A while back there was discussion on Astral Slide and what decks to build around it. This thread is to focus on Selesnya variants of Astral Slide.
So Astral Slide is best paired with awesome ETB dudes and the best cyclers, and in particular it is useful if the ETB ability of the blinked creature can return the cycled card, thus creating a loop. Here is a suggested list (no SB yet) with card explanations:
Lands: With no 1 drops, the list takes advantage of 11 ETBT lands to make sure t1 is well spent. Blossoming Sands help with double whites on Celestial Flare and double greens on Eternal Witness. Selesnya Sanctuary picks up any t1 dropped steppes and thickets for late game cycling. ETBT lands you top deck later will either cycle or pitch to Cenn's Enlistment.
Creatures: The dudes are either strong ETB dudes or cyclers. Satyr Wayfinder provides an early chumper, develops the yard for recursion dudes and Breath of Life and grabs more land for playing, cycling or fueling Cenn's Enlistment. Krosan Tusker is probably the best cycler and can either be abused with Eternal Witness + Slide or come in smashing on t4 off a Breath of Life. Eternal Witness is awesome because she returns what you need the most (such as endless Celestial Flares) and protects the Astral Slide. As you can only have 2 though, Custodi Squire plays second fiddle and provides for another win con too. Tilling Treefolk is awesome because it returns 2 cycling lands at once, giving you room to blink other stuff (such as opposing threats) without breaking your engine even if you only have one slide out.
Enchantments: Obviously we need Astral Slide and I think 3 is the correct number as long as you're playing cards that are good also without Astral Slide. Running 20+ bad cyclers makes for a bad deck, obviously. You don't really need that many cyclers since the deck is set up to recur them endlessly. Oblivion Ring is there to handle anything unexpected game 1 and could easily be something easier to recur and abuse in game 2-3.
Instants: The deck likes to cycle a lot, so it seemed great to pair this with instant speed removal. With ORing and Astral Slide, you already cover targeted removal fairly well, so Celestial Flare covers an otherwise glaring weakness to untargetables. Renewed Faith is a top notch cycler just like Tusker and gives you some burn protection too. Gilded Light covers protection against combo, hand disruption and burn. While it cycles most of the time, it really fortifies the defensive potential of the deck against certain opponents.
Sorceries: Breath of Life serves two roles in the deck - its primary function is to recur Eternal Witness in case it gets countered, since a fair deal of the deck's power comes from being able to eventually blink EWit and get back whatever worked best. However it's also great with Krosan Tusker or a Custodi Squire dumped in the yard by Wayfinder. Cenn's Enlistment is yet another win con that gives you an outlet for all those lands that will inevitably accrue as you keep cycling. It's also very easy to find by just blinking Wayfinder a few times.
Hope this can get a discussion going on this very interesting but under explored archetype!
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My biggest doubt is it's strength against fast aggro decks. Celestial Flare is a good card against infect, but if you don't draw or can't cast it until T3, you are going to die. Against Goblins or Elves or Affinity I think it could be really hard not to fall back too far.
There is also Satyr Wayfinder to chump. Infect has a very small chance of t2 kills, so that means t3 kills (common, but not guaranteed) and I only need to worry about that before my own t3 50% of the time (when I'm on the draw). By t3 I also have access to Oblivion Ring and more chumpers still. Slide comes on-line t4.
Still, this could be improved even in game 1 I think. More white sources could make t2 Flare more consistent and that might be acceptable considering green requirements too. Street Wraith means Astral Slide can come on-line for defense on t3 and helps dig for early removal. It is also a reasonable Breath of Life target and Custodi Squire can recur it if you have the life for it.
I could probably also squeeze in more removal. Not much available in these colors at 2 CMC though, and splashing black can mean even worse chance of actually casting removal on turn 2. Journey to Nowhere seems pretty bad to me because I can't recur it with Eternal Witness. I'd rather have a couple of ORings to handle anything my casual legacy meta can throw at me. Do you think Sunlance is a good answer to infect decks? Seem's like they'll just waste a pump spell.
I already have a turbo fog deck, so I'd rather not run fogs in this one. It might be the best choice though.
I like the Selesnya list better than the Orzhov list, but the black version is viable too, even three color. Black offers more enchantments (dead weight, sicken) to go with maindeck auramancers and sigil of the nayan gods and chittering rats for a softlock with slide (cycling during opponent's draw phase).
I actually started with a mono white list with 2 Enlightened Tutor and 3 Astral Slide as my uncommon. Then 1 each of the five Runes of Protection, which cycle. Rounded out with Auramancers and Custodi Squires for recursion, and Heliod's Pilgrim to get Sigil of the Nayan Gods and Weight of Consciousness (had some soul sisters and Court Street Denizen for additional humans that triggered on me doing stuff). It was pretty awesome, except Sigil + Auramancer is a pretty lame engine compared to Treefolk or EWitness. So you have to rely more on the runes, and they are no T2 removal either, obviously. Best part was recurring exiling removal with Weight of Consciousness, but it too was slow (getting it with pilgrim, playing it turn 4 etc).
Not completely sure Heliod's Pilgrim doesn't have a place in a Selesnya list, nor that the Selesnya list shouldn't have a black splash. But with all the recursion and removal available in Selesnya, I just think it SHOULD manage. Custodi Squire in particular has made Gravedigger/Cadaver Imp very obsolete (not to mention access to Witness) and that was one of the main reasons to go black.
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I think Gilded Light is probably not worth it in the mainboard.
Edge of Autumn is definitely worth a few slots in the deck. It's a free cycling, it fixes colours, it ramps, and the land can be brought back with Tilling Treefolk.
I think it would be worth including some Runes, but not all five of them. I think just the Rune of Protection: Red and Green ones would be best. Red would really give Burn a hard time, and Green would stop infect pretty well as well as any Stompy-style strategy or Hexproof (things you would be weak to).
I was also considering adding Black to the deck. Unearth would be extremely powerful. Having loads of good, hard removal would also be a lot better. Something to think about.
I think Gilded Light is probably not worth it in the mainboard.
Well it's probably not worth it in the SB either. No real point in bringing in cards with cycling from the SB, IMO. Unless that is actually the best card against combo for any Selesnya deck, cycling or not, of course. I'd like to fit 2-3 in the main though, for game 1 protection. Seems like just the type of card you'd want cycling on - game winning when you need it, cycles when you don't.
Edge of Autumn is definitely worth a few slots in the deck. It's a free cycling, it fixes colours, it ramps, and the land can be brought back with Tilling Treefolk.
With three colors, sure. Just selesnya? Hmm... we don't really want to spend t2 accelerating (dropping blockers and killing threats is better against most decks) and the cycling kills your land drops It's no good for cycling until very late if you plan to hard cast the fatties, and you can use the mana anyway with all the draw. I like Cenn's Enlistment better as an out to excess land, but I could be wrong. I think t1 acceleration like Avacyn's Pilgrim would be much better, and Street Wraith is a better cycler most of the game. Would need to test this to be sure though.
I think it would be worth including some Runes, but not all five of them. I think just the Rune of Protection: Red and Green ones would be best. Red would really give Burn a hard time, and Green would stop infect pretty well as well as any Stompy-style strategy or Hexproof (things you would be weak to).
Agreed, this is probably the way to go if Runes are included at all. With enough creature hate, I think the green one can be skipped too. RoP:G still doesn't protect against infect until t3 at best.
I was also considering adding Black to the deck. Unearth would be extremely powerful. Having loads of good, hard removal would also be a lot better. Something to think about.
Is it really that good and hard though? Celestial Flare > Diabolic Edict against hexproof/infect. Doom Blade has a non-black clause. Is it really that much better than Journey to Nowhere? It's not like we can't replay Journey if it gets destroyed. Also Unearth can't get back Krosan Tusker
My biggest problem with the build right now: I'm not really sure what the best other uncommon is to pair with Astral Slide! Slide decks were at their height after the printing of Eternal Witness, but Tilling Treefolk came a lot later. From the casual brews I've browsed, very few in this decade use Eternal Witness over Treefolk as an engine. Treefolk is simply better since it gets back 2 cyclers per pop. I'm pretty sure the best pair for it is either Witness, Enlightened Tutor, Sterling Grove or simply Lightning Rift, with a shout out to Ghostly Prison as a singleton if you go with tutor/grove. The advantage with Grove over Tutor is that you can recur it with common ETB dudes like Auramancer. I'm guessing RoP:Red will only be worth it in a tutor build. And don't say Demonic Tutor, I play with the legacy banlist
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Stonehorn Dignitary has been a really great addition. as a 2-of, it works rather well to basically stop all attacks for the rest of the game (barring removal, of course).
Eternal Witness is a good lategame card, where it can get back important pieces that went to your graveyard, like Krosan Tusker, when you're ready to play it again. However, it's not nearly as great as an early Tilling Treefolk with enough lands in the graveyard to take advantage of it. The potential payout is much greater, and it has a better body.
I might think of adding another Astral Slide or Tutor in the place of an Eternal Witness. More testing will tell.
I've been using Elvish Visionary as my 2-drop, chump-blocking and getting a divination out of the deal is pretty sweet.
Edge of Autumn is good. the free cycling is relevant, as is the ramp. it's a 3-of right now.
I'm testing Radiant's Judgment right now. Good at taking out Anglers or pumped up creatures. Cycles versus everything else. I can't say it's much better than Gilded Light, but it doesn't feel as narrow.
EDIT: A problem that's been reoccurring with this deck is that it can't win. I mean, it can, but it takes a lot of preparation. I've also bee using the Cenn's Enlistment duo as a finisher. It synergizes well with Tilling Treefolk (I'm up to 4 copies and only 1 witness, seems fine so far). Krosan Tusker is okay, but it so easily blocked, or even gang-blocked and killed. I've been using the Stonehorn Dignitary/Tilling treefolk/Astral Slide combo very well, but a bit like Turbo Fog, the opponent ends up with a massive board state and things get out of hand (the Dignitary is surprisingly hard to kill). This makes getting through for damage very tedious. I've even been using the Celestial Flares on blockers just to be able to get some damage in the following turns.
I've added a single Rancor into the mix. It should make any one of my creatures a decent threat, and should deter eternal chump blocking. It's also very hard to get rid of.
I've been coming to mostly the same conclusions as you. Yesterday, I was a firm believer that Ghostly Prison should be among the uncommon slots to stop tribal strategies and token swarms, but I had forgotten about Stonehorn Dignitary! That is a really good option, and a much better answer to hex proof too, especially with some acceleration in the deck.
I've tried a slightly different set-up to combat the problem with creature congestion: a tiny red splash for Lightning Rift. The additional red cyclers really help support the treefolk engine, and you get both a creature removal engine as well as a direct damage win con (so it replaces Enlistment IMO). I figured I could use Custodi Squire/Auramancer just as well as Eternal Witness, Stonehorn Dignitary instead of Ghostly Prison and Commune with the Gods over Enlightened Tutor, so Lightning Rift seemed like the best option for an uncommon! Commune especially is so synergistic with the engine, developing the yard with lands for Treefolk while actually securing that treefolk to drop t3 or grabbing a key enchantment.
With Rune of Protection: Green and Stonehorn Dignitary covering untargetables already, I decided to drop Celestial Flare for Crystallization. The mana requirement is easier, you can exile the creature with a slide/rift activation, and I can then recur it with Squire/Auramancer. So far I'm liking Squire over Auramancer because it just does more in the deck and I don't really need the effect until late game anyway (when an evasive threat doesn't go amiss).
That's 22 cyclers which feels very comfortable. With that and Commune, you're pretty guaranteed to find any 2-of creature or enchantment in a fairly timely fashion. The Gilded Light slot is mostly preference. I feel I have creature hate covered so well already with this list that I don't mind devoting a few cyclers to combo. It's arguably not more narrow than Rune of Protection: Red, and just as vital in the match-ups where it matters.
The deck is really cool though! It feels like a mix between a poor man's enchantress deck and aggro loam, obviously with less speed and lock-out potential than either but still not bad for a peasant deck. It could probably take out both Delver and MBC pretty well, and that's always something.
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I think I might end up dropping Witness as well and just have an extra Astral Slide. I'm going to keep it two colours I think. Custodi Squire does basically the same thing (although I did some stupid things with Witness and Edge of Autumn together).
I haven't tested since yesterday, but I just remembered Walker of the Grove. I think I'll try him out as my finisher for now. He's an excellent Slide target, and is massive. He may not have trample, but the many big bodies he makes will most likely make up for that. He can't easily be blocked profitably (he'll likely take three blockers with him, and then he would leave a 4/4 behind).
The deck is cool, but it's actually really hard to play. There are tons of decisions to make.
Walker is cool. You can evoke him and slide in response to the trigger to get him and a 4/4 for the low price of 4G + cycling cost. He also produces tokens at instant speed with slide, which I'm sure will catch a few opponents off guard.
Give Commune with the Gods a try in the deck - I'm sure you'll love it! You might end up cutting ETutor when you see its lush green power Then watchagonnado with that last slot? I think you'll end up with GWr like me. Lightning Rift is sweet and with commune, you only really need 3 Astral Slide.
If you go Cenn's Enlistment -> Walker, I would reexamine those tuskers too. There's plenty of one mana cyclers (like those red lands that are also lands already, without paying anything ;). Would you really want to pay 2 extra when cycling to get an extra land that you no longer have much use for? All the cycling and treefolk tends to lead to making all land drops anyway, IMO.
I remembered another must-run card today that I must try to fit in: Explore. I'm considering:
-1 Commune with the Gods (3 seems optimal but I always get carried away with these types of cards at first!)
-1 Crystallization (I have so much creature hate already)
+2 Explore
That also pushes it to 5 ramp in total which feels pretty consistent for always getting that +1 ramp/game considering 3 of them cycle.
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The tuskers are such a good source of card advantage, I'd hate to get rid of them. I might cut some, though.
Why do you figure Explore is a must-run? I mean, ramp is good and all, but is it that essential to the game plan that it's a must-run?
Why play Crystallization when you can play Journey to Nowhere? Is it just to target it with a Rift or Slide activation? That would seem like kind of a waste.
Explore is just a cheesy card in any deck with 26+ land IMO. I don't think ramp in itself is crucial to the deck's game plan, but ramp for 2 that cantrips while dropping excess land? Awesome! It's hard to support more than 1 copy in hand though, so I think 2 is the right number with this mana base.
Crystallization can be sent to the grave with Rift/Slide and recurred endlessly with Custodi Squire. Thought that could be a useful trick. It can actually be less wasteful than Journey IMO. Consider:
*First threat handled with Journey or Cryst.
*Second threat is 3+ toughness, requiring either continuous Slide activations or multiple Rift activations if you used Journey. But if you used Cryst and you have Squire, you target the first creature instead and reuse the Journey.
If Opp is only running a few utility creatures like Grim Lavamancer in burn, Journey is probably better however, because it requires less set up and exiles immediately. Cryst is better for long term attrition. I also considered a few Seal of Fire, but it feels underwhelming and I can't depend on having a t2 red source.
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An Astral Slide build got second place in a Peasant Tournament in Toulouse two weeks ago. Keep in mind this is an environment without Delver of Secrets. Here's the list:
Didn't realize Delver was banned in tournament Peasant! Do you think it would struggle with slide being countered otherwise? Black is an interesting color choice with rats, gary and unearth.
Apart from that, it looks pretty strange for a slide deck. 11 cyclers total? And 4 of those are unearth. Did he decide to go enchantment based (dead weight, seal) for the sake of a 1-of Auramancer? So many design choices seem strange to me.
IMO, the main reason to splash for a third color is to get 12 lands that cycle for 1 mana for treefolk rather than 8, and he's only running 7. Gary is a cool win con but requires a heavier black commitment than just adding Lightning Rift which seemed more appropriate to me.
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Well, this ban is according to the tournament organizers from mostly France and Germany (where most of the tournaments happen anyways). Personally, I don't see why it would be banned in Peasant and not Pauper, but I never saw any explanation for the ban.
As for the deck, it features an impressive amount of discard, if you include the Chittering Rats. I suppose once you force a lot of discard and slow the game down, you can set up the Tilling Treefolk combo with 2 Cycling lands rather easily and take the game over from there, looping for infinite discard spells, fogs, life gain, life loss and removal. Does the deck really need more cyclers to work?
If I take a look at the other top decks in this 15-man tournament, they were almost all control decks too. First place was a UB Thopter/Sword control deck, third was Affinity Control, fourth was Tokens with Sky Hussar, and fifth was an RG deck that combos artifact destruction with Liquimetal Coating, known as "Monkey ***" (apparently a deck that places regularly).
While I haven't tested peasant in a while I do love peasant slide and since Khans has given us mush stronger manabases I'd probably try something like this. though forgive me it's not selesnya it's junk.
I've always wanted to combine nightmare effect creatures with astral slide, and suture priest is so insane in slide. She can stall the game by keeping your heal up or just kill your opponent by blinking out their attackers. honestly let a slide deck get in full swing and have a copy or two of her and you can take down like 3-4 players all gunning for you.
So Astral Slide is best paired with awesome ETB dudes and the best cyclers, and in particular it is useful if the ETB ability of the blinked creature can return the cycled card, thus creating a loop. Here is a suggested list (no SB yet) with card explanations:
6 Plains
6 Forest
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Tranquil Thicket
3 Blossoming Sands
2 Selesnya Sanctuary
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Krosan Tusker
2 Eternal Witness (u)
2 Tilling Treefolk
2 Custodi Squire
ENCHANTMENTS (5)
3 Astral Slide (u)
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Renewed Faith
4 Celestial Flare
3 Gilded Light
SORCERIES (5)
3 Breath of Life
2 Cenn's Enlistment
Lands: With no 1 drops, the list takes advantage of 11 ETBT lands to make sure t1 is well spent. Blossoming Sands help with double whites on Celestial Flare and double greens on Eternal Witness. Selesnya Sanctuary picks up any t1 dropped steppes and thickets for late game cycling. ETBT lands you top deck later will either cycle or pitch to Cenn's Enlistment.
Creatures: The dudes are either strong ETB dudes or cyclers. Satyr Wayfinder provides an early chumper, develops the yard for recursion dudes and Breath of Life and grabs more land for playing, cycling or fueling Cenn's Enlistment. Krosan Tusker is probably the best cycler and can either be abused with Eternal Witness + Slide or come in smashing on t4 off a Breath of Life. Eternal Witness is awesome because she returns what you need the most (such as endless Celestial Flares) and protects the Astral Slide. As you can only have 2 though, Custodi Squire plays second fiddle and provides for another win con too. Tilling Treefolk is awesome because it returns 2 cycling lands at once, giving you room to blink other stuff (such as opposing threats) without breaking your engine even if you only have one slide out.
Enchantments: Obviously we need Astral Slide and I think 3 is the correct number as long as you're playing cards that are good also without Astral Slide. Running 20+ bad cyclers makes for a bad deck, obviously. You don't really need that many cyclers since the deck is set up to recur them endlessly. Oblivion Ring is there to handle anything unexpected game 1 and could easily be something easier to recur and abuse in game 2-3.
Instants: The deck likes to cycle a lot, so it seemed great to pair this with instant speed removal. With ORing and Astral Slide, you already cover targeted removal fairly well, so Celestial Flare covers an otherwise glaring weakness to untargetables. Renewed Faith is a top notch cycler just like Tusker and gives you some burn protection too. Gilded Light covers protection against combo, hand disruption and burn. While it cycles most of the time, it really fortifies the defensive potential of the deck against certain opponents.
Sorceries: Breath of Life serves two roles in the deck - its primary function is to recur Eternal Witness in case it gets countered, since a fair deal of the deck's power comes from being able to eventually blink EWit and get back whatever worked best. However it's also great with Krosan Tusker or a Custodi Squire dumped in the yard by Wayfinder. Cenn's Enlistment is yet another win con that gives you an outlet for all those lands that will inevitably accrue as you keep cycling. It's also very easy to find by just blinking Wayfinder a few times.
Hope this can get a discussion going on this very interesting but under explored archetype!
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There is also Satyr Wayfinder to chump. Infect has a very small chance of t2 kills, so that means t3 kills (common, but not guaranteed) and I only need to worry about that before my own t3 50% of the time (when I'm on the draw). By t3 I also have access to Oblivion Ring and more chumpers still. Slide comes on-line t4.
Still, this could be improved even in game 1 I think. More white sources could make t2 Flare more consistent and that might be acceptable considering green requirements too. Street Wraith means Astral Slide can come on-line for defense on t3 and helps dig for early removal. It is also a reasonable Breath of Life target and Custodi Squire can recur it if you have the life for it.
I could probably also squeeze in more removal. Not much available in these colors at 2 CMC though, and splashing black can mean even worse chance of actually casting removal on turn 2. Journey to Nowhere seems pretty bad to me because I can't recur it with Eternal Witness. I'd rather have a couple of ORings to handle anything my casual legacy meta can throw at me. Do you think Sunlance is a good answer to infect decks? Seem's like they'll just waste a pump spell.
I already have a turbo fog deck, so I'd rather not run fogs in this one. It might be the best choice though.
I actually started with a mono white list with 2 Enlightened Tutor and 3 Astral Slide as my uncommon. Then 1 each of the five Runes of Protection, which cycle. Rounded out with Auramancers and Custodi Squires for recursion, and Heliod's Pilgrim to get Sigil of the Nayan Gods and Weight of Consciousness (had some soul sisters and Court Street Denizen for additional humans that triggered on me doing stuff). It was pretty awesome, except Sigil + Auramancer is a pretty lame engine compared to Treefolk or EWitness. So you have to rely more on the runes, and they are no T2 removal either, obviously. Best part was recurring exiling removal with Weight of Consciousness, but it too was slow (getting it with pilgrim, playing it turn 4 etc).
Not completely sure Heliod's Pilgrim doesn't have a place in a Selesnya list, nor that the Selesnya list shouldn't have a black splash. But with all the recursion and removal available in Selesnya, I just think it SHOULD manage. Custodi Squire in particular has made Gravedigger/Cadaver Imp very obsolete (not to mention access to Witness) and that was one of the main reasons to go black.
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Edge of Autumn is definitely worth a few slots in the deck. It's a free cycling, it fixes colours, it ramps, and the land can be brought back with Tilling Treefolk.
I think it would be worth including some Runes, but not all five of them. I think just the Rune of Protection: Red and Green ones would be best. Red would really give Burn a hard time, and Green would stop infect pretty well as well as any Stompy-style strategy or Hexproof (things you would be weak to).
I was also considering adding Black to the deck. Unearth would be extremely powerful. Having loads of good, hard removal would also be a lot better. Something to think about.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Well it's probably not worth it in the SB either. No real point in bringing in cards with cycling from the SB, IMO. Unless that is actually the best card against combo for any Selesnya deck, cycling or not, of course. I'd like to fit 2-3 in the main though, for game 1 protection. Seems like just the type of card you'd want cycling on - game winning when you need it, cycles when you don't.
With three colors, sure. Just selesnya? Hmm... we don't really want to spend t2 accelerating (dropping blockers and killing threats is better against most decks) and the cycling kills your land drops It's no good for cycling until very late if you plan to hard cast the fatties, and you can use the mana anyway with all the draw. I like Cenn's Enlistment better as an out to excess land, but I could be wrong. I think t1 acceleration like Avacyn's Pilgrim would be much better, and Street Wraith is a better cycler most of the game. Would need to test this to be sure though.
Agreed, this is probably the way to go if Runes are included at all. With enough creature hate, I think the green one can be skipped too. RoP:G still doesn't protect against infect until t3 at best.
Is it really that good and hard though? Celestial Flare > Diabolic Edict against hexproof/infect. Doom Blade has a non-black clause. Is it really that much better than Journey to Nowhere? It's not like we can't replay Journey if it gets destroyed. Also Unearth can't get back Krosan Tusker
My biggest problem with the build right now: I'm not really sure what the best other uncommon is to pair with Astral Slide! Slide decks were at their height after the printing of Eternal Witness, but Tilling Treefolk came a lot later. From the casual brews I've browsed, very few in this decade use Eternal Witness over Treefolk as an engine. Treefolk is simply better since it gets back 2 cyclers per pop. I'm pretty sure the best pair for it is either Witness, Enlightened Tutor, Sterling Grove or simply Lightning Rift, with a shout out to Ghostly Prison as a singleton if you go with tutor/grove. The advantage with Grove over Tutor is that you can recur it with common ETB dudes like Auramancer. I'm guessing RoP:Red will only be worth it in a tutor build. And don't say Demonic Tutor, I play with the legacy banlist
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Stonehorn Dignitary has been a really great addition. as a 2-of, it works rather well to basically stop all attacks for the rest of the game (barring removal, of course).
I went for 2 Astral Slide, 1 Enlightened Tutor and 2 Eternal Witness. This way I can tutor up Slide or one of my runes if need be, or removal. I've been pretty happy with it.
Eternal Witness is a good lategame card, where it can get back important pieces that went to your graveyard, like Krosan Tusker, when you're ready to play it again. However, it's not nearly as great as an early Tilling Treefolk with enough lands in the graveyard to take advantage of it. The potential payout is much greater, and it has a better body.
I might think of adding another Astral Slide or Tutor in the place of an Eternal Witness. More testing will tell.
I've been using Elvish Visionary as my 2-drop, chump-blocking and getting a divination out of the deal is pretty sweet.
Edge of Autumn is good. the free cycling is relevant, as is the ramp. it's a 3-of right now.
I'm testing Radiant's Judgment right now. Good at taking out Anglers or pumped up creatures. Cycles versus everything else. I can't say it's much better than Gilded Light, but it doesn't feel as narrow.
EDIT: A problem that's been reoccurring with this deck is that it can't win. I mean, it can, but it takes a lot of preparation. I've also bee using the Cenn's Enlistment duo as a finisher. It synergizes well with Tilling Treefolk (I'm up to 4 copies and only 1 witness, seems fine so far). Krosan Tusker is okay, but it so easily blocked, or even gang-blocked and killed. I've been using the Stonehorn Dignitary/Tilling treefolk/Astral Slide combo very well, but a bit like Turbo Fog, the opponent ends up with a massive board state and things get out of hand (the Dignitary is surprisingly hard to kill). This makes getting through for damage very tedious. I've even been using the Celestial Flares on blockers just to be able to get some damage in the following turns.
I've added a single Rancor into the mix. It should make any one of my creatures a decent threat, and should deter eternal chump blocking. It's also very hard to get rid of.
Here's where I'm at so far:
6 Plains
6 Forest
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Tranquil Thicket
3 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Selesnya Sanctuary
Creatures (17)
4 Elvish Visionary
1 Eternal Witness (u)
4 Tilling Treefolk
2 Stonehorn Dignitary
2 Cenn's Enlistment
4 Krosan Tusker
3 Astral Slide (u)
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Rancor
1 Rune of Protection: Red
1 Rune of Protection: Green
Instants/ Sorceries
1 Enlightened Tutor (u)
3 Edge of Autumn
2 Renewed Faith
4 Celestial Flare
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
I've tried a slightly different set-up to combat the problem with creature congestion: a tiny red splash for Lightning Rift. The additional red cyclers really help support the treefolk engine, and you get both a creature removal engine as well as a direct damage win con (so it replaces Enlistment IMO). I figured I could use Custodi Squire/Auramancer just as well as Eternal Witness, Stonehorn Dignitary instead of Ghostly Prison and Commune with the Gods over Enlightened Tutor, so Lightning Rift seemed like the best option for an uncommon! Commune especially is so synergistic with the engine, developing the yard with lands for Treefolk while actually securing that treefolk to drop t3 or grabbing a key enchantment.
With Rune of Protection: Green and Stonehorn Dignitary covering untargetables already, I decided to drop Celestial Flare for Crystallization. The mana requirement is easier, you can exile the creature with a slide/rift activation, and I can then recur it with Squire/Auramancer. So far I'm liking Squire over Auramancer because it just does more in the deck and I don't really need the effect until late game anyway (when an evasive threat doesn't go amiss).
Here's my current list, works pretty well IMO:
6 Forest
6 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Secluded Steppe
4 Tranquil Thicket
4 Forgotten Cave
4 Tilling Treefolk
2 Stonehorn Dignitary
2 Custodi Squire
ENCHANTMENTS (15)
2 Lightning Rift (u)
3 Astral Slide (u)
2 Rune of Protection: Red
2 Rune of Protection: Green
4 Crystallization
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Gilded Light
SORCERIES (7)
4 Commune with the Gods
3 Edge of Autumn
That's 22 cyclers which feels very comfortable. With that and Commune, you're pretty guaranteed to find any 2-of creature or enchantment in a fairly timely fashion. The Gilded Light slot is mostly preference. I feel I have creature hate covered so well already with this list that I don't mind devoting a few cyclers to combo. It's arguably not more narrow than Rune of Protection: Red, and just as vital in the match-ups where it matters.
The deck is really cool though! It feels like a mix between a poor man's enchantress deck and aggro loam, obviously with less speed and lock-out potential than either but still not bad for a peasant deck. It could probably take out both Delver and MBC pretty well, and that's always something.
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I haven't tested since yesterday, but I just remembered Walker of the Grove. I think I'll try him out as my finisher for now. He's an excellent Slide target, and is massive. He may not have trample, but the many big bodies he makes will most likely make up for that. He can't easily be blocked profitably (he'll likely take three blockers with him, and then he would leave a 4/4 behind).
The deck is cool, but it's actually really hard to play. There are tons of decisions to make.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Give Commune with the Gods a try in the deck - I'm sure you'll love it! You might end up cutting ETutor when you see its lush green power Then watchagonnado with that last slot? I think you'll end up with GWr like me. Lightning Rift is sweet and with commune, you only really need 3 Astral Slide.
If you go Cenn's Enlistment -> Walker, I would reexamine those tuskers too. There's plenty of one mana cyclers (like those red lands that are also lands already, without paying anything ;). Would you really want to pay 2 extra when cycling to get an extra land that you no longer have much use for? All the cycling and treefolk tends to lead to making all land drops anyway, IMO.
I remembered another must-run card today that I must try to fit in: Explore. I'm considering:
-1 Commune with the Gods (3 seems optimal but I always get carried away with these types of cards at first!)
-1 Crystallization (I have so much creature hate already)
+2 Explore
That also pushes it to 5 ramp in total which feels pretty consistent for always getting that +1 ramp/game considering 3 of them cycle.
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Why do you figure Explore is a must-run? I mean, ramp is good and all, but is it that essential to the game plan that it's a must-run?
Why play Crystallization when you can play Journey to Nowhere? Is it just to target it with a Rift or Slide activation? That would seem like kind of a waste.
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Crystallization can be sent to the grave with Rift/Slide and recurred endlessly with Custodi Squire. Thought that could be a useful trick. It can actually be less wasteful than Journey IMO. Consider:
*First threat handled with Journey or Cryst.
*Second threat is 3+ toughness, requiring either continuous Slide activations or multiple Rift activations if you used Journey. But if you used Cryst and you have Squire, you target the first creature instead and reuse the Journey.
If Opp is only running a few utility creatures like Grim Lavamancer in burn, Journey is probably better however, because it requires less set up and exiles immediately. Cryst is better for long term attrition. I also considered a few Seal of Fire, but it feels underwhelming and I can't depend on having a t2 red source.
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1 Forest
1 Jungle Hollow
2 Plains
2 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Evolving Wilds
3 Secluded Steppe
4 Barren Moor
4 Scoured Barrens
5 Swamp
Creatures
1 Auramancer
2 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2 Stonehorn Dignitary
3 Lone Missionary
3 Tilling Treefolk
4 Chittering Rats
4 Ravenous Rats
1 Engineered Plague (u)
1 Seal of Doom
3 Astral Slide (u)
4 Dead Weight
1 Commune with the Gods
1 Demonic Tutor (u)
1 Raven's Crime
4 Unearth
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Moment's Peace
3 Faerie Macabre
3 Duress
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Auramancer
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
Sig by Ace5301 of Ace of Spades Studio
Apart from that, it looks pretty strange for a slide deck. 11 cyclers total? And 4 of those are unearth. Did he decide to go enchantment based (dead weight, seal) for the sake of a 1-of Auramancer? So many design choices seem strange to me.
IMO, the main reason to splash for a third color is to get 12 lands that cycle for 1 mana for treefolk rather than 8, and he's only running 7. Gary is a cool win con but requires a heavier black commitment than just adding Lightning Rift which seemed more appropriate to me.
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As for the deck, it features an impressive amount of discard, if you include the Chittering Rats. I suppose once you force a lot of discard and slow the game down, you can set up the Tilling Treefolk combo with 2 Cycling lands rather easily and take the game over from there, looping for infinite discard spells, fogs, life gain, life loss and removal. Does the deck really need more cyclers to work?
If I take a look at the other top decks in this 15-man tournament, they were almost all control decks too. First place was a UB Thopter/Sword control deck, third was Affinity Control, fourth was Tokens with Sky Hussar, and fifth was an RG deck that combos artifact destruction with Liquimetal Coating, known as "Monkey ***" (apparently a deck that places regularly).
UGTurboFogGU
BRSacrificial AggroBR
16The Paper Pauper Battle Bag16
EDH
BRRakdos, Lord of PingersBR
GTitania, Protector of ArgothG
UB Ramses OverdarkUB
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4 secluded steppe
4 tranquil thicket
4 barren moor
3 Scoured Barrens
3 jungle Hollow
3 blossoming sands
2 swamp
2 plains
2 forest
1 tormented existence
1 eternal witness
3 tilling treefolk
2 chittering rats
2 faceless butchers
4 Krosan Tusker
2 centaur healer
2 essence warden
4 suture priest
2 mesmeric fiend
4 street wraith
I've always wanted to combine nightmare effect creatures with astral slide, and suture priest is so insane in slide. She can stall the game by keeping your heal up or just kill your opponent by blinking out their attackers. honestly let a slide deck get in full swing and have a copy or two of her and you can take down like 3-4 players all gunning for you.
Legacy:
RGWBUDredgeUBWGR
:symrg:Belcher:symrg:
WD&TW
Affinity
WGriffinsW (pauper)
U/thopter comboU/ (peasant)
:symbg:Moosebite:symbg: (peasant)
RGobo tokensR (peasant)
R slide R (peasant)
:symur:pingers:symur: