isnt this just G/W Hexproof, a branch from Naya hexproof?
Not exactly. It's still Selesnya aggro. Curve is a lot lower (by 1) and it runs the same soncepts. Play creatures and attack ASAP. Ajani's still a core game ender to beat people over the head. I never liked the Naya package, always seemed too greedy with a 3rd color in. However, yes it does play hexproof. I got tired of dealing with mono blue devotion tapping my Experiment One and Fleecemane down. I got tired of dealing with their stupid flyers. And it deals nicely with red for the fact I have 12 anti red cards MB. It outraces other aggro decks with all the lifelink creatures and enchantments. Even one Gladecover can kill Stormbreath. And Presence is much needed when my only creature in play is a single hexproof with lifelink and trample is being used.
So, with hexproof able to deal with RWU, B/x, mono red, and mono blue, why not play them?
I went 4-0 tonight:
1st round was against a B/g deck. A total of 2 Scouts and a Fiendslayer carried me through the games with Ethereal Armor and Gift on Scout. 2nd was much the same.
2nd was mono blue devotion, which managed to tap down 2 voices game 1, but a flying trample lifelink first strike witchstalker ended the game. Round 2, side out 4 Voice, side in 4 Skylasher. It was worse for him, as Tidebinder had no valid targets, like ever.
Round 3, American Control. Glare of Heresy sides in game 2, along with a bunch of other cards. He was dead before he got to 6 lands untapped, even through 2 Verdicts in a row and an Archangel that was exiled with a glare.
Round 4, white weenie. Game 1 I was stuck on 1 land and that sucked because I mulled to 5. Games 2 and 3, I took him out because he wasn't ever able to deal with a pair of fiendslayers and eventually I played Ajani for a 12 point kill in the air.
I had a game against a GW Hexproof on Thursday where my opponent cast t3 Witchstalker, and put Unflinching Courage on it on t4. My opponent didn't attack because I had Advent of the Wurm mana open, and then I EoT Advent, untapped and put my own Unflinching Courage on my wurm token and attacked. My opponent was at 7, so the chump block was forced.
I think a big advantage of the typical GW shell, is you are able to pay a premium mana/card cost for your power and toughness. Then you can board in things like Unflinching Courage to exploit your opponent's lack of removal. You have to use a lot of cards and mana on Gladecover Scout before it becomes more threatening than a Loxodon Smiter. And if you don't spend all that mana and cards on Gladecover, it is literally a dead draw.
If you try to force the hexproof plan, you paint yourself into a corner where you need your cards to line up a certain way and you are paying a very expensive rate for your power/toughness. Thats fine so long as your opponent is unprepared for a hexproof strategy but there are a lot of Devour Fleshes, Celestial Flares and enchantment removal effects in my meta. I wouldn't catch anyone unprepared around here.
Both seem fine, but I do not like Elvish Mystic and Experiment One in the same deck.
When you have them in the same deck, you can have some really great draws if you draw one or the other.
If you ever draw them together it can be really awkward.
Also, having Elvish Mystic in your deck makes you weaker to control.
Wow didn't notice that I was finally approved to post in this section
Hello guys I am currently playing Green White Aggro for about the past 3 weeks now, before that I had never played standard before and wanted to play a deck that most people didn't really see coming. White and Green being some of my favorite color's and the ones that I tended to overdraft the most I figured this deck would be the one that I would jump into (especially since I had alot of cards from drafting Theros block)
I posted a wall of text to Kaiyla Han before I was allowed to post here but I had alot of thoughts and am constantly trying to tweak this deck.'
First I guess I might as well post my deck list
As you can see there's not a whole lot of "different" cards in my main board, The 2 that I guess could be argued as not being standard are Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and Rogue's Passage. I have found that over the course of my time that both of these cards have proven invaluable top decks in games that I didn't think I had shots in, Rogues Passage often facilitates that last bit of damage to get through when you need it and the board is clogged, and Ajani has a way of making your creatures big enough to deal with anything they might throw out, and also deal with a clogged board state.
Now to the sideboard ...... which at the moment is a convoluted because I'm trying to sideboard for most of the matchups which has/can be a nightmare. With so many decks running around it's hard to prepare for them all. The Unflinching Courages stay in no matter what, but almost everything else is stuff that can be discarded/re-added.
I'll explain the matchups that I have problems in, and wonder how you guys are sideboarding.
Obviously Number one on the list has to be Mono Black Devotion or some variant of with the sideboard in Green for Abrupt Decay.
What I try to do here is take out the thing's that die to easy removal and bring in the 2 Witchstalkers from the side, and a Rootborn defenses. Basically you try to out race their removal with your own cards; this can be difficult and doesn't always work but alot of the time you have more creatures than they do removal spells. Banishing Lights, and Selesnya Charm deal with the big guys (Desecration Demon) and normally you try to get in whenever you can. Alot of times I really like the Boon Satyrs, and the Advent of the Wurm's here because you can get them in at your opponents endstep and leave your guys less room for being killed. The Witchstalkers with Unflinching Courages really give you an advantage, and other than a late game Gray Merchant, I try to take out the Brimaz's and as many of the Soldier Pantheon's as is needed. Since this deck doesn't really run alot of heavy "multi-colored" spells, the Soldier becomes less valuable, while the experiment one is normally an easy target for their early removal. I keep the Loxodon's in because If I can get 2 of them in my hand early their thoughtseizes can backfire on them. I've found that alot of the time you can beat this deck it's just not an easy win. Depend's on how much removal they have and how many creatures you can get out, Normally they are hurting themselves early game (thoughtseize turn 1, turn 2) and not establishing board presence so An early experiment one/fleecemane lion can sometimes get in for 2 - 5 points of damage easily bringing them to ten, and then your just hoping for an Advent of the Wurm/Loxodon to stick and dropping an Ajani Caller of the Pride. Also A thought I had awhile ago was aegis of the gods. As an early drop it forces removal from their hand, and prevents them from using their thoughtseize and duress early in the game, and becomes a dead card in their hand. I've tried running Aegis of the God's against some of these decks and not sure how I feel about it, I've thrown it in my sideboard as a 2 of, but used to run 4 of them in the side, and would trade soldiers for Aegis when the Mono Black Deck showed up. However I've had to cut that down to deal with the Mono Blue Devotion.
Mono Blue Devotion -
I don't like playing this deck, part of the reason I play green white is because I hate blue, but that's a whole nother discussion; In the meantime This deck has really wrecked me the last few weeks, and thrown a wrench into my whole sideboard plan. This deck is beatable if you can commit a whole sideboard to it, but then it makes you vulnerable to other matchups. The best way to beat it is to use 4 banishing lights, 4 Skylashers, and 2 Mistcutter Hydras (if not more); The tidebinder mage's become a real pain; and the voice is all but useless. The judge's familiar isn't too big of a problem; but the thassa + hall of triumph combo has become a real problem. Normally what this deck does now is lay a turn 3 triumph, turn 4 master of waves and your dealing with 2 things that you have remove, with banishing lights, and whatever else you have. The Selesnya Charm doesn't do alot of work here either, so most of the time I'm trying to get in quick and end the game before they get the Master out; Once Thassa get's online the deck just get's harder to beat, so try not to let it get there.
Red Aggro - This is perhaps the easiest matchup, play first, and get your creatures out, anytime you can get 1 creature with unflinching courage you shouldn't have a problem, The deck has been harder to play against recently with the mono sligh variants, but your creatures should be bigger than theirs and any time of lifegain on your part should set you up for an easy win, pull the soldiers and the expirement ones and load up with the Witchstalkers, Gift of Orzhova's and the Unflinching Courages. I haven't seen much of the creature red decks so I can't help at the moment but against the red with burn to the face i've had a fairly easy time.
So far I've gone 11 - 2 - 1 in all my matchups with the above deck, The 1 tie was against a Jund Monsters deck where I made a huge mistake, and should have won the game, and the 2 losses were against Black/White Obzedat/Boros Reckoner/Celestial Flare/Desecration Demon deck that I took to game 3, and the other was a red/black aggro deck that I had bad draws on, I played the guy 2 more games after for fun and beat him both times meaning I sideboarded right but didn't draw any of the sideboard cards.
yea, used to play 4 mystic but hated drawing it late game, and there are only 2 in his deck and not taking full advantage of it. I think its either or, elf for T2 smiters and T3 wurms.
Honestly I don't even see the point in playing Elf. At least in the list I'm playing, I'd much rather have 2 extra Dryad Militant or something similar to ensure that extra 1 damage point on turn 2. When your highest costing creature is Advent of the Wurm you can normally be a bit more lenient with your mana which you just to need to curve out decently. Sure, you can do T2 Smiters and T3 Wurms but would you rather have a mana dork or a Solider of Pantheon/Experiment One etc and sacrifice that one turn to get that bigger creature out? Even then, your not ensuring you get the mana dork, with only 4 of them in the deck, as opposed to 10 1 drops that can deal more damage.
In addition, that extra turn you waste to play the bigger create (t2 or t3) you are wasting one creatures power, where as the early game is essential to beating your opponent to a pulp.
I can sort of see the Mystics as a way to quickly go bigger against the aggressive red decks that gained popularity, but I think it has its tradeoffs against other decks. I don't like using a card to ramp out a turn 2 smiter or turn 3 wurm in the world of targeted removal we are playing in, and mystics are awful against control. And a 2-of just seems weird.
@duxstar
Regarding mono-blue, I usually have at least 3 or 4 pro-blue creatures in my board. Voices come out for those. Selesnya Charm is better than you make it sound like here. It lets us try to run over a Weird or a Specter if they block it, which is huge for us, and just the threat of if can make them consider not blocking and giving us an extra few points of damage. Plus it gets rid of Thassa and can make the occasional surprise block against a Tidebinder or something. I find Boon Satyr's 2 toughness to be a liability on offense here, so I cut those for Banishing Lights and Unflinching Courage. From your list, I would probably also cut Mentor of Heroes since he is too slow. MonoU doesn't usually have a ton of removal, and they are a sort of aggro/tempo deck so the lifegain does help. When put on a pro-blue creature, it is amazing.
HEY guys!!!
Craig Wescoe went to GP Chicago with with list: https://twitter.com/Nacatls4Life/status/481122299962064897
4 Gideon Jira!
How about Gideon Jira!
A 4 drop that at LEAST a 5/5! Follow that up with an Ajani and its no fear jumping time (indestructible.)
Good against control, well it dodges verdict but spheres and A.Charms are lame, as are celestial flares.....its good against verdict....
Im going to try one or 2 out tomorrow, -1 Boon satyr, and -1 something else......
Anyone started to look at the spoilers and try coming up with a deck post rotation, or is it just way to early for that; I see most of the deck becoming more white, splashing green post rotation than the way it stands now.
Cards that are going and how i think they do their job in the deck at the moment
Voice of Resurgence - Make it so the opponent doesn't want to cast a spell on your turn, and get's rewarded for them killing it (resistant to dying)
Experiment One - 1 Drop that can get bigger with the right sequence of Plays, also Regeneration can be used in a time of need
Loxodon Smiter - Thoughtseize Resistant 4/4 Toughness for 3 Mana, I only hope there is an equivalent spoiled soon.
Advent of The Wurm - Flash, Trample, 5/5 Just typing this and knowing I wont have him anymore is making me a little Teary Eyed.
Selesnya Charm - The answer to everything, Gods, Big Creatures, pushing through damage, creating a guy, it's versatility Is almost unmatched.
Possible Replacements I've thought of
Voice of Resurgence - I have nothing, Maybe you guys can think of something with a similar effect in Theros/M15, or maybe they'll give us something in Khan's; as of right now this might be the biggest loss.
Experiment One - Sunblade Elf - I look at these 2 as a draw, Are there times when Experiment One becomes a 3/3 or a 4/4 ? Yes, but more often than not he's a 2/2 or 3/3; With Sunblade Elf you lose the ability to get bigger (3/3) but I can see his second ability being worth it, we've all been in games where we just drew too many lands, and this guy is a mana sink if we ever draw too many.
Loxodon Smiter - 3 Closest things at the moment that I can see are Boon Satyr, Brimaz, or Polukranos, Nothing else has that insane value of 4/4 for 3; at least nothing thats been spoiled
Advent of the Wurm - This might Sound Crazy but I think you could take Fated Intervention and throw it in there, it's not the same as 5/5 Trampler, but you are getting 6 power toughness in Flash form;
Selesnya Charm - Devouring Light, not as versatile but still gets the job done against big creatures that we otherwise can't deal with.
I realize that I have no answers for some of them, and the others sound like worse abilities, but In order to get similar effects to what we have now You could easily run 1 or 2 Nyleas (Giving Everything Trample); and proceeding like normal; I've really never been through a "Rotation" So I wonder if Maybe I'm not going about it the wrong way at all. I don't think Im the only one who's at least gave it a thought.
The deck as we know it is essentially dead after rotation. Basically the entire core of the deck is rotating. They've kept GW under wraps for M15 but they've hinted that it has a Convoke theme, which lends itself more to a weenie strategy. Plus we have no idea what Khans is doing so we're going to have to wait to see what GW has after rotation.
Has anyone here tried a Brave the Elements version of the deck? I'm thinking of going back to plain old GW Aggro after trying out what Naya had to offer. I'd like to try a version with BtE and Dryad Militant but with all the weenie hate going around, Experiment One just seems better. Maybe I'll just go back to having a few Gods Willing mainboard...
Only 22 people, I split top 4, i played one rogues passage and it was absolutely awesome I am definitely going to stick with one main deck. also I played with two gideon and they were pretty good and the possibility of comboing it with God's willing or aJani is too good to ignore. I played with two main deck but I think one is correct, I took out the fourth Boone saytr for it
I'm already putting together both a midrange and aggro selesnya without Rav in them.
And both will still be viable even after rotation, looking at what coices we he currently and what's to come soon. Don't think it's dead just yet.
Voice?
Well, there's 3 cards come to mind, Fleecemane Lion, Tower Archer, and a few others I'm not allowed to discuss here yet since the set's not fully unveiled yet.
Preeminent Captain makes soldier a thing to reckon, but it depends on tribal.
I've been having a lot of luck with G/W Selesnya hexproof. As far as midrange goes, those two new planeswalkers are auto includes, probably genesis hydra and soul too. Seriously, the deck will be viable and I'm looking forward to rotation tearing 80% of control and mono black apart.
Still don't see any replacements for Voice of Resurgence or Advent of the Wurm, 1 more set to go; I've tried running green white with a similar style deck to the one we've had and its just not as consistent; I will post some of my early decks if some of you would like, since this is the green/white aggro forum I'll only post my early findings with g/w
Later I'll probably need to go into more depth, but what I see is an evolution.
Selesnya Aggro is still viable until rotation, but Midrange just received 10 new things to play with. And never discount a Chord of Calling, for it can mean the difference between a win or a loss.
Have to understand, mono black devotion and mono blue devotion will be going to the wayside. American Control is also garbage after rotation.
So, I've got a wait and see attitude about Khans, but so far I'm looking at going totally midrange. Back to Nature and the loss of hexproof dudes made my decision for me. 3 Elspeth, 2 Ajani Steadfast, 2 Ajani Mentor, 2 Nissa, and the evil Garruk for starters. With Urborg Squelching Leeches can be quite scary, especially with Nissa's Expedition. So my evolution will look something like G/W splash black.
You guys need to be watching this game on Star City Games right now, It shows the power of cards like Rogues Passage, Ajani Mentor of Hero's and Ajani Caller of the Pride; The green white player had no answers for Elspeth, and I just don't understand how you can go into a tournament and not be able to get around an Elspeth. The cards we NEED to be able to answer are Elspeth, Supreme verdict, Desecration Demon, Master of Waves, and Thassa. I just don't feel like a green/white deck should lose to an Elspeth by herself; In fact when I play Esper Control, if they use their mana for the turn I know I'm free to drop ajani caller of the pride and just win. I'm not saying my deck is perfect (believe me, I agonize over my sideboard choices every week); but I feel i have answers for the top threats in the format, and if I don't draw them thats not something I can control.
Thwre was a pretty great match against UW control where the GW guy played Mentor of Heroes and was able to fight through Elspeth by making a huge board...
2/2 split on Mystic and Soldier, plus only 2 Voices. Weird but it worked for him I giess.
However it seems like the music and lack of pro - blue came back to bite him in his top 8 match.
I think I said this before but I don't understand why you'd play a Mystic in an aggro shell. All this does is keep you from consistently getting in early damage without good one drops. My highest costing card is Advent of the Wurm. Especially cutting 2 soldiers for the Mystic, I mean, why? And especially playing Ajani MoH, I'd rather play Caller of the Pride as he costs 2 less and has two great ability's to help build up a dude or simply get straight through to the opponent. Surprised to see neither of those cards in the decklist or even Brimaz. Call of the Conclave is interesting though, especially with Rootborn Defenses main boarded. Weird to see Mutavault too. Surprised to see this decklist in the top 8, congrats to him.
I think I said this before but I don't understand why you'd play a Mystic in an aggro shell. All this does is keep you from consistently getting in early damage without good one drops. My highest costing card is Advent of the Wurm. Especially cutting 2 soldiers for the Mystic, I mean, why? And especially playing Ajani MoH, I'd rather play Caller of the Pride as he costs 2 less and has two great ability's to help build up a dude or simply get straight through to the opponent. Surprised to see neither of those cards in the decklist or even Brimaz. Call of the Conclave is interesting though, especially with Rootborn Defenses main boarded. Weird to see Mutavault too. Surprised to see this decklist in the top 8, congrats to him.
Totally agree, I guess everyone has their tastes. Just don't leave home without skylashers!
I think I said this before but I don't understand why you'd play a Mystic in an aggro shell. All this does is keep you from consistently getting in early damage without good one drops. My highest costing card is Advent of the Wurm. Especially cutting 2 soldiers for the Mystic, I mean, why? And especially playing Ajani MoH, I'd rather play Caller of the Pride as he costs 2 less and has two great ability's to help build up a dude or simply get straight through to the opponent. Surprised to see neither of those cards in the decklist or even Brimaz. Call of the Conclave is interesting though, especially with Rootborn Defenses main boarded. Weird to see Mutavault too. Surprised to see this decklist in the top 8, congrats to him.
Mystic fits better in a midrange shell.
Anyways, I think hexproof is dead and enchantments takes a hit.
However, I'm looking at some fun things to do with cards in m15 and doing double takes on stuff like Game Warden.
So here's a thought:
Chain Veil, Nissa, both Ajanis, Elspeth, run a few Urborgs for evil Garruk. Midrangey, and fun.
Also, trying to decide how to deal with a single hit from other sources. I've always gravitated within the naya color scheme of things, be it mono green, g/r, or g/w. I think a heavier green will work far better than what is current.
I think I said this before but I don't understand why you'd play a Mystic in an aggro shell. All this does is keep you from consistently getting in early damage without good one drops. My highest costing card is Advent of the Wurm. Especially cutting 2 soldiers for the Mystic, I mean, why? And especially playing Ajani MoH, I'd rather play Caller of the Pride as he costs 2 less and has two great ability's to help build up a dude or simply get straight through to the opponent. Surprised to see neither of those cards in the decklist or even Brimaz. Call of the Conclave is interesting though, especially with Rootborn Defenses main boarded. Weird to see Mutavault too. Surprised to see this decklist in the top 8, congrats to him.
Mystic fits better in a midrange shell.
Anyways, I think hexproof is dead and enchantments takes a hit.
However, I'm looking at some fun things to do with cards in m15 and doing double takes on stuff like Game Warden.
So here's a thought:
Chain Veil, Nissa, both Ajanis, Elspeth, run a few Urborgs for evil Garruk. Midrangey, and fun.
Also, trying to decide how to deal with a single hit from other sources. I've always gravitated within the naya color scheme of things, be it mono green, g/r, or g/w. I think a heavier green will work far better than what is current.
As always, what would you take out? Captain would skew the deck to just a soldier deck, best way to take advantage of that card. Back to nature would be a great SB card, good against control and their multiple spheres and or lights, good against Whip of erebos, constellation decks, hexproof decks.......
reclamation sage and chord of calling can be a thing, I can see myself possible going 1 of banisher priest, 1 sage and 3 chord.
First Response - no
Heliod’s Pilgrim - hexproof deck
Raise the Alarm - nah, this goes in a deck with 'anthems'.
Preeminent Captain - soldier deck
Return to Ranks - this is a good question, better to have rootborn defenses or this?
Sungrace Pegasus - nah
Back to Nature - SB card 4 sure
Chord of Calling - possible, serious rehaul of the deck
Genesis Hydra - better in a ramp deck
Life’s Legacy - legit
Reclamation Sage - legit
Sunblade Elf - too small
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard - too slow, just not seeing it
on another note, rogue's passage won me another game last night, give a try!
Not exactly. It's still Selesnya aggro. Curve is a lot lower (by 1) and it runs the same soncepts. Play creatures and attack ASAP. Ajani's still a core game ender to beat people over the head. I never liked the Naya package, always seemed too greedy with a 3rd color in. However, yes it does play hexproof. I got tired of dealing with mono blue devotion tapping my Experiment One and Fleecemane down. I got tired of dealing with their stupid flyers. And it deals nicely with red for the fact I have 12 anti red cards MB. It outraces other aggro decks with all the lifelink creatures and enchantments. Even one Gladecover can kill Stormbreath. And Presence is much needed when my only creature in play is a single hexproof with lifelink and trample is being used.
So, with hexproof able to deal with RWU, B/x, mono red, and mono blue, why not play them?
I went 4-0 tonight:
1st round was against a B/g deck. A total of 2 Scouts and a Fiendslayer carried me through the games with Ethereal Armor and Gift on Scout. 2nd was much the same.
2nd was mono blue devotion, which managed to tap down 2 voices game 1, but a flying trample lifelink first strike witchstalker ended the game. Round 2, side out 4 Voice, side in 4 Skylasher. It was worse for him, as Tidebinder had no valid targets, like ever.
Round 3, American Control. Glare of Heresy sides in game 2, along with a bunch of other cards. He was dead before he got to 6 lands untapped, even through 2 Verdicts in a row and an Archangel that was exiled with a glare.
Round 4, white weenie. Game 1 I was stuck on 1 land and that sucked because I mulled to 5. Games 2 and 3, I took him out because he wasn't ever able to deal with a pair of fiendslayers and eventually I played Ajani for a 12 point kill in the air.
I had a game against a GW Hexproof on Thursday where my opponent cast t3 Witchstalker, and put Unflinching Courage on it on t4. My opponent didn't attack because I had Advent of the Wurm mana open, and then I EoT Advent, untapped and put my own Unflinching Courage on my wurm token and attacked. My opponent was at 7, so the chump block was forced.
I think a big advantage of the typical GW shell, is you are able to pay a premium mana/card cost for your power and toughness. Then you can board in things like Unflinching Courage to exploit your opponent's lack of removal. You have to use a lot of cards and mana on Gladecover Scout before it becomes more threatening than a Loxodon Smiter. And if you don't spend all that mana and cards on Gladecover, it is literally a dead draw.
If you try to force the hexproof plan, you paint yourself into a corner where you need your cards to line up a certain way and you are paying a very expensive rate for your power/toughness. Thats fine so long as your opponent is unprepared for a hexproof strategy but there are a lot of Devour Fleshes, Celestial Flares and enchantment removal effects in my meta. I wouldn't catch anyone unprepared around here.
Good point and true
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
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=69113
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=69119
What do you think?
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
When you have them in the same deck, you can have some really great draws if you draw one or the other.
If you ever draw them together it can be really awkward.
Also, having Elvish Mystic in your deck makes you weaker to control.
Hello guys I am currently playing Green White Aggro for about the past 3 weeks now, before that I had never played standard before and wanted to play a deck that most people didn't really see coming. White and Green being some of my favorite color's and the ones that I tended to overdraft the most I figured this deck would be the one that I would jump into (especially since I had alot of cards from drafting Theros block)
I posted a wall of text to Kaiyla Han before I was allowed to post here but I had alot of thoughts and am constantly trying to tweak this deck.'
First I guess I might as well post my deck list
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Fleecemane Lion
3 Boon Satyr
4 Voice of Resurgence
3 Advent of the Wurm
4 Experiment One
4 Selesnya Charm
2 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
2 Mana Confluence
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Temple Garden
6 Plains
6 Forest
1 Rogue's Passage
1 Banishing Light
3 Unflinching Courage
1 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Arbor Colossus
2 Gift of Orzhova
2 Witchstalker
2 Aegis of the Gods
1 Rootborn Defenses
2 Skylasher
As you can see there's not a whole lot of "different" cards in my main board, The 2 that I guess could be argued as not being standard are Ajani, Mentor of Heroes and Rogue's Passage. I have found that over the course of my time that both of these cards have proven invaluable top decks in games that I didn't think I had shots in, Rogues Passage often facilitates that last bit of damage to get through when you need it and the board is clogged, and Ajani has a way of making your creatures big enough to deal with anything they might throw out, and also deal with a clogged board state.
Now to the sideboard ...... which at the moment is a convoluted because I'm trying to sideboard for most of the matchups which has/can be a nightmare. With so many decks running around it's hard to prepare for them all. The Unflinching Courages stay in no matter what, but almost everything else is stuff that can be discarded/re-added.
I'll explain the matchups that I have problems in, and wonder how you guys are sideboarding.
Obviously Number one on the list has to be Mono Black Devotion or some variant of with the sideboard in Green for Abrupt Decay.
What I try to do here is take out the thing's that die to easy removal and bring in the 2 Witchstalkers from the side, and a Rootborn defenses. Basically you try to out race their removal with your own cards; this can be difficult and doesn't always work but alot of the time you have more creatures than they do removal spells. Banishing Lights, and Selesnya Charm deal with the big guys (Desecration Demon) and normally you try to get in whenever you can. Alot of times I really like the Boon Satyrs, and the Advent of the Wurm's here because you can get them in at your opponents endstep and leave your guys less room for being killed. The Witchstalkers with Unflinching Courages really give you an advantage, and other than a late game Gray Merchant, I try to take out the Brimaz's and as many of the Soldier Pantheon's as is needed. Since this deck doesn't really run alot of heavy "multi-colored" spells, the Soldier becomes less valuable, while the experiment one is normally an easy target for their early removal. I keep the Loxodon's in because If I can get 2 of them in my hand early their thoughtseizes can backfire on them. I've found that alot of the time you can beat this deck it's just not an easy win. Depend's on how much removal they have and how many creatures you can get out, Normally they are hurting themselves early game (thoughtseize turn 1, turn 2) and not establishing board presence so An early experiment one/fleecemane lion can sometimes get in for 2 - 5 points of damage easily bringing them to ten, and then your just hoping for an Advent of the Wurm/Loxodon to stick and dropping an Ajani Caller of the Pride. Also A thought I had awhile ago was aegis of the gods. As an early drop it forces removal from their hand, and prevents them from using their thoughtseize and duress early in the game, and becomes a dead card in their hand. I've tried running Aegis of the God's against some of these decks and not sure how I feel about it, I've thrown it in my sideboard as a 2 of, but used to run 4 of them in the side, and would trade soldiers for Aegis when the Mono Black Deck showed up. However I've had to cut that down to deal with the Mono Blue Devotion.
Mono Blue Devotion -
I don't like playing this deck, part of the reason I play green white is because I hate blue, but that's a whole nother discussion; In the meantime This deck has really wrecked me the last few weeks, and thrown a wrench into my whole sideboard plan. This deck is beatable if you can commit a whole sideboard to it, but then it makes you vulnerable to other matchups. The best way to beat it is to use 4 banishing lights, 4 Skylashers, and 2 Mistcutter Hydras (if not more); The tidebinder mage's become a real pain; and the voice is all but useless. The judge's familiar isn't too big of a problem; but the thassa + hall of triumph combo has become a real problem. Normally what this deck does now is lay a turn 3 triumph, turn 4 master of waves and your dealing with 2 things that you have remove, with banishing lights, and whatever else you have. The Selesnya Charm doesn't do alot of work here either, so most of the time I'm trying to get in quick and end the game before they get the Master out; Once Thassa get's online the deck just get's harder to beat, so try not to let it get there.
Red Aggro - This is perhaps the easiest matchup, play first, and get your creatures out, anytime you can get 1 creature with unflinching courage you shouldn't have a problem, The deck has been harder to play against recently with the mono sligh variants, but your creatures should be bigger than theirs and any time of lifegain on your part should set you up for an easy win, pull the soldiers and the expirement ones and load up with the Witchstalkers, Gift of Orzhova's and the Unflinching Courages. I haven't seen much of the creature red decks so I can't help at the moment but against the red with burn to the face i've had a fairly easy time.
So far I've gone 11 - 2 - 1 in all my matchups with the above deck, The 1 tie was against a Jund Monsters deck where I made a huge mistake, and should have won the game, and the 2 losses were against Black/White Obzedat/Boros Reckoner/Celestial Flare/Desecration Demon deck that I took to game 3, and the other was a red/black aggro deck that I had bad draws on, I played the guy 2 more games after for fun and beat him both times meaning I sideboarded right but didn't draw any of the sideboard cards.
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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
In addition, that extra turn you waste to play the bigger create (t2 or t3) you are wasting one creatures power, where as the early game is essential to beating your opponent to a pulp.
Melira Pod - Modern
@duxstar
Regarding mono-blue, I usually have at least 3 or 4 pro-blue creatures in my board. Voices come out for those. Selesnya Charm is better than you make it sound like here. It lets us try to run over a Weird or a Specter if they block it, which is huge for us, and just the threat of if can make them consider not blocking and giving us an extra few points of damage. Plus it gets rid of Thassa and can make the occasional surprise block against a Tidebinder or something. I find Boon Satyr's 2 toughness to be a liability on offense here, so I cut those for Banishing Lights and Unflinching Courage. From your list, I would probably also cut Mentor of Heroes since he is too slow. MonoU doesn't usually have a ton of removal, and they are a sort of aggro/tempo deck so the lifegain does help. When put on a pro-blue creature, it is amazing.
Craig Wescoe went to GP Chicago with with list:
https://twitter.com/Nacatls4Life/status/481122299962064897
4 Gideon Jira!
How about Gideon Jira!
A 4 drop that at LEAST a 5/5! Follow that up with an Ajani and its no fear jumping time (indestructible.)
Good against control, well it dodges verdict but spheres and A.Charms are lame, as are celestial flares.....its good against verdict....
Im going to try one or 2 out tomorrow, -1 Boon satyr, and -1 something else......
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
Cards that are going and how i think they do their job in the deck at the moment
Voice of Resurgence - Make it so the opponent doesn't want to cast a spell on your turn, and get's rewarded for them killing it (resistant to dying)
Experiment One - 1 Drop that can get bigger with the right sequence of Plays, also Regeneration can be used in a time of need
Loxodon Smiter - Thoughtseize Resistant 4/4 Toughness for 3 Mana, I only hope there is an equivalent spoiled soon.
Advent of The Wurm - Flash, Trample, 5/5 Just typing this and knowing I wont have him anymore is making me a little Teary Eyed.
Selesnya Charm - The answer to everything, Gods, Big Creatures, pushing through damage, creating a guy, it's versatility Is almost unmatched.
Possible Replacements I've thought of
Voice of Resurgence - I have nothing, Maybe you guys can think of something with a similar effect in Theros/M15, or maybe they'll give us something in Khan's; as of right now this might be the biggest loss.
Experiment One - Sunblade Elf - I look at these 2 as a draw, Are there times when Experiment One becomes a 3/3 or a 4/4 ? Yes, but more often than not he's a 2/2 or 3/3; With Sunblade Elf you lose the ability to get bigger (3/3) but I can see his second ability being worth it, we've all been in games where we just drew too many lands, and this guy is a mana sink if we ever draw too many.
Loxodon Smiter - 3 Closest things at the moment that I can see are Boon Satyr, Brimaz, or Polukranos, Nothing else has that insane value of 4/4 for 3; at least nothing thats been spoiled
Advent of the Wurm - This might Sound Crazy but I think you could take Fated Intervention and throw it in there, it's not the same as 5/5 Trampler, but you are getting 6 power toughness in Flash form;
Selesnya Charm - Devouring Light, not as versatile but still gets the job done against big creatures that we otherwise can't deal with.
I realize that I have no answers for some of them, and the others sound like worse abilities, but In order to get similar effects to what we have now You could easily run 1 or 2 Nyleas (Giving Everything Trample); and proceeding like normal; I've really never been through a "Rotation" So I wonder if Maybe I'm not going about it the wrong way at all. I don't think Im the only one who's at least gave it a thought.
Has anyone here tried a Brave the Elements version of the deck? I'm thinking of going back to plain old GW Aggro after trying out what Naya had to offer. I'd like to try a version with BtE and Dryad Militant but with all the weenie hate going around, Experiment One just seems better. Maybe I'll just go back to having a few Gods Willing mainboard...
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
And both will still be viable even after rotation, looking at what coices we he currently and what's to come soon. Don't think it's dead just yet.
Voice?
Well, there's 3 cards come to mind, Fleecemane Lion, Tower Archer, and a few others I'm not allowed to discuss here yet since the set's not fully unveiled yet.
Preeminent Captain makes soldier a thing to reckon, but it depends on tribal.
I've been having a lot of luck with G/W Selesnya hexproof. As far as midrange goes, those two new planeswalkers are auto includes, probably genesis hydra and soul too. Seriously, the deck will be viable and I'm looking forward to rotation tearing 80% of control and mono black apart.
For GW aggro it'd be easier to drop in with Sunblade Elf to replace Experiment One
Voice? It's good, but here's the choices:
Fleecemane Lion
Preeminent Captain
Chord of Calling
Genesis Hydra
Reclamation Sage
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
Later I'll probably need to go into more depth, but what I see is an evolution.
Selesnya Aggro is still viable until rotation, but Midrange just received 10 new things to play with. And never discount a Chord of Calling, for it can mean the difference between a win or a loss.
Have to understand, mono black devotion and mono blue devotion will be going to the wayside. American Control is also garbage after rotation.
So, I've got a wait and see attitude about Khans, but so far I'm looking at going totally midrange. Back to Nature and the loss of hexproof dudes made my decision for me. 3 Elspeth, 2 Ajani Steadfast, 2 Ajani Mentor, 2 Nissa, and the evil Garruk for starters. With Urborg Squelching Leeches can be quite scary, especially with Nissa's Expedition. So my evolution will look something like G/W splash black.
http://www.starcitygames.com/events/coverage/quarterfinals_nick_vea_vs_mike.html
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
Top 8 deck list http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=69764
2/2 split on Mystic and Soldier, plus only 2 Voices. Weird but it worked for him I giess.
However it seems like the music and lack of pro - blue came back to bite him in his top 8 match.
Melira Pod - Modern
Totally agree, I guess everyone has their tastes. Just don't leave home without skylashers!
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
Mystic fits better in a midrange shell.
Anyways, I think hexproof is dead and enchantments takes a hit.
However, I'm looking at some fun things to do with cards in m15 and doing double takes on stuff like Game Warden.
So here's a thought:
Chain Veil, Nissa, both Ajanis, Elspeth, run a few Urborgs for evil Garruk. Midrangey, and fun.
Also, trying to decide how to deal with a single hit from other sources. I've always gravitated within the naya color scheme of things, be it mono green, g/r, or g/w. I think a heavier green will work far better than what is current.
G/W Aggro has a few new wrinkles until rotation:
Thoughts?
I'm figuring a new monster... Maybe.
Melira Pod - Modern
Preeminent Captain can put Brimaz into play
As always, what would you take out? Captain would skew the deck to just a soldier deck, best way to take advantage of that card. Back to nature would be a great SB card, good against control and their multiple spheres and or lights, good against Whip of erebos, constellation decks, hexproof decks.......
reclamation sage and chord of calling can be a thing, I can see myself possible going 1 of banisher priest, 1 sage and 3 chord.
First Response - no
Heliod’s Pilgrim - hexproof deck
Raise the Alarm - nah, this goes in a deck with 'anthems'.
Preeminent Captain - soldier deck
Return to Ranks - this is a good question, better to have rootborn defenses or this?
Sungrace Pegasus - nah
Back to Nature - SB card 4 sure
Chord of Calling - possible, serious rehaul of the deck
Genesis Hydra - better in a ramp deck
Life’s Legacy - legit
Reclamation Sage - legit
Sunblade Elf - too small
Yisan, the Wanderer Bard - too slow, just not seeing it
on another note, rogue's passage won me another game last night, give a try!
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