable. Holding up mana could mean Queller, Path, Company, Chord, or (postboard) countermagic, Izzet Staticaster. It's a great card that basically singlehandedly propelled Knightfall from obscurity to a tier 1.5 deck that's well-respected.
What's really notable is the synergy between the two strategies:
Chord of Calling makes the Retreat combo better by letting us fetch Knight at end of turn
Knight of the Reliquary is big enough to turn on Rhonas, making that card a real threat. It also fetches Kessig Wolf Run as an alternate win condition when we need a sink for infinite mana
Spell Queller protects both combos, increasing our resilience to removal.
So in conclusion, I really like this build and I think it does have legs. It's definitely better against linear decks that don't interact. This being said, the real casualty here is Voice of Resurgence, which might be the best card we have in the Death's Shadow matchup. With shadow, and Grixis Shadow especially, being potentially the most threatening deck in the format, it might be that the traditional list is better positioned at the moment.
Those are just my thoughts. I welcome your opinions and constructive criticism.
Any thought on adding a Hall of the Bandit Lord in the Vizier variant? Turning off summoning sickness on Devoted Druid or Knight means the opponent is forced to hold up mana if you're untapping with a Hall on board.
The idea is simple: integrate the Vizier combo with minimal impact to the main Knightfall plan. No Duskwatch Recruiter-Ballista nonsense: I can Chord straight into Rhonas the Indomitable, Coco into it, or use Kessig Wolf-Run for infinite damage. I'm taking a middle ground between Eli Kassis' list and Kelvin Chew's by running 3 Vizier of Remedies.
The Knightfall plan is largely intact: 4 Knight, 2 Retreat, 7 dorks, 3 paths, and 3 Spell Queller. I'm running 21 lands rather than the usual 22 to compensate for the fact that there are 11 manadorks counting Devoted Druid. The fact that there are 4 utility lands helps mitigate mana flooding. We unfortunately lose out on Tireless Tracker and Courser of Kruphix value, and Vendillion Clique is totally impossible for us to cast, but that's ok because we have Eternal Witness value instead! Witness was already a totally reasonable option, and now it helps us combo off and use all out mana every turn. It's great and it would not be unreasonable to try and fit in a fourth.
Looks like we are on similar lists. Rhonas vs Ballista is sort of a preference thing, as they usually do the exact same thing in a combo context. Only thing that stops Rhonas is double removal spell. I've opted for the Ballista myself, as even though you don't get it off of Chord or CoCo ever, it's useful as a removal spell in match-ups like Affinity. Might test Rhonas as well and see which I prefer. Another note about your list is a small sideboard thing. 2x Stony in the board when you have 4 CoCos and 3 Chords is a bit odd. Kataki fits better in decks like this because of how easy it is to find him. You'll be kicking yourself if you can chord for 2 vs Affinity and you don't have him. Here's my list:
Adding the Vizier/Druid combo shifts us from a mix of grinding and "combo" to a lot of combo. Hence, my mainboard is all in on the combo plan, cutting paths and moving them to the board for games 2 and 3 where we can switch to a more reactive strategy if we need to. Generally, this is preference as well. I see it as game 1 you need to focus on your plan, then games 2 and 3 you can react to what you are playing against.
Can all the non-vizier combo knightfall ppl tell me if they've changed anything in their 75 over the past couple weeks? I'm struggling to figure out what I should change/stay the same and just play better if I don't run Druid and vizier knightfall....
Any thought on adding a Hall of the Bandit Lord in the Vizier variant? Turning off summoning sickness on Devoted Druid or Knight means the opponent is forced to hold up mana if you're untapping with a Hall on board.
I saw the Reddit Post about this. Honestly the fact that it comes into play tapped makes it pretty bad IMO, not to mention that bolting yourself in the face can be pretty terrible unless you're winning that turn. If you're after haste you're probably better off with Hanweir Battlements or Slayer's Stronghold. Honestly though utility land slots are limited; I'd much rather play 2 Kessig personally, or Gavony, Ghost Quarter
@Bentobocx Just wondering what the crowd has done to adjust to the changing meta- more living end, facing the vizier combo itself, in general going against a faster and more explosive metagame. Just wanted to see if there are any cards or strategies that have worked for those who have gotten to test a lot over the past 2-3 weeks that I can learn from, as I'm hoping to do more tournaments soon. I just feel like the format has changed a lot recently and I can see why many are testing with Druid/Vizier, I'm just not sure that's where I want to be.
Wondering things like- reflector mage main? Maybe Eternal witness main since so many thoughtsieze and IoK decks? How many trackers ppl running? What are peoples 2 drop suite like? We still on 8 dorks or back to 7? Should we expect Gravedigger's cage after SB every match? Any interesting sideboard plans? I know you've been on the lotus plan bento, so i can test with that and see how it goes. current list for me: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/07-03-17-Eul-bant-knightfall/ I feel a little greedy with 12 3 drops and 7 dorks, but i really love tracker and want to have it most matches I'm playing, yet courser is too good not to have 2 also. My dorks usually die in my meta immediately so i went down to 7, maybe thats not right though.
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@reaper639 Board out your birds of Paradise and Retreat to Coralhelm. Board in other threats plus a land if you have it. Obviously try to land a 2 drop on turns 2 or 3. If it gets countered then so be it. Use your flash creatures at the end of their turn. This will allow them to use up their mana and leave holes for you to land creatures on your turn. Or you have a beater that can chip in some damage. If you draw Collected Company wait to use it on your opponent's end step until you have a great follow up for you turn, something like Knight of the Reliquary, Scavenging Ooze, and use that for it maximum.
Jeskai/UW Control play more board sweeps then Grixis/UB Control. Even so you want to ride 1 or 2 threats until they remove them. Then start over with the flash plan described above. Selfless Spirit changes the game plan there. Depending on the number of cards in hand you can be slightly more agressive. Note: Never Spell Queller removal spells against control. Just setting yourself up for a blow out. Use them as flash attackers on your opponent's end step.
As for side boarding take out some Path to Exiles for some Negates, Disdainful Stroke, Unified Will, it depends on your control opponent's win con. For instance someone at my local meta trys to win with Ajani Vengeant in his Jeskai Control list. I always board out 2 of my Paths for Negates. On the other hand there is a Grixis control player who uses Tasigur and Gurmag Angler to win late. I always keep in my Paths for this guy and never board in any counter magic.
Lastly, I have boarded in one Nissa, Steward of Elements. It has been great against control. Its flexible mana costs allows me to play it at different points of the matchup. In addition in really taxes control's counter spells becasue they dont have great ways to deal with it once its on the board.
Also, all these 3 drops also makes your CoCo much better than previous iterations of Bant Knightfall. Before, you were stuck with casting Collected Company and if you checked the top 6 cards and only got a Voice of Resurgence & Qasali Pridemage, you were just a sad, sad, sad boy. Now, you have means to run away with the game in terms of Card Advantage with large numbers of Trackers and Courser of Kruphix, impact your opponents board by bouncing their creatures to oblivion with Reflector Mage, "Counter" must-stop spells on the stack with Spell Queller, and just accelerate your way to the finish line with Lotus Cobra and your best card, Knight of the Reliquary.
I do agree that the two drops we had (Voice, Selfless Spirit, Scavenging Ooze, Qasali pridemage, & Spellskite) were excellent at providing utility but that's all they provided. The only creature among the 2 drops that stood out as a powerhouse, that provided a means of winning games while providing utility, in the current modern format was Scavenging Ooze. I do feel somewhat naked without my beloved Qasali Pridemage but replacing it with more 3 drops just felt much more powerful than anything else, even if the extra exalted was nothing to scoff at (Fliers + Exalted is fuqn nutty).
I think there should be some room for utility 2 drops but this is all so new to me so I'm having a hard time finding space. I'm still testing and refining because 4 Lotus Cobra is uncharted waters, but I think this is where people who are willing to improve upon the deck should start.
@reaper639 Someone here on this forum (I forget who) made a post about how the Control MU should go. It was an excellent post. It really helps describe how the match up should go and how you should maneuver it; every game is different however and you should fine tune your decisions likewise. It's within the 100+ pages I believe so it shouldn't be too hard to find. It should give you a good idea on how the games should go. On top of that, there was a discussion about the control MU where that post was.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Mono-U Control
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Sen Triplets
Mizzix of the Izmagnus
Derevi Stax
VolThrun
Marchesa, The Black Rose
Olivia Voldaren, Vampire Tribal
Modern: Fish, JUND/Junk
--------
RIP Twin
Finks only ever nets you 2 life and that's it; your opponent is never going to attack into a Kitchen Finks or point a burn spell at it unless they have to. That being said, it is pretty good BECAUSE they will never attack into it and it improves your longevity in the game. Rhox War Monk is something you can flirt with in the sideboard between 1-2 copies I think but it's a bit narrow, only hitting a small number of match-ups.
Reflector Mage just feels so good in all honesty. Kelvin put 4 copies in his Vizier Knightfall deck at the GP. It adds a lot more interactive elements to the deck. A lot of the current metagame is being dominated by creature based decks, Death's Shadow, Vizier Combo, Eldrazi, elves, affinity, and dredge to name a few. Having more than Path to Exile and creature combat to deal with your opponents synergies takes a boat load off the demand the deck has on those cards and Spell Queller. Maybe running 3 Reflector Mage/1 Vendilion Clique is correct though.
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
Like 14 decks
Knightfall WURG
Nissa seems a bit medium in this deck. If you want a card that doesn't get hit off Collected Company then you probably want to play Vizier of the Menagerie.
Mana Dorks to Vizier of the Menagerie = Lands to Courser of Kruphix.
Playing Lands AND Mana Dorks are huge to the amount of mana you can use. A lot of the time with Knight of the Reliquary, you're taking so much lands out of your deck, alongside the assitance of Courser of Kruphix, that you often have only 4-5 lands in play. You're either drawing gas or you're drawing Mana Dorks. With Vizier, you fix this issue entirely. Tthe excess Mana Dorks act as lands, giving you more mana available to do things like cracking clues, casting creatures, all the while floating mana for Collected Company or Spell Queller.
This is not to say you should include Vizier, but it's certainly a much more attractive option than Nissa.
4 Reflector Mage is so FUQN GOOD THO. CLIQUE IS OK.
I also believe that as well, but it's hard to find the space for Scavenging Ooze. Still testing though.
Rhonas is bad here.
Courser is vital to the deck. If you want more Aggressive options having 4 Tireless Tracker (basically copies 5-8 of Knight of the Reliquary) would be perfect for aggression and board dominance.
I also believe that Reflector Mage shouldn't be cut. It's actually excellent in modern. The Format is being dominated by Creature based decks right now. Being able to decimate their board state and tempo them out, all the while developing your board with gigantic Knights and Trackers, drawing so many cards, holding up mana for CoCo and Queller, and shenanigans from Knight of the Reliquary (all of this thanks to the Mana available from Lotus Cobra, Mana dorks, Courser, and Knight of the Reliquary) is so powerful.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Mono-U Control
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath
Sen Triplets
Mizzix of the Izmagnus
Derevi Stax
VolThrun
Marchesa, The Black Rose
Olivia Voldaren, Vampire Tribal
Modern: Fish, JUND/Junk
--------
RIP Twin
I'm new to this thread. Can you post your list?
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
2 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Eternal Witness
4 Reflector Mage
1 Walking Ballista
Spells 7:
3 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
Enchantments 2:
2 Retreat to Coralhelm
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Stomping Ground
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Gavony Township
1 Horizon Canopy
3 Izzet Staticaster
3 Unified Will
3 Path to Exile
2 Meddling Mage
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Burrenton Forge-tender
1 Qasali Pridemage
// 27 Creature
3 Vizier of Remedies
4 Devoted Druid
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Birds of Paradise
3 Spell Queller
3 Eternal Witness
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Reflector Mage
// 2 Enchantment
2 Retreat to Coralhelm
// 10 Instant
4 Collected Company
3 Chord of Calling
3 Path to Exile
// 21 Land
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Temple Garden
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Gavony Township
2 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Arid Mesa
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Reflector Mage
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Selfless Spirit
// 2 Enchantment
2 Stony Silence
// 3 Instant
2 Unified Will
1 Negate
// 2 Land
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Ghost Quarter
The idea is simple: integrate the Vizier combo with minimal impact to the main Knightfall plan. No Duskwatch Recruiter-Ballista nonsense: I can Chord straight into Rhonas the Indomitable, Coco into it, or use Kessig Wolf-Run for infinite damage. I'm taking a middle ground between Eli Kassis' list and Kelvin Chew's by running 3 Vizier of Remedies.
The Knightfall plan is largely intact: 4 Knight, 2 Retreat, 7 dorks, 3 paths, and 3 Spell Queller. I'm running 21 lands rather than the usual 22 to compensate for the fact that there are 11 manadorks counting Devoted Druid. The fact that there are 4 utility lands helps mitigate mana flooding. We unfortunately lose out on Tireless Tracker and Courser of Kruphix value, and Vendillion Clique is totally impossible for us to cast, but that's ok because we have Eternal Witness value instead! Witness was already a totally reasonable option, and now it helps us combo off and use all out mana every turn. It's great and it would not be unreasonable to try and fit in a fourth.
Reflector Mage and Scavenging Ooze are our toolbox package. Spellskite, Qasali Pridemage and Selfless Spirit, among others, could all fit in that slot as well depending on the meta.
Though I'm in no way knocking Eli Kassis' and Kelvin Chew's builds here (both are brilliant players), the main advantage of this list over their lists, in my opinion, is that we get to keep Path to Exile and Spell Queller.
Path is arguably the best removal spell in modern at the moment. There's a reason it's the most-played spell in the format at the moment. It permanently deals with threats from all of the top decks: Death's Shadow, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Thought-Knot Seer, Endbringer, Goblin Electromancer, not to mention Kitchen Finks and Devoted Druid (though note that Druid can self-destruct to avoid being exiled). There's just no way cutting Path is right.
As for Spell Queller, it's catch-all disruption, and it increases the density of instant-speed threats, making our deck trickier and less predictable. Holding up mana could mean Queller, Path, Company, Chord, or (postboard) countermagic, Izzet Staticaster. It's a great card that basically singlehandedly propelled Knightfall from obscurity to a tier 1.5 deck that's well-respected.
What's really notable is the synergy between the two strategies:
So in conclusion, I really like this build and I think it does have legs. It's definitely better against linear decks that don't interact. This being said, the real casualty here is Voice of Resurgence, which might be the best card we have in the Death's Shadow matchup. With shadow, and Grixis Shadow especially, being potentially the most threatening deck in the format, it might be that the traditional list is better positioned at the moment.
Those are just my thoughts. I welcome your opinions and constructive criticism.
GWU Knightfall Spirit Company GWU
GWB Abzan Evolution GWB
Looks like we are on similar lists. Rhonas vs Ballista is sort of a preference thing, as they usually do the exact same thing in a combo context. Only thing that stops Rhonas is double removal spell. I've opted for the Ballista myself, as even though you don't get it off of Chord or CoCo ever, it's useful as a removal spell in match-ups like Affinity. Might test Rhonas as well and see which I prefer. Another note about your list is a small sideboard thing. 2x Stony in the board when you have 4 CoCos and 3 Chords is a bit odd. Kataki fits better in decks like this because of how easy it is to find him. You'll be kicking yourself if you can chord for 2 vs Affinity and you don't have him. Here's my list:
1x Walking Ballista
3x Birds of Paradise
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Devoted Druid
2x Duskwatch Recruiter
4x Vizier of Remedies
3x Eternal Witness
4x Knight of the Reliquary
4x Spell Queller
4x Chord of Calling
2x Retreat to Coralhelm
4x Collected Company
Lands
1x Botanical Sanctum
1x Breeding Pool
3x Forest
2x Gavony Township
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Kessig Wolf Run
2x Misty Rainforest
1x Plains
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
3x Wooded Foothills
Adding the Vizier/Druid combo shifts us from a mix of grinding and "combo" to a lot of combo. Hence, my mainboard is all in on the combo plan, cutting paths and moving them to the board for games 2 and 3 where we can switch to a more reactive strategy if we need to. Generally, this is preference as well. I see it as game 1 you need to focus on your plan, then games 2 and 3 you can react to what you are playing against.
I saw the Reddit Post about this. Honestly the fact that it comes into play tapped makes it pretty bad IMO, not to mention that bolting yourself in the face can be pretty terrible unless you're winning that turn. If you're after haste you're probably better off with Hanweir Battlements or Slayer's Stronghold. Honestly though utility land slots are limited; I'd much rather play 2 Kessig personally, or Gavony, Ghost Quarter
GWU Knightfall Spirit Company GWU
GWB Abzan Evolution GWB
Wondering things like- reflector mage main? Maybe Eternal witness main since so many thoughtsieze and IoK decks? How many trackers ppl running? What are peoples 2 drop suite like? We still on 8 dorks or back to 7? Should we expect Gravedigger's cage after SB every match? Any interesting sideboard plans? I know you've been on the lotus plan bento, so i can test with that and see how it goes. current list for me: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/07-03-17-Eul-bant-knightfall/ I feel a little greedy with 12 3 drops and 7 dorks, but i really love tracker and want to have it most matches I'm playing, yet courser is too good not to have 2 also. My dorks usually die in my meta immediately so i went down to 7, maybe thats not right though.