Has anyone else tried firefist striker over flinthoof boar? I got annoyed with how often the boar was a 2/2 but wanted another 2-drop that works with burning-tree emissary. So far I like the striker; he gives you another way to attack into cards like loxodon smiter, boros reckoner, thragtusk, etc. And of course you pick up the human synergies.
that's not a bad idea. Anyone think Skarrg Guildmange is worth considering? The manland helps trigger battalion when you need it and can be a decent blocker
Went 2-2 at FNM last night. Considering I never had a chance to play the deck a single game before going, I'll take it. Both matches I lost went to 3 games, so I'm confident it wasn't the deck.
Match 1 vs Boros - I think this kid was fairly new to MTG but he had a decent deck with Reckoners and the like. Game 1 wasn't even a game. I swarmed him for a turn 4 kill. Game 2 ran to 6 turns, but he never got enough blockers on the table to stop the bleeding. It was over in about 15 minutes total.
Match 2 vs janky black anti-creature deck - Easily the most annoying player at my FLGS. He was running a homebrew black deck playing Elixer of Life, Phylactery Lich, Pack Rats and *16* main deck removal. Full sets of Murder, Victim of Night, Mutilate and Ultimate Price. Game 1 I gassed out due to all of that, and died to a Lich. Game 2 I sided in 13 cards: 4 Boros Charm, 4 Fiend Hunter, 2 Pacifism, 2 Skullcrack and 1 extra Thalia. I had a relatively decent opening hand and managed to squeak through all his life gain. Game 3 I should have mulliganed. Lost two Fiend Hunters to removal trying to keep a Nighthawk out of my way, Pacified it, and he dropped a Lich that eventually chewed up all my creatures.
It's a **** deck, and the sort of thing you only see at FNM, but it was 100% geared towards beating aggro. He got beat down hard in later rounds, but it cost me a match.
Game 3 vs Bant Wolf Run - Game 1 I stalled a single turn, but kept enough pressure with Elites, Champs and Mayors to close it out in 5 turns. Game 2 I had the nut draw, swung for 8 on turn 2, 10 on turn 3 and had two Boros Charms in hand. It was over before it started.
Game 4 vs American... something - His deck was pseudo-control, mostly relying on keeping the board empty so he can swing in with a Geist for a 4 turn clock. Game 1 I mulled to 5 cards, kept a hand with 2 lands, an Elite and 2 Burning Trees. My turn 2 draw was a Mayor, and it got ugly fast. Dead in 5 turns. Game 2, I was on the draw and kept a 1 land hand with 2 1 drops, but couldn't draw another land until turn 4. Lost to total mana screw. Game 3, I kept a 2 land hand with 4 1 drops, was able to apply early pressure but missed a turn 3 land drop. It was a very close game, but eventually his Geist took it.
All of my matches ran as expected except the last game that cost me a top 8 slot. My turn 1 was a Champ, turn 2 I played an Exp 1 and Elite to swing for 3. I had Thalia in hand and should have played her instead. I knew he had Izzet Charm in the deck, but I was focused on dropping her next turn to delay a Verdict. He Charmed my Champ to kill it, when I could have had him at 3/3 the next turn if I'd played in a different order, and followed it up with a turn 4 Silverblade to start swinging hard enough that his Geist would have to hold back. I learned an important lesson for next week.
I like this deck a lot, more than Jund Aggro actually. I'll probably stick to it for a week or two and try to get some more games in to refine my play order and see how I do at one more tournament. As far as the list I posted on the previous page, I'm really happy with it. However, I think I will swap 1 Frontline Medic for 1 Silverblade, as I like the doublestrike closing games out faster. Frontline is great vs aggro, but less effective vs. control matches since it can't stop instant removal or Azorius Charm, and people know to play around the Mana Leak.
I'm also very unhappy with Experiment One in my list. It rarely evolves past 2/2, except for Frontline or a Mayor's wolf token. I'm tempted to try a different 1 drop, but I'm not sure what just yet. I'm leaning towards Wolfbitten Captive, but Lone Wolf and Doomed Traveler are also appealing in their own way.
I'm also playing this deck and trying to find the right combination. I am starting to agree with others who think Experiment One isn't needed - I have been really finding it lackluster lately, and I'm wondering what can replace it. I'm thinking about giving Doomed Traveller a try.
Here's my current list for reference - I'd appreciate any comments.
Technically doomed traveler will give you the same value that experiment one does, a 2/2 for 1. I would say it really doesn't change the situation much. One will give you flying and other body, the other perhaps becomes a 3/3 that has sinergy with your other spells. Either way it doesn't seem like it gets better than that. I tried a legion loyalist, but he was pretty mediocre. Really it didn't perform better than experiment one since the abilities it gives you are really pointless for the deck. It would be too specific whenever he helps you win a game.
I did 3-2 Yesterday with the deck playing with it for the first time. It seems like we get a little bit of inconsistence because of how aggressive the deck can be. Also the 2 cards that seem to keep giving me problem are experiment one and flinthoof boar. I cut boar and the experiment one to 3, but the changes didn't get my deck to be too amazing. I will probably cut all boars and run more Gore-house Chaniwalkers to make up for them. Sure the haste is nice, but in the end the damage output ends up being about the same when you trigger champion of the parish.
I reallyyy want to add 2 silverblade paladins to the deck, but I am a bit reluctant because of the manabase. the colors are fairly easy to get, but 20 lands makes it a bit hard to get 3 mana on turn 3. I would up it to 21 but don't want to burn out so easly which also seems to happen every once in a while with the deck.
Either way more playtesting will be necessary. A small part of me still wants to run the midrange version of the deck(specially since it has been performing fairly decent lately), but since aggro has been underwater for a bit it might take my opponents off guard. Anyways I intend to play at the D.C open this next weekend so I might write a report on that, if I play the blitz version of course.
I can see the deck running either Wolfbitten captain or skarrg guildmage, the only problem I see is that we simply don't produce enough mana to use their abilities consistently, so half of the time they would be vanilla creatures.
I cut the boars for two maindeck Thalia and two Silverblades, running 21 land. Having them work with Mayor and Champ is totally worth losing the turn 3 haste, and maindecking Thalia frees up sideboard space.
In future, I'm going to switch to 3 Silverblades and 2 Medics, because I find the pressure from doublestrike more valuable. Soulbond has immediate impact, whereas a Medic has no value until he swings on turn 4, and generally a Verdict follows it. I'd rather push through a few extra damage soulbonding a Silverblade to a Champ to close out the game before it goes long enough for the Medic to matter. The only time a Medic as turn 3 impact is when he mana leaks a miracle Bonfire, as that's the only X spell you're ever going to see in the early turns (and at least right now, very few people are playing it).
This deck just placed 4th at the latest GP - pretty solid list. Biggest difference in maindecked Thalia over GG - which is probably a good call overall.
Naya Blitz
Samuele Estratti
4th Place at Grand Prix on 3/10/2013
Standard
This deck just placed 4th at the latest GP - pretty solid list. Biggest difference in maindecked Thalia over GG - which is probably a good call overall.
Naya Blitz
Samuele Estratti
4th Place at Grand Prix on 3/10/2013
Standard
he also drew really well all tournament. He was in like 8 feature matches. Watch the finals. it's amazing how he fights through like 7 thragtusks. Still loses, but dat frontline medic...
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Took Nico Christiansen's list except with the Thalia's MB and the Growths in the SB to a LGS this weekend and it went well, took 2nd only losing in the finals. It's just I found myself really questioning which cards to take out for the SB techs I wanted to bring in as the deck is so smooth already a good amount of the time I just kept the starting 60 into game 2.
what do u guys think of domri rade with all the creatures? Also wouldn't O-ring be better than Pacifism? Im going to personally run silverblade over the boar. Double strike seems way better than just a 3/3..plus the boar isnt human. Also what about restoration angel? She is great with champion and help save creatures
Resto is too slow and expensive. The only 4 drop I'd be interested in is Hellrider for it's immediate impact.
Also, the Pacifism vs. O-Ring thing is mainly because of things like Thragtusk that will dump a token in your way. Pacifism shuts that down completely. It's a trade off, since you can't hit a planeswalker with it or Obzedat, but in theory you should be winning before those things hit the board anyway.
Resto, Domri, and o-ring are higher up on the curve. If you change the deck to have less explosive power and more mid-game (where unfortunately I see it being crushed by the weight of a thousand thragtusks) and up the land count, I can see those changes.
O-ring rarely is better than pacifism here as it's in the sb to deal with reckoner and thrag. Also costing 2 over 3 gives it an advantage if you bring it in for the mirror/other aggressive decks.
Thoughts on Wolfbitten Captive? I may play a couple in place of experiments to see how they do, though I do like the ooze.
I like Captive, especially alongside Mayor. The only hitch is that in a perfect game, we're using our mana pretty effectively for the four or five turns it takes to play out. It's a little hard to find the mana to make him a 3/3 until the game runs long and we start losing the ability to keep up.
And that is exactly why I haven't tried it out until now. It'll trade off the navatl-beds of experiment in good draws but be better in the late game to get the last couple points in.
what do u guys think of domri rade with all the creatures? Also wouldn't O-ring be better than Pacifism? Im going to personally run silverblade over the boar. Double strike seems way better than just a 3/3..plus the boar isnt human. Also what about restoration angel? She is great with champion and help save creatures
you're talking about moving into a more midrange list. There's nothing wrong with this, but it's not really a blitz strategy.
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I haven't tried Nearheath yet, but I like the idea and am going to test it this afternoon. Not sure about Conscripts though. A 5 drop in this strategy?
I always find myself wanting to side in 4 Boros Charms when I'm moving them in. It's usually a card that I *really* want to draw if I have it in the deck. Gruul Charm not so much, but the chances of any given 1-off sideboard card making an impact when we're hoping to see maybe 10 cards in an ideal match is pretty slim.
I'm a big proponent of never having 1 ofs. It's either a card you want to see and should have 2+ or you don't want to see it and shouldn't have it.
If you want Zealous in here use Traitorous Blood instead. Depending on how prevalent midrange is in your meta I'd go with Gruul Charm instead. It stops chumps and if someone uses Zealous or its ilk on you it can lead to a blow out (rare but still a possibility.)
Cambriel: Nearheath is incredible against any aggro strategy. Like, potentially-make-room-for-a-4th-in-my-75 good.
I'm quite tempted to cut Gruul charm for the 4th Boros. I rarely side in Gruul charm but often being in Boros. I'll make that change tonight I think.
Gemini: one-ofs seem reasonable to me. They're usually for cards I don't always want (conscripts) but what I want in longer games. Silverblade is a flex spot which I bring in when it's better than a medic, but it's kind of a placeholder.
Conscripts > traitorous blood as I bring it in for control decks with planeswalkers. Chances are that the game is going long and I like being able to mise a win. So far I've won two games directly with ult'ing my opponent's planeswalkers, once a tamiyo with Boros charm in hand and once a sorin grabbing tamiyo, jace aot, , and vraska (that was a fun game).
Learned my lesson tonight playing an 8 man win-a-box at the local shop. Game 3, I had a potentially amazing opening hand *if* I topdecked a second land. My hand was Caverns, Champion, Lightning Mauler x2, Boros Elite, Searing Spear x2. Turn 1, Cavern, Champion. Turn 2, no land, Boros Elite. I'm behind a drop but I've got plenty of options in my hand.
Turn 3, nothing. Turn 4, nothing. I'm being rushed by 3/3 tokens. Turn 5, nothing.... I'm at 5 life, and finally draw my second mana. Been sitting on two Searing Spears the whole time, but it's too late.
I should have mulliganed, and I'm still not sure why I didn't. So annoying.
I don't like it much, as Giant Growth is a great combat trick. Also he's running Flinthoof Boar, which I don't care for in this list as much as I do in Jund. It's another creature to BTE into, but that's all.
I don't like it much, as Giant Growth is a great combat trick. Also he's running Flinthoof Boar, which I don't care for in this list as much as I do in Jund. It's another creature to BTE into, but that's all.
Well, it's not "all." With only 8 mountains (Stomping Ground and Sacred Foundry) it's likely a 2/2 but possibly an above-the-curve 3/3. And there are 2 other R sources that aren't Mountains, to activate the haste, putting it above the curve yet again.
In a couple hundred games with the deck, I've very rarely had the lack of a mountain for boar come up. In those games where it came up, it has mattered a grand total of 4 times. It's not a problem.
Since I cut Giant Growth, I haven't missed it often. I prefer dropping another creature to replace the one burned out/to push through damage anyways. Also, Thalia/Nearheath Pilgrim md have both seemed to mise more games than giant growth has for me.
My sideboard has changed since I last said anything about it here.
I'm very occasionally missing gruul charm, but not enough to cut anything yet (perhaps the fog).
As for my MD, Wolfbitten Captive has been an all-star. When you're flooded, you usually want no other card. I'm running a 2/2 split with Experiment One and that has been working for me. I wouldn't run more than 2 right now as they aren't as good early game/in your nut draws, but it gives you a bit of staying power.
Just swapped from Jund to Naya Blitz, been trying the deck out a few times and I like it so far (been trying the 3 thalia version).
A few thoughts though,
Isn't Thalia better for sideboard? On the go she's insanely powerful, on the draw not as much. If it's a higher creature density you want there are other cards like Hamlet Captain and Gore-House Chain Walker that'd fit the bill quite nicely.
i agree with that, not sure why people run maindeck thalia. she synergises badly with BTE and is pretty dead vs many aggro decks too.
As for Frontline Medic, rarely do I want to see more than 1 Frontline Medic, I think the mana would allow for 2 x Silverblade Paladins so why not use a mix of them? Immediate downside of Silverblade is of course that he is unlikely to evolve Experiment One.
Medic is a magnet for removal, and when he's good he's so good that I like multiples. Paladin can be awesome, but opens you up to instant-speed blowouts so badly that I wouldn't run him in a deck that couldn't back him up with resto angel or something. He's so bad vs instant speed removal that you can sometimes be reluctant to attack in a way that takes advantage of the double strike just because you'll get 2-for-1ed and lose your board.
As for Pacifism, Bonds of Strength seems vastly superior. Another enchantment, whilst for a different purpose that could be interesting is Volcanic Strength that red decks have been rocking for some time now.
I agree with that (i run bonds in my list), but I guess people might be worried about other human decks given how popular they are. Medic in particular. Bonds is better if reckoner is your biggest fear.
2011-2012:Bantblade, BantPod
2010-2011:Bant Shaman, Naya Shaman, Naya allies + Scars, URG Turboforce
2009-2010:Naya allies, Mono-White Titan Control
Match 1 vs Boros - I think this kid was fairly new to MTG but he had a decent deck with Reckoners and the like. Game 1 wasn't even a game. I swarmed him for a turn 4 kill. Game 2 ran to 6 turns, but he never got enough blockers on the table to stop the bleeding. It was over in about 15 minutes total.
Match 2 vs janky black anti-creature deck - Easily the most annoying player at my FLGS. He was running a homebrew black deck playing Elixer of Life, Phylactery Lich, Pack Rats and *16* main deck removal. Full sets of Murder, Victim of Night, Mutilate and Ultimate Price. Game 1 I gassed out due to all of that, and died to a Lich. Game 2 I sided in 13 cards: 4 Boros Charm, 4 Fiend Hunter, 2 Pacifism, 2 Skullcrack and 1 extra Thalia. I had a relatively decent opening hand and managed to squeak through all his life gain. Game 3 I should have mulliganed. Lost two Fiend Hunters to removal trying to keep a Nighthawk out of my way, Pacified it, and he dropped a Lich that eventually chewed up all my creatures.
It's a **** deck, and the sort of thing you only see at FNM, but it was 100% geared towards beating aggro. He got beat down hard in later rounds, but it cost me a match.
Game 3 vs Bant Wolf Run - Game 1 I stalled a single turn, but kept enough pressure with Elites, Champs and Mayors to close it out in 5 turns. Game 2 I had the nut draw, swung for 8 on turn 2, 10 on turn 3 and had two Boros Charms in hand. It was over before it started.
Game 4 vs American... something - His deck was pseudo-control, mostly relying on keeping the board empty so he can swing in with a Geist for a 4 turn clock. Game 1 I mulled to 5 cards, kept a hand with 2 lands, an Elite and 2 Burning Trees. My turn 2 draw was a Mayor, and it got ugly fast. Dead in 5 turns. Game 2, I was on the draw and kept a 1 land hand with 2 1 drops, but couldn't draw another land until turn 4. Lost to total mana screw. Game 3, I kept a 2 land hand with 4 1 drops, was able to apply early pressure but missed a turn 3 land drop. It was a very close game, but eventually his Geist took it.
All of my matches ran as expected except the last game that cost me a top 8 slot. My turn 1 was a Champ, turn 2 I played an Exp 1 and Elite to swing for 3. I had Thalia in hand and should have played her instead. I knew he had Izzet Charm in the deck, but I was focused on dropping her next turn to delay a Verdict. He Charmed my Champ to kill it, when I could have had him at 3/3 the next turn if I'd played in a different order, and followed it up with a turn 4 Silverblade to start swinging hard enough that his Geist would have to hold back. I learned an important lesson for next week.
I like this deck a lot, more than Jund Aggro actually. I'll probably stick to it for a week or two and try to get some more games in to refine my play order and see how I do at one more tournament. As far as the list I posted on the previous page, I'm really happy with it. However, I think I will swap 1 Frontline Medic for 1 Silverblade, as I like the doublestrike closing games out faster. Frontline is great vs aggro, but less effective vs. control matches since it can't stop instant removal or Azorius Charm, and people know to play around the Mana Leak.
I'm also very unhappy with Experiment One in my list. It rarely evolves past 2/2, except for Frontline or a Mayor's wolf token. I'm tempted to try a different 1 drop, but I'm not sure what just yet. I'm leaning towards Wolfbitten Captive, but Lone Wolf and Doomed Traveler are also appealing in their own way.
Here's my current list for reference - I'd appreciate any comments.
4 temple garden
4 sacred foundry
4 cavern of souls
3 sunpetal grove
1 rootbound crag
4 boros elite
4 experiment one
4 mayor of avabruck
4 lightning mauler
4 flinthoof boar
4 burning-tree emissary
3 frontline medic
1 ghor-clan rampager
4 giant growth
I did 3-2 Yesterday with the deck playing with it for the first time. It seems like we get a little bit of inconsistence because of how aggressive the deck can be. Also the 2 cards that seem to keep giving me problem are experiment one and flinthoof boar. I cut boar and the experiment one to 3, but the changes didn't get my deck to be too amazing. I will probably cut all boars and run more Gore-house Chaniwalkers to make up for them. Sure the haste is nice, but in the end the damage output ends up being about the same when you trigger champion of the parish.
I reallyyy want to add 2 silverblade paladins to the deck, but I am a bit reluctant because of the manabase. the colors are fairly easy to get, but 20 lands makes it a bit hard to get 3 mana on turn 3. I would up it to 21 but don't want to burn out so easly which also seems to happen every once in a while with the deck.
My decklist would look somewhat like this:
4 Boros Elite
2 Experiment One
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Frontline Medic
2 Silverblade Paladin
3 Giant Growth
3 Searing Spear
2 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Stomping Grounds
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Plains?
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Boros Charm
2 Gruul charm
2 Nearheath Pilgrim
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Rest in peace
1 Purify the Grave
Either way more playtesting will be necessary. A small part of me still wants to run the midrange version of the deck(specially since it has been performing fairly decent lately), but since aggro has been underwater for a bit it might take my opponents off guard. Anyways I intend to play at the D.C open this next weekend so I might write a report on that, if I play the blitz version of course.
I can see the deck running either Wolfbitten captain or skarrg guildmage, the only problem I see is that we simply don't produce enough mana to use their abilities consistently, so half of the time they would be vanilla creatures.
URBURB
In future, I'm going to switch to 3 Silverblades and 2 Medics, because I find the pressure from doublestrike more valuable. Soulbond has immediate impact, whereas a Medic has no value until he swings on turn 4, and generally a Verdict follows it. I'd rather push through a few extra damage soulbonding a Silverblade to a Champ to close out the game before it goes long enough for the Medic to matter. The only time a Medic as turn 3 impact is when he mana leaks a miracle Bonfire, as that's the only X spell you're ever going to see in the early turns (and at least right now, very few people are playing it).
Naya Blitz
Samuele Estratti
4th Place at Grand Prix on 3/10/2013
Standard
4 Boros Elite
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Experiment One
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Frontline Medic
1 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Rootbound Crag
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
Spells (4)
4 Searing Spear
2 Boros Reckoner
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Nearheath Pilgrim
3 Pacifism
4 Boros Charm
2 Flames of the Firebrand
he also drew really well all tournament. He was in like 8 feature matches. Watch the finals. it's amazing how he fights through like 7 thragtusks. Still loses, but dat frontline medic...
Modern:
Twinning End
Commander:
Mayael the Anema
Standard Decks
WR Boros Heroic
Also, the Pacifism vs. O-Ring thing is mainly because of things like Thragtusk that will dump a token in your way. Pacifism shuts that down completely. It's a trade off, since you can't hit a planeswalker with it or Obzedat, but in theory you should be winning before those things hit the board anyway.
O-ring rarely is better than pacifism here as it's in the sb to deal with reckoner and thrag. Also costing 2 over 3 gives it an advantage if you bring it in for the mirror/other aggressive decks.
Thoughts on Wolfbitten Captive? I may play a couple in place of experiments to see how they do, though I do like the ooze.
Sideboard thoughts?
I'm currently at...
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Gruul Charm
1 Zealous Conscripts
3 Boros Charm
2 Fiend Hubter
3 Pacifism
1 Silverblade Paladain
1 Card I can't remember
I'm running 0 giant growth, replaced with 2 Thalia and 1 Nearheath main. Otherwise my main is a pretty stock list.
you're talking about moving into a more midrange list. There's nothing wrong with this, but it's not really a blitz strategy.
Modern:
Twinning End
Commander:
Mayael the Anema
I haven't tried Nearheath yet, but I like the idea and am going to test it this afternoon. Not sure about Conscripts though. A 5 drop in this strategy?
I always find myself wanting to side in 4 Boros Charms when I'm moving them in. It's usually a card that I *really* want to draw if I have it in the deck. Gruul Charm not so much, but the chances of any given 1-off sideboard card making an impact when we're hoping to see maybe 10 cards in an ideal match is pretty slim.
If you want Zealous in here use Traitorous Blood instead. Depending on how prevalent midrange is in your meta I'd go with Gruul Charm instead. It stops chumps and if someone uses Zealous or its ilk on you it can lead to a blow out (rare but still a possibility.)
4 Boros Elite
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Silverblade Paladin
4 Frontline Medic
4 Lightning Mauler
4 Mayor of Avabruck
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Searing Spear
4 Boros Charm
Lands: 21
3 Clifftop Retreat
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
2 Boros Reckoner
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Nearheath Pilgrim
3 Pacifism
4 Experiment One
2 Flames of the Firebrand
Standard Decks
WR Boros Heroic
I'm quite tempted to cut Gruul charm for the 4th Boros. I rarely side in Gruul charm but often being in Boros. I'll make that change tonight I think.
Gemini: one-ofs seem reasonable to me. They're usually for cards I don't always want (conscripts) but what I want in longer games. Silverblade is a flex spot which I bring in when it's better than a medic, but it's kind of a placeholder.
Conscripts > traitorous blood as I bring it in for control decks with planeswalkers. Chances are that the game is going long and I like being able to mise a win. So far I've won two games directly with ult'ing my opponent's planeswalkers, once a tamiyo with Boros charm in hand and once a sorin grabbing tamiyo, jace aot, , and vraska (that was a fun game).
Turn 3, nothing. Turn 4, nothing. I'm being rushed by 3/3 tokens. Turn 5, nothing.... I'm at 5 life, and finally draw my second mana. Been sitting on two Searing Spears the whole time, but it's too late.
I should have mulliganed, and I'm still not sure why I didn't. So annoying.
Well, it's not "all." With only 8 mountains (Stomping Ground and Sacred Foundry) it's likely a 2/2 but possibly an above-the-curve 3/3. And there are 2 other R sources that aren't Mountains, to activate the haste, putting it above the curve yet again.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
Since I cut Giant Growth, I haven't missed it often. I prefer dropping another creature to replace the one burned out/to push through damage anyways. Also, Thalia/Nearheath Pilgrim md have both seemed to mise more games than giant growth has for me.
My sideboard has changed since I last said anything about it here.
2 Bonds of Faith
1 Pacifism
2 Fiend Hunter
2 Flames of the Firebrand (though over 5 daily events, I still have yet to cast or draw them)
1 Fog (haven't drawn it in 3 daily events, flex spot I'm trying out)
2 Nearheath Pilgrim (1 md)
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (2 md)
I'm very occasionally missing gruul charm, but not enough to cut anything yet (perhaps the fog).
As for my MD, Wolfbitten Captive has been an all-star. When you're flooded, you usually want no other card. I'm running a 2/2 split with Experiment One and that has been working for me. I wouldn't run more than 2 right now as they aren't as good early game/in your nut draws, but it gives you a bit of staying power.
i agree with that, not sure why people run maindeck thalia. she synergises badly with BTE and is pretty dead vs many aggro decks too.
Medic is a magnet for removal, and when he's good he's so good that I like multiples. Paladin can be awesome, but opens you up to instant-speed blowouts so badly that I wouldn't run him in a deck that couldn't back him up with resto angel or something. He's so bad vs instant speed removal that you can sometimes be reluctant to attack in a way that takes advantage of the double strike just because you'll get 2-for-1ed and lose your board.
I agree with that (i run bonds in my list), but I guess people might be worried about other human decks given how popular they are. Medic in particular. Bonds is better if reckoner is your biggest fear.