As they are archiving the old primers, here's one for the new standard. I believe this deck to be very well positioned in the new standard as it only loses Wooded Foothills, Rattleclaw Mystic, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Ugin had already been shaved by most and Rattleclaw wasn't even played in the version I preferred although many disagreed with that.
New cards we get from SOI.
Traverse the Ulvenwald This relies entirely on how consistently delerium can be enabled. It won't replace Oath of Nissa, but will work well to support it if we can find a way to make delirium work consistently.
Deathcap Cultivator This can be an upgrade if we can get delerium enabled. It will always be a mana dork, but if it can trade with a threat when we don't need the mana any more, that would be huge.
Ulvenwald Hydra I've heard people say they think he will be good, but I don't think he does enough. Grabbing 1 land from your deck at 6 mana and no evasion, he doesn't help to stabilize the board like all of our other top end cards do and we need that.
Arlinn Kord This Planeswalker does a lot of things, secretly having more abilities than Jace, The Mindsculptor although using each when you want to may take some planning. She makes 2/2s, lightning bolts, and can give creature haste and vigilance or trample. This will likely be a solid addition to the deck.
Westvale Abbey A new utility land that can provide a stream of blockers and ultimately a very powerful win condition that warrants consideration.
Staples from the previous standard.
Oath of Nissa This is the card that helps tie the deck together, getting land drops early, helping find threats for late, and helping cast the planeswalkers.
Sylvan Advocate He is a very solid attacker and blocker getting much better in the late game. I wouldn't play him if you're not playing dorks though.
Ramp
Hedron Crawler This is the 2nd mana dork of choice due to the fact that if it's in the graveyard, it contributes 2 types towards delirium, we don't normally need extra green, and none of the ones we have right now produce red.
Ruin in their Wake Love it or hate it, this is one of the considerations and the one that I prefer myself. It requires 5-6 Wastes, 4 Evolving Wilds, and 4+ Oath of Nissa/Traverse the Ulvenwald to be at it's best. It's critics think those land slots can be put to better use, but I contend that Rampant Growth is more than worth it, especially now that we need more red fixing.
Nissa's Pilgrimage This is a good filler for the spot between 2 and 4 on the curve. It's main selling point is the ability to get 3 lands, but it's restriction to only forests and it's spot on the curve are both strikes against it. It's best in our weaker hands and doesn't help our best hands.
Explosive Vegetation Putting 2 Basics into play is big game for us and is the 2nd essential part of turn 4 6/7 drop.
Hedron Archive This is the other 4 mana ramp 2 we have and although it doesn't help produce red, it's ability to tap out for our ramp spell and hold up 2 colorless for Warping Wail, Spatial Contortion, or Kozilek's Return with a red land is a big draw. The fact that it turns into card advantage late is also fantastic.
Removal
Warping Wail A card some have been sideboarding and I've been advocating for the main deck alongside Ruin in their Wake. It kills many 2 drops, helps ramp from 2 to 4, counters a lot of spells currently being played, and can make a surprise chump blocker. It adds a lot of play to the deck and is rarely dead.
Kozilek's Return Much more than an instant speed Pyroclasm, this can often help a World Breaker clear the board. It's devastating vs token and rush strategies, and even kills Jace vs control. The fact that the exile mode is uncounterable and all of our big threats survive it is very good.
Spatial Contortion This is the removal spell of choice against aggressive creatures and kills most of the 2-3 drops likely to be played at instant speed.
Rending Volley IS very well positioned right now. Not only is it a great answer against Ojutai, but a 1 mana kill anything in the white humans deck is fantastic. It also takes down Archangel Avacyn which is very important.
Threats
Thought-Knot Seer Some like this in the main deck while I prefer to sideboard it. It's a solid threat attached to a thoughsieze effect that has become a modern staple.
Chandra, Flamecaller A very versatile planeswalker who does everything we want. Clear a board, finish a game quickly, and refill our hand. She will likely be a 4 of going forward.
Dragonlord Atarka A powerful creature than can come in, take out a big creature/planeswalker or multiple smaller ones and present a huge evasive threat. Giving this haste & vigilance with Arlinn seems insane.
World Breaker This guy is the new engine of the deck. He's a huge recursive reach blocker that mana screws your opponent, triggers Kozilek's Return and Sanctum of Ugin, and is resilient to a lot of the removal that will be played.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger 10 mana is a lot more than 6 or 7 and the days of him as a 4 of are likely over while we have such good threats lower on the curve. 1 is the number I prefer as you can tutor him with Sanctum of Ugin when you want him most of the time. If we end up needing more answers to things we don't match up well against, a 2nd with some Conduit of Ruin to help find and cast him is likely the best option.
Lands
Game Trail vs Cinder Glade The new lands are good for aggro decks, but drawing these as your next land drop is abysmal in ramp and they should probably be avoided in favor of Glade.
Evolving Wilds Even though the land will always be tapped, this is essential to Ruin in Their Wake and it works better alongside Cinder Glade than Game Trail does.
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods With the loss of Ugin and shaving Ulamog to 1 is truely correct, this looses most of it's value as it doesn't help cast any of our other cards on time except corner cases where you might not have even drawn it.
Sanctum of Ugin Even though it's namesake is gone, this card will continue to help provide inevitability.
Blighted Woodland It's a nice utility land that ramps you 1, but costs you 5 mana to do so.
Thanks for getting the ball rolling on this deck's post-rotation incarnation. I agree with most of your analysis, except 4-of Chandra. I hate playing 4x Legendary permanents in general, unless you absolutely want to drop one Turn 2 (e.g. Flip Jace). Since you don't want Chandra until turn 4 at the earliest AND this deck runs 4x Oath of Nissa to help find her, I think 3x is the right number.
I am currently playing 3 of her along with Ugin, and already have considered going up to 4 before rotation. I have seen some people play 4 and say the like it. The thing with her is that there are times where she's just a 6 mana Languish or will wipe the board and die to a manland. There are times where I know she won't be able to clean things up so I 0 her instead to find something that will knowing that she will die. If your problem is not being able to cast the 2nd Chandra because there's already one in play, that's because you're winning. The way her - ability works also makes her work fine in multiples to kill bigger creatures. Also remember that the first incarnation of the deck ran a consensus 4 Ugin. It is possible that 3 is the right number, but I'll be starting out with 4 myself and trim if I need to.
Gerry Thompson wrote an article a few days ago with his take on RG Ramp. It's interesting to note he only has 23 lands relying on Oath of Nissa and Traverse the Ulvenwald for early land drops and Nissa's Pilgrimage to help hit later land drops letting him run more ramp spells.
I'm glad to see others mentioning Westvale Abbey. I feel like it's a great card to include in this archetype, especially with the lifelink. The only problem I think is that early board wipes will make it hard to get enough creatures for sacrifice.
I think there's some incredibly powerful cards that are being overlooked.
Duskwatch Recruiter - Just the instant speed recurring Oath of Nissa effect is good enough to warrant main deck slots for this guy. The flip that makes him into both a 3/3 attacker that singlehandedly turns on any Formidable guy you may have on the board and also makes all your other creatures cheaper to cast is just gravy.
Aim High - An incredibly versatile instant. Allows you to attack into your opponent with everything you have even when you're low on life and they happen to have a bigger threat on the board. If they block with the threat, you pump your guy to kill their blocker while allowing your guy to survive and even giving them vigilance so that they will be around to block next turn. If they don't fall for the trap, when they swing in next turn thinking you're tapped out, Aim High untaps your biggest tapped blocker, pumps him and even gives him reach to make sure their biggest attacker dies, even if they fly.
Thought-Knot Seer - A thoughtseize on a 4/4 body that can come down as early as turn 3 thanks to Krallenhorde Howler. One of the best ways to take out the Planar Outburst your opponent was counting on.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Allowing all your massive guys to attack the same turn that you cast them is game breaking. A smart opponent will do whatever they can to take this guy out ASAP. The 5/4 body is just gravy. Along those same lines Stampeding Elk Herd might be worth it as well. Giving all your massive guys trample nixing your opponents chump blockers is often enough to secure you the win the turn after this guy hits the board.
Reality Smasher - AlexStollScientist already mentioned this guy but it bears repeating. He's fantastic.
Can you explain why these cards don't warrant mention in the primer?
Hi guys, i don't have a list to present yet, but i ahve already gathered some experience with some new builds and would like to share my views.
Vessel of Nascency - this card is definitly a possibility in my opponion. It digs deeper than oath, gets any permanent and enables delirium for traverse the ulvenwald. I have been testing 1-2of in my deck and liked it.
Ugin the spirit dragon - people are saying "we only lose..." before naming him and claming that some were even shaving him from their list. This is completly wrong, nobody ever shaved ugins and he was the strongest card in the deck, back in the old standard.
His loss is much bigger than people think, many decks would have no chance at beating us if he was still around.
he had amazing synergy with shrine of the forsaken gods and sanctum of ugin and is a HUGE loss.
The lists on mtgtop8 almost all ran 2-3 Ugins, you simply played both him and chandra.
Losing him means losing a win condition and also losing the best wayof dealing with their threats.
traverse the ulvendwald - i love this card, it is extremly good, especially if you want to make ruin in their wake work.
Arlinn Kord - stopped playing her rather quickly, she seems extremly underwhelming in our deck and doesn't support the deckplan in any way.
I see her as a possible sideboard card for control matchups, but not in the maindeck
mana dorks - seem weak to me, b/w control will be a thing and simply kill them, other decks like humans will overwhelm us very fast, so we need some boardwipes in most games, making manadorks obsolete.
kozilek's return - seems like a card that has a place in the maindeck, but can't tell for sure yet.
gaea's revenge - will likely make a comeback into our sideboards
ulvenwald hydra - was underwhelming so far, but reach is very usefull and more ramp is never bad.
allows us to get 1-of lands like mirrorpool, blighted woodland, westvale abbey or rogue's passage
thought-knot seer, reality smasher, etc. - might make a comeback, especially the reality smasher.
blighted woodland - not having this card in your deck is just bad. There is no reason to run at least one and if they make you discard your ramp spell it can often win the game.
Hedron archive - playing 1-2 is still very good imo. The draw can be very good and if the artifact type enables delirium for your traverse the ulvenwald, then you are living the dream. Be sure not to play too many and to side it out against kolaghans command.
adding black seems like a possible way to go aswell.
One of the easiest ways I think we have of enabling delirium actually is to run Hangarback Walker again. I've had a lot of tests with my list (which I will post when I have a little more time) where Traverse the Ulvenwald turns into the game winning Eldrazi. Black warrants a look too. A singleton Behold the Beyond warrants a look too. Considering it searches for 3 I'm pretty sure it's meant to fetch up Eldrazi titans, though usually I find myself grabbing a board wipe and two World Breakers.
Most of those are aggro/midrange cards and don't really belong here. Duskwatch just doesn't seem good at all in this deck as you'll be missing most of the time because it only gets creatures. Thought-Knot Seer is a very good card, but I considered it better in the sideboard. Reality Smasher I had tested before and ended up being not what I wanted, but may be better now. Arlinn Kord's first +1 really does what both Aim High and Surrak do, but better. I will be adding more as we play more with the new format and we get a better feel for what we need to fight against.
I don't dismiss Traverse, I only said that it will only be good if it can be reliably turned on by turn 6+. In the build I'm trying, I often get 3 types, but struggle to get the 4th. I don't like Vessel at all because 3 mana is too much for that effect and really the only reason to play it is to make Traverse better which is just trying too hard in my opinion. Traverse gets much better if you're playing Hedron Crawler and Hangarback Walker which are more reasonable than vessel in my opinion, but still aren't what I personally want to be doing.
Yeah I do agree about Blighted Woodland too and should include it. I just don't know if it's better than Sanctum in the Ruin list that I'll be playing. I agree that I don't like the mana dorks, I put the other list up because most people do. Vessel of Volatility can be a good card, but 2-5 isn't where we want to be as much. It is nice that it plays a 4th turn Chandra on it's own. It's bad when we just go off, but when we're struggling, it can give us 1 threat to buy time.
Yeah, the fact that it will rarely provide mana until 3rd turn is the big turn off for me. It's better if you're playing 4 Traverse 4 Nissa's Pilgrimage, but I've liked Ruin in their Wake a lot more than most and think that grafstone will be worse 75%+ of the time. If I go to 4 Traverse and end up with some number of Pilgrimage, I might put 1 in over a wail.
I just wanted to mention a couple of cards that I think are worth consideration: Sylvan Advocate and Dragonmaster Outcast. Both play well with Veggies and Pilgrimage and I really like them out of the sideboard in this deck, since lots of people cut all their Fiery Impulses, Grasp of Darknesses, Ultimate Prices for cards like Transgress the Mind or Infinite Obliteration. Mind you, I didn't play a ton with this deck.
I played Grixis to a top 2 finish at a local PPTQ last weekend. My opponent was on GR Ramp in the semis, his sideboard plan was to bring in Mana Dorks (Rattleclaw and Hedron Crawler) and Reclaiming Vines! I kid you not. He crushed me in one game with Turn 3/4 Vines turn 6 World Breaker.
I've been testing a ton on Xmage (over 60 games) and while Arlinn was decent, I often felt like I needed just a little more ramp. I don't like that Nissa's Pilgrimage doesn't help fix your colors, but as for just getting enough lands to cast your things on time it works great so I swapped those in. Updating the list in the primer to reflect that.
I really dont see the attraction of playing with arlinn kord. Also without wooded foothills cinderglade becomes much worse imo, Iwould rather play another 1 or 2 blighted woodlands and basics.
from testing on cockatrice which I admit can be a very random meta, expect languish to be prominent which really puts me off the dork builds
Duskwatch Recruiter - Just the instant speed recurring Oath of Nissa effect is good enough to warrant main deck slots for this guy. The flip that makes him into both a 3/3 attacker that singlehandedly turns on any Formidable guy you may have on the board and also makes all your other creatures cheaper to cast is just gravy.
He isn't instant speed Oath of nissa. He only gets dudes, which doesn't help the a deck that runs 8-12 dudes you WANT to search for (4 world breakers, 2 Ulamog, 2 dragonlords). Playing this guy in this deck doesn't work out. Additionally in general, no deck out there wants to do NOTHING on there turn 3 to flip this guy, and asking your opponent to not do something on there T2/T3 is rather insulting for competitive play.
Aim High - An incredibly versatile instant. Allows you to attack into your opponent with everything you have even when you're low on life and they happen to have a bigger threat on the board. If they block with the threat, you pump your guy to kill their blocker while allowing your guy to survive and even giving them vigilance so that they will be around to block next turn. If they don't fall for the trap, when they swing in next turn thinking you're tapped out, Aim High untaps your biggest tapped blocker, pumps him and even gives him reach to make sure their biggest attacker dies, even if they fly.
Keeping two mana open for a combat trick on the block isn't what this deck, or any deck, wants to do. Additionally the only 'small' dudes this deck plays are mana ramp dudes, and Sylvan Advocate- who by the way, doesn't even make it into ~50% of the builds. And keep in mind, this is ramp aka BFF (Big Fat Fattys) if this deck doesn't DO something with 2 mana on T3-5 when a combat trick like this helps, you most likely have already lost.
Thought-Knot Seer - A thoughtseize on a 4/4 body that can come down as early as turn 3 thanks to Krallenhorde Howler. One of the best ways to take out the Planar Outburst your opponent was counting on.
TKS is a very good card. But this deck is not low cost, efficient face beaters. It is high cost face smashers. TKS does belong in a deck, this is not it. (more later in the post)*
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Allowing all your massive guys to attack the same turn that you cast them is game breaking. A smart opponent will do whatever they can to take this guy out ASAP. The 5/4 body is just gravy. Along those same lines Stampeding Elk Herd might be worth it as well. Giving all your massive guys trample nixing your opponents chump blockers is often enough to secure you the win the turn after this guy hits the board.
That is just the thing though, Surrak is decent but didn't, and shan't, see play because he isn't big enough for what he does. He, and the elk herd, requires you to do the two things that magic players should never do, Over-extend, and rely upon other cards to be good. In magic, Green more so, you want your creatures to be worth the mana cost. This means that other colors are looking for an x drop x/x with a relevant game impacting ability. Green though looks for something better in creatures, an x drop x+1/X+1 with a relevant ability. Neither of these cards have a relevant ability. If surrak didn't care about having 8 power on board? Heck ya he would be played. Commons are especially hard to be cost valued at the correct place for competitive play. Untamed wilds is only being considered in most decks because of delirium. Nissa's pilgrimage here is efficient ramp that thins your deck out.
Reality Smasher - AlexStollScientist already mentioned this guy but it bears repeating. He's fantastic.
No arguments about Reality Smasher here, but this isn't the deck for him. He is like TKS and just isn't big enough for what he does and how much he costs.
Getting back to the TKS and with Reality Smasher, your looking more at an aggressive Black/Colorless deck list. I saw one a few weeks ago that placed 2ed at a local tournament (lost due to a lucky remorseless punishment draw. The deck was something like this
I think running 4 deathcap cultivators 4 ruins in their wake is appropriate even at the risk of unstable mana/dork getting killed. The power of a turn 3 explosive vegetation is ridiculous and 8 ways to do it is worth the risk, in my opinion. That's actually an appeal of Traverse for me, its front side is really good at turning on Ruin
So here's where I'm at right now. My list is pretty un-interactive just because I am just now getting into standard and don't know the meta very well. I think lightning axe in the sideboard is going to be better than roast just because it is instant speed, and while discarding a card sucks you can just toss a World Breaker or an extra land that you got from Nissa's Pilgrimage. I added the two Hedron Crawler in order to make the turn 4 6/7 drop more consistent, and opted to not go with the Ruin in their Wake route.
Never played Eldrazi ramp myself, but how does everyone feel about Drownyard Temple? It combos with World Breaker, allowing you to sac it then return it.
Hi all; mainly wanted to talk about Mina and Denn, Wildborn as a 1 or 2-of, that provides some additional ramp and is especially effective with Nissa's Pilgrimage, allowing us to drop our additional forest(s) in a kind of pseudo- explosive vegetation. On top of that, they empower Jaddi Offshoots with an extra landfall trigger, and can even return a land to hand (or multiple) to allow us multiple landfall triggers to gain those crucial 1-2 life to survive, and to save lands from land destruction (such as Crumble to Dust, often a problem in the mirror).
Additionally, the second ability allows our big ground beaters (Ulamog and World Breaker) to get through chump blockers our opponents may have (it just feels wrong that you can stop Ulamog with a 1/1 warrior token sometimes, doesn't it? )
The 4/4 body isn't too fragile either, and at 4 mana, it isn't competing too much with other options (Vegetation and Hedron Archive).
I will admit that I haven't done a ton of play-testing yet (moved to G/R from a G/W build, that is now pretty lack-luster without Ugin), but in theory, I think they have a lot of synergy with the rest of the deck.
So here's where I'm at right now. My list is pretty un-interactive just because I am just now getting into standard and don't know the meta very well. I think lightning axe in the sideboard is going to be better than roast just because it is instant speed, and while discarding a card sucks you can just toss a World Breaker or an extra land that you got from Nissa's Pilgrimage. I added the two Hedron Crawler in order to make the turn 4 6/7 drop more consistent, and opted to not go with the Ruin in their Wake route.
As they are archiving the old primers, here's one for the new standard. I believe this deck to be very well positioned in the new standard as it only loses Wooded Foothills, Rattleclaw Mystic, and Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Ugin had already been shaved by most and Rattleclaw wasn't even played in the version I preferred although many disagreed with that.
New cards we get from SOI.
Deathcap Cultivator This can be an upgrade if we can get delerium enabled. It will always be a mana dork, but if it can trade with a threat when we don't need the mana any more, that would be huge.
Ulvenwald Hydra I've heard people say they think he will be good, but I don't think he does enough. Grabbing 1 land from your deck at 6 mana and no evasion, he doesn't help to stabilize the board like all of our other top end cards do and we need that.
Arlinn Kord This Planeswalker does a lot of things, secretly having more abilities than Jace, The Mindsculptor although using each when you want to may take some planning. She makes 2/2s, lightning bolts, and can give creature haste and vigilance or trample. This will likely be a solid addition to the deck.
Westvale Abbey A new utility land that can provide a stream of blockers and ultimately a very powerful win condition that warrants consideration.
Staples from the previous standard.
Oath of Nissa This is the card that helps tie the deck together, getting land drops early, helping find threats for late, and helping cast the planeswalkers.
Sylvan Advocate He is a very solid attacker and blocker getting much better in the late game. I wouldn't play him if you're not playing dorks though.
Ramp
Ruin in their Wake Love it or hate it, this is one of the considerations and the one that I prefer myself. It requires 5-6 Wastes, 4 Evolving Wilds, and 4+ Oath of Nissa/Traverse the Ulvenwald to be at it's best. It's critics think those land slots can be put to better use, but I contend that Rampant Growth is more than worth it, especially now that we need more red fixing.
Nissa's Pilgrimage This is a good filler for the spot between 2 and 4 on the curve. It's main selling point is the ability to get 3 lands, but it's restriction to only forests and it's spot on the curve are both strikes against it. It's best in our weaker hands and doesn't help our best hands.
Explosive Vegetation Putting 2 Basics into play is big game for us and is the 2nd essential part of turn 4 6/7 drop.
Hedron Archive This is the other 4 mana ramp 2 we have and although it doesn't help produce red, it's ability to tap out for our ramp spell and hold up 2 colorless for Warping Wail, Spatial Contortion, or Kozilek's Return with a red land is a big draw. The fact that it turns into card advantage late is also fantastic.
Removal
Kozilek's Return Much more than an instant speed Pyroclasm, this can often help a World Breaker clear the board. It's devastating vs token and rush strategies, and even kills Jace vs control. The fact that the exile mode is uncounterable and all of our big threats survive it is very good.
Spatial Contortion This is the removal spell of choice against aggressive creatures and kills most of the 2-3 drops likely to be played at instant speed.
Roast Great at killing bigger ground creatures.
Rending Volley IS very well positioned right now. Not only is it a great answer against Ojutai, but a 1 mana kill anything in the white humans deck is fantastic. It also takes down Archangel Avacyn which is very important.
Threats
Chandra, Flamecaller A very versatile planeswalker who does everything we want. Clear a board, finish a game quickly, and refill our hand. She will likely be a 4 of going forward.
Dragonlord Atarka A powerful creature than can come in, take out a big creature/planeswalker or multiple smaller ones and present a huge evasive threat. Giving this haste & vigilance with Arlinn seems insane.
World Breaker This guy is the new engine of the deck. He's a huge recursive reach blocker that mana screws your opponent, triggers Kozilek's Return and Sanctum of Ugin, and is resilient to a lot of the removal that will be played.
Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger 10 mana is a lot more than 6 or 7 and the days of him as a 4 of are likely over while we have such good threats lower on the curve. 1 is the number I prefer as you can tutor him with Sanctum of Ugin when you want him most of the time. If we end up needing more answers to things we don't match up well against, a 2nd with some Conduit of Ruin to help find and cast him is likely the best option.
Lands
Game Trail vs Cinder Glade The new lands are good for aggro decks, but drawing these as your next land drop is abysmal in ramp and they should probably be avoided in favor of Glade.
Evolving Wilds Even though the land will always be tapped, this is essential to Ruin in Their Wake and it works better alongside Cinder Glade than Game Trail does.
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods With the loss of Ugin and shaving Ulamog to 1 is truely correct, this looses most of it's value as it doesn't help cast any of our other cards on time except corner cases where you might not have even drawn it.
Sanctum of Ugin Even though it's namesake is gone, this card will continue to help provide inevitability.
Blighted Woodland It's a nice utility land that ramps you 1, but costs you 5 mana to do so.
Deck Lists
Ruin in their Wake Build
1 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Ruin in their Wake
4 Warping Wail
3 Kozilek's Return
2 Nissa's Pilgrimage
3 Explosive Vegetation
3 Hedron Archive
4 Chandra, Flamecaller
3 Dragonlord Atarka
4 World Breaker
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Cinder Glade
3 Sanctum of Ugin
6 Forest
5 Wastes
2 Mountain
2 Roast
2 Spatial Contortion
4 Rending Volley
1 Kozilek's Return
2 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Conduit of Ruin
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Mana Dork Build
2 Hedron Crawler
4 World Breaker
3 Dragonlord Atarka
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Chandra, Flamecaller
4 Explosive Vegetation
4 Nissa's pilgrimage
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Hedron Archive
1 Kozilek's Return
2 Mountain
4 Cinder Glade
4 Sanctum of Ugin
2 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
2 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
3 Jaddi Offshoot
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Roast
2 Oblivion Sower
1 Void Winnower
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Orbs of Warding
1 Rending Volley
2 Clip Wings
Modern: UW Spirits
Modern: UW Spirits
4 Explosive Vegetation
4 Nissa's Pilgrimage
4 Ruin in Their Wake
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Deathcap Cultivator
4 World Breaker
3 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
3 Arlinn Kord
3 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Mountain
4 Wastes
2 Cinder Glade
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Sanctum of Ugin
3 Kozilek's Return
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
4 Roast
Modern: UW Spirits
Duskwatch Recruiter - Just the instant speed recurring Oath of Nissa effect is good enough to warrant main deck slots for this guy. The flip that makes him into both a 3/3 attacker that singlehandedly turns on any Formidable guy you may have on the board and also makes all your other creatures cheaper to cast is just gravy.
Aim High - An incredibly versatile instant. Allows you to attack into your opponent with everything you have even when you're low on life and they happen to have a bigger threat on the board. If they block with the threat, you pump your guy to kill their blocker while allowing your guy to survive and even giving them vigilance so that they will be around to block next turn. If they don't fall for the trap, when they swing in next turn thinking you're tapped out, Aim High untaps your biggest tapped blocker, pumps him and even gives him reach to make sure their biggest attacker dies, even if they fly.
Thought-Knot Seer - A thoughtseize on a 4/4 body that can come down as early as turn 3 thanks to Krallenhorde Howler. One of the best ways to take out the Planar Outburst your opponent was counting on.
Surrak, the Hunt Caller - Allowing all your massive guys to attack the same turn that you cast them is game breaking. A smart opponent will do whatever they can to take this guy out ASAP. The 5/4 body is just gravy. Along those same lines Stampeding Elk Herd might be worth it as well. Giving all your massive guys trample nixing your opponents chump blockers is often enough to secure you the win the turn after this guy hits the board.
Reality Smasher - AlexStollScientist already mentioned this guy but it bears repeating. He's fantastic.
Can you explain why these cards don't warrant mention in the primer?
One of the easiest ways I think we have of enabling delirium actually is to run Hangarback Walker again. I've had a lot of tests with my list (which I will post when I have a little more time) where Traverse the Ulvenwald turns into the game winning Eldrazi. Black warrants a look too. A singleton Behold the Beyond warrants a look too. Considering it searches for 3 I'm pretty sure it's meant to fetch up Eldrazi titans, though usually I find myself grabbing a board wipe and two World Breakers.
Modern: UW Spirits
Modern: UW Spirits
Modern: UW Spirits
Modern: UW Spirits
I played Grixis to a top 2 finish at a local PPTQ last weekend. My opponent was on GR Ramp in the semis, his sideboard plan was to bring in Mana Dorks (Rattleclaw and Hedron Crawler) and Reclaiming Vines! I kid you not. He crushed me in one game with Turn 3/4 Vines turn 6 World Breaker.
Modern: UW Spirits
4 World Breaker
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Dragonlord Atarka
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Planeswalkers:
3 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Arlinn Kord
Other Spells:
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Oath of Nissa
4 Ruin in Their Wake
4 Explosive Vegetation
2 Hedron Archive
2 Kozilek's Return
8 Forest
6 Wastes
2 Mountain
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Sanctum of Ugin
2 Cinder Glade
4 Jaddi Offshoot
2 Roast
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Crumble to Dust
2 Warping Wail
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Side Board is tentative. I'm iffy on Advocate, in the games where I don't drop one early it just doesn't seem to pull its weight.
4x Deathcap Cultivator
4x World Breaker
3x Hedron Crawler
2x Dragonlord Atarka
2x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Spells(20)
4x Explosive Vegetaion
4x Nissa's Pilgrimage
4x Oath of Nissa
3x Arlinn Kord
3x Chandra, Flamecaller
2x Hedron Archive
9x Forest
4x Sanctum of Ugin
4x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
3x Cinder Glade
3x Mountain
1x Blighted Woodland
1x Game Trail
If I was going to Baltimore, I would start here.
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
I really dont see the attraction of playing with arlinn kord. Also without wooded foothills cinderglade becomes much worse imo, Iwould rather play another 1 or 2 blighted woodlands and basics.
from testing on cockatrice which I admit can be a very random meta, expect languish to be prominent which really puts me off the dork builds
I'll give it a shot, but I'm not 100% correct as to why, this is just my idea's as to why. I'll go card by card for you
He isn't instant speed Oath of nissa. He only gets dudes, which doesn't help the a deck that runs 8-12 dudes you WANT to search for (4 world breakers, 2 Ulamog, 2 dragonlords). Playing this guy in this deck doesn't work out. Additionally in general, no deck out there wants to do NOTHING on there turn 3 to flip this guy, and asking your opponent to not do something on there T2/T3 is rather insulting for competitive play.
Keeping two mana open for a combat trick on the block isn't what this deck, or any deck, wants to do. Additionally the only 'small' dudes this deck plays are mana ramp dudes, and Sylvan Advocate- who by the way, doesn't even make it into ~50% of the builds. And keep in mind, this is ramp aka BFF (Big Fat Fattys) if this deck doesn't DO something with 2 mana on T3-5 when a combat trick like this helps, you most likely have already lost.
TKS is a very good card. But this deck is not low cost, efficient face beaters. It is high cost face smashers. TKS does belong in a deck, this is not it. (more later in the post)*
That is just the thing though, Surrak is decent but didn't, and shan't, see play because he isn't big enough for what he does. He, and the elk herd, requires you to do the two things that magic players should never do, Over-extend, and rely upon other cards to be good. In magic, Green more so, you want your creatures to be worth the mana cost. This means that other colors are looking for an x drop x/x with a relevant game impacting ability. Green though looks for something better in creatures, an x drop x+1/X+1 with a relevant ability. Neither of these cards have a relevant ability. If surrak didn't care about having 8 power on board? Heck ya he would be played. Commons are especially hard to be cost valued at the correct place for competitive play. Untamed wilds is only being considered in most decks because of delirium. Nissa's pilgrimage here is efficient ramp that thins your deck out.
No arguments about Reality Smasher here, but this isn't the deck for him. He is like TKS and just isn't big enough for what he does and how much he costs.
Getting back to the TKS and with Reality Smasher, your looking more at an aggressive Black/Colorless deck list. I saw one a few weeks ago that placed 2ed at a local tournament (lost due to a lucky remorseless punishment draw. The deck was something like this
8x Forest
2x Mountain
3x Game Trail
4x Cinder Glade
4x Sanctum of Ugin
4x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
Creatures(17)
4x Deathcap Cultivator
2x Hedron Crawler
2x Elvish Visionary
4x World Breaker
3x Dragonlord Atarka
2x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
4x Explosive Vegetation
4x Nissa's Pilgrimage
Enchantment(4)
4x Oath of Nissa
Artifact(4)
3x Hedron Archive
Planeswalker(3)
1x Arlinn Kord
2x Chandra, Flamecaller
2x Arlinn Kord
3x Crumble to Dust
3x Kozilek's Return
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
3x Lightning Axe
1x Oblivion Sower
1x Plummet
1x Pulse of Murasa
I have been running 3 chandra without ugin. With great results.
I have two spots that I am thinking about changing.
Additionally, the second ability allows our big ground beaters (Ulamog and World Breaker) to get through chump blockers our opponents may have (it just feels wrong that you can stop Ulamog with a 1/1 warrior token sometimes, doesn't it? )
The 4/4 body isn't too fragile either, and at 4 mana, it isn't competing too much with other options (Vegetation and Hedron Archive).
I will admit that I haven't done a ton of play-testing yet (moved to G/R from a G/W build, that is now pretty lack-luster without Ugin), but in theory, I think they have a lot of synergy with the rest of the deck.
Here's the list I'm testing with:
4 Jaddi Offshoot
2 Mina and Denn, Wildborn
3 Oblivion Sower
4 World Breaker
2 Dragonlord Atarka
3 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
Spells(15):
3 Ruin in Their Wake
4 Nissa's Pilgrimage
4 Explosive Vegetation
2 Hedron Archive
2 Nissa's Renewal
2 Chandra, Flamecaller
Lands (25):
7 Forest
5 Wastes
2 Mountains
2 Cinder Glade
2 Evolving Wilds
3 Sanctum of Ugin
3 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
1 Drownyard Temple
2 Gaea's Revenge
3 Kozilek's Return
2 Pulse of Murasa
2 Roast
2 Rending Volley
2 Crumble to Dust
1 Kozilek, the Great Distortion
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
Standard - UW Enchantment Control
You know that you need something that is forcing you to discard before you can cast Lightning Axe right? Chandra is the only discard outlet you have.
EDH: Rakdos, Lord of Riots