Journey into Nyx greatly rounded out the Theros block by adding, in my opinion, some of the best cards and keywords of the block. JOU brought all the scry lands into the fold, but more importantly brought Mana Confluence which makes playing multicolor deck easier, but more importantly faster. Athreos, God of Passage was also released which is an incredibly potent card, that can put a lock on a favorable board position and was a card many people immediately started brewing around. However, it is the constellation keyword that really lets this deck function. For all intensive purposes, it makes enchantments into a tribal-like effect that can make a deck have great amounts of synergy.
With KTK coming out 3 color decks are becoming very possible. That is because of the incredible mana fixing that KTK has brought us. With Fetches, tri-tap lands, pain lands, and pain lands, and scry lands, ANDMana Confluence mana fixing should not be a problem for a 3 color deck. The main tricolor decks being discussed are Mardu/DEGA and Abzan/Junk. This has a lot to do with their 4cmc power creatures and their charms.
Like death and taxes decks before it, this enchantment based one is essentially a control deck that slowly bleeds out its opponent. However, unlike it's modern cousin, this deck features more black creatures. I am making this primer because after playing it at FNM and online and talking to others who have played it in smaller tournaments I believe this is a very competitive deck that could make strong showings at larger tournaments in the future.
This is a deck about card interaction and slowly taking over the game and wearing down your opponent. This deck do not combo out, and it does not win games explosively. It is also a type of tribal deck, and because of this it has a lot of synergies.
There are multiple ways to attack and damage your opponent, multiple ways to control them and multiple ways to gain life and be resilient. However, most importantly, this deck rewards players who pay attention to details. There are a lot of triggers to worry about with this deck, so you must be keenly aware of how each of your plays affects the board state.
Brain Maggot was the initial card that started the formation of this deck. While having a smaller body that Tidehollow Sculler, it is easier to play and an enchantment. Even if it is easy to kill and doesn't permanently remove a card, it breaks up your opponents hands and can seriously slow down their game plans. It is a good card early in the game and later because it can trigger your constellations. Definitely want 4 of these.
Thoughtseize is the perfect match to Brain Maggot. Turn 1 thoughtseize, followed by turn 2 brain maggot is just rough, and not an uncommon thing. Thoughtseize is awesome and one of the most powerful cards ever printed. Enough said, play 4.
Mardu Charm is removal on a stick. Instant speed duress? Yes please. The 4 damage burn to creatures isn't bad either. Only thing preventing this from being awesome is its difficult casting cost.
Abzan Charm is more removal as well as draw. Since this deck likes to setup walls, making sure we aren't facing down any big fatties is very nice and rotation took our draw enchantment away, so the addition draw is nice.
Banishing Light like O-ring is awesome. It fits perfectly into this deck. It is an enchantment and can answer basically any threat.
Hero's Downfall outside of abrupt decay is probably the best removal card in the format currently. We are more black than white, so the double B is not a challenge to play. Not a card to leave home without
Utter End is almost a vindicate reprint (almost). It is instant speed remove anything! The 4 cmc is a bit much, but it basically gets rid of anything that is bothering you. I personally would put it in the main and sideboard in more targeted removal as needed. I plan on playing 2.
Murderous Cut is awesome. Delve is a powerful mechanic and with all our removal and fetch lands being around I expect that getting a 1CMC kill a creature spell is totally possible. Another reason to include this is Stormbreath Dragon which dodges a good amount of our removal due to it being pro-white. I would strongly considering playing 1-2 in your 75.
Deicide is a legit removal card. Some of the gods are scary and some decks revolve around the gods. Deicide is perfect SB hate against MUD and other enchantment based decks (lots are being brewed over in the deck creation forum). It is also a strong card against control which features Detention Sphere. I have played deicide on a D-sphere and then won the game because of constellation triggers. With the current meta it is a strong SB card, but not MD yet.
Revoke Existence is a sideboard card that will become useful since m15 has brought several difficult to deal with artifacts. First two are Scuttling Doom Engine and Soul of New Phyrexia. Soul will be played less, but getting around SDE can be tricky for us, since most of our creatures are less than 2 power. Here we need exiling removal. The other card to worry about is Darksteel Citadel. The card alone is not bad, but in combo with Nissa, Worldwaker or Ensoul Artifact you can have problems. Revoke solves this since Banishing Light can't hit lands.
Erase. Fixing all your enchantment problems since Urza's Legacy. Does the same thing as Deicide for 1 less mana, but it doesn't removal all copies of gods from a deck. I don't see this really being a part of this deck, but 1 cmc removal is always a strong thing to have. Could be good in the mirror.
Stain the Mind is awesome for us. We have a lot of creatures that don't tap or swing and we thrive on hand destruction. No we can thrive on deck destruction too! It is a SB card, until we figure out our opponent's game plan, and then it is more and more destruction! I look forward to plucking Gray Merchants and Thassas from decks!
Nyx-Fleece Ram is a card that people seem to have mixed emotions about. Particularly as a MD card. I feel that it is a very strong card in this deck. It is an enchantment, so we have triggers for constellations. It gains life to offset life lost from shocks and Mana Confluence and Underwold Coinsmith. It also lacks defend so it can attack after a pump or two from an Archangel of Thune or if you use Spear of Heliod. I like him main deck, 0/5 is just tough to force through, and people hate to waste removal on it.
Oppressive Rays is a very cool card. It is great tech against midrange decks. It slows them down considerably and makes them really consider each play they make every turn. My personal favorite is putting it on Scavenging Ooze. Dead card against control and so so against aggro. Very much a SB card for me.
Aegis of the Gods is a meta choice. The hexproof is strong right now because of Boros Burn being popular but also it hampers MBD. It prevents thoughtseize and devour flesh. Being and enchantment he fits perfectly well into this deck.
Mardu Ascendency is a nifty card. We don't swing too much, but when we do a free token is nice. Sacrifice ability is also handy as it can help prevent wipes against Bile Blight or Anger of the Gods.
When play testing this deck, I originally had no finisher cards. I thought it had enough defense and enough ways to slowly cut people down, that it was strong enough. I found that I was wrong. A couple strong cards, can really push this deck over the top. And I have causes multiple scoops just landing one the finishers.
Obzedat, Ghost Council is a perfect fit for this deck. Causes a constant slow bleed and gain for us, and if they don't have a blocker can hit for quite a bit. The clock he puts on the game and the other difficulties this deck causes generally quickly wraps the game up. Not to mention he almost activates Athreos himself.
Archangel of Thune is well established as a powerhouse card. We have a number of cards that gain life and can trigger her ability. She also pumps our walls (the ram and guardian) and finishes games quickly if not dealt with fast.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion. Tried and true for any control oriented white decks. She takes over a board and just wins.
Garruk, Apex Predator is a beast. Does about everything you want a finisher to do. Only downside is his cost. Be sure to play some extra land.
Butcher of the Horde combos so well with Athreos, God of Passage it isn't funny. The butcher is a great sac outlet that triggers athreos and can either cause damage or put us in a position to trigger more constellations. Also a 5/4 flyer for 4cmc is sick. Play 3-4 if you are going Mardu.
Siege Rhino plays a bit slower than the butcher, but his ETB ability is very solid. He also combos well with Athreos, God of Passage because if you kill him, again you take 3 damage, and if you don't be prepared to have him enter play again and do another 3 damage. Being trample too is decent evasion. He will do work for sure. 3-4 if you are Abzan.
Athreos, God of Passage was another central card in inspiring this deck. His ability is just awesome. Bouncing cards back to your hand with removal is a bad option with all the constellations we have. And allowing a brain maggot to come back into play, to look at their hand again is not something opponents want to let you do. He almost forces players to take 3 damage to kill your creatures. If he comes online, just like the other gods, becomes and large, imposing beater.
Fate Unraveler. I am not sure I have seen another competitive deck play this card. I love her. A 3/4 body that cripples control decks and punishes card draw. Just what we want after Thoughtseize and Brain Maggot rend our opponents hands.
Underworld Coinsmith is in my mind one of the most important creatures in this deck. He wins games by bringing opponents into dangerously close pinging range. By lowering life totals all around, it makes playing cards like read the bones or thoughtseize or activating undercity connections a much more difficult choice. His body is not great, but he can still swing for 2. Since his activated ability doesn't require him to tap, he can do damage even when opponents try to remove him. His small life gain, allows his ability to function more so you can stay ahead of opponents, and can add up quickly with our enchantment heavy deck. 2 in your starting hand is difficult for aggro to deal with. They chump their attackers and offset a lot of damage. All this for 2 mana!
Erebos, God of the Dead is a good beater in this deck, but his prevention of life gain can be critical. As mentioned above, this deck does not win explosively, so preventing life gain against certain decks is critically important. MD vs SB really depends on your meta.
Grim Guardian really isn't a tax. He is closer to death. He is fairly consistent direct damage and currently is somewhat of an unknown card. Multiples of him become a huge pain for opponents. His 1/4 body is hard to burn away, and can chump block most things all day. Along with coinsmith, I am always happy to have him in my hand.
I want to explain more in depth how this deck functions and how to play it.
First lets talk about your first hand. This deck features a lot of 2-3cmc creatures and 3cmc removal. It is very important to 3 hit land. From experience, 2 land hands get you into trouble. The one possible exception to this is if you have a scry land or two. My current deck list has 4x temple of silence and a guildgate, but I am thinking about running 2 more off color scry lands. In general, if you have a 2 land hand, mulligan. This is anecdotal, but at my last FNM, I beat an American control deck, after mulliganing down to a 5 card hand with 2 basic lands; 2 land hands can win, but they are a gamble.
Cards that are important early in the game are your hand destruction. Hands with a combination of Brain Maggot and Thoughtseize are ideal. There are 8 of these cards in your deck, so 2 hand-destruction hands are not uncommon. The cards you are looking to remove vary. Creatures with flying or hexproof are prime targets, as we don't have many ways of dealing with them. Creature removal and opposing Detention Sphere and banishing light are really good targets for brain maggot. This may seem like an odd choice, but it keeps your removal on the board, and makes them have to dig for ways to get rid of your maggot. It also allows you to swing with the maggot if you have a chance. Planeswalkers are generally not as important to deal with. 3x Banishing Light and 3x Heros Downfall makes them fairly easy to deal with.
After these early stages it is time to develop your board. Because we have a lot of ETB effects, it is important to choose your play order. Most of this comes into play with Grim Guardian and Underworld Coinsmith. Most times I prefer Guardian because I want the extra damage, but if I am taking damage from mana confluence or need to stabilize faster, I normally go with coinsmith because the extra few points of life can matter. Athreos is another card to consider when to play. I normally hold onto as he isn't active quickly, but against removal heavy decks he can make a big impact even if he isn't live. Nyx-Fleece Ram is a situational play. He can trigger constellations and can stabilize against aggro.
Ok, so you have a board presence, how do you win? As mentioned above, slowly. Underworld Coinsmith is actually can be a large part of this. He gives a great way to spend extra mana at the end of your opponents turn, and as over life totals go down, each ping from guardian or obzedat becomes much much more significant. With 8 MD hand-destruction cards and 6-MD removal cards, keeping the board clear is not very difficult. With a clear board you creatures can swing for small damage pretty easily. There are 4 cards in the deck that are meant for finishing up games after your opponents is left in a crippled state. Archangel is your largest threat. Once she lands, she must be answered quickly or things get out of hand quickly (no one likes getting beaten down by a 2+/7+ Nyx-Fleece Ram). Obzedat is a bit more ponderous in his winning. But His life swings get nasty quickly. In combination with athreos, you almost always get a 5/4 indestructible creature, and with Coinsmith and some extra mana, you start doing 4 dmg to your opponent a turn. It puts the game on a pretty fast clock.
Aggro is probably the worst matchup for this deck. We need time to set, and we are likely not going to get it. We are at a disadvantage before boarding. However we have 7 very strong anti-aggro cards in our deck before boarding, namely Nyx-Fleece Ram and Grim Guardian. Both have large butts and are hard to over run. Ram gives us bonus life and helps us stabilize fsater too. Now, as mentioned in the above deck tech section, hand destruction is our early play, but be careful with Thoughtseize as it can get us into trouble with life. That being said, if you spend 2 life to get a madcap skills out, reckoner, boros charm or lightning strike out it was probably worth it. Using the Brain Maggot right is harder. It is not permanent hand destruction and can be easy to remove for red and black aggro decks. Look for targets that are going to delay their rush, Burning-Tree Emessary for example, or grab their removal. Once again, Madcap Skills is another great target (can you tell I hate playing against this card?).
What to board depends on the type of aggro:
-3 Fate Unraveler, -1 Brain Maggot, -1 Thoughtseize
+3 Oppressive Rays (or pacifism or Fiendslayer Paladin), +2 Lifebane Zombies for white or green aggro, otherwise +1 Underworld Coinsmith and +1 Banishing Light.
Unboarded, this deck shreds control decks. In my last FNM, I played an Esper Control, Azorius Control and American Control back to back and didn't lose a single game (didn't even come close). We are their worst nightmare. A heavy hand control deck, that gains lifes, does lots of direct damage, has lots of ways to deal with their threats, and can punish them for hand draw. Outside of Sphinx's Rev, they shouldn't have a lot of life gain, so use your coinsmith liberally. Game 1 should be heavily in your favor.
Boarding depends on what you see, but this is what I normally do:
-1 Obzedat, +1 Erebos (To shutdown life gain from Sphinx's Rev)
-3 Nyx-Fleece Ram, +2 Deicide (for detention sphere and banishing light), +1 Banishing Light
Coming Soon!
Thanks to Kamahl, the Fallen for the idea for the layout of this primer (I blatantly stole it from him). Credit where credit is due!
Is fast aggro manageable with the current main board?
That is the decks current weak point (and mass fliers). Against boros aggro/burn I am about 50-50 in my testing. I did play a R/B fast aggro that used a madcap skills and that was very hard to deal with because he also MD removal. Cards I have debated adding are Soldier of the Pantheon as another lifegain outlet as well a great blocker against cards Rakdos cackler.
It is definitely something I need to test more. We are insanely good against control though.
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I currently do not own Archangels, how do you feel about replacing them with Blood Baron of Vizkopa?
I think the angel is better just because of evasion and syngergy with your other cards, but BBoV is another good option, particularly against MBD. All in all what you need to do is get them into top deck mode and then drop a powerful card that forces them to answer.
I want to like blind obidence but that only really slows down haste. I would much rather drop coinsmith or ram before obedience. I was actually leaning towards Banisher priest. What gave me the most trouble was not fast creatures but madcap skills, which is seen in Naya Hexproof. I am posting from my phone so I will write more later.
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Looks interesting! How about Doomwake Giant somewhere in the 75? It's slow, yes, but against fast aggro you can board in a couple of copies to ensure they never get back into the game.
Oh, and maybe more Death/Archangels? It's a beast with a Nyx-Fleece Ram in play.
Looks interesting! How about Doomwake Giant somewhere in the 75? It's slow, yes, but against fast aggro you can board in a couple of copies to ensure they never get back into the game.
Oh, and maybe more Death/Archangels? It's a beast with a Nyx-Fleece Ram in play.
Thanks!
Doomwake Giant is ok, but, as you put it, slow. The deck only runs 23-24 land and no ramp so relying on getting to 5 mana and using the giant as a board wipe seems unreliable.
The last deck that really crushed me was a black and red deck that used cacklers, dreadbore, madcap skills and bestow. He had enough ways to get around rams and guardians to the point I couldn't keep up.
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What about Extinguish All Hope as a sweeper? I really like the idea of Fiendslayer Paladin in the SB against fast agro and the overall concept of the deck. I already have a Orzhov Midrange deck built, so porting over to this would only require the Fate Unravelers for me. I'll slap together a decklist tonight, carry it to FNM this week, and report back with the results. My meta is mostly either W/r Heroic or some form of control (Esper, U/W, All American, and Grixis). Due to the majority of decks where I'm at running white or black for their removal, BBV seems like a better card than Archangel for me.
When I was developing the deck, I had sphere of safety in as 2-of.
The main problem with sphere of safety is that it costs 5cmc. A good aggro deck should pretty much have won the game by turn 4, a turn before you will be playing your lock card. All in all I think it is too slow. Since it is pretty much a dead card against control the only deck it would be worthwhile against would be midrange. Even there, there are more powerful cards I want to be playing at 5cmc, and I am not sure it would lock the game. It would certainly make rats very sad.
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I'm a relatively new player and have only been to FNM twice. Both times I went in with some sort of variation on this deck (first time was my own version which had Herald of Torment and Grey Merchant of Asphodel, second time was with the deck list in the primer sans the sideboard). I'll admit right now that I'm far too experienced to know how to properly pilot this deck yet and my knowledge of the meta is still developing. I'm not sure how useful to you all this recap is gonna be, but regardless, here is a brief summary of last week's FNM.
Match 1 - First match I was up against Jund creatures. First game was pretty close. We were pretty much neck-and-neck in life totals right up until the end. I caught one misplay that was my fault - I played a scry land on turn-3 and missed a creature drop. I also had no idea what I was supposed to take from his hand with Brain Maggot. In retrospect, I think the Courser of Kruphix would've been the correct choice and I have a feeling that its better for me to try and disrupt their ramp instead of holding out resources to use on what they ramp into. He won this game with a bunch of tokens generated by Xenagos, the Reveler.
Match 2 - Jund creatures again. And once again, the first game was pretty close. He was taking plenty of time during his turn so I felt like I was actually putting a decent amount of pressure on him. I realize now that I should've been a little more aggressive with Underworld Coinsmith. This is probably the main reason why I'm doing horribly with this deck - there are too many options. Not that having a lot of options is an inherently bad thing, its just that I'm not good enough yet to know what to do and at which times. Again, Stormbreath Dragon ended me.
Second game I got mana flooded again (I feel like I should also hone my post-game shuffling skills). Anyways, he pretty much Dreadbored all of my relevant creatures and then swung for the win with Stormbreath Dragon before I could stabilize.
Match 3 - U/W control. Now this was a matchup I felt pretty confident going into. I know this deck is pretty nasty against control decks (my opponent even said so himself). But nope. I got wrecked. First match was dangerously close. One or two more turns and I probably could've won with Underworld Coinsmith and Fate Unraveler. However, he was able to clear the board and chip my life away with extortion triggers from Blind Obedience).
Second game I got flooded halfway through. I had a lot of hand disruption but I feel like I made the wrong choices. The game dragged on for a while with an Archangel of Thune waiting in my hand. However, he was able to Deicide my Athreos, God of Passage. After looking through my hand I was too nervous to drop Archangel once I finally got the mana for it, so I ended up holding onto it for too long. On top of the mana flood, I also failed to draw any Underworld Connections. I thought he was gonna end up decking himself but he ended up finding Jace, Memory Adept and just milled me out.
I didn't really enjoy the match. Partly because it was my third time being swept in a row and partly because he was playing incredibly fast (discarding cards from his hand without really showing them to me, activating triggers for cards I wasn't familiar with, shuffling his hand constantly, etc). So after this I decided to drop out and join the Conspiracy draft (which is a lot of fun, btw).
All in all I feel like I learned a few new things. Not gonna lie though, it sucked losing so much. However, I understand that they were way better than me though so I think I might try attending FNM at a different game store next time. The place I'm currently going to is by far the most popular game store where I live and the place is packed almost every night. I just feel like the meta is too aggressive there for me to stand a chance.
To clarify - I did have a sideboard during FNM, but it was completely different than the sideboard in the primer. If I remember correctly, mine consisted of the following :
I was really worried about aggro, but as it turns out, I didn't face any aggro (and neither did my friend who played 4 matches). This sideboard was just throw together from things I had on hand and I actually plan on putting together the primer's sideboard before I play again. I realize now just how important some of those cards would've been in my matchups.
To clarify - I did have a sideboard during FNM, but it was completely different than the sideboard in the primer. If I remember correctly, mine consisted of the following :
I was really worried about aggro, but as it turns out, I didn't face any aggro (and neither did my friend who played 4 matches). This sideboard was just throw together from things I had on hand and I actually plan on putting together the primer's sideboard before I play again. I realize now just how important some of those cards would've been in my matchups.
Sounds like you had a rough go at it. Looks like you are facing a lot of RGx in your meta. Lifebane zombies will be your friend. The 4x Duress in your board I think are a bit redundant. 12 hand destruction cards sounds like a bit much to me in your 75 unless you are running 100% hand destruction. Eidolon of Rhetoic is a cool card, but I don't think will be a huge help. The number of times a deck is playing multiple cards a turn is small. It seems more like combo/storm hate to me. I would switch them out for fiendslayer paladin.
Stormbreath Dragon is a rough one. He is fast, can hurt a lot and dodges half our deck. Like BBoV he should be one of your primary targets for removal with thoughtseize and maggot. He is just going to be rough because of his protection. Save your hero's downfall for him too.
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Yup. Lifebane Zombie does seem like it will give me way more options against these kinds of big creature decks. Even though Stormbreath Dragon is the bigger threat, I'm still scared of Polukranos, World Eater and being able to pluck him from my opponent's hand and also have a serious threat on my side of the board is really nice.
I'm also curious - am I right in my assumptions that Courser Kruphix should be a prime target for hand disruption? I've never played against it before and after seeing how it helps ramp AND gains life, it seems to be a huge threat against this deck.
Yup. Lifebane Zombie does seem like it will give me way more options against these kinds of big creature decks. Even though Stormbreath Dragon is the bigger threat, I'm still scared of Polukranos, World Eater and being able to pluck him from my opponent's hand and also have a serious threat on my side of the board is really nice.
I'm also curious - am I right in my assumptions that Courser Kruphix should be a prime target for hand disruption? I've never played against it before and after seeing how it helps ramp AND gains life, it seems to be a huge threat against this deck.
I think underworld is better. it adds to devotion and in the long run gets you many more card.
Courser should be a prime target for the exact reasons you gave. IN General wit hand destruction take the cards that they can play sooner. It cripples their early/near game and gives you time to get answers to threats that will come later. When playing with hand destruction, try to make notes about what cards are in your opponents hand. It allows you to play smarter and prevent surprises and mistakes.
Ethereal Armor is a nice way to make this deck way more aggressive, especially if you can keep the board somewhat clear. I think 2x would be nice in the main or the board. Good against aggro too. Gift of Immortality is a card I love, but haven't found a good use for. It basically forces opponent to waste removal spells. Honestly, I think it is best with a sac outlet and ETB effects. Not too keen on dictate, this deck doesn't really win by swinging with little guys, and we don't run a lot of land so the 5cmc cost is something to consider. Heliod is a 1 of I think. The enchantment tokens are nice for constellation triggers, but 4cmc is a bit much imo. I know other have tried him with some success.
I have wanted to splash red, but I couldn't get the mana base right. Being able to board in slaughter games would be awesome.
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How so? Just chuck in 2-3 of each the R/W and R/B shocks and you already have the confluence (could even bump it to 4).
My mana base is (maining 2 Mogis and siding 2 Return and 2 Games):
3 Blood Crypt
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Godless Shrine
2 Confluence
4 Temple of Silence
4 Plains
4 Swamp
However I'm just not sure on if it's worth it tbh (I'm basically swapping the Archangel for Mogis in your build. If I cut them, I'd be putting in 1 Archangel and 1 Dictate of Erebos)
Just started playing MTGO so hopefully I'll be able to better pilot this deck. As of now I'm kind of having the same issues - not making the most optimal Thoghtseizes/Brain Maggot steals (i'm getting better), not knowing when to mulligan (I know that 3 lands + 1 brain maggot +1 thoughtseize is optimal, but what would be some other hands that we would want to keep?), etc.
Also, what do you think of Eidolon of Blossoms? I played against it once and it really put in work for the guy. We could sideboard out Fate Unraveler for it, but I'm pretty sure the matchups that we would want Fate Unraveler for are the same matchups we would want the Eidolon for
The problem with Blossoms is it requires GG in it's mana cost and you want to drop it T4. This means your 'ideal start' would consist of lands that can produce the following in the first 4 turns: T1 B, T2 W, T3 G, T4 G. This means you can't drop Obzedat on T5 unless one of the G sources is either a dual land or confluence.
I was looking at a green 'splash' for Pharika, Primevil Bounty and Blossoms, but I feel the mana base would be too greedy. You'd need to max out on Confulence, all the shocks at least.
Thanks to Kamahl, the Fallen for the idea for the layout of this primer (I blatantly stole it from him). Credit where credit is due!
That is the decks current weak point (and mass fliers). Against boros aggro/burn I am about 50-50 in my testing. I did play a R/B fast aggro that used a madcap skills and that was very hard to deal with because he also MD removal. Cards I have debated adding are Soldier of the Pantheon as another lifegain outlet as well a great blocker against cards Rakdos cackler.
It is definitely something I need to test more. We are insanely good against control though.
I think the angel is better just because of evasion and syngergy with your other cards, but BBoV is another good option, particularly against MBD. All in all what you need to do is get them into top deck mode and then drop a powerful card that forces them to answer.
I want to like blind obidence but that only really slows down haste. I would much rather drop coinsmith or ram before obedience. I was actually leaning towards Banisher priest. What gave me the most trouble was not fast creatures but madcap skills, which is seen in Naya Hexproof. I am posting from my phone so I will write more later.
Oh, and maybe more Death/Archangels? It's a beast with a Nyx-Fleece Ram in play.
Thanks!
Doomwake Giant is ok, but, as you put it, slow. The deck only runs 23-24 land and no ramp so relying on getting to 5 mana and using the giant as a board wipe seems unreliable.
The last deck that really crushed me was a black and red deck that used cacklers, dreadbore, madcap skills and bestow. He had enough ways to get around rams and guardians to the point I couldn't keep up.
NIce article! Thanks!, I do like fiendslayer paladin. He is one of my favorites.
If anyone has other deck lists or results please post them. As far as I know this deck is still under the radar at most FNM and tournaments.
When I was developing the deck, I had sphere of safety in as 2-of.
The main problem with sphere of safety is that it costs 5cmc. A good aggro deck should pretty much have won the game by turn 4, a turn before you will be playing your lock card. All in all I think it is too slow. Since it is pretty much a dead card against control the only deck it would be worthwhile against would be midrange. Even there, there are more powerful cards I want to be playing at 5cmc, and I am not sure it would lock the game. It would certainly make rats very sad.
I'm a relatively new player and have only been to FNM twice. Both times I went in with some sort of variation on this deck (first time was my own version which had Herald of Torment and Grey Merchant of Asphodel, second time was with the deck list in the primer sans the sideboard). I'll admit right now that I'm far too experienced to know how to properly pilot this deck yet and my knowledge of the meta is still developing. I'm not sure how useful to you all this recap is gonna be, but regardless, here is a brief summary of last week's FNM.
Match 1 - First match I was up against Jund creatures. First game was pretty close. We were pretty much neck-and-neck in life totals right up until the end. I caught one misplay that was my fault - I played a scry land on turn-3 and missed a creature drop. I also had no idea what I was supposed to take from his hand with Brain Maggot. In retrospect, I think the Courser of Kruphix would've been the correct choice and I have a feeling that its better for me to try and disrupt their ramp instead of holding out resources to use on what they ramp into. He won this game with a bunch of tokens generated by Xenagos, the Reveler.
Second game wasn't even close at all. I got mana flooded and he finished me off with Stormbreath Dragon. I had wasted my only Hero's Downfall on a Polukranos, World Eater without realizing that he could activate monstrosity in response. Banishing Light wouldn't work on the dragon and I couldn't even chump with my Archangel of Thune.
Match 2 - Jund creatures again. And once again, the first game was pretty close. He was taking plenty of time during his turn so I felt like I was actually putting a decent amount of pressure on him. I realize now that I should've been a little more aggressive with Underworld Coinsmith. This is probably the main reason why I'm doing horribly with this deck - there are too many options. Not that having a lot of options is an inherently bad thing, its just that I'm not good enough yet to know what to do and at which times. Again, Stormbreath Dragon ended me.
Second game I got mana flooded again (I feel like I should also hone my post-game shuffling skills). Anyways, he pretty much Dreadbored all of my relevant creatures and then swung for the win with Stormbreath Dragon before I could stabilize.
Match 3 - U/W control. Now this was a matchup I felt pretty confident going into. I know this deck is pretty nasty against control decks (my opponent even said so himself). But nope. I got wrecked. First match was dangerously close. One or two more turns and I probably could've won with Underworld Coinsmith and Fate Unraveler. However, he was able to clear the board and chip my life away with extortion triggers from Blind Obedience).
Second game I got flooded halfway through. I had a lot of hand disruption but I feel like I made the wrong choices. The game dragged on for a while with an Archangel of Thune waiting in my hand. However, he was able to Deicide my Athreos, God of Passage. After looking through my hand I was too nervous to drop Archangel once I finally got the mana for it, so I ended up holding onto it for too long. On top of the mana flood, I also failed to draw any Underworld Connections. I thought he was gonna end up decking himself but he ended up finding Jace, Memory Adept and just milled me out.
I didn't really enjoy the match. Partly because it was my third time being swept in a row and partly because he was playing incredibly fast (discarding cards from his hand without really showing them to me, activating triggers for cards I wasn't familiar with, shuffling his hand constantly, etc). So after this I decided to drop out and join the Conspiracy draft (which is a lot of fun, btw).
All in all I feel like I learned a few new things. Not gonna lie though, it sucked losing so much. However, I understand that they were way better than me though so I think I might try attending FNM at a different game store next time. The place I'm currently going to is by far the most popular game store where I live and the place is packed almost every night. I just feel like the meta is too aggressive there for me to stand a chance.
U/R Delver
2 Bile Blight
2 Devour Flesh
2 Drown in Sorrow
3 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Crypt Incursion
I was really worried about aggro, but as it turns out, I didn't face any aggro (and neither did my friend who played 4 matches). This sideboard was just throw together from things I had on hand and I actually plan on putting together the primer's sideboard before I play again. I realize now just how important some of those cards would've been in my matchups.
U/R Delver
Sounds like you had a rough go at it. Looks like you are facing a lot of RGx in your meta. Lifebane zombies will be your friend. The 4x Duress in your board I think are a bit redundant. 12 hand destruction cards sounds like a bit much to me in your 75 unless you are running 100% hand destruction. Eidolon of Rhetoic is a cool card, but I don't think will be a huge help. The number of times a deck is playing multiple cards a turn is small. It seems more like combo/storm hate to me. I would switch them out for fiendslayer paladin.
Stormbreath Dragon is a rough one. He is fast, can hurt a lot and dodges half our deck. Like BBoV he should be one of your primary targets for removal with thoughtseize and maggot. He is just going to be rough because of his protection. Save your hero's downfall for him too.
I'm also curious - am I right in my assumptions that Courser Kruphix should be a prime target for hand disruption? I've never played against it before and after seeing how it helps ramp AND gains life, it seems to be a huge threat against this deck.
Also, what do you think about Read the Bones as a way to dig for removal when dealing with these big creature decks? I'm just a bit worried that the life costs from Thoughtseize + Underworld Coinsmith + Underworld Connections along with this card would be too risky.
U/R Delver
I think underworld is better. it adds to devotion and in the long run gets you many more card.
Courser should be a prime target for the exact reasons you gave. IN General wit hand destruction take the cards that they can play sooner. It cripples their early/near game and gives you time to get answers to threats that will come later. When playing with hand destruction, try to make notes about what cards are in your opponents hand. It allows you to play smarter and prevent surprises and mistakes.
In all my testing Sanguine bond is a win more card. This deck doesn't have a huge amount of life gain
Eg: 1-2 Mogis, God of the slaughter mained and probably a couple of each Slaughter Games and Rakdos' Return somewhere in the 75 too.
Ethereal Armor is a nice way to make this deck way more aggressive, especially if you can keep the board somewhat clear. I think 2x would be nice in the main or the board. Good against aggro too. Gift of Immortality is a card I love, but haven't found a good use for. It basically forces opponent to waste removal spells. Honestly, I think it is best with a sac outlet and ETB effects. Not too keen on dictate, this deck doesn't really win by swinging with little guys, and we don't run a lot of land so the 5cmc cost is something to consider. Heliod is a 1 of I think. The enchantment tokens are nice for constellation triggers, but 4cmc is a bit much imo. I know other have tried him with some success.
I have wanted to splash red, but I couldn't get the mana base right. Being able to board in slaughter games would be awesome.
My mana base is (maining 2 Mogis and siding 2 Return and 2 Games):
3 Blood Crypt
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Godless Shrine
2 Confluence
4 Temple of Silence
4 Plains
4 Swamp
However I'm just not sure on if it's worth it tbh (I'm basically swapping the Archangel for Mogis in your build. If I cut them, I'd be putting in 1 Archangel and 1 Dictate of Erebos)
Also, what do you think of Eidolon of Blossoms? I played against it once and it really put in work for the guy. We could sideboard out Fate Unraveler for it, but I'm pretty sure the matchups that we would want Fate Unraveler for are the same matchups we would want the Eidolon for
U/R Delver
I was looking at a green 'splash' for Pharika, Primevil Bounty and Blossoms, but I feel the mana base would be too greedy. You'd need to max out on Confulence, all the shocks at least.
Share here to make this list competitive, maybe tier 1.
Bye