I took the SCG list almost verbatim to FNM and went 3-1 with it. I beat up on a janky mono-blue control/mill deck, grinded out a win vs. Bant Midrange/Superfriends, and crushed mono-black aggro post-board. I lost to mono-black devotion when he dropped Pack Rat on turn two in games 1 & 3.
Ajani and Keening Apparition were all-stars. Ajani just keeps the gas flowing, and when you're ready to swing for the win, just dump a bunch of counters on hasty Satyr tokens and go for it. Keening did a great job taking care of random sundry annoying BS like Whips and D-Spheres and B-Lights and U-Connections. And sometimes got mentored into becoming a 5/5. Chandra is a great fun-of as another source of gas. Pinging random 1-toughness dorks is cool too.
Yeah, in testing, I'm not sure Anger is quite right. I don't like killing my own mana dorks. Of course, I could side them out in matchups I bring in Anger. I dunno. Either way, I wonder if Flames of the Firebrand might be better in this slot? Unflinching Courage on a Voyaging Satyr seems okay too (even better on a Courser).
Not sure about the mono-black matchup though. It seems like a handful of major things need to go right: 1. Kill the early Pack Rat. 2. Kill Underworld Connections. 3. Prepare for a big Gary or two. Once we get an engine of planeswalkers and Coursers going, winning should be academic.
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Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
I really feel like the matchups for Anger need to be outright stated and justified, there's too many dorks in this build and they all fix mana. So you're either shaving dorks and reducing its castability or keeping them in and potentially blowing them away. Alternatively Xenagos can tick up and blow away his Satyrs... the matchups just really need to be identified, I guarantee there are better options. It's a great card in the wrong place, by the looks of it.
Setessan Tactics sounds pretty spicy. I like it. It seems like it might have potential against other Monsters decks, too.
So I ran this deck at a Standard Win-a-Box last night and 4-0'd with it. I suspect I didn't face the most difficult competition, though, unfortunately. I beat a janky Jund/Dredge midrange deck, a newer player with a Boros midrange brew, a seemingly stock G/R Monsters deck, and a B/G Constellation deck. The closest matchup was the Monsters one, only because multiple Stormbreaths seem like they can difficult to deal with if we don't draw a complementary quantity of Elspeth or Mortars.
I loved the lol-factor of how the planeswalkers interact with each other. Ajani dig + Elspeth tokens + Xenagos mana + cast Stormbreath + Monstrous Stormbreath (or some subset thereof) was a play I made several times over the course of the evening. Good stuff. And against G/R Monsters, I just slammed a turn-three Polukranos and a turn-five Stormbreath and put the onus on him.
In my build, I ran four Voyaging Satyrs. I figured playing my planeswalkers and monsters ahead of curve was really important, so I pretty much always want to see a turn-two accelerant.
The fact that I can't use Ajani to put counters on Stormbreath is unfortunately, but being able to tutor for more gas more than makes up for it. I've read that Archangel of Thune can work as a plussable substitute, but the haste on Stormbreath is huge.
Fun deck. I'm glad I started playing it.
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Level 2 Judge
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
Tactics is ok, but it is very easy to be behind the curve on it where you want it. But I suppose against like Devotion it's more than reasonable. I wonder where Mortars isn't just better. Tactics at the very least is less flexible than it looks like. I tried it at the beginning of the format since I was looking for more over the top methods.
Truthfully looking at the list from SCG I'm not sure if those type of effects are even needed. I mean 3 Unflinching Courage, 3 Mortars already. If that is not enough I don't think adding more sweepers will do it. I guess it's the lack of straight one for one removal. Honestly the timing of that list looks awkward to me enough and the lack of kill makes me think while it is something unique you can do with the colour combination (Elspeth, Ajani), that I'm not confident that plan is actually better than the standard Ghor Clan, Domri Monsters plan. Giving up that speed does give you these great midgame threats when stuff drags but it removes a lot of the decks ability to keep early pressure up. You give them a break. Similarly if we are thinking Tactics or Anger zone I think the deck should think about a more fundamental sideboard change. I am not sold that this style actually has a good opposing monsters matchup if your opponent doesn't board in the way they normally would in the mirror.
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I'm wondering if maybe Clan Defiance could be worth a look. Not for aggro matchups, but for midrange matchups. I had some good luck with that one when I ran a more creature-heavy Naya deck earlier this year. I'm going to play another Standard win-a-box tonight, so I'll try it as a fun-of out of the 'board.
Truthfully, I really have no idea if this version of Monsters is better or worse than any other variant. Competitive metagame analysis isn't something I'm terribly good at. I do realize that this build isn't very explosive (except the occasional turn-three Puke on the play) and it probably is difficult to deal with an opposing turn-3/4 Puke/Stormbreath. I'm just happy to be playing something that's good enough to win some, but off-center enough so as not to be just "playing the best deck."
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Level 2 Judge
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
I suppose. I actually think right now is very very hard to do that type of analysis. There is a reason there is no consensus of the best deck. I am in the camp that it is Jund Monsters of the popular decks. At first I was going to say mono black, but if you look at the qualities that make best decks Mono Black is missing a couple. Nothing is particularly strong right now, but Monsters is the only deck other than UWx Control that feels complete (arguably the aggro decks are but they generally always are). Black can still just be a pile of bad cards and fall apart often enough. By complete I mean the ability to inact their game plan consistently. Monsters can be disrupted and it can be slow and clunky at times but given time it will do it's thing. (Even if that thing is futile at that point in the game). It consistently minus disruption and really bad hands an early to mid game plan that it can execute on that doesn't require drawing a specific card.
The thing is if Jund Monsters is the best deck or close to, I think in Naya it is possible to build a similar deck that actually averages better across the board. I feel the gap is actually large enough that a properly built Naya deck basically invalidates the Jund deck. However, in this format given how bad everything is it is really hard to tell small percentages across so many matchups. Maybe it's a mute point but I always strive for deck building ideal. This Standard is very frustrating from that perspective and I've found it very difficult to pinpoint the elements. It's taken so long to get a grasp of exactly how the timing of all the mechanics play out from a matchup perspective especially with the odds of drawing certain cards together etc and their impact. For instance I wasn't very high on Xenagos/Mutavault initially in Jund builds but finally figured out how it plays out. A lot of this is why I am so big on Voice of Resurgence right now. In any case it is so hard to build up proof or solid data to support any of my claims, but my experience points to closer to GR is actually the right move. Simply off the ability to play out the proactive game better. Having the plan B is crucial but it shouldn't interfere too much with the curve. If you give the opponent more time there is greater risk that they can pull out of it (or that you stumble) than the payoff for constructing it that way.
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I'm wondering if maybe Clan Defiance could be worth a look. Not for aggro matchups, but for midrange matchups. I had some good luck with that one when I ran a more creature-heavy Naya deck earlier this year. I'm going to play another Standard win-a-box tonight, so I'll try it as a fun-of out of the 'board.
If I had the inclination to make another deck, I'd try to make a Naya Monsters list with Boros Reckoner and Clan Defiance.
Yeah I like that interaction. I was testing Clan Defiance and I tested Reckoner, but seperately. Clan was almost good enough. Ultimately I found most of the time you'd rather just have a Boros Charm. It was only really good against like blue devotion. There were a few other places, like once it net me nightveil and one pack rat token. But for the most part getting the value was hard and basically I had to be in the market for an X spell. Which the deck sort of is, but it's best in the mid costs because you will almost never get full value early or late. By the time there are fliers worth hitting at a cost you can afford the ground is probably jammed or bigger than that. Using 5 mana to basically cast a Mortars is hard.
Reckoner on the other hand is interesting. The mana with a Confluence heavy build can support it. You just can never T2 it. That's ok, but it is actually pretty awkward against decks like black. It's ok against some aggro (non-blue). With white running exile removal, and black aggro a thing, it's basically only good against red Aggro who can use their own and like Big green decks. The difficulty is the timing, because on curve you are either playing Reckoner or huge 4 drop. This means if you go for Reckoner you are actually probably going for the defensive line since the 4 drops will win the race (short of some Reckoner combo out, play defense til you can Ghor Clan your own Polukranos, and then have Domri make it fight your own Reckoner etc..). But if you have to play Confluence to support it you see the issue. You aren't getting ahead of the curve and it is likely costing you life. If we weren't a Caryatid deck i'd be all over it. Even better give me a 1 mana dork that produces white or red. More likely than not it dies just like any other 4 drop in the deck would so no loss there, but the question is, is it better than playing those 4 drops in general.
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Unflinching has been hit or miss for me of late. I'm back on using creatures to battle with lifegain. It's quite possible that Archangel should be something else, but Trostani has been great for me.
Rift is mediocre and they can kill Caryatid. I found with this matchup 90% of the time with the way the deck is constructed I can ignore Demon (between Voice and Ghor Clan). Which means no need for removal for explicitly. Voice plays such a big part of this matchup so I play a misers Trostani. It's basically in the case that they run out of removal and you run out of threats but their board might be a bit bigger than yours. It grinds them out and gives you a means to race pack rat/demon. It makes late game dorks better. I actually go up from 25 to 26 creatures which makes Domri just a touch better.
This is a plan I use here which is very different than most monsters plans. I actually leave Courser in and add Trostani. Basically post board this matchup isn't a race it's a slaughter. Unlike other variations I have Deicide and Rift so there is no fear of Thassa. However you can almost count on your blue opponent boarding wrong since they expect you to play a monsters plan. I am aggressive here but then Trostani just gains life. Voice probably does nothing relevant in this matchup ever but it gets in for 2 or deters certain attacks. They Tidebinder and Rapid Hybrid your stuff but it doesn't really matter with Mortars and Rift. Frog Tokens work good with Trostani too. Deicide works with any enchantment shennanigans they try. Game 1 is a bit harder and you sort of have to Boros Charm/Ghor Clan a win. That's the only reason this matchup is 60-40.. It's like a 50/50 game 1 depending on their configuration (it might even be worse).. But it's like 70% postboard matchup.
Gx or Wx ________:
-2 Boros Charm
-2 Ghor Clan Rampager
-1 Polukranos, World Eater
-2 Courser of Kruphix
+1 Aetherize
+1 Cyclonic Rift
+1 Mizzium Mortars
+2 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
+1 Archangel of Thune
+1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
It depends on the deck a bit. I am grouping Monsters, Dredge, GW Aggro, Mono White, and bad Monsters (Constellations, Green Devotion, Naya Big Midrange) together. Basically the whole part of the format which are the "Bad Decks"(ourselves included). Basically you play a normal game and then you play better trumps when both decks sort of present their game plan in a clunky way. Of course if the opponent gets early ramp and you don't it might be hard. The biggest difference between this matchup and black devotion is Thoughtseize vs opposing Ramp and Black's ability to kill Caryatid. Some people have compared GB Devotion and Constellations to Black Devotion but for us those two points actually put them here instead. Voice and Trostani provide this wall with your planeswalkers that just turns the game into that miserable board stall state. Dragons can break through it but I mean if you are on tempo as well it will be close and you have the tools to push yourself ahead in the race with more permanent resources than say just relying on Ghor Clan. I have to admit this matchup is why I play this deck. I hate losing in the mirror and this plan works very well no matter what random crazy crap a big green deck is going to throw at you.. Garruk, Primal Bounty, Elspeth, Arbor Colossus, Prophet of Kruphix, Kiora, Sylvan Primordial, Nighthowler. The reason is you win either by tempo, or by upheaval. They can't do the same to you, unless you stumble early and they curve perfectly. You can even be behind buying time with Voice chumps and where Rakdos Return wouldn't get you back in the game these cards will. Sometimes I keep Courser in if the decks are incredibly slow and inept (like Constellations).
This is generally the plan. If you notice they are on Planar Cleansing instead of D-Sphere, keep the Ghor Clan and Polukranos in over Deicide. Of course if they aren't on D-Sphere you might as well count your blessings and take the free win. We can T2 Domri like no other in this deck so under a counter spell they have to wait til 6 mana to cleanse it away into a Boros Charm. Unlike all the matchups I've mentioned to this point, this matchup can be hard. Game 1 their removal may not be well suited. Game 2-3 it's a grind. It's a grind I find myself winning a lot more these days mind you. I always get in these states I feel like I can't win and I sort of top deck out of it. I think the control decks in running stuff like Divination are are actually full of a lot of air. As long as you keep their permanent advantage off the board (like Jace, and Elspeth) you should have the match. I keep the Ghor Clans pretty much solely for Elspeth removal duty. Sometimes Scavenging Ooze sort of sucks.. so depending on the list and how your opponent plays it might make sense to move around the Ghor Clan Polukranos numbers to compensate. I believe this matchup is pretty favorable but it can be a lot closer to 50/50.
Now the harder matchups....
RW Burn
-1 Elvish Mystic
-1 Cyclonic Rift
-3 Xenagos, the Reveler
-1 Stormbreath Dragon
+2 Scavenging Ooze
+3 Trostani
+1 Archangel of Thune
Sometimes I side out Dragons here,.. I often keep Charm in because I find I can race them. I take out one Elvish Mystic because between playing the Shock and getting Searing Blood it can be hard. You actually don't mind having mystic I just don't think you want a ton. This matchup is fine. It isn't great, but I'm net positive here. Generally they have to curve perfectly into multiple Helix's to really get you and be on the play. Otherwise usually it's a 2 for 1 trade on all your spells. The ideal hand is Sylvan Caryatid into Trostani.
I keep Ghor Clan in because trample can be important. It lets you get through those Reckoners. This matchup is probably the worst.. where an early nykthos draw with Mono Green you can still beat pretty easily, these guys it's really hard. I'm not sure the sideboard plan is perfect but I found Dragon did a lot less here. Against burn they rely on white spells which Dragon avoids. Here they have Mortars. I always want more mana.. or more Aetherizes in this matchup, but I know it's unrealistic with the mana. You just need to hit your mana perfect out the gate here and slow them down a turn or 2 early, because usually you can still stabilize against this deck but sometimes it's about a turn and a half too late.
I also seem to face this deck last round on mtgo queues.. and I always seem to get the worst possible hands. This matchup is not bad. You can play a more classic control approach and just play bigger threats. When I beat this deck it's a landslide, it's as embarrsassing as (white aggro against a deck with 4 Golgari Charms, and Chandra). It makes their deck look ridiculous, (like a slower red aggro deck with no reach). However, this is the deck that I always seem to get the mull to 4 against, or the rough keep (like 4 lands and 3 Mortars) and they have double Thoughtseize and I draw lands for 4 turns straight. This shouldn't be a bad matchup at all but it's one where if your deck stumbles a bit they can punish you. Unlike blue they can disrupt your ability to progress so it can push you back that tiny bit more. I think this should be a 60-40 sort of matchup but I'm currently showing about 45% here. Archetypically this matchup is the perfect example of the slightly bigger deck beating the smaller deck because unlike the other devotion based aggro (or even white with it's anthems) this a deck that just plays good cards at their CMC but yours are a lot better.
Anyway hopefully you guys get something from all this.
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Here is my brew for everyone's critique. The deck focuses largely on ramping out a Turn 1 Mystic (or Scry-land), into a Turn 2 Scavening Ooze/Caryatid/Courser, and (ideally) into a Turn 3 Xenagos/Ajani/Polukranos/Stormbreath Dragon/Assemble the Legion with a Turn 4 Elspeth as a finisher.
I used to have 2 Archangel of Thune in for the 1 Xenagod/Assemble the Legion but when play-testing she just ate removal and seemed lack-luster while my replacements closed the game out quickly. I have been having an issue with about 2-3 cards I am not sure about running. I like the 61/62 cards and I feel my minimal creature base makes Domri pointless. I tried 2 Celestial Flare because of the rampant Hexproof/Stormbreath Dragons at my LGS, switched them to 2 Voyaging Satyr for a little more consistency, then tried -1 Banishing Light/-2 Satyr, + 3 Voice of Resurgence to have something to do with Turns 2/3 if I can't power out Planeswalkers fast enough.
In play-testing a Turn 3 Xenagos into Turn 4 Stormbreath/Ajani/Assemble is nigh unbeatable but this deck can get bad against hyper-fast aggro (which I have sided 2-3 Anger of the Gods Sideboard and will be throwing in 2-3 Celestial Flares for the unwinnable Naya Hexproof match-up) and Rakdos's Return can often shut this deck down long enough to lose. I have top 8'ed consistently with this deck but it's just missing that last bit of "oomph!" I need to make it really work.
@Tom_Jund: Your main deck plan seems ok, but you are pretty top heavy. Even with 4 Courser I it still has to hit land on top. Minimum with that configuration you probably want the 24th land. Where do you sideboard in Xenagod? To me it looks like you bring in the top end for more aggressive matchups out of the board, which outside of the green mirror I wonder if is too late. Planar Cleansing is especially mystifying to me. You have a real Planeswalker tilt and the deck generally is about dominating the board. I mean there is Boros Charm, but that's an 8 mana 'combo'. I relate for wanting that sort of big effect but that seems really conditional.
@WhiteWisper: How do you intend to ever get that T3/T4 nut draw with 9 scrylands. I like the Mystic over over Satyr compared to other bigger builds, and Voice seems more on plan than Keening Apparation (especially now that people are recognizing that enchantments are so killable and changing their lists accordingly). You have pretty good fixing with your list 20 G, 15R, 13 W.. Although given the cards you are playing I might consider more white. In fact I think the white is more important than the red, but you also have probably 2 green to spare. A temple of Abandon for Temple of Triumph trade seems reasonable. Mind you I'm gathering the green Temple allow you to ensure T2 green after you T1 one. Given you don't play Domri, I'm not sure the role of the basic mountain. I guess it is good against Burning Earth maybe, but otherwise basic forest trade and then move some temples around seems better. Untapped green is generally better timing wise both for Mystic and for earlier double green costs especially since if it allows you to t1 Temple of Triumph which basically ensures your colors for the game.
All that being said I have my doubts about these sort of bigger Naya decks. I think the previous SCG win was an anomaly and that the Jund Monsters shell is much better. The timing and the clunkiness added by the extended top end hurt more than they help unless you are running pretty good. The cost of the scrylands adding to that clunkiness seems so big. With like 9 scrylands out of the first 4-5 lands you draw you can expect 2 of them to come into play tapped (and in a reasonable percentage of hands 3..). If you are lucky one of them is T1.. but the 2nd one is going to keep you off your 4 or 5 drop on time if you don't keep drawing lands. You don't really want to keep drawing lands probably either.
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I'm still playing this deck. Not a ton of new observations. I've been trying to up my land count since I found most of the time I was losing I was really just losing to myself. I also trimmed down some of the more conditional cards. In reality I haven't really been adapting my deck to do better in any specific matchup and have been happy where it is. I just found that 23 lands was too greedy, and it's better to have cards that do stuff in certain matchups than cards that don't do anything in other matchups. Hence I got rid of the Archangel of Thune and didn't even replace it with another good anti-aggro card. I got rid of Aetherize too as for the amount of Hexproof I face is way too low. I mean yeah as soon as I cut it the next 2 matches I hit were heroic and hexproof and I lost to hexproof but it wasn't worth it. Here's the current list. The sideboarding is mostly the same. Sometimes I cut a land and go down to 23 if I'm down curving.
Biggest changes are the Temple of Mystery to add one more blue source which was needed and the basic Mountain. I was debating basic plain but I think 17,14,14 is better and basic mountain for T2 Domri is more important than even T2 Voice since I'm more likely to have other plays like Caryatid at 2. It makes Trostani a touch harder. Speaking of Trostani I'm surprised more lists don't board it. It is by far the best anti aggro card not close, and it can also win attrition games. Against aggro you don't need the populate and in attrition games you will have voice tokens. It is amazing for racing mono blue even when tapped down. And if not tapped down you can always populate frog lizards. I did have them use Domestication on me the other day which was a surprise.. since most monsters lists that card is terrible (although particularly good here). The better mana so far seems to be that little bit of an edge. It did mean moving up to 5 scrylands which does mean sometimes you get 2 in your opener now. Sort of sucks but it was a necessary evil. Before with 23 lands the deck could get into these situations where you'd basically mulligan to oblivion due to land screw. And I think the colours are better than the 2nd mutavault. Having the 2nd Ajani sort of rounds out any perceived loss due to having only the single mutavault against control.
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Mind you my last post is pretty shortlived. Having Battlefield Forge means playing less Confluence is possible without playing a ton of Temples. This is huge. It means maybe 1 Confluence is the right move. I toying with a few manabases..
The first is better but slightly more painful. The 2nd is actually possibly significantly less painful. Even by playing 1 less shockland. I mean maybe I'm trying to hard to force Mutavault. Now with these lands blue is no longer free, and both of these bases are significantly better than 3 Mana Confluence bases. I also have been really big on 17 green, 14 red, 14 white, it might be possible to trim that down but I like the colors. Mind you with some of the new printings I don't think Rift is as needed, both with less damage from lands, and also with a few other small global effects like (Back to Nature). I mean I will lose a bit in the mirror. Trostani is a better globally though. I mean I probably will miss laughing at my green opponent go big plans like the comparatively anemic Elspeth Sun's Champion, Ajani Mentor of Heroes, Garruk Caller of Beasts. I lose a bit in Mono Blue but having Deicide is enough to hedge there I think anyway. The big gain is ability to be so much better in the aggro matchups though.
In general this ability to change the manabase might actually significantly change what cards can be played. The real question I'm asking myself is if Boros Charm is where I want to be. I like the decks speed but given how good the deck is postboard in certain matchups hedging game 1 against aggro a bit more might be worth it. I'm most interested is with standard at it's biggest card pool right now and it may be possible to find a better way to brute force.
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The problem with sligh is never getting the chance to setup a board since they really have all the control on their turn. I like Voice a lot there, and instant speed removal. Mind you I go heavy into Trostani in both matchups. I think your sideboarding is reasonable and Anger can be really good there. The difficulty though is if they sort of play around it you are still screwed since it affects our ability to build board. Which means while generally you are better off slightly you usually end up in the same situation a turn or so later. Mind you depending who you are playing against this may not be a concern at all. If you don't have it and they play around it you are set. If they don't play around it and you have it you are pretty good too. However if they have the read it does almost nothing. I'm not sure Fiendslayer Paladin is really worth playing. I guess if you have them use them, but sligh pumps their own guy and doesn't try to burn yours so the 2 life gain is nice but playing it on time with 12 white sources is rough. In theory to play it T3 you want 16. T4 works with 12. You have caryatid so I mean I guess you sort of have 16 but at that point you could be playing a 4 drop. I like how these plans play nice with Unflinching Courage though. Generally I think the card is a bit overrated in these sort of decks (much better in say Brave Naya) but if you link it, it's great. I just think generally this strategy benefits from having more powerful effects and individual threats with staying power than trying to play off any specific combination of cards. It works a lot better when the cards are replaceable and the sinergy is the fact all the cards are good so they are good together. Mind you tempo is still a thing and it's clear when you look what you board out in each matchup. Those cards are generally all good but it makes me wonder if the main deck actually needs all that. Giving up game 1 to certain decks is fine if postboard is absurd, but I think the general problem is the decks that the top end is good against would be fine game 1 without all that.
In summary, the way the winning lists have been approaching Naya is fundamentally flawed. Pick up Jund Monsters for a week, and it becomes so obvious. Especially when you consider the tradeoffs and you are still bad in the same matchups (probably worse). However, given how bad the mana is here, perhaps that is the best you can do. Sort of metagame hedge. Since if the mana was good(ie less painful and could meet its color requirements without playing ridiculous number of scrylands) Naya would be the best Monsters build bar none. However, instead it's forced into a slower grindier game without the ability to easily deal with key cards from the opponent, or ultimatum board states.
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As an exercise I tried playing a list without blue and playing less Confluence the last week and a half. The deck was alright and I was winning and doing less damage to myself. However, I was still doing enough damage that not having the Rift actually made it so I had so much less control of the tempo game. The thing is if you don't play Monsters like a tempo deck, you won't consistently win against any deck that isn't pure aggro. Seriously we only have a certain window. Our threats kind of suck. I mean people who don't play these sort of decks Standard Format in and out might be under the false impression that these monsters are good. But they aren't. Stormbreath is too good not to play simply because of the texture of the format making protection white just versatile enough that trying to play this sort of strategy without it, is hopeless. If you've ever tried swapping for Kalonian Hydra or Archangel of Thune, 2 harder hitting cards, it becomes super obvious. I mean Archangel of Thune could outpace Thundermaw Hellkite, which is a much more powerful effect. Those cards don't only fall short in the archetype, they are practically unplayable. However other decks whether control or devotion have way better end games (compared to stock monsters, obviously Naya Planeswalkers is different). My last Naya list pretty much with a reasonable draw was unwinnable matchup for mono black when on the play. But if I missed my 3rd land drop I probably just lose. So do you keep a 2 lander on the play with acceleration and the perfect curve. Yes.. don't draw a land in 2 turns and lose. The problem is that going to more walkers and top end and slowing yourself down while it gives you more game doesn't change the fact there is a window. Just makes it a touch longer but that is offset by the time you are giving up.
Let's put this another way. Remember when a lot of Jund Monsters list had Sire and Ruric Thar in the board. What happened? I mean like walkers these are good against control. It was shown over time that more expensive spells didn't actually help. Now in the boards you see like a Vraska and 2 Returns (that come in very few matchups). I don't get why none of the other non-Jund variants still haven't figured this out. The reason is time has ironed it out. These Naya lists are really stabs in the dark right now which is sad for this point in the format. Yeah sometimes you hit your target. Just cause you are playing a 3rd color doesn't mean you need to go all into into. RUG is the worst for this. Xenagos > Kiora in most matchups.. Not even close. But hey we're playing blue. In Naya, do we really need the extra 3 walkers and the effective 12+ extra cost across the cards (more when you consider Ghor Clan's Blood Rush cost).
I mean what is the tradeoff? Compare Naya Walkers, to GR and Jund Monsters. Which matchups are actually better? Which are worse? Naya's colours are generally better equipped to deal with Aggro because we can get more value than the one for ones black offers. Yet I don't think these decks are better. It's basically like an overreaction to beat Mono Black a matchup that is already pretty decent that Naya can make better without going overboard. Maybe control is better too but in the way siding in a bunch of Ruric Thars and Sire makes it good. Ie.. Hope you can stretch your window big enough to win. Naya borrowing from GW should murder Boss Sligh, but does it? I know I've been trying to steer the conversation, but can a single person here explain why these clunky planeswalker builds are even worth considering? Can you justify the tradeoff?
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Current Decks: GWUKnightfall Modern UWTempo Legacy UGRBurning Wish Cobra Vintage
How does this decklist look? With Ajani, Courser and scrylands, I find it easy to reach my monsters in time. I'm wondering, though, if 9 scrylands is too many. Maybe 8 or 7?
Yes.. 9 is way too many. Think 5, maybe 6 tops. That list has great fixing. 17 R, 15G, 16W. Comparatively better than it needs if you look at say Junds fixing. Anger is the only reason you would need to be so zealous on red. Without Domri.. or Anger.. like 12 is fine. Similarly this list could survive with like 13 white. Compared to most lists you actually have one less green.
I guess if I wanted to minimally support Anger, you could do something like this. Ideally.. you want 16 red to support Anger, but 15 is probably fine. This is even including a Mutavault.
Honestly I'd ditch Anger. Even with this base cutting a Confluence might still be painful. Without Anger you can do this base since you don't have Domri. We cut one more confluence:
Finally playing the deck I've wanted to play since Gatecrash. Naya Midrange. Having been playing Rg Devotion a lot, I've grown very fond of Reckoner fights and have incorporated it here. Which means dropping basic Forests and Elves. My meta is a lot of Green Devotion and Black Devotion with a Monoblue deck I tend to get matched up against every Friday that gives me fits. Still working on the SB. Would appreciate help with it or any sb planning advice.
After losing pretty badly with the above list on Friday, I went back to the Monster roots. 4 Elvish Mystic, some Rampagers, no fancy combos, along with being able to play my 2 lucky foil forests. I was hoping for just a slight improvement, but lo and behold the Elves turbocharged the deck with some mana and I managed to take home an M15 Gameday Champion mat with the following list.
Will probably write up a report tomorrow but I'm tired and hungry and would like to watch the SCG rebroadcast. Right now I will say that Ajani overperformed for me in all my games, making my creatures able to block everything, whether it be 5/5 indestructibles or the green God of the Hunt herself, or putting me out of reach of everything thanks to a handy dandy 100 life.
Match 1 against Gr Devotion: 1-1 Draw
Game 1 he overwhelmed me pretty easily with Nykthos and Genesis Hydra getting everything he needed. Game ended when he dropped a Polukranos with an entire board. I sided in 2 Anger of the Gods and 2 Chained to the Rocks and slowed him down by Mortars targeting his Polukranos along with an Anger to wipe the board. I dropped a Stormbreath but he had an active Nylea while my life was low and his life was relatively high from Disciple and Courser. I got out a GW Ajani and made my Courser big enough to block the Nylea and afterwards pumped my Caryatids to block everything and when he finally got out a Garruk and it looked like he was stabilizing I kept the Ajani pumping stuff and chumping til I ultimated and gained 100 life. He scooped as we were pressed for time and he wanted to preserve time for the final game. G3 he came out blazing with Nykthos and BTE but I once again used Mortars on Polukranos and Anger to clear up the board. It's important to note every land I played was a shock which dropped me pretty low. He recovered with a Voyaging Satyr and Nylea and I begrudingly shocked to Monstrous my Polukranos to kill off the Satyr before Nykthos shenanigans. Next turn he followed up with another Voyaging Satyr and Xenawalker but we went to turns and even though I all had was a Scooze I knew Nylea couldn't gain trample herself which allowed me to survive and we drew.
Match 2 against RU Ensoul Artifact: 2-0 Win
As soon as I saw an Ornithopter G1 I knew the deal, however a Voice token and Xenawalker put her on a very fast clock that she couldn't handle. Sided in 2 Chained to the Rocks. G2 she lead with a Darksteel Citadel and I was scared but she get didn't get Ensoul til around t4 and I chumped until I drew into GW Ajani and made my Caryatids big enough to block. She Ensouled an Ornithopter shortly after but I was able to Monstrous a Stormbreath and she had to chump and afterwards she couldn't come back.
Match 3 against BU Tempo: 2-1 Win
This was a very well thought out deck that relied on Master of Feast and Desecration Demon along with creatures from Ashiok, all protected by Swan Song. G1 he blocked my Voice of Resurgence with MoF and I used Mortars to kill it. He got another MoF and got aggressive with it. I punished him and just went on offense with Xenawalker pumping out tokens and a Stormbreath off the top to swing and kill with the token army for 14 exactsies. I sided in Chained to the Rocks and Boros Charm and I was winning the race with Domri but he had MoF and Desecration Demon. I sacked dorks to tap the Demon and we raced but he killed my Domri. Eventually he dropped a Grey Merchant and even though I was up by a lot I quickly began to lose the race and when I tried to Chain the D Demon he pulled out the trump Swan Song which caught me completly off guard and I quickly ran out of things to tap it down. G3 I accelerated into my Xenagos and put him under pressure. He got out an Ashiok but I ignored and started swinging at him as I had a Boros Charm in hand. I didn’t use it because I did have a read on his Swan Song as he always left a Blue Mana up. He got a D Demon and I had to start sacking some dudes to keep it tapped down but I landed an Ajani and my Satyr tokens climbed climbed over the Polukranos and other things he got from Ashiok. At the end he was at 3 and played a Thoughtseize with me tapped out. I was like whoa, I'm about to lose my Boros Charm but he Swan Song'd his own Thoughtseize just to get a Blocker but I swung in with everything next turn which was lethal. Nevermind the Boros Charm or Ghor Clan Rampager I drew that turn.
Match 4 against Monoblack Aggro: 1-2 Loss
I played the KoTH and G1 I kept a good hand with Dorks but as soon as I saw him attacking Gnarled Scarhides and Tormented Heroes I traded them away and eventually I got stuck on 2 lands and he quickly won from there. I sided in Anger of the Gods, Chained to the Rocks, and Warleaders Helix. G2 he jumped out quickly and even though I threw a Caryatid to block one of his 1 drops I he played a Boon of Ereos to kill it. He dropped a Lifebane Zombie on T3 and took something but he saw the Anger of the Gods, which I played on my turn and mopped up the board. We both drew pretty badly from there but eventually I won the race with 2 Stormbreaths. G3 I fell behind very quickly when he bestowed a Herald of Torment and I had to Mortars and use Anger of the Gods just to get rid of the creature it was equipped on.I think I got rid of it eventually and when it looked like I was gonna stabilize he dropped a Lifebane Zombie and when I went to Warleaders Helix it he killed it with his own Ultimate Price to negate the Lifegain. Eventually he dropped a Marauder and alpha'd.
At this point I was 2-1-1 and I was the only game left was the guy I played in R3 vs American Control. It was G3 and we were all watching and I was just hoping he'd win to get me better breakers. He got the job done by resolving a Grey Merchant and countering 2 counters with 2 Swan Songs. He ended up 3-1 along with some Monogreen Devotion deck and the dude who just beat me ended up as the only undefeated and so cut to T4 and I was the last one in. Which meant a rematch against the guy I just went up against.
Semifinals against Monoblack Aggro: 2-1 Win
Game 1 He bestowed another Herald of Torment and eventually won with Sign in Blood targeting me. G2 he got out 1 Thrill Kill which has Deathtouch that I couldn't get rid of or safely block but managed to gainin a bit of life from Courser. He dropped a Lifebane Zombie and saw nothing but all 4 Planeswalkers in the deck in my hand (Chandra, Ajani, Xenagos, Domri) I dropped the Chandra on my turn and took out his Zombie. I then played Xenagos and afterwards got the entire Superfriend lineup out. He sent things attacking at them but at that point it didn't matter. They had generated too much advantage and I took it. G3 I had a Stomping Ground and Sacred Foundry along with an Anger and 2 Domri's but I shipped for a 5 lands and a Courser. Did not want to go down to 5 and kept it. This game he played nothing T1. Sign his Blood T2 and played a Thoughseize for the first time in 6 games to snipe my Courser and something else. Luckily I topdecked a Voice of Resurgence. He got out 2 Thrill Kill Assassins T4. I Chumped 1 and took 2. I dropped a Polukranos and had to chump with it. He played another Thrill Kill Assassin and a Tormented Hero and with things looking bleak I topdecked a Chandra and took out his Tormented Hero. I swung in with a 1/1 Voice Token seeing as how things were still bad but the 2 Thoughtseizes kind of hurt him (and the Chandra pinged him for 1). He had nothing on his turn but still attacked me instead of Chandra. I topdecked a Xenagos made a Satyr and swung in for 4. At this point things were pretty bad for him as he was botteknecked on 3 Mana with no Blockers and I was still above 10 life with him facing lethal. He played a Herald of Torment and passed and even though the Chandra made it lethal just by removing his Herald as a blocker I topdecked Ajani for the rubbins.
For the finals we agreed to split prizes as we were both guaranteed a mat. We played 1 Game for fun anyway.
Finals against Mono Green Devotion:
His hand was slow as his first card was a Courser which a Mortar'd while dropping an Elf. He followed up with BTE BTE Courser. I played another Mystic on my turn and let him crash in as I had another Mortars and just didn't want to lose the 3 dorks as I only had 3 lands. I overloaded on his turn. I think he had Voyaging Satyr to follow up. I swung in. He played a Genesis Hydra for 5 and got a Polukranos. I dropped a Scooze on my turn as there was plently of fuel for it. He got aggressive and swung in and I happily blocked chumped his Polukranos with an Elf and his Genesis Hydra with my Scooze which ate 4 things and killed off his Hydra. On my turn I ate more things with Scooze played a Domri and fought off the Polulkranos. At this point he was flooidng and only had a Nylea out. Domri scored a Stormbreath and took to the skies. On my turn I threw away the Domri to fight off his Voyaging Saty which was all he had left after chumping last turn but he Chorded for 7 which meant Hornet Queen. I didn't have much but drew a Domri and fought my Elf with 1 token. 3 More to go. I swung in with Scooze and a Courser. He blocked the Scooze and took 2. Down to 2 Tokens. On his turn he swung in with 1 Token and killed my Domri. I didn't really much at this but the Stormbreath which he a token for. But I swung in with Courser and 2 Elves and he blocked the Courser and an Elf and used Nylea to pump them taking them out and just dropping him down by 1. I think at this point he was 3 life and I was hoping to draw anything but wouldn't attack with Stormbreath til it could Monstrous on his draw and at least deal 1. It was basically a stalemate but I found a Xenagos and with him unable to attack it he drew nothing but lands until I swung in for lethal.
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Ajani and Keening Apparition were all-stars. Ajani just keeps the gas flowing, and when you're ready to swing for the win, just dump a bunch of counters on hasty Satyr tokens and go for it. Keening did a great job taking care of random sundry annoying BS like Whips and D-Spheres and B-Lights and U-Connections. And sometimes got mentored into becoming a 5/5. Chandra is a great fun-of as another source of gas. Pinging random 1-toughness dorks is cool too.
Yeah, in testing, I'm not sure Anger is quite right. I don't like killing my own mana dorks. Of course, I could side them out in matchups I bring in Anger. I dunno. Either way, I wonder if Flames of the Firebrand might be better in this slot? Unflinching Courage on a Voyaging Satyr seems okay too (even better on a Courser).
Not sure about the mono-black matchup though. It seems like a handful of major things need to go right: 1. Kill the early Pack Rat. 2. Kill Underworld Connections. 3. Prepare for a big Gary or two. Once we get an engine of planeswalkers and Coursers going, winning should be academic.
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
EDIT: Actually, Justin said he'd take out the Angers in favor of Setessan Tactics at the end of his article: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/28633_The-Industry-Standard-Boogeymen-Down.html
So I ran this deck at a Standard Win-a-Box last night and 4-0'd with it. I suspect I didn't face the most difficult competition, though, unfortunately. I beat a janky Jund/Dredge midrange deck, a newer player with a Boros midrange brew, a seemingly stock G/R Monsters deck, and a B/G Constellation deck. The closest matchup was the Monsters one, only because multiple Stormbreaths seem like they can difficult to deal with if we don't draw a complementary quantity of Elspeth or Mortars.
I loved the lol-factor of how the planeswalkers interact with each other. Ajani dig + Elspeth tokens + Xenagos mana + cast Stormbreath + Monstrous Stormbreath (or some subset thereof) was a play I made several times over the course of the evening. Good stuff. And against G/R Monsters, I just slammed a turn-three Polukranos and a turn-five Stormbreath and put the onus on him.
In my build, I ran four Voyaging Satyrs. I figured playing my planeswalkers and monsters ahead of curve was really important, so I pretty much always want to see a turn-two accelerant.
The fact that I can't use Ajani to put counters on Stormbreath is unfortunately, but being able to tutor for more gas more than makes up for it. I've read that Archangel of Thune can work as a plussable substitute, but the haste on Stormbreath is huge.
Fun deck. I'm glad I started playing it.
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
Truthfully looking at the list from SCG I'm not sure if those type of effects are even needed. I mean 3 Unflinching Courage, 3 Mortars already. If that is not enough I don't think adding more sweepers will do it. I guess it's the lack of straight one for one removal. Honestly the timing of that list looks awkward to me enough and the lack of kill makes me think while it is something unique you can do with the colour combination (Elspeth, Ajani), that I'm not confident that plan is actually better than the standard Ghor Clan, Domri Monsters plan. Giving up that speed does give you these great midgame threats when stuff drags but it removes a lot of the decks ability to keep early pressure up. You give them a break. Similarly if we are thinking Tactics or Anger zone I think the deck should think about a more fundamental sideboard change. I am not sold that this style actually has a good opposing monsters matchup if your opponent doesn't board in the way they normally would in the mirror.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
Truthfully, I really have no idea if this version of Monsters is better or worse than any other variant. Competitive metagame analysis isn't something I'm terribly good at. I do realize that this build isn't very explosive (except the occasional turn-three Puke on the play) and it probably is difficult to deal with an opposing turn-3/4 Puke/Stormbreath. I'm just happy to be playing something that's good enough to win some, but off-center enough so as not to be just "playing the best deck."
Currently playing:
Standard: Superfriends!
Legacy: Nic Fit / Pod
Pauper: Delvar; Tron; Flicker Stuff
Commander: Riku ("Some weird doubple spell thing happened"); Keranos ("I did a Gatherer search for 'random' and 'flip a coin.'"); Superfriends!
The thing is if Jund Monsters is the best deck or close to, I think in Naya it is possible to build a similar deck that actually averages better across the board. I feel the gap is actually large enough that a properly built Naya deck basically invalidates the Jund deck. However, in this format given how bad everything is it is really hard to tell small percentages across so many matchups. Maybe it's a mute point but I always strive for deck building ideal. This Standard is very frustrating from that perspective and I've found it very difficult to pinpoint the elements. It's taken so long to get a grasp of exactly how the timing of all the mechanics play out from a matchup perspective especially with the odds of drawing certain cards together etc and their impact. For instance I wasn't very high on Xenagos/Mutavault initially in Jund builds but finally figured out how it plays out. A lot of this is why I am so big on Voice of Resurgence right now. In any case it is so hard to build up proof or solid data to support any of my claims, but my experience points to closer to GR is actually the right move. Simply off the ability to play out the proactive game better. Having the plan B is crucial but it shouldn't interfere too much with the curve. If you give the opponent more time there is greater risk that they can pull out of it (or that you stumble) than the payoff for constructing it that way.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
If I had the inclination to make another deck, I'd try to make a Naya Monsters list with Boros Reckoner and Clan Defiance.
Her Shop on Etsy
THS-KTK: Rabble Red
RTR-THS: Dega Midrange
INN-RTR: Boros Humans
SOM-INN: B/u Control
Modern: Mono-Black Infect
Reckoner on the other hand is interesting. The mana with a Confluence heavy build can support it. You just can never T2 it. That's ok, but it is actually pretty awkward against decks like black. It's ok against some aggro (non-blue). With white running exile removal, and black aggro a thing, it's basically only good against red Aggro who can use their own and like Big green decks. The difficulty is the timing, because on curve you are either playing Reckoner or huge 4 drop. This means if you go for Reckoner you are actually probably going for the defensive line since the 4 drops will win the race (short of some Reckoner combo out, play defense til you can Ghor Clan your own Polukranos, and then have Domri make it fight your own Reckoner etc..). But if you have to play Confluence to support it you see the issue. You aren't getting ahead of the curve and it is likely costing you life. If we weren't a Caryatid deck i'd be all over it. Even better give me a 1 mana dork that produces white or red. More likely than not it dies just like any other 4 drop in the deck would so no loss there, but the question is, is it better than playing those 4 drops in general.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
4 Temple Garden
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
2 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Triumph
3 Mana Confluence
1 Mutavault
3 Forest
Creatures(25):
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Voice of Resurgence
2 Courser of Kruphix
3 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Ghor Clan Rampager
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Boros Charm
2 Mizzium Mortars
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Domri Rade
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Deicide
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Aetherize
3 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
3 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1 Archangel of Thune
Sideboard plan currently looks like this:
Black Devotion:
- 1 Cyclonic Rift
- 2 Boros Charm
- 2 Polukranos
+ 2 Scavenging Ooze
+ 1 Mizzium Mortars
+ 1 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
+ 1 Ajani, Mentor of Healers
Rift is mediocre and they can kill Caryatid. I found with this matchup 90% of the time with the way the deck is constructed I can ignore Demon (between Voice and Ghor Clan). Which means no need for removal for explicitly. Voice plays such a big part of this matchup so I play a misers Trostani. It's basically in the case that they run out of removal and you run out of threats but their board might be a bit bigger than yours. It grinds them out and gives you a means to race pack rat/demon. It makes late game dorks better. I actually go up from 25 to 26 creatures which makes Domri just a touch better.
Blue Devotion:
- 2 Boros Charm
- 4 Ghor Clan Rampager
- 1 Xenagos, the Reveler
- 3 Stormbreath Dragon
+ 1 Mizzium Mortars
+ 1 Cyclonic Rift
+ 2 Deicide
+ 3 Mistcutter Hydra
+ 2 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
+ 1 Archangel of Thune
This is a plan I use here which is very different than most monsters plans. I actually leave Courser in and add Trostani. Basically post board this matchup isn't a race it's a slaughter. Unlike other variations I have Deicide and Rift so there is no fear of Thassa. However you can almost count on your blue opponent boarding wrong since they expect you to play a monsters plan. I am aggressive here but then Trostani just gains life. Voice probably does nothing relevant in this matchup ever but it gets in for 2 or deters certain attacks. They Tidebinder and Rapid Hybrid your stuff but it doesn't really matter with Mortars and Rift. Frog Tokens work good with Trostani too. Deicide works with any enchantment shennanigans they try. Game 1 is a bit harder and you sort of have to Boros Charm/Ghor Clan a win. That's the only reason this matchup is 60-40.. It's like a 50/50 game 1 depending on their configuration (it might even be worse).. But it's like 70% postboard matchup.
Gx or Wx ________:
-2 Boros Charm
-2 Ghor Clan Rampager
-1 Polukranos, World Eater
-2 Courser of Kruphix
+1 Aetherize
+1 Cyclonic Rift
+1 Mizzium Mortars
+2 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
+1 Archangel of Thune
+1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
It depends on the deck a bit. I am grouping Monsters, Dredge, GW Aggro, Mono White, and bad Monsters (Constellations, Green Devotion, Naya Big Midrange) together. Basically the whole part of the format which are the "Bad Decks"(ourselves included). Basically you play a normal game and then you play better trumps when both decks sort of present their game plan in a clunky way. Of course if the opponent gets early ramp and you don't it might be hard. The biggest difference between this matchup and black devotion is Thoughtseize vs opposing Ramp and Black's ability to kill Caryatid. Some people have compared GB Devotion and Constellations to Black Devotion but for us those two points actually put them here instead. Voice and Trostani provide this wall with your planeswalkers that just turns the game into that miserable board stall state. Dragons can break through it but I mean if you are on tempo as well it will be close and you have the tools to push yourself ahead in the race with more permanent resources than say just relying on Ghor Clan. I have to admit this matchup is why I play this deck. I hate losing in the mirror and this plan works very well no matter what random crazy crap a big green deck is going to throw at you.. Garruk, Primal Bounty, Elspeth, Arbor Colossus, Prophet of Kruphix, Kiora, Sylvan Primordial, Nighthowler. The reason is you win either by tempo, or by upheaval. They can't do the same to you, unless you stumble early and they curve perfectly. You can even be behind buying time with Voice chumps and where Rakdos Return wouldn't get you back in the game these cards will. Sometimes I keep Courser in if the decks are incredibly slow and inept (like Constellations).
UWx Control:
-1 Sylvan Caryatid
-2 Mizzium Mortars
-3 Polukranos, World Eater
-1 Ghor Clan Rampager
-1 Cyclonic Rift
+2 Deicide
+2 Scavenging Ooze
+3 Mistcutter Hydra
+1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
This is generally the plan. If you notice they are on Planar Cleansing instead of D-Sphere, keep the Ghor Clan and Polukranos in over Deicide. Of course if they aren't on D-Sphere you might as well count your blessings and take the free win. We can T2 Domri like no other in this deck so under a counter spell they have to wait til 6 mana to cleanse it away into a Boros Charm. Unlike all the matchups I've mentioned to this point, this matchup can be hard. Game 1 their removal may not be well suited. Game 2-3 it's a grind. It's a grind I find myself winning a lot more these days mind you. I always get in these states I feel like I can't win and I sort of top deck out of it. I think the control decks in running stuff like Divination are are actually full of a lot of air. As long as you keep their permanent advantage off the board (like Jace, and Elspeth) you should have the match. I keep the Ghor Clans pretty much solely for Elspeth removal duty. Sometimes Scavenging Ooze sort of sucks.. so depending on the list and how your opponent plays it might make sense to move around the Ghor Clan Polukranos numbers to compensate. I believe this matchup is pretty favorable but it can be a lot closer to 50/50.
Now the harder matchups....
RW Burn
-1 Elvish Mystic
-1 Cyclonic Rift
-3 Xenagos, the Reveler
-1 Stormbreath Dragon
+2 Scavenging Ooze
+3 Trostani
+1 Archangel of Thune
Sometimes I side out Dragons here,.. I often keep Charm in because I find I can race them. I take out one Elvish Mystic because between playing the Shock and getting Searing Blood it can be hard. You actually don't mind having mystic I just don't think you want a ton. This matchup is fine. It isn't great, but I'm net positive here. Generally they have to curve perfectly into multiple Helix's to really get you and be on the play. Otherwise usually it's a 2 for 1 trade on all your spells. The ideal hand is Sylvan Caryatid into Trostani.
Red Devotion
-2 Boros Charm
-3 Xenagos, the Reveler
-4 Stormbreath Dragon
+1 Mizzium Mortars
+1 Cyclonic Rift
+2 Scavenging Ooze
+1 Aetherize
+3 Trostani
+1 Archangel
I keep Ghor Clan in because trample can be important. It lets you get through those Reckoners. This matchup is probably the worst.. where an early nykthos draw with Mono Green you can still beat pretty easily, these guys it's really hard. I'm not sure the sideboard plan is perfect but I found Dragon did a lot less here. Against burn they rely on white spells which Dragon avoids. Here they have Mortars. I always want more mana.. or more Aetherizes in this matchup, but I know it's unrealistic with the mana. You just need to hit your mana perfect out the gate here and slow them down a turn or 2 early, because usually you can still stabilize against this deck but sometimes it's about a turn and a half too late.
Black Aggro
-1 Cyclonic Rift
-2 Boros Charm
-1 Xenagos, the Reveler
-2 Stormbreath Dragon
-4 Ghor Clan Rampager
+2 Scavenging Ooze
+2 Deicide
+1 Mizzium Mortars
+1 Aetherize
+3 Trostani
+1 Archangel
I also seem to face this deck last round on mtgo queues.. and I always seem to get the worst possible hands. This matchup is not bad. You can play a more classic control approach and just play bigger threats. When I beat this deck it's a landslide, it's as embarrsassing as (white aggro against a deck with 4 Golgari Charms, and Chandra). It makes their deck look ridiculous, (like a slower red aggro deck with no reach). However, this is the deck that I always seem to get the mull to 4 against, or the rough keep (like 4 lands and 3 Mortars) and they have double Thoughtseize and I draw lands for 4 turns straight. This shouldn't be a bad matchup at all but it's one where if your deck stumbles a bit they can punish you. Unlike blue they can disrupt your ability to progress so it can push you back that tiny bit more. I think this should be a 60-40 sort of matchup but I'm currently showing about 45% here. Archetypically this matchup is the perfect example of the slightly bigger deck beating the smaller deck because unlike the other devotion based aggro (or even white with it's anthems) this a deck that just plays good cards at their CMC but yours are a lot better.
Anyway hopefully you guys get something from all this.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
1x Mountain
2x Nykthos, shrine to nyx
4x Forest
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Stomping Ground
4x Temple Garden
4x Temple of Abandon
creatures 25
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Fleecemane Lion
4x Courser of Kruphix
3x Ghor-Clan Rampager
4x Stormbreath Dragon
2x Aurelia, the warleader
3x Domri Rade
3x Xenagos, the reveler
2x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Instants 4
4x Boros Charm
2x Mizzium Mortars
3x Selesnya Charm
3x Deicide
3x Unflinching courage
2x Xenagos, God of Revels
1x Planar cleansing
1x Angel of serenity
for the awesome sig.
I used to have 2 Archangel of Thune in for the 1 Xenagod/Assemble the Legion but when play-testing she just ate removal and seemed lack-luster while my replacements closed the game out quickly. I have been having an issue with about 2-3 cards I am not sure about running. I like the 61/62 cards and I feel my minimal creature base makes Domri pointless. I tried 2 Celestial Flare because of the rampant Hexproof/Stormbreath Dragons at my LGS, switched them to 2 Voyaging Satyr for a little more consistency, then tried -1 Banishing Light/-2 Satyr, + 3 Voice of Resurgence to have something to do with Turns 2/3 if I can't power out Planeswalkers fast enough.
In play-testing a Turn 3 Xenagos into Turn 4 Stormbreath/Ajani/Assemble is nigh unbeatable but this deck can get bad against hyper-fast aggro (which I have sided 2-3 Anger of the Gods Sideboard and will be throwing in 2-3 Celestial Flares for the unwinnable Naya Hexproof match-up) and Rakdos's Return can often shut this deck down long enough to lose. I have top 8'ed consistently with this deck but it's just missing that last bit of "oomph!" I need to make it really work.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/naya-goodstuffdec/
2x Forest
2x Mana Confluence
1x Mountain
2x Sacred Foundry
4x Stomping Ground
4x Temple Garden
4x Temple of Abandon
4x Temple of Plenty
1x Temple of Triumph
3x Courser of Kruphix
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Polukranos, World Eater
2x Scavenging Ooze
4x Stormbreath Dragon
4x Sylvan Caryatid
3x Voice of Resurgence
1x Xenagos, God of Revels
2x Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
2x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3x Xenagos, The Reveler
Enchantment (3)
1x Assemble the Legion
2x Banishing Light
Sorcery (3)
3x Mizzium Mortars
@WhiteWisper: How do you intend to ever get that T3/T4 nut draw with 9 scrylands. I like the Mystic over over Satyr compared to other bigger builds, and Voice seems more on plan than Keening Apparation (especially now that people are recognizing that enchantments are so killable and changing their lists accordingly). You have pretty good fixing with your list 20 G, 15R, 13 W.. Although given the cards you are playing I might consider more white. In fact I think the white is more important than the red, but you also have probably 2 green to spare. A temple of Abandon for Temple of Triumph trade seems reasonable. Mind you I'm gathering the green Temple allow you to ensure T2 green after you T1 one. Given you don't play Domri, I'm not sure the role of the basic mountain. I guess it is good against Burning Earth maybe, but otherwise basic forest trade and then move some temples around seems better. Untapped green is generally better timing wise both for Mystic and for earlier double green costs especially since if it allows you to t1 Temple of Triumph which basically ensures your colors for the game.
All that being said I have my doubts about these sort of bigger Naya decks. I think the previous SCG win was an anomaly and that the Jund Monsters shell is much better. The timing and the clunkiness added by the extended top end hurt more than they help unless you are running pretty good. The cost of the scrylands adding to that clunkiness seems so big. With like 9 scrylands out of the first 4-5 lands you draw you can expect 2 of them to come into play tapped (and in a reasonable percentage of hands 3..). If you are lucky one of them is T1.. but the 2nd one is going to keep you off your 4 or 5 drop on time if you don't keep drawing lands. You don't really want to keep drawing lands probably either.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
4 Temple Garden
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
2 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Triumph
1 Temple of Mystery
3 Mana Confluence
1 Mutavault
2 Forest
1 Moutain
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Voice of Resurgence
2 Courser of Kruphix
3 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Ghor Clan Rampager
4 Stormbreath Dragon
Other(11):
2 Boros Charm
1 Mizzium Mortars
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Domri Rade
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Deicide
1 Cyclonic Rift
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
3 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Biggest changes are the Temple of Mystery to add one more blue source which was needed and the basic Mountain. I was debating basic plain but I think 17,14,14 is better and basic mountain for T2 Domri is more important than even T2 Voice since I'm more likely to have other plays like Caryatid at 2. It makes Trostani a touch harder. Speaking of Trostani I'm surprised more lists don't board it. It is by far the best anti aggro card not close, and it can also win attrition games. Against aggro you don't need the populate and in attrition games you will have voice tokens. It is amazing for racing mono blue even when tapped down. And if not tapped down you can always populate frog lizards. I did have them use Domestication on me the other day which was a surprise.. since most monsters lists that card is terrible (although particularly good here). The better mana so far seems to be that little bit of an edge. It did mean moving up to 5 scrylands which does mean sometimes you get 2 in your opener now. Sort of sucks but it was a necessary evil. Before with 23 lands the deck could get into these situations where you'd basically mulligan to oblivion due to land screw. And I think the colours are better than the 2nd mutavault. Having the 2nd Ajani sort of rounds out any perceived loss due to having only the single mutavault against control.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
There is:
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple Garden
2 Temple of Plenty
2 Temple of Abandon
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Mana Confluence
3 Forest
1 Mutavault
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple Garden
3 Temple of Plenty
3 Temple of Abandon
3 Battlefield Forge
1 Mana Confluence
2 Forest
1 Mutavault
The first is better but slightly more painful. The 2nd is actually possibly significantly less painful. Even by playing 1 less shockland. I mean maybe I'm trying to hard to force Mutavault. Now with these lands blue is no longer free, and both of these bases are significantly better than 3 Mana Confluence bases. I also have been really big on 17 green, 14 red, 14 white, it might be possible to trim that down but I like the colors. Mind you with some of the new printings I don't think Rift is as needed, both with less damage from lands, and also with a few other small global effects like (Back to Nature). I mean I will lose a bit in the mirror. Trostani is a better globally though. I mean I probably will miss laughing at my green opponent go big plans like the comparatively anemic Elspeth Sun's Champion, Ajani Mentor of Heroes, Garruk Caller of Beasts. I lose a bit in Mono Blue but having Deicide is enough to hedge there I think anyway. The big gain is ability to be so much better in the aggro matchups though.
In general this ability to change the manabase might actually significantly change what cards can be played. The real question I'm asking myself is if Boros Charm is where I want to be. I like the decks speed but given how good the deck is postboard in certain matchups hedging game 1 against aggro a bit more might be worth it. I'm most interested is with standard at it's biggest card pool right now and it may be possible to find a better way to brute force.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
i've been running justin crandalls list
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple of Abandon
4 Temple Garden
3 Forest
2 Mountain
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
1 Keening Apparition
2 Voice of Resurgence
3 Voyaging Satyr
3 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Selesnya Charm
3 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
Sideboard
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Unflinching Courage
1 Deicide
2 Magma Spray
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Fiendslayer Paladin
3 Mistcutter Hydra
i've decided that anger is better versus boss sligh then setessan tactics, not too sure if it's the right call.
my thoughts on boarding are against boss sligh are
+3 fiendslayer paladin
+2 magma spray
+3 unflinching courage
-2 elspeth
-3 ajani, menttor of heroes
-1 chandra, pyromaster
-1 xenagos, the reveler
Against Mono Blue
+3 Unflinching courage
+1 deicide
+3 mistcutter hydra
-2 elspeth
-3 ajani, mentor of heroes
-2 xenagos, the reveler
do these seem like reasonable sideboard decisions?
The gameplan is too keep there side of the board clean?
In summary, the way the winning lists have been approaching Naya is fundamentally flawed. Pick up Jund Monsters for a week, and it becomes so obvious. Especially when you consider the tradeoffs and you are still bad in the same matchups (probably worse). However, given how bad the mana is here, perhaps that is the best you can do. Sort of metagame hedge. Since if the mana was good(ie less painful and could meet its color requirements without playing ridiculous number of scrylands) Naya would be the best Monsters build bar none. However, instead it's forced into a slower grindier game without the ability to easily deal with key cards from the opponent, or ultimatum board states.
==============================
As an exercise I tried playing a list without blue and playing less Confluence the last week and a half. The deck was alright and I was winning and doing less damage to myself. However, I was still doing enough damage that not having the Rift actually made it so I had so much less control of the tempo game. The thing is if you don't play Monsters like a tempo deck, you won't consistently win against any deck that isn't pure aggro. Seriously we only have a certain window. Our threats kind of suck. I mean people who don't play these sort of decks Standard Format in and out might be under the false impression that these monsters are good. But they aren't. Stormbreath is too good not to play simply because of the texture of the format making protection white just versatile enough that trying to play this sort of strategy without it, is hopeless. If you've ever tried swapping for Kalonian Hydra or Archangel of Thune, 2 harder hitting cards, it becomes super obvious. I mean Archangel of Thune could outpace Thundermaw Hellkite, which is a much more powerful effect. Those cards don't only fall short in the archetype, they are practically unplayable. However other decks whether control or devotion have way better end games (compared to stock monsters, obviously Naya Planeswalkers is different). My last Naya list pretty much with a reasonable draw was unwinnable matchup for mono black when on the play. But if I missed my 3rd land drop I probably just lose. So do you keep a 2 lander on the play with acceleration and the perfect curve. Yes.. don't draw a land in 2 turns and lose. The problem is that going to more walkers and top end and slowing yourself down while it gives you more game doesn't change the fact there is a window. Just makes it a touch longer but that is offset by the time you are giving up.
Let's put this another way. Remember when a lot of Jund Monsters list had Sire and Ruric Thar in the board. What happened? I mean like walkers these are good against control. It was shown over time that more expensive spells didn't actually help. Now in the boards you see like a Vraska and 2 Returns (that come in very few matchups). I don't get why none of the other non-Jund variants still haven't figured this out. The reason is time has ironed it out. These Naya lists are really stabs in the dark right now which is sad for this point in the format. Yeah sometimes you hit your target. Just cause you are playing a 3rd color doesn't mean you need to go all into into. RUG is the worst for this. Xenagos > Kiora in most matchups.. Not even close. But hey we're playing blue. In Naya, do we really need the extra 3 walkers and the effective 12+ extra cost across the cards (more when you consider Ghor Clan's Blood Rush cost).
I mean what is the tradeoff? Compare Naya Walkers, to GR and Jund Monsters. Which matchups are actually better? Which are worse? Naya's colours are generally better equipped to deal with Aggro because we can get more value than the one for ones black offers. Yet I don't think these decks are better. It's basically like an overreaction to beat Mono Black a matchup that is already pretty decent that Naya can make better without going overboard. Maybe control is better too but in the way siding in a bunch of Ruric Thars and Sire makes it good. Ie.. Hope you can stretch your window big enough to win. Naya borrowing from GW should murder Boss Sligh, but does it? I know I've been trying to steer the conversation, but can a single person here explain why these clunky planeswalker builds are even worth considering? Can you justify the tradeoff?
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
3 Battlefield Forge
4 Temple of Abandon
2 Temple of Plenty
3 Temple of Triumph
4 Temple Gardens
2 Stomping Grounds
1 Plains
3 Mana Confluence
2 Mountain
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Elvish Mystic
3 Courser of Kruphix
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Fleecemane Lion
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
3 Xenagos, the Reveler
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3 Banishing Light
2 Selesnya Charm
2 Mizzium Mortars
Sideboard is 4 Anger of the Gods, 4 Mistcutter Hydra, 2 Centaur Healer, 2 Bow of Nylea and 3 Deicide.
UBR Sedris
RG Omnath, Locus of Rage
UB The Scarab God
RUG Maelstrom Wanderer
WU Dragonlord Ojutai
I guess if I wanted to minimally support Anger, you could do something like this. Ideally.. you want 16 red to support Anger, but 15 is probably fine. This is even including a Mutavault.
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Mana Confluence
2 Temple of Abandon
3 Temple of Triumph
1 Mutavault
Honestly I'd ditch Anger. Even with this base cutting a Confluence might still be painful. Without Anger you can do this base since you don't have Domri. We cut one more confluence:
1 Plains
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Battlefield Forge
1 Mana Confluence
1 Temple of Abandon
2 Temple of Plenty
2 Temple of Triumph
1 Mutavault
If you don't like mutavault you can add back one more temple and trade confluence for a basic.
GWU Knightfall Modern
UW Tempo Legacy
UGR Burning Wish Cobra Vintage
1 Angel of Serenity
2 Voice of Resurgence
4 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Courser of Kruphix
3 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Sylvan Caryatid
Planeswalkers: 7
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
3 Domri Rade
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
3 Mizzium Mortars
2 Setessan Tactics
Lands: 24
4 Temple Garden
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Abandon
3 Temple of Plenty
3 Plains
1 Mana Confluence
1 Temple of Triumph
3 Skylasher
1 Assemble the Legion
2 Boros Charm
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Mistcutter Hydra
1 Chained to the Rocks
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Heroes' Reunion
3 Polukranos, World Eater
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
3 Courser of Kruphix
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Sylvan Caryatid
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Voice of Resurgence
4 Elvish Mystic
Spells: 4
3 Mizzium Mortars
1 Setessan Tactics
Planeswalkers: 8
2 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Domri Rade
2 Xenagos, the Reveler
4 Temple of Abandon
1 Temple of Triumph
3 Temple of Plenty
4 Temple Garden
4 Stomping Ground
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Forest
1 Mana Confluence
1 Assemble the Legion
2 Mistcutter Hydra
2 Boros Charm
2 Chained to the Rocks
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Warleader's Helix
3 Skylasher
Will probably write up a report tomorrow but I'm tired and hungry and would like to watch the SCG rebroadcast. Right now I will say that Ajani overperformed for me in all my games, making my creatures able to block everything, whether it be 5/5 indestructibles or the green God of the Hunt herself, or putting me out of reach of everything thanks to a handy dandy 100 life.
Match 1 against Gr Devotion: 1-1 Draw
Game 1 he overwhelmed me pretty easily with Nykthos and Genesis Hydra getting everything he needed. Game ended when he dropped a Polukranos with an entire board. I sided in 2 Anger of the Gods and 2 Chained to the Rocks and slowed him down by Mortars targeting his Polukranos along with an Anger to wipe the board. I dropped a Stormbreath but he had an active Nylea while my life was low and his life was relatively high from Disciple and Courser. I got out a GW Ajani and made my Courser big enough to block the Nylea and afterwards pumped my Caryatids to block everything and when he finally got out a Garruk and it looked like he was stabilizing I kept the Ajani pumping stuff and chumping til I ultimated and gained 100 life. He scooped as we were pressed for time and he wanted to preserve time for the final game. G3 he came out blazing with Nykthos and BTE but I once again used Mortars on Polukranos and Anger to clear up the board. It's important to note every land I played was a shock which dropped me pretty low. He recovered with a Voyaging Satyr and Nylea and I begrudingly shocked to Monstrous my Polukranos to kill off the Satyr before Nykthos shenanigans. Next turn he followed up with another Voyaging Satyr and Xenawalker but we went to turns and even though I all had was a Scooze I knew Nylea couldn't gain trample herself which allowed me to survive and we drew.
Match 2 against RU Ensoul Artifact: 2-0 Win
As soon as I saw an Ornithopter G1 I knew the deal, however a Voice token and Xenawalker put her on a very fast clock that she couldn't handle. Sided in 2 Chained to the Rocks. G2 she lead with a Darksteel Citadel and I was scared but she get didn't get Ensoul til around t4 and I chumped until I drew into GW Ajani and made my Caryatids big enough to block. She Ensouled an Ornithopter shortly after but I was able to Monstrous a Stormbreath and she had to chump and afterwards she couldn't come back.
Match 3 against BU Tempo: 2-1 Win
This was a very well thought out deck that relied on Master of Feast and Desecration Demon along with creatures from Ashiok, all protected by Swan Song. G1 he blocked my Voice of Resurgence with MoF and I used Mortars to kill it. He got another MoF and got aggressive with it. I punished him and just went on offense with Xenawalker pumping out tokens and a Stormbreath off the top to swing and kill with the token army for 14 exactsies. I sided in Chained to the Rocks and Boros Charm and I was winning the race with Domri but he had MoF and Desecration Demon. I sacked dorks to tap the Demon and we raced but he killed my Domri. Eventually he dropped a Grey Merchant and even though I was up by a lot I quickly began to lose the race and when I tried to Chain the D Demon he pulled out the trump Swan Song which caught me completly off guard and I quickly ran out of things to tap it down. G3 I accelerated into my Xenagos and put him under pressure. He got out an Ashiok but I ignored and started swinging at him as I had a Boros Charm in hand. I didn’t use it because I did have a read on his Swan Song as he always left a Blue Mana up. He got a D Demon and I had to start sacking some dudes to keep it tapped down but I landed an Ajani and my Satyr tokens climbed climbed over the Polukranos and other things he got from Ashiok. At the end he was at 3 and played a Thoughtseize with me tapped out. I was like whoa, I'm about to lose my Boros Charm but he Swan Song'd his own Thoughtseize just to get a Blocker but I swung in with everything next turn which was lethal. Nevermind the Boros Charm or Ghor Clan Rampager I drew that turn.
Match 4 against Monoblack Aggro: 1-2 Loss
I played the KoTH and G1 I kept a good hand with Dorks but as soon as I saw him attacking Gnarled Scarhides and Tormented Heroes I traded them away and eventually I got stuck on 2 lands and he quickly won from there. I sided in Anger of the Gods, Chained to the Rocks, and Warleaders Helix. G2 he jumped out quickly and even though I threw a Caryatid to block one of his 1 drops I he played a Boon of Ereos to kill it. He dropped a Lifebane Zombie on T3 and took something but he saw the Anger of the Gods, which I played on my turn and mopped up the board. We both drew pretty badly from there but eventually I won the race with 2 Stormbreaths. G3 I fell behind very quickly when he bestowed a Herald of Torment and I had to Mortars and use Anger of the Gods just to get rid of the creature it was equipped on.I think I got rid of it eventually and when it looked like I was gonna stabilize he dropped a Lifebane Zombie and when I went to Warleaders Helix it he killed it with his own Ultimate Price to negate the Lifegain. Eventually he dropped a Marauder and alpha'd.
At this point I was 2-1-1 and I was the only game left was the guy I played in R3 vs American Control. It was G3 and we were all watching and I was just hoping he'd win to get me better breakers. He got the job done by resolving a Grey Merchant and countering 2 counters with 2 Swan Songs. He ended up 3-1 along with some Monogreen Devotion deck and the dude who just beat me ended up as the only undefeated and so cut to T4 and I was the last one in. Which meant a rematch against the guy I just went up against.
Semifinals against Monoblack Aggro: 2-1 Win
Game 1 He bestowed another Herald of Torment and eventually won with Sign in Blood targeting me. G2 he got out 1 Thrill Kill which has Deathtouch that I couldn't get rid of or safely block but managed to gainin a bit of life from Courser. He dropped a Lifebane Zombie and saw nothing but all 4 Planeswalkers in the deck in my hand (Chandra, Ajani, Xenagos, Domri) I dropped the Chandra on my turn and took out his Zombie. I then played Xenagos and afterwards got the entire Superfriend lineup out. He sent things attacking at them but at that point it didn't matter. They had generated too much advantage and I took it. G3 I had a Stomping Ground and Sacred Foundry along with an Anger and 2 Domri's but I shipped for a 5 lands and a Courser. Did not want to go down to 5 and kept it. This game he played nothing T1. Sign his Blood T2 and played a Thoughseize for the first time in 6 games to snipe my Courser and something else. Luckily I topdecked a Voice of Resurgence. He got out 2 Thrill Kill Assassins T4. I Chumped 1 and took 2. I dropped a Polukranos and had to chump with it. He played another Thrill Kill Assassin and a Tormented Hero and with things looking bleak I topdecked a Chandra and took out his Tormented Hero. I swung in with a 1/1 Voice Token seeing as how things were still bad but the 2 Thoughtseizes kind of hurt him (and the Chandra pinged him for 1). He had nothing on his turn but still attacked me instead of Chandra. I topdecked a Xenagos made a Satyr and swung in for 4. At this point things were pretty bad for him as he was botteknecked on 3 Mana with no Blockers and I was still above 10 life with him facing lethal. He played a Herald of Torment and passed and even though the Chandra made it lethal just by removing his Herald as a blocker I topdecked Ajani for the rubbins.
For the finals we agreed to split prizes as we were both guaranteed a mat. We played 1 Game for fun anyway.
Finals against Mono Green Devotion:
His hand was slow as his first card was a Courser which a Mortar'd while dropping an Elf. He followed up with BTE BTE Courser. I played another Mystic on my turn and let him crash in as I had another Mortars and just didn't want to lose the 3 dorks as I only had 3 lands. I overloaded on his turn. I think he had Voyaging Satyr to follow up. I swung in. He played a Genesis Hydra for 5 and got a Polukranos. I dropped a Scooze on my turn as there was plently of fuel for it. He got aggressive and swung in and I happily blocked chumped his Polukranos with an Elf and his Genesis Hydra with my Scooze which ate 4 things and killed off his Hydra. On my turn I ate more things with Scooze played a Domri and fought off the Polulkranos. At this point he was flooidng and only had a Nylea out. Domri scored a Stormbreath and took to the skies. On my turn I threw away the Domri to fight off his Voyaging Saty which was all he had left after chumping last turn but he Chorded for 7 which meant Hornet Queen. I didn't have much but drew a Domri and fought my Elf with 1 token. 3 More to go. I swung in with Scooze and a Courser. He blocked the Scooze and took 2. Down to 2 Tokens. On his turn he swung in with 1 Token and killed my Domri. I didn't really much at this but the Stormbreath which he a token for. But I swung in with Courser and 2 Elves and he blocked the Courser and an Elf and used Nylea to pump them taking them out and just dropping him down by 1. I think at this point he was 3 life and I was hoping to draw anything but wouldn't attack with Stormbreath til it could Monstrous on his draw and at least deal 1. It was basically a stalemate but I found a Xenagos and with him unable to attack it he drew nothing but lands until I swung in for lethal.