I've been updating the primer. There are now decks in most reasonable color combinations for people to start with or get ideas from. I have links to the best performing Pro Tour versions (all W/R) at the end of the history section. If you see any areas for improvement or problems, please let me know. Likewise, if anybody has information on Humans decks at the Pro Tour that garnered less than 6 wins, please drop a hint.
@WyvernSlayer - I've replaced my preliminary 4C sketch with your 4C version in the primer. Let me know if that's a problem.
There were 7 humans decks that Top8 at a few of the SCG Regionals. There was 3x WR, 3x Bant, and 1x WG.
Thanks, mate! There are now links in the history section of the primer. Interestingly, the Bant decks tend to go bigger, while the W/G went smaller.
@WyvernSlayer - I've been playing around with a 4C brew that is so bad that I don't want to post it. The good thing is the fastland manabase. I hardly ever have a tapland when I need it untapped. I recommend you give it a try. Something like this:
It'll take me a little while to gather up all the fastlands I need to make the switch, but you're probably right - with this many 2cc and 3cc spells, a fastland manabase is the way to go. Balancing the colored sources does become more delicate with enemy color pairs, though. G/W duals are pretty important...
Hello everyone. I recently put this deck together and tried it at FNM. I wanted to check the local meta and I met RG Pummeler, BG Delirium and some JUND Midrange brew. Kozileks Return also seemed to be around. Now my question is, do you think this looks allright? The sideboard is just something I put together after my impressions at FNM afterwards. It looked different before. I like the idea of using Skyship Stalker (Maybe replace with Gisela, The Broken Blade) against enemy copters and control decks, since he can be given haste. I also feel I sometimes have difficulty sideboarding correctly. How would you sideboard with this deck?
Here's a list I've been working on with a bunch of other cards I want to test and/get an opinion on. I've tried to make it as aggressive as possible whilst keeping some interaction as a back-up plan, but I still feel there isn't enough?
I've done only the tiniest bit of testing, but so far the mana feels alright and the deck seems to be able to get threats out pretty quickly. Which is what I want! I want to refine this decklist further however so any advice is very much welcomed!
ended up going 2-2 at 2 game days this weekend with a Bant Humans list. I thought that duskwatch recruiter, thraben inspector and Tamiyo would have been enough card draw but sometimes I found that sometimes I couldn't catch up if I fell behind, especially against control decks that could cast a turn 3 radiant flames for 3
So hey, FNM happened. I was eager to continue my success with 4-Color Humans (because any fool can get lucky, right?), so I ran it back on Friday night, with some tiny changes:
-1 Tireless Tracker, +1 Hamlet Captain: I wanted the deck to be just a little lower to the ground, and I had been really impressed with HamCap’s performance over the past week. In my earlier post, I expressed my disappointment with Tireless Tracker, so I cut one. If the need to get even lower and faster comes up, this slot might be exchanged for more 1-drops (Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter, Town Gossipmonger, etc.), but it’s still early; for now, we’re gonna let Hamlet Captain hit the field.
[SB]-1Fragmentize, +1Hanweir Battlements: The Frags rotted in my sideboard all of last week – evidently no one in our local shop was keen on picking up Smuggler’s Copters. In a meta decision, I shaved one for Hanweir Battlements – I know there’s a couple of control decks in the field, and having a repeatable haste outlet (while doubling as a sweet payoff for Hanweir Garrison) will enable me to get my guys in at least once before they get swept away.
So I know I said I'd offer up a report, but we all went out drinking after FNM and I can't remember a damn thing. I went 3-0 and beat R/W vehicles (kinda brewish, not a refined list), G/W Eldritch Evolution, and Jeskai Control.
ended up going 2-2 at 2 game days this weekend with a Bant Humans list. I thought that duskwatch recruiter, thraben inspector and Tamiyo would have been enough card draw but sometimes I found that sometimes I couldn't catch up if I fell behind, especially against control decks that could cast a turn 3 radiant flames for 3
If you're not playing Ulvenwald Mysteries in your sideboard, make some room - against Jeskai Control with multiple Radiant Flames and Fumigates, they just became irrelevant. Even one copy of Mysteries in play just BURIES them.
Hello everyone. I recently put this deck together and tried it at FNM. I wanted to check the local meta and I met RG Pummeler, BG Delirium and some JUND Midrange brew. Kozileks Return also seemed to be around. Now my question is, do you think this looks allright? The sideboard is just something I put together after my impressions at FNM afterwards. It looked different before. I like the idea of using Skyship Stalker (Maybe replace with Gisela, The Broken Blade) against enemy copters and control decks, since he can be given haste. I also feel I sometimes have difficulty sideboarding correctly. How would you sideboard with this deck?
Sorry about the delayed response. It seems pretty good. I don't really like Always Watching with Gideon and Garrison mainboard just due to lack of synergy. I would find a way to get the fourth Garrison in there. Stalker is a very interesting idea, but I wonder if you have the R sources for it. In your list, I would want to cut the Abbey for a Plains to be able to play Gideon on T4 more often.
I also think Battlements #2 is better than Abbey #1. I find if a game goes late, I tend to be topdecking onto an empty board and the haste is more relevant. Times when the Abbey would be good lead to opponent scoops anyway.
But I am eager to hear about your results and opinions after playing.
Hello everyone. I recently put this deck together and tried it at FNM. I wanted to check the local meta and I met RG Pummeler, BG Delirium and some JUND Midrange brew. Kozileks Return also seemed to be around. Now my question is, do you think this looks allright? The sideboard is just something I put together after my impressions at FNM afterwards. It looked different before. I like the idea of using Skyship Stalker (Maybe replace with Gisela, The Broken Blade) against enemy copters and control decks, since he can be given haste. I also feel I sometimes have difficulty sideboarding correctly. How would you sideboard with this deck?
Sorry about the delayed response. It seems pretty good. I don't really like Always Watching with Gideon and Garrison mainboard just due to lack of synergy. I would find a way to get the fourth Garrison in there. Stalker is a very interesting idea, but I wonder if you have the R sources for it. In your list, I would want to cut the Abbey for a Plains to be able to play Gideon on T4 more often.
I also think Battlements #2 is better than Abbey #1. I find if a game goes late, I tend to be topdecking onto an empty board and the haste is more relevant. Times when the Abbey would be good lead to opponent scoops anyway.
But I am eager to hear about your results and opinions after playing.
I'd actually be more inclined to run Always Watching over Gideon here, what with all the Vehicles. Having vigilance means you can attack and still have vehicles around to block with if need be (extra looting with Smuggler's Copter!), and a 3-mana anthem will at least let you beat out Kozilek's Return on the play.
I don't care much for MD Declaration in Stone in a Copter meta; you could probably move a couple of those to the sideboard.
2-0 vs Izzet Spells, 2-0 vs GB Delirium and 2-1 vs UW Flash.
I would replace Stone Quarry anytime for Needle Spires and Inspired Vantage. Problem is, these cards are completely sold out at my store. Other than that, I'm quite satisfied with the deck.
Flame Lash is dubious, I admit. Maybe Fiery Temper would be better (with Copter and Collective Defiance), as it costs less and would better fit the curve. But Flame Lash is big enough to deal with pumped Copters, Thing in the Ice, delerious Grim Flayers, Kalitas, Avacyn, etc. (and 4 to the dome at instant speed is a lot!).
Feel free to comment, the deck can certainly be improved!
Considering how the deck differs from those in this thread (the burn theme), and my desire to write a primer exclusive to it, I decided to move my Boros Human Burn deck to this new thread.
For the fun of it, I took my 4C Humans list out tonight to middling results. I went 1-1-2 against a competitive set of decks. With tuning and better play, I could probably have had a slightly better result. This being competitive, if anybody objects to this post as having bad cards, I can easily delete it.
I drew against GB Delirium, beat Jund Superfriends, lost to UW Spirits and drew Abzan Delirium. I definitely punted in the game 3 of the Spirits match by not killing some Selfless Spirits early. I just took too much damage to win. Overall, I had to mulligan more than I like and the mana was generally problematic. Reflector Mage didn't seem good enough to make the splash worth while. Tamiyo took over the game the one time I played her.
The sideboard was pretty random.
Edit: On reflection, I decided that there really weren't enough G sources and the Spirebluff Canal were too greedy. If I play this again, it will look more like this:
Just a brief tournament report. Brief because it isn't clear anyone else cares at this point. I took the above 4C list to a four round FNM, going 3-1 to come in third and cash. I beat Grixis Control and Temur Energy, lost to UW Flash and beat BR Vampires. If any one wants more info, I would be glad to share.
Against Grixis G1, we traded a lot, but he finally flooded out and I slowly killed him with Reflector Mage beats. He was running Thing in the Ice, so when I stupidly sided out my Reflector Mages, he ran me over Game 2. Game 3, I just killed him with a million Garrison tokens. Key cards: Reflector Mage (great against Things), Garrison and Revolutionary Rebuff (good against Torrential Gearhulk).
Against Temur Energy, it was just grindy and could have easily gone the other way. In G3, turn 4 of turns, I was hellbent at 5 with a Thalia's Lieutenant with 2 counters on it. My opponent was at 11 with two tapped Longtusk Cubs with lots of counters, two tapped Hydra, a tapped Skysovereign and an untapped Servant of the Conduit. I topdecked Hanweir Garrison, melded it with Hanweir Battlements, spawned the two Horrors, and swung 17 (7 trample) for the win. It was glorious! Also worth noting was the game Tamiyo took over. She can be great. Cloudblazer did some work to keep me in games also.
Match 3 against UW Flash was not a match. This was the guy who took down the event so he would probably have won anyway, but I was just variously mana screwed in both games.
Match 4 against RB Vampires was fairly easy. In G1, I played my worst threats first and Harnessed his madeness outlets. Card advantage from Duskwatch Recruiter and Tireless Tracker eventually got me there with Garrison tokens. Game two had the interesting plays of him Malevalent Whispersing my Hanweir Garrison to swing for 9 and From under the Floorboards for four Zombies, but he was never winning against my Hanweir Garrison tokens pumped by three Thalia's Lieutenants and a Heron's Grace Champion. Gaining 20 life when I flashed in the Heron's Grace Champion blew open the race.
Glad to hear the second time around was more successful, hoser. My thoughts on your 4c list:
-I tested Voltaic Brawler early on and decided that he was way too hard to cast. How was he for you?
-I feel like your mana is just asking for trouble. An aggro deck that wants W, RG, and WU within the first three turns is just asking for trouble.
-Glad to see you got good mileage out of Tamiyo, Field Researcher (well, when she showed up, anyway). I've found her to be a great tool for keeping up the pressure. She's a fine topdeck, too; even if you don't have much of an offense, you can +1 on your opponent's creatures to draw cards.
-You appear to be way more lucky than I am with Hanweir Garrison. Mine have a tendency to die instantly.
-Now that you've had a couple rounds under your belt with the 15-singletons sideboard, which cards did you feel overperformed? Underperformed?
Glad to hear the second time around was more successful, hoser. My thoughts on your 4c list:
-I tested Voltaic Brawler early on and decided that he was way too hard to cast. How was he for you?
He's been difficult. I keep upping the G and R sources to give him a fair chance. Counting Attune as R sources, I consider myself to have 15 G sources and 15 R sources. While 14 sources is theoretically good for a 90% chance of a single color, I don't think it is good enough for two different colors on turn two. Brawler worked last Friday, but barely. I am still thinking about the fourth Evolving Wilds and Attune, because small sample size.
I have just never found the Thraben Inspector body worthwhile, and durdling around popping clues doesn't seem like a great gameplan unless I've settled into a grindfest. In theory, Brawler is an early clock or a must-remove threat that allows Garrison or Tracker to stick. I'm still collecting data, but the hypothesis isn't disproven yet. The mana is at least close, at this point.
-I feel like your mana is just asking for trouble. An aggro deck that wants W, RG, and WU within the first three turns is just asking for trouble.
I agree, but look at my deck. It's really base G. I don't run Inspector and don't care about W turn 1. Reflector Mage doesn't seem vitally a T3 play to me, either. I want G or Evolving Wilds turn 1; RG, 1G or 1W turn 2 and 2R turn 3. Most often, I want to build a board turn 3, then turn 4 blow a blocker away with Reflector Mage or use Champion to make the blocks bad.
-Glad to see you got good mileage out of Tamiyo, Field Researcher (well, when she showed up, anyway). I've found her to be a great tool for keeping up the pressure. She's a fine topdeck, too; even if you don't have much of an offense, you can +1 on your opponent's creatures to draw cards.
-You appear to be way more lucky than I am with Hanweir Garrison. Mine have a tendency to die instantly.
Oh, mine do die. I am at about 50-60 competitive matches with this and Naya Humans. When Eldritch Moon was released, I decided to try to bust Garrison. Every deck has removal and my deck is built to abuse this baby. The trick is to have too many must-remove threats. Something will stick. This dying means Tracker might stick.
-Now that you've had a couple rounds under your belt with the 15-singletons sideboard, which cards did you feel overperformed? Underperformed?
There are two questions for me. I like all of these cards. Are they good in enough situations? What synergistic card do I replace with them? There were times when I wanted to bring some in, but couldn't find anything I wanted to take out.
Blossoming Defense - not enough data, but had trouble finding things I wanted to remove for it.
Dragonmaster Outcast - no data, but I still like it in grindy matchups (and with Heron's Grace Champion, we can make matchups grindy) - I bring it in against Spirits, Energy, Delirium anything that isn't terribly aggressive and doesn't run a lot of sweepers. Will probably run another when I cut some stuff.
Fragmentize - WU Flash and vehicles run Copters. I want another. Natural State is instant, but can't hit Marvel or Panharmonicon
A note about about Selfless Spirit. Quite useful to play on T2, before Hanweir Garrison on T3. It usually means the Spirit will go and Garrison will stay. Then, follow up on T4 with Thalia's Lieutenant, pumping Garrison to a respectable 3/4, attack with it and the tokens will pump Lieutenant to 3/3 (and next turn to 5/5, above Grasp of Darkness). Playing Lieutenant first on T2 instead of Spirit is much worse, and opponent will kill Garrison on T3. That's why I play 3 Spirit in the main deck in my Boros Human Burn deck, and it never proved me wrong.
(You can see the list by following the URL in my signature).
I'm going to put a vote in for Ulvenwald Mysteries as a sideboard replacement. It's a good recovery plan against control sweepers, and it makes 1-for-1 removal a joke.
I guess I'll run my 4C brew back again tonight rather than starting to tinker with Esper Processor Control. @WyvernSlayer - yeah, I remember seeing Mysteries in your recommendations before and making a mental note to try it, so I'll give it a whirl. I also forgot to mention in my sideboard notes (because I used the wrong sideboard list): there is no feeling like Revolutionary Rebuff on Torrential Gearhulk. He was riffling through his graveyard before I got to tell the control player: "nope!"
I ran the above on Wednesday night (a four round event) with only one change: when I looked at the sideboard plan with no use for Blossoming Defense, I decided to throw in a Skysovereign instead as a Nahiri target.
Round 1: GB Delirium win 2-0 (1-0-0)
G1: He tried to ride a turn 3 Liliana to victory, but I crashed through when he got her to 7. Then I ran him over with Tamiyo draw and tapping.
G2: Back and forth, with him having an early Flaying Tendrils, but he landed Ishkanah while I landed the big boat. The boat took over.
Good cards: Recruiter, Tracker, Skysovereign, Tamiyo
Round 2: UW Flash draw 1-1 (1-0-1)
G1: Some back and forth, but I had a few creatures out and four mana when the key play occurred. I played a Thalia's Lieutenant into obvious Spell Queller mana. He Quellered the Lieutenant, then I dropped the fifth land and Reflector Maged the Queller to get the Lieutenent back. He was hopelessly behind at that point.
G2: He played more controlling then slammed angels. I dealt with Avacyn once, but when he picked her back up with Bruna and added Linvala, I didn't have an answer that was good enough.
Good cards: Recruiter, Reflector Mage, Heron's Grace Champion, Harnessed Lightning
Round 3: UR Visions win 2-0 (2-0-1)
G1: Did I mention that I play Heron's Grace Champion?
G2: He sided out the Visions and killed stuff until he slammed Chandra. He got me down to 6, but I threw down Nahiri. He kept plusing Chandra to exile a card and deal 2 to keep Nahiri from ultimating. I was able to keep Chandra down with a few random creatures until he finally decided to focus more on killing me. Nahiri ultimated, fetching Skysovereign, which would have slaughtered Chandra if he hadn't scooped.
Good cards: Garrison, Heron's Grace Champion, Nahiri, Skysovereign
Round 4: 5 Color Bring to Light Delirium loss 2-0 (2-1-1)
G1: I flooded out and he had all the answers.
G2: Second verse, same as the first.
Hard to say much with all the flooding, but I don't feel good about the sideboard. I wished for another Rebuff and the Eerie Interlude.
A tough set of decks and a decent showing. I need to practice the Flash matchup more. Avacyn flipping is a beating for these weenies.
Please bear with me, I'm new to mtgsalvation so I'm unsure of how to utilize it's mechanics. I've always loved humans, so after seeing your 4 color I had to try it out. I'm still trying to gather all the cards together (missing Tamiyo). After some small testing, I'm finding that when I can actually cast Voltaic Brawler, I usually have something better I could be doing. In your opinion, is he exchangable in the deck? If so, for what? The only cards I could think of would be Oviya, or Hamlet Captain. Looking forward to hear what you think.
Additionally, I really enjoy hearing about everyone's results with the deck.
Please bear with me, I'm new to mtgsalvation so I'm unsure of how to utilize it's mechanics. I've always loved humans, so after seeing your 4 color I had to try it out. I'm still trying to gather all the cards together (missing Tamiyo). After some small testing, I'm finding that when I can actually cast Voltaic Brawler, I usually have something better I could be doing. In your opinion, is he exchangable in the deck? If so, for what? The only cards I could think of would be Oviya, or Hamlet Captain. Looking forward to hear what you think.
Additionally, I really enjoy hearing about everyone's results with the deck.
Welcome to Mtgsalvation and the Humans, kyle_burns604!
Since Voltaic Brawler was released, I have played about 5 competitive matches with Naya Humans and about 15 competitive matches with 4 color, all including Brawler. I haven't been satisfied with my ability to cast it before I had at least 15 R and G sources. So I would say that only about 10 competitive matches have been relevant. So let's call it 25 games. Statistically, I should have had it by turn 3 in about 12 games. That seems about right. I can remember three games where his being a 4/3 trample was vital in closing out games.
Is he good? Everything is relative. What are the alternatives? Hamlet Captain, Thraben Inspector, Town Gossipmonger, Expedition Envoy, Duskwatch Recruiter, Selfless Spirit, Lambholt Pacifist, Blossoming Defense, Oviya Pashere Declaration in Stone, Anticipate, Incendiary Flow, Smuggler's Copter; really, any combination of four of the above may be better. Honestly, I don't know. I am still collecting data.
Here is what I've got. We can't wait to get on board. I don't think Inspector represents enough pressure. I think we need at least 10 2 drops and at least 10 3 drops. Hamlet Captain is great when I keep Garrison on the board. My problem was that, too often, I found myself attacking with only Hamlet Captain. Hamlet Captain wasn't enough pressure by himself.
I have a winning record at FNM level. With better lists or better piloting, I think we can win some of these. I am eager to see and learn from the insights, experiments and conclusions you will bring to the deck.
Thanks for the quick response!
I'll be playtesting the deck tomorrow against some meta decks (B/G delirium mostly), and some rogue decks. Hopefully I'll learn to pilot it well enough to use it this Friday and for the showdown events. If anyone is interested, I can upload how it goes for both events.
Thanks again, looking forward to hearing how you guys are doing with it.
@WyvernSlayer - I've replaced my preliminary 4C sketch with your 4C version in the primer. Let me know if that's a problem.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
@Nevelo - I think it's a little unfortunate that Naya didn't make a showing; I feel like it has some of the best synergies.
@WyvernSlayer - I've been playing around with a 4C brew that is so bad that I don't want to post it. The good thing is the fastland manabase. I hardly ever have a tapland when I need it untapped. I recommend you give it a try. Something like this:
Lands
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
5 Forest
4 Inspiring Vantage
1 Island
1 Mountain
2 Plains
2 Spirebluff Canal
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
2 Fleetwheel Cruiser
4 Smuggler's Copter
Creatures
3 Hanweir Garrison
4 Inventor's Apprentice
3 Pia Nalaar
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Thraben Inspector
Enchantments
1 Always Watching
4 Harnessed Lightning
Lands
1 Hanweir Battlements
4 Inspiring Vantage
6 Mountain
4 Needle Spires
7 Plains
1 Westvale Abbey
Planeswalkers
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Sorceries
4 Declaration in Stone
2 Selfless Spirit
2 Skyship Stalker
1 Always Watching
2 Stasis Snare
3 Blessed Alliance
1 Repel the Abominable
1 Skywhaler's Shot
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Fragmentize
Hello everyone. I recently put this deck together and tried it at FNM. I wanted to check the local meta and I met RG Pummeler, BG Delirium and some JUND Midrange brew. Kozileks Return also seemed to be around. Now my question is, do you think this looks allright? The sideboard is just something I put together after my impressions at FNM afterwards. It looked different before. I like the idea of using Skyship Stalker (Maybe replace with Gisela, The Broken Blade) against enemy copters and control decks, since he can be given haste. I also feel I sometimes have difficulty sideboarding correctly. How would you sideboard with this deck?
4x Canopy Vista
4x Cinder Glade
4x Inspiring Vantage
2x Needle Spires
3x Plains
2x Hanweir Battlements
4x Forest
Creature
4x Expedition Envoy
4x Hamlet Captain
4x Hanweir Garrison
2x Hanweir Militia Captain
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
2x Thraben Inspector
4x Voltaic Brawler
2x Fleetwheel Cruiser
Enchantment
1x Always Watching
Sorcery
4x Attune with Aether
Instant
2x Repel the Abominable
4x Blossoming Defense
1x Always Watching
2x Fragmentize
4x Galvanic Bombardment
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
2x Collective Effort
2x Hanweir Militia Captain Flip
2x Immolating Glare
2x Obsessive Skinner
2x Sigarda, Heron's Grace
1x Stasis Snare
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Here's a list I've been working on with a bunch of other cards I want to test and/get an opinion on. I've tried to make it as aggressive as possible whilst keeping some interaction as a back-up plan, but I still feel there isn't enough?
I've done only the tiniest bit of testing, but so far the mana feels alright and the deck seems to be able to get threats out pretty quickly. Which is what I want! I want to refine this decklist further however so any advice is very much welcomed!
4 Aether Hub
3 Canopy Vista
3 Cinder Glade
3 Prairie Stream
3 Evolving Wilds
3 Forest
3 Plains
1 Island
1 Mountain
Creatures (25)
4 Thraben Inspector
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
3 Hamlet Captain
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Hanweir Garrison
2 Reflector Mage
3 Tireless Tracker
2 Heron's Grace Champion
3 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Declaration in Stone
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
3 Blossoming Defense
2 Fragmentize
1 Skywhaler's Shot
1 Always Watching
1 Ulvenwald Mysteries
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Hanweir Battlements
v1.1 changes:
-1 Tireless Tracker, +1 Hamlet Captain: I wanted the deck to be just a little lower to the ground, and I had been really impressed with HamCap’s performance over the past week. In my earlier post, I expressed my disappointment with Tireless Tracker, so I cut one. If the need to get even lower and faster comes up, this slot might be exchanged for more 1-drops (Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter, Town Gossipmonger, etc.), but it’s still early; for now, we’re gonna let Hamlet Captain hit the field.
[SB]-1Fragmentize, +1Hanweir Battlements: The Frags rotted in my sideboard all of last week – evidently no one in our local shop was keen on picking up Smuggler’s Copters. In a meta decision, I shaved one for Hanweir Battlements – I know there’s a couple of control decks in the field, and having a repeatable haste outlet (while doubling as a sweet payoff for Hanweir Garrison) will enable me to get my guys in at least once before they get swept away.
So I know I said I'd offer up a report, but we all went out drinking after FNM and I can't remember a damn thing. I went 3-0 and beat R/W vehicles (kinda brewish, not a refined list), G/W Eldritch Evolution, and Jeskai Control.
If you're not playing Ulvenwald Mysteries in your sideboard, make some room - against Jeskai Control with multiple Radiant Flames and Fumigates, they just became irrelevant. Even one copy of Mysteries in play just BURIES them.
I also think Battlements #2 is better than Abbey #1. I find if a game goes late, I tend to be topdecking onto an empty board and the haste is more relevant. Times when the Abbey would be good lead to opponent scoops anyway.
But I am eager to hear about your results and opinions after playing.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
I'd actually be more inclined to run Always Watching over Gideon here, what with all the Vehicles. Having vigilance means you can attack and still have vehicles around to block with if need be (extra looting with Smuggler's Copter!), and a 3-mana anthem will at least let you beat out Kozilek's Return on the play.
I don't care much for MD Declaration in Stone in a Copter meta; you could probably move a couple of those to the sideboard.
2 Hanweir Battlements
2 Aether Hub
2 Needle Spires
3 Stone Quarry
3 Inspiring Vantage
5 Plains
7 Mountain
Creatures (20)
4 Thraben Inspector
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Hanweir Garrison
2 Pia Nalaar
1 Gisela, the Broken Blade
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Incendiary Flow
4 Collective Defiance
3 Flame Lash
3 Smuggler's Copter
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Goldnight Castigator
3 Fragmentize
4 Galvanic Bombardment
2 Repel the Abominable
2 Declaration in Stone
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2-0 vs Izzet Spells, 2-0 vs GB Delirium and 2-1 vs UW Flash.
I would replace Stone Quarry anytime for Needle Spires and Inspired Vantage. Problem is, these cards are completely sold out at my store. Other than that, I'm quite satisfied with the deck.
Flame Lash is dubious, I admit. Maybe Fiery Temper would be better (with Copter and Collective Defiance), as it costs less and would better fit the curve. But Flame Lash is big enough to deal with pumped Copters, Thing in the Ice, delerious Grim Flayers, Kalitas, Avacyn, etc. (and 4 to the dome at instant speed is a lot!).
Feel free to comment, the deck can certainly be improved!
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
I drew against GB Delirium, beat Jund Superfriends, lost to UW Spirits and drew Abzan Delirium. I definitely punted in the game 3 of the Spirits match by not killing some Selfless Spirits early. I just took too much damage to win. Overall, I had to mulligan more than I like and the mana was generally problematic. Reflector Mage didn't seem good enough to make the splash worth while. Tamiyo took over the game the one time I played her.
The sideboard was pretty random.
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
2 Hanweir Militia Captain
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Voltaic Brawler
4 Hanweir Garrison
1 Pia Nalaar
4 Reflector Mage
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Heron's Grace Champion
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
Spells
4 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
1 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
1 Evolving Wilds
4 Forest
1 Hanweir Battlements
4 Inspiring Vantage
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Blossoming Defense
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Fragmentize
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Repel the Abominable
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Collective Effort
1 Eerie Interlude
1 Arlinn Kord
1 Heron's Grace Champion
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Cloudblazer
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
Edit: On reflection, I decided that there really weren't enough G sources and the Spirebluff Canal were too greedy. If I play this again, it will look more like this:
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
2 Hanweir Militia Captain
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Voltaic Brawler
4 Hanweir Garrison
1 Pia Nalaar
4 Reflector Mage
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Heron's Grace Champion
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
3 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
Lands
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Evolving Wilds
4 Forest
1 Hanweir Battlements
4 Inspiring Vantage
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Blossoming Defense
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Fragmentize
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Declaration in Stone
1 Repel the Abominable
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Eerie Interlude
1 Revolutionary Rebuff
1 Arlinn Kord
1 Heron's Grace Champion
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Cloudblazer
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Against Grixis G1, we traded a lot, but he finally flooded out and I slowly killed him with Reflector Mage beats. He was running Thing in the Ice, so when I stupidly sided out my Reflector Mages, he ran me over Game 2. Game 3, I just killed him with a million Garrison tokens. Key cards: Reflector Mage (great against Things), Garrison and Revolutionary Rebuff (good against Torrential Gearhulk).
Against Temur Energy, it was just grindy and could have easily gone the other way. In G3, turn 4 of turns, I was hellbent at 5 with a Thalia's Lieutenant with 2 counters on it. My opponent was at 11 with two tapped Longtusk Cubs with lots of counters, two tapped Hydra, a tapped Skysovereign and an untapped Servant of the Conduit. I topdecked Hanweir Garrison, melded it with Hanweir Battlements, spawned the two Horrors, and swung 17 (7 trample) for the win. It was glorious! Also worth noting was the game Tamiyo took over. She can be great. Cloudblazer did some work to keep me in games also.
Match 3 against UW Flash was not a match. This was the guy who took down the event so he would probably have won anyway, but I was just variously mana screwed in both games.
Match 4 against RB Vampires was fairly easy. In G1, I played my worst threats first and Harnessed his madeness outlets. Card advantage from Duskwatch Recruiter and Tireless Tracker eventually got me there with Garrison tokens. Game two had the interesting plays of him Malevalent Whispersing my Hanweir Garrison to swing for 9 and From under the Floorboards for four Zombies, but he was never winning against my Hanweir Garrison tokens pumped by three Thalia's Lieutenants and a Heron's Grace Champion. Gaining 20 life when I flashed in the Heron's Grace Champion blew open the race.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
-I tested Voltaic Brawler early on and decided that he was way too hard to cast. How was he for you?
-I feel like your mana is just asking for trouble. An aggro deck that wants W, RG, and WU within the first three turns is just asking for trouble.
-Glad to see you got good mileage out of Tamiyo, Field Researcher (well, when she showed up, anyway). I've found her to be a great tool for keeping up the pressure. She's a fine topdeck, too; even if you don't have much of an offense, you can +1 on your opponent's creatures to draw cards.
-You appear to be way more lucky than I am with Hanweir Garrison. Mine have a tendency to die instantly.
-Now that you've had a couple rounds under your belt with the 15-singletons sideboard, which cards did you feel overperformed? Underperformed?
I have just never found the Thraben Inspector body worthwhile, and durdling around popping clues doesn't seem like a great gameplan unless I've settled into a grindfest. In theory, Brawler is an early clock or a must-remove threat that allows Garrison or Tracker to stick. I'm still collecting data, but the hypothesis isn't disproven yet. The mana is at least close, at this point.
I agree, but look at my deck. It's really base G. I don't run Inspector and don't care about W turn 1. Reflector Mage doesn't seem vitally a T3 play to me, either. I want G or Evolving Wilds turn 1; RG, 1G or 1W turn 2 and 2R turn 3. Most often, I want to build a board turn 3, then turn 4 blow a blocker away with Reflector Mage or use Champion to make the blocks bad.
Amen!
Oh, mine do die. I am at about 50-60 competitive matches with this and Naya Humans. When Eldritch Moon was released, I decided to try to bust Garrison. Every deck has removal and my deck is built to abuse this baby. The trick is to have too many must-remove threats. Something will stick. This dying means Tracker might stick.
There are two questions for me. I like all of these cards. Are they good in enough situations? What synergistic card do I replace with them? There were times when I wanted to bring some in, but couldn't find anything I wanted to take out.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
(You can see the list by following the URL in my signature).
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
I'm going to put a vote in for Ulvenwald Mysteries as a sideboard replacement. It's a good recovery plan against control sweepers, and it makes 1-for-1 removal a joke.
I guess I'll run my 4C brew back again tonight rather than starting to tinker with Esper Processor Control. @WyvernSlayer - yeah, I remember seeing Mysteries in your recommendations before and making a mental note to try it, so I'll give it a whirl. I also forgot to mention in my sideboard notes (because I used the wrong sideboard list): there is no feeling like Revolutionary Rebuff on Torrential Gearhulk. He was riffling through his graveyard before I got to tell the control player: "nope!"
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Hanweir Militia Captain
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Voltaic Brawler
4 Hanweir Garrison
1 Pia Nalaar
4 Reflector Mage
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Heron's Grace Champion
1 Cloudblazer
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
3 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
Lands
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Evolving Wilds
4 Forest
1 Hanweir Battlements
4 Inspiring Vantage
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Blossoming Defense
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
2 Fragmentize
1 Hanweir Militia Captain
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Revolutionary Rebuff
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Ulvenwald Mysteries
1 Arlinn Kord
2 Heron's Grace Champion
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Cloudblazer
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
Sideboarding
Feedback eagerly solicited!
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Round 1: GB Delirium win 2-0 (1-0-0)
G1: He tried to ride a turn 3 Liliana to victory, but I crashed through when he got her to 7. Then I ran him over with Tamiyo draw and tapping.
G2: Back and forth, with him having an early Flaying Tendrils, but he landed Ishkanah while I landed the big boat. The boat took over.
Good cards: Recruiter, Tracker, Skysovereign, Tamiyo
Round 2: UW Flash draw 1-1 (1-0-1)
G1: Some back and forth, but I had a few creatures out and four mana when the key play occurred. I played a Thalia's Lieutenant into obvious Spell Queller mana. He Quellered the Lieutenant, then I dropped the fifth land and Reflector Maged the Queller to get the Lieutenent back. He was hopelessly behind at that point.
G2: He played more controlling then slammed angels. I dealt with Avacyn once, but when he picked her back up with Bruna and added Linvala, I didn't have an answer that was good enough.
Good cards: Recruiter, Reflector Mage, Heron's Grace Champion, Harnessed Lightning
Round 3: UR Visions win 2-0 (2-0-1)
G1: Did I mention that I play Heron's Grace Champion?
G2: He sided out the Visions and killed stuff until he slammed Chandra. He got me down to 6, but I threw down Nahiri. He kept plusing Chandra to exile a card and deal 2 to keep Nahiri from ultimating. I was able to keep Chandra down with a few random creatures until he finally decided to focus more on killing me. Nahiri ultimated, fetching Skysovereign, which would have slaughtered Chandra if he hadn't scooped.
Good cards: Garrison, Heron's Grace Champion, Nahiri, Skysovereign
Round 4: 5 Color Bring to Light Delirium loss 2-0 (2-1-1)
G1: I flooded out and he had all the answers.
G2: Second verse, same as the first.
Hard to say much with all the flooding, but I don't feel good about the sideboard. I wished for another Rebuff and the Eerie Interlude.
A tough set of decks and a decent showing. I need to practice the Flash matchup more. Avacyn flipping is a beating for these weenies.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Please bear with me, I'm new to mtgsalvation so I'm unsure of how to utilize it's mechanics. I've always loved humans, so after seeing your 4 color I had to try it out. I'm still trying to gather all the cards together (missing Tamiyo). After some small testing, I'm finding that when I can actually cast Voltaic Brawler, I usually have something better I could be doing. In your opinion, is he exchangable in the deck? If so, for what? The only cards I could think of would be Oviya, or Hamlet Captain. Looking forward to hear what you think.
Additionally, I really enjoy hearing about everyone's results with the deck.
Welcome to Mtgsalvation and the Humans, kyle_burns604!
Since Voltaic Brawler was released, I have played about 5 competitive matches with Naya Humans and about 15 competitive matches with 4 color, all including Brawler. I haven't been satisfied with my ability to cast it before I had at least 15 R and G sources. So I would say that only about 10 competitive matches have been relevant. So let's call it 25 games. Statistically, I should have had it by turn 3 in about 12 games. That seems about right. I can remember three games where his being a 4/3 trample was vital in closing out games.
Is he good? Everything is relative. What are the alternatives? Hamlet Captain, Thraben Inspector, Town Gossipmonger, Expedition Envoy, Duskwatch Recruiter, Selfless Spirit, Lambholt Pacifist, Blossoming Defense, Oviya Pashere Declaration in Stone, Anticipate, Incendiary Flow, Smuggler's Copter; really, any combination of four of the above may be better. Honestly, I don't know. I am still collecting data.
Here is what I've got. We can't wait to get on board. I don't think Inspector represents enough pressure. I think we need at least 10 2 drops and at least 10 3 drops. Hamlet Captain is great when I keep Garrison on the board. My problem was that, too often, I found myself attacking with only Hamlet Captain. Hamlet Captain wasn't enough pressure by himself.
I have a winning record at FNM level. With better lists or better piloting, I think we can win some of these. I am eager to see and learn from the insights, experiments and conclusions you will bring to the deck.
RNA Standard: Grixis Midrange, Jund Deathwhirler, Sultai Vannifar
GRN Standard: Red Midrange, Mono-Blue Tempo, Wr Aggro, Gruul Experimental Dinosaurs, Sultai Midrange, Jeskai Midrange
Modern: Bant Spirits
Forcing a single archetype in all formats: too many colors, bad mana.
Thanks for the quick response!
I'll be playtesting the deck tomorrow against some meta decks (B/G delirium mostly), and some rogue decks. Hopefully I'll learn to pilot it well enough to use it this Friday and for the showdown events. If anyone is interested, I can upload how it goes for both events.
Thanks again, looking forward to hearing how you guys are doing with it.