Cant wait to here your results. Im gonna be playing this deck tomorrow at Sunday afternoon magic. Could you tell us your sideboard strategy for each game? Thanks!
I'm dead tired, so I'll keep that short for now (and maybe add some more details tomorrow).
UW Flash :
On the play = Keep the curve low and be aggressive. +1 Chandra (she Burns for 4), +1 Flame Lash (see Chandra) and -2 Gideon (dies too easily to flyers).
On the draw = don't give to much value to Reflector Mage and Declaration in Stone. So in order to reduce the risk of drawing multiples, I side out one of each basic Humans (-1 Inspector, -1 Lieutenant and -1 Garrison). -1 Gideon, as he is probably even worse when flyers are on the play, and -1 Copter because with less creatures it is harder to crew. +1 Chandra (she Burns for 4), +2 Flame Lash (see Chandra) and +2 Declaration in Stone (to compound on the multiples they'll probably offer to you). I used to side in Fragmentize because of Stasis Snare and Copter, but that was probably a mistake. Burn their creatures, and they'll eventually have to play Spell Queller at sorcery speed just to crew the Copter.
GB Delirium :
Lilliana eats your drop-2 for breakfast (2/1 or 1/1), remember that. +2 Flame Lash, +1 Gideon, +1 Chandra and +2 Declaration in Stone are the obvious in. -3 Selfless Spirits is fine, because Lieutenant can be pumped above 1/1 (and pump the rest), but Spirits are no Humans. -2 Pia Nalaar because she's quite insignificant in the matchup (and het Thopter too), and -1 Copter because it's hard to crew with less creatures.
Thanks so much. What about when playing against more aggressive decks like r/b aggro and w/r vehicles. Ive noticed in my playtesting that in game 1 sometimes they are just too fast and kill me before i get a board presence. Do you assume a more control/removal heavy Game 2?
Thanks so much. What about when playing against more aggressive decks like r/b aggro and w/r vehicles. Ive noticed in my playtesting that in game 1 sometimes they are just too fast and kill me before i get a board presence. Do you assume a more control/removal heavy Game 2?
Kind of. It's more a matter of respecting their speed. They're fast, so should be your removals and general play. And remember that you won't play against the same deck : they will SB too (and be more Control). Add in 4 Galvanic Bombardment, and remove 2 Flame Lash and maybe an Inspector and Lieutenant.
1. How good exactly vs a non-sweeper deck is Selfless Spirit?
Due to Liliana's +1, isn't it's a big liability against GB Delirium - a deck we otherwise have a pretty good matchup against?
Due to its body/ CMC, doesn't it always trade down against aggro decks?
Due to body, doesn't it get outclassed very fast by the fliers in UW Flash?
Selfless Spirit is pretty good against Control decks (Jeskai, Grixis or the new Mardu) that play Radiant Flames, and UW Flash that wants to flip their Avacyn. It is also very useful against any spot removals to protect our other more important creatures (Copter, Garrison, Lieutenant, Thalia). Of course we'll lose a card to a card, but it screws opponent's strategy, and that's good (same as a counterspell to a removal). It also makes attacking us quite complicated if you have some board presence. Finally, it has awesome synergy with our own Avacyn, either to provoke transformation, or to protect our team from her transformation.
It is bad vs Liliana, true. But we know it from the start, and we can play around that... either by dealing with Liliana first or by just playing it after our best creature (Garrison) to protect it and let it deal with her next turn.
And we can certainly side it out for game 2 and 3. No cruel choice then.
Do you think it could be worthwhile to replace him with Hanweir Militia Captain?
Pros: Better synergy with Thalia's Lieutenant
Pros: Scalable utility in applying pressure as the game progresses
Pros: Not a liability against a key card in one of the 2 decks to beat
Cons: Deck becomes more vulnerable to board wipe
Oh. But... I mean...
You have good points there. Maybe you are right. I guess the only way to find out is through extensive playtesting. So... Community, we have a mission!
2. Would you consider a BFZ limited all-star, Firemantle Mage, as a 1 or 2 of instead of Pia Nalaar/ Weaver of Lightning/ 3rd Thalia?
I love Firemantle Mage (you're talking to a pro with Allies here, checkout my old Ally Company deck in my signature). But no. Rally is bad if you cannot repeatedly trigger it. This means more Ally creatures, and less of anything else.
3. (Probably the most heretical) Would you be interested in maxing out on Gideon at the cost of cutting Avacyn?
Bad idea. We need her to save our @$$ once in a while.
Seems like a VERY strong deck, I am unfortunately not in a position to buy into it (despite its low budget) but I think that 24 lands seems VERY high, maybe 23 or even 22 (I would go 23 because of the 4-drops) seems as though flooding was quite a problem and I'm not surprised.
24 land seems correct given his curve tops out at 5cmc and he has multiple 4cmc cards in his main and side. Plus, if you're worried about excess land Smuggler's Copter is an excellent way to deal with flooding. I personally run 24 in my own standard build (GW humans) but my deck also runs quite a few mana sinks.
2. Would you consider a BFZ limited all-star, Firemantle Mage, as a 1 or 2 of instead of Pia Nalaar/ Weaver of Lightning/ 3rd Thalia?
I love Firemantle Mage (you're talking to a pro with Allies here, checkout my old Ally Company deck in my signature). But no. Rally is bad if you cannot repeatedly trigger it. This means more Ally creatures, and less of anything else.
Actually we can keep triggering rally through Gideon.
Other trick I learned today - you can plus Gideon, cast Lieutenant and Gideon gets +1/+1 counter. If anyone wasn't aware of that - it can be pretty useful.
Quick report on my testing with the Abbey - it's very situational. You want to transform it only if you need the life and/or big body (I did such surprise transformation once and it saved me the game). Another thing it helps to gain value of the creatures that are going to die anyway to a boardwipe (Radiant Flames, Kozilek's Return, Fumigate, or Declaration in Stone targeting our tokens). It can also trigger Lieutenant for this additional point of damage that can be crucial when we are flooded. Sure I had bunch of awkward hands with not enough coloured sources that were really difficult decisions, but in the end I think it's worth it - it's a good tool, but needs to be used right.
Hi Pat, I just tried a few games with my LGS friend which he used mardu vehicles and bant human. We didn't try sideboard but I lost most of the game 1 except for the games he is in very dead draws like 3-4 lands in a row or I am on curve.
For Bant Human, Reflector Mage and Lambholt is really hard to deal with. Usually I can a burn for mage when he play on Turn 3 and I burn it on 4, but most likely I will only crack a clue or play a Copter after the 2 cmc burn. Sometimes I have to use all 4 cmc to cast Collective Defiance on both Mage/Lambholt and his player life. Even it is not Negated I feel it is a bit slow to catch with him.
For Mardu Vehicles, he simply out-speed me in pre-sideboard. I cannot handle his speed of dropping Toolcraft+Thraben/Copter/Scavenger and Toolcraft hits like a truck.
I know after sideboard I can play around with much more burn spells for both match up to use lower cost to remove his creatures(Galvanic Bombardment), but before that he mentioned a point which I think it is worthwhile to think about: We cannot let game 1 go all the time before sideboarding in some cards. In this case game 3 will be just other way round.
P.S. I am obviously not a good pilot as I am not very good at decision-making on the games, maybe this is also the main reason for the loses. But my friend read the list and feel it is too slow and only good when I am my draws.
I still wanted to play this deck as this is a mixture of 2 of the themes I like most (Human/Burn, r.i.p. Ally). Would you please help and give me some tips and insights of these games before I can play with this deck on Sat this week for the Standard Showdown event?
Hi Pat, I just tried a few games with my LGS friend which he used mardu vehicles and bant human. We didn't try sideboard but I lost most of the game 1 except for the games he is in very dead draws like 3-4 lands in a row or I am on curve.
For Bant Human, Reflector Mage and Lambholt is really hard to deal with. Usually I can a burn for mage when he play on Turn 3 and I burn it on 4, but most likely I will only crack a clue or play a Copter after the 2 cmc burn. Sometimes I have to use all 4 cmc to cast Collective Defiance on both Mage/Lambholt and his player life. Even it is not Negated I feel it is a bit slow to catch with him.
For Mardu Vehicles, he simply out-speed me in pre-sideboard. I cannot handle his speed of dropping Toolcraft+Thraben/Copter/Scavenger and Toolcraft hits like a truck.
I know after sideboard I can play around with much more burn spells for both match up to use lower cost to remove his creatures(Galvanic Bombardment), but before that he mentioned a point which I think it is worthwhile to think about: We cannot let game 1 go all the time before sideboarding in some cards. In this case game 3 will be just other way round.
P.S. I am obviously not a good pilot as I am not very good at decision-making on the games, maybe this is also the main reason for the loses. But my friend read the list and feel it is too slow and only good when I am my draws.
I still wanted to play this deck as this is a mixture of 2 of the themes I like most (Human/Burn, r.i.p. Ally). Would you please help and give me some tips and insights of these games before I can play with this deck on Sat this week for the Standard Showdown event?
I played vs Mardu Vehicle today on XMage. It's not an easy matchup, but I never lost to it (winning 2-0 or 2-1).
The matchup is indeed hard game 1 if we're not on the play. If I recall correctly, I did lose game 1 today while on the draw, but won game 2 and 3 with the SB (or I won game 1 and 2, but game 1 was very close... I'm not sure). I managed to turn the tide at one point : after declaring massive blocks, I sacrificed Selfless Spirit (it was blocking a Copter) to protect my team and kill everything he attacked with (save the Copter). Next turn, I burned the crew creature that was left, added Thalia to the board and started to push some damage by attacking (confident that he couldn't crew the Copter with a new creature thanks to Thalia). Another game, it was Avacyn that did the trick (she blocked a Copter while a little 1/1 indestructible Lieutenant blocked a Veteran Motorist). It is only when you'll have stabilized against Aggro (with Burn spells, indestructible blockers thanks to Selfless Spirit or Avacyn, or Thalia), that you can start staging a board for the 2 or 3 serious attacks that will make you win.
In most matchup, Thalia should be your priority. Against Aggro, she prevents crewing Vehicles with new creatures or attacking with Hasted creatures. She's also an excellent blocker with First Strike, so she'll stop their aggressivity on the ground. And once you've stabilized, she'll deny opponent that extra blocker so you can go lethal. It is very tempting to cast Hanweir Garrison first, to compound on its ability to create tokens. But you're not the Beatdown against aggro. Our deck is aggressive, but Rakdos Aggro, Boros Dwarves, Boros Tokens and Mardu Vehicles are far more aggressive than us. Control the board with the 11 removals that you have maindeck (including Chandra as number 11, as she's now in the main deck in v1.6), and don't be shy to cast Collective Defiance for 3 even if that is not optimal (escalate is good, but not losing is better).
If you can, always play Lieutenant after Garrison. You're better starting with Spirit or Copter, or just burning their first creature or the dome with Incendiary Flow. If Lieutenant is casted after Garrison, it will boost it to 3/4, and gets boosted itself to 3/3 in the same round (and 5/5 next turn). A 3/4 Garrison can stand against a 3/1 Motorist, and a 5/5 Lieutenant can trade for a Caravan (a card for a card, plus the creature(s) that got tapped to crew it = fair deal).
Don't be so eager to crack you Clues. I often win games without having to use all or any of my Clues. Advancing the game plan is more important. Only when you're stuck, or when you're mana screw and need that extra land for next turn.
Like I said to someone else, playtesting without SB will not give you a good feeling of any deck. Sometimes, your deck can get A LOT BETTER against a certain matchup, while they don't have anything so special against you. With SB vs Mardu Vehicles, bring in 4 Bombardment and 3 Fragmentize. These removals only cost 1, and so you're DRAMATICALLY reducing your curve (respect their speed). You can remove 2 Gideon, 1 Chandra and 2 Flame Lash (all 4cmc), and 2 Thraben Inspector (these are not the Humans you're looking for... no Jedi mind trick intended). I don't like Planeswalkers in that matchup as they die too easily to Copters and wide boards.
Give it more practice, and don't be lazy just playing game 1 without SB. More than half the games you'll play in any tournament will be with the SB (60% average). Better get used to the SB cards, and what to side out. You need those skills if you want to perform.
Actually we can keep triggering rally through Gideon.
Other trick I learned today - you can plus Gideon, cast Lieutenant and Gideon gets +1/+1 counter. If anyone wasn't aware of that - it can be pretty useful.
Quick report on my testing with the Abbey - it's very situational. You want to transform it only if you need the life and/or big body (I did such surprise transformation once and it saved me the game). Another thing it helps to gain value of the creatures that are going to die anyway to a boardwipe (Radiant Flames, Kozilek's Return, Fumigate, or Declaration in Stone targeting our tokens). It can also trigger Lieutenant for this additional point of damage that can be crucial when we are flooded. Sure I had bunch of awkward hands with not enough coloured sources that were really difficult decisions, but in the end I think it's worth it - it's a good tool, but needs to be used right.
You're right about Gideon. He creates Ally tokens. But I doubt we always want to do his token ability. Most of the time, I do this once, and then +1 to Attack with 5/5 indestructible (but Vs GB Delirium, emblem is a priority game 1 to protect your Weenies from Liliana). Firemantle Mage would be useful only in board stalls, but Boros Human Burn already breaks board stalls with Burn spells, either by ignoring the stall and going for the dome directly, or by removing creatures (ad burning the dome at the same time with Collective Defiance).
If Hanweir Militia Captain is proven good for us, Abbey would be a good land, I'm sure. But for the time being, I am super satisfied with Battlements. Giving Haste is really good for us (did that to a Copter today on turn 4, and it fixed my mana for Avacyn next turn... and I don't have enough fingers to count the times when I hasted Garrison. It never was a mistake. I often hold on to a card I could have casted on top of a creature, and dump my mana instead on giving it Haste to push more damage. I'll do the same next turn on the creature card I didn't cast (do the math, it's in our favor). And if anything happens, we'll have more cards in hand to continue the fight (always intimidating if you have more cards than opponent).
Hi Pat, I just tried a few games with my LGS friend which he used mardu vehicles and bant human. We didn't try sideboard but I lost most of the game 1 except for the games he is in very dead draws like 3-4 lands in a row or I am on curve.
For Bant Human, Reflector Mage and Lambholt is really hard to deal with. Usually I can a burn for mage when he play on Turn 3 and I burn it on 4, but most likely I will only crack a clue or play a Copter after the 2 cmc burn. Sometimes I have to use all 4 cmc to cast Collective Defiance on both Mage/Lambholt and his player life. Even it is not Negated I feel it is a bit slow to catch with him.
For Mardu Vehicles, he simply out-speed me in pre-sideboard. I cannot handle his speed of dropping Toolcraft+Thraben/Copter/Scavenger and Toolcraft hits like a truck.
I know after sideboard I can play around with much more burn spells for both match up to use lower cost to remove his creatures(Galvanic Bombardment), but before that he mentioned a point which I think it is worthwhile to think about: We cannot let game 1 go all the time before sideboarding in some cards. In this case game 3 will be just other way round.
P.S. I am obviously not a good pilot as I am not very good at decision-making on the games, maybe this is also the main reason for the loses. But my friend read the list and feel it is too slow and only good when I am my draws.
I still wanted to play this deck as this is a mixture of 2 of the themes I like most (Human/Burn, r.i.p. Ally). Would you please help and give me some tips and insights of these games before I can play with this deck on Sat this week for the Standard Showdown event?
I played vs Mardu Vehicle today on XMage. It's not an easy matchup, but I never lost to it (winning 2-0 or 2-1).
The matchup is indeed hard game 1 if we're not on the play. If I recall correctly, I did lose game 1 today while on the draw, but won game 2 and 3 with the SB (or I won game 1 and 2, but game 1 was very close... I'm not sure). I managed to turn the tide at one point : after declaring massive blocks, I sacrificed Selfless Spirit (it was blocking a Copter) to protect my team and kill everything he attacked with (save the Copter). Next turn, I burned the crew creature that was left, added Thalia to the board and started to push some damage by attacking (confident that he couldn't crew the Copter with a new creature thanks to Thalia). Another game, it was Avacyn that did the trick (she blocked a Copter while a little 1/1 indestructible Lieutenant blocked a Veteran Motorist). It is only when you'll have stabilized against Aggro (with Burn spells, indestructible blockers thanks to Selfless Spirit or Avacyn, or Thalia), that you can start staging a board for the 2 or 3 serious attacks that will make you win.
In most matchup, Thalia should be your priority. Against Aggro, she prevents crewing Vehicles with new creatures or attacking with Hasted creatures. She's also an excellent blocker with First Strike, so she'll stop their aggressivity on the ground. And once you've stabilized, she'll deny opponent that extra blocker so you can go lethal. It is very tempting to cast Hanweir Garrison first, to compound on its ability to create tokens. But you're not the Beatdown against aggro. Our deck is aggressive, but Rakdos Aggro, Boros Dwarves, Boros Tokens and Mardu Vehicles are far more aggressive than us. Control the board with the 11 removals that you have maindeck (including Chandra as number 11, as she's now in the main deck in v1.6), and don't be shy to cast Collective Defiance for 3 even if that is not optimal (escalate is good, but not losing is better).
If you can, always play Lieutenant after Garrison. You're better starting with Spirit or Copter, or just burning their first creature or the dome with Incendiary Flow. If Lieutenant is casted after Garrison, it will boost it to 3/4, and gets boosted itself to 3/3 in the same round (and 5/5 next turn). A 3/4 Garrison can stand against a 3/1 Motorist, and a 5/5 Lieutenant can trade for a Caravan (a card for a card, plus the creature(s) that got tapped to crew it = fair deal).
Don't be so eager to crack you Clues. I often win games without having to use all or any of my Clues. Advancing the game plan is more important. Only when you're stuck, or when you're mana screw and need that extra land for next turn.
Like I said to someone else, playtesting without SB will not give you a good feeling of any deck. Sometimes, your deck can get A LOT BETTER against a certain matchup, while they don't have anything so special against you. With SB vs Mardu Vehicles, bring in 4 Bombardment and 3 Fragmentize. These removals only cost 1, and so you're DRAMATICALLY reducing your curve (respect their speed). You can remove 2 Gideon, 1 Chandra and 2 Flame Lash (all 4cmc), and 2 Thraben Inspector (these are not the Humans you're looking for... no Jedi mind trick intended). I don't like Planeswalkers in that matchup as they die too easily to Copters and wide boards.
Give it more practice, and don't be lazy just playing game 1 without SB. More than half the games you'll play in any tournament will be with the SB (60% average). Better get used to the SB cards, and what to side out. You need those skills if you want to perform.
Appreciate for the long tips for how to deal with Mardu Vehicles and the general tips for decision-making! It's very informative and definitely make me realize what I played wrong last time. Hands to keep or mulligan is definitely also a point that you have implied and it is very valuable to playing the deck right and win.
Thanks once again Pat, I will continue on with it and hopefully I can buy 4 Flamelash before this Saturday... It is really hard to find in my area
P.S. any thoughts on Gisela main board/ side board? She is MVP towards Copter imo though vulnerable. It's like "if you don't remove her I will win the game" card as Gideon
Thanks once again Pat, I will continue on with it and hopefully I can buy 4 Flamelash before this Saturday... It is really hard to find in my area
P.S. any thoughts on Gisela main board/ side board? She is MVP towards Copter imo though vulnerable. It's like "if you don't remove her I will win the game" card as Gideon
No problem. I'm happy to help if it can make the deck rise to Tier 1 where it belongs.
Note that there are 3 Flame Lash (FLa) in the 75 in v1.6 of the deck. If your store still has that Chandra Planeswalker deck, this is where you'll find it.
Gisela once was in the main deck in the first version. But the curve was inverted when considering Collective Defiance (CoDe) as a drop-4, and that was wrong. Something had to go, and it was Gisela (what she does is cute, but she dies easily and she never was impressive). Gideon had to stay, and the ability to remove Kalitas, Avacyn or any Planeswalker with CoDe or FLa was more important to the deck success.
I would love to make room for her in the SB, but I don't think it's right. In the main deck, FLa and Avacyn can deal with it, all your burns should remove it's crew, and Thalia will prevent ETB crew. Post SB, Fragmentize will do the job, as well as Galvanic Bombardment number 2. Both are better and faster options. Opponent can't prevent them from resolving and doing their job. But opponent can do many things to remove Gisela, and that's why she's not reliable at doing that specific job. Again, she's cute if it works, but otherwise bad.
Stay away from cute cards, or cards that do something cute in specific circumstances. These are not the cards you're looking for (Jedi mind trick fully intended this time).
PS : I know my replies are long. So please trim them down when you quote me (like I did to yours when I replied here). Thanks!
I'll do a Strategy Guide for the deck. I'll work it here for sake of simplicity and will copy or move it in the Primer's opening post when I'm done (OP is otherwise quite long and painful to work in).
Strategy Guide
Boros Human Burn seems like a simple deck to pilot, but it is not if you want to bring it to victory. Here are the different strategies I found out over time to be better plays than what is normally intuitive.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar : She's your drop-3 priority in most matchups. She either seriously delays opponent's plans (denying the use of a land or a blocker does that) or forces him to deal with her first (which is all the same). If you have her in hand, and the choice between Selfless Spirit, Smuggler's Copter or Thalia's Lieutenant on turn 2, cast the Spirit. That way you can protect her, and then boost her to an amazing 4/3 First Strike that can attack into the fat creatures of the format.
Thalia's Lieutenant and Hanweir Garrison : If you can, cast Garrison on turn 3, and Lieutenant on turn 4 before attack step. A 3/4 body is safer to attack with, eats up x/3 blockers, and survives most damage-based removals. Garrison's tokens will instantly boost Lieutenant to 3/3, and then to 5/5 as it attacks on turn 5 (bigger than Ishkanah and Avacyn). Use the rest of your mana on turn 4 to cast Selfless Spirit, Smuggler's Copter, burn a blocker with Incendiary Flow or activate Hanweir Battlements to Haste the Lieutenant (in this order, usually).
I took v1.6 to yesterday's standard weekly and it was really disappointing.
I went 0-3 and haven't won a single game...
Round 1
vs. Jeskai Dynavolt control
Game 1 - boardwiped twice with Radiant Flames, then Gearhulk and Tower finished the job
Game 2 - did not manage to kill his Weaver on time (multiple counters) and that escalated quickly...
Round 2
vs. Sultai Zombie Delirium
Game 1 - He recovers two prized amalgams and just when I am about to burn & exile them he casts & flips Voldaren Pariah There was nothing I could have done...
Game 2 - I mulligan to 5 on the play. I try to DecStone his Amalgams, but he murders it in response. GG.
Round 3
vs. Azorius Flash
Game 1 - He always has Selfless Spirits to protect his threats. I managed to bring him to 5 nonetheless, but instead of flipping Avacyn he flips the Abbey and we don't have a response to that main deck.
Game 2 - Mulligan to 5 on the play. Kept hand with a single land and 3 Flows, 2nd land came in turn 3, by that time he has selfless spirits to protect his threats and I have to burn then to protect my life total. His clock was faster...
I don't know what was wrong. Certainly, deck decided to screw me over at least twice, but we are really vulnerable to mass removal and don't have that many responses to late game plans, which is my concern at the moment...
I took v1.6 to yesterday's standard weekly and it was really disappointing.
I went 0-3 and haven't won a single game...
Round 1
vs. Jeskai Dynavolt control
Game 1 - boardwiped twice with Radiant Flames, then Gearhulk and Tower finished the job
Game 2 - did not manage to kill his Weaver on time (multiple counters) and that escalated quickly...
Round 2
vs. Sultai Zombie Delirium
Game 1 - He recovers two prized amalgams and just when I am about to burn & exile them he casts & flips Voldaren Pariah There was nothing I could have done...
Game 2 - I mulligan to 5 on the play. I try to DecStone his Amalgams, but he murders it in response. GG.
Round 3
vs. Azorius Flash
Game 1 - He always has Selfless Spirits to protect his threats. I managed to bring him to 5 nonetheless, but instead of flipping Avacyn he flips the Abbey and we don't have a response to that main deck.
Game 2 - Mulligan to 5 on the play. Kept hand with a single land and 3 Flows, 2nd land came in turn 3, by that time he has selfless spirits to protect his threats and I have to burn then to protect my life total. His clock was faster...
I don't know what was wrong. Certainly, deck decided to screw me over at least twice, but we are really vulnerable to mass removal and don't have that many responses to late game plans, which is my concern at the moment...
Ouch. I feel for you...
Mulligan to 5, on the play, two times in two games : that's very bad, and quite extreme. Don't let that depress you. It has nothing to do with the deck, only with variance. It's the frustrating part of the game, but mulligans and mana screws happen even in finals of GP, PT or WC, with the best players piloting the best decks.
The deck has 5 main deck answers to Radiant Flames : Selfless Spirit and Archangel Avacyn. Also, 3/4 Garrison don't get killed by 3 damage. It can get there with Lieutenant (+1/+1 counter) or Gideon's emblem. Smuggler's Copter is immune to sweepers, as are Planeswalkers and Needle Spires. The deck has more answers and solutions than Control has sweepers, so you should be fine.
When you know your opponent is playing sweepers, you should play differently. Don't be tempted by playing more creatures. Opponent will make you pay for it with sweepers, gaining card advantage in the process. Be happy with one or two creatures (including Tokens), and just put pressure until you draw Spirit or Avacyn, activating Needle Spires whenever you can. Eventually opponent will have to cast Radiant Flames, but your hand will be full and you'll make a come back. Hanweir Battlements will help at that, giving Haste to your creatures.
Weaver of Lightning is hard to deal with. I would attack into it, let it block and take damage. Then try to remove it with Incendiary Flow. If it gets countered, maybe you can cast another Flow, or Collective Defiance, and get rid of it. Don't be mad if it takes 2 cards. Opponent will have spent two cards too.
I can't comment on the matchup with Prized Amalgam, as I never faced it. Sorry.
UW Flash's Selfless Spirit can be dealt with your own Spirit. Attack or block into it, and just trade. That way, you'll use your Burn spells on his Queller or to the dome. If they sac it, fine. Yours will still be alive, and that's even better.
About the Abbey : I just played Boros Tokens and prevented Ormendahl by flashing Avacyn to block with the help of a 1/1 Lieutenant (killing 2 creatures), followed next turn by Collective Defiance. This play removed 3 of the 5 creatures, and opponent couldn't recover from that. Cards are not always that good, but don't be shy trading creatures on blocks, a card for a card, if that can give you time to stabilize.
Maybe next time you'll be more lucky...
Edit : What have you sided in/out in these matchups? Declaration in Stone vs Amalgam was brilliant. Now that you know opponent has that trick with Murder, you can force him next time to use it on your threats, and cast Declaration in Stone when he's tapped out. This matchup is probably a hard one, but it may be just that your opponent really is a good pilot, experienced with this deck, and knows exactly what to play and when. On the other hand, you're just starting with this deck, and don't yet know what to play in which circumstances. You're doing the right thing being honest with these difficulties. Post-mortem can only help you get better with the deck.
My opinion is that the two losses with mulligan 5 on the play don't count. Always assume the responsibility of your defeat, they say. But when the deck truly screws you like that, variance is the culprit, not you. The deck is not badly constructed, the land ratio is just fine for the deck's needs, it has a nice curve of 4-14-11-4-2, with the bonus of escalating some spells to make them better with more mana (increasing the curve and the power output if mana is available).
Maybe you weren't expecting Voldaren Pariah, and seeing a board stall you decided to add more creatures instead of removing theirs (planning to remove them next turn before attacking with a wider board). Now, you know that when this type of deck has 3 creatures and 4 lands and it's your turn, opponent is ready to land drop and pull that trick on you. Removing the potential sacrifices is more important than playing your creatures. If you're low on removals, just attack with creatures that can trade with theirs (or go all in). Either he'll lose creatures on blocks, or enough damage will get through to get within Burning range of victory. Don't worry losing creatures on this attack, he'll make you sacrifice them next turn anyway. Wiping his own board, maybe you can go lethal with Burn spells, Needle Spires, or hasted creatures (and your Copter should still be there).
SB vs Jeskai Dynavolt: +3 Fragmentize, +2 Castigator, +1 Gideon, +1 Flame Lash, -4 Incendiary Flow, -1 Inspector, -1 Lieutenant, -1 Garrison (less multiples, so less vulnerable to Declaration).
SB vs Amalgam (on the play, lower your curve, but keep your aggressivity) : +2 Declaration, -2 Flame Lash.
SB vs Amalgam (on the draw, opponent will be ahead and you need to control more) : +2 Declaration, +2 Blessed Alliance (in case Pariah flips), -2 Flame Lash, -2 Inspector.
(IDK if Amalgam plays Liliana. If they do, SB out Spirit before anything else, and keep Flame Lash to deal with her.)
Yeah I know, it was some serious bad luck. Better now, on standard weekly, than on bigger tournament so I hope I'm using my limits of bad luck now.
I mostly sideboarded as you suggest I just never got to draw key sideboard card, but as I said - it wasn't really my day...
Amalgams / Haunted Dead are really a big problem, because they are just so very fast. In turn two they can have 2 Amalgams, Haunted Dead and a Spirit token on the board, while we have 2 creatures / creature and a Copter, and they are pretty consistent with that. Pariah came turn 3 (madness). I misread it and thought that he has to also pay mana for the flip, but that was unavoidable and burning Amalgam at least prevented some damage... My general problem with zombies is that their clock seems to be much faster than ours, so I don't have time to trick him into murdering my creatures. He just trades and brings them back again...
I still intend to run this deck in Madrid, and still doing some serious testing, I hope next time it will be normal variance
Yeah I know, it was some serious bad luck. Better now, on standard weekly, than on bigger tournament so I hope I'm using my limits of bad luck now.
I mostly sideboarded as you suggest I just never got to draw key sideboard card, but as I said - it wasn't really my day...
Amalgams / Haunted Dead are really a big problem, because they are just so very fast. In turn two they can have 2 Amalgams, Haunted Dead and a Spirit token on the board, while we have 2 creatures / creature and a Copter, and they are pretty consistent with that. Pariah came turn 3 (madness). I misread it and thought that he has to also pay mana for the flip, but that was unavoidable and burning Amalgam at least prevented some damage... My general problem with zombies is that their clock seems to be much faster than ours, so I don't have time to trick him into murdering my creatures. He just trades and brings them back again...
I still intend to run this deck in Madrid, and still doing some serious testing, I hope next time it will be normal variance
If Amalgam is a deck very present in your metagame at your local store (or a problem for you, and you feel other SB cards are less important because they deal with decks you don't normally encounter), you may want to add a few copies of Not Forgotten in your SB. Exiling Haunted Dead or Scrapheap Scrounger from the graveyard will probably delay their strategy long enough for you to put them in lethal range of Burn spells when finally they pull off the combo.
Considering that Haunted Dead can be reanimated at instant speed, and Prized Amalgam come back tapped at the end of your own turn (most probably), Thalia, Heretic Cathar loses a lot of her usefulness. She's good to block then, and maybe delay their non basic lands, but that's all. Hanweir Garrison should become your priority number one for turn 3 (if you don't have to remove something), if only to create tokens that will be sacrificed to Voldaren Pariah. And if you have the choice between Avacyn and 2 or 3 creatures, you should probably opt to go wide. Wider, actually than 3 creatures, if only to make certain that when you'll have to sacrifice 3 of them, you'll have good ones that will remain on the battlefield (and keep Avacyn to Flash block the flipped Pariah).
On another subject, you can play Jedi mind tricks on UW Flash... Cast a creature they'll want to counter with Spell Queller (bait), and make it obvious you don't have enough mana to kill it right away (say, with just one untapped land). If they fall for it, then land drop a basic land and burn it with Flow (or Defiance for 3). If you're a good actor, stage this act like this :
"Untap, upkeep, draw..." Pause with your hand on the top deck. Close your eyes, and make that prayer to the mighty god of chaos and randomness : "Land, land, land, land... oh please?"
Draw. Look at the card, swear, slam you forehead on the play mat, whatever that makes you look desperate.
Look at your cards. Complain about his untapped lands, and how certain you are he has Spell Queller in hand (he'll smile if he does). Complain about how Bombardment never made it in your 75 because it's a bad card in a metagame full of 2/3's, and how you wished Lightning Bolt was Standard right now.
Say a last prayer to that mighty god of chaos and randomness : "YOLO." Cast your key spell like you're hoping they're bluffing.
Rejoice if it resolves. Great show anyway. Maybe keep that land in your hand for another act next turn, or use the next paragraph's excuse to play it this turn.
If it gets countered by Spell Queller, pout and look angry. Then illumination hits you, slap yourself, and play that basic lands. "Damn sticky sleeves, it was hidden behind that card you just countered".
Cast the removal with the extra land, kill the Queller, and get back your card for free. Look sincerly sorry, and say so. More than once. Opponent will beleive you.
If you do that fine, with some improvisation here and there, you can do this multiple times on the same subject, and they'll just think you're weird. They'll be more frustrated losing to such a weirdo, but who cares : you won!
Proven. Really. I bluff like that everytime, and not just in this specific situation (draw, curse about being mana flood, slam a land on the table, angrily pass the turn... and cast an instant speed Avacyn or Flame Lash during their turn).
Considering that Haunted Dead can be reanimated at instant speed, and Prized Amalgam come back tapped at the end of your own turn (most probably), Thalia, Heretic Cathar loses a lot of her usefulness. She's good to block then, and maybe delay their non basic lands, but that's all. Hanweir Garrison should become your priority number one for turn 3 (if you don't have to remove something), if only to create tokens that will be sacrificed to Voldaren Pariah. And if you have the choice between Avacyn and 2 or 3 creatures, you should probably opt to go wide. Wider, actually than 3 creatures, if only to make certain that when you'll have to sacrifice 3 of them, you'll have good ones that will remain on the battlefield (and keep Avacyn to Flash block the flipped Pariah).
Yes, Garrison over Thalia is pretty straightforward. A problem is that, usually, by turn 2-3 they already start their beatdown, so can we really afford to cast Garrison, take damage, attack and take damage again?
Not Forgotten might be useful, but only again Amalgams - others they just bring back in response. And what would you cut from SB? The list is pretty tight, so only thing that comes to my mind is the Castigator, but I like how he performs against control... I guess I'll just stick to what we have now, and accept that this is a difficult matchup, but I don't think it's a big part of metagame right now...
If you're a good actor, stage this act like this : (...)
Hehe, that's a good one for a weekly event
I did some testing against Vehicles, Flash and Delirium and came to the conclusion. I really want the Abbey in my 75. Getting tokens to block is a blast, that can give you 1-2 extra turns to burn them out. Flipping it is an extra response to mass removal, and tokens can help us push some extra damage from Lieutenant. When it's there it really works. I still want to keep 2 Battlements 'cause the haste is extremely relevant so I guess it will replace the Aether Hub. The only downside is you can end up in a difficult mulligan / keep decision, but I think it's worth it nonetheless.
I did some testing against Vehicles, Flash and Delirium and came to the conclusion. I really want the Abbey in my 75. Getting tokens to block is a blast, that can give you 1-2 extra turns to burn them out. Flipping it is an extra response to mass removal, and tokens can help us push some extra damage from Lieutenant. When it's there it really works. I still want to keep 2 Battlements 'cause the haste is extremely relevant so I guess it will replace the Aether Hub. The only downside is you can end up in a difficult mulligan / keep decision, but I think it's worth it nonetheless.
Last game on XMage (not recorded in the results) was against GB Delirium. Game 3, I hade 2 Mountains, Aether Hub, Copter, Thalia, Lieutenant and Collective Defiance. I would not have kept it if Aether Hub would have been replaced by Westvale Abbey. I didn't draw white lands in the first few turns, had to use Energy to cast Thalia, and loot with Copter to finally get one. I really hope for you it will help more than cause problems. BTW, I won 2-1, only losing to Emrakul while on the draw Game 2. Opponent was raging against Thalia the rest of the time.
In another game vs UG Midrange (I saw Sylvan Advocate, Tireless Tracker and Verdurous Gearhulk and Elder Deep Fiend), I had a wonderful time with Thalia and Flame Lash. You see, Gearhulk ETB tapped (no block) and puts all +1/+1 counters on Advocate, only it got burned by Flame Lash while the ability is on the stack, and I attacked with everything next turn. Even casting another Gearhulk didn't help opponent. He couldn't go lethal, Gearhulk #2 ETB tapped (no block) and having a single fat 8/8 didn't help much against a wider board. I couldn't go lethal too (almost), and he blocked Thalia (not Garrison, that tells much how opponent was annoyed by her). I casted another Thalia and another Garrison in postcombat main phase. I won 2-0.
Thalia really is a wonderful addition to the deck, and 3 in the main is not too much. She has a big target on her, and being able to cast another one as soon as she dies really annoys opposition.
BTW, I won 2-1, only losing to Emrakul while on the draw Game 2.
See this is what im worried about. Emrakul wrecked my face two games so i was wondering if we could side in something to deal with his squigly annoying ass right off the bat. or the deck would lose too much traction?
Also i agree with the changed made for the v 1.6 deck. Pia, in my opinion, was very lack luster. trading it out for another thalia is awesome and theres always room for Chandra ;D
as far as the stone quarry, i may trade that out for a westvale abbey. i agree averethel as far as the abbey is concerned and think that flipping the abbey can be very game changing. i will be play this deck this FNM so ill let you know.
BTW, I won 2-1, only losing to Emrakul while on the draw Game 2.
See this is what im worried about. Emrakul wrecked my face two games so i was wondering if we could side in something to deal with his squigly annoying ass right off the bat. or the deck would lose too much traction?
Also i agree with the changed made for the v 1.6 deck. Pia, in my opinion, was very lack luster. trading it out for another thalia is awesome and theres always room for Chandra ;D
as far as the stone quarry, i may trade that out for a westvale abbey. i agree averethel as far as the abbey is concerned and think that flipping the abbey can be very game changing. i will be play this deck this FNM so ill let you know.
Stasis Snare seems the best solution to Big Mama in our colors. Note that Thalia, Heretic Cathar is not too bad against her too. Opponent will still control our turn, but with Big Mama tapped, and probably a near empty battlefield, we may not suffer too much and win anyway.
After reading Emma Handy's article today on Starcity Games, I realise I've probably fed Delirium to my opponent a bit too often. Closely monitoring their graveyard is paramount to victory. Maybe Delirium can be delayed a turn or two, and that can make a big difference (even denying opponent the ability to cast Emrakul).
Some ideas :
Early game, before opponent has Delirium... Keep Thalia or x/3 creatures available to block Grim Flayer instead of killing it with anything but Incendiary Flow (unless there's already the creature type in opponent's graveyard). Opponent will probably not attack, and wait for Delirium, unless he wants to send Grim Flayer in the graveyard. Block it then, as he'll lose a card but not you. During that time, build up your board.
Unless there's already a copy of Liliana in the graveyard, maybe just poke at her to keep her loyalty low, away from Ultimate and -2 abilities. That way, she don't feed the graveyard, opponent can't sac her to add Planeswalker type to Delirium, and you certainly don't help him at that. Do that for just a turn or 2, if it can delay Delirium or Emrakul.
Save Burn Spells for when you're ready for a massive attack, to open up the way for your creatures or to burn the dome and go lethal.
Not sure if this strategy will work, but it seems that we shouldn't help opponent getting Delirium if we can, and it's probably manageable to delay by our own action the casting of Emrakul.
Also, she explained why Gideon's Emblem is probably the best thing to do with our first copy (Avacyn vs Ishkanah/Demon, Thalia vs Grim Flayer/Kalitas/Gearhulk, 1/1 Tokens and Inspector vs 1/2 Spiders, Spirit/Lieutenant vs Liliana, etc.). It makes a lot of sense, and I'll have to test it out. However, it becomes more tempting to put 3rd copy of Gideon in the main deck. But what to remove?
Let's start off with some teaser screenshots from two games against Vehicles - a Tier 1 matchup so far identified as our deck's weakest.
See attachments, I've named and uploaded them in a chronological order so that's it's easier to follow "the story".
Would any of you be interested in discussing the changes I've made to the list that:
- even out the odds versus Vehicles
- pushe the matchup against GB even further in our favor
Effect on UW untested, so I won't make any theoretical claims regarding that MU yet.
Don't tease us like that!
Go ahead and post your deck list here.
I can see that you are playing Stasis Snare and Harnessed Lightning. Maybe instead of some Burn Spells? Instant speed certainly helped remove Copter right from the main deck (I use Fragmentize post SB for that, or Flame Lash, or Thalia to deny crew). Could Burn Spells have dealt with Gideon better?
Myself, I never lost a game to Mardu Vehicle, but I admit they're fast and you really need your removals to deal with them (usually 2-1). They don't have that many themselves, and our deck is unforgiving if left unchecked. That's why you could go so wide, and that may give you a false impression of what the deck can do. My only problem with this is the decks to beat are UW Flash and GB Delirium, and these won't let you go so wide. Queller, Mage, Snare, Grasp, Noxious, Murder... They Control a lot more, and that's why I never felt Hanweir Militia Captain could flip against them, making it no more than a Grizzly Bear. Maybe your testing will prove otherwise... I'm eager to hear your story!
Eric Froelich promoted yesterday a Boros Humans deck on Channel Fireball. It plays 4 Inventor’s Apprentice and 1 Hanweir Militia Captain instead of Selfless Spirit and Archangel Avacyn. Less Thalia and less land to jam in a couple of Pia Nalaar, less removals for more Copters and Gideon, and the removals don't Burn. I like my list better, but this is not a bad list at all.
I'm not on Facebook to comment on that article. But can someone here post a comment under that article to maybe draw attention to this thread? If only we can get more people talking about our deck, some pro out there may find the flaws and make it truly shines! (Maybe the worst flaw is the pilot, however... really, I'm average.)
Thanks for your list. I've reformated it to make it easier to understand at quick glance (click on "quote" to see how I did it). You have strong arguments for all the changes, and maybe your list is better than mine. But don't you think 18 creatures is a bit low for 4 Copters? I know Gideon creates tokens, but the first one is most often used to protect him, and may not be available to crew a Copter. Maybe I'm trying to justify not buying a 4th Copter (I only have 3), but it seems to me the second copy of Copter was always useless (looting it away is one way to fix this, but drawing something else in the first place always seemed to me a better option).
Sorcery speed is a huge drawback to Incendiary Flow. But for 2 it exile the removed creature, or Burn a Planeswalker, or Burn the player. These modes are awesome, and trading these for instant speed but limited to creatures and no exile... meh. Maybe it's just not my style.
About Captain vs Spirit... Could this be the reason why Delirium is favored in the matchup vs Flash? If so, your changes will definetly help in this matchup.
As for Gideon, I have the same problem as Copter (only 3 in my collection). But really, swapping Avacyn out is not a decision I'm happy to make. It seems to me she saved my butt so many times...
Maybe I will swap a Spirit for Gideon in the main deck. I don't know.
Version 1.7 is posted on OP. I traded 1 Selfless Spirit for 1 Always Watching, and moved Chandra back in the SB to add Gideon #3 in the main deck. Notorious writers on Starcity Games, Channel Fireball and TCG Player have written articles this week about how anthems are good against GB Delirium... So I'm going to try this at FNM tonight.
Edit :
Tonight at FNM... Surprisingly, I didn't play once against Flash or Delirium. Many players at my store grind PPTQ during the weekend with Tier 1 decks, put they play weird decks at FNM, just for fun.
Round 1 vs vs Mono-Blue Midrange (really weird ; I won 2-0).
Round 2 vs Jeskai Control (I won game 1 with a Burn ; Game 2, Castigator did its job for a round, but eventually opponent had tight control of the game... He was at 4 life, and I attacked with 1/1 Lieutenant on his Thing In The Ice, he blocked and I burned it for 3 with Incendiary Flow, opponent didn't counter it, so it was a signal for me to go all in with my last card : Flame Lash. I won 2-0!)
Round 3 vs UW "What?" (really unexpected ; I dropped him within Burn range game 1, but he stabilized with Engulf the Shore, bouncing my whole team after I tapped out to add an Hasted creature, bouncing too his 3 Inspectors, 1 Pilgrim and 1 Cloudblazer and soon repeated the process with Torrential Gearhulk... his Caravan killed me in the end ; Having seen so many small creatures, I sided in Galvanic Bombardment and Declaration in Stone for Game 2, and two Goldnight Castigators that I curved perfectly on round 4 *and* 5 to drop him to 3 life, and I was confident their high toughness would protect them from Enfulf the Shore... Until he casted Fumigate and Authority of the Consuls on turn 5 with Caravan, completely wiping my board and rendering useless and defenseless the 3 Gideons in my hand against instant speed 5/6 Gearhulks. I lost 0-2.)
My mistakes in Round 3 :
I shouldn't have tried to add Hasted creatures, but instead attack and let him bounce the little I had, and then play my creatures again in my 2nd main phase. SB mistakes: GalBomb and DecStone were wrong, and I should have kept Incendiary Flow to burn and Spirit for evasion and protection ; Fragmentize, Chandra and Flame Lash would all have been better than Gideon and Lieutenant (Castigator was fine).
Still happy with the deck, and learning new matchups!
But really, swapping Avacyn out is not a decision I'm happy to make. It seems to me she saved my butt so many times...
If the game does go late, don't your creatures grow big enough to not have to care about indestructibility?
What about Fumigate or Kozilek's Return (in marvel decks?). I'd still like indestructibility to protect me from mass removal... How do you plan to play around that?
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Thanks so much. What about when playing against more aggressive decks like r/b aggro and w/r vehicles. Ive noticed in my playtesting that in game 1 sometimes they are just too fast and kill me before i get a board presence. Do you assume a more control/removal heavy Game 2?
Kind of. It's more a matter of respecting their speed. They're fast, so should be your removals and general play. And remember that you won't play against the same deck : they will SB too (and be more Control). Add in 4 Galvanic Bombardment, and remove 2 Flame Lash and maybe an Inspector and Lieutenant.
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.
It is bad vs Liliana, true. But we know it from the start, and we can play around that... either by dealing with Liliana first or by just playing it after our best creature (Garrison) to protect it and let it deal with her next turn.
And we can certainly side it out for game 2 and 3. No cruel choice then.
Oh. But... I mean...
You have good points there. Maybe you are right. I guess the only way to find out is through extensive playtesting. So... Community, we have a mission!
I love Firemantle Mage (you're talking to a pro with Allies here, checkout my old Ally Company deck in my signature). But no. Rally is bad if you cannot repeatedly trigger it. This means more Ally creatures, and less of anything else.
Bad idea. We need her to save our @$$ once in a while.
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.
24 land seems correct given his curve tops out at 5cmc and he has multiple 4cmc cards in his main and side. Plus, if you're worried about excess land Smuggler's Copter is an excellent way to deal with flooding. I personally run 24 in my own standard build (GW humans) but my deck also runs quite a few mana sinks.
Actually we can keep triggering rally through Gideon.
Other trick I learned today - you can plus Gideon, cast Lieutenant and Gideon gets +1/+1 counter. If anyone wasn't aware of that - it can be pretty useful.
Quick report on my testing with the Abbey - it's very situational. You want to transform it only if you need the life and/or big body (I did such surprise transformation once and it saved me the game). Another thing it helps to gain value of the creatures that are going to die anyway to a boardwipe (Radiant Flames, Kozilek's Return, Fumigate, or Declaration in Stone targeting our tokens). It can also trigger Lieutenant for this additional point of damage that can be crucial when we are flooded. Sure I had bunch of awkward hands with not enough coloured sources that were really difficult decisions, but in the end I think it's worth it - it's a good tool, but needs to be used right.
For Bant Human, Reflector Mage and Lambholt is really hard to deal with. Usually I can a burn for mage when he play on Turn 3 and I burn it on 4, but most likely I will only crack a clue or play a Copter after the 2 cmc burn. Sometimes I have to use all 4 cmc to cast Collective Defiance on both Mage/Lambholt and his player life. Even it is not Negated I feel it is a bit slow to catch with him.
For Mardu Vehicles, he simply out-speed me in pre-sideboard. I cannot handle his speed of dropping Toolcraft+Thraben/Copter/Scavenger and Toolcraft hits like a truck.
I know after sideboard I can play around with much more burn spells for both match up to use lower cost to remove his creatures(Galvanic Bombardment), but before that he mentioned a point which I think it is worthwhile to think about: We cannot let game 1 go all the time before sideboarding in some cards. In this case game 3 will be just other way round.
P.S. I am obviously not a good pilot as I am not very good at decision-making on the games, maybe this is also the main reason for the loses. But my friend read the list and feel it is too slow and only good when I am my draws.
I still wanted to play this deck as this is a mixture of 2 of the themes I like most (Human/Burn, r.i.p. Ally). Would you please help and give me some tips and insights of these games before I can play with this deck on Sat this week for the Standard Showdown event?
I played vs Mardu Vehicle today on XMage. It's not an easy matchup, but I never lost to it (winning 2-0 or 2-1).
The matchup is indeed hard game 1 if we're not on the play. If I recall correctly, I did lose game 1 today while on the draw, but won game 2 and 3 with the SB (or I won game 1 and 2, but game 1 was very close... I'm not sure). I managed to turn the tide at one point : after declaring massive blocks, I sacrificed Selfless Spirit (it was blocking a Copter) to protect my team and kill everything he attacked with (save the Copter). Next turn, I burned the crew creature that was left, added Thalia to the board and started to push some damage by attacking (confident that he couldn't crew the Copter with a new creature thanks to Thalia). Another game, it was Avacyn that did the trick (she blocked a Copter while a little 1/1 indestructible Lieutenant blocked a Veteran Motorist). It is only when you'll have stabilized against Aggro (with Burn spells, indestructible blockers thanks to Selfless Spirit or Avacyn, or Thalia), that you can start staging a board for the 2 or 3 serious attacks that will make you win.
In most matchup, Thalia should be your priority. Against Aggro, she prevents crewing Vehicles with new creatures or attacking with Hasted creatures. She's also an excellent blocker with First Strike, so she'll stop their aggressivity on the ground. And once you've stabilized, she'll deny opponent that extra blocker so you can go lethal. It is very tempting to cast Hanweir Garrison first, to compound on its ability to create tokens. But you're not the Beatdown against aggro. Our deck is aggressive, but Rakdos Aggro, Boros Dwarves, Boros Tokens and Mardu Vehicles are far more aggressive than us. Control the board with the 11 removals that you have maindeck (including Chandra as number 11, as she's now in the main deck in v1.6), and don't be shy to cast Collective Defiance for 3 even if that is not optimal (escalate is good, but not losing is better).
If you can, always play Lieutenant after Garrison. You're better starting with Spirit or Copter, or just burning their first creature or the dome with Incendiary Flow. If Lieutenant is casted after Garrison, it will boost it to 3/4, and gets boosted itself to 3/3 in the same round (and 5/5 next turn). A 3/4 Garrison can stand against a 3/1 Motorist, and a 5/5 Lieutenant can trade for a Caravan (a card for a card, plus the creature(s) that got tapped to crew it = fair deal).
Don't be so eager to crack you Clues. I often win games without having to use all or any of my Clues. Advancing the game plan is more important. Only when you're stuck, or when you're mana screw and need that extra land for next turn.
Like I said to someone else, playtesting without SB will not give you a good feeling of any deck. Sometimes, your deck can get A LOT BETTER against a certain matchup, while they don't have anything so special against you. With SB vs Mardu Vehicles, bring in 4 Bombardment and 3 Fragmentize. These removals only cost 1, and so you're DRAMATICALLY reducing your curve (respect their speed). You can remove 2 Gideon, 1 Chandra and 2 Flame Lash (all 4cmc), and 2 Thraben Inspector (these are not the Humans you're looking for... no Jedi mind trick intended). I don't like Planeswalkers in that matchup as they die too easily to Copters and wide boards.
Give it more practice, and don't be lazy just playing game 1 without SB. More than half the games you'll play in any tournament will be with the SB (60% average). Better get used to the SB cards, and what to side out. You need those skills if you want to perform.
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.
You're right about Gideon. He creates Ally tokens. But I doubt we always want to do his token ability. Most of the time, I do this once, and then +1 to Attack with 5/5 indestructible (but Vs GB Delirium, emblem is a priority game 1 to protect your Weenies from Liliana). Firemantle Mage would be useful only in board stalls, but Boros Human Burn already breaks board stalls with Burn spells, either by ignoring the stall and going for the dome directly, or by removing creatures (ad burning the dome at the same time with Collective Defiance).
If Hanweir Militia Captain is proven good for us, Abbey would be a good land, I'm sure. But for the time being, I am super satisfied with Battlements. Giving Haste is really good for us (did that to a Copter today on turn 4, and it fixed my mana for Avacyn next turn... and I don't have enough fingers to count the times when I hasted Garrison. It never was a mistake. I often hold on to a card I could have casted on top of a creature, and dump my mana instead on giving it Haste to push more damage. I'll do the same next turn on the creature card I didn't cast (do the math, it's in our favor). And if anything happens, we'll have more cards in hand to continue the fight (always intimidating if you have more cards than opponent).
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.
Appreciate for the long tips for how to deal with Mardu Vehicles and the general tips for decision-making! It's very informative and definitely make me realize what I played wrong last time. Hands to keep or mulligan is definitely also a point that you have implied and it is very valuable to playing the deck right and win.
Thanks once again Pat, I will continue on with it and hopefully I can buy 4 Flamelash before this Saturday... It is really hard to find in my area
P.S. any thoughts on Gisela main board/ side board? She is MVP towards Copter imo though vulnerable. It's like "if you don't remove her I will win the game" card as Gideon
No problem. I'm happy to help if it can make the deck rise to Tier 1 where it belongs.
Note that there are 3 Flame Lash (FLa) in the 75 in v1.6 of the deck. If your store still has that Chandra Planeswalker deck, this is where you'll find it.
Gisela once was in the main deck in the first version. But the curve was inverted when considering Collective Defiance (CoDe) as a drop-4, and that was wrong. Something had to go, and it was Gisela (what she does is cute, but she dies easily and she never was impressive). Gideon had to stay, and the ability to remove Kalitas, Avacyn or any Planeswalker with CoDe or FLa was more important to the deck success.
I would love to make room for her in the SB, but I don't think it's right. In the main deck, FLa and Avacyn can deal with it, all your burns should remove it's crew, and Thalia will prevent ETB crew. Post SB, Fragmentize will do the job, as well as Galvanic Bombardment number 2. Both are better and faster options. Opponent can't prevent them from resolving and doing their job. But opponent can do many things to remove Gisela, and that's why she's not reliable at doing that specific job. Again, she's cute if it works, but otherwise bad.
Stay away from cute cards, or cards that do something cute in specific circumstances. These are not the cards you're looking for (Jedi mind trick fully intended this time).
PS : I know my replies are long. So please trim them down when you quote me (like I did to yours when I replied here). Thanks!
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.
Strategy Guide
Boros Human Burn seems like a simple deck to pilot, but it is not if you want to bring it to victory. Here are the different strategies I found out over time to be better plays than what is normally intuitive.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar : She's your drop-3 priority in most matchups. She either seriously delays opponent's plans (denying the use of a land or a blocker does that) or forces him to deal with her first (which is all the same). If you have her in hand, and the choice between Selfless Spirit, Smuggler's Copter or Thalia's Lieutenant on turn 2, cast the Spirit. That way you can protect her, and then boost her to an amazing 4/3 First Strike that can attack into the fat creatures of the format.
Thalia's Lieutenant and Hanweir Garrison : If you can, cast Garrison on turn 3, and Lieutenant on turn 4 before attack step. A 3/4 body is safer to attack with, eats up x/3 blockers, and survives most damage-based removals. Garrison's tokens will instantly boost Lieutenant to 3/3, and then to 5/5 as it attacks on turn 5 (bigger than Ishkanah and Avacyn). Use the rest of your mana on turn 4 to cast Selfless Spirit, Smuggler's Copter, burn a blocker with Incendiary Flow or activate Hanweir Battlements to Haste the Lieutenant (in this order, usually).
(Under construction, come back later)
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 went 0-3 and haven't won a single game...
Round 1
vs. Jeskai Dynavolt control
Game 1 - boardwiped twice with Radiant Flames, then Gearhulk and Tower finished the job
Game 2 - did not manage to kill his Weaver on time (multiple counters) and that escalated quickly...
Round 2
vs. Sultai Zombie Delirium
Game 1 - He recovers two prized amalgams and just when I am about to burn & exile them he casts & flips Voldaren Pariah There was nothing I could have done...
Game 2 - I mulligan to 5 on the play. I try to DecStone his Amalgams, but he murders it in response. GG.
Round 3
vs. Azorius Flash
Game 1 - He always has Selfless Spirits to protect his threats. I managed to bring him to 5 nonetheless, but instead of flipping Avacyn he flips the Abbey and we don't have a response to that main deck.
Game 2 - Mulligan to 5 on the play. Kept hand with a single land and 3 Flows, 2nd land came in turn 3, by that time he has selfless spirits to protect his threats and I have to burn then to protect my life total. His clock was faster...
I don't know what was wrong. Certainly, deck decided to screw me over at least twice, but we are really vulnerable to mass removal and don't have that many responses to late game plans, which is my concern at the moment...
Ouch. I feel for you...
Mulligan to 5, on the play, two times in two games : that's very bad, and quite extreme. Don't let that depress you. It has nothing to do with the deck, only with variance. It's the frustrating part of the game, but mulligans and mana screws happen even in finals of GP, PT or WC, with the best players piloting the best decks.
The deck has 5 main deck answers to Radiant Flames : Selfless Spirit and Archangel Avacyn. Also, 3/4 Garrison don't get killed by 3 damage. It can get there with Lieutenant (+1/+1 counter) or Gideon's emblem. Smuggler's Copter is immune to sweepers, as are Planeswalkers and Needle Spires. The deck has more answers and solutions than Control has sweepers, so you should be fine.
When you know your opponent is playing sweepers, you should play differently. Don't be tempted by playing more creatures. Opponent will make you pay for it with sweepers, gaining card advantage in the process. Be happy with one or two creatures (including Tokens), and just put pressure until you draw Spirit or Avacyn, activating Needle Spires whenever you can. Eventually opponent will have to cast Radiant Flames, but your hand will be full and you'll make a come back. Hanweir Battlements will help at that, giving Haste to your creatures.
Weaver of Lightning is hard to deal with. I would attack into it, let it block and take damage. Then try to remove it with Incendiary Flow. If it gets countered, maybe you can cast another Flow, or Collective Defiance, and get rid of it. Don't be mad if it takes 2 cards. Opponent will have spent two cards too.
I can't comment on the matchup with Prized Amalgam, as I never faced it. Sorry.
UW Flash's Selfless Spirit can be dealt with your own Spirit. Attack or block into it, and just trade. That way, you'll use your Burn spells on his Queller or to the dome. If they sac it, fine. Yours will still be alive, and that's even better.
About the Abbey : I just played Boros Tokens and prevented Ormendahl by flashing Avacyn to block with the help of a 1/1 Lieutenant (killing 2 creatures), followed next turn by Collective Defiance. This play removed 3 of the 5 creatures, and opponent couldn't recover from that. Cards are not always that good, but don't be shy trading creatures on blocks, a card for a card, if that can give you time to stabilize.
Maybe next time you'll be more lucky...
Edit : What have you sided in/out in these matchups? Declaration in Stone vs Amalgam was brilliant. Now that you know opponent has that trick with Murder, you can force him next time to use it on your threats, and cast Declaration in Stone when he's tapped out. This matchup is probably a hard one, but it may be just that your opponent really is a good pilot, experienced with this deck, and knows exactly what to play and when. On the other hand, you're just starting with this deck, and don't yet know what to play in which circumstances. You're doing the right thing being honest with these difficulties. Post-mortem can only help you get better with the deck.
My opinion is that the two losses with mulligan 5 on the play don't count. Always assume the responsibility of your defeat, they say. But when the deck truly screws you like that, variance is the culprit, not you. The deck is not badly constructed, the land ratio is just fine for the deck's needs, it has a nice curve of 4-14-11-4-2, with the bonus of escalating some spells to make them better with more mana (increasing the curve and the power output if mana is available).
Maybe you weren't expecting Voldaren Pariah, and seeing a board stall you decided to add more creatures instead of removing theirs (planning to remove them next turn before attacking with a wider board). Now, you know that when this type of deck has 3 creatures and 4 lands and it's your turn, opponent is ready to land drop and pull that trick on you. Removing the potential sacrifices is more important than playing your creatures. If you're low on removals, just attack with creatures that can trade with theirs (or go all in). Either he'll lose creatures on blocks, or enough damage will get through to get within Burning range of victory. Don't worry losing creatures on this attack, he'll make you sacrifice them next turn anyway. Wiping his own board, maybe you can go lethal with Burn spells, Needle Spires, or hasted creatures (and your Copter should still be there).
SB vs Jeskai Dynavolt: +3 Fragmentize, +2 Castigator, +1 Gideon, +1 Flame Lash, -4 Incendiary Flow, -1 Inspector, -1 Lieutenant, -1 Garrison (less multiples, so less vulnerable to Declaration).
SB vs Amalgam (on the play, lower your curve, but keep your aggressivity) : +2 Declaration, -2 Flame Lash.
SB vs Amalgam (on the draw, opponent will be ahead and you need to control more) : +2 Declaration, +2 Blessed Alliance (in case Pariah flips), -2 Flame Lash, -2 Inspector.
(IDK if Amalgam plays Liliana. If they do, SB out Spirit before anything else, and keep Flame Lash to deal with her.)
SB vs UW Flash : Look above in a previous post.
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 mostly sideboarded as you suggest I just never got to draw key sideboard card, but as I said - it wasn't really my day...
Amalgams / Haunted Dead are really a big problem, because they are just so very fast. In turn two they can have 2 Amalgams, Haunted Dead and a Spirit token on the board, while we have 2 creatures / creature and a Copter, and they are pretty consistent with that. Pariah came turn 3 (madness). I misread it and thought that he has to also pay mana for the flip, but that was unavoidable and burning Amalgam at least prevented some damage... My general problem with zombies is that their clock seems to be much faster than ours, so I don't have time to trick him into murdering my creatures. He just trades and brings them back again...
I still intend to run this deck in Madrid, and still doing some serious testing, I hope next time it will be normal variance
If Amalgam is a deck very present in your metagame at your local store (or a problem for you, and you feel other SB cards are less important because they deal with decks you don't normally encounter), you may want to add a few copies of Not Forgotten in your SB. Exiling Haunted Dead or Scrapheap Scrounger from the graveyard will probably delay their strategy long enough for you to put them in lethal range of Burn spells when finally they pull off the combo.
Considering that Haunted Dead can be reanimated at instant speed, and Prized Amalgam come back tapped at the end of your own turn (most probably), Thalia, Heretic Cathar loses a lot of her usefulness. She's good to block then, and maybe delay their non basic lands, but that's all. Hanweir Garrison should become your priority number one for turn 3 (if you don't have to remove something), if only to create tokens that will be sacrificed to Voldaren Pariah. And if you have the choice between Avacyn and 2 or 3 creatures, you should probably opt to go wide. Wider, actually than 3 creatures, if only to make certain that when you'll have to sacrifice 3 of them, you'll have good ones that will remain on the battlefield (and keep Avacyn to Flash block the flipped Pariah).
On another subject, you can play Jedi mind tricks on UW Flash... Cast a creature they'll want to counter with Spell Queller (bait), and make it obvious you don't have enough mana to kill it right away (say, with just one untapped land). If they fall for it, then land drop a basic land and burn it with Flow (or Defiance for 3). If you're a good actor, stage this act like this :
Proven. Really. I bluff like that everytime, and not just in this specific situation (draw, curse about being mana flood, slam a land on the table, angrily pass the turn... and cast an instant speed Avacyn or Flame Lash during their turn).
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.
Yes, Garrison over Thalia is pretty straightforward. A problem is that, usually, by turn 2-3 they already start their beatdown, so can we really afford to cast Garrison, take damage, attack and take damage again?
Not Forgotten might be useful, but only again Amalgams - others they just bring back in response. And what would you cut from SB? The list is pretty tight, so only thing that comes to my mind is the Castigator, but I like how he performs against control... I guess I'll just stick to what we have now, and accept that this is a difficult matchup, but I don't think it's a big part of metagame right now...
Hehe, that's a good one for a weekly event
I did some testing against Vehicles, Flash and Delirium and came to the conclusion. I really want the Abbey in my 75. Getting tokens to block is a blast, that can give you 1-2 extra turns to burn them out. Flipping it is an extra response to mass removal, and tokens can help us push some extra damage from Lieutenant. When it's there it really works. I still want to keep 2 Battlements 'cause the haste is extremely relevant so I guess it will replace the Aether Hub. The only downside is you can end up in a difficult mulligan / keep decision, but I think it's worth it nonetheless.
Last game on XMage (not recorded in the results) was against GB Delirium. Game 3, I hade 2 Mountains, Aether Hub, Copter, Thalia, Lieutenant and Collective Defiance. I would not have kept it if Aether Hub would have been replaced by Westvale Abbey. I didn't draw white lands in the first few turns, had to use Energy to cast Thalia, and loot with Copter to finally get one. I really hope for you it will help more than cause problems. BTW, I won 2-1, only losing to Emrakul while on the draw Game 2. Opponent was raging against Thalia the rest of the time.
In another game vs UG Midrange (I saw Sylvan Advocate, Tireless Tracker and Verdurous Gearhulk and Elder Deep Fiend), I had a wonderful time with Thalia and Flame Lash. You see, Gearhulk ETB tapped (no block) and puts all +1/+1 counters on Advocate, only it got burned by Flame Lash while the ability is on the stack, and I attacked with everything next turn. Even casting another Gearhulk didn't help opponent. He couldn't go lethal, Gearhulk #2 ETB tapped (no block) and having a single fat 8/8 didn't help much against a wider board. I couldn't go lethal too (almost), and he blocked Thalia (not Garrison, that tells much how opponent was annoyed by her). I casted another Thalia and another Garrison in postcombat main phase. I won 2-0.
Thalia really is a wonderful addition to the deck, and 3 in the main is not too much. She has a big target on her, and being able to cast another one as soon as she dies really annoys opposition.
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.
Why?
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.
See this is what im worried about. Emrakul wrecked my face two games so i was wondering if we could side in something to deal with his squigly annoying ass right off the bat. or the deck would lose too much traction?
Also i agree with the changed made for the v 1.6 deck. Pia, in my opinion, was very lack luster. trading it out for another thalia is awesome and theres always room for Chandra ;D
as far as the stone quarry, i may trade that out for a westvale abbey. i agree averethel as far as the abbey is concerned and think that flipping the abbey can be very game changing. i will be play this deck this FNM so ill let you know.
Stasis Snare seems the best solution to Big Mama in our colors. Note that Thalia, Heretic Cathar is not too bad against her too. Opponent will still control our turn, but with Big Mama tapped, and probably a near empty battlefield, we may not suffer too much and win anyway.
After reading Emma Handy's article today on Starcity Games, I realise I've probably fed Delirium to my opponent a bit too often. Closely monitoring their graveyard is paramount to victory. Maybe Delirium can be delayed a turn or two, and that can make a big difference (even denying opponent the ability to cast Emrakul).
Some ideas :
Also, she explained why Gideon's Emblem is probably the best thing to do with our first copy (Avacyn vs Ishkanah/Demon, Thalia vs Grim Flayer/Kalitas/Gearhulk, 1/1 Tokens and Inspector vs 1/2 Spiders, Spirit/Lieutenant vs Liliana, etc.). It makes a lot of sense, and I'll have to test it out. However, it becomes more tempting to put 3rd copy of Gideon in the main deck. But what to remove?
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.
Don't tease us like that!
Go ahead and post your deck list here.
I can see that you are playing Stasis Snare and Harnessed Lightning. Maybe instead of some Burn Spells? Instant speed certainly helped remove Copter right from the main deck (I use Fragmentize post SB for that, or Flame Lash, or Thalia to deny crew). Could Burn Spells have dealt with Gideon better?
Myself, I never lost a game to Mardu Vehicle, but I admit they're fast and you really need your removals to deal with them (usually 2-1). They don't have that many themselves, and our deck is unforgiving if left unchecked. That's why you could go so wide, and that may give you a false impression of what the deck can do. My only problem with this is the decks to beat are UW Flash and GB Delirium, and these won't let you go so wide. Queller, Mage, Snare, Grasp, Noxious, Murder... They Control a lot more, and that's why I never felt Hanweir Militia Captain could flip against them, making it no more than a Grizzly Bear. Maybe your testing will prove otherwise... I'm eager to hear your story!
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 not on Facebook to comment on that article. But can someone here post a comment under that article to maybe draw attention to this thread? If only we can get more people talking about our deck, some pro out there may find the flaws and make it truly shines! (Maybe the worst flaw is the pilot, however... really, I'm average.)
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.
Thanks for your list. I've reformated it to make it easier to understand at quick glance (click on "quote" to see how I did it). You have strong arguments for all the changes, and maybe your list is better than mine. But don't you think 18 creatures is a bit low for 4 Copters? I know Gideon creates tokens, but the first one is most often used to protect him, and may not be available to crew a Copter. Maybe I'm trying to justify not buying a 4th Copter (I only have 3), but it seems to me the second copy of Copter was always useless (looting it away is one way to fix this, but drawing something else in the first place always seemed to me a better option).
Sorcery speed is a huge drawback to Incendiary Flow. But for 2 it exile the removed creature, or Burn a Planeswalker, or Burn the player. These modes are awesome, and trading these for instant speed but limited to creatures and no exile... meh. Maybe it's just not my style.
About Captain vs Spirit... Could this be the reason why Delirium is favored in the matchup vs Flash? If so, your changes will definetly help in this matchup.
As for Gideon, I have the same problem as Copter (only 3 in my collection). But really, swapping Avacyn out is not a decision I'm happy to make. It seems to me she saved my butt so many times...
Maybe I will swap a Spirit for Gideon in the main deck. I don't know.
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.
Edit :
Tonight at FNM... Surprisingly, I didn't play once against Flash or Delirium. Many players at my store grind PPTQ during the weekend with Tier 1 decks, put they play weird decks at FNM, just for fun.
My mistakes in Round 3 :
I shouldn't have tried to add Hasted creatures, but instead attack and let him bounce the little I had, and then play my creatures again in my 2nd main phase. SB mistakes: GalBomb and DecStone were wrong, and I should have kept Incendiary Flow to burn and Spirit for evasion and protection ; Fragmentize, Chandra and Flame Lash would all have been better than Gideon and Lieutenant (Castigator was fine).
Still happy with the deck, and learning new matchups!
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.
What about Fumigate or Kozilek's Return (in marvel decks?). I'd still like indestructibility to protect me from mass removal... How do you plan to play around that?