Like ppkitty said, the "cast" trigger is a bit of an issue. When SOI first came out and I was giving Thraben Inspector and Bygone Bishop a try, the card draw of clues felt great for digging into gas, but Bishop only getting value off "cast" really cut into its usefulness. Granted, the Monument won't eat a Bolt, but you're still probably getting "cast" value off about 1/2 your creature ETBs at best.
Secondly, a Thalia-taxed 3cmc spell is a big upfront mana-sink of an investment, since the creature discount and token generation are unlikely to start paying off until the next turn or even later. I guess it might fall somewhere between a Sword and a Planeswalker in terms of upfront investment: no equip cost is nice but your payoff isn't as strong as a Sword's payoff; also, you aren't guaranteed one good (potentially game-winning) activation the way you are when you resolve a 'walker.
That dedicated UW Monument list, having no Thalias and plenty of card draw synergies, seems far better suited (than D&T) to running the artifact. SaffronOlive's mention of WU Emeria sounds like it could make sense there too, and Chalupacabra's Soul Sisters idea seems right on since they hardcast everything anyways and it's pretty comparable to Genesis Chamber which pops into those lists from time to time.
First time poster here, but took the time to read most of your posts along this thread. I am a rather new player of Mono W Death And taxes. Started to play Modern 4 months ago. My results are mitigated at the moment, but working to improve it. I always loved white, and I definitely enjoy playing this deck a lot!
I had a question regarding the new cards from Hour of Devastation. I was considering giving a try to Hostile Desert as a one of. As we're playing 4 Ghost Quarter and 4 Tectonic Edge and some Horizon Canopy, we'll surely have land cards in our graveyard at some point, and a 3/4 creature for 2 is always difficult to manage for the opponent. What's your thoughts about it? You probably have a better understanding from the whole deck and environment than I do.
I'm also working on a Mono-W with a U microsplash. I'll post a list here in thr next days, so that I can hear your feedback about it.
Cheers
Brian Coval, in the SGC Invitational final, takes out Wayfarer, Revoker and one Vial to introduce 2 relics and 1 Mirran. So I think changing 3 cards is the way to go. You don't want to disrupt your main core plan.
this week I will be trying mono-white eldrazi (yet again) now that we have a little help from shefet dunes. A few notes, blade splicer may be better than matter reshaper in the sly but I have run the deck with splicer in the past and not with reshaper, so I would like to at least test it out. Also spirit of the labyrinth (and single geier reach) may be s little too cute, but spirit is an aggressive 2 drop that can slow certain decks down sand has good synergy with thought-knot seer. Also lone missionary over other choices due to less white producing lands and 4 life per blink right away.
First time poster here, but took the time to read most of your posts along this thread. I am a rather new player of Mono W Death And taxes. Started to play Modern 4 months ago. My results are mitigated at the moment, but working to improve it. I always loved white, and I definitely enjoy playing this deck a lot!
I had a question regarding the new cards from Hour of Devastation. I was considering giving a try to Hostile Desert as a one of. As we're playing 4 Ghost Quarter and 4 Tectonic Edge and some Horizon Canopy, we'll surely have land cards in our graveyard at some point, and a 3/4 creature for 2 is always difficult to manage for the opponent. What's your thoughts about it? You probably have a better understanding from the whole deck and environment than I do.
I'm also working on a Mono-W with a U microsplash. I'll post a list here in thr next days, so that I can hear your feedback about it.
Cheers
Most of the others here have far more experience with the deck then me so hopefully they will chime in as well on this.
I did try running 2 hostile deserts for a couple of days but it didn't work out well(granted I don't actually have horizon canopy). What I found was that in the match ups I was using most of my land destruction I didn't usually have the extra 2 mana to activate the desert and cast my spells.
The issue is in the match ups you want to use land destruction most heavily you also want to be aggressive so better to use your mana and vial to get two creatures on the board a turn.
I could see if you had the canopies and where in a long grindy match up it would be nice but I just never really had that happen (I mostly play on MTGO so I see mostly brews, tron and burn).
How do you approach sideboarding in the grixis shadow matchup? I feel like there are several ways to go about it, keeping vials in or not, taking relics in or staying with the maindeck +1 mirran -1 phyrexian revoker.
I personally take vials out bring rest in peace in (but not cage) since it nerfs not only snapcaster but delve threats as well. Then bring in whatever hat's to deal with threats I have planeswalker, crusader etc..and burrenton/ mark of asylum against anger. the vial is a hard choice, but between them having hate for it, their counter spells are mostly for non-creatures and horrible top deck when both are playing of the top, i have come to the conclusion that for me and the way I pilot the deck it is the correct choice. for example aty the pptq last weekend I sided like this. -4 vial, -2 flickerwisp, -1 dryad militant +2 dismember +2 mark of asylum, +2 rest in peace +1 dusk// dawn. I didn't have extra threats versus them since the stock list seemed well positioned with the 2 md Gideons. Mark helps over burrenton since it shuts down izzet staticaster as well.
I did not have any Horizon Canopies at the time so I tried out some other speculative cards.
Hostile Desert had some interesting results. Generally it ate a removal spell because I don't think many opposing players knew how to handle it properly. The activation cost on it is very real. Often times I would only get 1 activation a game out of it, but the threat of the activation definitely impacted my opponent's decisions. As a side benefit, Hostile Desert is, well, a desert which works well with my next card choice.
Shefet Dunes over-performed for me. Most of the time it is just a colorless source, but every now and then it will help finish the game off. I think 2 is the correct number. I imagine going forward I will want a 2/2 split on Shefet Dunes and Horizon Canopy.
Sea Gate Wreckage was just aweful. If I was empty handed and draw a creature, I basically couldn't use the Wreckage that turn because of the mana constraints. This has been cut from my deck now that I finally have 1 Horizon Canopy.
My matches:
Round 1 - Naya Planeswalkers Prison. This was an interesting take on the typical R/W prison deck that splashed green for Tarmogoyf beatdown. Game 1 I manage to do the whole Resto flicker Arbiter trick after they pay for the Arbiter before fetching to strand my opponent on two lands. They were never able to get anything going before they die. Game 2 I totally miss-sideboard because I had no idea what they were on and got crushed. Game 3 I got a bit lucky with him flooding out and not drawing enough action.
Round 2 - Jeskai Control. I figured this deck would be a bit of a struggle to play against and I was correct. Game 1 I get ground down with spot removal on my creatures and finished off by a couple of Snapcasters and bolts to the dome. Game 2 I get a particularly aggressive draw and manage to keep him off balance before a sweeper could get me. Game 3 I'm down to my final creature in play, a Flickerwisp, him empty handed and at 4 life but me facing lethal on the next turn, top deck Shefet Dunes for the win!
Round 3 - Grixis Death's Shadow. Again Shefet Dunes takes game 1 for me, pumping my team for lethal. Game 2 he draws 2 Fatal Push for my creatures and Snap/Fatal Pushes a third creature. I manage to keep an Angel in play going to attack for the win with him at one card in hand - the third Fatal Push. Game 3 - he didn't have much pressure. I path an Angler and he floods out without playing another threat.
Round 4 - Eldrazi Tron. Game 1 - I keep a slow hand and get punished by an Endbringer. Game 2 - He got slightly mana screwed and a Stony Silence keeps him from being able to use any maps to get out of it. Game 3 I manage to keep him off balance and stuck at 4 mana. He shows me his hand before conceding of two Reality Smashers an Endbringer and an Ulamog.
Round 5 - Titan Shift. Game 1 - He got mana screwed and I am able to finish him off before he can get the Valakut train going. Game 2 - I do crazy things with Flickerwisp and 3 Restoration Angels to try and keep him off Mountains/Valakuts but Prime Time is too much. Game 3 - We were both mana screwed, but I had a Vial and manage to draw out of the mana screw first.
All in all, got really lucky with top decks and opponent mana screw winning me games, which is kind of what this deck does.
“Modern has provided us a non-rotating format that is far more accessible than Legacy or Vintage, but still retains many of the qualities that people enjoy in those formats—such as a more stable metagame, the ability to play and tweak the same deck week after week, and simply a much more powerful card pool than Standard.”
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
A bit of a weird question, but what decks out there are playing Blood Moon? It seems really fringe right now.
Trying to decide what I can get away with.
Edit: Also wondering, for those who play swords, what you're favoring in the current meta?
Blood moon seems to have about an average appearance right now in deck's 75 IMO. As of sword with the current removal being seen I would run light and shadow if I jammed a sword, but with k-command being a dominant card right now I wouldn't currently run since 5-6 mana investment to get on a creature can lead to a blowout, and when I ran it usually seemed like a win more card, although occasionally versus midrange decks they can win you the top deck war.
Stock list I guess but 2 Dark Confidants in the MB makes me think if it's worth running a couple of them, 73% of the E&T lista in MTGGoldfish run 2 copies. Do you think is a card that we need? I know we need a card draw engine but in this deck with high average of CMC cards Dark Confidant maybe is a little clunky. Is there any other good draw engine or should I play the 2 Dark Confidants?
Dark confidant is the best draw engine for DnT as it requires no real investment (in terms of mana, triggers or blinks) and our CMCs are so low. I have been playing a bit of both mono white (with displacers instead of restos) and BW EnT with confidants. The confidants do really help for the longer games but as with all dark confidant decks you need to be able to close games and control the board. Controlling the board can also be difficult as we have no real filtering to find specific threats and only run 4 removal spells, which part of what makes wasteland strangler so good in this version of the deck (it is also just down right nasty to use it to kill a suspended card like ancestral). You also don't have a lot of ways to kill your confidant in a pinch.
I have found that a fair number of the games I loose when playing mono white I have no cards in hand (although I am still new to the deck). With BW I still loose but am far less often finding I am run out of cards. All that said I still prefer mono white just due to manabase.
What I would really love is a white 2-3 cmc creature that made clues when a creature entered the battlefield.
Hey, so I've just recently put together a GW Death & Taxes build, and I've been enjoying some success with it, recently going 3-1 at a local store. Here's the current decklist:
The manabase still has a couple fetches which isn't ideal, but I wasn't sure how else to make sure I have enough green sources. I will probably just replace them with Temple Gardens if I can get them. I really liked the idea of the minor green splash: Renegade Rallier is ridiculous in this deck, being able to bring back a disruptive creature or land is value town. I've also really like the Excavator, although it isn't the strongest and you don't want multiples so one is fine. Happy to hear any advice or critique on the decklist, it will certainly keep evolving.
I also had one topic for discussion I wanted to raise. I've found myself with a choice on turn two often: Thalia or Arbiter. How do you decide which to play out first? I'd guess I'll get a feel for it when I get more reps with the deck, but I'm curious to hear others thoughts.
Ad far as Thalia versus arbiter it is very match up dependant. With vial I usually hard cast Thalia t2 since the arbiter is better at instant speed. On the play versus a few decks I know runs 10+ fetches i may decide to see if arbiter hurts them bad by slamming t2. Also against scapeshift decks I will run out arbiter first since it's a more relevant tax early. But if you are not very experienced I would say drop Thalia first until you are more experienced against the field to make well-informed decision.
Stock list I guess but 2 Dark Confidants in the MB makes me think if it's worth running a couple of them, 73% of the E&T lista in MTGGoldfish run 2 copies. Do you think is a card that we need? I know we need a card draw engine but in this deck with high average of CMC cards Dark Confidant maybe is a little clunky. Is there any other good draw engine or should I play the 2 Dark Confidants?
I have been on this deck for a few tourney's and the 2 bobs have been very good, I generally only side them out against hyper ago and burn. helped me win a game against Bant Eldrazi last night in fact in last round to finish 4-1, in fact I have been running the exact same main deck as the 14th place deck for 6 weeks, sideboard differs but that should always be flexible.
I have been on this deck for a few tourney's and the 2 bobs have been very good, I generally only side them out against hyper ago and burn. helped me win a game against Bant Eldrazi last night in fact in last round to finish 4-1, in fact I have been running the exact same main deck as the 14th place deck for 6 weeks, sideboard differs but that should always be flexible.
What keeps me from playing BW is my fear of blood moon. Doesn't it just kill us on the spot if we don't have vial or they kill the vial? We can't play fetches and the chance you actually have a disenchant is small.
I also had one topic for discussion I wanted to raise. I've found myself with a choice on turn two often: Thalia or Arbiter. How do you decide which to play out first? I'd guess I'll get a feel for it when I get more reps with the deck, but I'm curious to hear others thoughts.
As HugeElfBoy said it is match up dependent. He is also very right about arbiter being better at instant speed. In games two and three you will have a better idea of how much they need to fetch/search. In game one you would have to try to guess their deck based on the first 1-2 lands and any spells they play.
Just to expand on HugeElfBoy saying cast Thalia first till you get more experience...
In the dark if you have no idea what they are playing Thalia is the safest and on average will have the most impact. Even if they turn out to be a creature deck Thalia still has first strike and will limit there removal or their ability to play a removal spell and a creature in the same turn. Thalia also doesn't really do anything special at instant speed so unless you are worried about a counter better to hard cast and save the vial for something else.
Hey everyone ling time death and taxes player here but I recently picked the deck back up and playing multiple death shadow variants and other decks but death and taxes always holds my heart. I'm running a stock mono white list except in my flex slots I want to try out the 2/1 for 2 that makes your opponents creatures come into play tapped. Forgetting the name right now.
It seems like it would help win races and help against other bigger creature decks. Also helps in the e-tron matchup as it slows down blockers and reality smasher can't smash. Has anyone tried or had any results with the card thank you
Hey everyone ling time death and taxes player here but I recently picked the deck back up and playing multiple death shadow variants and other decks but death and taxes always holds my heart. I'm running a stock mono white list except in my flex slots I want to try out the 2/1 for 2 that makes your opponents creatures come into play tapped. Forgetting the name right now.
It seems like it would help win races and help against other bigger creature decks. Also helps in the e-tron matchup as it slows down blockers and reality smasher can't smash. Has anyone tried or had any results with the card thank you
Imposing sovereign is an interesting choice. I find people try and remove our creatures rather than chump (except occasional nahiri deck.) For this effect I would prefer Thalia, heretic cathar it comes down a turn later (but you would want to play other tax effects first), thalia can also help pinch opponents mana (but often too late to make a giant difference on this front) and is MUCH better in combat.
I streamed mono-white Eldrazi and Taxes last nite. I highly recommend. He king the video out. I played two leagues and found some great results, overall.
Secondly, a Thalia-taxed 3cmc spell is a big upfront mana-sink of an investment, since the creature discount and token generation are unlikely to start paying off until the next turn or even later. I guess it might fall somewhere between a Sword and a Planeswalker in terms of upfront investment: no equip cost is nice but your payoff isn't as strong as a Sword's payoff; also, you aren't guaranteed one good (potentially game-winning) activation the way you are when you resolve a 'walker.
That dedicated UW Monument list, having no Thalias and plenty of card draw synergies, seems far better suited (than D&T) to running the artifact. SaffronOlive's mention of WU Emeria sounds like it could make sense there too, and Chalupacabra's Soul Sisters idea seems right on since they hardcast everything anyways and it's pretty comparable to Genesis Chamber which pops into those lists from time to time.
First time poster here, but took the time to read most of your posts along this thread. I am a rather new player of Mono W Death And taxes. Started to play Modern 4 months ago. My results are mitigated at the moment, but working to improve it. I always loved white, and I definitely enjoy playing this deck a lot!
I had a question regarding the new cards from Hour of Devastation. I was considering giving a try to Hostile Desert as a one of. As we're playing 4 Ghost Quarter and 4 Tectonic Edge and some Horizon Canopy, we'll surely have land cards in our graveyard at some point, and a 3/4 creature for 2 is always difficult to manage for the opponent. What's your thoughts about it? You probably have a better understanding from the whole deck and environment than I do.
I'm also working on a Mono-W with a U microsplash. I'll post a list here in thr next days, so that I can hear your feedback about it.
Cheers
4 leonin arbiter
4 Thalia, guardian of thraben
2 spirit of the labyrinth
4 flickerwisp
4 matter reshaper
4 Eldrazi displacer
1 aven mindcensor
4 thought-knot seer
2 reality smasher
4 path to exile
4 aether vial
Lands 23
4 ghost quarter
4 Eldrazi temple
1 geier reach sanitarium
4 shefet dunes
1 cavern of souls
9 plains
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Dismember
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Lone Missionary
2 Mark of Asylum
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Most of the others here have far more experience with the deck then me so hopefully they will chime in as well on this.
I did try running 2 hostile deserts for a couple of days but it didn't work out well(granted I don't actually have horizon canopy). What I found was that in the match ups I was using most of my land destruction I didn't usually have the extra 2 mana to activate the desert and cast my spells.
The issue is in the match ups you want to use land destruction most heavily you also want to be aggressive so better to use your mana and vial to get two creatures on the board a turn.
I could see if you had the canopies and where in a long grindy match up it would be nice but I just never really had that happen (I mostly play on MTGO so I see mostly brews, tron and burn).
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/723095#online
Thoughts on some of the choices.
I did not have any Horizon Canopies at the time so I tried out some other speculative cards.
Hostile Desert had some interesting results. Generally it ate a removal spell because I don't think many opposing players knew how to handle it properly. The activation cost on it is very real. Often times I would only get 1 activation a game out of it, but the threat of the activation definitely impacted my opponent's decisions. As a side benefit, Hostile Desert is, well, a desert which works well with my next card choice.
Shefet Dunes over-performed for me. Most of the time it is just a colorless source, but every now and then it will help finish the game off. I think 2 is the correct number. I imagine going forward I will want a 2/2 split on Shefet Dunes and Horizon Canopy.
Sea Gate Wreckage was just aweful. If I was empty handed and draw a creature, I basically couldn't use the Wreckage that turn because of the mana constraints. This has been cut from my deck now that I finally have 1 Horizon Canopy.
My matches:
Round 1 - Naya Planeswalkers Prison. This was an interesting take on the typical R/W prison deck that splashed green for Tarmogoyf beatdown. Game 1 I manage to do the whole Resto flicker Arbiter trick after they pay for the Arbiter before fetching to strand my opponent on two lands. They were never able to get anything going before they die. Game 2 I totally miss-sideboard because I had no idea what they were on and got crushed. Game 3 I got a bit lucky with him flooding out and not drawing enough action.
Round 2 - Jeskai Control. I figured this deck would be a bit of a struggle to play against and I was correct. Game 1 I get ground down with spot removal on my creatures and finished off by a couple of Snapcasters and bolts to the dome. Game 2 I get a particularly aggressive draw and manage to keep him off balance before a sweeper could get me. Game 3 I'm down to my final creature in play, a Flickerwisp, him empty handed and at 4 life but me facing lethal on the next turn, top deck Shefet Dunes for the win!
Round 3 - Grixis Death's Shadow. Again Shefet Dunes takes game 1 for me, pumping my team for lethal. Game 2 he draws 2 Fatal Push for my creatures and Snap/Fatal Pushes a third creature. I manage to keep an Angel in play going to attack for the win with him at one card in hand - the third Fatal Push. Game 3 - he didn't have much pressure. I path an Angler and he floods out without playing another threat.
Round 4 - Eldrazi Tron. Game 1 - I keep a slow hand and get punished by an Endbringer. Game 2 - He got slightly mana screwed and a Stony Silence keeps him from being able to use any maps to get out of it. Game 3 I manage to keep him off balance and stuck at 4 mana. He shows me his hand before conceding of two Reality Smashers an Endbringer and an Ulamog.
Round 5 - Titan Shift. Game 1 - He got mana screwed and I am able to finish him off before he can get the Valakut train going. Game 2 - I do crazy things with Flickerwisp and 3 Restoration Angels to try and keep him off Mountains/Valakuts but Prime Time is too much. Game 3 - We were both mana screwed, but I had a Vial and manage to draw out of the mana screw first.
All in all, got really lucky with top decks and opponent mana screw winning me games, which is kind of what this deck does.
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
@hugeelfboy I'm probably gunna run white drazi in support of your testing this week. Message me for a good night to collab!
WWModern Death And Taxes (w/ Militia Bugler) (JUL '19)
GWModern Maverick (JUL '19)
WBCatmix on Twitch!
WWCatmix on Youtube
Trying to decide what I can get away with.
Edit: Also wondering, for those who play swords, what you're favoring in the current meta?
- Sam Stoddard, “Developing Modern” (June 21, 2013) (by means of Sheridan Lardner, "Fixing Modern: Defining Format Mission (March 16, 2016))
How to Use Spoiler Tags
Starting Over: The Origins of the Mulligan Rule
Practical Approach to Slow Play
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 2: SWARM and TOOLBOX
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 3
THE Guide to Aggro, Part 4
These videos are by MTG Salvation Moderator Lantern!
Introduction to Tempo
Controlling Tempo
Elements of Tempo
Roadblocks to Tempo
How Not To Build A Deck - Tempo
Learn How To Sideboard, Dammit!
Mulligan's Island
The Art of the Mulligan
The Art of the Mulligan: Eight Case Studies
Fundamentals: The Mulligan
Some Mulligan Exercises
A Mulligan Is Worth Three Cards
The Mulligan Debate
Common Sense: The Art of the Mulligan
Who's The Beatdown?
3 Caves of Koilos
3 Eldrazi Temple
2 Fetid Heath
3 Godless Shrine
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Plains
3 Shambling Vent
2 Tectonic Edge
Artifacts (4):
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
Creatures (29):
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Fiend Hunter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Tidehollow Sculler
3 Wasteland Strangler
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
3 Surgical Extraction
3 Flooded Strand
6 Island
3 Polluted Delta
3 Steam Vents
3 Sulfur Falls
Creatures (16):
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Stormchaser Mage
2 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Mutagenic Growth
3 Spell Pierce
3 Twisted Image
3 Vapor Snag
Sorceries (8):
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
1 Forked Bolt
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Repeal
2 Roast
1 Spell Snare
2 Spellskite
1 Vapor Snag
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Copperline Gorge
5 Mountain
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
4 Wooded Foothills
Creatures (14):
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Guide
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Atarka's Command
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Lightning Helix
3 Searing Blaze
Sorceries (8):
4 Lava Spike
4 Rift Bolt
2 Deflecting Palm
4 Destructive Revelry
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Path to Exile
2 Rending Volley
3 Skullcrack
19 Forest
3 Treetop Village
Creatures (24):
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Dryad Militant
2 Dungrove Elder
4 Experiment One
4 Leatherback Baloth
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Rancor
Instants (10):
3 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Dismember
2 Choke
2 Gut Shot
2 Deglamer
2 Feed the Clan
2 Oxidize
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Skylasher
1 Unravel the Æther
Blood moon seems to have about an average appearance right now in deck's 75 IMO. As of sword with the current removal being seen I would run light and shadow if I jammed a sword, but with k-command being a dominant card right now I wouldn't currently run since 5-6 mana investment to get on a creature can lead to a blowout, and when I ran it usually seemed like a win more card, although occasionally versus midrange decks they can win you the top deck war.
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Dark confidant is the best draw engine for DnT as it requires no real investment (in terms of mana, triggers or blinks) and our CMCs are so low. I have been playing a bit of both mono white (with displacers instead of restos) and BW EnT with confidants. The confidants do really help for the longer games but as with all dark confidant decks you need to be able to close games and control the board. Controlling the board can also be difficult as we have no real filtering to find specific threats and only run 4 removal spells, which part of what makes wasteland strangler so good in this version of the deck (it is also just down right nasty to use it to kill a suspended card like ancestral). You also don't have a lot of ways to kill your confidant in a pinch.
I have found that a fair number of the games I loose when playing mono white I have no cards in hand (although I am still new to the deck). With BW I still loose but am far less often finding I am run out of cards. All that said I still prefer mono white just due to manabase.
What I would really love is a white 2-3 cmc creature that made clues when a creature entered the battlefield.
2 Gavony Township
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Horizon Canopy
3 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple Garden
2 Windswept Heath
Spells (8)
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
Creatures(29)
3 Thraben Inspector
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Ramunap Excavator
2 Renegade Rallier
4 Restoration Angel
2 Dismember
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mirran Crusader
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Stony Silence
2 Wrath of God
The manabase still has a couple fetches which isn't ideal, but I wasn't sure how else to make sure I have enough green sources. I will probably just replace them with Temple Gardens if I can get them. I really liked the idea of the minor green splash: Renegade Rallier is ridiculous in this deck, being able to bring back a disruptive creature or land is value town. I've also really like the Excavator, although it isn't the strongest and you don't want multiples so one is fine. Happy to hear any advice or critique on the decklist, it will certainly keep evolving.
I also had one topic for discussion I wanted to raise. I've found myself with a choice on turn two often: Thalia or Arbiter. How do you decide which to play out first? I'd guess I'll get a feel for it when I get more reps with the deck, but I'm curious to hear others thoughts.
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
I have been on this deck for a few tourney's and the 2 bobs have been very good, I generally only side them out against hyper ago and burn. helped me win a game against Bant Eldrazi last night in fact in last round to finish 4-1, in fact I have been running the exact same main deck as the 14th place deck for 6 weeks, sideboard differs but that should always be flexible.
What keeps me from playing BW is my fear of blood moon. Doesn't it just kill us on the spot if we don't have vial or they kill the vial? We can't play fetches and the chance you actually have a disenchant is small.
As HugeElfBoy said it is match up dependent. He is also very right about arbiter being better at instant speed. In games two and three you will have a better idea of how much they need to fetch/search. In game one you would have to try to guess their deck based on the first 1-2 lands and any spells they play.
Just to expand on HugeElfBoy saying cast Thalia first till you get more experience...
In the dark if you have no idea what they are playing Thalia is the safest and on average will have the most impact. Even if they turn out to be a creature deck Thalia still has first strike and will limit there removal or their ability to play a removal spell and a creature in the same turn. Thalia also doesn't really do anything special at instant speed so unless you are worried about a counter better to hard cast and save the vial for something else.
It seems like it would help win races and help against other bigger creature decks. Also helps in the e-tron matchup as it slows down blockers and reality smasher can't smash. Has anyone tried or had any results with the card thank you
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
I streamed mono-white Eldrazi and Taxes last nite. I highly recommend. He king the video out. I played two leagues and found some great results, overall.
WWModern Death And Taxes (w/ Militia Bugler) (JUL '19)
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