And here's a primer to replace the one getting archived. It’s interesting to note that all of Bant Company other than the lands and Wingmate Roc survives the rotation. The mana is worse, but 3 colors is definitely still playable, especially if we keep the white down. Looking at the new cards, there isn’t a lot that excites me for this deck.
Why Play Bant Company?
It's an existing tuned tier 1 deck that comes into the new standard intact without losing anything that every other deck didn't also lose in the fetchlands. It plays a powerful proactive strategy that slows down opposing creature strategies while also advancing it's board and providing card advantage to last into the late game.
The new options from Eldritch Moon
Selfless Spirit A cheap evasive beater that can also save the rest of your team. It also has synergy with Avacyn both to flip her and protect your guys from her flip.
Spell Queller 2/3 Flying, Flash, and it eats a spell. This card is insane.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar A strong first striking body that makes blocking harder and mana bases without basics embarrassing.
The staples of the deck
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy We just want to cast Coco as often as possible. That's what he does. The top performing lists from SCG Columbus have cut him.
Sylvan Advocate Probably the second best 2 drop in standard, a solid early attacker and defender who gets charged up in the late game providing a must answer threat.
Reflector Mage Everyone has learned the power of the new Man o War. This is the reason White is still in the deck and he's worth the extra color.
Bounding Krasis An instant speed 3/3 Twiddle, he is a decent role player.
Duskwatch Recruiter This could be good. It can allow us to play 2-3 creatures 3rd turn if they just pass the turn, but that's hit or miss. It's good if we're flooded out too, but the unpredictability of the flip mechanic is a downside and he's not great as just a grizzley bear. Huntmaster was the only widely played werewolf because you just wanted to flip him as much as possible.
Tireless Tracker A card Draw engine that keeps getting bigger and drawing you more cards finds you more lands to keep the stream going.
Bygone Bishop An evasive body that can draw you cards when you start running out of gas.
I'm posting this in here as well as the WGx Humans thread...the following list is my take on Bant Humans. If the deck is considered different enough (I don't think it is), this thread could serve as a primer.
At its core, the deck is a Bant Company deck with a Human creature-type subtheme, with several cards interested in the type and 19 of the 28 creatures being Human. True to its nature, the deck keeps as close to its lineage as possible and only has 10 nonland targets (discluding the casted CoCo) for a total of 34; this means 25 CoCo targets.
The deck started out without the CoCos, instead having Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in its slot. I felt like the first choice wasn't as grindy as a CoCo version could be. PLUS, the deck is even moreso interested in creatures because of cards like Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and Thalia's Lieutenant, which benefit even if a creature isn't cast, a side reason Bygone Bishop is only delegated 3 spots.
The deck is extremely resilient because of Collected Company and utilization of the Clue tokens generated by Bishop, Thraben Inspector, and Tireless Tracker. Sigarda is a great top-end that allows us to a close a game out.
The sideboard isn't made yet since the meta is largely unknown. We may have need of Hallowed Moonlight and Negate for the mirror and similar decks, the latter coupling as protection against boardwipes. Both are also strong against decks using Secure the Wastes and I'm sure tokens and/or BW Control will have a presence in the early going. We may also consider Surge of Righteousness for red-based aggro decks and RG Vamps/Madness decks, though I'm seeing those as not quite as strong as everyone expected, though someone may eventually find an optimal list (I for one hope so!).
A few spots I've been fiddling with...I feel Jace, Vryn's Prodigy probably deserves a chance in here, much like his use in Bant Company mostly as CoCo 5-8, but his being a Human helps a ton too. He could Probably take the place of Kytheon, Hero of Akros, though this slows us down a turn or two. I'm also not sure whether I like Declaration in Stone or Dromoka's Command more. I will most likely end up going back to the commands because of instant speed and the versatility. I have no doubt Silkwrap will be a thing so the enchantment edict effect will be useful. However, as I mentioned earlier, tokens should be a thing and maindeck answers are nice.
Feel free to give me your thoughts! Also apologize on the manabase. Not my strong area, that's for sure!
10 sources of green is not good for this deck. And I'm not sure if the other creatures and counters is a good in a Reflector Mage world when Deathmist Raptor/Den Protector are just better.
PS I just tried your deck on a MTG client and it doesn't work.
Frank Karsten just did an article where he built an optimized manabase for traditional Bant Company and came up with this. It has fewer Lumbering Falls than I may want and 10 basics is a lot, but he's generally considered the expert on these things.
Greetings. I am dropping into this thread to show my support for this archetype in the post-SOI standard. I strongly believe Sylvan Adcoate + Reflector Mage in the traditional Bant Company shell will be one of the top decks to beat, over some lame concessions like GW Company. If Thing in the Ice and Westvale Abbey see steady play, this is the route to take with Company.
Moreover, to the mana base. We want to maximize access to G/U early as possible, and only need white as early on turn 3 at the EARLIEST. Therefore, something like this:
3 Evolving Wilds
2 Yavimaya Coast
2 Prairie Stream
2 Canopy Vista
1 Plains
3 Island
4 Forest
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Fortified Village
Gives us 12 white sources
18 green sources, only 6 non-green
12 blue sources, only 11 non-blue
I think we should maximize on G/W showland. Remember, evolving wilds won't enable these. But in above list, all our battle lands will enable it. If our hand has 1 Fortified Village, there's still 13 other lands that won't enable it so it's still up in the air what quantity of Yavimaya Coast/Lumbering Falls is needed here. I imagine Yavimaya Coast could cut back down to 1 but in place of what, the fourth Evolving Wilds? Still not quite good enough. I advocate 4 evolving wilds if you are running 3/3 on the battle lands but not for the fourth if you are running less.
So apparently, the way to handle the 3 color manabase is to ignore the new lands for the most part. Here's the deck tech from the undefeated through day 1 Bant Company list of Kevin Jones at SCG Baltimore. Jim Davis also just made the top 8 with Bant Company while Dan Jessup missed his win and in.
Jim Davis won it with apparently the same list Kevin Jones was playing. He said he would probably shave a Jace from the list. The deck does play half again as many green cards as white ones and 15 white sources should be fine for casting Avacyn on 5 so I think -1 Plains +1 Forest would be reasonable.
I've had the idea for a grindier list that constantly spits out clues so it never runs out of gas. Ulvenwald Mysteries looks good when you're constantly spitting out clues.
A few copies of Always Watching may be worth including somewhere in the list in my opinion. Two Pulse of Murasa in the board for me has been very good. Also been toying with Matter Reshaper in the main. Looks like one of the top decks to beat and going to enjoy playing this one.
How does this archetype beat the much more aggressive White humans decks? They can be solid-white, WG or WU, but not WUG for the aggressive mode. The key features are 2/2 firststrikers, Kytheon, Always Watching, Thalia's Lieutenant, Archangel of Tithes. The point of the list is it's very quick to get 4/4 firstrikers that can't be blocked unless you pay mana, and they have a bunch of removal as well to take out your better things.
Maybe my first impressions were wrong, but I got the strong impression it is hard to contain them. In any event, what are the key features to controlling their game?
How does this archetype beat the much more aggressive White humans decks? They can be solid-white, WG or WU, but not WUG for the aggressive mode. The key features are 2/2 firststrikers, Kytheon, Always Watching, Thalia's Lieutenant, Archangel of Tithes. The point of the list is it's very quick to get 4/4 firstrikers that can't be blocked unless you pay mana, and they have a bunch of removal as well to take out your better things.
Maybe my first impressions were wrong, but I got the strong impression it is hard to contain them. In any event, what are the key features to controlling their game?
W/X Humans finds it really hard to force through damage on the ground against Bant Company. The board quickly grinds to a halt come turn 4 because Humans can't just sit back forever, so Humans tends to get a really bad trade due to CoCo or Dromo's Command which stalls everything. Bant protects a Nissa and Jace and quickly buries W/X Humans in card advantage. The bant dudes look really terrible, but they work well in practice.
I've been playing this for a few days on MTGO. Jim Davis's list with some tweaks just to see what works. Here's some rambling thoughts.
The MTGO metagame is very planeswalker and flier heavy. Clip Wings x4 in the sideboard isn't outrageous from what I'm seeing.
Cutting a Jace: Tried it, but the deck gets too much value even if Jace just rolls up every turn. And sticking him and chaining CoCo's together is simply the best way to end the game. 4x Jace and don't feel bad about it.
Consider adding another Nissa, Vastwood Seer in the Den Protector/Hidden Dragonslayer spot. The deck is very mana hungry and appreciates basic lands enabling the check lands.
Den Protector blows to be main deck. He's just too mana intensive in an already mana intensive deck. If you know it's a long matchup, then he's good.
Tireless tracker is slow, but really good. I'd also consider 3x Tracker main deck with the 4th in the board against super slow decks. Laying an Evolving Wilds on T5 when you can pop both clues can give real problems to certain removal.
Dromoka's Command is "not great" in the MTGO metagame. There are too many creatureless or near creatureless decks. But I think 4x commands between main deck and board can be really strong in a mixed environment. They are just blowouts against some decks.
Ojutai's Command hasn't impressed me as much as I'd hoped. I mainly use it to get Jace flipped against determined opposition. Dismiss on a dragon doesn't feel nearly as good as it should be. It feels too... fair.
I want to like Hidden Dragonslayer, but he's so mana intensive. Oddly enough, I think he's best as a 2/1 lifelink against aggressive decks and kind of sucks against Goblin Dark-Dwellers. You're paying 6 to get rid of a 5 mana card + the spell he cast. And your 3/2 dies to 1 mana spells or in a sweep effect.
Against anything B/X, Languish is going to be what you fear most. Take it real slow and milk your Recruiters and Trackers every chance you get. Don't over-commit to the board.
Bounding Krasis and/or Reflector Mages should be sideboarded out against creatureless/near creatureless decks for Tireless Tracker and Den Protector. Anything that has more longevity.
Lantern Scouts single handedly destroys some archetypes. It's not useful 99% of the time, but that 1% it's killer.
Current sideboard assuming Jim Davis's list: 4x Negate, 3x Clip Wings, 2 Den Protector, 2 Lantern Scout, 2 Tireless Tracker, 1 Dromoka's Command, 1 Ojutai's Command. The Trackers, Protectors, and Ojutai's Command are for the really grindy games that seem to make up MTGO. Negates for those people in love with 5+ mana planeswalkers. Lantern Scouts against burn. Dromoka's Command in for Ojutai's Command is really all you need for the main list to wreck something like W/X Humans or other midrange decks.
As a poster says above, -1 Plains +1 forest. Not having Avacyn mana on turn 5 isn't a deal breaker, but not getting green mana early is crippling.
Watching the SCG invitational, the meta was mostly Bant company and W/u humans. And those company matches were bloodless stalls. Why does nobody run evasion besides Avacyn? Some Bygone Bishops or Gryff's Boon (as the White deck plays) would seem to be very useful. It's easy to imagine one side attacking for 2 in the air while the ground is completely stalled. 2 points per turn wins games, even from an otherwise "inferior" board. Myself I've been running Whirler Rogue, though in a very different build. Makes all the difference when you can declare your Tracker unblockable and swing in.
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Current Awesome Deck: UWAll-In GiftsWU Consistent, Resiliant, and way overpowered, making multiple 4/4s per turn.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWUFree Stuff MidrangeUWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
I think the Craig Krempels list is the most resilient I've seen and tried.
Sideboard tech I've really liked: Dragonlord Dromoka. I replaced Krempels's singleton Sigarda, Heron's Grace. She's an upgrade to Archangel Avacyn in the mirror and against the UR Goggles deck. She's pretty close to unkillable, the evasion and lifegain both matter a ton, and the casting restraints she imposes on your opponents take away a lot of good lines of play. She's also possibly an upgrade against Esper Dragons and Humans -- I find Avacyn is underpowered or overcosted respectively in these matchups, and while Dromoka may be as well, she will at least more reliably end the game in your favor when she's able to come down and do her thing. I suspect Dromoka is an upgrade that's still not good enough for those MUs.
Because it's highly disliked? Killed many decks and made current standard into a 2 deck format? You have 2 decks ahead of the pack, and most players are hoping the PT is able to find a solution to this deck.
I believe you all have to worry about the mirror and humans no? That's probably why it's dead. Maybe it'll change after the PT but for now, -yawn- Well done, you guys are almost unbeatable.
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Standard Arena: Eh? Gruul or Die
Modern: Decks I'm playing right now: G Mono Green Tron (34-10-3 paper record, only SCG/Regionals/PPTQ record) C Eldrazi Tron (9-5) UG Infect RW Burn
Anybody experimented with Eldrazi Skyspawner? Card performed reasonably well last season, and it looks like the mirror is all about evasion. Skyspawner also lets you potentially hit three bodies off of Collected Company (or I guess four if you hit double Skyspawner), which seems important against Humans (a matchup where you find yourself double-blocking a lot to make combat as bad as possible for your opponent -- the Scion seems like it could frequently be what you need to have, say, a Krasis trade with a pumped Incited Rabble, or to make sure you can slip lethal damage through the first strike phase while you're blocking a Knight of the White Orchid, or whatever).
It's somewhat anemic in the mana : stats department and obviously doesn't do anything besides be two bodies to influence the battlefield. But maybe that's all it needs to be?
It does one thing more. Consider blocking a creature with a scion, then saccing, pay UG extra, and flash in a Krasis to tap their whatever. Or pay 2G extra for that coco you couldn't yet afford to cast.
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Current Awesome Deck: UWAll-In GiftsWU Consistent, Resiliant, and way overpowered, making multiple 4/4s per turn.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWUFree Stuff MidrangeUWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
I dig the Displacement Wave tech against tokens decks. Deciding on that or Declaration in Stone. Feels like Displacement Wave is a better option, since you can get all tokens in one swoop, instead of just all tokens by one name. Just, uh, watch out with sweeping up your own Clues...
Just dawned on me that Displacement Wave is also a simultaneous answer to Ormendahl, Profane Prince and the tokens used to summon him. Most sweepers don't work well against Ormendahl decks if they have the ability to summon him, since they can summon Ormendahl in response to the sweeper and just have him bypass the sweeper's effect with his indestructible status. At the very least, black decks need the very specific combination of Languish + Grasp of Darkness, and red decks don't have anything.
But we play Tragic Arrogance, which works as long as they don't have exactly five creatures in play. And now we can play Displacement Wave, which will actually still bounce Ormendahl himself at X=0!
I'm starting to wonder as well whether Displacement Wave is good against the humans decks... I think probably not, as the best number we would choose is X=3 (to bounce all their Always Watching), but that would also bounce our own guys. Though maybe that's not even bad with the etb triggers...
This warrants more testing. This might not be too cute after all!
I've been playing bant company since GP Houston a few months back and wasn't the whole point of playing stratus dancer or skyspawner to win against rally(or other decks that gum up the ground). I've cut 2x jace and the dragonslayer and replaced with 3 stratus dancer. Its been great as both evasion and counter magic. Displacement wave seems sweet.
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And here's a primer to replace the one getting archived. It’s interesting to note that all of Bant Company other than the lands and Wingmate Roc survives the rotation. The mana is worse, but 3 colors is definitely still playable, especially if we keep the white down. Looking at the new cards, there isn’t a lot that excites me for this deck.
Why Play Bant Company?
It's an existing tuned tier 1 deck that comes into the new standard intact without losing anything that every other deck didn't also lose in the fetchlands. It plays a powerful proactive strategy that slows down opposing creature strategies while also advancing it's board and providing card advantage to last into the late game.
The new options from Eldritch Moon
Selfless Spirit A cheap evasive beater that can also save the rest of your team. It also has synergy with Avacyn both to flip her and protect your guys from her flip.
Spell Queller 2/3 Flying, Flash, and it eats a spell. This card is insane.
Thalia, Heretic Cathar A strong first striking body that makes blocking harder and mana bases without basics embarrassing.
The staples of the deck
Jace, Vryn's Prodigy We just want to cast Coco as often as possible. That's what he does. The top performing lists from SCG Columbus have cut him.
Sylvan Advocate Probably the second best 2 drop in standard, a solid early attacker and defender who gets charged up in the late game providing a must answer threat.
Reflector Mage Everyone has learned the power of the new Man o War. This is the reason White is still in the deck and he's worth the extra color.
Bounding Krasis An instant speed 3/3 Twiddle, he is a decent role player.
Duskwatch Recruiter This could be good. It can allow us to play 2-3 creatures 3rd turn if they just pass the turn, but that's hit or miss. It's good if we're flooded out too, but the unpredictability of the flip mechanic is a downside and he's not great as just a grizzley bear. Huntmaster was the only widely played werewolf because you just wanted to flip him as much as possible.
Tireless Tracker A card Draw engine that keeps getting bigger and drawing you more cards finds you more lands to keep the stream going.
Bygone Bishop An evasive body that can draw you cards when you start running out of gas.
Nissa, Vastwood Seer A nice value creature that turns into a 4/4 Phyrexian Arena in the late game. She also helps turn Advocate on.
Dromoka's Command A versatile removal spell that can also eat enchantments and protect against burn spells. A 4 of in most lists.
Declaration in Stone A good catch all removal that can hit multiple copies, but has a drawback. Most often found in sideboards.
Collected Company The busted card that's been a large part of Standard and Modern since it's printing which the deck is built around.
Devin Koepke's 1st place list from SCG Columbus
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Reflector Mage
4 Spell Queller
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Tireless Tracker
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Collected Company
4 Dromoka's Command
4 Prairie Stream
3 Yavimaya Coast
2 Lumbering Falls
4 Evolving Wilds
5 Plains
3 Forest
1 Island
2 Declaration in Stone
3 Lambholt Pacifist
2 Negate
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
2 Ojutai's Command
1 Planar Outburst
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Tragic Arrogance
Modern: UW Spirits
At its core, the deck is a Bant Company deck with a Human creature-type subtheme, with several cards interested in the type and 19 of the 28 creatures being Human. True to its nature, the deck keeps as close to its lineage as possible and only has 10 nonland targets (discluding the casted CoCo) for a total of 34; this means 25 CoCo targets.
3 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
3 Bygone Bishop
3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Reflector Mage
3 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Tireless Tracker
4 Canopy Vista
2 Forest
3 Fortified Village
9 Plains
2 Port Town
3 Prairie Stream
1 Yavimaya Coast
4 Collected Company
4 Declaration in Stone
The deck started out without the CoCos, instead having Gideon, Ally of Zendikar in its slot. I felt like the first choice wasn't as grindy as a CoCo version could be. PLUS, the deck is even moreso interested in creatures because of cards like Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and Thalia's Lieutenant, which benefit even if a creature isn't cast, a side reason Bygone Bishop is only delegated 3 spots.
The deck is extremely resilient because of Collected Company and utilization of the Clue tokens generated by Bishop, Thraben Inspector, and Tireless Tracker. Sigarda is a great top-end that allows us to a close a game out.
The sideboard isn't made yet since the meta is largely unknown. We may have need of Hallowed Moonlight and Negate for the mirror and similar decks, the latter coupling as protection against boardwipes. Both are also strong against decks using Secure the Wastes and I'm sure tokens and/or BW Control will have a presence in the early going. We may also consider Surge of Righteousness for red-based aggro decks and RG Vamps/Madness decks, though I'm seeing those as not quite as strong as everyone expected, though someone may eventually find an optimal list (I for one hope so!).
A few spots I've been fiddling with...I feel Jace, Vryn's Prodigy probably deserves a chance in here, much like his use in Bant Company mostly as CoCo 5-8, but his being a Human helps a ton too. He could Probably take the place of Kytheon, Hero of Akros, though this slows us down a turn or two. I'm also not sure whether I like Declaration in Stone or Dromoka's Command more. I will most likely end up going back to the commands because of instant speed and the versatility. I have no doubt Silkwrap will be a thing so the enchantment edict effect will be useful. However, as I mentioned earlier, tokens should be a thing and maindeck answers are nice.
Feel free to give me your thoughts! Also apologize on the manabase. Not my strong area, that's for sure!
PS I just tried your deck on a MTG client and it doesn't work.
That said, I think I personally would play something closer to this going off of his guideline, but still just using it as a guide.
Modern: UW Spirits
Moreover, to the mana base. We want to maximize access to G/U early as possible, and only need white as early on turn 3 at the EARLIEST. Therefore, something like this:
18 green sources, only 6 non-green
12 blue sources, only 11 non-blue
I think we should maximize on G/W showland. Remember, evolving wilds won't enable these. But in above list, all our battle lands will enable it. If our hand has 1 Fortified Village, there's still 13 other lands that won't enable it so it's still up in the air what quantity of Yavimaya Coast/Lumbering Falls is needed here. I imagine Yavimaya Coast could cut back down to 1 but in place of what, the fourth Evolving Wilds? Still not quite good enough. I advocate 4 evolving wilds if you are running 3/3 on the battle lands but not for the fourth if you are running less.
Modern: UW Spirits
1 Den Protector
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Reflector Mage
1 Stratus Dancer
4 Sylvan Advocate
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Archangel Avacyn
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
4 Collected Company
3 Dromoka's Command
1 Ojutai's Command
2 Island
3 Plains
3 Canopy Vista
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Fortified Village
4 Lumbering Falls
1 Port Town
4 Prairie Stream
1 Den Protector
1 Hermit of the Natterknolls
1 Hidden Dragonslayer
2 Lantern Scout
2 Invocation of Saint Traft
2 Clip Wings
3 Negate
1 Ojutai's Command
2 Declaration in Stone
Modern: UW Spirits
And it took down the event. Congrats to Jim Davis!
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
Modern: UW Spirits
4 Evolving Wilds
4 Lumbering Falls
3 Prairie Stream
3 Canopy Vista
1 Port Town
1 Fortified Village
3 Plains
3 Forest
2 Island
4 Sylvan Advocate
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Erdwal Illuminator
4 Bygone Bishop
4 Tireless Tracker
4 Reflector Mage
2 Bounding Krasis
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
4 Collected Company
3 Dromoka's Command
2 Archangel Avacyn
2 Ulvenwald Mysteries
Emille, Seven-Sting Dancer Shalin Nariya
Maybe my first impressions were wrong, but I got the strong impression it is hard to contain them. In any event, what are the key features to controlling their game?
2 Archangel of Tithes
3 Consul's Lieutenant
4 Declaration in Stone
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Island
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Ojutai's Command
14 Plains
4 Prairie Stream
4 Reflector Mage
3 Silkwrap
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Thraben Inspector
1 Archangel Avacyn
1 Archangel of Tithes
4 Dragon Hunter
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Negate
1 Ojutai's Command
3 Surge of Righteousness
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
W/X Humans finds it really hard to force through damage on the ground against Bant Company. The board quickly grinds to a halt come turn 4 because Humans can't just sit back forever, so Humans tends to get a really bad trade due to CoCo or Dromo's Command which stalls everything. Bant protects a Nissa and Jace and quickly buries W/X Humans in card advantage. The bant dudes look really terrible, but they work well in practice.
The MTGO metagame is very planeswalker and flier heavy. Clip Wings x4 in the sideboard isn't outrageous from what I'm seeing.
Cutting a Jace: Tried it, but the deck gets too much value even if Jace just rolls up every turn. And sticking him and chaining CoCo's together is simply the best way to end the game. 4x Jace and don't feel bad about it.
Consider adding another Nissa, Vastwood Seer in the Den Protector/Hidden Dragonslayer spot. The deck is very mana hungry and appreciates basic lands enabling the check lands.
Den Protector blows to be main deck. He's just too mana intensive in an already mana intensive deck. If you know it's a long matchup, then he's good.
Tireless tracker is slow, but really good. I'd also consider 3x Tracker main deck with the 4th in the board against super slow decks. Laying an Evolving Wilds on T5 when you can pop both clues can give real problems to certain removal.
Dromoka's Command is "not great" in the MTGO metagame. There are too many creatureless or near creatureless decks. But I think 4x commands between main deck and board can be really strong in a mixed environment. They are just blowouts against some decks.
Ojutai's Command hasn't impressed me as much as I'd hoped. I mainly use it to get Jace flipped against determined opposition. Dismiss on a dragon doesn't feel nearly as good as it should be. It feels too... fair.
I want to like Hidden Dragonslayer, but he's so mana intensive. Oddly enough, I think he's best as a 2/1 lifelink against aggressive decks and kind of sucks against Goblin Dark-Dwellers. You're paying 6 to get rid of a 5 mana card + the spell he cast. And your 3/2 dies to 1 mana spells or in a sweep effect.
Against anything B/X, Languish is going to be what you fear most. Take it real slow and milk your Recruiters and Trackers every chance you get. Don't over-commit to the board.
Bounding Krasis and/or Reflector Mages should be sideboarded out against creatureless/near creatureless decks for Tireless Tracker and Den Protector. Anything that has more longevity.
Lantern Scouts single handedly destroys some archetypes. It's not useful 99% of the time, but that 1% it's killer.
Current sideboard assuming Jim Davis's list: 4x Negate, 3x Clip Wings, 2 Den Protector, 2 Lantern Scout, 2 Tireless Tracker, 1 Dromoka's Command, 1 Ojutai's Command. The Trackers, Protectors, and Ojutai's Command are for the really grindy games that seem to make up MTGO. Negates for those people in love with 5+ mana planeswalkers. Lantern Scouts against burn. Dromoka's Command in for Ojutai's Command is really all you need for the main list to wreck something like W/X Humans or other midrange decks.
As a poster says above, -1 Plains +1 forest. Not having Avacyn mana on turn 5 isn't a deal breaker, but not getting green mana early is crippling.
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
Sideboard tech I've really liked: Dragonlord Dromoka. I replaced Krempels's singleton Sigarda, Heron's Grace. She's an upgrade to Archangel Avacyn in the mirror and against the UR Goggles deck. She's pretty close to unkillable, the evasion and lifegain both matter a ton, and the casting restraints she imposes on your opponents take away a lot of good lines of play. She's also possibly an upgrade against Esper Dragons and Humans -- I find Avacyn is underpowered or overcosted respectively in these matchups, and while Dromoka may be as well, she will at least more reliably end the game in your favor when she's able to come down and do her thing. I suspect Dromoka is an upgrade that's still not good enough for those MUs.
GW ~ Angels ~ WG
Modern:
RBW ~ Shadowmancer ~ WBR
Legacy:
BUG ~ Shadow Delver ~ GUB
I believe you all have to worry about the mirror and humans no? That's probably why it's dead. Maybe it'll change after the PT but for now, -yawn- Well done, you guys are almost unbeatable.
Modern: Decks I'm playing right now:
G Mono Green Tron (34-10-3 paper record, only SCG/Regionals/PPTQ record)
C Eldrazi Tron (9-5)
UG Infect
RW Burn
It's somewhat anemic in the mana : stats department and obviously doesn't do anything besides be two bodies to influence the battlefield. But maybe that's all it needs to be?
GW ~ Angels ~ WG
Modern:
RBW ~ Shadowmancer ~ WBR
Legacy:
BUG ~ Shadow Delver ~ GUB
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
GB Electric Dreams BG Deal 20 in one shot, or discard their hand?
GWU Free Stuff Midrange UWG Slowly bury the opponent with more threats and answers than they can handle.
My greatest hits:
GURFate Reforged Temur Ascendancy COMBORUG
GUDragons of Tarkir Whisperwood Forever UG
GW ~ Angels ~ WG
Modern:
RBW ~ Shadowmancer ~ WBR
Legacy:
BUG ~ Shadow Delver ~ GUB
But we play Tragic Arrogance, which works as long as they don't have exactly five creatures in play. And now we can play Displacement Wave, which will actually still bounce Ormendahl himself at X=0!
I'm starting to wonder as well whether Displacement Wave is good against the humans decks... I think probably not, as the best number we would choose is X=3 (to bounce all their Always Watching), but that would also bounce our own guys. Though maybe that's not even bad with the etb triggers...
This warrants more testing. This might not be too cute after all!
GW ~ Angels ~ WG
Modern:
RBW ~ Shadowmancer ~ WBR
Legacy:
BUG ~ Shadow Delver ~ GUB