Anyone have issues against Thought Knot Seer and Reality Smasher? Running the Angel version of the deck.
The meta at my LGS is a lot like what we saw at the Pro Tour - Delirium, Temur Emerge, Bant... The quarterfinal and semifinal of Game Day I played against Temur Emerge that brought Reality Smasher in against me. With the meta as it is, I already had boarded Infinite Obliteration to hit Emrakul, The Promised End.
After seeing Reality Smasher in his had, that was the target for Obliteration if I got it early enough in the following games, which luckily, I did.
I think the Obliteration against an early Smasher is huge, and you'll likely be bringing in Transgress the Mind against decks that are casting it.
I apologize if I just stated the obvious... but I think both Smasher and TKS can be an issue, but a good board helps.
I played in a small 8 person game day, using TBuzzsaw's Angel/PW hybrid all except for replacing a swamp with a blighted fen and replacing Emrakul in the sideboard with an Oath of Liliana.
I won the Swiss going 2-0, 2-1 then ID into the top 4. Oddly, the top was entirely made up of B/W. So it came down to who saw the most of their removal and discard.
I lost in the semi 2-1. In the first two games we each had a game of drawing multiple discard and thus managing to stick a threat. In the decider I kept a five lander. Don't ask me why - I can't explain. Of course he took it to bits with a duress and a transgress. I then drew more land while he got Gideon on line and finished me.
I played in a small 8 person game day, using TBuzzsaw's Angel/PW hybrid all except for replacing a swamp with a blighted fen and replacing Emrakul in the sideboard with an Oath of Liliana.
I won the Swiss going 2-0, 2-1 then ID into the top 4. Oddly, the top was entirely made up of B/W. So it came down to who saw the most of their removal and discard.
I lost in the semi 2-1. In the first two games we each had a game of drawing multiple discard and thus managing to stick a threat. In the decider I kept a five lander. Don't ask me why - I can't explain. Of course he took it to bits with a duress and a transgress. I then drew more land while he got Gideon on line and finished me.
Erebos's Titan dodges Languish and played on an empty board gave my opponents trouble. Had also some nice blowouts where I killed my opponents creature in response to his removal. Used the return from graveyard function also tho he got exiled a lot. Was strong in the B/W mirror.
Warping Wail let's you win against Demonic Pact in style by countering Harmless Offering. Can't be transgressed and if you think you run into Demonic Pact decks could be worth 1 sideboard slot. Especially if you run Dark Petition to tutor it. Had never problems casting it with 6 colorless sources. Winning this way was very satisfying.
2 Lantern Scout in the SB proved to be very valuable against Izzet burn and other aggressive decks. Paired with Gideon attack it was often enough to put me out of harms way.
Tragic Arrogance disappointed me. Just didn't have many situations where the card was a win for me. Can't recommend.
Tried 4 Relentless Dead for a more aggressive approach. Cut some discard and removal for them. T2 on the play pretty much guaranteed me 4-6 damage and as long as I kept a B opponents didn't care to remove them. But doing 2 a turn just wasn't good enough. Relentless Dead is no Sylvan Advocat.
Archangel of Tithes didn't convince me either. If your plan is to ult Lili or Ob Nixilis and if you run Oath of Gideon then maybe it's helpful to slow down your opponent. I kept her back most of the time. We just don't run enough creatures to make good use of her as I think she's more powerful on the attack. Also the WWW was tough in a deck that is heavy on black.
I find it hard to give up on Angels now that UR Fevered Visions is a thing and was everywhere tonight. I'm keeping some of the creatures at the bare minimum to still work the way I want while moving onto the PW build. I feel much better against other midrange and control now, but I feel it's pretty meh against Bant.
Having made just two changes to TBuzzsaw's hybrid deck I took it to FNM and finished fourth in a 16 player 4-round event, going 3-1.
The two changes are -1 grasp, -1 swamp, +1 Blighted Fen, +1 Oath of Liliana.
Round one was against UB zombies. He couldn't keep a creature in play for long and could only answer the first flyer I dropped. Thalia's Lancers were awesome here. I could see his shoulders droop when I played Bruna, which in turn brought Lancers to the field from the graveyard, which in turn gave me Gisella from the library. He conceded quickly after that. I do find I tend to fetch Livana most often with Lancers - so good against aggro.
Round two was against a three colour version of UG crush. For the first 35 minutes of the round we just cancelled each other's threats out, but mine had more depth and I gradually gained the upper hand. The turning point came when I exiled his one Emrakul with transgress and all his sylvan advocates with infinite obliteration. This left him cycling den protectors and pulses to keep his life total above zero. His mistake was not realising sooner that he could not win. So, when he did concede there was not enough time to finish a second game and I took it 1-0.
Round three was against my own son playing Bant Coco. He overwhelmed me with double coco in the first round, but everything went right for me in the second as I caught him with coco in hand with a transgress and languished away an overcommitted battlefield before sticking Kalitas. In the third game he got all he needed and I had to mulligan to five to find more than one land in my opening hand. He finished me fairly quickly, 2-1.
The fourth round was against WR humans. We should win this and I did, but only 2-1 as his second round draw was nuts. I started with a three land hand but didn't get the fourth until turn four. By then I was facing lethal damage from his next attack and even though I had languish in hand I could not play it as the land drawn was CITP tapped - shambling vents. Aargh!
Going forward I have little desire to change the deck. Perhaps in the sideboard the dark petition could be a third Kalitas and I'd like to find a way for the fourth grasp of darkness to be in the 75. Otherwise all is good.
Played my B/W Angel Control deck and went 3-1 out of 12 players, 4 Round event.
Round 1 UR Burn (1-2)
Game 1: He resolves a turn 4 Fervor Visions and stalled out my turn 3 Lili with burn. My Gisela gets exiled and I am pretty sure he burns my Kalitas as well. I almost recovered but he countered my Linvala and I died to Visions a couple of turns after.
SB: -2 Languish -2 Hallowed Moonlight -2 Ruinous Path -1 Emrakul +1 Transgress the Mind +4 Duress +2 Gideon
Game 2: He never sees Visions and I think I resolve a Gideon which never gets answered. Nothing much happened aside from killing the few creatures he did play.
Game 3: I hit him with a Transgress and I see 2 Visions in hand, I hit one. He resolves a Visions on turn 3. Long story short he gets me down pretty low but resolves a second Visions and re-fills his hand with lethal burn damage.
I really wish I kept Orbs of Warding in my side board but honestly if I saw my Unmaking I think I would of been fine.
Round 2 G/R Werewolves (2-0)
Game 1: I kept a hand of 5 land a Bruna and Linvala. I should of lost. I literally didn't play anything until I resolved Linvala keeping me in the game. He kills Linvala and the token she made. Next turn I resolved Bruna and resolved life gain and the token again. He never recovers.
Game 2: I open a good hand having Languish, Lili and Gideon. I wipe his board and kept swinging with Gideon.He was stuck on 4 lands I take the game pretty easy.
Round 3 Bant with no CoCo (2-0)
Game 1: We both kept some really awful hands. He kept a 1 lander of a mulligan to 5 and I kept a hand at 6 with double swamp and no real plays. I actually saw land way before he hits 3 mana. I resolved a Gisela then a Sorin. He buys time with Reflector mage and resolves a Gideon that I Path'ed before it started swinging on me. I get a Lancer and search Bruna. He concedes before I get to user her.
SB: -2 Hallowed Moonlight -1 Ruinous Path +1 Transgress the Mind +2 Dead Weight
Game 2: he keeps a bad hand at mulligan 6. I kept a great hand of three lands with Lili, Languish and Read the Bones at Mulligan 6. I see a Transgress the Mind on my first draw and I rip a Gideon. Then I saw a second Transgress and hit a Summary. By third turn I didn't see a land so I Read the Bones. My scry was double Ultimate Price I kept one Price and draw a land. I drew a third Transgress the following turn and rip a Avacyn. I am controlling the game with spot removal, I Unmaking a Tracker dodging a Selfless Spirit. I play a Lili that i saw later he tries to Spell Quellar that I Grasp of Darkness which once again dodged Selfless Spirit. I force him to sac Selfless with Lili. I eventually fully resolve Brisla with a Sorin on the field. After killing another Avacyn and a Gideon he concedes.
Round 4 Temur Emerge with Delirium (2-0)
Game 1: We weren't very interactive at first. With Grapple with the Past he find a Ishkanah, Grafwidow and later a Emarkul. He resolves the Ishkanah and I Path it. I am killing spider tokens with Gisela. He kills Gisela and a Lancer that searched Bruna with Kozilek's Return when he plays an Wretched Gryff. He later resolves Emrakul. My hand was lands a Bruna, double Languish. He wastes my Languish and passes turn. I top deck Ob and I kill Emrakul. After I resolve a Kalitas and a Lili, he concedes shortly after.
SB -4 Languish -2 Ultimate Price -1 Lancer +4 Duress +1 Transgress the Mind +2 Gideon
Game 2: He spends the early turns filling his graveyard. I hit a Deep Fiend with a Transgress and found he pretty much just had ramp spells. I resolved a Gideon on turn 4. I beat him down with a Kalitas and Gideon and he concedes only having land in hand.
The main thing I take away from this is I need two more Gideon and I don't mind him in sideboard. Lancers are pretty legit but I still not a fan of seeing them early. I should probably be playing the Walker version of this but Angels are fun.
So with all the Zombie decks running around, and co-co still being a thing, and Emrakul not phased by instants is Dec in stone a viable option in SB or Descend into the sinful(?)?. I am playing the PW version for the most part, but I slipped a duo of Dec in stone in the SB and they have been absolutely awesome so far. I have been siding -3 languish, +1 Descend, +2 dec in stone vs the zombie decks and paired with Infinite Obliteration they have nearly 0 chance of winning post board. I have hit 3 sylvan advocates more than once now with a single Declaration against co-co. Our games against zombies aren't that bad anyway, but I feel like these cards are making it easy mode. And they are still relevant against a lot of decks. Just curious as to how everyone feels about it.
Zombies have a big weakness in boardwipes, so they don't have a great match up against us. Personally I might look into Stasis Snare for Emrakul decks. It's the only playable instant speed removal for her and can be useful against Delirium/Emerge creatures since they are very unlikely to be packing enchantment removal.
It comes down to if you're running the angel package also. I didn't care about UR when I had Gisela, Linvala, and Kalitas on top of the manlands, Blessed Alliance, and Sorin.
Went 2-2 at FNM. Disappointed to lose 2-0 to UR and gutted to lose 1-0 in the final round to BW Vampire lifegain mid-range brew.
Really finding 2 X Anguished Unmaking and 3 X Read the Bones to be a burden in the main deck in the opening game against these decks that chip away so quickly at my life total. They have the means to remove or counter my lifelink creatures so it feels like an uphill battle.
I'm bringing in Orbs of Warding, Declaration in Stone and adding a Blessed Alliance.
Went 2-2 at FNM. Disappointed to lose 2-0 to UR and gutted to lose 1-0 in the final round to BW Vampire lifegain mid-range brew.
Really finding 2 X Anguished Unmaking and 3 X Read the Bones to be a burden in the main deck in the opening game against these decks that chip away so quickly at my life total. They have the means to remove or counter my lifelink creatures so it feels like an uphill battle.
I'm bringing in Orbs of Warding, Declaration in Stone and adding a Blessed Alliance.
Also putting 4 X Gideon back into the main deck.
There is ALOT of variation to BW control, don't be too upset with yourself. UR machinegun is a really hard match up for us and bad draws can easily put u behind vs vampires.
This is what I'm running now. The only real pummeling I've taken in the last month was to a mill deck at gameday. I am really loving the consistency of the mana base over the utility lands occasionally being useful. Oath of Liliana pretty much turns all your walkers into gideon with a 2/2 blocker up. I opened two Lili's or I might not run her in this build, but just marching up to ultimate and winning two or three games an event is very powerful.
I know this has been asked already, but i'd like more opinions and deeper discussion on the pro's and con's of the PW and angels build. I've only recently made the switch to b/w control, going 2-2 on my first gameday with it (could've been 3-1, but made a noob play error on game 3). My loss was against a top heavy g/b delirium. I took the PW version, +2 Kalitas. I've only had a chance to playtest with a similar list to Tbuzzsaw's maybe 10 games casual with a friend. What matchups are favorable and unfavorable for each build and why? I'm thinking about the pw package -1 gideon, and a creature package of 2 lancers, 2 kalitas, and 1 linvala. Also considering avacyn as a tutor target, basically telling my opponent that you're gonna have to remove my lancer next turn, or deal with it twice.
Also, how has secure the wastes been? Noticed more and more lists dropping it. I would run 4 giddy for sure, but I remember entreat the angels fairly well so not sure how 1/1's or 2/2's would be ><
I would run Angels if your meta has a lot of UR Fevered Visions or aggressive decks. The Oath/PW list is better positioned across the board though with no really good match ups, just solid ones.
Secure the Wastes I think can be run as a one of in some lists since Virulent Plague is at a low in people's sideboard. It's not the best against Bant but it's pretty decent against anything else, especially if you're deciding to run a copy of Westvale Abbey.
I think the problem with Ormendhal is that everyone is geared up for an Emrakul and most of those answers deal with him as well. I can't tell you how many times my opponent has mentioned how useless Dromoka's Command is against a creatureless deck.
I have a very varied meta, so I'm still unsure on the creature package. I might try secure the Wastes, or dark salvation. I'm kind of liking the lancers with Kalitas.
Honestly I feel like the deck picked up a ton of strength. Languish hit so much at a point, and it was the all-star of the deck. However, some Fumigate and Planar outburst are solid.
Some of the big wins for the deck:
Dromoka's command going away means that Stasis Snare becomes a viable answer all--especially with delerium/graveyard strategies being so prominent.
A lot of good creature removal rotated out. Kalitas is a monster if you can keep him on the board. Roast and Ultimate Price, Dromoka's command, etc. I feel like the individual removal has gotten less efficient. Red is going to have to rely on Collective defiance, or the new energy card. Black will always have options, and Murder certainly does the job, but I feel like we may see him stick a little longer.
Harsh Scrutiny is STUPID good. A single black to take away their best creature? Definitely worth 4 in the sideboard, that will come in more often than not. Goodbye reality smasher, goodbye Emrakul.
The land base takes a smidge of a hit, but you'll deal yourself less damage in a deck that already does it's share.
Also, it'll be interesting to see if ramp is a thing with vegetation rotating out. Hopefully less world breaker.
I agree. I have already swapped Read the Bones for Succumb to Temptation and Ultimate Price for Murder just to get a feel for things. I really think we will be in good shape until all the OP planeswalkers and grasp rotate.
- Counters are only in the side when you know what you're up against. Counterspells are bad in an unknown meta, but removals are still good. The deck is still more of a proactive deck than a reactive one.
- Dovin Baan helps support the deck in both his modes and serves as Gideon #5 after an Oath of Liliana. Dovin is not amazing, but he is very solid when you have others backing him up because he will do work for everyone else.
- I'm playing around with Aether Hub as a source of all three colors that come in untapped, which is why I'm playing Live Fast as my card draw. I'm still playing around with the mana base so I doubt this is the final result of how my lands will look.
- Flaying Tendrils are mostly for zombie decks. The cards you want to exile are all 2 toughness or less and their zombie tokens also.
- Aerial Responder takes really good care of aggro decks and defends your PWs from pesky flyers. Not only do they survive Flaying Tendrils (they normally get sided in together), but your opponents would have likely sided out removal since there are practically no creatures in the main.
Only thing I would suggest is run Glimmer of Genius over Live Fast. You don't take damage and it is at instant speed.
You're not the first to suggest that but I don't like the idea. I want to use turn 3 to set up my plays for 4 and 5. I want to be playing my walkers by 4. I NEED card draw at 2 or 3 (settling with 3). The difference between 3 and 4 CMC is huge in this deck when you want to be playing certain cards on curve, not to mention it throws off the curve itself by being too top heavy.
Hi all.. what do you guys think of playing 2 x noxious gearhhulk? Seems like a good card overall that goes with what we want to do. I have also been testing the filigree familiar. He is very easy to cast and provides an early blocker/life gain/ and a card vs aggro decks. Both creatures are good Lili targets also. I also tested the white gearhulk but was not impressed...
I agree that Kalitas seems better right now with all the rotation of UP and Dromoka's command. How many do you think is the right number MD ? 2 MD + 1 SB?
So far my PW suite is 2 x lili, 4 x gideon, 2 x ob, 2 x sorin. I would love a 3rd lili MD but.. seems to underperform without too many creatures in the eck (still great as a stall and wincon though).
I have started using aether hub + live fast as card draw. They replace the caves of koilos and the new concealed graveyard can replace the forsaken sanctuary. In this way the turn 2 grasp of darkness is almost never a problem.
The SB: I have tested Gonti from the SB...he is excellent vs other control decks..against aggro not so much for his 4 mana but vs control...he is a beast. Another card that one has to play right now I think is at least 2 copies of flaying tendrils.. some fast aggro will be around for sure. Also, the 3 x Call the bloodline must be there...I think UR thermo things with new chandra will be all over the place.
Good luck to you all.
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The meta at my LGS is a lot like what we saw at the Pro Tour - Delirium, Temur Emerge, Bant... The quarterfinal and semifinal of Game Day I played against Temur Emerge that brought Reality Smasher in against me. With the meta as it is, I already had boarded Infinite Obliteration to hit Emrakul, The Promised End.
After seeing Reality Smasher in his had, that was the target for Obliteration if I got it early enough in the following games, which luckily, I did.
I think the Obliteration against an early Smasher is huge, and you'll likely be bringing in Transgress the Mind against decks that are casting it.
I apologize if I just stated the obvious... but I think both Smasher and TKS can be an issue, but a good board helps.
UW Flash
BW Angels
I won the Swiss going 2-0, 2-1 then ID into the top 4. Oddly, the top was entirely made up of B/W. So it came down to who saw the most of their removal and discard.
I lost in the semi 2-1. In the first two games we each had a game of drawing multiple discard and thus managing to stick a threat. In the decider I kept a five lander. Don't ask me why - I can't explain. Of course he took it to bits with a duress and a transgress. I then drew more land while he got Gideon on line and finished me.
Variance sucks sometimes, but what can you do.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
Gilt-Leaf Winnower has been quite good for me in the Bant-CoCo matchup. Can't be quelled and kills Spell Queller. Doesn't hit Sylvan Advocate and Nissa, Vastwood Seer (Elfs) but with the help of Liliana, the Last Hope can kill even creatures with same power/toughness. The bonus Menace was also more relevant than I thought it would be.
Erebos's Titan dodges Languish and played on an empty board gave my opponents trouble. Had also some nice blowouts where I killed my opponents creature in response to his removal. Used the return from graveyard function also tho he got exiled a lot. Was strong in the B/W mirror.
Warping Wail let's you win against Demonic Pact in style by countering Harmless Offering. Can't be transgressed and if you think you run into Demonic Pact decks could be worth 1 sideboard slot. Especially if you run Dark Petition to tutor it. Had never problems casting it with 6 colorless sources. Winning this way was very satisfying.
2 Lantern Scout in the SB proved to be very valuable against Izzet burn and other aggressive decks. Paired with Gideon attack it was often enough to put me out of harms way.
Tragic Arrogance disappointed me. Just didn't have many situations where the card was a win for me. Can't recommend.
Tried 4 Relentless Dead for a more aggressive approach. Cut some discard and removal for them. T2 on the play pretty much guaranteed me 4-6 damage and as long as I kept a B opponents didn't care to remove them. But doing 2 a turn just wasn't good enough. Relentless Dead is no Sylvan Advocat.
Archangel of Tithes didn't convince me either. If your plan is to ult Lili or Ob Nixilis and if you run Oath of Gideon then maybe it's helpful to slow down your opponent. I kept her back most of the time. We just don't run enough creatures to make good use of her as I think she's more powerful on the attack. Also the WWW was tough in a deck that is heavy on black.
1 Thalia's Lancers
1 Bruna, the Fading Light
2 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Linvala, the Preserver
Spells
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
2 Anguished Unmaking
3 Grasp of Darkness
1 Ultimate Price
4 Transgress the Mind
1 Planar Outburst
3 Languish
3 Read the Bones
2 Ruinous Path
5 Plains
8 Swamp
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Forsaken Sanctuary
4 Shambling Vent
1 Geier Reach Sanitarium
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
1 Bruna, the Fading Light
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Orbs of Warding
2 Infinite Obliteration
1 Dark Petition
1 Murder
1 Anguished Unmaking
1 Planar Outburst
3 Duress
I find it hard to give up on Angels now that UR Fevered Visions is a thing and was everywhere tonight. I'm keeping some of the creatures at the bare minimum to still work the way I want while moving onto the PW build. I feel much better against other midrange and control now, but I feel it's pretty meh against Bant.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
The two changes are -1 grasp, -1 swamp, +1 Blighted Fen, +1 Oath of Liliana.
Round one was against UB zombies. He couldn't keep a creature in play for long and could only answer the first flyer I dropped. Thalia's Lancers were awesome here. I could see his shoulders droop when I played Bruna, which in turn brought Lancers to the field from the graveyard, which in turn gave me Gisella from the library. He conceded quickly after that. I do find I tend to fetch Livana most often with Lancers - so good against aggro.
Round two was against a three colour version of UG crush. For the first 35 minutes of the round we just cancelled each other's threats out, but mine had more depth and I gradually gained the upper hand. The turning point came when I exiled his one Emrakul with transgress and all his sylvan advocates with infinite obliteration. This left him cycling den protectors and pulses to keep his life total above zero. His mistake was not realising sooner that he could not win. So, when he did concede there was not enough time to finish a second game and I took it 1-0.
Round three was against my own son playing Bant Coco. He overwhelmed me with double coco in the first round, but everything went right for me in the second as I caught him with coco in hand with a transgress and languished away an overcommitted battlefield before sticking Kalitas. In the third game he got all he needed and I had to mulligan to five to find more than one land in my opening hand. He finished me fairly quickly, 2-1.
The fourth round was against WR humans. We should win this and I did, but only 2-1 as his second round draw was nuts. I started with a three land hand but didn't get the fourth until turn four. By then I was facing lethal damage from his next attack and even though I had languish in hand I could not play it as the land drawn was CITP tapped - shambling vents. Aargh!
Going forward I have little desire to change the deck. Perhaps in the sideboard the dark petition could be a third Kalitas and I'd like to find a way for the fourth grasp of darkness to be in the 75. Otherwise all is good.
Round 1 UR Burn (1-2)
Game 1: He resolves a turn 4 Fervor Visions and stalled out my turn 3 Lili with burn. My Gisela gets exiled and I am pretty sure he burns my Kalitas as well. I almost recovered but he countered my Linvala and I died to Visions a couple of turns after.
SB: -2 Languish -2 Hallowed Moonlight -2 Ruinous Path -1 Emrakul +1 Transgress the Mind +4 Duress +2 Gideon
Game 2: He never sees Visions and I think I resolve a Gideon which never gets answered. Nothing much happened aside from killing the few creatures he did play.
Game 3: I hit him with a Transgress and I see 2 Visions in hand, I hit one. He resolves a Visions on turn 3. Long story short he gets me down pretty low but resolves a second Visions and re-fills his hand with lethal burn damage.
I really wish I kept Orbs of Warding in my side board but honestly if I saw my Unmaking I think I would of been fine.
Round 2 G/R Werewolves (2-0)
Game 1: I kept a hand of 5 land a Bruna and Linvala. I should of lost. I literally didn't play anything until I resolved Linvala keeping me in the game. He kills Linvala and the token she made. Next turn I resolved Bruna and resolved life gain and the token again. He never recovers.
SB: -2 Hallowed Moonlight -1 Emrakul +2 Dead Weight +1 Gideon
Game 2: I open a good hand having Languish, Lili and Gideon. I wipe his board and kept swinging with Gideon.He was stuck on 4 lands I take the game pretty easy.
Round 3 Bant with no CoCo (2-0)
Game 1: We both kept some really awful hands. He kept a 1 lander of a mulligan to 5 and I kept a hand at 6 with double swamp and no real plays. I actually saw land way before he hits 3 mana. I resolved a Gisela then a Sorin. He buys time with Reflector mage and resolves a Gideon that I Path'ed before it started swinging on me. I get a Lancer and search Bruna. He concedes before I get to user her.
SB: -2 Hallowed Moonlight -1 Ruinous Path +1 Transgress the Mind +2 Dead Weight
Game 2: he keeps a bad hand at mulligan 6. I kept a great hand of three lands with Lili, Languish and Read the Bones at Mulligan 6. I see a Transgress the Mind on my first draw and I rip a Gideon. Then I saw a second Transgress and hit a Summary. By third turn I didn't see a land so I Read the Bones. My scry was double Ultimate Price I kept one Price and draw a land. I drew a third Transgress the following turn and rip a Avacyn. I am controlling the game with spot removal, I Unmaking a Tracker dodging a Selfless Spirit. I play a Lili that i saw later he tries to Spell Quellar that I Grasp of Darkness which once again dodged Selfless Spirit. I force him to sac Selfless with Lili. I eventually fully resolve Brisla with a Sorin on the field. After killing another Avacyn and a Gideon he concedes.
Round 4 Temur Emerge with Delirium (2-0)
Game 1: We weren't very interactive at first. With Grapple with the Past he find a Ishkanah, Grafwidow and later a Emarkul. He resolves the Ishkanah and I Path it. I am killing spider tokens with Gisela. He kills Gisela and a Lancer that searched Bruna with Kozilek's Return when he plays an Wretched Gryff. He later resolves Emrakul. My hand was lands a Bruna, double Languish. He wastes my Languish and passes turn. I top deck Ob and I kill Emrakul. After I resolve a Kalitas and a Lili, he concedes shortly after.
SB -4 Languish -2 Ultimate Price -1 Lancer +4 Duress +1 Transgress the Mind +2 Gideon
Game 2: He spends the early turns filling his graveyard. I hit a Deep Fiend with a Transgress and found he pretty much just had ramp spells. I resolved a Gideon on turn 4. I beat him down with a Kalitas and Gideon and he concedes only having land in hand.
The main thing I take away from this is I need two more Gideon and I don't mind him in sideboard. Lancers are pretty legit but I still not a fan of seeing them early. I should probably be playing the Walker version of this but Angels are fun.
Zombies have a big weakness in boardwipes, so they don't have a great match up against us. Personally I might look into Stasis Snare for Emrakul decks. It's the only playable instant speed removal for her and can be useful against Delirium/Emerge creatures since they are very unlikely to be packing enchantment removal.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
It comes down to if you're running the angel package also. I didn't care about UR when I had Gisela, Linvala, and Kalitas on top of the manlands, Blessed Alliance, and Sorin.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
Really finding 2 X Anguished Unmaking and 3 X Read the Bones to be a burden in the main deck in the opening game against these decks that chip away so quickly at my life total. They have the means to remove or counter my lifelink creatures so it feels like an uphill battle.
I'm bringing in Orbs of Warding, Declaration in Stone and adding a Blessed Alliance.
Also putting 4 X Gideon back into the main deck.
There is ALOT of variation to BW control, don't be too upset with yourself. UR machinegun is a really hard match up for us and bad draws can easily put u behind vs vampires.
Gideons are a good idea.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
Also, how has secure the wastes been? Noticed more and more lists dropping it. I would run 4 giddy for sure, but I remember entreat the angels fairly well so not sure how 1/1's or 2/2's would be ><
Secure the Wastes I think can be run as a one of in some lists since Virulent Plague is at a low in people's sideboard. It's not the best against Bant but it's pretty decent against anything else, especially if you're deciding to run a copy of Westvale Abbey.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
Maybe something like
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Sorin, grim nemesis
2 Ob nixilis Reignited
2 Thalia's lancers
1 Archangel Avacyn
I dunno yet. Has there been discussion on damnable pact, and quarantine field ?
1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
1x Blighted Fen
4x Concealed Courtyard
4x Forsaken Sanctuary
4x Shambling Vent
4x Plains
8x Swamp
2x Filigree Familiar
3x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
3x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1x Noxious Gearhulk
Spells
4x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3x Liliana, the Last Hope
2x Ob Nixilis Reignited
2x Sorin, Grim Nemesis
4x Grasp of Darkness
1x Blessed Alliance
2x Succumb to Temptation
2x Ruinous Path
1x Descend Upon the Sinful
3x Transgress the Mind
1x Anguished Unmaking
Some of the big wins for the deck:
Dromoka's command going away means that Stasis Snare becomes a viable answer all--especially with delerium/graveyard strategies being so prominent.
A lot of good creature removal rotated out. Kalitas is a monster if you can keep him on the board. Roast and Ultimate Price, Dromoka's command, etc. I feel like the individual removal has gotten less efficient. Red is going to have to rely on Collective defiance, or the new energy card. Black will always have options, and Murder certainly does the job, but I feel like we may see him stick a little longer.
Harsh Scrutiny is STUPID good. A single black to take away their best creature? Definitely worth 4 in the sideboard, that will come in more often than not. Goodbye reality smasher, goodbye Emrakul.
The land base takes a smidge of a hit, but you'll deal yourself less damage in a deck that already does it's share.
Also, it'll be interesting to see if ramp is a thing with vegetation rotating out. Hopefully less world breaker.
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
Spells
2 Dovin Baan
3 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Sorin, Grim Nemesis
3 Fumigate
3 Oath of Liliana
4 Grasp of Darkness
2 Blessed Alliance
4 Live Fast
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Ruinous Path
2 Transgress the Mind
4 Evolving Wilds
3 Aether Hub
3 Concealed Courtyard
4 Shambling Vent
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Prairie Stream
4 Plains
5 Swamp
1 Island
3 Aerial Responder
2 Flaying Tendrils
2 Negate
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Transgress the Mind
2 Lost Legacy
1 Anguished Unmaking
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
- Counters are only in the side when you know what you're up against. Counterspells are bad in an unknown meta, but removals are still good. The deck is still more of a proactive deck than a reactive one.
- Dovin Baan helps support the deck in both his modes and serves as Gideon #5 after an Oath of Liliana. Dovin is not amazing, but he is very solid when you have others backing him up because he will do work for everyone else.
- I'm playing around with Aether Hub as a source of all three colors that come in untapped, which is why I'm playing Live Fast as my card draw. I'm still playing around with the mana base so I doubt this is the final result of how my lands will look.
- Flaying Tendrils are mostly for zombie decks. The cards you want to exile are all 2 toughness or less and their zombie tokens also.
- Aerial Responder takes really good care of aggro decks and defends your PWs from pesky flyers. Not only do they survive Flaying Tendrils (they normally get sided in together), but your opponents would have likely sided out removal since there are practically no creatures in the main.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
You're not the first to suggest that but I don't like the idea. I want to use turn 3 to set up my plays for 4 and 5. I want to be playing my walkers by 4. I NEED card draw at 2 or 3 (settling with 3). The difference between 3 and 4 CMC is huge in this deck when you want to be playing certain cards on curve, not to mention it throws off the curve itself by being too top heavy.
Standard: BG Golgari Midrange
Modern: U Merfolk GWUBR 5 Color Humans UBW Esper Gifts GW Bogles
I agree that Kalitas seems better right now with all the rotation of UP and Dromoka's command. How many do you think is the right number MD ? 2 MD + 1 SB?
So far my PW suite is 2 x lili, 4 x gideon, 2 x ob, 2 x sorin. I would love a 3rd lili MD but.. seems to underperform without too many creatures in the eck (still great as a stall and wincon though).
I have started using aether hub + live fast as card draw. They replace the caves of koilos and the new concealed graveyard can replace the forsaken sanctuary. In this way the turn 2 grasp of darkness is almost never a problem.
The SB: I have tested Gonti from the SB...he is excellent vs other control decks..against aggro not so much for his 4 mana but vs control...he is a beast. Another card that one has to play right now I think is at least 2 copies of flaying tendrils.. some fast aggro will be around for sure. Also, the 3 x Call the bloodline must be there...I think UR thermo things with new chandra will be all over the place.
Good luck to you all.