Nissa Voice can be hit or miss. But there's no denying that if she sticks, she can run away with the game VERY quickly. That's why I have my deck built the way I do, with lots of removal. Keep the board nice and clean for my 'Friends to spam random tokens into oblivion.
I haven't tried Avacyn yet, though I probably should. Card is really good. I'm worried about her flipping out a little too easily though and wiping my board in an untimely fashion.
So I played in my store's Win-a-Box last night and went 3-1 with my build. I settled on this:
Round 1: vs. G/W Humans. I managed to win a super grindy game 1 after recovering from several misplays. I don't remember specifics, but he had a really slow start .. no action until Gideon on turn 4 .. and I think I got greedy and walked into several tricks (including some on-board, like Gideon's emblem >_<). Game two he got kinda flooded or something, and Bonds of Mortality kept Avacynian shenanigans at bay.
Round 2: vs. Bant Company. Okay, let's see how we do in primetime. Turns out, not too shabby! I lost the match, but I made him work for it. Misplays were further between, but I'm sure they were still present. I don't remember how the games played out, but I'm pretty sure I just ran out of gas in game 3, and Coco did what Coco do.
Round 3: vs. Bant Displacer. Nice guy playing a nice homebrew. Lots of ETB effects, and displacer effects (including Eldrazi Displacer, and another random Eldrazi or two). Game one all I saw was Dragonlord Ojutai, Always Watching, and a couple of Declaration in Stone. I sided thinking it might have been Dargons or Coco, or some weird amalgam of the two? Games two and three we each had more normal draws, and the games quickly turned into grindy attrition wars, which I'm more than capable of winning. Arlinn did a LOT of work for me in this match. She probably Bolt'd like a half a dozen random dorks throughout the match. Card's good (when she doesn't immediately die).
Round 4: vs. Bant Company. 4 matches, 3 Bant (and one blue-less Bant). Standard, amirite. Anyway, game one was an epic attrition war, in which he resolved a half a dozen Collected Companies, and I resolved a half a dozen board wipes (including several Atarka triggers). Ultimately, he didn't have a permanent answer for Atarka or my planeswalkers and I got there. Game two, he got stuck on two lands and I curved into a string of unanswered planeswalkers and a handshake.
Bullet points:
* I don't like playing against Avacyn. Just about everything I'm trying to do, she wrecks. I'm trying to come up with ways to combat it, which is how I ended up with Bonds of Mortality. One of my local grinders suggested Clip Wings. Which is great, except it doesn't really stop the thing actually kills me, which is getting my board wipes countered. I'm thinking I should make room for Dragonlord Dromoka, which seems like another good counter. I think Clip Wings is a worthwhile card to play anyway, because Ojutai can be a problem (Dargonz is still a thing, right?).
* Immolating Glare is so good, and I'm very happy with the playset. Most opponents don't even know the card exists and walk right into it. Then, if they start playing around it, great! That means I don't have creatures attacking me. Unfortuantely, this will probably start leading to Avacynian situations. Which is why I think I need Dromoka.
* I like the random one-of creatures. I get a little nervous running them out game one vs. Company (Reflector Mage is such a blowout), but if they can stick around, they do a lot of work. Hangarback + Nissa is srs bzns.
* Planar Outburst is one of the best ketchup cards right now. Nothing quite like playing an attrition war for 10 turns, then they resolve a Coco or two, followed by Avacyn, and I counter with an awakened Outburst.
* Nahiri put in a lot of work too. She's often a two-for-one, and even if she's "just" an Utter End plus Fog, that's fine. Ultimating her happens pretty regularly, and it's pretty easy to coast to victory off the back of an Atarka.
So yeah, I think the deck is good. It's obviously tuned to be able to beat Company (and other W/x decks), but I think the Planeswalkers strategy lends itself well to just about any other kind of matchup. I'm curious to see how I do against Ramp and Tutelage and other oddities though. I honestly have no idea. We'll see!
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Level 2 Judge
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
Played this build last night...got beat by Mono Red Eldrazi and G/W Clues (played tireless tracker and bygone bishop)...deck feels good but it's so slow in the early rounds, if an opponent gets board state early they'll just use removal to wipe our planeswalkers...I'm thinking having one or two planar outburst mainboard...i'm also am NOT a fan of oath of chandra...removal with a life drain on a stick is nice, but I think immobilizing glare is much better instant speed, especially with reality smasher around...also, how are people feeling about arlinn kord? She's an ok planeswalker, but her +1/+1 and trample ability seemed like the best ability, especially if we get a few hangarback walkers to convert, but overall I had a very hard time keeping her alive.
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"I hope to have such a death—lying in triumph upon the broken bodies of those who slew me."
—Radha, Keldon warlord
Her +1 is clearly her best ability but in a more creature heavy build she is awesome. I run more creatures in my build. 4 Sylvan's 4 Tireless Trackers 2 Nissa, Vastwood, 2 Mina and Denn
Not to mention, even though its cute, her interaction with Gideon is lovely!
I feel like we have two options at this point either we run a combination of 3-4 Radiants + 1-2 actually boardwipes or we run a more creature based strategy.. CoCo destroys us mainboard, but post I feel like we have Moonlight which is enough hate.
I play a little ramp into my walkers, which I really like. It helps thin the deck as well as get to our best cards which really is Chandra,Atarka and Avacyn.
Played at my local FNM yesterday (time difference due to JP time), went 2-1 but a friend piloting the same 75 went 3-0 (about 18 participants, I think).
My 1 loss was to Bant Company, so yes, I guess that is a very tough matchup.
I actually put extra mass removal such as Descend upon the Sinful and Planar Outburst but I just couldn't keep up.
The key to this deck in my mind is board stagnation, not control - try to swamp out and slow down the opponent until you get an edge.
It doesn't really "lock" the board or completely overrun things, but slow control gradually wins you the game.
In that sense, I think the ramp to quicker board presence and removal is the key - what do you think?
I think Nissa's Renewal played a key role with the life-gain and ramp yesterday.
Ran kinda poop soup at FNM last night, but did pretty well at States. I made a couple of very small tweaks. Mostly, I put in Dragonlord Dromoka instead of the 4th Immolating Glare, and I swapped out a handful of sideboard cards to make room for a 3rd Nahiri and 2 Clip Wings. Here's a rundown of States today:
Rd. 1: vs. W/U Humans. I feel pretty good about this matchup, but a couple of very timely Negates and Reflector Mages tempo'd me out of the games.
Rd. 2: vs. G/R Ramp. He drew poop soup, and I ran him over with Gideon.
Rd. 3: vs. Bant Coco. Boogeyman struck down in very convincing fashion. I had a ton of removal for his ton of threats, and eventually my planeswalkers spammed the board into oblivion.
Rd. 4: vs. B/G Aristocrats. Won game one on the back of multiple sweepers. Game two I had pretty much ground into topdeck mode, with me sitting on a Nahiri and a couple of Dragonlords in hand (but not really able to cast for whatever reason). I thought about -8'ing Nahiri, but with my two Dragonlords in hand, I didn't think I really had a compelling target. It occured to me that I could have gotten Nissa Vastwood and ended up with a planeswalker. Or even a Sylvan Advocate as a random 4/5. I don't remember how I lost, but that was the key sequence that did me in.
At this point, I'm dead for top 8, but I'm playing for fun and XP.
Rd. 5: vs. Mono-W Humans. Cakewalk. Between Oath of Chandra, Immolating Glare, Radiant Flames, and Arlinn Kord, he never really had much of a board for very long. In game two, I Achievement Unlocked by blocking his Kytheon and activating Bonds of Mortality before damage. He took it in stride, though, and had a hearty lol at his mistake.
Rd. 6: vs. G/R Ramp. Game one he drew poop soup and I ran him over with Gideon. Game two I drew poop soup and he ran me over with Chandra. Game three we both drew reasonably well, and he walked his World Breaker directly into an Immolating Glare. A few turns later, I had Gideon + Arlinn lethal threatened, and then he World Break'd my second white source. I topdecked Oath of Nissa into a Plains, and Planar Outburst'd my way to victory.
Thoughts ...
* Arlinn is good. She's not awesome, but if you can keep her alive for a turn, you can easily come out ahead. As a 4-mana Lightning Bolt + Fog, she's not awesome, but sometimes that's enough to set up something sweet, like a follow-up Nahiri. Sometimes she could threaten a ton of damage on the Moon side via an assortment of tokens. Gideon doesn't mind the buff either.
* Nahiri is good. Sometimes she's a double Utter End. Sometimes she filters draws and ticks up to Atarka. Or Nissa. :/
* Gideon is still good. Sometimes he's "just a speedbump", but again, if he sticks, he can end the game VERY quickly. He's less awesome against garbage like Ormendahl, but what can you do.
* Declaration in Stone is a good card. I don't think it's awesome on defense, but as a way to close out the game, it's fantastic. Also, Ormendahl is a thing. I might go up to 3. Or at least put a 3rd in the board for "big dum idiots" matchups. Or Aristocrats.
* There's rumblings out there about Mardu being a thing. I love Sorin and Obbert, but I love Oath of Nissa. Mardu as a color combination feels miserable right now. But I dunno, maybe it'd work. Card draw is pretty sweet, and black's removal is probably better than Immolating Glare, but ... I dunno. Oath of Nissa is the card that makes hands actually playable or not. Got a bunch of walkers and need a land? Nissa's got you covered. Flooding out and need some gas? Nissa will keep watch for you.
* Mana is definitely clunky, but not unreasonable. The key change I'm thinking about is adding a 25th land, and/or swapping out Westvale Abbey for something that taps for colors. Maybe another Needle Spires? A 2/1 doubple-striker isn't that exciting, but it can get buffed with Nissa, Arlinn, and/or Gideon.
* I shave Oath of Gideon a lot when sideboarding. Like, almost every matchup. It seems like neither the bodies nor the extra loyalty counter are ever relevant. I dunno. Something to think about.
* A cost to playing this deck to consider: logistics of handling all the tokens and dice. I keep the actual tokens for most of my cards, and it's very unwieldly. Plants, Woofs, Kor Allies, Knight Allies, Elementals, Thopters, Emblems, Human Clerics ... Not too mention all the DFCs (I use checklist cards). Annoying. But the deck is sweet, so it's worth it.
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Level 2 Judge
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
I ended up 4-1, with wins against UR goggles, UW spirits, WB Displacer Midrange and Grixis Control. I lost to GW humans. I went to game 3 in every match I won. The humans match-up felt pretty bad since they can invalidate my ground creatures pretty effectively. However, and not unexpectedly, the midrange/control matchups were in my favor. I think with some retooling of the main and sideboard, the deck can deal with humans. Overall, Arlinn was excellent and so was Nahiri and surprisingly so was needle spires. Got to clock the grixis control player for 19 in one turn thanks to a "active" advocate, arlinn pump on a needle spires and nissa tick down to pump the team. I think the mana base still needs some adjusting, but overall I've been really liking the deck.
EDH is like French fries: some people like waffle cut, crinkle cut, or plain old straight cut, and while there's slight flavor difference and personal preference, at the end of the day they're still fries.
I made some tentative changes to my previous list to test based on where the meta looks like it is going and from previous results. Here is my current list, what do you think?
Ran kinda poop soup at FNM last night, but did pretty well at States. I made a couple of very small tweaks. Mostly, I put in Dragonlord Dromoka instead of the 4th Immolating Glare, and I swapped out a handful of sideboard cards to make room for a 3rd Nahiri and 2 Clip Wings. Here's a rundown of States today:
Rd. 1: vs. W/U Humans. I feel pretty good about this matchup, but a couple of very timely Negates and Reflector Mages tempo'd me out of the games.
Rd. 2: vs. G/R Ramp. He drew poop soup, and I ran him over with Gideon.
Rd. 3: vs. Bant Coco. Boogeyman struck down in very convincing fashion. I had a ton of removal for his ton of threats, and eventually my planeswalkers spammed the board into oblivion.
Rd. 4: vs. B/G Aristocrats. Won game one on the back of multiple sweepers. Game two I had pretty much ground into topdeck mode, with me sitting on a Nahiri and a couple of Dragonlords in hand (but not really able to cast for whatever reason). I thought about -8'ing Nahiri, but with my two Dragonlords in hand, I didn't think I really had a compelling target. It occured to me that I could have gotten Nissa Vastwood and ended up with a planeswalker. Or even a Sylvan Advocate as a random 4/5. I don't remember how I lost, but that was the key sequence that did me in.
At this point, I'm dead for top 8, but I'm playing for fun and XP.
Rd. 5: vs. Mono-W Humans. Cakewalk. Between Oath of Chandra, Immolating Glare, Radiant Flames, and Arlinn Kord, he never really had much of a board for very long. In game two, I Achievement Unlocked by blocking his Kytheon and activating Bonds of Mortality before damage. He took it in stride, though, and had a hearty lol at his mistake.
Rd. 6: vs. G/R Ramp. Game one he drew poop soup and I ran him over with Gideon. Game two I drew poop soup and he ran me over with Chandra. Game three we both drew reasonably well, and he walked his World Breaker directly into an Immolating Glare. A few turns later, I had Gideon + Arlinn lethal threatened, and then he World Break'd my second white source. I topdecked Oath of Nissa into a Plains, and Planar Outburst'd my way to victory.
Thoughts ...
* Arlinn is good. She's not awesome, but if you can keep her alive for a turn, you can easily come out ahead. As a 4-mana Lightning Bolt + Fog, she's not awesome, but sometimes that's enough to set up something sweet, like a follow-up Nahiri. Sometimes she could threaten a ton of damage on the Moon side via an assortment of tokens. Gideon doesn't mind the buff either.
* Nahiri is good. Sometimes she's a double Utter End. Sometimes she filters draws and ticks up to Atarka. Or Nissa. :/
* Gideon is still good. Sometimes he's "just a speedbump", but again, if he sticks, he can end the game VERY quickly. He's less awesome against garbage like Ormendahl, but what can you do.
* Declaration in Stone is a good card. I don't think it's awesome on defense, but as a way to close out the game, it's fantastic. Also, Ormendahl is a thing. I might go up to 3. Or at least put a 3rd in the board for "big dum idiots" matchups. Or Aristocrats.
* There's rumblings out there about Mardu being a thing. I love Sorin and Obbert, but I love Oath of Nissa. Mardu as a color combination feels miserable right now. But I dunno, maybe it'd work. Card draw is pretty sweet, and black's removal is probably better than Immolating Glare, but ... I dunno. Oath of Nissa is the card that makes hands actually playable or not. Got a bunch of walkers and need a land? Nissa's got you covered. Flooding out and need some gas? Nissa will keep watch for you.
* Mana is definitely clunky, but not unreasonable. The key change I'm thinking about is adding a 25th land, and/or swapping out Westvale Abbey for something that taps for colors. Maybe another Needle Spires? A 2/1 doubple-striker isn't that exciting, but it can get buffed with Nissa, Arlinn, and/or Gideon.
* I shave Oath of Gideon a lot when sideboarding. Like, almost every matchup. It seems like neither the bodies nor the extra loyalty counter are ever relevant. I dunno. Something to think about.
* A cost to playing this deck to consider: logistics of handling all the tokens and dice. I keep the actual tokens for most of my cards, and it's very unwieldly. Plants, Woofs, Kor Allies, Knight Allies, Elementals, Thopters, Emblems, Human Clerics ... Not too mention all the DFCs (I use checklist cards). Annoying. But the deck is sweet, so it's worth it.
That's awesome results man. You mind posting an actual deck list of the deck you ran at states?
* So regarding a couple of your statements. I totally agree that Declaration Stone should be at 3-4 for this deck. It's literally the best piece of removal in our colors.
* I also believe that our numbers are far as planeswalkers go is 2 of each, besides Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, whom I tried countless times to make work.
* I also believe Oath of Gideon is not worth it anymore. Just not competitive enough, and always gets sided out. I rather have either more creatures or more removal in it's place.
* What the deck needs overall is more consistency. Hence why I think I have added a lot more card advantage through Nissa, Vastwood, and Tireless Tracker. I might even add in Den Protectors now too.
I ended up 4-1, with wins against UR goggles, UW spirits, WB Displacer Midrange and Grixis Control. I lost to GW humans. I went to game 3 in every match I won. The humans match-up felt pretty bad since they can invalidate my ground creatures pretty effectively. However, and not unexpectedly, the midrange/control matchups were in my favor. I think with some retooling of the main and sideboard, the deck can deal with humans. Overall, Arlinn was excellent and so was Nahiri and surprisingly so was needle spires. Got to clock the grixis control player for 19 in one turn thanks to a "active" advocate, arlinn pump on a needle spires and nissa tick down to pump the team. I think the mana base still needs some adjusting, but overall I've been really liking the deck.
Hey I really like your deck is, Its simple but it gets the job done. I am still working on the mana base as well, but the package you have it nice. I might switch out the Deathmist for Tireless Trackers, but other then that its nice. May I ask why 3 Arlinn's opposed to say 3 Nahiri's or 3 Gideon's?
I ended up 4-1, with wins against UR goggles, UW spirits, WB Displacer Midrange and Grixis Control. I lost to GW humans. I went to game 3 in every match I won. The humans match-up felt pretty bad since they can invalidate my ground creatures pretty effectively. However, and not unexpectedly, the midrange/control matchups were in my favor. I think with some retooling of the main and sideboard, the deck can deal with humans. Overall, Arlinn was excellent and so was Nahiri and surprisingly so was needle spires. Got to clock the grixis control player for 19 in one turn thanks to a "active" advocate, arlinn pump on a needle spires and nissa tick down to pump the team. I think the mana base still needs some adjusting, but overall I've been really liking the deck.
Hey I really like your deck is, Its simple but it gets the job done. I am still working on the mana base as well, but the package you have it nice. I might switch out the Deathmist for Tireless Trackers, but other then that its nice. May I ask why 3 Arlinn's opposed to say 3 Nahiri's or 3 Gideon's?
I like deathmist because I can aggressively attack or block with it (assuming they don't have avacyn mana up) and i know it will kill whatever it blocks/blocks it. The deck doesn't really ever feel like it is hurting for cards, since all the walkers are basically built in card advantage. As for the Arlinns, she has been stellar. And honestly, it is for the front face +1. Be able to play offense and defense is exactly where this deck wants to be and the haste has been relevant. I could see 3 nahiris at some point because she has been performing really well (I started with one, but i kept finding myself wanting more). Gideon has been either very good, or very bad. Against any midrange/control strategy, he shines. Against aggro, he is usually a 4 mana 2/2, which is obviously pretty poor.
EDH is like French fries: some people like waffle cut, crinkle cut, or plain old straight cut, and while there's slight flavor difference and personal preference, at the end of the day they're still fries.
My updated list, if anyone wants to test it out. So far so good. It just out card advantages the new G/B Control deck, it struggles game 1 against WW and CoCo but its not impossible to win.
While a small possibility to make the cut, I have been using a Naya color Super friends build on Magic Duel Origins and Greenwarden of Murasa has some interesting implications as a Nahiri Target, He can fetch back a card that you discarded from Nahiri's -2, You can toss a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Down, use his -4, and bring him back to your hand, and the return to your hand effect turns his eternal witness into an additional trigger.
My updated list, if anyone wants to test it out. So far so good. It just out card advantages the new G/B Control deck, it struggles game 1 against WW and CoCo but its not impossible to win.
Looks very solid - like the Seasons Past, such a fun card...
While a small possibility to make the cut, I have been using a Naya color Super friends build on Magic Duel Origins and Greenwarden of Murasa has some interesting implications as a Nahiri Target, He can fetch back a card that you discarded from Nahiri's -2, You can toss a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar Down, use his -4, and bring him back to your hand, and the return to your hand effect turns his eternal witness into an additional trigger.
I like this, this is the type of card of advantage we need. I might try it out in the sideboard. 2 of Greenwarden against grindy decks.
My updated list, if anyone wants to test it out. So far so good. It just out card advantages the new G/B Control deck, it struggles game 1 against WW and CoCo but its not impossible to win.
Looks very solid - like the Seasons Past, such a fun card...
Will definitely try this out.
its a very versatile card, and once resolving usually means gg.
We had a 4 round tournament today at my LGS I ended up played against a Mardu Allies deck first, then back to back R/B vampires, finishing with G/R Landfall/investigate. I really liked Nahiri, the Harbinger. Whenever I got to play her she really put on a show and helped me win against the second Vampire deck. She came down -2ed killed something, got killed on the crack back, got put back into my hand with a Den Protector and my opponent had a 7/7 and I was at 15 life and he didnt want to let his creature die and that let me get enough extra turns to just barely kill him. If you want me to talk more about the deck or the games let me know.
I didn't get to play the exact matchups I was preparing for, Humans and Gx Tokens. Those are what the Radiant Flames in the side are for. In testing it performed well post side. I think we have enough card advantage tools and trumps like Outcast to have a good game vs Bant, which was another one I was expecting to see. I think the Bant decks in the room got unintentional draws. Humans and Gx Tokens decks seem to get killed off by the BW decks.
I beat Jund 2-0, Mono-white humans 2-0 and drew against bant company 1-1-1. Then played the same humans deck in top 4 2-1 and lost to RW midrange 0-2. I didn't have 4 rending volleys, hence the two impulses (will be 4 volleys once i get them). I also want to swap an arlinn for a nahiri (going up to 3 nahiri). The one thing i want is some card draw, so i'm going to get some tireless tracker for the board.
EDH is like French fries: some people like waffle cut, crinkle cut, or plain old straight cut, and while there's slight flavor difference and personal preference, at the end of the day they're still fries.
I tried to do WG tokens for game day but I wasn't just a huge fan personally. So I put this together after and I'm having a blast. Also, it looks it might have some legs. It looks like it was in the top 8 at GP Toronto.
I haven't tried Avacyn yet, though I probably should. Card is really good. I'm worried about her flipping out a little too easily though and wiping my board in an untimely fashion.
So I played in my store's Win-a-Box last night and went 3-1 with my build. I settled on this:
2 Cinder Glade
4 Forest
3 Fortified Village
2 Game Trail
2 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Westvale Abbey
1 Needle Spires
3 Evolving Wilds
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2 Arlinn Kord
1 Planar Outburst
3 Radiant Flames
3 Oath of Chandra
2 Oath of Gideon
4 Oath of Nissa
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Sylvan Advocate
1 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Hangarback Walker
4 Immolating Glare
1 Quarantine Field
1 Planar Outburst
3 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Den Protector
1 Profound Journey
2 Bonds of Mortality
1 Radiant Flames
1 Arlinn Kord
2 Hidden Dragonslayer
1 Call the Gatewatch
1 Dromoka's Command
Round 1: vs. G/W Humans. I managed to win a super grindy game 1 after recovering from several misplays. I don't remember specifics, but he had a really slow start .. no action until Gideon on turn 4 .. and I think I got greedy and walked into several tricks (including some on-board, like Gideon's emblem >_<). Game two he got kinda flooded or something, and Bonds of Mortality kept Avacynian shenanigans at bay.
Round 2: vs. Bant Company. Okay, let's see how we do in primetime. Turns out, not too shabby! I lost the match, but I made him work for it. Misplays were further between, but I'm sure they were still present. I don't remember how the games played out, but I'm pretty sure I just ran out of gas in game 3, and Coco did what Coco do.
Round 3: vs. Bant Displacer. Nice guy playing a nice homebrew. Lots of ETB effects, and displacer effects (including Eldrazi Displacer, and another random Eldrazi or two). Game one all I saw was Dragonlord Ojutai, Always Watching, and a couple of Declaration in Stone. I sided thinking it might have been Dargons or Coco, or some weird amalgam of the two? Games two and three we each had more normal draws, and the games quickly turned into grindy attrition wars, which I'm more than capable of winning. Arlinn did a LOT of work for me in this match. She probably Bolt'd like a half a dozen random dorks throughout the match. Card's good (when she doesn't immediately die).
Round 4: vs. Bant Company. 4 matches, 3 Bant (and one blue-less Bant). Standard, amirite. Anyway, game one was an epic attrition war, in which he resolved a half a dozen Collected Companies, and I resolved a half a dozen board wipes (including several Atarka triggers). Ultimately, he didn't have a permanent answer for Atarka or my planeswalkers and I got there. Game two, he got stuck on two lands and I curved into a string of unanswered planeswalkers and a handshake.
Bullet points:
* I don't like playing against Avacyn. Just about everything I'm trying to do, she wrecks. I'm trying to come up with ways to combat it, which is how I ended up with Bonds of Mortality. One of my local grinders suggested Clip Wings. Which is great, except it doesn't really stop the thing actually kills me, which is getting my board wipes countered. I'm thinking I should make room for Dragonlord Dromoka, which seems like another good counter. I think Clip Wings is a worthwhile card to play anyway, because Ojutai can be a problem (Dargonz is still a thing, right?).
* Immolating Glare is so good, and I'm very happy with the playset. Most opponents don't even know the card exists and walk right into it. Then, if they start playing around it, great! That means I don't have creatures attacking me. Unfortuantely, this will probably start leading to Avacynian situations. Which is why I think I need Dromoka.
* I like the random one-of creatures. I get a little nervous running them out game one vs. Company (Reflector Mage is such a blowout), but if they can stick around, they do a lot of work. Hangarback + Nissa is srs bzns.
* Planar Outburst is one of the best ketchup cards right now. Nothing quite like playing an attrition war for 10 turns, then they resolve a Coco or two, followed by Avacyn, and I counter with an awakened Outburst.
* Nahiri put in a lot of work too. She's often a two-for-one, and even if she's "just" an Utter End plus Fog, that's fine. Ultimating her happens pretty regularly, and it's pretty easy to coast to victory off the back of an Atarka.
So yeah, I think the deck is good. It's obviously tuned to be able to beat Company (and other W/x decks), but I think the Planeswalkers strategy lends itself well to just about any other kind of matchup. I'm curious to see how I do against Ramp and Tutelage and other oddities though. I honestly have no idea. We'll see!
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Den Protector
4 Sylvan Advocate
Enchantments
1 Silkwrap
Instants
2 Dromoka's Command
Legendary Creatures
3 Archangel Avacyn
1 Dragonlord Atarka
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Legendary Enchantments
4 Oath of Nissa
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Sorceries
4 Declaration in Stone
Basic Lands
7 Forest
Lands
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Canopy Vista
1 Cinder Glade
4 Fortified Village
3 Game Trail
4 Needle Spires
2 Hidden Dragonslayer
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Stasis Snare
1 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Rending Volley
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
3 Radiant Flames
Only issue is the sideboarding plan. I don't know what to take out against certain deck archetypes (monowhite/uw/w/x humans, bant coco, ur, etc...)
Can anybody chime in and help out?
—Radha, Keldon warlord
Not to mention, even though its cute, her interaction with Gideon is lovely!
I feel like we have two options at this point either we run a combination of 3-4 Radiants + 1-2 actually boardwipes or we run a more creature based strategy.. CoCo destroys us mainboard, but post I feel like we have Moonlight which is enough hate.
I play a little ramp into my walkers, which I really like. It helps thin the deck as well as get to our best cards which really is Chandra,Atarka and Avacyn.
Played at my local FNM yesterday (time difference due to JP time), went 2-1 but a friend piloting the same 75 went 3-0 (about 18 participants, I think).
My 1 loss was to Bant Company, so yes, I guess that is a very tough matchup.
I actually put extra mass removal such as Descend upon the Sinful and Planar Outburst but I just couldn't keep up.
The key to this deck in my mind is board stagnation, not control - try to swamp out and slow down the opponent until you get an edge.
It doesn't really "lock" the board or completely overrun things, but slow control gradually wins you the game.
In that sense, I think the ramp to quicker board presence and removal is the key - what do you think?
I think Nissa's Renewal played a key role with the life-gain and ramp yesterday.
Rd. 1: vs. W/U Humans. I feel pretty good about this matchup, but a couple of very timely Negates and Reflector Mages tempo'd me out of the games.
Rd. 2: vs. G/R Ramp. He drew poop soup, and I ran him over with Gideon.
Rd. 3: vs. Bant Coco. Boogeyman struck down in very convincing fashion. I had a ton of removal for his ton of threats, and eventually my planeswalkers spammed the board into oblivion.
Rd. 4: vs. B/G Aristocrats. Won game one on the back of multiple sweepers. Game two I had pretty much ground into topdeck mode, with me sitting on a Nahiri and a couple of Dragonlords in hand (but not really able to cast for whatever reason). I thought about -8'ing Nahiri, but with my two Dragonlords in hand, I didn't think I really had a compelling target. It occured to me that I could have gotten Nissa Vastwood and ended up with a planeswalker. Or even a Sylvan Advocate as a random 4/5. I don't remember how I lost, but that was the key sequence that did me in.
At this point, I'm dead for top 8, but I'm playing for fun and XP.
Rd. 5: vs. Mono-W Humans. Cakewalk. Between Oath of Chandra, Immolating Glare, Radiant Flames, and Arlinn Kord, he never really had much of a board for very long. In game two, I Achievement Unlocked by blocking his Kytheon and activating Bonds of Mortality before damage. He took it in stride, though, and had a hearty lol at his mistake.
Rd. 6: vs. G/R Ramp. Game one he drew poop soup and I ran him over with Gideon. Game two I drew poop soup and he ran me over with Chandra. Game three we both drew reasonably well, and he walked his World Breaker directly into an Immolating Glare. A few turns later, I had Gideon + Arlinn lethal threatened, and then he World Break'd my second white source. I topdecked Oath of Nissa into a Plains, and Planar Outburst'd my way to victory.
Thoughts ...
* Arlinn is good. She's not awesome, but if you can keep her alive for a turn, you can easily come out ahead. As a 4-mana Lightning Bolt + Fog, she's not awesome, but sometimes that's enough to set up something sweet, like a follow-up Nahiri. Sometimes she could threaten a ton of damage on the Moon side via an assortment of tokens. Gideon doesn't mind the buff either.
* Nahiri is good. Sometimes she's a double Utter End. Sometimes she filters draws and ticks up to Atarka. Or Nissa. :/
* Gideon is still good. Sometimes he's "just a speedbump", but again, if he sticks, he can end the game VERY quickly. He's less awesome against garbage like Ormendahl, but what can you do.
* Declaration in Stone is a good card. I don't think it's awesome on defense, but as a way to close out the game, it's fantastic. Also, Ormendahl is a thing. I might go up to 3. Or at least put a 3rd in the board for "big dum idiots" matchups. Or Aristocrats.
* There's rumblings out there about Mardu being a thing. I love Sorin and Obbert, but I love Oath of Nissa. Mardu as a color combination feels miserable right now. But I dunno, maybe it'd work. Card draw is pretty sweet, and black's removal is probably better than Immolating Glare, but ... I dunno. Oath of Nissa is the card that makes hands actually playable or not. Got a bunch of walkers and need a land? Nissa's got you covered. Flooding out and need some gas? Nissa will keep watch for you.
* Mana is definitely clunky, but not unreasonable. The key change I'm thinking about is adding a 25th land, and/or swapping out Westvale Abbey for something that taps for colors. Maybe another Needle Spires? A 2/1 doubple-striker isn't that exciting, but it can get buffed with Nissa, Arlinn, and/or Gideon.
* I shave Oath of Gideon a lot when sideboarding. Like, almost every matchup. It seems like neither the bodies nor the extra loyalty counter are ever relevant. I dunno. Something to think about.
* A cost to playing this deck to consider: logistics of handling all the tokens and dice. I keep the actual tokens for most of my cards, and it's very unwieldly. Plants, Woofs, Kor Allies, Knight Allies, Elementals, Thopters, Emblems, Human Clerics ... Not too mention all the DFCs (I use checklist cards). Annoying. But the deck is sweet, so it's worth it.
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Arlinn Kord
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments
4 Oath of Nissa
Creatures
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Den Protector
4 Deathmist Raptor
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Dragonlord Atarka
4 Declaration in Stone
2 Radiant Flames
1 Planar Outburst
Land
2 Canopy Vista
3 Fortified Village
3 Cinder Glade
2 Game Trail
3 Needle Spires
3 Battlefield Forge
7 Forest
2 Plains
3 Clip Wings
2 Dromoka's Command
2 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1 Planar Outburst
1 Radiant Flames
3 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
I ended up 4-1, with wins against UR goggles, UW spirits, WB Displacer Midrange and Grixis Control. I lost to GW humans. I went to game 3 in every match I won. The humans match-up felt pretty bad since they can invalidate my ground creatures pretty effectively. However, and not unexpectedly, the midrange/control matchups were in my favor. I think with some retooling of the main and sideboard, the deck can deal with humans. Overall, Arlinn was excellent and so was Nahiri and surprisingly so was needle spires. Got to clock the grixis control player for 19 in one turn thanks to a "active" advocate, arlinn pump on a needle spires and nissa tick down to pump the team. I think the mana base still needs some adjusting, but overall I've been really liking the deck.
4x Evolving Wilds
4x Needle Spires
3x Game Trail
2x Canopy Vista
2x Cinder Glade
2x Mountain
1x Fortified Village
1x Plains
2x Arlinn Kord
2x Chandra, Flamecaller
2x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
4x Tireless Tracker
2x Archangel Avacyn
2x Den Protector
1x Dragonlord Atarka
1x Linvala, the Preserver
1x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
3x Oath of Nissa
1x Quarantine Field
2x Declaration in Stone
2x Dromoka's Command
2x Radiant Flames
2x Traverse the Ulvenwald
1x Planar Outburst
2x Clip Wings
2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
2x Hallowed Moonlight
2x Naturalize
1x Declaration in Stone
1x Dragonlord Dromoka
1x Kozilek's Return
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
1x Pulse of Murasa
1x Radiant Flames
1x Sigarda, Heron's Grace
That's awesome results man. You mind posting an actual deck list of the deck you ran at states?
* So regarding a couple of your statements. I totally agree that Declaration Stone should be at 3-4 for this deck. It's literally the best piece of removal in our colors.
* I also believe that our numbers are far as planeswalkers go is 2 of each, besides Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, whom I tried countless times to make work.
* I also believe Oath of Gideon is not worth it anymore. Just not competitive enough, and always gets sided out. I rather have either more creatures or more removal in it's place.
* What the deck needs overall is more consistency. Hence why I think I have added a lot more card advantage through Nissa, Vastwood, and Tireless Tracker. I might even add in Den Protectors now too.
Hey I really like your deck is, Its simple but it gets the job done. I am still working on the mana base as well, but the package you have it nice. I might switch out the Deathmist for Tireless Trackers, but other then that its nice. May I ask why 3 Arlinn's opposed to say 3 Nahiri's or 3 Gideon's?
I like deathmist because I can aggressively attack or block with it (assuming they don't have avacyn mana up) and i know it will kill whatever it blocks/blocks it. The deck doesn't really ever feel like it is hurting for cards, since all the walkers are basically built in card advantage. As for the Arlinns, she has been stellar. And honestly, it is for the front face +1. Be able to play offense and defense is exactly where this deck wants to be and the haste has been relevant. I could see 3 nahiris at some point because she has been performing really well (I started with one, but i kept finding myself wanting more). Gideon has been either very good, or very bad. Against any midrange/control strategy, he shines. Against aggro, he is usually a 4 mana 2/2, which is obviously pretty poor.
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Arlinn Kord
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments (5)
3 Oath of Nissa
2 Quarantine Field
Creatures (14)
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Tireless Tracker
3 Sylvan Advocate
2 Nissa,Vastwood Seer
1 Dragonlord Atarka
2 Den Protector
3 Declaration in Stone
2 Nissa's Renewal
2 Seasons Past
Land (26)
4 Canopy Vista
4 Fortified Village
4 Cinder Glade
3 Game Trail
2 Needle Spires
5 Forest
4 Plains
4 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
2 Angelic Purge
2 Clip Wings
2 Display of Dominance
3 Radiant Flames
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Linvala, The Preserver
2 Hallowed Moonlight
My updated list, if anyone wants to test it out. So far so good. It just out card advantages the new G/B Control deck, it struggles game 1 against WW and CoCo but its not impossible to win.
Dragons of Legend, Lead by Scion of the UR-Dragon
The Gitrog Monster
Gonti, Lord of Luxury
Shogun Saskia
Hive World
Atraxa hates fun
Abzan
Looks very solid - like the Seasons Past, such a fun card...
Will definitely try this out.
I like this, this is the type of card of advantage we need. I might try it out in the sideboard. 2 of Greenwarden against grindy decks.
its a very versatile card, and once resolving usually means gg.
Standard
UR Control
Modern
Merfolk
Burn
Avacyn did nothing wrong!
Purify Innistrad!
#Purge
Here is my list
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Thunderbreak Regent
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Sylvan Advocate
2 Tajuru Stalwart
3 Den Protector
4 Deathmist Raptor
3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
Planeswalker
1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Spells
1 Pulse of Murasa
2 Oath of Nissa
1 Exquisite Firecraft
1 Radiant Flames
1 Declaration in Stone
2 Dromoka's Command
2 Immolating Glare
2 Draconic Roar
2 Roast
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Canopy Vista
1 Fortified Village
2 Cinder Glade
1 Game Trail
1 Battlefield Forge
1 Stone Quarry
1 Needle Spires
1 Westvale Abbey
3 Plains
3 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Arlinn Kord
1 Radiant Flames
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Fiery impulse
1 Rending Volley
2 Clip Wings
2 Natural State
1 Den Protector
1 Seasons Past
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Stasis Snare
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Angelic Purge
We had a 4 round tournament today at my LGS I ended up played against a Mardu Allies deck first, then back to back R/B vampires, finishing with G/R Landfall/investigate. I really liked Nahiri, the Harbinger. Whenever I got to play her she really put on a show and helped me win against the second Vampire deck. She came down -2ed killed something, got killed on the crack back, got put back into my hand with a Den Protector and my opponent had a 7/7 and I was at 15 life and he didnt want to let his creature die and that let me get enough extra turns to just barely kill him. If you want me to talk more about the deck or the games let me know.
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Hidden Dragonslayer
3 Den Protector
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
3 Tireless Tracker
4 Deathmist Raptor
2 Archangel Avacyn
1 Dragonlord Atarka
Spells (10)
3 Dromoka's Command
4 Declaration in Stone
1 Pulse of Murasa
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Fortified Village
1 Game Trail
1 Mountain
3 Cinder Glade
3 Plains
4 Canopy Vista
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Forest
4 Needle Spires
2 Rending Volley
1 Den Protector
1 Dromoka's Command
1 Hidden Dragonslayer
2 Clip Wings
2 Lantern Scout
4 Radiant Flames
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Gaea's Revenge
2-0 RB Control
2-0 WU Eldrazi
2-1 RB Vampires
2-0 BR Eldrazi Aggro (finals)
I didn't get to play the exact matchups I was preparing for, Humans and Gx Tokens. Those are what the Radiant Flames in the side are for. In testing it performed well post side. I think we have enough card advantage tools and trumps like Outcast to have a good game vs Bant, which was another one I was expecting to see. I think the Bant decks in the room got unintentional draws. Humans and Gx Tokens decks seem to get killed off by the BW decks.
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)
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Arlinn Kord
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments
4 Oath of Nissa
Creatures
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Den Protector
4 Deathmist Raptor
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Linvala, the Preserver
4 Declaration in Stone
2 Radiant Flames
Land
2 Canopy Vista
3 Fortified Village
3 Cinder Glade
2 Game Trail
4 Needle Spires
3 Battlefield Forge
6 Forest
2 Plains
1 Mountain
2 Fiery Impulse
1 Gaea's Revenge
2 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Kozilek's Return
2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
1 Planar Outburst
2 Radiant Flames
2 Rending Volley
2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
I beat Jund 2-0, Mono-white humans 2-0 and drew against bant company 1-1-1. Then played the same humans deck in top 4 2-1 and lost to RW midrange 0-2. I didn't have 4 rending volleys, hence the two impulses (will be 4 volleys once i get them). I also want to swap an arlinn for a nahiri (going up to 3 nahiri). The one thing i want is some card draw, so i'm going to get some tireless tracker for the board.