I'd pull Presence out for Gods Willing or Brave. Might consider Call to be pulled in favor of more Banishing Lights in main. Plummet might also be considered for dealing with Stormbreath Dragon for SB tech. Trostani's ok, but you might consider a more solid choice even for SB. Rootborn Defenses is nice to deal with a Verdict or Anger of he Gods. Something you might want to consider. Deicide is also excellent in SB or main to deal with certain enchantments and artifacts.
I'm assuming Trostani is there for other aggro? If so, consider Nyx-Fleece Ram instead. It blocks the same size creatures, though it doesn't kill them, and it is an early drop. In your deck Trostani isn't often gaining tons of life per turn, so Ram stopping damage earlier makes it better imo. You also have her a 1-of though, so it properly doesn't matter much either way.
I wasn't killing people on T3, but my clock was always very efficient, and that won me most of my games.
Everything at States played out like I hoped it would. As soon as I start losing, I will find something to change.
How often did Rogue's Passage come into play? How many G1's did you take and against which match ups did you lose G1? I am very interested in hearing more about your take on this deck.
With Rogue's Passage...
In the swiss, one game in a GW mirror, I did all my damage with rogue's passage (Completely clogged board state).
In the semi finals against a Bw Devotion opponent, I killed him through a Blood Baron and Desecration Demon on Defense.
In the finals? against a Gr Monsters opponent, I killed him after he thought he had stabilized with a Stormbreath Dragon.
Rogue's Passage is a pretty embarrassing card to play, it is stupid, inefficient and I wish I could just play Mutavault. But, making sure you can finish off your opponent through an Elspeth or pro-white creature is worth any amount of mana.
I didn't record how many g1s I won/lost but my general philosophy on this archetype is that the strength is having efficient beats and the weakness is the lack of good interaction. So I try to interact as little as possible in g1 and sideboard whatever interaction is necessary for g2-3. Also, Experiment One, Voice of Resurgence and Ajani, really reward you for having a very high creature count.
On this topic, a thing to keep in mind is... if you are going to interact with your opponent and purposefully trade cards, you are going to be at a disadvantage without superior card advantage. This deck doesn't have much card advantage, so trading and interacting generally seems like a losing proposition, unless I am pushing damage and closing the game quickly.
My problem with Tactics is that it is only good if your creatures are already as big as the opponent's. The place where I really want removal is against Desecration Demon and Stormbreath Dragon. Tactics only kills Stormbreath if you have Polukranos out already, and only favorably kills Demon with a Monstrous Polukranos or Polkranos and another creature that can win a fight with another of their creatures (if the fight is a trade, it is card disadvantage, but if you kill another creature too it becomes a 2-for-2).
The lack of removal besides Selesnya Charm and Banishing Light still make it worth using, especially against aggro, but it just isn't good enough when we need it most.
Setessan Tactics isn't meant to handle big guys, unless those big guys have pro W.
Desecration Demon and Polukranos are a job for Selesnya Charm and Banishing Light, so Tactics doesn't come in vs MBD or Big Gruul. As for Stormbreath, White can't touch him and green has no removal for him outside of Tactics (unless you run Plummet, which is a very narrow SB card right now).
Setessan Tactics is meant to clean up against faster, smaller Aggro decks (like mono U). Trading something against a Madcap-Skilled heroic-dude is a 2v2, 2v3 if you pay the strive for another one of their dudes, fighting a Precinct Captain with anything but Soldier is good, etc., but killing a Master of Waves is the best thing Tactics can do, IMO
Has anyone else tried banisher priest for "removal". That was the one card that took G/W over the top for me. I know the arguments against it but if yoru opponent uses removal against it thats removal thats not used against your actual threats. On your next turn you play as if they are guaranteed to kill the priest after you declare attackers and use your selesnya charms and boon saytrs appropriately.
All I am saying is that is you havent tried it, try it. I think its better than Brimaz and banishing light main, except against control game 1 obviously ;).
I played Banishing Priest a bit during Theros on the sideboard and didn't really like it, but I know other people that I respect played it said it was good.
It is a pretty good card if your opponents are running little to no removal, but in GW, I would rather just play a big creature rather than a 2/2 with utility.
The place where I did like Banisher Priest was in White Weenie. Imposing Sovereign prevented you from ever getting blown out in combat and Spear of Heliod + Battalion made the 2/2 body extra relevant.
Has anyone else tried banisher priest for "removal". That was the one card that took G/W over the top for me. I know the arguments against it but if yoru opponent uses removal against it thats removal thats not used against your actual threats. On your next turn you play as if they are guaranteed to kill the priest after you declare attackers and use your selesnya charms and boon saytrs appropriately.
All I am saying is that is you havent tried it, try it. I think its better than Brimaz and banishing light main, except against control game 1 obviously ;).
Actually, I do like the Priest. But for me it was more relevant to run Banishing Light to be able to remove things other than just creatures.
The thing with B-Priest is really that it makes you very vulnerable to blowouts/ at least 2-for-1s. Not much vs MBD, but against anythingthat plays more than 4 removal spells (all decks with B, most decks with R, some decks with W)
Enchantmentremoval is still less common than creature removal...
What is a current good build right now. I am switching from bw control/midrange to this as aggro is just getting out of control. Literally. I have everything except Ajani, mentor of heroes but can buy one or two easy. Is he worth it for five mana? I like the 3 converted mana cost Ajani more. Is better to go cheap cmc aggro or midrange? Loxodon Smitter worth playing anymore?
This list got 16th at SCG Somerset this past weekend.
Not a super great finish but probably a good list to take note of.
Also, if you specifically wanted to be better vs Control, you could change the 1 Ajani, Mentor of Hero's and 1 Banishing Light on the sideboard to Gods Willing x2.
Big Congrats on your finish, I'd be more than happy with 16th at an SCG event, was heartbreaking to see the loss to UWR at the end.
In your interview on your link you mentioned what I also have found which is the tough matchups against removal - often blak - lists, and lists which run courser and caryatid. Could you give an idea of how you sideboard for those matchups? Against GR I typically take out the 1 drops as they get out matched so quickly but I'm pretty sure I'm over sideboarding for that match, and against black I have no idea what to take out!
The black devotion decks I actually think are a good matchup over all, I didn't quite articulate that properly in the interview.
It is only when I am on the draw and without a one drop or voice that I feel I am unfavored.
If they splash green or red the matchup is even better, if they splash white the match up can get worse.
Against Gr Monsters, I do the following...
+2 Hunt the Hunter
+3 Unflinching Courage
+1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
-2 Dryad Militant
-4 Soldier of the Pantheon
I am not sure if this is the best thing to do, arguments can be made for bringing in Setessan Tactics, the 3rd Banishing Light and the Archangel of Thune. I don't sideboard more, because I want to preserve my aggressive game plan.
I use Unflinching Courage and Ajani, Caller of the Pride to snipe planeswalkers.
Hunt the Hunter is extra removal against large blockers.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes ensures I don't run out of gas.
Once I take the 2/1s out, their Caryatids and Coursers become a lot worse and my pressure is a lot more potent.
If I can keep them off their card advantage and remove their largest blockers, I can usually pressure them enough before their draw goes anywhere. If I do get into a board stall, monstrous Lion + Unflinching is a real thing and Unflinching + Scavenging Ooze is something they can't answer either. Rogue's Passage also shines once they think they have stabilized. Stormbreath Dragon is obviously a huge brick wall but its' strength is greatly mitigated by the weakness of a lot of their other cards in combat. An early Stormbreath Dragon can be unbeatable but usually it is too late.
The more removal and less creatures they have in Jund/Junk style builds I sideboard less. Sometimes I only bring in Advent of the Wurm and nothing else if they are really heavy on the removal.
OK so I wasn't too far off with SBing against GR, I do the same as you stated, plus I take out the 4 experiement ones for Banish, Angel, Tactics, and Ajani. Would you say Advent isn't good enough against the straight GR lists?
Thoughts on including 2-3 Setessan Tactics in our 75? It's been mentioned, but not really discussed.
GW is certainly vulnerable to the ultra-fast aggro decks out there, and we lack good answers to some of the more explosive starts in the format. The last thing we want to do is give our opponents 4 life via Last Breath, which up until now has been the only other playable, non-charm removal. It really helps that it's an instant, considering we are frequently holding back to play Boon/Wurm, plays nice with Brimaz, and isn't a terrible late-game mana sink. What say we?
Problem with tactics is that you have to tap your creatures which prevents you from attacking. This is all assuming we are talking about G/W aggro. What would we be using Tactics for anyway?
This deck seems really heavy in the 3 slot. You have 15 MD 3 drops. Maybe cut the MD paladins and a brimaz for 4 elvish mystic? That's a traditionally solid T1 play.
I am talking about GW midrange, not aggro
Here is my current list, still working it but it's been testing well.
This is test version, the three Gideon is so that I draw them often enough to test them, I will probably go down to two. I will probably drop either a Courser or a Paladin as well, and will replace them and the Gideon with Advents. The Fiendslayers and Wichstalkers are because without them MonoB is a horrible matchup, and the Paladins are also quite effective against aggro. Sideboard is still a work in progress, has stuff for the major decks, but will certainly change as I get a better idea of the format.
Lately I've been having issues with mono blue devotion. It seems they have a better mid to late game than GW aggro.
After putting 2 Witchstalkers in SB and 2 MB the deck has taken on a new level. It literally tears apart the mirror matches, good against MBD, and does fairly well against UWR control. But now it seems MUD is an issue.
Here's my current list, and no I do not get mana screwed. I tend to get flooded at times though
Though, I'm thinking of making the militant into 4 Augury Owls instead to get some flyers in to deal with annoying things and as a sac outlet if I need to slow down a Verdict or Anger of the Gods by a turn or two.
Another thought I have been toying with is dropping Advent into SB, put 4 Brave the Elements in place of Gods Willing, bring the count of Witchstalkers to 4 and also include 2 Spears of Heliod to MB. Or barring that, 4 Brave, +2 Witchstalker... Maybe 2 of something, not sure what yet but I'll figure it out by the time I play again tomorrow. Dryad's have been far more favorable with Brave than X One was with Gods Willing. Making all my creatures pro color seems to be FAR more effective, but I have yet to put my theories to the test.
Mono-blue, really? It used to be annoying but I wasn't having too much trouble preparing for it when I played it...
Part of it might be the Dryad Militants. Experiment One is a pretty efficient threat that grows as the match goes on. Mono-blue has to deal with it because soon it's going to be a 3/3 or higher. A Dryad is not as threatening to them as it dies to every blocker in their deck, Frostburn Weird in particular, so they aren't going to care about it. Might be useful for the Brave plan but if you aren't using Brave I don't really like Dryad here. You have 4 mainboard Banishing Light for Master; but then again Hall of Triumph is also pretty annoying to fight against here so maybe Unravel the Aether instead of Deicide in the board, I dunno. There aren't exactly any other artifacts around worth hitting.
Post board I'd always take out the Voices since they never seem to die here and the 2/2 isn't that relevant, and put in Hydras. I would also have Unflinching Courage in the side that I would like to bring in here as it helps win the race. They don't have many ways to interact with it, but against a controlling build it might not be worth it. Otherwise, a Courage on a Mistcutter Hydra or Skylasher is enormous.
Also if you're considering Judge's Familar to slow down Verdict, don't because Verdict can't be countered anyways.
I can easilly change the title and I'd love to see more differences with midrange and aggro myself. Both are good. GPT Qualifier (grand prix trial Atlanta) here, I took 3rd, GW Midrange took 1st. Top 4 decks didn't see a single mono black deck.
1st, GW Midrange
2nd, BG deck
3rd, GW Aggro
4th, UWB Control
5th, UWR Control
6th, Mono Black Devotion
7th, GR Monsters
8th, GW Aggro
That's what I can remember, Went 5-1. 11-3 total through the whole matchup.
Anyways, here goes the deck list I used, along with the matches and thoughts on the results:
First round, I was the odd person out. Bye. 2-0 freebies are always good.
Second round, I played against GR monsters, the one that got 7th. Simple 2-0 match.
Side out: 2 coursers, 1 Fleecemane. Side in, 3 Plummets.
Third round, UW control. Easy first game, 2nd game got even easier.
Side out 2 godsend, 2 Unflinching Courage, 4 Selesnya Charm, 2 Experiment One. Side in 2 Rootborn Defense, 3 Mistcutter Hydra, 2 Ajani, Mentor, and 3 Pithing Needles. 2 needles locks both Elspeth and Jace. Rootborn saved my creatures once. Mistcutter followed by little Ajani seals the game.
Fourth Round, 2-0 vs GW Midrange that took 1st.
Side out nothing.
Fifth round, Mono Black Devotion. Tough third round. 2-1. First game was easy, I took out the pack rats early on. Game 2, I couldn't draw lands to save my butt, and 2 thoughtsiezes and 2 Lifebanes gave him the game. Game 3 went differently. I kept drawing lands, He used Thoughtsieze and got nothing on round 3. All my things were on the table. and I had nothing but lands in hand. I play Ajani on turn 4 and he scooped. Brimaz would have killed him.
Sixth round, 1-2. Mono Black splash green. First game was over so quickly, he downfalled a voice with a +1/+1 counter on my turn. Three elemental tokens made. Side out 2 Godsend, side in 2 Ajani, Mentor. Game 2, mana screw, sat on 1 land the entire game. Game 3, I kept a 4 land hand and drew 4 more lands before I played Ajani Mentor and even there Ajani bricked me with 4 land clump.
So far, the deck is testing out well with Mentor, and I'm thinking of removing a couple of creatures for Launch the Fleet as a possibility.
I may also be moving more to 4 Mystic Elves and 4 Sylvan Caryatids instead of 4 Soldiers and 4 Experiment Ones. Or I may drop the experiments only along with 2 Fleecemanes and 2 Coursers. If I do anything like that I might begin looking at Garruk to put in or move the 2 Mentors in main. Of course, it will no longer be aggro, but midrange instead. I'll wait another month before I decide to move in that direction.
The midrange deck beat the BG deck that beat me for the win.
Any chance you have the list for the midrange deck?
Never mind I guess I missed the post thanks for finding the list.
OK so I wasn't too far off with SBing against GR, I do the same as you stated, plus I take out the 4 experiement ones for Banish, Angel, Tactics, and Ajani. Would you say Advent isn't good enough against the straight GR lists?
Advent is a good card, and it sizes up against Stormbreath pretty well.
I don't think it would be absurdly wrong to bring it in.
The reason I don't bring it in is because I want to develop a board of creatures on turns 1-3 and then interact in ways that push damage on turns 4-6.
Lately I've been having issues with mono blue devotion. It seems they have a better mid to late game than GW aggro.
Before BNG and JOU were out, I would play 4 Skylasher, 3 Mistcutter and 3 Unflinching Courage on the sideboard just for the Mono Blue Matchup.
I think things are a little better now with Banishing Lights, but I think the best thing you can do in the matchup is still t2 Skylasher, t3 Unflinching Courage. Since you only have 22 lands, I would definitely consider replacing your Mistcutters for Skylashers. Skylasher is good on offense and defense and is a lot more mana efficient.
Also, in your deck list there is a typo... you listed Dryad Militant instead of Experiment One.
Lately I've been having issues with mono blue devotion. It seems they have a better mid to late game than GW aggro.
Before BNG and JOU were out, I would play 4 Skylasher, 3 Mistcutter and 3 Unflinching Courage on the sideboard just for the Mono Blue Matchup.
I think things are a little better now with Banishing Lights, but I think the best thing you can do in the matchup is still t2 Skylasher, t3 Unflinching Courage. Since you only have 22 lands, I would definitely consider replacing your Mistcutters for Skylashers. Skylasher is good on offense and defense and is a lot more mana efficient.
Also, in your deck list there is a typo... you listed Dryad Militant instead of Experiment One.
How does this deck handle UW Devotion? There's a lot of Selesnya Aggro at my LGS and I was thinking about throwing together the version that splashes for Ephara and D Sphere
Everything at States played out like I hoped it would. As soon as I start losing, I will find something to change.
Sounds like the way it was over here. I just wish I hadn't forgotten my deck.
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Mana Confluence
6 Forest
5 Plains
4 Experiment One
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Fleecemane Lion
3 Boon Satyr
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Advent of the Wurm
2 Ajani's Presence
3 Selesnya Charm
1 Banishing Light
2 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
4 Unflinching Courage
1 Banishing Light
4 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Time to Feed
1 Last Breath
2 Pithing Needle
1 Scavenging Ooze
I'd pull Presence out for Gods Willing or Brave. Might consider Call to be pulled in favor of more Banishing Lights in main. Plummet might also be considered for dealing with Stormbreath Dragon for SB tech. Trostani's ok, but you might consider a more solid choice even for SB. Rootborn Defenses is nice to deal with a Verdict or Anger of he Gods. Something you might want to consider. Deicide is also excellent in SB or main to deal with certain enchantments and artifacts.
I'm assuming Trostani is there for other aggro? If so, consider Nyx-Fleece Ram instead. It blocks the same size creatures, though it doesn't kill them, and it is an early drop. In your deck Trostani isn't often gaining tons of life per turn, so Ram stopping damage earlier makes it better imo. You also have her a 1-of though, so it properly doesn't matter much either way.
How often did Rogue's Passage come into play? How many G1's did you take and against which match ups did you lose G1? I am very interested in hearing more about your take on this deck.
In the swiss, one game in a GW mirror, I did all my damage with rogue's passage (Completely clogged board state).
In the semi finals against a Bw Devotion opponent, I killed him through a Blood Baron and Desecration Demon on Defense.
In the finals? against a Gr Monsters opponent, I killed him after he thought he had stabilized with a Stormbreath Dragon.
Rogue's Passage is a pretty embarrassing card to play, it is stupid, inefficient and I wish I could just play Mutavault. But, making sure you can finish off your opponent through an Elspeth or pro-white creature is worth any amount of mana.
I didn't record how many g1s I won/lost but my general philosophy on this archetype is that the strength is having efficient beats and the weakness is the lack of good interaction. So I try to interact as little as possible in g1 and sideboard whatever interaction is necessary for g2-3. Also, Experiment One, Voice of Resurgence and Ajani, really reward you for having a very high creature count.
On this topic, a thing to keep in mind is... if you are going to interact with your opponent and purposefully trade cards, you are going to be at a disadvantage without superior card advantage. This deck doesn't have much card advantage, so trading and interacting generally seems like a losing proposition, unless I am pushing damage and closing the game quickly.
Has anyone else tried banisher priest for "removal". That was the one card that took G/W over the top for me. I know the arguments against it but if yoru opponent uses removal against it thats removal thats not used against your actual threats. On your next turn you play as if they are guaranteed to kill the priest after you declare attackers and use your selesnya charms and boon saytrs appropriately.
All I am saying is that is you havent tried it, try it. I think its better than Brimaz and banishing light main, except against control game 1 obviously ;).
4 Experiment One
4 soldier of the pantheon
4 voice of resurgence
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Boon Satyr
4 banisher priest
3 selesnya charm
2 God's willing
4 advent of the wurm
3 Ajani, caller of the pride
7 plains
4 temple garden
4 temple of the plenty
2 Mana confluence
3 unflinching courage
3 mistcutter hydra
3 rootbound defense
2 Banishing light
2 celestial flare
2 Setessan tactics
Props to DarkNightCavalier 4 da banner and SGT_Chubbz 4 avvie, here
Standard
GRAggro
GRWNaya Purphoros
GWAggro Retired 9/19/2014
RGPrimeval Titan RIP
1/5/2010 - 9/30/2011
Top 4 Channelfireball Winter series 5k Feb. 2011
3rd at California National Qualifiers 2011
40th at GP SLC 2012
Find me on MTGO @ Ruslvmusl91
It is a pretty good card if your opponents are running little to no removal, but in GW, I would rather just play a big creature rather than a 2/2 with utility.
The place where I did like Banisher Priest was in White Weenie. Imposing Sovereign prevented you from ever getting blown out in combat and Spear of Heliod + Battalion made the 2/2 body extra relevant.
Actually, I do like the Priest. But for me it was more relevant to run Banishing Light to be able to remove things other than just creatures.
Enchantmentremoval is still less common than creature removal...
Multiplayer Decks- Memnarch - Animar, Soul of Elements - Zur, the Enchanter - Atraxa, Praetors' Voice - Food Chain Tazri - Teysa Karlov
Modern BUMill and Bant Spirits.
Thank you Xenphire for the signature!
This list got 16th at SCG Somerset this past weekend.
Not a super great finish but probably a good list to take note of.
Also, if you specifically wanted to be better vs Control, you could change the 1 Ajani, Mentor of Hero's and 1 Banishing Light on the sideboard to Gods Willing x2.
4 Experiment One
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
2 Dryad Militant
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Fleecemane Lion
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Boon Satyr
4 Selesnya Charm
3 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
2 Banishing Light
Lands (23)
4 Temple Garden
4 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Plenty
5 Plains
5 Forest
1 Rogue's Passage
2 Boon Satyr
3 Advent of the Wurm
1 Ajani, Mentor of Hero's
3 Unflinching Courage
1 Archangel of Thune
2 Hunt the Hunter
1 Setessan Tactics
1 Glare of Hereasy
1 Banishing Light
Multiplayer Decks- Memnarch - Animar, Soul of Elements - Zur, the Enchanter - Atraxa, Praetors' Voice - Food Chain Tazri - Teysa Karlov
Modern BUMill and Bant Spirits.
Thank you Xenphire for the signature!
Go to 02:04:20
http://www.twitch.tv/scglive/b/531836534
In your interview on your link you mentioned what I also have found which is the tough matchups against removal - often blak - lists, and lists which run courser and caryatid. Could you give an idea of how you sideboard for those matchups? Against GR I typically take out the 1 drops as they get out matched so quickly but I'm pretty sure I'm over sideboarding for that match, and against black I have no idea what to take out!
The black devotion decks I actually think are a good matchup over all, I didn't quite articulate that properly in the interview.
It is only when I am on the draw and without a one drop or voice that I feel I am unfavored.
If they splash green or red the matchup is even better, if they splash white the match up can get worse.
Against Gr Monsters, I do the following...
+2 Hunt the Hunter
+3 Unflinching Courage
+1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
-2 Dryad Militant
-4 Soldier of the Pantheon
I am not sure if this is the best thing to do, arguments can be made for bringing in Setessan Tactics, the 3rd Banishing Light and the Archangel of Thune. I don't sideboard more, because I want to preserve my aggressive game plan.
I use Unflinching Courage and Ajani, Caller of the Pride to snipe planeswalkers.
Hunt the Hunter is extra removal against large blockers.
Ajani, Mentor of Heroes ensures I don't run out of gas.
Once I take the 2/1s out, their Caryatids and Coursers become a lot worse and my pressure is a lot more potent.
If I can keep them off their card advantage and remove their largest blockers, I can usually pressure them enough before their draw goes anywhere. If I do get into a board stall, monstrous Lion + Unflinching is a real thing and Unflinching + Scavenging Ooze is something they can't answer either. Rogue's Passage also shines once they think they have stabilized. Stormbreath Dragon is obviously a huge brick wall but its' strength is greatly mitigated by the weakness of a lot of their other cards in combat. An early Stormbreath Dragon can be unbeatable but usually it is too late.
The more removal and less creatures they have in Jund/Junk style builds I sideboard less. Sometimes I only bring in Advent of the Wurm and nothing else if they are really heavy on the removal.
UW Approach UW
EDH
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls U
After putting 2 Witchstalkers in SB and 2 MB the deck has taken on a new level. It literally tears apart the mirror matches, good against MBD, and does fairly well against UWR control. But now it seems MUD is an issue.
Here's my current list, and no I do not get mana screwed. I tend to get flooded at times though
Though, I'm thinking of making the militant into 4 Augury Owls instead to get some flyers in to deal with annoying things and as a sac outlet if I need to slow down a Verdict or Anger of the Gods by a turn or two.
5 Forest
5 Plains
4 Mana Confluence
4 Temple Garden
4 Temple of Plenty
Creatures: (24)
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Dryad Militant
4 Fleecemane Lion
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Advent of the Wurm
2 Witchstalker
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Selesnya Charm
2 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
4 Banishing Light
4 Gods Willing
3 Plummet
4 Mistcutter Hydra
3 Deicide
3 Rootborn Defenses
2 Witchstalker
Another thought I have been toying with is dropping Advent into SB, put 4 Brave the Elements in place of Gods Willing, bring the count of Witchstalkers to 4 and also include 2 Spears of Heliod to MB. Or barring that, 4 Brave, +2 Witchstalker... Maybe 2 of something, not sure what yet but I'll figure it out by the time I play again tomorrow. Dryad's have been far more favorable with Brave than X One was with Gods Willing. Making all my creatures pro color seems to be FAR more effective, but I have yet to put my theories to the test.
Part of it might be the Dryad Militants. Experiment One is a pretty efficient threat that grows as the match goes on. Mono-blue has to deal with it because soon it's going to be a 3/3 or higher. A Dryad is not as threatening to them as it dies to every blocker in their deck, Frostburn Weird in particular, so they aren't going to care about it. Might be useful for the Brave plan but if you aren't using Brave I don't really like Dryad here. You have 4 mainboard Banishing Light for Master; but then again Hall of Triumph is also pretty annoying to fight against here so maybe Unravel the Aether instead of Deicide in the board, I dunno. There aren't exactly any other artifacts around worth hitting.
Post board I'd always take out the Voices since they never seem to die here and the 2/2 isn't that relevant, and put in Hydras. I would also have Unflinching Courage in the side that I would like to bring in here as it helps win the race. They don't have many ways to interact with it, but against a controlling build it might not be worth it. Otherwise, a Courage on a Mistcutter Hydra or Skylasher is enormous.
Also if you're considering Judge's Familar to slow down Verdict, don't because Verdict can't be countered anyways.
Any chance you have the list for the midrange deck?
Never mind I guess I missed the post thanks for finding the list.
UW Approach UW
EDH
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls U
Advent is a good card, and it sizes up against Stormbreath pretty well.
I don't think it would be absurdly wrong to bring it in.
The reason I don't bring it in is because I want to develop a board of creatures on turns 1-3 and then interact in ways that push damage on turns 4-6.
Before BNG and JOU were out, I would play 4 Skylasher, 3 Mistcutter and 3 Unflinching Courage on the sideboard just for the Mono Blue Matchup.
I think things are a little better now with Banishing Lights, but I think the best thing you can do in the matchup is still t2 Skylasher, t3 Unflinching Courage. Since you only have 22 lands, I would definitely consider replacing your Mistcutters for Skylashers. Skylasher is good on offense and defense and is a lot more mana efficient.
Also, in your deck list there is a typo... you listed Dryad Militant instead of Experiment One.
How does this deck handle UW Devotion? There's a lot of Selesnya Aggro at my LGS and I was thinking about throwing together the version that splashes for Ephara and D Sphere
UW Approach UW
EDH
U Azami, Lady of Scrolls U