Top 16 from GP Calgary:
Avacyn's Pilgrim 4
Arbor Elf 1
Ghor-Clan Rampager 3
Flinthoof Boar 4
Scavenging Ooze 3
Boros Reckoner 4
Loxodon Smiter 3
Thundermaw Hellkite 4
Bonfire of the Damned 4
Domri Rade 4
Selesnya Charm 2
Mountain 1
Rootbound Crag 4
Sunpetal Grove 3
Clifftop Retreat 3
Sacred Foundry 4
Temple Garden 4
Stomping Ground 4
Forest 1
SB
Kessig Wolf Run 1
Pillar of Flame 2
Mizzium Mortars 1
Rest in Peace 1
Unflinching Courage 2
Oblivion Ring 2
Ruric Thar 2
Assemble the Legion 1
Celestial Flare 1
Ray of Revelation 2
reasons to play this over R/G Kibler:
Better in "Mirror"
Beter against Mono-Red and Hexproof
Better against UW Wilson/LSV control
Downsides:
Worse against Jund/UWR (though this will change if they start being prepared for Manabarbs).
More losses to your own mana.
---------
Would also cut a domri for a chandra.
You need to play around it. Make your deck more aggressive so Jund has less juicy drops to take or be aggressive to the point where they need to focus on dropping blockers, not cute intimidators. I play in a meta full of that card and when a Domri Rade and Boros Reckoner/Loxodon Smiter are staring them down by Turn 3 they don't have the time to be playing cute creatures.
On Domri Rade, he's proven an even bigger house than I thought with his ultimate. Against decks like Control and midrange decks I just sit there ticking him up to his ultimate because he forces decks to play considerably faster to avoid a double-striking Thundermaw Hellkite and Aurelia, the Warleader from picking them apart. I decided to take the plunge and main-board 2 Selesnya Charm and remove 1 Mizzium Mortars, going to 61 cards, because midrange Ghor-Clan Rampager shenanigans are insane!
it's hard to justify burning earth in a 3 color deck. Generally burning earth is good when it's hurting your opponent more than it's hurting you.
I tend to agree although I've seen it do decent work in Naya decks with way less basics (like 2,.. I play 5). Mind you that was probably a sign of decks not respecting it enough then (about 3 weeks ago). The old 3 color control decks would have so much issue with it since being almost all duals it nulls the life gain on Sphinx's Rev almost completely. I haven't tested it recently. I just think in general having a permanents over creatures in some matchups are important, but I'm hoping that as Burning Earth catches on and every changes to be hostile to it I won't have to run it myself (basically similar thing that Sire of Insanity did).
There is so much aggro though maybe it's just wasted even in the board. Even if the lifegain generally offsets it in other midrange matchups I would play a list like mine since it already just trumps other midrange matchups. The question is with 2 slots in the board and the recent changes in control what is the best option? Ruric Thar that might just get countered? Garruk, who might draw the right combination of cards to one time them but probably just prolongs the game, or a card like Burning Earth which could feasibly punish them. If it all goes UW then I'm fine with Garruk since they aren't killing my early threats easily and I can keep pressure.
Definitely requires adjustment. The problem is you rely on a density of value and the card just takes it all away. The way to punish the card is focus on power over value. They will hit your targets but so does Doom Blade. Difference is Doomblade you had to pay the full cost first.. and 2nd they get a 3/1. If they are taking Huntmaster or Thragtusk that's a huge value loss even if you have multiples from an expectation of value. Sniping Ghor Clan is even a pain sometimes. However, if you have multiple say Kalonian Hydras it doesn't matter as much since one will do it. That is why Zvi's Elves for example don't care about it as much. Obviously Jund is chock full of removal, but it's a matter of what they cut to make room for the Zombie. It isn't great for Naya anyway.. and there is always Thundermaw. It isn't the end it just forces more aggression.
Now that people are running celestial flare and lifebane zombie quite a bit I think Sublime should be getting the boot for hellrider. I like the angel a bit more but the push to be a little more fast and a little more resilient to the meta makes me think hellrider is a little better. He also matches up a little better vs the kibler deck/mirror using the hellrider triggers to shoot down other domris.
People are still brewing AoS ramp decks and if that card resolves it's so bad for this deck, I ended up losing at FNM in the finals vs a guy playing basically "ramp into AoS.dec" and barely lost 1-2 because each game he was able to curve out into a T6 AoS and the deck couldn't kill him fast enough with his voices/oozes/smiter/thragtusk/etc. I think hellrider would have given the deck the little push it needed to probably close out those types of games a turn earlier.
Now that people are running celestial flare and lifebane zombie quite a bit I think Sublime should be getting the boot for hellrider. I like the angel a bit more but the push to be a little more fast and a little more resilient to the meta makes me think hellrider is a little better. He also matches up a little better vs the kibler deck/mirror using the hellrider triggers to shoot down other domris.
People are still brewing AoS ramp decks and if that card resolves it's so bad for this deck, I ended up losing at FNM in the finals vs a guy playing basically "ramp into AoS.dec" and barely lost 1-2 because each game he was able to curve out into a T6 AoS and the deck couldn't kill him fast enough with his voices/oozes/smiter/thragtusk/etc. I think hellrider would have given the deck the little push it needed to probably close out those types of games a turn earlier.
The logic for going to Hellrider to me would be a deficit of Reckoner.. Why does no one really play that card outside of Naya anymore. Maybe burning earth hurts too much and Volcanic Strength is an answer that demands an answer that isn't worth running.
Lifebane Zombie is a bit of a stretch I think though in terms of reasoning and even more so Flare. I mean if the opponent has Doom Blade are they not going to just kill the Sublime anyway. The answer doesn't matter it's the fact that you play out ever turn ahead of them until they run out .. the thing is you've had the initiative the whole time. To even play Sublime is to have to consider it since it dies to a lot of removal and it pushes you along awkward lines.
Sublime is way way way better against the AoS deck. It's worse against Jund and especially UW but against other green decks it's not even close. Hellrider just gets bricked by all the aforementioned creatures. Maybe it's incorrect but if you watch any video on SCG this week with GR they sideout the Hellriders in those type of matchups.
Mind you Sublime is much better if you can take the risk against decks with low removal and go all in on it. Maybe not the best in this metagame.. but T4 kills definitely beat AoS ramp decks. Those decks have always been a pain for Naya. Naya can't quite be fast enough generally if on Reckoner because the mana is awkward.. it's a funny difference between the GW decks last fall (8 dorks into Silverblade/Smiter/Sublime) that completely ran over AoS decks. Problem is you go that way you lose Hellkite which is key against Jund and any Aristocrat/Token deck and better against Control (and almost as good against the AoS decks). Thundermaw is generally better so there has to be strong motivation otherwise.
I think Sublime just might not quite fit the tempo of the deck. And is more doing like a Kalonian Hydra sort of thing where sometimes you land it and you just win. But the rest of the time? Maybe not good enough.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Current Decks: GWUKnightfall Modern UWTempo Legacy UGRBurning Wish Cobra Vintage
Lifebane zombie isn't really that great vs. Naya. It's obviously very good as a 2 for 1, but in generally, the games you lose to Jund type things are going to be the games where they go farseek>huntamster>thrag and extend the game to a million turns.
I don't like zombie for that reason. It's a value card, but deceptively not in a jundlike fashion. Sure you get the information and are up a card, but it's not actually extending the game, nor does it fit well in the jund curve. I'd much rather go against lifebane jund then that reid duck **** your face jund that wants to play till turn 15 and rakdos's return/miracle bonfire you after it's grindy you to the point where your resources have been depleted and they're ready to settle into a topdeck war where you play a card and they play a card that wins the game.
LP, I'm checking your article out as well. Behind all of your swag is the brain of one of the most intelligent Magic players I've ever known. I guess that's one more thing for you to add to the wall of ego that is your Sally sig.
I can go with that. LK, you are the Mace Windu of red mages...cool, tempered logic in deliberation, but capable of just flat kicking tail when the situation warrants it.
Lifebane zombie isn't really that great vs. Naya. It's obviously very good as a 2 for 1, but in generally, the games you lose to Jund type things are going to be the games where they go farseek>huntamster>thrag and extend the game to a million turns.
I don't like zombie for that reason. It's a value card, but deceptively not in a jundlike fashion. Sure you get the information and are up a card, but it's not actually extending the game, nor does it fit well in the jund curve. I'd much rather go against lifebane jund then that reid duck **** your face jund that wants to play till turn 15 and rakdos's return/miracle bonfire you after it's grindy you to the point where your resources have been depleted and they're ready to settle into a topdeck war where you play a card and they play a card that wins the game.
Apparently we're playing against different cards because Lifebane Zombie wrecks this deck quite handily. Losing a Boros Reckoner or Voice of Resurgence to this card hurts not to mention it's a win-con all on its own because they can wolf-run it to victory.
One good reason to cut Voice completely. With the downfall of UWR midrange decks, he's not really necessary. Playing more hasty creatures like Strangleroot, Flinthoof and Hellrider means that Lifebane will eventually be forced to block, and then you've got them.
Alternatively, just Mizzium Mortars or Bonfire the damn thing away. It's only got 1 toughness.
I played in Grand Prix Warsaw with this list- combining kibler gruul with reckoner and smiter main, and sideboard cards to make the deck have an unbeatable matchup versus control and aggro. Deck designed by me and felt like it was one of a kind in the room. I went 8 wins 1 loss day one with no byes, beating 3 kibler gruul, 3 esper, 1 gb control, 1 hexproof, and loosing to jund when he top decked bonfire in a close game 3. 25th on standings
Day 2 I lose to jund round 1, but then win the next 3 vs uwr control, jund and gruul kibler. I then play pilepe in feature match and lose. Lose final round to hexproof. Finish 49th out of 984 so very happy. In hindsight if I ID my last round I would have top 32'ed. you can follow my pairings and standings by looking at my name on mtg daily for the event( Lewis smith).
After tournament, I'd swap the rest in peace on sideboard for another scavenging ooze. I highly recommend playing this list if you want to consistently beat the top 3 decks in standard. I didn't top 8 due to bad luck in pinochle rounds. The 8-1 day one speaks for itself... There will be an article of my Deck on magic madhouse in a couple weeks.
Played in the 20th Draft qualifier on Saturday of Gen Con with this deck, except I replaced two Ray of Revelation for two Celestial Flare, which ended up being a terrible mistake.
I went 4-2, losing R2 to mono-red after really fast start, and manascrew game 2 after siding in all my answers. Seriously, 2 mana in opening hand and that was it. I draw a third mana and it's Smiter, a fourth mana and I can Blasphemous Act. Nothing.
The other match I lost was to a rogue Trading Post / Angelic Accord deck that generated infinite angels. If I had been able to side in Ray, I win that match.
Beat monored, The Rock, a Kibler and a UWR Control deck.
I ended up in 12th / 44, missing the top 8 cut by tiebreakers. I know I would have wrecked the top 8 as the top players weren't very good.
Oh well. Going to play Naya/Kibler as much as I can over the next ~4 weeks until Thundermaw and all the haste creatures rotate out. Hoping to be able to continue to play Naya in some form post-rotation.
One good reason to cut Voice completely. With the downfall of UWR midrange decks, he's not really necessary. Playing more hasty creatures like Strangleroot, Flinthoof and Hellrider means that Lifebane will eventually be forced to block, and then you've got them.
Alternatively, just Mizzium Mortars or Bonfire the damn thing away. It's only got 1 toughness.
One good reason to cut Voice completely. With the downfall of UWR midrange decks, he's not really necessary. Playing more hasty creatures like Strangleroot, Flinthoof and Hellrider means that Lifebane will eventually be forced to block, and then you've got them.
Alternatively, just Mizzium Mortars or Bonfire the damn thing away. It's only got 1 toughness.
I don't really agree, the downfall of UWR is basically because pillar isn't as good since not many decks are running voice outside of naya. Voice is still a really good card, it stops things like azorious charm, counter spells, removal spells, etc and the body it leaves behind is often very relevant. I think with the downfall of UWR it makes voice even better since there's a lot less maindeck pillars running around the format. The new control deck is U/W and voice is very good against almost everything they have except maybe detention sphere and terminus but if they're forced to d-sphere your voice you're probably thrilled.
I can't stress how important that token is as well, that thing can get huge and it's basically a free body. Also don't forget how many people are starting to use desecration demon, sacing the voice to stop the attack and getting a guy that's probably bigger than the voice to crack back can win games. Des demon is a huge problem for this deck as it's a giant road block which is why my non-creature spots in the MD have included selesnya charm lately since outside of voice we can't really afford to sac stuff.
Here are the Results
Friday Night Magic (4 Rounds)
Round 1 Vs American Midrange 0-0
Game 1 - 2nd turn domri 3rd turn voice 4th turn hellkite 5th turn loxodon smiter then when he verdicted i got that boros charm with me so he died the 6th turn.
SB in - 2 Ruric Thar, 1 Assemble the Legion, 1 Selesnya Charm
out - 3 Ghor-Clan Rampager, 1 Boros Reckoner
Game 2 - 2nd turn domri got syncopated. third turn i baited my other domri to be dissipated so on the 4th turn i can use my assemble the legion, then just waited until assemble had about 4 counters then dropped my hellriders ftw.
Round 2 Vs RG Aggro 1-0
Game 1 - We both started with dorks. Board was loaded with creatures, i had 2 voice 1 reckoner 2 dorks 1 hellrider he had 3 boars 1 ghor clan and 1 dork i then dropped another hellrider then i swung. then i had that boros charm to be indestuctible and won the game.
SB in - 3 Unflinching Courage, 1 Selesnya Charm, 2 Mizzium Mortars, 1 Ray of Revelation, 2 Bonfire of the Damned
out - 3 Hellrider, 1 Boros Charm, 1 Domri Rade, 1 Arbor Elf, 1 Thundermaw Hellkite, 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim (Played with 61)
Game 2 - He Drew the nuts (i knew that deck since i used it before) turn 1 dork turn 2 boar turn 3 hellrider turn 4 hellkite. I mulled to 5 that game getting a stomping ground temple garden voice of resurgence domri rade and bonfire of the damned. never drew that third land.
Game 3 - This Game was so epic. We both had turn 2 domri but i had the best of it since i turned 3 a boros reckoner then turn 4 unflinching courage then i had domri fight all of his creatures with me gaining 10 each turn i used the fight. When he had none left i just swung swung and hellkited then swung for lethal.
Round 3 2-0 Vs Esper Spirits
Game 1 - He just completely decimated my naya. I never really understood his deck He turned 1 index which was surprising. then turn 2 favorable winds turn 3 intangible virtue turn 4 favorable winds then doom bladed my hellrider then he turn 5 lingering souls with flash back, so 4 4/4 vigilant flyers, uhh nice.
SB (wishing i had some ratchet bombs) in - 2 Bonfire of the Damned, 1 Mizzium Mortars, 2 Ray of Revelation, 1 Blasphemous Act
out - 1 Selesnya Charm, 2 Boros Charm, 2 Domri Rade, 1 Loxodon Smiter
Game 2 - I started out with turn 2 Voice turn 3 Loxodon he started slow with no anthems with a turn 3 geist of saint traft. turn 4 i miracled a bonfire for 2 which was perfect for the geist. he dropped lingering souls then turn 5 i dropped hellkite then he scooped.
Game 3 - Turn 2 Domri turn 3 Ghor Clan Rampager turn 4 Hellkite which to my surprise got verdicted(i didnt know that he had a supreme verdict with him) turn 5 another hellkite then got turn 6 boros recknoer which was fared away. Then he casted lingering w/ flashback he got a saint traft with him. I got reckoner down again. with 3 mana open i casted blasphemous act ftw lol.
Round 4 3-0 4 Color Midrange Rites
We just went for the draw.
Friday Night Magic 3-0-1
Ill post the Saturday and Sunday tournament sometime this week.
Deck runs like kiblers RG aggro slower but more resilent.
my 2 loses this weekend was to jund. Even if i drew the nuts i just cant beat jund. He just draws better. I die to LIFEBANE ZOMBIE.
Any Suggestions VS JUND midrange?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Current decks
BR Zombies 28-12-2
RWB Tokens 11-1-0
Currently Brewing:
Naya Agro
Retired Standards
GW Humans 40-18-6
GBUW Tokens 21-9-5
GW Agro 13-10-1
UR Delver 4-2-2
Mono White Humans 12-4-4
Against Jund, from my experiences, your best bet is to play as aggressively as you can. Just keep dropping creatures until they run out of removal. Try and get them on the defensive so they can't afford to drop Olivia. Save Ghor-Clan for punching damage through a thragtusk or huntmaster, if they are able to drop them. Reckoner is one of our best creatures on the board against thragtusk/huntmaster so try not to let him go early in the game if possible.
Just try and get them as low as you can so that you can afford to lose your board position to a Miracle bonfire and still finish with a Thundermaw. In your case, you can hold mana open for Boros Charm once they have enough mana to miracle a bonfire and board wipe you.
If you have the right hand a Domri can really turn the game around as well. +1 a Domri every turn is like a ticking clock for them and if you resolve the -7 it is basically game over. If you can get a Domri on the board turn 2/3 I would recommend that approach even if it means more in your hand for Lifebane to hit, I feel it is worth it.
I can't comment much on Lifebane as I actually have not run into many Jund decks playing it in my area. But I think if you are playing aggressively it could force them to play removal spells instead of the zombie and hopefully by the time they can afford to drop it, it whiffs with only like hellrider/thundermaws in your hand.
If you are playing against alot of Jund in your area I would recommend tailoring your Naya deck to be a bit more aggressive, I have found it to work very well for me. Strangleroot Geist and Flinthoof Boar, combined with Hellrider can put Jund on the defensive within the first few turns and easily close the game out early. I also found the version to be very good against gruul aggro. Against Gruul aggro it is basically a mirror match except we are running Boros Reckoner which gives us a massive advantage in aggro 'mirrors' and our Domri fights are much more profitable.
I played a version similar to what Ibs posted a few pages ago in a SCG Invitational in my area and was very pleased with the result (which I plan to post shortly). If you are interested in trying the more aggressive version I would highly recommend checking out his decklist, which gave me the inspiration to try the more aggressive build. (Major props to Ibs for posting his list)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Current Standard Decks:
G/R Monsters
Naya Aggro
Current Modern Decks:
RUG Splinter Twin
Boros Sunforger
Avacyn's Pilgrim 4
Arbor Elf 1
Ghor-Clan Rampager 3
Flinthoof Boar 4
Scavenging Ooze 3
Boros Reckoner 4
Loxodon Smiter 3
Thundermaw Hellkite 4
Bonfire of the Damned 4
Domri Rade 4
Selesnya Charm 2
Mountain 1
Rootbound Crag 4
Sunpetal Grove 3
Clifftop Retreat 3
Sacred Foundry 4
Temple Garden 4
Stomping Ground 4
Forest 1
SB
Kessig Wolf Run 1
Pillar of Flame 2
Mizzium Mortars 1
Rest in Peace 1
Unflinching Courage 2
Oblivion Ring 2
Ruric Thar 2
Assemble the Legion 1
Celestial Flare 1
Ray of Revelation 2
reasons to play this over R/G Kibler:
Better in "Mirror"
Beter against Mono-Red and Hexproof
Better against UW Wilson/LSV control
Downsides:
Worse against Jund/UWR (though this will change if they start being prepared for Manabarbs).
More losses to your own mana.
---------
Would also cut a domri for a chandra.
">Helping to Invent Thopter/Depths in Old Ext
Creator of the Magic Humor Videos:
The Vintage Metagame The Original
it's hard to justify burning earth in a 3 color deck. Generally burning earth is good when it's hurting your opponent more than it's hurting you.
Modern:
Twinning End
Commander:
Mayael the Anema
You need to play around it. Make your deck more aggressive so Jund has less juicy drops to take or be aggressive to the point where they need to focus on dropping blockers, not cute intimidators. I play in a meta full of that card and when a Domri Rade and Boros Reckoner/Loxodon Smiter are staring them down by Turn 3 they don't have the time to be playing cute creatures.
On Domri Rade, he's proven an even bigger house than I thought with his ultimate. Against decks like Control and midrange decks I just sit there ticking him up to his ultimate because he forces decks to play considerably faster to avoid a double-striking Thundermaw Hellkite and Aurelia, the Warleader from picking them apart. I decided to take the plunge and main-board 2 Selesnya Charm and remove 1 Mizzium Mortars, going to 61 cards, because midrange Ghor-Clan Rampager shenanigans are insane!
I tend to agree although I've seen it do decent work in Naya decks with way less basics (like 2,.. I play 5). Mind you that was probably a sign of decks not respecting it enough then (about 3 weeks ago). The old 3 color control decks would have so much issue with it since being almost all duals it nulls the life gain on Sphinx's Rev almost completely. I haven't tested it recently. I just think in general having a permanents over creatures in some matchups are important, but I'm hoping that as Burning Earth catches on and every changes to be hostile to it I won't have to run it myself (basically similar thing that Sire of Insanity did).
There is so much aggro though maybe it's just wasted even in the board. Even if the lifegain generally offsets it in other midrange matchups I would play a list like mine since it already just trumps other midrange matchups. The question is with 2 slots in the board and the recent changes in control what is the best option? Ruric Thar that might just get countered? Garruk, who might draw the right combination of cards to one time them but probably just prolongs the game, or a card like Burning Earth which could feasibly punish them. If it all goes UW then I'm fine with Garruk since they aren't killing my early threats easily and I can keep pressure.
Definitely requires adjustment. The problem is you rely on a density of value and the card just takes it all away. The way to punish the card is focus on power over value. They will hit your targets but so does Doom Blade. Difference is Doomblade you had to pay the full cost first.. and 2nd they get a 3/1. If they are taking Huntmaster or Thragtusk that's a huge value loss even if you have multiples from an expectation of value. Sniping Ghor Clan is even a pain sometimes. However, if you have multiple say Kalonian Hydras it doesn't matter as much since one will do it. That is why Zvi's Elves for example don't care about it as much. Obviously Jund is chock full of removal, but it's a matter of what they cut to make room for the Zombie. It isn't great for Naya anyway.. and there is always Thundermaw. It isn't the end it just forces more aggression.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
People are still brewing AoS ramp decks and if that card resolves it's so bad for this deck, I ended up losing at FNM in the finals vs a guy playing basically "ramp into AoS.dec" and barely lost 1-2 because each game he was able to curve out into a T6 AoS and the deck couldn't kill him fast enough with his voices/oozes/smiter/thragtusk/etc. I think hellrider would have given the deck the little push it needed to probably close out those types of games a turn earlier.
Destructive Revelry RG (cmc 2)
Instant
Destroy target artifact or enchantment. Destructive Revelry does 2 damage to that permanent's controller.
The logic for going to Hellrider to me would be a deficit of Reckoner.. Why does no one really play that card outside of Naya anymore. Maybe burning earth hurts too much and Volcanic Strength is an answer that demands an answer that isn't worth running.
Lifebane Zombie is a bit of a stretch I think though in terms of reasoning and even more so Flare. I mean if the opponent has Doom Blade are they not going to just kill the Sublime anyway. The answer doesn't matter it's the fact that you play out ever turn ahead of them until they run out .. the thing is you've had the initiative the whole time. To even play Sublime is to have to consider it since it dies to a lot of removal and it pushes you along awkward lines.
Sublime is way way way better against the AoS deck. It's worse against Jund and especially UW but against other green decks it's not even close. Hellrider just gets bricked by all the aforementioned creatures. Maybe it's incorrect but if you watch any video on SCG this week with GR they sideout the Hellriders in those type of matchups.
Mind you Sublime is much better if you can take the risk against decks with low removal and go all in on it. Maybe not the best in this metagame.. but T4 kills definitely beat AoS ramp decks. Those decks have always been a pain for Naya. Naya can't quite be fast enough generally if on Reckoner because the mana is awkward.. it's a funny difference between the GW decks last fall (8 dorks into Silverblade/Smiter/Sublime) that completely ran over AoS decks. Problem is you go that way you lose Hellkite which is key against Jund and any Aristocrat/Token deck and better against Control (and almost as good against the AoS decks). Thundermaw is generally better so there has to be strong motivation otherwise.
I think Sublime just might not quite fit the tempo of the deck. And is more doing like a Kalonian Hydra sort of thing where sometimes you land it and you just win. But the rest of the time? Maybe not good enough.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
I don't like zombie for that reason. It's a value card, but deceptively not in a jundlike fashion. Sure you get the information and are up a card, but it's not actually extending the game, nor does it fit well in the jund curve. I'd much rather go against lifebane jund then that reid duck **** your face jund that wants to play till turn 15 and rakdos's return/miracle bonfire you after it's grindy you to the point where your resources have been depleted and they're ready to settle into a topdeck war where you play a card and they play a card that wins the game.
Apparently we're playing against different cards because Lifebane Zombie wrecks this deck quite handily. Losing a Boros Reckoner or Voice of Resurgence to this card hurts not to mention it's a win-con all on its own because they can wolf-run it to victory.
Alternatively, just Mizzium Mortars or Bonfire the damn thing away. It's only got 1 toughness.
Played in the 20th Draft qualifier on Saturday of Gen Con with this deck, except I replaced two Ray of Revelation for two Celestial Flare, which ended up being a terrible mistake.
I went 4-2, losing R2 to mono-red after really fast start, and manascrew game 2 after siding in all my answers. Seriously, 2 mana in opening hand and that was it. I draw a third mana and it's Smiter, a fourth mana and I can Blasphemous Act. Nothing.
The other match I lost was to a rogue Trading Post / Angelic Accord deck that generated infinite angels. If I had been able to side in Ray, I win that match.
Beat monored, The Rock, a Kibler and a UWR Control deck.
I ended up in 12th / 44, missing the top 8 cut by tiebreakers. I know I would have wrecked the top 8 as the top players weren't very good.
Oh well. Going to play Naya/Kibler as much as I can over the next ~4 weeks until Thundermaw and all the haste creatures rotate out. Hoping to be able to continue to play Naya in some form post-rotation.
I am running 3 Scavenging Ooze, 4 Voice of Resurgence, and 3 Strangleroot Geist and opted to cut Huntmaster of the Fells. My deck can easily function as a Naya Aggro deck post-board and can win quite handily if need be. I would never waste a Bonfire unless I was getting more value out of it.
I don't really agree, the downfall of UWR is basically because pillar isn't as good since not many decks are running voice outside of naya. Voice is still a really good card, it stops things like azorious charm, counter spells, removal spells, etc and the body it leaves behind is often very relevant. I think with the downfall of UWR it makes voice even better since there's a lot less maindeck pillars running around the format. The new control deck is U/W and voice is very good against almost everything they have except maybe detention sphere and terminus but if they're forced to d-sphere your voice you're probably thrilled.
I can't stress how important that token is as well, that thing can get huge and it's basically a free body. Also don't forget how many people are starting to use desecration demon, sacing the voice to stop the attack and getting a guy that's probably bigger than the voice to crack back can win games. Des demon is a huge problem for this deck as it's a giant road block which is why my non-creature spots in the MD have included selesnya charm lately since outside of voice we can't really afford to sac stuff.
11-2-2 score with this build.
Here are the Results
Friday Night Magic (4 Rounds)
Round 1 Vs American Midrange 0-0
Game 1 - 2nd turn domri 3rd turn voice 4th turn hellkite 5th turn loxodon smiter then when he verdicted i got that boros charm with me so he died the 6th turn.
SB in - 2 Ruric Thar, 1 Assemble the Legion, 1 Selesnya Charm
out - 3 Ghor-Clan Rampager, 1 Boros Reckoner
Game 2 - 2nd turn domri got syncopated. third turn i baited my other domri to be dissipated so on the 4th turn i can use my assemble the legion, then just waited until assemble had about 4 counters then dropped my hellriders ftw.
Round 2 Vs RG Aggro 1-0
Game 1 - We both started with dorks. Board was loaded with creatures, i had 2 voice 1 reckoner 2 dorks 1 hellrider he had 3 boars 1 ghor clan and 1 dork i then dropped another hellrider then i swung. then i had that boros charm to be indestuctible and won the game.
SB in - 3 Unflinching Courage, 1 Selesnya Charm, 2 Mizzium Mortars, 1 Ray of Revelation, 2 Bonfire of the Damned
out - 3 Hellrider, 1 Boros Charm, 1 Domri Rade, 1 Arbor Elf, 1 Thundermaw Hellkite, 1 Avacyn's Pilgrim (Played with 61)
Game 2 - He Drew the nuts (i knew that deck since i used it before) turn 1 dork turn 2 boar turn 3 hellrider turn 4 hellkite. I mulled to 5 that game getting a stomping ground temple garden voice of resurgence domri rade and bonfire of the damned. never drew that third land.
Game 3 - This Game was so epic. We both had turn 2 domri but i had the best of it since i turned 3 a boros reckoner then turn 4 unflinching courage then i had domri fight all of his creatures with me gaining 10 each turn i used the fight. When he had none left i just swung swung and hellkited then swung for lethal.
Round 3 2-0 Vs Esper Spirits
Game 1 - He just completely decimated my naya. I never really understood his deck He turned 1 index which was surprising. then turn 2 favorable winds turn 3 intangible virtue turn 4 favorable winds then doom bladed my hellrider then he turn 5 lingering souls with flash back, so 4 4/4 vigilant flyers, uhh nice.
SB (wishing i had some ratchet bombs) in - 2 Bonfire of the Damned, 1 Mizzium Mortars, 2 Ray of Revelation, 1 Blasphemous Act
out - 1 Selesnya Charm, 2 Boros Charm, 2 Domri Rade, 1 Loxodon Smiter
Game 2 - I started out with turn 2 Voice turn 3 Loxodon he started slow with no anthems with a turn 3 geist of saint traft. turn 4 i miracled a bonfire for 2 which was perfect for the geist. he dropped lingering souls then turn 5 i dropped hellkite then he scooped.
Game 3 - Turn 2 Domri turn 3 Ghor Clan Rampager turn 4 Hellkite which to my surprise got verdicted(i didnt know that he had a supreme verdict with him) turn 5 another hellkite then got turn 6 boros recknoer which was fared away. Then he casted lingering w/ flashback he got a saint traft with him. I got reckoner down again. with 3 mana open i casted blasphemous act ftw lol.
Round 4 3-0 4 Color Midrange Rites
We just went for the draw.
Friday Night Magic 3-0-1
Ill post the Saturday and Sunday tournament sometime this week.
Deck runs like kiblers RG aggro slower but more resilent.
my 2 loses this weekend was to jund. Even if i drew the nuts i just cant beat jund. He just draws better. I die to LIFEBANE ZOMBIE.
Any Suggestions VS JUND midrange?
BR Zombies 28-12-2
RWB Tokens 11-1-0
Currently Brewing:
Naya Agro
Retired Standards
GW Humans 40-18-6
GBUW Tokens 21-9-5
GW Agro 13-10-1
UR Delver 4-2-2
Mono White Humans 12-4-4
Against Jund, from my experiences, your best bet is to play as aggressively as you can. Just keep dropping creatures until they run out of removal. Try and get them on the defensive so they can't afford to drop Olivia. Save Ghor-Clan for punching damage through a thragtusk or huntmaster, if they are able to drop them. Reckoner is one of our best creatures on the board against thragtusk/huntmaster so try not to let him go early in the game if possible.
Just try and get them as low as you can so that you can afford to lose your board position to a Miracle bonfire and still finish with a Thundermaw. In your case, you can hold mana open for Boros Charm once they have enough mana to miracle a bonfire and board wipe you.
If you have the right hand a Domri can really turn the game around as well. +1 a Domri every turn is like a ticking clock for them and if you resolve the -7 it is basically game over. If you can get a Domri on the board turn 2/3 I would recommend that approach even if it means more in your hand for Lifebane to hit, I feel it is worth it.
I can't comment much on Lifebane as I actually have not run into many Jund decks playing it in my area. But I think if you are playing aggressively it could force them to play removal spells instead of the zombie and hopefully by the time they can afford to drop it, it whiffs with only like hellrider/thundermaws in your hand.
If you are playing against alot of Jund in your area I would recommend tailoring your Naya deck to be a bit more aggressive, I have found it to work very well for me. Strangleroot Geist and Flinthoof Boar, combined with Hellrider can put Jund on the defensive within the first few turns and easily close the game out early. I also found the version to be very good against gruul aggro. Against Gruul aggro it is basically a mirror match except we are running Boros Reckoner which gives us a massive advantage in aggro 'mirrors' and our Domri fights are much more profitable.
I played a version similar to what Ibs posted a few pages ago in a SCG Invitational in my area and was very pleased with the result (which I plan to post shortly). If you are interested in trying the more aggressive version I would highly recommend checking out his decklist, which gave me the inspiration to try the more aggressive build. (Major props to Ibs for posting his list)
G/R Monsters
Naya Aggro
Current Modern Decks:
RUG Splinter Twin
Boros Sunforger
Commander:
Kemba, Kha Regent
Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter
Uril, the Miststalker