Bladehold is more offensive due to the tokens it generates and it survives Slagstorm, but the immediate benefit of Jubilation, evasion, and the aforementioned benefits gives the nod to Jubilation. I think Wolf Run will make a comeback though, so I can see myself eventually switching back.
Other than this change, nothing else seems worth it from Avacyn Restored.
My main problem with Jubilation is the 3 white mana required to caste her. There are plenty of game where by turn 4 I would only have 2 white mana availible due to drawing a combination of Vault + Swamp. I think if we do want Jubilation as part of the deck, it will sacrifice some consistency unless we include evolving wild. Adding evolving wild though would disrupt our curve which is bad as in most game turn 1-2-3 is very important.
I feel like the Angel would fit more in decks that does not include Champion and thus remove any chance of an explosive start.
Using my above deck, it looks like a 41% chance of 4 mana with WWW on turn 4, with it hitting 68% on turn 7.
I think you're right that that's not consistent enough.
That changes the options to Guardian's Pledge and Sorin. I think Guardian's Pledge wins it though since it's good for an alpha strike... they always see Sorin coming.
Azadan, not sure if you're percentages are correct, but I'll assume they are. Only thing is, most of us are not running an Esper build. The standard W/B mana base is something like 12 Plains, 4 Swamp, 4 Chapel, and 3 Vaults. 18 White sources should be enough to hit the Angel by turn 5 fairly reliably, and more than likely it would be smart to swap out a Swamp or 2 for Evolving Wilds to get the White source count up to 20 or so. In that case, I can't see it being a problem getting triple white often enough to warrant NOT running her at all.
Guardian's Pledge is cute, but it's dead when you have no board. Sorin isn't great in that situation either, but he's much more powerful in that slot. Hero is probably our best option, since it can make a board all by itself, and Angel is still arguably better than Guardian's Pledge since she is a creature, and also hoses cards like Mortarpod and Corrosive Gale (out of non-green decks at least).
Something else I'm intrigued by is Entreat the Angels. It's a very lategame card, and probably a bit too slow for our current iterations of the deck, but it's something I will be keeping my eye on for future builds. Chapin's analysis of the card is pretty accurate in that it's a combination of Serra Angel/Broodmate Dragon when it's hardcast, but at it's miracle cost it's basically a game winner. Since we run anthems, the 4/4s will often be 5/5s or 6/6s with Vigilance, which makes the card that much better in our build. Probably only as a 1-2-of in today's environment, but if things slow down I could easily see Entreat the Angels being an absolute house in W/B Tokens.
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Azadan, not sure if you're percentages are correct, but I'll assume they are. Only thing is, most of us are not running an Esper build. The standard W/B mana base is something like 12 Plains, 4 Swamp, 4 Chapel, and 3 Vaults. 18 White sources should be enough to hit the Angel by turn 5 fairly reliably, and more than likely it would be smart to swap out a Swamp or 2 for Evolving Wilds to get the White source count up to 20 or so. In that case, I can't see it being a problem getting triple white often enough to warrant NOT running her at all.
The percentages come from using the deep deck analysis on MWS, I didn't work them out by hand, though it was incorrect. I only calculated the chance of WWW not 4 land with 3 white, I'll edit it to fix that, it lowers the chance further. This is my pre AVR maindeck, which has done exceedingly well at FNM's:
It has 16 white sources, while the proposed esper build also has 15, which isn't enough to significantly change the odds. A traditional straight B/W setup runs 15-17 white depending on Evolving Wilds and if you're running 22 or 24 land. If you're running 18 white with 24 land the odds of having 4 land with atleast 3 white on turn 4 are 52% and up to 71% on turn 6.
Guardian's Pledge is cute, but it's dead when you have no board. Sorin isn't great in that situation either, but he's much more powerful in that slot. Hero is probably our best option, since it can make a board all by itself, and Angel is still arguably better than Guardian's Pledge since she is a creature, and also hoses cards like Mortarpod and Corrosive Gale (out of non-green decks at least).
Personally I prefer Rally the Peasants because of the flashback, but running Clifftop Retreats in an esper build simply won't work, and with 20 anthems vs 8 you can argue I don't need the additional offense anyways. What I like about Guardian's Pledge is that it can be used offensively or defensively. Often times I find myself not casting tokens because I don't want to overextend into a sweeper so my mana stays up (and usually gets used on Vault). With Guardian's Pledge I have a resistance to Slagstorm/Whipflare/Bonfire, and can use it offensively as well. Maybe it's not good enough, since it's only half as good as Rally on the attack but I'm going to try it out.
You may be right on Hero being the right card though.
Something else I'm intrigued by is Entreat the Angels. It's a very lategame card, and probably a bit too slow for our current iterations of the deck, but it's something I will be keeping my eye on for future builds. Chapin's analysis of the card is pretty accurate in that it's a combination of Serra Angel/Broodmate Dragon when it's hardcast, but at it's miracle cost it's basically a game winner. Since we run anthems, the 4/4s will often be 5/5s or 6/6s with Vigilance, which makes the card that much better in our build. Probably only as a 1-2-of in today's environment, but if things slow down I could easily see Entreat the Angels being an absolute house in W/B Tokens.
I'm skeptical of it. When the card is great, it's great but with as fast as the format currently is, there's a pretty high chance of the card being 5 mana for a 4/4 flier. Until rotation, I think I would much rather have a Shrine of Loyal Legions as a late game plan.
The biggest problem with Rally the Peasants and Guardian's Pledge is they they are completely dead when you don't have a board. As tempting as it is to have that blowout play, when you are looking for board presence and draw one of these, you probably are losing that game. I think it's better to have more threats than more anthems anyway, as 8 is often more than enough to get our guys bigger than theirs. They are really only worth casting when you have 2+ dudes in play, and even then the 2-drop anthems are still cheaper and offer more value over the course of a game. Also, I don't think it's really worth running 3 colors in tokens with the manabases as weak as they currently are. I'd rather curve out smoothly almost every game than have a random 3rd color to occasionally offer value.
I'm actually going to try out Silverblade Paladin as another "anthem" effect of sorts (in addition to like, 2 Angel of Jubilation). He allows us the best possible beatdown opening in the format (Champion into Gather the Herpderps into Silverblade Paladin), and we can reuse his ability frequently enough, often with buffered creatures. If I had Heros, I'd run those in a heartbeat though. They really are the best card against Ramp/Slagstorm, Control decks, and post-sweepers. Being able to win the game all by itself is a status that very few creatures have attained, and Hero of Bladehold is one of those creatures.
Also, I tend to agree with you on Entreat the Angels. As I said, it probably only works for us if things slow down a lot, and they probably won't. I'm still excited to try and use the card, but it will fit much better into U/W/x Control decks out there. Still, being able to generate a couple 5/5 angels with Vigilance for 7 mana isn't the worst deal ever.
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Why would entreat be better than WSZ? Sure, if you miracle it you will get more effective guys, but you sacrifice flexibility in playing it whenever, instant speed, and potential reusability.
Also, I still suggest people check out contested war zone. It's been excellent for me.
WSZ and Entreat the Angels are pretty close in value for our deck, and I'm not sure which one is actually better (given that we only run 22-24 lands or so). Entreat is always better when you miracle it, which is already a big plus. Not to mention, the creatures are flying, and start at 4/4 instead of 2/2. WSZ gives you the instant option, which is the biggest plus, and it does generate morepower at less than 7 mana (non-Miracle). So if you think you'll be operating at under 6 mana most games and don't expect Miracle to work out often enough, WSZ is the better choice.
Contested War Zone is meh. Half the time it will be good (when you're the beatdown and they are on the backfoot), the other half the time it will be a land/spell that you just give away after maybe 1 activation. The worst part about it is when you need the land but not the anthem effect, they can still just steal it from you. Another win-more, lose-more card in my opinion. I'd rather just cast Sorin or an anthem. Also, Vault of the Archangels is way better, and we already have enough difficulty cramming in 3 of those colorless lands.
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I disagree about war zone. It is risky, however its an anthem effect that, 1) can't be countered 2) Doesn't take up a card slot. It is adding to your number of anthems without removing any. On sorin turn, you can use both it and another anthem. It is probably subparagraph in a more controllish tokens build, but if has been great in wescoes build.
Warzone seems pretty bad against any deck that can profitably attack you back. Against control, sure it's pretty good, but almost every other deck has a way to punch in for damage in the early turns, and you often have no option to stop them (Invisible Stalker, Early Delvers, Geists, etc.) If it's ours half the time, and theirs half the time, then not only are you losing it's value, you're losing a valuable land drop while they gain one. Unless I am flooding out, I really can't ever afford to lose a land in turns 1-5. Even if I am flooding, it's bad tempo for me in a very fast meta.
Also, it's only 1/2 of an anthem, since it only applies to attacking creatures and even then they only get +1/+0. And it does cost you a card when they steal it from you and you have to fight to get it back. Every time they take it, you just 2-1ed yourself (them +1 card, you -1 card). Often in a creature war, you are both going to end up swapping a TAPPED War Zone back and forth, with neither player getting use out of it, which is even more frustrating. I get why you like it, but it's too inconsistent for me, and I really don't fee like we need more anthems, counterable or not. If it's working out for you though, then there's no reason to stop using it. I just think there are too many strikes against it for me.
If contested warzone wasn't good pre-AVR, what makes it good post-AVR?
A. It is a colorless land... Vault of the Archangel is but it is there for a reason, it can single handed help turn a game around for you (Assuming you have the creatures to back it up). Adding another colorless land to your mana base will indeed mess with things.
B. Your opponent can steal it. Would Honor of the Pure be good if it read "White creatures you control get +1 +1. when you are dealt damage by an opponent, he or she takes control of Honor of the Pure"?
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"Common sense is not as common as one would believe."
"These kids today with their collector numbers and their newfangled tap symbol. Twenty Black Lotuses and twenty Plague Rats. Now that's real Magic."-Old Fogey
Tried out a few new things, Chandra being one of them, and she's pretty good, I may like her more than Sorin. Only got her out a few times tonight but she sealed it every time. Gotta say -2ing then playing Thatcher Revolt with a Virtue out is awesome.
About to sleep so can't write a full report but I'm pretty happy overall with how it performed.
I forgot about the monk. That might be a really good card in the esper build. I'm not sure where to fit it in though, here's how my list looks right now.
When I make decks, above all else I want consistency, which means that if a card is being run I probably want at least 3 of it. I see two easy cuts for Geist-Honored Monk. Those being a Plains and a Day of Judgment. Something else needs to go though for a third.
It's been my experience that 22 land works fine for this deck as it never seems to cause issues with Vault activations so a second land would be possible. If I were to cut another land bringing the count to 22 I think the best way to go about it would be to cut 4 duals and replace them with 3 Evolving Wilds since turns 1 and 4 don't need untapped lands, while turn 2 doesn't always need an untapped land (only 8 2 drops you'll actually drop on turn 2).
The other idea to cut for a Monk would be cutting a Timely Reinforcements. I've found when running builds without 1 drops (my current build doesn't use Champion and I side Doomed Traveler out in almost every matchup) that Timely is one of the best cards out there to stabilize. However, once the board starts tipping over into your favor it's usually a dead card. For that reason I could see cutting one Timely.
Thoughts on cuts for some Geist-Honored Monks?
Might be more spirit makers that can be used. I saw some 1/1 blue spirit tokens when I opened a pack. I forget what makes those.
The blue spirit comes from a counter. It's creature only and costs 2UU. I don't think it's a good card to look at for a token. Particularly with Cavern of Souls. If not for that land I could see if making a possible sideboard card against WRR but Wizards had other ideas.
As for Geist, he's certainly good enough to run but half of the non land cards in the deck already cost 3 mana, and there's not really room to run cards to protect him like Spirit Mantle, Spectral Flight, or equipment. For those reasons I think I'll pass on him.
Also, favorable winds didn't work out too well for me. Going for a high anthem build means you're sacrificing removal, combat tricks, and ways to protect your guys. What I found was that it led to half the tokens in the deck being really strong hexproof beasts, but the other half being no stronger than usual. If there were more spirit tokens there would be no problems with Favorable Winds but my experience was that all your tokens need to be considerably stronger to compensate for what you lose. Only half the tokens being stronger just doesn't cut it against decks like humans, zombies, WRR, or tempered steel. Because of that I cut Favorable Winds and went back to DoJ.
Edit: Just noticed that after the Favorable Winds cut there's no AVR cards in the deck.
Why would entreat be better than WSZ? Sure, if you miracle it you will get more effective guys, but you sacrifice flexibility in playing it whenever, instant speed, and potential reusability.
Hey guys, figured now would be the time to switch threads. I have been running Junkwalkers for a month now, but I have been steadily taking out the green cards for better white and black options. My list is a little more controlling then yours all appear to be, but it has served me well (ie:making top8, if not top4 in the last 4 tourneysI have entered).
I got the chance to test out WSZ and EOA both this week and I must say Entreat is pretty awesome. I ran Zenith Maindeck to handle control decks and the Entreat Side to put in against anything with flyers or critters that turn sideways. It worked out exceptionally well, to the point of the only time I didn't like Entreat was when I Miracled and forgot to leave Mana Leak mana open. Thats kinda what cost me top 4 last night, but oh well.
I am not exactly sure where the deck will be evolving in the coming months. Considering I didn't see one BW tokens list on the SCG: providence is no bueno. That said, the GW list looked interesting
If you want to run an anti Surgical Extraction strategy, I think you need to cut an Intangible Virtue or two as well. Being the best anthem, it's the one that's going to be most targeted for destruction and extraction.
Using a strategy of say 3 of each you're at 9 anthems rather than the standard 8, so only 1 card needs cut from the deck. After an extraction you're left with 6 opposed to 4 in addition to the captains/images which isn't that terrible of a position.
I personally think a good direction to go is to splash red and make it Wrb or just go Wr because the deck turns really explosive with Thatcher revolt and rally the peasant. I am also a more aggro player though so yeah.
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I personally think that the splashes are going to be bad due to mana base. It's too hard to make the three color work. I'm going to roll a plain BW list going forward that will look like this:
Main contenders look like rg aggro, wrr, and uw delver. While this certainly isn't set in stone, should we start looking at shifting towards a walker heavier build, with less hero?
About EotA...if your only running 1-2 copies (which I don't see why you would run more), it's always going to Miracle in this deck. If it's in your opening hand, you simply muligan, unless you have a very strong hand (CoP, Gather, Honor, 3 land and EotA). Entreat becomes a "if you don't have a sweeper...I win" card in this deck. As at least 60% of the time, when you hit it...they are coming down as 5/5 if not bigger. And anything after turn 3...it just becomes insane!
I will personally be running a two of these in my testing, and 2 AoJ. I'm not sold on Revolt because the addition of Red trying to support both Lingering Souls and Vault make the mana way to harsh to curve out properly. And the other anthem for flyers...I think the deck is split too much on ground forces and flyers to support this and the mana base.
Bladehold is more offensive due to the tokens it generates and it survives Slagstorm, but the immediate benefit of Jubilation, evasion, and the aforementioned benefits gives the nod to Jubilation. I think Wolf Run will make a comeback though, so I can see myself eventually switching back.
Other than this change, nothing else seems worth it from Avacyn Restored.
I feel like the Angel would fit more in decks that does not include Champion and thus remove any chance of an explosive start.
I think you're right that that's not consistent enough.
That changes the options to Guardian's Pledge and Sorin. I think Guardian's Pledge wins it though since it's good for an alpha strike... they always see Sorin coming.
Guardian's Pledge is cute, but it's dead when you have no board. Sorin isn't great in that situation either, but he's much more powerful in that slot. Hero is probably our best option, since it can make a board all by itself, and Angel is still arguably better than Guardian's Pledge since she is a creature, and also hoses cards like Mortarpod and Corrosive Gale (out of non-green decks at least).
Something else I'm intrigued by is Entreat the Angels. It's a very lategame card, and probably a bit too slow for our current iterations of the deck, but it's something I will be keeping my eye on for future builds. Chapin's analysis of the card is pretty accurate in that it's a combination of Serra Angel/Broodmate Dragon when it's hardcast, but at it's miracle cost it's basically a game winner. Since we run anthems, the 4/4s will often be 5/5s or 6/6s with Vigilance, which makes the card that much better in our build. Probably only as a 1-2-of in today's environment, but if things slow down I could easily see Entreat the Angels being an absolute house in W/B Tokens.
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
The percentages come from using the deep deck analysis on MWS, I didn't work them out by hand, though it was incorrect. I only calculated the chance of WWW not 4 land with 3 white, I'll edit it to fix that, it lowers the chance further. This is my pre AVR maindeck, which has done exceedingly well at FNM's:
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Swamp
8 Plains
3 Vault of the Archangel
4 Doomed Traveler
Anthems 8
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Intangible Virtue
Tokens 16
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Lingering Souls
4 Timely Reinforcements
4 Gather the Townsfolk
3 Day of Judgment
4 Rally the Peasants
2 Oblivion Ring
Planeswalkers 1
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
It has 16 white sources, while the proposed esper build also has 15, which isn't enough to significantly change the odds. A traditional straight B/W setup runs 15-17 white depending on Evolving Wilds and if you're running 22 or 24 land. If you're running 18 white with 24 land the odds of having 4 land with atleast 3 white on turn 4 are 52% and up to 71% on turn 6.
Personally I prefer Rally the Peasants because of the flashback, but running Clifftop Retreats in an esper build simply won't work, and with 20 anthems vs 8 you can argue I don't need the additional offense anyways. What I like about Guardian's Pledge is that it can be used offensively or defensively. Often times I find myself not casting tokens because I don't want to overextend into a sweeper so my mana stays up (and usually gets used on Vault). With Guardian's Pledge I have a resistance to Slagstorm/Whipflare/Bonfire, and can use it offensively as well. Maybe it's not good enough, since it's only half as good as Rally on the attack but I'm going to try it out.
You may be right on Hero being the right card though.
I'm skeptical of it. When the card is great, it's great but with as fast as the format currently is, there's a pretty high chance of the card being 5 mana for a 4/4 flier. Until rotation, I think I would much rather have a Shrine of Loyal Legions as a late game plan.
I'm actually going to try out Silverblade Paladin as another "anthem" effect of sorts (in addition to like, 2 Angel of Jubilation). He allows us the best possible beatdown opening in the format (Champion into Gather the Herpderps into Silverblade Paladin), and we can reuse his ability frequently enough, often with buffered creatures. If I had Heros, I'd run those in a heartbeat though. They really are the best card against Ramp/Slagstorm, Control decks, and post-sweepers. Being able to win the game all by itself is a status that very few creatures have attained, and Hero of Bladehold is one of those creatures.
Also, I tend to agree with you on Entreat the Angels. As I said, it probably only works for us if things slow down a lot, and they probably won't. I'm still excited to try and use the card, but it will fit much better into U/W/x Control decks out there. Still, being able to generate a couple 5/5 angels with Vigilance for 7 mana isn't the worst deal ever.
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
Also, I still suggest people check out contested war zone. It's been excellent for me.
My H/W list
Contested War Zone is meh. Half the time it will be good (when you're the beatdown and they are on the backfoot), the other half the time it will be a land/spell that you just give away after maybe 1 activation. The worst part about it is when you need the land but not the anthem effect, they can still just steal it from you. Another win-more, lose-more card in my opinion. I'd rather just cast Sorin or an anthem. Also, Vault of the Archangels is way better, and we already have enough difficulty cramming in 3 of those colorless lands.
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
My H/W list
Also, it's only 1/2 of an anthem, since it only applies to attacking creatures and even then they only get +1/+0. And it does cost you a card when they steal it from you and you have to fight to get it back. Every time they take it, you just 2-1ed yourself (them +1 card, you -1 card). Often in a creature war, you are both going to end up swapping a TAPPED War Zone back and forth, with neither player getting use out of it, which is even more frustrating. I get why you like it, but it's too inconsistent for me, and I really don't fee like we need more anthems, counterable or not. If it's working out for you though, then there's no reason to stop using it. I just think there are too many strikes against it for me.
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
A. It is a colorless land... Vault of the Archangel is but it is there for a reason, it can single handed help turn a game around for you (Assuming you have the creatures to back it up). Adding another colorless land to your mana base will indeed mess with things.
B. Your opponent can steal it. Would Honor of the Pure be good if it read "White creatures you control get +1 +1. when you are dealt damage by an opponent, he or she takes control of Honor of the Pure"?
GRAggroRG
Smouldering decay
Take your breath away
Millions of our years
In minutes disappears
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
2 Hero of Bladehold
Spells-
4 Gather the Townsfolk
2 Rally the Peasants
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Lingering Souls
4 Thatcher Revolt
3 Honor of the Pure
4 Intangible Virtue
Lands-
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Mountain
10 Plains
4 Clifftop Retreat
3 Swamp
Pros-
CotP becomes a lot better late game with the addition of revolt.
Super heavy attrition aggro.
Cons-
Weak removal (if any)
WBSorin's ArmyWB
RRRRDWRRR
RGWerewolvesRG
EDH/Commander:
WBRKaalia of the VastWBR(Multiplayer Competitive Primer and Beginner's Guide)
WBRKaalia of the VastWBR (1v1 Competitive Primer)
BSkithiryx, the Blight DragonB(1v1 Shotgun Venom)
Champion into Gather into Revolt is sick. I cut Doomed Traveler altogether for Champion.
Deck I played tonight:
3 Hero of Bladehold
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Lingering Souls
4 Midnight Haunting
2 Rally the Peasants
4 Thatcher Revolt
10 Plains
3 Isolated Chapel
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Clifftop Retreat
3 Vault of the Archangel
3 Celestial Purge
2 Revoke Existence
1 Divine Offering
2 Angel of Jubilation
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Dismember
Tried out a few new things, Chandra being one of them, and she's pretty good, I may like her more than Sorin. Only got her out a few times tonight but she sealed it every time. Gotta say -2ing then playing Thatcher Revolt with a Virtue out is awesome.
About to sleep so can't write a full report but I'm pretty happy overall with how it performed.
Deckbox
12 anthems
4 captains
4 clones.
8 spirit makers
Might be more spirit makers that can be used. I saw some 1/1 blue spirit tokens when I opened a pack. I forget what makes those.
and then if we're just going a really heavy spirit token route its possible to use geist-honored monk or geist of saint traft.
8 Plains
2 Island
2 Swamp
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Darkslick Shores
3 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Lingering Souls
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Timely Reinforcements
Anthems 8
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Intangible Virtue
4 Day of Judgment
Creatures 8
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Phantasmal Image
When I make decks, above all else I want consistency, which means that if a card is being run I probably want at least 3 of it. I see two easy cuts for Geist-Honored Monk. Those being a Plains and a Day of Judgment. Something else needs to go though for a third.
It's been my experience that 22 land works fine for this deck as it never seems to cause issues with Vault activations so a second land would be possible. If I were to cut another land bringing the count to 22 I think the best way to go about it would be to cut 4 duals and replace them with 3 Evolving Wilds since turns 1 and 4 don't need untapped lands, while turn 2 doesn't always need an untapped land (only 8 2 drops you'll actually drop on turn 2).
The other idea to cut for a Monk would be cutting a Timely Reinforcements. I've found when running builds without 1 drops (my current build doesn't use Champion and I side Doomed Traveler out in almost every matchup) that Timely is one of the best cards out there to stabilize. However, once the board starts tipping over into your favor it's usually a dead card. For that reason I could see cutting one Timely.
Thoughts on cuts for some Geist-Honored Monks?
The blue spirit comes from a counter. It's creature only and costs 2UU. I don't think it's a good card to look at for a token. Particularly with Cavern of Souls. If not for that land I could see if making a possible sideboard card against WRR but Wizards had other ideas.
As for Geist, he's certainly good enough to run but half of the non land cards in the deck already cost 3 mana, and there's not really room to run cards to protect him like Spirit Mantle, Spectral Flight, or equipment. For those reasons I think I'll pass on him.
Also, favorable winds didn't work out too well for me. Going for a high anthem build means you're sacrificing removal, combat tricks, and ways to protect your guys. What I found was that it led to half the tokens in the deck being really strong hexproof beasts, but the other half being no stronger than usual. If there were more spirit tokens there would be no problems with Favorable Winds but my experience was that all your tokens need to be considerably stronger to compensate for what you lose. Only half the tokens being stronger just doesn't cut it against decks like humans, zombies, WRR, or tempered steel. Because of that I cut Favorable Winds and went back to DoJ.
Edit: Just noticed that after the Favorable Winds cut there's no AVR cards in the deck.
Hey guys, figured now would be the time to switch threads. I have been running Junkwalkers for a month now, but I have been steadily taking out the green cards for better white and black options. My list is a little more controlling then yours all appear to be, but it has served me well (ie:making top8, if not top4 in the last 4 tourneysI have entered).
I got the chance to test out WSZ and EOA both this week and I must say Entreat is pretty awesome. I ran Zenith Maindeck to handle control decks and the Entreat Side to put in against anything with flyers or critters that turn sideways. It worked out exceptionally well, to the point of the only time I didn't like Entreat was when I Miracled and forgot to leave Mana Leak mana open. Thats kinda what cost me top 4 last night, but oh well.
Standard- Junktokens
Modern- not sure
Legacy- Death and Taxes
EDH-Ghost Dad
Numot (duh)
Nicol Bolas
Melek
My H/W list
lol................just lol.
Well its possible to mix up the anthems so you only have 2 honor, 2 favorable, 4 intangible.
in this way surgical extraction becomes less scary.
Using a strategy of say 3 of each you're at 9 anthems rather than the standard 8, so only 1 card needs cut from the deck. After an extraction you're left with 6 opposed to 4 in addition to the captains/images which isn't that terrible of a position.
GRAggroRG
Smouldering decay
Take your breath away
Millions of our years
In minutes disappears
10 Plains
7 Swamp
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Vault of the Archangel
Instant 4
4 Midnight Haunting
3 Shrine of Loyal Legions
Enchantments 8
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Intangible Virtue
Sorcery 7
4 Lingering Souls
3 Tezzeret's Gambit
3 Doomed Traveler
3 Hero of Bladehole
3 Champion of the Parish
2 Angel of Jubilation
Planeswalkers 3
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Elspeth Tirel
I think this list remains a strong deck in the coming format.
Standard - W/R Boros the Blade
went 4-0 with it last time.
BR Zombies 28-12-2
RWB Tokens 11-1-0
Currently Brewing:
Naya Agro
Retired Standards
GW Humans 40-18-6
GBUW Tokens 21-9-5
GW Agro 13-10-1
UR Delver 4-2-2
Mono White Humans 12-4-4
My H/W list
I will personally be running a two of these in my testing, and 2 AoJ. I'm not sold on Revolt because the addition of Red trying to support both Lingering Souls and Vault make the mana way to harsh to curve out properly. And the other anthem for flyers...I think the deck is split too much on ground forces and flyers to support this and the mana base.