This is my idea of the SCG winning deck. I added 1 Chandra and 1 Gideon, though I believe two copies of Season's Past would put this deck over the top.
I've been doing fairly well against a field of G/W, Humans, WB Midrange and Coco.
In the past 3 weeks I've played a FNM (3-0-1), Standard tourney (3-0) and a standard GPT (4-1)
My only losses coming from Mono White Humans and Coco. With a few tweaks to the mb and major tweaks to the sb, im fairly confident taking it to major tournaments. Deck is super fun to play and if you can outlast alot of the aggro decks in the beginning, your mid to late game is very strong.
So, does anyone have an idea as to what the 2 missing cards are from Rob Birdsall's deck? It's obviously very good and it would be nice to know if those remaining 2 are a big deal or not.
Thinking about playing this deck at GP NY...the Birdsall deck looks good....can anyone, however, explain the sideboarding to me? I'm surprised there's no clipped wings, honestly.
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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
Thinking about playing this deck at GP NY...the Birdsall deck looks good....can anyone, however, explain the sideboarding to me? I'm surprised there's no clipped wings, honestly.
I advise like the owner of the deck advised, -2 Sin Prodder, -1 Root Out +1 Quarantine Field , +2 Rending Volley
Beat RW midrange 2-0, drew against bant displacer company 1-1, beat a weird temur ramp 2-1, beat BG seasons past 2-0 and lost to BG aristocrats 1-2. Avacyn was a great addition. I do want one kozilek's return and possibly another moonlight or quarantine field in the board, but other than that the deck feels great.
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.
Oh, hey guys. I'm back. I was the OP of the thread that was linked earlier in this thread (here), and figured I'd come and say hello (and most importantly, provide some points of discussion as I've sleeved the deck up for Standard).
For reference, my list is as follows (very similar to what I had posted in the old thread before disappearing for a few weeks while I worked on my Modern deck):
The mainboard is very similar, but the sideboard has undergone a huge overhaul.
The primary idea behind the deck is to land your walkers and wipe the board until you can win off of the recurring value off of them. I've had the deck described as GW Tokens with board wipes - that's more or less what the deck is. With 7 sweepers and 4 Declaration in Stone mainboarded, the deck essentially assures a Game 1 win against creature decks. While these creature decks can side into hate cards games 2 and 3, that doesn't stop them from being, at their core, creature decks that are weak to sweepers. The sideboard has two more sweepers it can bring in to close out postboard games, and Hallowed Moonlight stops Collected Company shenanigans (and an ulting Nahiri, the Harbinger as well). The control matchup is one that is weaker pre-board, but postboard the removal and sweepers turn into a deck that is just lands and must-answer threats for control - just keep jamming until one sticks.
I'm of the opinion that the deck needs to be proactive rather than reactive out of the sideboard. Our gameplan is to jam walkers until they stick - so do so. The opportunity cost of playing more reactive cards (Jaddi Offshoot, Natural State, etc.) versus playing threats is too high in my opinion. Think of the deck as being a tapout control deck - don't be worried about wiping a board full of creatures even if half of them are your tokens - you'll be able to rebuild that board state faster than your opponent.
Ya. He went higher on the curve, which I could see being an issue vs a control deck.
I've been running a similar deck with Deathmist and Den Protectors. I haven't played a whole lot of control, but did add Gaea's Revenge as a fetch target for Nahiri for that.
So far the deck is pretty resilient. I'm 9-0-1 in across three small tournaments. The one thing I will say is that Ramp is a bit of a problem if they get perfect draws. The mana is sometimes very fickle and a World Breaker can really mess it up. I really only made one change to the 60 from the classic list and that is running Archangel Avacyn main as it felt incorrect to not run it. I will say some of the most exciting plays from this are casting a secure end step, untapping and ultimating Nahiri, the Harbinger and finding your bullets. It's really resilient. I'm not sold on Radiant Flames and have actively been looking to remove it, and I sideboard it out most games.
So far the deck is pretty resilient. I'm 9-0-1 in across three small tournaments.
How many of those was Esper or BG control? What was sideboard plan vs control?
Two of those games were against Esper Dragons (that was my one draw) and one against a G/B Cryptolith Rites deck (consequently the only time I was happy to see Radiant Flames). I'll write up a detailed sideboard guide from those games for you, but I need to refer back to my notes.
I decided, that with my meta, to just concede any type of humans or aggro match game one and beat up on other midrange and control strategies. I ended up beating esper dragons, WU humans, 4-color displacer combo, GB season's past and UR eldrazi ramp. The only match that went poorly was humans, where in game one they missed a kill and i was able to flip a den protector getting back three raptors, wiping their board and killing them on the crack back (they forgot about a gryff's boon in the graveyard and i was at 3). Game two they flooded bad and a kozilek's return killed 4 creatures while leaving me with an advocate. The midrange/control matchups went as expected. Looping raptors while getting back walkers is pretty much lights out against them. Overall, I'm extremely happy with the list and won't be changing anything.
As a side note, a friend of mine played a very similar list, eschewing voice of zendikar for avacyn and playing radiant flames in the main. He ended up 4-1, losing to a different UW humans deck, beating esper walkers, UW midrange, sultai control and BW control.
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.
Okay, I went to a IQ today. I ended up in 9th, 3-2. I believe I did poorly as I haven't had much practice with the deck. Near the end I definitely got the hang of it and it's awesome.
Decklist: (Yes, this is pretty much SaffronOlive's list.)
My sideboard is a little weird, but it worked for what I wanted. Display of Dominance is great vs those pesky black planeswalkers (Sorin and Ob Nix).
Match 1: B/W Control 0-2
I hate this match up. Game 1 was a grind fest, where he eventually just took over with card advantage and I had to scoop. The second game was pretty much the same. I brough in Hallowed Moonlight, Display of Dominance, and the other Chandra, Flamecaller for this matchup. I had some misplays, and I think it ultimately costed me the match. I am not used to playing against this deck, and I wasn't used to piloting the deck I was using. Better luck next time!
Match 2: G/W Tokens 1-2
Game 1 I won... I eventually out valued him with all my planeswalkers out. It was back and forth for a while.
Game 2 was very close, but he eventually took advantage of the board with Gideon. I sided in more Radiant Flames for this one.
Game 3 we sort of raced the clock and I made some poor decisions early game that led me to my defeat later during that game.
Match 3: R/U Mill 2-0
He forfeited the match. He had a card from khans in his deck. Though we did play a game, and he won. So.. got lucky there I guess. Not the best kind of feeling for a win, but I'll take it.
Match 4: G/R Ramp 2-1
Game 1: My planeswalkers really made this for me. He just could not keep up with card advantage from Nahiri, Gideon, and eventually Chandra.
Game 2: It was a grind fest, but he started to slam down World Breakers and I was pretty much stuck. Once he stuck an Ulamog, I wasn't able to get anywhere and conceded. I sided in Declaration in Stone and my other Chandra.
Game 3: Opened my hand with Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, and two Sylvan Advocates and a Tireless Tracker as well as the mana to cast them. To put it simply, it was a quick game.
Match 5: G/B Aristrocrats 2-1
Game 1: He got pretty lucky and got 3 Zulaport Cutthroats on the field. With not declaration in stone in sight, he finishes me off quickly.
Game 2: It was pretty tight, and Hallowed Moonlight saved me here. I also brought in the Hangarback Walkers, which won me the game as I had also emblemed a Gideon.
Game 3: Grind fest. He was spewing out lots of creatures, and so was I. Eventually I had all 4 Walkers on the field. I cluttered the board and eventually overwhelmed him by swinging out. I actually +1 Chandra, cast her again and +1 her again to help ensure the win. He Collected Company in response but he whiffed.
I plan to go to another IQ in June. Hopefully I will get more practice and better results.
I played RB dragons, WB control, 4-color rites, UR eldrazi ramp and WB midrange. I never got to cast the command, and it was sided it out against most matches (i left it in round one because he was playing a ton of burn with firecraft and draconic roar). Other than that slot, i was very happy with the configuration of the deck. My meta is pretty diverse, with everything from humans, esper dragons, ramp, WB control, company variants, etc... The sideboard is mainly to deal with the extremes, humans and ramp because i've found the deck's mainboard to very robust in the midrange mirrors and control.
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.
The only thing I have to complain about is the lands. I just seem to be having some consistency issues... but that may just be the variance. Please help me out if you see anything weird.
I wasn't originally on board with Arlinn Kord, but I think a 1 of is right. She synergizes well with Needle Spires, or Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, or any other bigger creatures we have. She also severs as a token generator, and if she lives, can be spot removal. Really helped me during mono white humans match.
How's that playing out? That mana looks painful, and that zoo of 1-of creatures seems awkward. However, the decks I build tend to look equally awkward but are actually tested fairly extensively (at least goldfishing for playability), so .. Yeah.
Anyway, because I can't help myself, I'm going 5c. I'm playing something like this right meow:
It's playing out reasonably well in the MTGO practice room, but I haven't played much against tier-1 decks yet (Coco, B/W). If I were to take this to a super serial tournament, though, I might have to drop the B and maybe the U. Tamiyo is awesome, but the offensive core of the deck is still the synergy between Nissa, Gideon, and Arlinn (Chandra and Nahiri play important support roles, and certainly help out offensively). The U/W walkers do add some sweet utility though. Tamiyo can draw a million cards, Sorin can get out of tight jams, and Sarkhan can keep the gas flowing.
And I refuse to give up on my pet utility spell .. the white Doom Blade ... Immolating Glare. I'm still not convinced that other options are better for what I want it to do (protect myself and my 'friends). It's possible, though, that one of the Glares should be a Stone.
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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!
So .. after jamming some more games in the MTGO tournament practice room, I think I need to tweak. The deck seems pretty solid against the old metagame (tokens and Company), but much less so against the new stuff .. Emerge and Spirits in particular. I think B/W is still very winnable (jam planeswalkers until we win), and not sure about the various Delirium decks. The Deep Fiend guy is pretty backbreaking. I think I need to go back up to a 3/1 split of Nissa Voice and Nissa Seer. Plant tokens do a great job of blocking Eldrazi Octopuses. But I wonder if we need more instant-speed interaction. I think I need to go back down to 4c, too. The cost of swapping a land for Sorin is greater than anticipated. I dunno. This game is hard.
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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!
4 Sylvan Advocate
1 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Planeswalkers (12)
2 Arlinn Kord
3 Chandra, Flamecaller
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
Lands (24)
4 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Plains
3 Canopy Vista
3 Cinder Glade
3 Evolving Wilds
3 Fortified Village
3 Game Trail
2 Needle Spires
2 Secure the Wastes
2 Oath of Chandra
4 Oath of Nissa
4 Declaration in Stone
3 Radiant Flames
2 Sin Prodder
3 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Archangel Avacyn
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
2 Angelic Purge
2 Descend upon the Sinful
1 Root Out
This is my idea of the SCG winning deck. I added 1 Chandra and 1 Gideon, though I believe two copies of Season's Past would put this deck over the top.
4 Deathmist Raptor
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Den Protector
Legendary Creatures - 7
2 Archangel Avacyn
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Linvala, The Preserver
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments - 4
4 Oath of Nissa
1 Quarantine Field
Instants - 2
2 Dromoka's Command
Sorceries - 4
4 Declaration in Stone
Lands – 25
6 Forest
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Needle Spires
4 Canopy Vista
2 Plains
2 Cinder Glade
1 Mountain
1 Fortified Village
1 Game Trail
I've been doing fairly well against a field of G/W, Humans, WB Midrange and Coco.
In the past 3 weeks I've played a FNM (3-0-1), Standard tourney (3-0) and a standard GPT (4-1)
My only losses coming from Mono White Humans and Coco. With a few tweaks to the mb and major tweaks to the sb, im fairly confident taking it to major tournaments. Deck is super fun to play and if you can outlast alot of the aggro decks in the beginning, your mid to late game is very strong.
Standard: R/G Ramp 7-1-1.
Finalist SCG Milwaukee Classic
Modern: R/G Tron 0-0
Payed for with winnings from SCG Milwaukee
You sir are the real MVP
—Radha, Keldon warlord
I advise like the owner of the deck advised, -2 Sin Prodder, -1 Root Out +1 Quarantine Field , +2 Rending Volley
3 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Arlinn Kord
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments
4 Oath of Nissa
Creatures
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Den Protector
4 Deathmist Raptor
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Archangel Avacyn
1 Linvala, the Preserver
4 Declaration in Stone
3 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
2 Gaea's Revenge
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Radiant Flames
4 Rending Volley
2 Sin Prodder
2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
Beat RW midrange 2-0, drew against bant displacer company 1-1, beat a weird temur ramp 2-1, beat BG seasons past 2-0 and lost to BG aristocrats 1-2. Avacyn was a great addition. I do want one kozilek's return and possibly another moonlight or quarantine field in the board, but other than that the deck feels great.
For reference, my list is as follows (very similar to what I had posted in the old thread before disappearing for a few weeks while I worked on my Modern deck):
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Arlinn Kord
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments (8)
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Oath of Gideon
Creatures (4)
4 Elvish Visionary
Sorcery (8)
4 Declaration in Stone
4 Radiant Flames
3 Planar Outburst
4 Canopy Vista
4 Fortified Village
4 Cinder Glade
3 Game Trail
2 Needle Spires
5 Forest
4 Plains
4 Sin Prodder
2 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Greenwarden of Murasa
1 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Planar Outburst
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Needle Spires
The mainboard is very similar, but the sideboard has undergone a huge overhaul.
The primary idea behind the deck is to land your walkers and wipe the board until you can win off of the recurring value off of them. I've had the deck described as GW Tokens with board wipes - that's more or less what the deck is. With 7 sweepers and 4 Declaration in Stone mainboarded, the deck essentially assures a Game 1 win against creature decks. While these creature decks can side into hate cards games 2 and 3, that doesn't stop them from being, at their core, creature decks that are weak to sweepers. The sideboard has two more sweepers it can bring in to close out postboard games, and Hallowed Moonlight stops Collected Company shenanigans (and an ulting Nahiri, the Harbinger as well). The control matchup is one that is weaker pre-board, but postboard the removal and sweepers turn into a deck that is just lands and must-answer threats for control - just keep jamming until one sticks.
I'm of the opinion that the deck needs to be proactive rather than reactive out of the sideboard. Our gameplan is to jam walkers until they stick - so do so. The opportunity cost of playing more reactive cards (Jaddi Offshoot, Natural State, etc.) versus playing threats is too high in my opinion. Think of the deck as being a tapout control deck - don't be worried about wiping a board full of creatures even if half of them are your tokens - you'll be able to rebuild that board state faster than your opponent.
Modern: U Living End
Standard: UW Approach of the Second Sun
Decklists GP Tokyo
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)
I've been running a similar deck with Deathmist and Den Protectors. I haven't played a whole lot of control, but did add Gaea's Revenge as a fetch target for Nahiri for that.
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 Lambholt Pacifist
4 Radiant Flames
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Gaea's Revenge
Seems to me the main draw of going Naya is Nahiri and Radiant Flames.
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)
3 Cinder Glade
3 Game Trail
2 Needle Spires
3 Fortified Village
3 Canopy Vista
3 Evolving Wilds
2 Plains
1 Mountain
4 Forest
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Archangel Avacyn
1 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Linvala, the Preserver
Planeswalkers (10)
2 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Arlinn Kord
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Oath of Chandra
2 Oath of Gideon
3 Oath of Nissa
Spells (8)
3 Declaration in Stone
3 Radiant Flames
2 Secure the Wastes
So far the deck is pretty resilient. I'm 9-0-1 in across three small tournaments. The one thing I will say is that Ramp is a bit of a problem if they get perfect draws. The mana is sometimes very fickle and a World Breaker can really mess it up. I really only made one change to the 60 from the classic list and that is running Archangel Avacyn main as it felt incorrect to not run it. I will say some of the most exciting plays from this are casting a secure end step, untapping and ultimating Nahiri, the Harbinger and finding your bullets. It's really resilient. I'm not sold on Radiant Flames and have actively been looking to remove it, and I sideboard it out most games.
Two of those games were against Esper Dragons (that was my one draw) and one against a G/B Cryptolith Rites deck (consequently the only time I was happy to see Radiant Flames). I'll write up a detailed sideboard guide from those games for you, but I need to refer back to my notes.
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/414861#paper
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Arlinn Kord
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments
4 Oath of Nissa
Creatures
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Den Protector
4 Deathmist Raptor
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Sin Prodder
4 Declaration in Stone
Land
3 Canopy Vista
3 Fortified Village
2 Cinder Glade
2 Game Trail
4 Needle Spires
3 Battlefield Forge
6 Forest
2 Plains
2 Clip Wings
2 Gaea's Revenge
3 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Kozilek's Return
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Radiant Flames
2 Rending Volley
I decided, that with my meta, to just concede any type of humans or aggro match game one and beat up on other midrange and control strategies. I ended up beating esper dragons, WU humans, 4-color displacer combo, GB season's past and UR eldrazi ramp. The only match that went poorly was humans, where in game one they missed a kill and i was able to flip a den protector getting back three raptors, wiping their board and killing them on the crack back (they forgot about a gryff's boon in the graveyard and i was at 3). Game two they flooded bad and a kozilek's return killed 4 creatures while leaving me with an advocate. The midrange/control matchups went as expected. Looping raptors while getting back walkers is pretty much lights out against them. Overall, I'm extremely happy with the list and won't be changing anything.
As a side note, a friend of mine played a very similar list, eschewing voice of zendikar for avacyn and playing radiant flames in the main. He ended up 4-1, losing to a different UW humans deck, beating esper walkers, UW midrange, sultai control and BW control.
Decklist: (Yes, this is pretty much SaffronOlive's list.)
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Tireless Tracker
2 Archangel Avacyn
Planeswalkers
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Spells
2 Radiant Flames
3 Declaration in Stone
2 Angelic Purge
Enchantments
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Oath of Chandra
1 Quarantine Field
1 Game Trail
1 Canopy Vista
1 Mountain
3 Plains
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Forest
4 Fortified Village
4 Needle Spires
3 Cinder Glade
2 Tears of Valakut
1 Pulse of Marusa
1 Display of Dominance
2 Radiant Flames
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Declaration in Stone
2 Hallowed Moonlight
4 Hangarback Walker
My sideboard is a little weird, but it worked for what I wanted. Display of Dominance is great vs those pesky black planeswalkers (Sorin and Ob Nix).
Match 1: B/W Control 0-2
I hate this match up. Game 1 was a grind fest, where he eventually just took over with card advantage and I had to scoop. The second game was pretty much the same. I brough in Hallowed Moonlight, Display of Dominance, and the other Chandra, Flamecaller for this matchup. I had some misplays, and I think it ultimately costed me the match. I am not used to playing against this deck, and I wasn't used to piloting the deck I was using. Better luck next time!
Match 2: G/W Tokens 1-2
Game 1 I won... I eventually out valued him with all my planeswalkers out. It was back and forth for a while.
Game 2 was very close, but he eventually took advantage of the board with Gideon. I sided in more Radiant Flames for this one.
Game 3 we sort of raced the clock and I made some poor decisions early game that led me to my defeat later during that game.
Match 3: R/U Mill 2-0
He forfeited the match. He had a card from khans in his deck. Though we did play a game, and he won. So.. got lucky there I guess. Not the best kind of feeling for a win, but I'll take it.
Match 4: G/R Ramp 2-1
Game 1: My planeswalkers really made this for me. He just could not keep up with card advantage from Nahiri, Gideon, and eventually Chandra.
Game 2: It was a grind fest, but he started to slam down World Breakers and I was pretty much stuck. Once he stuck an Ulamog, I wasn't able to get anywhere and conceded. I sided in Declaration in Stone and my other Chandra.
Game 3: Opened my hand with Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, and two Sylvan Advocates and a Tireless Tracker as well as the mana to cast them. To put it simply, it was a quick game.
Match 5: G/B Aristrocrats 2-1
Game 1: He got pretty lucky and got 3 Zulaport Cutthroats on the field. With not declaration in stone in sight, he finishes me off quickly.
Game 2: It was pretty tight, and Hallowed Moonlight saved me here. I also brought in the Hangarback Walkers, which won me the game as I had also emblemed a Gideon.
Game 3: Grind fest. He was spewing out lots of creatures, and so was I. Eventually I had all 4 Walkers on the field. I cluttered the board and eventually overwhelmed him by swinging out. I actually +1 Chandra, cast her again and +1 her again to help ensure the win. He Collected Company in response but he whiffed.
I plan to go to another IQ in June. Hopefully I will get more practice and better results.
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Den Protector
4 Deathmist Raptor
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
Planeswalkers
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Arlinn Kord
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
Spells
4 Declaration in Stone
2 Secure the Wastes
1 Dromoka's Command
4 Oath of Nissa
Lands
2 Game Trail
3 Canopy Vista
2 Plains
6 Forest
3 Fortified Village
4 Needle Spires
2 Cinder Glade
3 Battlefield Forge
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
2 Hallowed Moonlight
2 Malevolent Whispers
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
4 Radiant Flames
2 Rending Volley
1 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
I played RB dragons, WB control, 4-color rites, UR eldrazi ramp and WB midrange. I never got to cast the command, and it was sided it out against most matches (i left it in round one because he was playing a ton of burn with firecraft and draconic roar). Other than that slot, i was very happy with the configuration of the deck. My meta is pretty diverse, with everything from humans, esper dragons, ramp, WB control, company variants, etc... The sideboard is mainly to deal with the extremes, humans and ramp because i've found the deck's mainboard to very robust in the midrange mirrors and control.
Here is my decklist:
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Archangel Avacyn
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Linvala, the Preserver
1 Dragonlord Atarka
Planeswalkers
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Arlinn Kord
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Spells
1 Oath of Chandra
1 Stasis Snare
2 Radiant Flames
3 Declaration in Stone
3 Oath of Nissa
1 Secure the Wastes
4 Forest
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Cinder Glade
4 Fortified Village
4 Needle Spires
3 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Canopy Vista
1 Game Trail
1 Westvale Abbey
2 Descend upon the Sinful
2 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Display of Dominance
2 Radiant Flames
2 Hangarback Walkers
2 Stasis Snare
2 Gaea's Revenge
The only thing I have to complain about is the lands. I just seem to be having some consistency issues... but that may just be the variance. Please help me out if you see anything weird.
I wasn't originally on board with Arlinn Kord, but I think a 1 of is right. She synergizes well with Needle Spires, or Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, or any other bigger creatures we have. She also severs as a token generator, and if she lives, can be spot removal. Really helped me during mono white humans match.
4x Needle Spires
3x Canopy Vista
3x Forest
3x Fortified Village
3x Plains
2x Cinder Glade
1x Battlefield Forge
1x Game Trail
1x Mountain
3x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3x Nahiri, the Harbinger
2x Chandra, Flamecaller
2x Archangel Avacyn
2x Gisela, the Broken Blade
2x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1x Bruna, the Fading Light
1x Dragonlord Atarka
1x Dragonlord Dromoka
4x Oath of Nissa
3x Dromoka's Command
2x Declaration in Stone
2x Radiant Flames
1x Planar Outburst
2x Den Protector
2x Hallowed Moonlight
2x Lambholt Pacifist
2x Noose Constrictor
1x Declaration in Stone
1x Clip Wings
1x Dromoka's Command
1x Gaea's Revenge
1x Linvala, the Preserver
1x Radiant Flames
1x Tragic Arrogance
Anyway, because I can't help myself, I'm going 5c. I'm playing something like this right meow:
4x Evolving Wilds
4x Forest
3x Fortified Village
2x Game Trail
1x Island
2x Mountain
2x Needle Spires
3x Plains
1x Swamp
1x Yavimaya Coast
1x Dragonlord Atarka
4x Sylvan Advocate
2x Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2x Arlinn Kord
2x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Tamiyo, Field Researcher
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
1x Sarkhan Unbroken
2x Chandra, Flamecaller
1x Sorin, Grim Nemesis
2x Oath of Gideon
4x Oath of Nissa
1x Descend Upon the Sinful
3x Radiant Flames
3x Immolating Glare
1x Arlinn Kord
1x Call the Gatewatch
1x Deploy the Gatewatch
3x Hallowed Moonlight
1x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1x Linvala, the Preserver
1x Nahiri, the Harbinger
1x Oath of Jace
1x Radiant Flames
1x Sarkhan Unbroken
1x Tireless Tracker
1x Tragic Arrogance
1x Descend Upon the Sinful
It's playing out reasonably well in the MTGO practice room, but I haven't played much against tier-1 decks yet (Coco, B/W). If I were to take this to a super serial tournament, though, I might have to drop the B and maybe the U. Tamiyo is awesome, but the offensive core of the deck is still the synergy between Nissa, Gideon, and Arlinn (Chandra and Nahiri play important support roles, and certainly help out offensively). The U/W walkers do add some sweet utility though. Tamiyo can draw a million cards, Sorin can get out of tight jams, and Sarkhan can keep the gas flowing.
And I refuse to give up on my pet utility spell .. the white Doom Blade ... Immolating Glare. I'm still not convinced that other options are better for what I want it to do (protect myself and my 'friends). It's possible, though, that one of the Glares should be a Stone.
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!
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!