Playing Abbot of Keral Keep should be sequencing that is best for you. Losing out on the card advantage isn't the worst thing ever. If you have a game plan for turns 3-4, you still run it out on turn 2. The part that makes it valuable is that it's a 2 drop that's still good to draw in the late game. I'm not looking at how good this is on turn 2. I'm looking at how good is this on turn 7, and it looks pretty good to me. I still haven't had a chance to test it out, but I'm hoping to find some time to give it some games.
Ob Nix and Chandra are both good cards. You could run them, but then I think you're moving away from Dragons, and more into BR control. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as those types of lists have been putting up results. I've seen lists where the only creatures were Kalitas, Hangarback Walker, and Goblin Dark-Dwellers. Some are even playing Languish, which kills all of those cards. However, Hangarback leaves tokens, and Kalitas makes zombies for all of the non-token creatures on your opponent's board that die.
I took 4th place at Game Day yesterday. I went 2-1-1 in Swiss, and then lost in the semi-finals. There has been a lot of Languish running around lately, and the white weenie decks have basically disappeared from my meta completely. I tweaked my list from States to adjust for that. Here is what I played:
Round 1: Naya Superfriends. This was an interesting brew. It played Gideon, Nissa, Arlin, and Chandra. Tireless Tracker. Oath of Nissa. Oath of Gideon. The first game was epic. We had a lot of back and forth. One turn, he would be ahead. The next turn, I would come back. The next turn, I would have to trade off my threats to stay alive. I was low for a while, but in the end I was doing stupid things like playing GDD, hitting K Command, bringing back and playing Hangarback for 4. I won it with 15 minutes left in the round. Game 2 was much more one sided in my favor, and I take it in 2. 1-0.
Round 2: BG Sacrifice. I don't see Kalitas in game 1, and my opponent overwhelms me after I bring them down to 3. I bring in Kalitas, Kozilek's Return, Dead Weight, Fiery Impulse. After a mulligan down to 6, I see no Kalitas, or any other cards that I boarded in. I get crushed. 1-1.
Round 3: BG Sacrifice. I have a t3 Olivia, followed by turn 4 Kalitas + discard. The life link and grave hate was enough. My opponent attempted to sac for Westvale Abbey with a Cutthroat on board. Didn't realize that Kalitas hoses that whole strategy. Game 2 I don't see more than 1 land in any of my opening hands. I mull to 5, keep a 1 land hand, and then don't draw another land. My opponent played Transgress the Mind on turn 4, and I concede in response. Game 3 came down to a race. I had Olivia in play, 4 lands, and I was sandbagging a 5th land in the event that I draw a creature. Topdecked Thunderbreak Regent, played and smashed for 8 with my opponent at 5. I take it in 3. 2-1.
Round 4: BG Season's Past. We're both 2-1, and ID to lock our spots in the top 8. 2-1-1.
Quarterfinals: Same opponent as round 1 - Naya Planeswalkers. I hit him with a Duress, and see Oath of Nissa, Gideon, and Chandra. I have Ruinous Path and GDD in hand, and take his Oath to slow him down. The his hand plays out slow. I kill off Gideon with Ruinous Path. Goblin Dark-Dwellers into Duress to take Chandra. It was pretty gross. The second game was just as much of a blow out. I win in 2. 3-1-1.
Semifinals: Round 4 Opponent - Seasons Past. I feel like I'm off to a good start in game 1, but Grasp of Darkness into Languish into Seasons Past can really catch up a deck that's falling behind. He wins game 1. Game 2 is better for me. I've got a better start with some hand disruption, and I wear him down a bit. I hit my 6th land, and come down with Dragonlord Kolaghan. I've got a second copy in hand, and bring him down to 2. He plays Clip Wings on his main phase. I draw into Dark-Dwellers, and have K Command in my graveyard. Seeing that the K Command is the safer of the two plays, as I don't lose to removal, I decide to go that route instead. I start game 3 with 3 land in hand. I only have 1 red source, and proceed to miss my 5th land drop for 2 turns in a row with 2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers in hand. He hits me with Infinite Obliteration naming GDD, and then again naming Kolaghan, and then again naming Thunderbreak Regent. I'm still stuck on 4 land, and concede. 3-2-1.
The deck played pretty well. The only loss I had in the swiss I felt was winnable, but I just didn't hit the cards I needed. I also felt like I could have won the semi-finals if I had that second red source by turn 5. But sometimes that's how it goes. You can't win them all.
I hadn't played this deck in a few weeks. Spent a little bit of time testing out another deck that didn't pan out so well, so thought I would bring this out for a tournament. I've wanted to get a manland into the deck, and decided to play blue for Dragonlord Silumgar. I also wanted to add in some counter magic for the sideboard. Tonight I went 3-0, taking first place. Round 1 was RG Ramp. Round 2 was Jeskai Control. Round 3 was Naya Friends. I won all of the matches in 2 games. I did play a third game against the control player, which I lost. Still a pretty good night.
Ob Nix and Chandra are both good cards. You could run them, but then I think you're moving away from Dragons, and more into BR control. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as those types of lists have been putting up results. I've seen lists where the only creatures were Kalitas, Hangarback Walker, and Goblin Dark-Dwellers. Some are even playing Languish, which kills all of those cards. However, Hangarback leaves tokens, and Kalitas makes zombies for all of the non-token creatures on your opponent's board that die.
I took 4th place at Game Day yesterday. I went 2-1-1 in Swiss, and then lost in the semi-finals. There has been a lot of Languish running around lately, and the white weenie decks have basically disappeared from my meta completely. I tweaked my list from States to adjust for that. Here is what I played:
4x Hangarback Walker
3x Olivia, Mobilized for War
4x Thunderbreak Regent
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
2x Dragonlord Kolaghan
Spells: 15
2x Duress
2x Transgress the Mind
4x Draconic Roar
3x Kolaghan's Command
3x Ruinous Path
1x Read the Bones
4x Smoldering Marsh
4x Foreboding Ruins
1x Blighted Fen
1x Evolving Wilds
8x Swamp
7x Mountain
3x To the Slaughter
3x Kozilek's Return
2x Transgress the Mind
2x Dead Weight
2x Feiry Impulse
2x Ultimate Price
1x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Round 1: Naya Superfriends. This was an interesting brew. It played Gideon, Nissa, Arlin, and Chandra. Tireless Tracker. Oath of Nissa. Oath of Gideon. The first game was epic. We had a lot of back and forth. One turn, he would be ahead. The next turn, I would come back. The next turn, I would have to trade off my threats to stay alive. I was low for a while, but in the end I was doing stupid things like playing GDD, hitting K Command, bringing back and playing Hangarback for 4. I won it with 15 minutes left in the round. Game 2 was much more one sided in my favor, and I take it in 2. 1-0.
Round 2: BG Sacrifice. I don't see Kalitas in game 1, and my opponent overwhelms me after I bring them down to 3. I bring in Kalitas, Kozilek's Return, Dead Weight, Fiery Impulse. After a mulligan down to 6, I see no Kalitas, or any other cards that I boarded in. I get crushed. 1-1.
Round 3: BG Sacrifice. I have a t3 Olivia, followed by turn 4 Kalitas + discard. The life link and grave hate was enough. My opponent attempted to sac for Westvale Abbey with a Cutthroat on board. Didn't realize that Kalitas hoses that whole strategy. Game 2 I don't see more than 1 land in any of my opening hands. I mull to 5, keep a 1 land hand, and then don't draw another land. My opponent played Transgress the Mind on turn 4, and I concede in response. Game 3 came down to a race. I had Olivia in play, 4 lands, and I was sandbagging a 5th land in the event that I draw a creature. Topdecked Thunderbreak Regent, played and smashed for 8 with my opponent at 5. I take it in 3. 2-1.
Round 4: BG Season's Past. We're both 2-1, and ID to lock our spots in the top 8. 2-1-1.
Quarterfinals: Same opponent as round 1 - Naya Planeswalkers. I hit him with a Duress, and see Oath of Nissa, Gideon, and Chandra. I have Ruinous Path and GDD in hand, and take his Oath to slow him down. The his hand plays out slow. I kill off Gideon with Ruinous Path. Goblin Dark-Dwellers into Duress to take Chandra. It was pretty gross. The second game was just as much of a blow out. I win in 2. 3-1-1.
Semifinals: Round 4 Opponent - Seasons Past. I feel like I'm off to a good start in game 1, but Grasp of Darkness into Languish into Seasons Past can really catch up a deck that's falling behind. He wins game 1. Game 2 is better for me. I've got a better start with some hand disruption, and I wear him down a bit. I hit my 6th land, and come down with Dragonlord Kolaghan. I've got a second copy in hand, and bring him down to 2. He plays Clip Wings on his main phase. I draw into Dark-Dwellers, and have K Command in my graveyard. Seeing that the K Command is the safer of the two plays, as I don't lose to removal, I decide to go that route instead. I start game 3 with 3 land in hand. I only have 1 red source, and proceed to miss my 5th land drop for 2 turns in a row with 2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers in hand. He hits me with Infinite Obliteration naming GDD, and then again naming Kolaghan, and then again naming Thunderbreak Regent. I'm still stuck on 4 land, and concede. 3-2-1.
The deck played pretty well. The only loss I had in the swiss I felt was winnable, but I just didn't hit the cards I needed. I also felt like I could have won the semi-finals if I had that second red source by turn 5. But sometimes that's how it goes. You can't win them all.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
3x Hangarback Walker
3x Olivia, Mobilized for War
4x Thunderbreak Regent
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
2x Dragonlord Silumgar
1x Dragonlord Kolaghan
Other Spells: 15
2x Duress
4x Draconic Roar
2x Transgress the Mind
3x Kolaghan's Command
3x Ruinous Path
1x Read the Bones
4x Smoldering Marsh
4x Sunken Hollow
3x Evolving Wilds
2x Wandering Fumarole
1x Shivan Reef
1x Westvale Abbey
5x Swamp
4x Mountain
1x Island
3x Invasive Surgery
2x Dead Weight
2x Negate
2x Transgress the Mind
2x Ultimate Price
2x To the Slaughter
2x Virulent Plague
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF