To some of the more experienced Elves players: how many Vizier of Remedies is the right number in the combo Elves version? I know most lists are running a singleton, but wouldn't a full play set be much better? Even without the win in hand it provides us with so much value, being able to cast every card we hold. Only downside I can see is that we would have to shave a few Elves off our list, and I don't want to tarnish the deck because of that. Would appreciate some advice.
As mentioned by someone else, Vizier seems to be best as a singleton because of Elf-synergy. It's not a card that is necessary to win every game, or even necessarily one game per match. It just has the ability to do so in a pinch. I still win a majority of my games without it, and drawing it most of the time it would be a dead draw. Without Devoted Druid it is literally useless.
I agree with this statement. Postboard against grindy decks packed with removal I actually take out the combo pcs + 1 ezuri to have effective threats coming in. 0 power creatures is not what you want to be casting against these type of decks and vizier has no synergy without the druids.
To some of the more experienced Elves players: how many Vizier of Remedies is the right number in the combo Elves version? I know most lists are running a singleton, but wouldn't a full play set be much better? Even without the win in hand it provides us with so much value, being able to cast every card we hold. Only downside I can see is that we would have to shave a few Elves off our list, and I don't want to tarnish the deck because of that. Would appreciate some advice.
As mentioned by someone else, Vizier seems to be best as a singleton because of Elf-synergy. It's not a card that is necessary to win every game, or even necessarily one game per match. It just has the ability to do so in a pinch. I still win a majority of my games without it, and drawing it most of the time it would be a dead draw. Without Devoted Druid it is literally useless.
I agree with this statement. Postboard against grindy decks packed with removal I actually take out the combo pcs + 1 ezuri to have effective threats coming in. 0 power creatures is not what you want to be casting against these type of decks and vizier has no synergy without the druids.
I find that interesting. When I played Shaman I would sometimes bring in Ezuri from the board in the grindy matches. I'd often get up in land count so being able to drop a creature to blank or force a removal spell, while threatening to end the game seemed good.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"We have been patient. We have planned our attack. We are ready... now."
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
Somehow I completely missed the card Lifecrafter's Bestiary. It has truly been a standout in my testing so far (I replaced Lead the Stampede with it), and it goes bonkers with infinite mana.
4 ezuri is a lil too much when you're not trying to combo off imo. You don't want to get stuck with multiples in your opening hand because generally speaking you want ezuri as a finisher. On that note, aking out 1-2 chords instead of the 4th ezuri could also be good.
4 ezuri is a lil too much when you're not trying to combo off imo. You don't want to get stuck with multiples in your opening hand because generally speaking you want ezuri as a finisher. On that note, aking out 1-2 chords instead of the 4th ezuri could also be good.
Ah, I only play 3 Ezuri main. And when I was boarding him in it was the 3rd Ezuri with two main.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"We have been patient. We have planned our attack. We are ready... now."
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
4 ezuri is a lil too much when you're not trying to combo off imo. You don't want to get stuck with multiples in your opening hand because generally speaking you want ezuri as a finisher. On that note, aking out 1-2 chords instead of the 4th ezuri could also be good.
Ah, I only play 3 Ezuri main. And when I was boarding him in it was the 3rd Ezuri with two main.
That make sense now, heh.
Are you running shamans without the combo? The reason I'm asking is because I built a list recently that I'm going to build once my gilt leaf arrive but I'm skeptical about 17 lands. I feel like it's okay because the druids are extra mana sources that stock shamans don't have but I'll have to be conservative on how many druids I take out postboard. Another reason why I think 17 lands is okay is because I've seen pros side out the 1-of westvale abbey sometimes which makes me believe it's doable. What do you think?
Are you running shamans without the combo? The reason I'm asking is because I built a list recently that I'm going to build once my gilt leaf arrive but I'm skeptical about 17 lands. I feel like it's okay because the druids are extra mana sources that stock shamans don't have but I'll have to be conservative on how many druids I take out postboard. Another reason why I think 17 lands is okay is because I've seen pros side out the 1-of westvale abbey sometimes which makes me believe it's doable. What do you think?
Right now I either run the Combo or I run Shaman for the same slots. I really don't feel like I miss Shaman when I have the combo.
I was going to make a big long post detailing the statistics, but I decided to make this short and sweet. I will be testing 17 lands because the statistics look fairly promising, but will be adding a 3rd Visionary which will still help in the consistency.
As far as Abzan Elves, I would recommend 18 lands due to the higher curve and the necessity of getting larger boards and casting Collected Companys.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"We have been patient. We have planned our attack. We are ready... now."
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
Has anyone done anymore work on throne of the god pharaoh? If so how has it been performing?
Card is certainly strong against grindy decks but is usually too slow versus other linear or combo decks. It shines in Lead cores that can grind games down but is easily cut from Abzan and GW lists.
Has anyone done anymore work on throne of the god pharaoh? If so how has it been performing?
Played with it as a one of in mainboard (Green-Black) and I've found myself sideboarding it out a lot. When it hits the board early, it can chip in nicely. But as Larriepogi said, too slow against aggro and other linear decks.
It's also legendary so having multiple copies to increases the odds of drawing one is negated by the fact that you can only have one copy on the battlefield.
So is throne decent sideboard material then? Would it be good to side in against non-fast aggro decks?
To answer that, we should look at the match-ups where it would be good in. Grindy decks like control and midrange are where you supposedly would want it. However, I think there are better 2-drops in those match-ups that would affect the board greater such as Scavenging Ooze, Phyrexian Revoker and maybe even Riftsweeper against Ancestral Vision decks.
So is throne decent sideboard material then? Would it be good to side in against non-fast aggro decks?
I'm not too sure I'd want to dedicate a SB slot for it. I like it as one copy in MB precisely because of the surprise factor in G1. But as I've said, it's a legendary artifact that we cannot tutor and it needs to come down as early as possible to maximise its effect while also relying on a board presence to increase its potency. It works against BGx/Grixis decks in those cases where neither player can favourably attack and we can drain them for 2-3 points each turn by tapping our mana dorks but both can remove it via Abrupt Decay/Kolaghan's Command.
Playing multiple copies to increase the odds of seeing one would in my opinion dilute our mainboard too much to warrant that.
It was a 40 player tournament of 6 rounds, and the first 4 rounds i won against 2x Grixis DS (one with delvers), Eldratron and some weird turn 2 vizier combo deck with dubious challenge and emrakuls etc..
After that i could ID twice to come into second place.
In the Top 8 i won against UW Control and Grixis Goryo's vengeance and finally lost to Jund.
How's the Devoted Company matchup? I don't see you running much interaction against it. Basically a race then?
I just got 39th at the SCG Modern Open with Elves this weekend. I've been playing the deck since April 2015 or so and have played just about every variant you can think of (including awful lists like cloudstone curio or intruder alarm elves). I felt that the deck was well-positioned for the weekend, and apparently I was not alone since it was a very popular deck. Even pro or semi pro players like Jarvis Yu and Jacob Baugh were playing the deck that I saw. Most people were playing gw with devoted Druid combo (Jarvis was playing dusk//dawn apparently(!)) but I opted to play black/green with shamans. As it turned out, I think the deck wasn't as well-positioned as I thought and I think I ended up doing the best out of anyone at the open with it (or at least tied for it) with a 10-5 record. I did also go 2-2 with the deck at the Invitational before promptly 0-4ing Standard. Here was my very straightforward list:
SB
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Lead the Stampede
1 Elvish Champion
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Chameleon Colossus
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Fracturing Gust
2 Stain the Mind
In hindsight I wished I had tested with Boreal Druid or Elves of Deep Shadow instead of Nettle Sentinel, as against Grixis Shadow you often get very constrained on mana and Heritage Druid never lives anyways (and when it does you're probably going to win anyways). I also wished I had played 2 more Canopies over the 2 Llanowar wastes since I never had color issues yet getting flooded was a real problem. I might want another Colossus in the board as well since I cut Chords against shadow anyways and finding a Colossus is a big deal. For the invitational I played 2 Finks in the board over 2 Stain but burn didn't seem to be very popular and I got slightly salty after losing to ad nauseam in the invi :^). I decided to go the Shaman route because of how strong it is against Deaths Shadow but I think an Abzan list that played the good white SB cards with Shamans might have been better.
Matchups:
Invitational:
Round 1 - Grixis Death's Shadow (0-0)
I got very outdrew this set. My opponent topdecked Flaying Tendrils for the win in game 3 and I had 8 lands in play game 1. I steamrolled game 2 from a bad draw from him. I feel like if you ever get Tendrils'd in this matchup it's very hard to win period.
1-2
Round 2 - Jund Death's Shadow (0-1)
Much easier matchup than Grixis. If you cast a Collected Company you probably can't lose most of the time. He had 1 Anger postboard that he didn't see so I rolled him over twice.
2-0
Round 3 - Ad Nauseam (1-1)
Pretty unwinnable matchup. Unlife is pretty much 2 fogs most of the time which gives them so much time to combo off since you can't really interact with them. Shaman also interacts really poorly with unlife. Especially without Eidolon of Rhetoric or Stain the Mind in my board (at this point) I just got rolled.
0-2
Round 4 - Grixis Deaths Shadow (1-2)
I don't remember the details but I'm pretty sure it was a very quick match where I just outdrew my opponent.
2-0
After this I 0-4d standard and decided to play in the open with the small adjustment of -2 Finks +2 Stain.
Open:
Round 1 - Burn (0-0)
Immediately punished for cutting Finks. Regardless my opponent relied on their Eidolons doing work just for me to go Company Company chord both games. Not much she could do against that, and against Burn shamans are gas.
2-0
Round 2 - UWR Flash (1-0)
Game 1 I got electrolyzed, bolted, pathed, and spell quellered out of the game. Both postboard games my opponent didn't draw quite as well and I was able to overwhelm their endless spot removal. I figured since he had quellers he probably didn't have sweepers, which ended up being correct.
2-1
Round 3 - Bant Knightfall (2-0)
I think this matchup is slightly favorable, as the bant player has to basically combo by turn 3 to 4 to have a chance. My opponent mulliganed both games and never did that.
2-0
Round 4 - RG Breach Titan (3-0)
This matchup is horrendous and how the games played out is hilarious. Game 1 I got angered twice and died to a prime time. Game 2 he started with 2 leyline of sanctity, which I was ok with because I boarded out Shamans in the matchup anyways. He angered me twice again and I was out of resources. Thankfully he had 7 lands and wasn't killing me either. I draw Stain the Mind and cast it, forgetting about Leyline. Since I'm not doing anything else anyways, I cast it on myself regardless, thinning out my Elvish mystics. He passes again and I rip a Chameleon Colossus off the top, which actually gets the job done 2 turns later for 16. Game 3 he doesn't draw an anger and I run him over. Really lucky round for me.
2-1
Round 5 - Grixis Goryo's Breach Quicksilver(?) (4-0)
Another pretty rough matchup. Game 1 he doesn't find a combo in time and I get him before he can breach. Game 2 I have a Scooze in play and cast Stain the Mind, deciding to name Through the Breach since I had the gy covered. His hand is Emrakul, Island, Quicksilver Amulet. I definitely died to Quicksilver Amulet 2 turns later... Game 3 I Scooze away his griselbrand on turn 2 and that's enough to get there.
2-1
Round 6 - Abzan Coco (5-0)
Yet another rough matchup. This time he gets me though. Got turn 4d on the play game 1, and lose game 2 to Linvala after getting pontiffed. If my Collected Company hit Shaman of the pack or Elvish Champion I still would have won with a chord the following turn, but it literally hit 6 lands. I don't interact well enough with him and he can interact with me, in addition to being maybe a half turn faster on average.
0-2
Round 7 - Affinity (5-1)
This was against the eventual winner of the Open, Pieter Tubergen. Game 1 he spat out 5 things turn 1 and killed me by turn 3 with a 5/5 Inkmoth due to Ravager. Game 2 he whipflared and I in response Fracturing gusted. Whipflare is a lot better and I died to inkmoth nexus a few turns later.
0-2
Round 8 - Grixis Shadow (5-2)
Frustrating match. My opponent drew very well in the lategame in game 1, and I got Flaying Tendrilsd game 3. This matchup is honestly not as good as I thought it was, even with the Shamans.
1-2
Round 9 - Grixis Deaths Shadow (5-3)
Feeling demoralized after losing 3 straight this match was a good pick me up. My grixis shadow opponent seemed to be playing worse than the others I played throughout the weekend, taking a Nettle Sentinel with a thoughtseize over a coco Archdruid or Llanowar Elves for some reason. Rolled him over.
2-0
Round 10 - Bant Eldrazi (6-3)
This matchup is pretty free. EE is only okay and I had Shamans and a rec Sage to deal with Worship. Quick match.
2-0
Round 11 - Grixis Deaths Shadow (7-3)
Game 1 I mulled to 5 and my opponents 6 was immaculate with all removal into 2 shadows. Game 2 I Shamand him 3 times. Game 3 I punted, I should have been more aggressive with attacks since it would mean my opponent would have to leave his shadow back instead of it being the abyss.
1-2
Round 12 - BW Eldrazi (7-4)
Almost as easy as bant eldrazi, although they do play more removal and discard. Game 1 I actually lose after drawing 9 lands and my opponent having 3 wasteland stranglers and a path. Games 2 and 3 I elf on him really really hard.
2-1
Round 13 - UWR Control (8-4)
Awful matchup postboard. This is more planeswalkery than the list I played in round 2 and as such gets to play sweepers. I stomp him game 1 and get angered and verdicted out of existence games 2 and 3.
1-2
Round 14 - ??? (8-5)
My opponent didn't show up. Huh. I'll take it
2-0
Round 15 - BW Eldrazi (9-5)
I've never been more relieved than when I saw shambling vent turn 1. I ran him over in 12 minutes with minimal resistance.
2-0
All in all I'm very happy with how the deck did, but I feel like I had very fortunate matchups against relatively uncommon decks, especially day 2. The deck was everywhere in this tournament, with Brad Nelson at x-3 even saying "I heard this was the elves bracket, please don't be playing elves!" to his opponent a few seats away from me. However it didn't put up a top 32 finish and I'm actually a bit skeptical with the deck after this weekend. I think my build was much better for the weekend than most builds but with the amount of representation the deck had I expected better results. I actually don't think the Grixis Shadow matchup is that good and the deck is very polarizing with lots of 20-80 and 80-20 matchups. I felt like I won the matchup lottery more than my deck was great. Anyways that's my ranting/tournament report, if anyone has a question about the deck I'll give my opinion.
First I want to say grats on a very impressive 10-5 finish! I would like to ask you some questions.
With your mana base I'm curious as to why you didn't run more black noncreature spells. Specifically Thoughtseize and Fatal Push which are well positioned cards in the meta.
Thoughtseize could have attacked your combo (ad nauseum) and control matchups - unlike stain. Getting information on their hand and discarding a threat are huge plays.
Fatal Push could have attacked your deaths shadow matchup - though I'd run only 2 because of their bigger cmc threats. It's also good against the mirror, affinity, burn, and abzan company.
At the end of the day it sucks that you lost against deaths shadow as I've experienced firsthand how favorable it is; however, board wipes remain to be our Achilles Heel.
Thanks! To be honest one of the thoughts going through my head as I played the tournament was that I wished I had thoughtseizes in the board, so I definitely agree with that one. Fatal push could have helped a lot of bad matchups like you said so that's probably very reasonable as well. Could have definitely went down a Gust and the stains, probably a Scooze too to make room.
Like I said I definitely punted at least one match against Shadow but it still didn't feel super amazing like I thought it was. Could have just been variance or me playing the matchup wrong though.
Are you running shamans without the combo? The reason I'm asking is because I built a list recently that I'm going to build once my gilt leaf arrive but I'm skeptical about 17 lands. I feel like it's okay because the druids are extra mana sources that stock shamans don't have but I'll have to be conservative on how many druids I take out postboard. Another reason why I think 17 lands is okay is because I've seen pros side out the 1-of westvale abbey sometimes which makes me believe it's doable. What do you think?
Right now I either run the Combo or I run Shaman for the same slots. I really don't feel like I miss Shaman when I have the combo.
I was going to make a big long post detailing the statistics, but I decided to make this short and sweet. I will be testing 17 lands because the statistics look fairly promising, but will be adding a 3rd Visionary which will still help in the consistency.
As far as Abzan Elves, I would recommend 18 lands due to the higher curve and the necessity of getting larger boards and casting Collected Companys.
You're right in that Shaman is overkill sometimes. Other times it gives you another angle when your combo gets disrupted. That being said I don't think abzan is that strong mainly because I need a painful manabase for black's noncreature spells. Too much affinity and burn running around in my meta. Back to GW.
Glad the numbers are there. In practice 17 lands have been performing and its mostly thanks to devoted druid. Adding a 3rd visionary in place of the 18th land seems good. Maybe cutting 1 dwynen's for the 4th visionary is something to consider as well.
You're right about abzan's expensive casting requirements. Having the 18th land seems like a must. Another reason why abzan seems slightly inferior to GW.
I agree with this statement. Postboard against grindy decks packed with removal I actually take out the combo pcs + 1 ezuri to have effective threats coming in. 0 power creatures is not what you want to be casting against these type of decks and vizier has no synergy without the druids.
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth
I find that interesting. When I played Shaman I would sometimes bring in Ezuri from the board in the grindy matches. I'd often get up in land count so being able to drop a creature to blank or force a removal spell, while threatening to end the game seemed good.
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
If your answer is "No," then your morality does not come from God's commandments.
If your answer is "Yes," then please, please reconsider.
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth
Ah, I only play 3 Ezuri main. And when I was boarding him in it was the 3rd Ezuri with two main.
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
That make sense now, heh.
Are you running shamans without the combo? The reason I'm asking is because I built a list recently that I'm going to build once my gilt leaf arrive but I'm skeptical about 17 lands. I feel like it's okay because the druids are extra mana sources that stock shamans don't have but I'll have to be conservative on how many druids I take out postboard. Another reason why I think 17 lands is okay is because I've seen pros side out the 1-of westvale abbey sometimes which makes me believe it's doable. What do you think?
1 Blooming Marsh
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Forest
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Razorverge Thicket
// Creatures
4 Devoted Druid
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Nettle Sentinel
3 Shaman of the Pack
1 Vizier of Remedies
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
1 Aven Mindcensor
3 Brain Maggot
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Chameleon Colossus
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Minister of Pain
1 Mirror Entity
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Selfless Spirit
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth
I was going to make a big long post detailing the statistics, but I decided to make this short and sweet. I will be testing 17 lands because the statistics look fairly promising, but will be adding a 3rd Visionary which will still help in the consistency.
As far as Abzan Elves, I would recommend 18 lands due to the higher curve and the necessity of getting larger boards and casting Collected Companys.
-Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
Card is certainly strong against grindy decks but is usually too slow versus other linear or combo decks. It shines in Lead cores that can grind games down but is easily cut from Abzan and GW lists.
Played with it as a one of in mainboard (Green-Black) and I've found myself sideboarding it out a lot. When it hits the board early, it can chip in nicely. But as Larriepogi said, too slow against aggro and other linear decks.
It's also legendary so having multiple copies to increases the odds of drawing one is negated by the fact that you can only have one copy on the battlefield.
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
To answer that, we should look at the match-ups where it would be good in. Grindy decks like control and midrange are where you supposedly would want it. However, I think there are better 2-drops in those match-ups that would affect the board greater such as Scavenging Ooze, Phyrexian Revoker and maybe even Riftsweeper against Ancestral Vision decks.
I'm not too sure I'd want to dedicate a SB slot for it. I like it as one copy in MB precisely because of the surprise factor in G1. But as I've said, it's a legendary artifact that we cannot tutor and it needs to come down as early as possible to maximise its effect while also relying on a board presence to increase its potency. It works against BGx/Grixis decks in those cases where neither player can favourably attack and we can drain them for 2-3 points each turn by tapping our mana dorks but both can remove it via Abrupt Decay/Kolaghan's Command.
Playing multiple copies to increase the odds of seeing one would in my opinion dilute our mainboard too much to warrant that.
WBG Elves WBG
Cheeri0s
EDH:
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage RG || GWUB Atraxa, Praetors' Voice GWUB
R Zo-Zu the Punisher R || WU Brago, King Eternal WU
UB Gisa and Geralf UB || BGW Ghave, Guru of Spores BGW
Any reason on why you chose to run just one Ezuri?
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Llanowar Wastes
2 Forest
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Heritage Druid
4 Nettle Sentinel
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Shaman of the Pack
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Collected Company
4 Chord of Calling
SB
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Lead the Stampede
1 Elvish Champion
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Chameleon Colossus
3 Leyline of the Void
3 Fracturing Gust
2 Stain the Mind
In hindsight I wished I had tested with Boreal Druid or Elves of Deep Shadow instead of Nettle Sentinel, as against Grixis Shadow you often get very constrained on mana and Heritage Druid never lives anyways (and when it does you're probably going to win anyways). I also wished I had played 2 more Canopies over the 2 Llanowar wastes since I never had color issues yet getting flooded was a real problem. I might want another Colossus in the board as well since I cut Chords against shadow anyways and finding a Colossus is a big deal. For the invitational I played 2 Finks in the board over 2 Stain but burn didn't seem to be very popular and I got slightly salty after losing to ad nauseam in the invi :^). I decided to go the Shaman route because of how strong it is against Deaths Shadow but I think an Abzan list that played the good white SB cards with Shamans might have been better.
Matchups:
Invitational:
Round 1 - Grixis Death's Shadow (0-0)
I got very outdrew this set. My opponent topdecked Flaying Tendrils for the win in game 3 and I had 8 lands in play game 1. I steamrolled game 2 from a bad draw from him. I feel like if you ever get Tendrils'd in this matchup it's very hard to win period.
1-2
Round 2 - Jund Death's Shadow (0-1)
Much easier matchup than Grixis. If you cast a Collected Company you probably can't lose most of the time. He had 1 Anger postboard that he didn't see so I rolled him over twice.
2-0
Round 3 - Ad Nauseam (1-1)
Pretty unwinnable matchup. Unlife is pretty much 2 fogs most of the time which gives them so much time to combo off since you can't really interact with them. Shaman also interacts really poorly with unlife. Especially without Eidolon of Rhetoric or Stain the Mind in my board (at this point) I just got rolled.
0-2
Round 4 - Grixis Deaths Shadow (1-2)
I don't remember the details but I'm pretty sure it was a very quick match where I just outdrew my opponent.
2-0
After this I 0-4d standard and decided to play in the open with the small adjustment of -2 Finks +2 Stain.
Open:
Round 1 - Burn (0-0)
Immediately punished for cutting Finks. Regardless my opponent relied on their Eidolons doing work just for me to go Company Company chord both games. Not much she could do against that, and against Burn shamans are gas.
2-0
Round 2 - UWR Flash (1-0)
Game 1 I got electrolyzed, bolted, pathed, and spell quellered out of the game. Both postboard games my opponent didn't draw quite as well and I was able to overwhelm their endless spot removal. I figured since he had quellers he probably didn't have sweepers, which ended up being correct.
2-1
Round 3 - Bant Knightfall (2-0)
I think this matchup is slightly favorable, as the bant player has to basically combo by turn 3 to 4 to have a chance. My opponent mulliganed both games and never did that.
2-0
Round 4 - RG Breach Titan (3-0)
This matchup is horrendous and how the games played out is hilarious. Game 1 I got angered twice and died to a prime time. Game 2 he started with 2 leyline of sanctity, which I was ok with because I boarded out Shamans in the matchup anyways. He angered me twice again and I was out of resources. Thankfully he had 7 lands and wasn't killing me either. I draw Stain the Mind and cast it, forgetting about Leyline. Since I'm not doing anything else anyways, I cast it on myself regardless, thinning out my Elvish mystics. He passes again and I rip a Chameleon Colossus off the top, which actually gets the job done 2 turns later for 16. Game 3 he doesn't draw an anger and I run him over. Really lucky round for me.
2-1
Round 5 - Grixis Goryo's Breach Quicksilver(?) (4-0)
Another pretty rough matchup. Game 1 he doesn't find a combo in time and I get him before he can breach. Game 2 I have a Scooze in play and cast Stain the Mind, deciding to name Through the Breach since I had the gy covered. His hand is Emrakul, Island, Quicksilver Amulet. I definitely died to Quicksilver Amulet 2 turns later... Game 3 I Scooze away his griselbrand on turn 2 and that's enough to get there.
2-1
Round 6 - Abzan Coco (5-0)
Yet another rough matchup. This time he gets me though. Got turn 4d on the play game 1, and lose game 2 to Linvala after getting pontiffed. If my Collected Company hit Shaman of the pack or Elvish Champion I still would have won with a chord the following turn, but it literally hit 6 lands. I don't interact well enough with him and he can interact with me, in addition to being maybe a half turn faster on average.
0-2
Round 7 - Affinity (5-1)
This was against the eventual winner of the Open, Pieter Tubergen. Game 1 he spat out 5 things turn 1 and killed me by turn 3 with a 5/5 Inkmoth due to Ravager. Game 2 he whipflared and I in response Fracturing gusted. Whipflare is a lot better and I died to inkmoth nexus a few turns later.
0-2
Round 8 - Grixis Shadow (5-2)
Frustrating match. My opponent drew very well in the lategame in game 1, and I got Flaying Tendrilsd game 3. This matchup is honestly not as good as I thought it was, even with the Shamans.
1-2
Round 9 - Grixis Deaths Shadow (5-3)
Feeling demoralized after losing 3 straight this match was a good pick me up. My grixis shadow opponent seemed to be playing worse than the others I played throughout the weekend, taking a Nettle Sentinel with a thoughtseize over a coco Archdruid or Llanowar Elves for some reason. Rolled him over.
2-0
Round 10 - Bant Eldrazi (6-3)
This matchup is pretty free. EE is only okay and I had Shamans and a rec Sage to deal with Worship. Quick match.
2-0
Round 11 - Grixis Deaths Shadow (7-3)
Game 1 I mulled to 5 and my opponents 6 was immaculate with all removal into 2 shadows. Game 2 I Shamand him 3 times. Game 3 I punted, I should have been more aggressive with attacks since it would mean my opponent would have to leave his shadow back instead of it being the abyss.
1-2
Round 12 - BW Eldrazi (7-4)
Almost as easy as bant eldrazi, although they do play more removal and discard. Game 1 I actually lose after drawing 9 lands and my opponent having 3 wasteland stranglers and a path. Games 2 and 3 I elf on him really really hard.
2-1
Round 13 - UWR Control (8-4)
Awful matchup postboard. This is more planeswalkery than the list I played in round 2 and as such gets to play sweepers. I stomp him game 1 and get angered and verdicted out of existence games 2 and 3.
1-2
Round 14 - ??? (8-5)
My opponent didn't show up. Huh. I'll take it
2-0
Round 15 - BW Eldrazi (9-5)
I've never been more relieved than when I saw shambling vent turn 1. I ran him over in 12 minutes with minimal resistance.
2-0
All in all I'm very happy with how the deck did, but I feel like I had very fortunate matchups against relatively uncommon decks, especially day 2. The deck was everywhere in this tournament, with Brad Nelson at x-3 even saying "I heard this was the elves bracket, please don't be playing elves!" to his opponent a few seats away from me. However it didn't put up a top 32 finish and I'm actually a bit skeptical with the deck after this weekend. I think my build was much better for the weekend than most builds but with the amount of representation the deck had I expected better results. I actually don't think the Grixis Shadow matchup is that good and the deck is very polarizing with lots of 20-80 and 80-20 matchups. I felt like I won the matchup lottery more than my deck was great. Anyways that's my ranting/tournament report, if anyone has a question about the deck I'll give my opinion.
With your mana base I'm curious as to why you didn't run more black noncreature spells. Specifically Thoughtseize and Fatal Push which are well positioned cards in the meta.
Thoughtseize could have attacked your combo (ad nauseum) and control matchups - unlike stain. Getting information on their hand and discarding a threat are huge plays.
Fatal Push could have attacked your deaths shadow matchup - though I'd run only 2 because of their bigger cmc threats. It's also good against the mirror, affinity, burn, and abzan company.
At the end of the day it sucks that you lost against deaths shadow as I've experienced firsthand how favorable it is; however, board wipes remain to be our Achilles Heel.
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth
Like I said I definitely punted at least one match against Shadow but it still didn't feel super amazing like I thought it was. Could have just been variance or me playing the matchup wrong though.
You're right in that Shaman is overkill sometimes. Other times it gives you another angle when your combo gets disrupted. That being said I don't think abzan is that strong mainly because I need a painful manabase for black's noncreature spells. Too much affinity and burn running around in my meta. Back to GW.
Glad the numbers are there. In practice 17 lands have been performing and its mostly thanks to devoted druid. Adding a 3rd visionary in place of the 18th land seems good. Maybe cutting 1 dwynen's for the 4th visionary is something to consider as well.
You're right about abzan's expensive casting requirements. Having the 18th land seems like a must. Another reason why abzan seems slightly inferior to GW.
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth