I'm pretty happy w/ it so far, I just need to finish up my sideboard and figure out what I need in it. I haven't lost a game yet against my friends....then again they aren't running "higher end" decks either lol.
Primarily I know I should probably change out Bonds of Faith for something for tournament play (got one coming up Saturday!!! will be my first too!!!), I'm in between Act of Aggression and Ruthless Invasion.
Also I've found Contested War Zone to be a great card to use instead of Gavony Township, def going to be adding at least 1 more when I get the trade for it.
-2 Act of Aggression, -1 Elite Vanguard +1 each of the Swords. The swords have been huge for me since adding them. They have won me many games. I am still wondering if Doomed Traveler should replace my Elite Vanguards. Flying swords after a wrath would be huge. I still plan on trying them out. I haven't really changed much in my SB since I first built this deck. Creeping Corrosion seems like a dead card vs most of the decks I've played. Nevermoreseems questionable too. Another Dismember and 2 Naturalize might replace em. We'll see after more testing. Thoughts/suggestions welcome! Thanks
Jamie
Edit: -3 Elite Vanguard +3 Doomed Traveler. Love the change.
Cards which I have begrudgingly removed (and own playsets of) include... Mentor of the Meek (just not that practical) Gideon's Lawkeeper (works well sometimes but is too situational) Elite Vanguard (opted to include Champion of the Parish instead) Honor of the Pure (still think it should be in there but don't have the room) Sword of Feast and Famine & Sword of War and Peace (only own one of each - opted to replace with Angelic Destiny) Sun Titan (nice, but by the time I get around to casting it, if I'm not already winning, it's usually too late anyways.) Adaptive Automaton (removed for Bladehold) Hamlet Captain (a nice quasi-lord but I hadn't benefitted enough from it to consider it worth while)
Also, I'd like to include 2 more Purify the Grave in the sideboard, and was thinking about removing the planeswalkers. As of now I have 1 offs of each in the deck and then 1 more of each in the sideboard, to be replaced in between rounds as necessary, but I've found that Gideon is ultimately way more useful than Elspeth over 50% of the time, and I'm thinking about pulling Elspeth and replacing her with Gideon (2x in the maindeck) and then replacing the sideboard slots with either Purify the Grave or Nihil Spellbomb.
I've put it in a few standard tourneys/FNM (in slightly different forms) and, like everyone else's, when it works it's pretty sick, but it will almost always lose against long-game control decks and quite frankly, I don't know how to better equip it to deal with that, other than putting in Kessig Cagebreakers (which has ended games on turn 6 after a turn 4 DoJ) and potentially fiend huntering one of my own Bladehold/Mirran Crusader if I know DoJ is on the horizon. Putting in a few Nevermores for DoJ, Snapcaster, Mana Leak etc. as the situation demands is, I suppose, a possibility.
I also had the crazy idea after I opened a Liliana the other day of maybe pulling one of the pilgrims for a Birds of Paradise & maybe 2 plains and 2 sunpetal groves for 4 Isolated Chapels and throwing her in but that's probably a bridge too far... if it worked, though, I imagine it would be pretty sick.
Thoughts? I'm back into magic as of M12 after a 10+ year hiatus, so my deck building is pretty rusty.
Cards which I have begrudgingly removed (and own playsets of) include... Mentor of the Meek (just not that practical) Gideon's Lawkeeper (works well sometimes but is too situational) Elite Vanguard (opted to include Champion of the Parish instead) Honor of the Pure (still think it should be in there but don't have the room) Sword of Feast and Famine & Sword of War and Peace (only own one of each - opted to replace with Angelic Destiny) Sun Titan (nice, but by the time I get around to casting it, if I'm not already winning, it's usually too late anyways.) Adaptive Automaton (removed for Bladehold) Hamlet Captain (a nice quasi-lord but I hadn't benefitted enough from it to consider it worth while)
Also, I'd like to include 2 more Purify the Grave in the sideboard, and was thinking about removing the planeswalkers. As of now I have 1 offs of each in the deck and then 1 more of each in the sideboard, to be replaced in between rounds as necessary, but I've found that Gideon is ultimately way more useful than Elspeth over 50% of the time, and I'm thinking about pulling Elspeth and replacing her with Gideon (2x in the maindeck) and then replacing the sideboard slots with either Purify the Grave or Nihil Spellbomb.
I've put it in a few standard tourneys/FNM (in slightly different forms) and, like everyone else's, when it works it's pretty sick, but it will almost always lose against long-game control decks and quite frankly, I don't know how to better equip it to deal with that, other than putting in Kessig Cagebreakers (which has ended games on turn 6 after a turn 4 DoJ) and potentially fiend huntering one of my own Bladehold/Mirran Crusader if I know DoJ is on the horizon. Putting in a few Nevermores for DoJ, Snapcaster, Mana Leak etc. as the situation demands is, I suppose, a possibility.
I also had the crazy idea after I opened a Liliana the other day of maybe pulling one of the pilgrims for a Birds of Paradise & maybe 2 plains and 2 sunpetal groves for 4 Isolated Chapels and throwing her in but that's probably a bridge too far... if it worked, though, I imagine it would be pretty sick.
Thoughts? I'm back into magic as of M12 after a 10+ year hiatus, so my deck building is pretty rusty.
Welcome back! First thing I notice is the Elite Inquisitor. I subbed them in for my 3 Hamlet Captains just to try, and in the 2 drop spot the Captain is way more versatile. To be able to pump that extra few points of damage in can sometimes make the difference. Grand Abolisher should be a 3-of in the maindeck...lowest I would go is 2. It's crucial against control decks. I would take out the Blade splicer for it, but that's just me :P. I would drop Elspeth and an Angelic Destiny in the MD for a Sword of W&P and F&F. I just recently added them to my build and I have had a TON of success. Doomed Traveler has been awesome since testing out in some matches on Cockatrice today. Being able to survive a Day and then Equip a sword and fly over for the win is amazing. Just my 2 cents!
Round One Vs. Wolf Run Ramp(Win 2-1, 1-0 overall)
Was blown out game one. I kept a 6 land hand wasn't to intelligent. Game 2 applied constant pressure and Mirran Crusader sealed it up. Game3 Sword of war and peace and Crusader went unanswered Naturalize on Inkmonth sealed the game.
Round Two Vs. Mono Black(2-0, 2-0 overall)
Game one 2 Diregraf Ghoul was on the board I hand a 3/3 Champion and a flipped Mayor. He double blocked Killed Mayor. Mirran Crusader came down and sealed it up. Game 2 Champion and 2 Hamlet Captains gave all the pressure i needed.
Round Three Vs. U/B control(2-0, 3-0 overall)
Game one I applied constant pressure and forced him to answer them. Pumped Crusader with Gavony Township ended it. Game 2 had him down to 2 he Blacksuned, end of his turn I beast within one of my lands equip sword and swing for the win.
Round Four Vs. Bant Pod(2-1, 4-0 overall)
Game one he ramps a titan out fast as I didn't see the cards i needed(should have took a mulligan). Game 2 Champion and a Mayor slowed down his ramp and he was forced to block, Hamlet Captain sealed it. Game 3 i Kept a 2 Champion and pilgram hand. Turn 3 Crusader he had no answers for.
Round Five Vs. U/B control Draw split 4-0-1 overall
We were both undefeated so we took the split and called it a day.
Overall I felt the deck had answers for this environment. With so much green being played Mirran Crusader is very hard to deal with. Hero of Blade hold never saw great action. I will be moving to a one hero and putting in 2 Garruk Relentless. With a flipped Mayor and Garruk putting out wolfs and Mayor pumping them seems like a ok idea.
Sideboard - Celestial purge was great for the black match-ups. I never found a great time to put in Abolisher and he is coming out of the board. I added Tree of Redemption and Mentor of the Meek for the eventual red match ups. Melira, Sylvok Outcast for help againts the Blacksun. Also didn't find Purify the Grave all that exciting.
Travel Preparations is moderately useful against RDW, Illusions and W/x Aggro since it makes your guys bigger for cheap. That said, I wouldn't run more than 1 in my whole 75.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast seems like Secret Technologies. UB is the hottest control deck in the format currently and those that don't splash W for DoJ are primarily relying upon Black Sun's Zenith to wipe their boards. This chick handles that pretty well apparently. AND MBI will have a problem with her too no doubt; at least she will buy us enough time to get in there with Mirran Crusader et. al.
I don't know about Creeping Corrosion. I think Naturalize is the way to go, honestly. I like 4 in my sideboard but that eats a lot of slots. -Processing-
Leonin Relic-Warder seems good too, except when they kill him they get their stuffs back.
I like Melira as well (although my opinion doesnt count much here xD) I found it better for the anti-infect (my friends all use infect decks so i was already using her ._.)
I am testing Thrun the last troll right now mainly becuase he can be regenerated and his hexproof ability (its more of a defensive card and we are aggro, but its nice to have a shield with your sword)
Leonin Relic-warder is workign amazingly well, they do get it back if he leaves the field but it is the same thing with fiend-hunter i was playing sucha hard aggro that they never really got the chance to hit warder I think he is a card we need to test abit.
I would also like to say that Victories Herald is amazing in this deck. Everytime i cast her it was GG or Scoop. if you havent won by the turn you cast her you generally will win when you cast her. Lifelink +flying for your supped up champion of the parish mayor and hamlet captian which are already supped up from gavony? it was devastation
Welcome back! First thing I notice is the Elite Inquisitor. I subbed them in for my 3 Hamlet Captains just to try, and in the 2 drop spot the Captain is way more versatile. To be able to pump that extra few points of damage in can sometimes make the difference. Grand Abolisher should be a 3-of in the maindeck...lowest I would go is 2. It's crucial against control decks. I would take out the Blade splicer for it, but that's just me :P. I would drop Elspeth and an Angelic Destiny in the MD for a Sword of W&P and F&F. I just recently added them to my build and I have had a TON of success. Doomed Traveler has been awesome since testing out in some matches on Cockatrice today. Being able to survive a Day and then Equip a sword and fly over for the win is amazing. Just my 2 cents!
Good ideas... doomed traveller is one that I've been debating about putting in for a while now - but I've never quite figured out what to take out in order to include it, and it's sort of hard to play with inasmuch as in general you want to chump with it ASAP, but if you know a DoJ is coming you generally want it to just sit there... I once had someone doom blade the traveller and then DOJ the entire board and it left me screwed. The swords are awesome too (if a bit expensive!), but there are a lot of shatter effects in the new standard that can take the sword out of commission very quickly. Also, the inclusion of the swords would mean removing Creeping Corrosion from the sideboard and replacing it with revoke existence or something, but that's actually probably not a bad idea anyways.
I will definitely try hamlet captain in place of Elite Inquisitor. Thanks for the tips
I thought we had deemed Gitaxiton Probe a sub-par card in our decks. Did something change that I missed?
I still think it's a pretty sweet card, i side it out v aggro as i don't really care what they have but v UB and Wolfrun to know whether they have a Slagstorm/BSZ/Dismember/etc in hand is very nice.
That said i had considered dropping it for either a 3 of Accorder.
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I'm not sold on Accorder Paladin, but a lot of people seem to be running it. The 1 toughness just really turns me off; I'd be really hesitant to drop him without a Lord in play.
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Standard T2
:symr::symw:Humans:symw::symr:
4-1-0
:symb::symg:Pod:symg::symb:
19-6-0
I was sold the second i saw him 3/1 for and the ability to power up others is something i cant see not using even though its 1 toughness the 3 stregnth is pretty aweomse
maybe take out some avacyn's pilgrims and forest? it just seems you could do more with the spots for pilgrim
I would've said the opposite, with Garruk, Overseer and Sword i'd be dropping sunpetal to 3 for 5 forests to make sure you get turn 1 pilgrim everytime...
Curious as to the Overseer change over Destiny, alot of enchant hate in your meta or?
Have been wanting to try Sword of X and Y in place of Destiny, just the fact that Destiny clutches out games so fast and sword takes two turns makes me hesitant.
I would've said the opposite, with Garruk, Overseer and Sword i'd be dropping sunpetal to 3 for 5 forests to make sure you get turn 1 pilgrim everytime...
Curious as to the Overseer change over Destiny, alot of enchant hate in your meta or?
Have been wanting to try Sword of X and Y in place of Destiny, just the fact that Destiny clutches out games so fast and sword takes two turns makes me hesitant.
Destiny is good, but 2-for-1s hurt this deck. Our card quality is not high and our virtual CA is really low. 2 cards going to the bin for us in one turn is just bad. We don't have good draw spells. Even if it only happens once in a while, it's awful. I used Destiny for a long time and sometimes it sat in my hand. At 4 cmc I would rather have Garruk.
In fact, the only thing we have for VCA is Nevermore. But damn do I hate to waste spots on that just for DoJ and Slagstorm. But I guess it's a change I might be willing to make if things get bad enough, because Lead the Stampede...well there just isn't room for it.
Swords have their advantages. In a vacuum I am dropping and equipping them T4 or T5 to avoid my opponent preparing for the equip by holding back instant-speed removal.
Garruk is nuttier than squirrel poop. He bolts, makes guys, and allows us to alpha strike, which makes him a different and cheaper Gideon Jura. He is also a superb way to recover from sweepers since he makes mans in both his modes. Even if in a particular game he just turns out to be an enchantment for 3G that makes a 2/2 every turn, I'm happy. And with a flipped Mayor he's even better.
As for -1 Sunpetal Grove and +1 Forest...you may be right. But ideally I am dropping a threat on T1, not a mana dork. So far this strategy has worked out fine. My Pilgrims I usually drop T2 or T3 but every hand is different. I will see how Thursday goes and make changes from there.
In trying to sideboard vs. Tokens, I have found that Ruthless Invasion works really well. It is proactive (in contrast to, say, Marrow Shards) and allows us to basically ignore what our opponent is doing. I feel like not worrying about killing their guys and instead worrying about getting past them is a smart way to handle their deck.
The reason I like Sword of War and Peace so much is that it turns a 1/1 guy into 4-7 damage with evasion, and a Mirran Crusader into GG. Destiny does this too but is a larger mana commitment and doesn't grant any VCA against any deck at all. SoWaP has another perk in that it grants protection from red and white, which are tied with black for having the most efficient removal.
I foresee situations where my opponent DoJs and I have a Traveler token and a sword on the battlefield. Likely this is GG for most decks, which are likely at >8 by then anyway if we have played our cards right. (Har har harrrr)
Angelic Overseer is formidable, but she is probably the one maindeck card that is currently on my chopping block. She is expensive and the only sweeper she scoffs at is DoJ. Conversely, she does win games. I may go down to 1. I don't know yet.
Destiny is good, but 2-for-1s hurt this deck. Our card quality is not high and our virtual CA is really low. 2 cards going to the bin for us in one turn is just bad. We don't have good draw spells. Even if it only happens once in a while, it's awful. I used Destiny for a long time and sometimes it sat in my hand. At 4 cmc I would rather have Garruk.
In fact, the only thing we have for VCA is Nevermore. But damn do I hate to waste spots on that just for DoJ and Slagstorm. But I guess it's a change I might be willing to make if things get bad enough, because Lead the Stampede...well there just isn't room for it.
Swords have their advantages. In a vacuum I am dropping and equipping them T4 or T5 to avoid my opponent preparing for the equip by holding back instant-speed removal.
Garruk is nuttier than squirrel poop. He bolts, makes guys, and allows us to alpha strike, which makes him a different and cheaper Gideon Jura. He is also a superb way to recover from sweepers since he makes mans in both his modes. Even if in a particular game he just turns out to be an enchantment for 3G that makes a 2/2 every turn, I'm happy. And with a flipped Mayor he's even better.
As for -1 Sunpetal Grove and +1 Forest...you may be right. But ideally I am dropping a threat on T1, not a mana dork. So far this strategy has worked out fine. My Pilgrims I usually drop T2 or T3 but every hand is different. I will see how Thursday goes and make changes from there.
In trying to sideboard vs. Tokens, I have found that Ruthless Invasion works really well. It is proactive (in contrast to, say, Marrow Shards) and allows us to basically ignore what our opponent is doing. I feel like not worrying about killing their guys and instead worrying about getting past them is a smart way to handle their deck.
The reason I like Sword of War and Peace so much is that it turns a 1/1 guy into 4-7 damage with evasion, and a Mirran Crusader into GG. Destiny does this too but is a larger mana commitment and doesn't grant any VCA against any deck at all. SoWaP has another perk in that it grants protection from red and white, which are tied with black for having the most efficient removal.
I foresee situations where my opponent DoJs and I have a Traveler token and a sword on the battlefield. Likely this is GG for most decks, which are likely at >8 by then anyway if we have played our cards right. (Har har harrrr)
Angelic Overseer is formidable, but she is probably the one maindeck card that is currently on my chopping block. She is expensive and the only sweeper she scoffs at is DoJ. Conversely, she does win games. I may go down to 1. I don't know yet.
I'm actually in agreeance with most of what you said, I didn't even consider the Garruk+Mayor synergy, mayor is already an insane threat transformed with Garruk they can win the game together ^^
The sword is also pretty sweet no matter who your facing, thinking back if i had it instead of destiny against the players holding 4-6 cards in hand it would've been all over red rover in a short 2 turns...
Going to run up a list similar to this for thursday night, same sideboard as previous -
Is this from not having them in hand or just not having the right land for it? If the former, very bad luck, if the latter what are you running as your land base?
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I really like that a lot of other people are running swords as well, I find that its really pushing our deck to a more consistent place. My decklist is very similar to a lot of the ones posted here, the only real difference is that I run Thrun instead of the Garruk Relentless. I can see both being good, I just seem to go against a lot of control and once Thrun goes down they have a hard time stopping him. If I manage to attach a sword to him, its pretty much GG as I always leave 2 mana open for the DoJ.
Good deck lists though, I think the direction the deck is moving in is great.
What do you normally side Gideon in against? Do you find the Arbiters to be a big help vs WRR? I've been looking for answers to WRR and I'm thinking that could be the one card to slow them down enough to get in for the win. How has Ruthless Invasion worked out in your SB? Seems good enough to maybe try to fit in my MD. Thanks in advance for your answers!
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Hamlet Captain
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Accorder Paladin
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Elite Vanguard
2 Adaptive Autmaton
2 Angelic Overseer
3 Dismember
2 Bonds of Faith
7 Plains
6 Forest
4 Sunpetal Grove
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Gavony Township
1 Contested War Zone
I'm pretty happy w/ it so far, I just need to finish up my sideboard and figure out what I need in it. I haven't lost a game yet against my friends....then again they aren't running "higher end" decks either lol.
Primarily I know I should probably change out Bonds of Faith for something for tournament play (got one coming up Saturday!!! will be my first too!!!), I'm in between Act of Aggression and Ruthless Invasion.
Also I've found Contested War Zone to be a great card to use instead of Gavony Township, def going to be adding at least 1 more when I get the trade for it.
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Mayor of Avabruck
4x Doomed Traveler
4x Avacyn's Pilgrim
4x Hamlet Captain
3x Grand Abolisher
4x Mirran Crusader
2x Hero of Bladehold
1x Fiend Hunter
3x Oblivion Ring
1x Angelic Destiny
Equipment (2)
2x Sword of War and Peace
Planeswalkers (2)
2x Gideon Jura
Land (22)
4x Razorverge Thicket
4x Sunpetal Grove
2x Gavony Township
7x Plains
5x Forest
2x Ratchet Bomb
3x Fiend Hunter
2x Dismember
4x Celestial Purge
2x Naturalize
2x Act of Aggression
-2 Act of Aggression, -1 Elite Vanguard +1 each of the Swords. The swords have been huge for me since adding them. They have won me many games. I am still wondering if Doomed Traveler should replace my Elite Vanguards. Flying swords after a wrath would be huge. I still plan on trying them out. I haven't really changed much in my SB since I first built this deck. Creeping Corrosion seems like a dead card vs most of the decks I've played. Nevermoreseems questionable too. Another Dismember and 2 Naturalize might replace em. We'll see after more testing. Thoughts/suggestions welcome! Thanks
Jamie
Edit: -3 Elite Vanguard +3 Doomed Traveler. Love the change.
Big shout out to Megabug at Realm of the Bug Studios for the sig!
Standard - GBWJunk in the TrunkWBG
5 Forest
7 Plains
2 Gavony Township
4 Sunpetal Grove (I haven't found this to be a problem)
3 Razorverge Thicket
Creatures
3 Champion of the Parish
3 Birds of Paradise (not humans but useful to offset dismember costs)
3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Elite Inquisitor
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Fiend Hunter
3 Blade Splicer - maybe I should up this to 4?
3 Hero of Bladehold - same
2 Mikaeus, the Lunarch
3 Angelic Destiny
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Dismember
Planeswalkers
1 Gideon Jura
1 Elspeth Tirel
1 Gideon Jura
1 Elspeth Tirel
2 Dismember
2 Celestial Purge
2 Creeping Corrosion
3 Kessig Cagebreakers (for when the day of judgment rolls around)
2 Grand Abolisher
2 Purify the Grave
Cards which I have begrudgingly removed (and own playsets of) include...
Mentor of the Meek (just not that practical)
Gideon's Lawkeeper (works well sometimes but is too situational)
Elite Vanguard (opted to include Champion of the Parish instead)
Honor of the Pure (still think it should be in there but don't have the room)
Sword of Feast and Famine & Sword of War and Peace (only own one of each - opted to replace with Angelic Destiny)
Sun Titan (nice, but by the time I get around to casting it, if I'm not already winning, it's usually too late anyways.)
Adaptive Automaton (removed for Bladehold)
Hamlet Captain (a nice quasi-lord but I hadn't benefitted enough from it to consider it worth while)
Also, I'd like to include 2 more Purify the Grave in the sideboard, and was thinking about removing the planeswalkers. As of now I have 1 offs of each in the deck and then 1 more of each in the sideboard, to be replaced in between rounds as necessary, but I've found that Gideon is ultimately way more useful than Elspeth over 50% of the time, and I'm thinking about pulling Elspeth and replacing her with Gideon (2x in the maindeck) and then replacing the sideboard slots with either Purify the Grave or Nihil Spellbomb.
I've put it in a few standard tourneys/FNM (in slightly different forms) and, like everyone else's, when it works it's pretty sick, but it will almost always lose against long-game control decks and quite frankly, I don't know how to better equip it to deal with that, other than putting in Kessig Cagebreakers (which has ended games on turn 6 after a turn 4 DoJ) and potentially fiend huntering one of my own Bladehold/Mirran Crusader if I know DoJ is on the horizon. Putting in a few Nevermores for DoJ, Snapcaster, Mana Leak etc. as the situation demands is, I suppose, a possibility.
I also had the crazy idea after I opened a Liliana the other day of maybe pulling one of the pilgrims for a Birds of Paradise & maybe 2 plains and 2 sunpetal groves for 4 Isolated Chapels and throwing her in but that's probably a bridge too far... if it worked, though, I imagine it would be pretty sick.
Thoughts? I'm back into magic as of M12 after a 10+ year hiatus, so my deck building is pretty rusty.
Welcome back! First thing I notice is the Elite Inquisitor. I subbed them in for my 3 Hamlet Captains just to try, and in the 2 drop spot the Captain is way more versatile. To be able to pump that extra few points of damage in can sometimes make the difference. Grand Abolisher should be a 3-of in the maindeck...lowest I would go is 2. It's crucial against control decks. I would take out the Blade splicer for it, but that's just me :P. I would drop Elspeth and an Angelic Destiny in the MD for a Sword of W&P and F&F. I just recently added them to my build and I have had a TON of success. Doomed Traveler has been awesome since testing out in some matches on Cockatrice today. Being able to survive a Day and then Equip a sword and fly over for the win is amazing. Just my 2 cents!
Big shout out to Megabug at Realm of the Bug Studios for the sig!
Standard - GBWJunk in the TrunkWBG
4 Hamlet Captain
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Champion of the Parish
3 Hero of Bladehold
2 Sword of War and Peace
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Naturalize
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket
2 Gavony Township
6 Forest
7 Plains
4 Purify the Grave
3 Fiend Hunter
2 Celestial Purge
2 Nevermore
2 Creeping Corrosion
2 Grand Abolisher
Round One Vs. Wolf Run Ramp(Win 2-1, 1-0 overall)
Was blown out game one. I kept a 6 land hand wasn't to intelligent. Game 2 applied constant pressure and Mirran Crusader sealed it up. Game3 Sword of war and peace and Crusader went unanswered Naturalize on Inkmonth sealed the game.
Round Two Vs. Mono Black(2-0, 2-0 overall)
Game one 2 Diregraf Ghoul was on the board I hand a 3/3 Champion and a flipped Mayor. He double blocked Killed Mayor. Mirran Crusader came down and sealed it up. Game 2 Champion and 2 Hamlet Captains gave all the pressure i needed.
Round Three Vs. U/B control(2-0, 3-0 overall)
Game one I applied constant pressure and forced him to answer them. Pumped Crusader with Gavony Township ended it. Game 2 had him down to 2 he Blacksuned, end of his turn I beast within one of my lands equip sword and swing for the win.
Round Four Vs. Bant Pod(2-1, 4-0 overall)
Game one he ramps a titan out fast as I didn't see the cards i needed(should have took a mulligan). Game 2 Champion and a Mayor slowed down his ramp and he was forced to block, Hamlet Captain sealed it. Game 3 i Kept a 2 Champion and pilgram hand. Turn 3 Crusader he had no answers for.
Round Five Vs. U/B control Draw split 4-0-1 overall
We were both undefeated so we took the split and called it a day.
Overall I felt the deck had answers for this environment. With so much green being played Mirran Crusader is very hard to deal with. Hero of Blade hold never saw great action. I will be moving to a one hero and putting in 2 Garruk Relentless. With a flipped Mayor and Garruk putting out wolfs and Mayor pumping them seems like a ok idea.
Sideboard - Celestial purge was great for the black match-ups. I never found a great time to put in Abolisher and he is coming out of the board. I added Tree of Redemption and Mentor of the Meek for the eventual red match ups. Melira, Sylvok Outcast for help againts the Blacksun. Also didn't find Purify the Grave all that exciting.
I like Melira as well (although my opinion doesnt count much here xD) I found it better for the anti-infect (my friends all use infect decks so i was already using her ._.)
I am testing Thrun the last troll right now mainly becuase he can be regenerated and his hexproof ability (its more of a defensive card and we are aggro, but its nice to have a shield with your sword)
Leonin Relic-warder is workign amazingly well, they do get it back if he leaves the field but it is the same thing with fiend-hunter i was playing sucha hard aggro that they never really got the chance to hit warder I think he is a card we need to test abit.
I would also like to say that Victories Herald is amazing in this deck. Everytime i cast her it was GG or Scoop. if you havent won by the turn you cast her you generally will win when you cast her. Lifelink +flying for your supped up champion of the parish mayor and hamlet captian which are already supped up from gavony? it was devastation
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Good ideas... doomed traveller is one that I've been debating about putting in for a while now - but I've never quite figured out what to take out in order to include it, and it's sort of hard to play with inasmuch as in general you want to chump with it ASAP, but if you know a DoJ is coming you generally want it to just sit there... I once had someone doom blade the traveller and then DOJ the entire board and it left me screwed. The swords are awesome too (if a bit expensive!), but there are a lot of shatter effects in the new standard that can take the sword out of commission very quickly. Also, the inclusion of the swords would mean removing Creeping Corrosion from the sideboard and replacing it with revoke existence or something, but that's actually probably not a bad idea anyways.
I will definitely try hamlet captain in place of Elite Inquisitor. Thanks for the tips
I still think it's a pretty sweet card, i side it out v aggro as i don't really care what they have but v UB and Wolfrun to know whether they have a Slagstorm/BSZ/Dismember/etc in hand is very nice.
That said i had considered dropping it for either a 3 of Accorder.
1v1
UB Sygg, River Cutthroat
Multiplayer
RR Rakka Mar
UR Tibor and Lumia
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4-1-0
:symb::symg:Pod:symg::symb:
19-6-0
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4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Elite Inquisitor
2 Gideon's Lawkeeper
4 Hero of Bladehold
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Oblivion Ring
Land (22)
4 Forest
3 Gavony Township
7 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Sunpetal Grove
2 Act of Aggression
3 Creeping Corrosion
4 Fiend Hunter
4 Grand Abolisher
2 Sword of War and Peace
Comments etc. more than welcome.
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I would've said the opposite, with Garruk, Overseer and Sword i'd be dropping sunpetal to 3 for 5 forests to make sure you get turn 1 pilgrim everytime...
Curious as to the Overseer change over Destiny, alot of enchant hate in your meta or?
Have been wanting to try Sword of X and Y in place of Destiny, just the fact that Destiny clutches out games so fast and sword takes two turns makes me hesitant.
1v1
UB Sygg, River Cutthroat
Multiplayer
RR Rakka Mar
UR Tibor and Lumia
Destiny is good, but 2-for-1s hurt this deck. Our card quality is not high and our virtual CA is really low. 2 cards going to the bin for us in one turn is just bad. We don't have good draw spells. Even if it only happens once in a while, it's awful. I used Destiny for a long time and sometimes it sat in my hand. At 4 cmc I would rather have Garruk.
In fact, the only thing we have for VCA is Nevermore. But damn do I hate to waste spots on that just for DoJ and Slagstorm. But I guess it's a change I might be willing to make if things get bad enough, because Lead the Stampede...well there just isn't room for it.
Swords have their advantages. In a vacuum I am dropping and equipping them T4 or T5 to avoid my opponent preparing for the equip by holding back instant-speed removal.
Garruk is nuttier than squirrel poop. He bolts, makes guys, and allows us to alpha strike, which makes him a different and cheaper Gideon Jura. He is also a superb way to recover from sweepers since he makes mans in both his modes. Even if in a particular game he just turns out to be an enchantment for 3G that makes a 2/2 every turn, I'm happy. And with a flipped Mayor he's even better.
As for -1 Sunpetal Grove and +1 Forest...you may be right. But ideally I am dropping a threat on T1, not a mana dork. So far this strategy has worked out fine. My Pilgrims I usually drop T2 or T3 but every hand is different. I will see how Thursday goes and make changes from there.
In trying to sideboard vs. Tokens, I have found that Ruthless Invasion works really well. It is proactive (in contrast to, say, Marrow Shards) and allows us to basically ignore what our opponent is doing. I feel like not worrying about killing their guys and instead worrying about getting past them is a smart way to handle their deck.
The reason I like Sword of War and Peace so much is that it turns a 1/1 guy into 4-7 damage with evasion, and a Mirran Crusader into GG. Destiny does this too but is a larger mana commitment and doesn't grant any VCA against any deck at all. SoWaP has another perk in that it grants protection from red and white, which are tied with black for having the most efficient removal.
I foresee situations where my opponent DoJs and I have a Traveler token and a sword on the battlefield. Likely this is GG for most decks, which are likely at >8 by then anyway if we have played our cards right. (Har har harrrr)
Angelic Overseer is formidable, but she is probably the one maindeck card that is currently on my chopping block. She is expensive and the only sweeper she scoffs at is DoJ. Conversely, she does win games. I may go down to 1. I don't know yet.
I wouldn't recommend taking out the Pilgrims. That mana ramp is huge for getting our turn 5-6 wins.
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19-6-0
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I'm actually in agreeance with most of what you said, I didn't even consider the Garruk+Mayor synergy, mayor is already an insane threat transformed with Garruk they can win the game together ^^
The sword is also pretty sweet no matter who your facing, thinking back if i had it instead of destiny against the players holding 4-6 cards in hand it would've been all over red rover in a short 2 turns...
Going to run up a list similar to this for thursday night, same sideboard as previous -
2x Sword of War and Peace
3x Accorder Paladin
4x Mirran Crusader
3x Grand Abolisher
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Doomed Traveler
4x Avacyn's Pilgrim
4x Hamlet Captain
4x Mayor of Avabruck
4x Razorverge Thicket
3x Sunpetal Grove
8x Plains
5x Forest
2x Gavony Township
T1 - Land, Pilgrim
T2 - Land, Crusader
T3 - Land, Destiny/Sword
What's not to love about them? Free mana and a decent sized beater with any of the "lords" for a single G? I'll take 4
1v1
UB Sygg, River Cutthroat
Multiplayer
RR Rakka Mar
UR Tibor and Lumia
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Is this from not having them in hand or just not having the right land for it? If the former, very bad luck, if the latter what are you running as your land base?
1v1
UB Sygg, River Cutthroat
Multiplayer
RR Rakka Mar
UR Tibor and Lumia
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That's really surprising. I frequently turn 1 a Pilgrim. He's one of the staples of the deck; he's what makes it so fast.
A Turn 3 Angelic Overseer is funny, too.
Anyone else still running Adaptive Automaton AND Mayor of Avabruk? I love the double Lord effect; it gets out of hand real quick.
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Good deck lists though, I think the direction the deck is moving in is great.
What do you normally side Gideon in against? Do you find the Arbiters to be a big help vs WRR? I've been looking for answers to WRR and I'm thinking that could be the one card to slow them down enough to get in for the win. How has Ruthless Invasion worked out in your SB? Seems good enough to maybe try to fit in my MD. Thanks in advance for your answers!
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Standard - GBWJunk in the TrunkWBG