I'm starting to see lots of Thundermaw Hellkites both locally and in the top decks. I'm having a very hard time dealing with him. Any suggestions besides just countermagic?
Not doing a full tournament report for Game Day results. But went 4-0 and came 1st, 3rd straight standard tournament I've won using my esper control list. I highly recommend it, didnt make any changes to the 75 since my last post.
I didnt drop a game all night, going 2-0 in every round. Beat two GW Midrange decks, standard mana dorks, smiters, thrags, township, and rancor. Both fairly easy matchups for me.
Had a B/R zombies game, which was tough game 1 but hit terminus. game 2 was a breeze.
Finally went against that U/W/R Midrange Tempo list that Todd Anderson played, a tough matchup but what I found was that you eventually just out card advantage them. Def the hardest of the 4 rounds though.
My meta is pretty competitive, pretty much all net decks/top tier decks with just a few brews around (new players) and a consistent minimum of 24 players per tournament.
This deck is definitely where its at and has huge potential come next set.
Not doing a full tournament report for Game Day results. But went 4-0 and came 1st, 3rd straight standard tournament I've won using my esper control list. I highly recommend it, didnt make any changes to the 75 since my last post.
I didnt drop a game all night, going 2-0 in every round. Beat two GW Midrange decks, standard mana dorks, smiters, thrags, township, and rancor. Both fairly easy matchups for me.
Had a B/R zombies game, which was tough game 1 but hit terminus. game 2 was a breeze.
Finally went against that U/W/R Midrange Tempo list that Todd Anderson played, a tough matchup but what I found was that you eventually just out card advantage them. Def the hardest of the 4 rounds though.
My meta is pretty competitive, pretty much all net decks/top tier decks with just a few brews around (new players) and a consistent minimum of 24 players per tournament.
This deck is definitely where its at and has huge potential come next set.
How does your list win? LS and Sorin tokens? Mill with Drownyard and Jace 3.0?
I never considered Keyrunes to pump Codh out faster but Ill have to try and mainboard a couple. Currently I run 27 lands since most of my plays are 4+ with only Azorius Charm/GoSt/LSouls being the early plays. Codh in multiples is sick good, and in tandem with Jace's +1 as stated before was crazy good. It really hurts Thragtusks, Huntmasters, opposing GoST's, tokens of all sorts and undying creatures amazingly well.
I guess I'll differ on the countermagic issue. I used to love the idea of a few here and there for protection, but after paying awhile, it seemed more and more apparent that Control these daze is akin to Zendikar block Tapout Control. Just slam your most powerful effect turn after turn with Planeswalkers, multiple sweeps etc. Every time I have opted for counterspells maindeck of any vareity in the new standard it has always been a lose. Waiting to counterspell something always seemed weak compared to just compound control effects turn after turn to actually control the board state. Controlling the stack isn't as important anymore, and counterspelling is weak because it is so narrow. Syncopate/Dissipate can kinda make up for it, but honestly I'd rather have the "after the fact" control based answer than the stack control based answer. Negate postboard against Control, even that is kinda meh. I played 2 Negates in the sideboard at Game Day and it wasnt that amazing, I used it more against Junds RReturn than Control mirrors. Mirrors struggled with my miandeck GosT's game 1, and game 2 more drownyards and 2 CRifts just bured them. Sure, you can Negate some of my stuff, but between more Planeswalkers, LSouls, GoST, my own DSpheres/ORings and NDrownyard it seemed rather easy, plus Codh making other GosT's irrelevant and Thragtusk tokens jank. Of course Codh can eat a DSphere, thats fine, I have plenty of ways to get rid of it and out threat them anyway.
My sideboard wasn't amazing, it needs work. RIP wiull ecome PTGrave for sure. The instant speed, flashback and surprise factor are much more effective. I also might sideboard 1-2 copies of Divine Deflection as well as a way to stop RDW from burning me ou plus turning it into removal, and anti-bonfire tech. Gotta try it.
How does your list win? LS and Sorin tokens? Mill with Drownyard and Jace 3.0?
Ya for the most part, by the time you stabilize your 1/1s are swinging for 3 each. I usually just play defensive until I stabilize and then start swinging for 4-12 a turn.
Game 1 mill doesnt happen very often, and only vs other control decks if I do.
but mill game 2-3 happens quite a bit as I side in the jace 3.0 vs any kind of control deck or midrange decks that go bigger and it works quite well
Ya for the most part, by the time you stabilize your 1/1s are swinging for 3 each. I usually just play defensive until I stabilize and then start swinging for 4-12 a turn.
Game 1 mill doesnt happen very often, and only vs other control decks if I do.
but mill game 2-3 happens quite a bit as I side in the jace 3.0 vs any kind of control deck or midrange decks that go bigger and it works quite well
good job on your 2 wins.
when you say you wanted to play a 3rd drownyard but the mana couldnt afford it, why not just cut the other colorless land for it? Is the life link for your tokens that important? Because the way I see it, if you have tokens into play, you're in good shape as in you don't need life link as well.
im also skeptical on the 3 lingering souls. Is there ONE situation where you would rather draw say your 4th detention sphere/1 supreme verdict/27th land over a lingering souls?
the list I play is almost identical from yours with no creature but i find that lingering souls is a card that you almost always want to draw in any matchup. so i personally dont see a reason to not play 4. or at least not play 4 over those 3 cards i just mentioned.
when you say you wanted to play a 3rd drownyard but the mana couldnt afford it, why not just cut the other colorless land for it? Is the life link for your tokens that important? Because the way I see it, if you have tokens into play, you're in good shape as in you don't need life link as well.
im also skeptical on the 3 lingering souls. Is there ONE situation where you would rather draw say your 4th detention sphere/1 supreme verdict/27th land over a lingering souls?
the list I play is almost identical from yours with no creature but i find that lingering souls is a card that you almost always want to draw in any matchup. so i personally dont see a reason to not play 4. or at least not play 4 over those 3 cards i just mentioned.
3 wins
Without the 2 other shocklands, lands come into play tapped too much. I do like the one of vault, it helps vs quite a few matchups. Lifelink for racing (attacking with 3-4 tokens that are 2/1s and etc are a big swing if they have lifelink, pretty much jsut a 5th azorius charm). and the deathtouch is relevant as a blocker. The third drownyard is in the side, with 3 jace 3.0 so im not too worried, plus my game 1 vs control is fine. 27 Lands is important imo, might be a personal choice due to not playing during innistrad and I used to play UB Control during Cawblade era and every control deck ran 27-28 lands minimum. missing land drops is tough on this deck, especially when they come into tapped so often. However, i do side out a drownyard vs aggro and go down to 26 lands.
Lingering souls is good but I hate seeing them too early, vs most decks I much rather have one of my 2 mana spells (1 mana is a huge difference). They are **** vs rancor as well. However, i do like them towards the mid/end game. I think 3 is fine atm, I may consider going up to 4 but then i start wanting to add a pike and etc.
At first I wanted to go down to 3 D spheres, but since they are so good vs most aggro decks as well as zombies, can hit their o rings, and the fact that I have a hard time interacting with artifacts and walkers made me decide to stick to 4.
The meisers that I am playing have been absolutely amazing, ultimate price, cyclonic rift, the verdict, and especially the revelation. I would never drop the revelation or verdict, but could see changing the price or rift even though they have been really good so far. (other than counter magic, they are also my only way to fizz rancor at instant speed)
My local meta is mostly aggro, hence the reason for running 6 sweepers in main, used to run Azorius Charm but after extensive testing subs it for Feeling of Dread, that turns essentially in to a pseudo-timewalk due flashback, also ran a 3/2 split between think twice and Forbidden Alchemy, however, after started running Feeling of Dread, inverted the split to 2/3 to consistently cast a sweeper at T4. BTW, not jumping to the Jace 4.0 bandwagon yet, Jace 3.0 is working great as a wincon for me...
I'll be piloting this at FNM this week. Its been consistant and solid throughout testing and I'm quite happy. I have yet to compose a sideboard though.
He's simply one of the best creatures ever printed, but rotation sort of took his "oomph" away. The cheap, super efficient cards that made Delver relevant have left Standard and demoted Snappy from all-star to mediocre. Dryad Militant, Rest In Peace, Tormod's Crypt, and Ash Zealot are real cards, all of which are currently seeing Standard play.
I've been watching deck techs, browsing forums, and reading articles about Esper Control this past week and this guy has come up on a few occasions. I feel its an extremely underrated card at the moment, but will make its presence known in the upcoming months.
The ability to deal 6 damage, gain you 6 life, draw you 2 cards, first strike problematic creatures (Thragtusk, Vampire Nighthawk, etc), and brickwall a ton of creatures is a lot of value in a 7-drop control finisher.
JACE, ARCHITECT OF THOUGHT
He's made his presence well-known in Standard, but does he deserve four mainboard spots and the $40 price tag?
Jace, AoT is an excellent, well-rounded card. It punishes swarm aggro decks (Zombies, Selensya Aggro) with its [+1] ability as well as offers card advantage with its [-2] ability. However, the format is becoming slower, or less aggressive and midrange/control decks are leading the pack leaving Jace's first ability pretty underwhelming if effective at all.
So, most players will argue he's simply good for his mini Fact of Ficton effect. Yes, this ability is quite good, but with cards like Azorius Charm, Forbidden Alchemy, Sphinx's Revelation, and Think Twice to help you dig, gain card advantage and fix your hand, do you necessarily need four planeswalkers that essentially do the same thing at 4cmc a pop?
I'm simply starting a discussion and expressing my thoughts, so feel free to let me know what you guys have to say about both my opinions and decklist.
I'm starting to see lots of Thundermaw Hellkites both locally and in the top decks. I'm having a very hard time dealing with him. Any suggestions besides just countermagic?
You played JESUS?!?! I heard none of his guys stay in the graveyard, and once you think you have him beat he ALWAYS comes back to win within three turns. I like...WORSHIP him.
I'm starting to see lots of Thundermaw Hellkites both locally and in the top decks. I'm having a very hard time dealing with him. Any suggestions besides just countermagic?
Feeling of dread, or azorius charm + nephalia drownyard
Killing wave is very bad for a control deck. Usually we will use a wrath when there are > 1 creature on the board and on turn 4 if possible. Out opponent is the aggressor every time assuming you need the wrath. This means that their life is irrelevant as long as you die first. So your plan is to killing wave for lets say 3 mana, and lets say they have 3 creatures out. As an aggro deck i will happily pay 9 life to keep all my creatures and keep the pressure on.
He had a couple of 4-0 finishes with similar lists on 10/23 and 10/24. I'm going to be testing his 10/24 list tomorrow most likely. I'll post the list once I have computer access in the morning. He runs 4 Sorin in the list and that is probably overkill.
4 Sorin seems a bit much. I also don't have the Angels, so I was going to run Drogskol Reaver instead... and I'm short a Jace, so if I can't get that I was going to run something like Psychic Spiral or Elixir of Immortality. Spiral seems like a way to push mill to a win when it's needed and worst case gives you the ability to recycle your graveyard. There's also a bit of RDW in my local meta so I'm adding something to help there.
I'm not opposed to the Spiral being something else. I've also considered a verdict/terminus mix. The Dispel may become a Negate tonight.
My meta is pretty all over the place. Some bant, both control and aggro, some janky bw aggro builds, some mono-red, a couple of UW control players, Jund once in a while, fairly random from week to week.
Terminus over Verdict because of Zombies, which are a pain.
Tribute to deal with GoST and random stuff like Hellkites, awesome with Snapcaster Mage.
2 Snapcaster for reusing all those maximum value spells. Turns Drownyard into a massive tutor if you need an answer. The body is suprisingly relevant in some cases.
I agree, Spiral is narrow but a totally random win. Worst case it recycles my yard. Best case it puts my opponent in mill range. I've had testing games where I've hit up to 25 milled from it in a late game where I've drawn multiple Revelations.
I really want to run snaps, I just don't seem to have enough spells to make it worth it when I've tried. The few that I do, like Terminus, seemed counter productive to having that body in play. It's part of why I decided on Spiral, I can instead recycle those back in. Not as 'on demand' as snap, but gives me the chance to draw and use them again.
I like your list though, something I'll definitely compare to.
How do you fare against Jund? That deck is a real menace. I've gotten it down to a 1-1 draw at best in timed Swiss rounds, but I've yet to achieve an actual win against it without them stalling out one way or another. It's part of the reason I'm running the Orb, along with random RDW. Orb stops them from being able to hit me with a lot of things. I've also considered Faith's Shield to stop Dreadbore and Zealous Conscripts on my PW. I just can't bring myself to run it given that it doesn't seem like it will do much else for me.
Do you ever find yourself wanting Think Twice? I go back and forth on whether or not to take up the slots with it. I'd rather run more spot removal and main win cons, like Reaver, but sometimes getting those extra cards is super important.
I'm so narrow minded some times. I could also flash charm, price, and revelation. Maybe a 2 of snap isn't a bad idea. Probably drop a Sorin and a Think for it...
I wouldn't ever run Psychic Spiral maindeck, but it is a legitimate sideboard card (1 of) in the long, drawn out control matchups. Unlike Elixer, even if it gets milled over by a drownyard or Jace, you can still flash it back with Snappy. Also unlike Elixer, not only does it reset your GY, but it also mills them out.
I replaced a sideboarded Drownyard with one and it has been quite good when it is needed. Obviously very niche, though.
(Anecdote time: I was playing against that Flores Epic Experiment deck with Devastation Tide/Reforge the Soul and psychic spiral. He stacked an experiment such that he would Spiral me for the rest of my GY and then soul would go off for the win (with me unable to draw). I let the spiral resolve, then spiraled him, resetting my whole library and having him flip 56 cards, which killed him off his own reforge. He was.... annoyed ;))
Sounds like an interesting match. It's a one of main only because I wanted to shuffle my yard back in later in the game. I get that it's a legit card in board but I don't see a downside to maining it. I figure it's taking up the same amount of room either way. I could move a board card main I suppose.
Also, the card I wantt it to be is a Jace AoT. Until I get one, I'm running something random. I figure if I can't have 4, I'll just have a way to get my dead ones back in my library.
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I didnt drop a game all night, going 2-0 in every round. Beat two GW Midrange decks, standard mana dorks, smiters, thrags, township, and rancor. Both fairly easy matchups for me.
Had a B/R zombies game, which was tough game 1 but hit terminus. game 2 was a breeze.
Finally went against that U/W/R Midrange Tempo list that Todd Anderson played, a tough matchup but what I found was that you eventually just out card advantage them. Def the hardest of the 4 rounds though.
My meta is pretty competitive, pretty much all net decks/top tier decks with just a few brews around (new players) and a consistent minimum of 24 players per tournament.
This deck is definitely where its at and has huge potential come next set.
How does your list win? LS and Sorin tokens? Mill with Drownyard and Jace 3.0?
I guess I'll differ on the countermagic issue. I used to love the idea of a few here and there for protection, but after paying awhile, it seemed more and more apparent that Control these daze is akin to Zendikar block Tapout Control. Just slam your most powerful effect turn after turn with Planeswalkers, multiple sweeps etc. Every time I have opted for counterspells maindeck of any vareity in the new standard it has always been a lose. Waiting to counterspell something always seemed weak compared to just compound control effects turn after turn to actually control the board state. Controlling the stack isn't as important anymore, and counterspelling is weak because it is so narrow. Syncopate/Dissipate can kinda make up for it, but honestly I'd rather have the "after the fact" control based answer than the stack control based answer. Negate postboard against Control, even that is kinda meh. I played 2 Negates in the sideboard at Game Day and it wasnt that amazing, I used it more against Junds RReturn than Control mirrors. Mirrors struggled with my miandeck GosT's game 1, and game 2 more drownyards and 2 CRifts just bured them. Sure, you can Negate some of my stuff, but between more Planeswalkers, LSouls, GoST, my own DSpheres/ORings and NDrownyard it seemed rather easy, plus Codh making other GosT's irrelevant and Thragtusk tokens jank. Of course Codh can eat a DSphere, thats fine, I have plenty of ways to get rid of it and out threat them anyway.
My sideboard wasn't amazing, it needs work. RIP wiull ecome PTGrave for sure. The instant speed, flashback and surprise factor are much more effective. I also might sideboard 1-2 copies of Divine Deflection as well as a way to stop RDW from burning me ou plus turning it into removal, and anti-bonfire tech. Gotta try it.
Ya for the most part, by the time you stabilize your 1/1s are swinging for 3 each. I usually just play defensive until I stabilize and then start swinging for 4-12 a turn.
Game 1 mill doesnt happen very often, and only vs other control decks if I do.
but mill game 2-3 happens quite a bit as I side in the jace 3.0 vs any kind of control deck or midrange decks that go bigger and it works quite well
good job on your 2 wins.
when you say you wanted to play a 3rd drownyard but the mana couldnt afford it, why not just cut the other colorless land for it? Is the life link for your tokens that important? Because the way I see it, if you have tokens into play, you're in good shape as in you don't need life link as well.
im also skeptical on the 3 lingering souls. Is there ONE situation where you would rather draw say your 4th detention sphere/1 supreme verdict/27th land over a lingering souls?
the list I play is almost identical from yours with no creature but i find that lingering souls is a card that you almost always want to draw in any matchup. so i personally dont see a reason to not play 4. or at least not play 4 over those 3 cards i just mentioned.
3 wins
Without the 2 other shocklands, lands come into play tapped too much. I do like the one of vault, it helps vs quite a few matchups. Lifelink for racing (attacking with 3-4 tokens that are 2/1s and etc are a big swing if they have lifelink, pretty much jsut a 5th azorius charm). and the deathtouch is relevant as a blocker. The third drownyard is in the side, with 3 jace 3.0 so im not too worried, plus my game 1 vs control is fine. 27 Lands is important imo, might be a personal choice due to not playing during innistrad and I used to play UB Control during Cawblade era and every control deck ran 27-28 lands minimum. missing land drops is tough on this deck, especially when they come into tapped so often. However, i do side out a drownyard vs aggro and go down to 26 lands.
Lingering souls is good but I hate seeing them too early, vs most decks I much rather have one of my 2 mana spells (1 mana is a huge difference). They are **** vs rancor as well. However, i do like them towards the mid/end game. I think 3 is fine atm, I may consider going up to 4 but then i start wanting to add a pike and etc.
At first I wanted to go down to 3 D spheres, but since they are so good vs most aggro decks as well as zombies, can hit their o rings, and the fact that I have a hard time interacting with artifacts and walkers made me decide to stick to 4.
The meisers that I am playing have been absolutely amazing, ultimate price, cyclonic rift, the verdict, and especially the revelation. I would never drop the revelation or verdict, but could see changing the price or rift even though they have been really good so far. (other than counter magic, they are also my only way to fizz rancor at instant speed)
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Jace, Memory Adept
Sorceries
3 Entreat the Angels
4 Lingering Souls
3 Terminus
3 Supreme Verdict
Enchanments
2 Detention Sphere
Instants
2 Tragic Slip
2 Think Twice
3 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Feeling of Dread
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Evolving Wilds
4 Plains
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Terminus
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Rest in Peace
2 Sever the Bloodline
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Negate
2 Syncopate
1 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Nevermore
My local meta is mostly aggro, hence the reason for running 6 sweepers in main, used to run Azorius Charm but after extensive testing subs it for Feeling of Dread, that turns essentially in to a pseudo-timewalk due flashback, also ran a 3/2 split between think twice and Forbidden Alchemy, however, after started running Feeling of Dread, inverted the split to 2/3 to consistently cast a sweeper at T4. BTW, not jumping to the Jace 4.0 bandwagon yet, Jace 3.0 is working great as a wincon for me...
Constructive feedback is more than appreciated.
3 Augur of Bolas
2 Drogskol Reaver
Planeswalkers
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
Sorceries
4 Terminus
3 Lingering Souls
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Entreat the Angels
3 Azorius Charm
2 Forbidden Alchemy
2 Dissipate
2 Feeling of Dread
1 Ultimate Price
1 Sphinx's Revelation
Enchantments
2 Detention Sphere
Lands
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Nephalia Drownyard
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Island
SNAPCASTER MAGE
He's simply one of the best creatures ever printed, but rotation sort of took his "oomph" away. The cheap, super efficient cards that made Delver relevant have left Standard and demoted Snappy from all-star to mediocre. Dryad Militant, Rest In Peace, Tormod's Crypt, and Ash Zealot are real cards, all of which are currently seeing Standard play.
Cards such as Lingering Souls, Forbidden Alchemy, Feeling of Dread, Think Twice, and Sever the Bloodline all have flashback often making Snap an awkward or underwhelming draw.
DROGSKOL REAVER
I've been watching deck techs, browsing forums, and reading articles about Esper Control this past week and this guy has come up on a few occasions. I feel its an extremely underrated card at the moment, but will make its presence known in the upcoming months.
The ability to deal 6 damage, gain you 6 life, draw you 2 cards, first strike problematic creatures (Thragtusk, Vampire Nighthawk, etc), and brickwall a ton of creatures is a lot of value in a 7-drop control finisher.
JACE, ARCHITECT OF THOUGHT
He's made his presence well-known in Standard, but does he deserve four mainboard spots and the $40 price tag?
Jace, AoT is an excellent, well-rounded card. It punishes swarm aggro decks (Zombies, Selensya Aggro) with its [+1] ability as well as offers card advantage with its [-2] ability. However, the format is becoming slower, or less aggressive and midrange/control decks are leading the pack leaving Jace's first ability pretty underwhelming if effective at all.
So, most players will argue he's simply good for his mini Fact of Ficton effect. Yes, this ability is quite good, but with cards like Azorius Charm, Forbidden Alchemy, Sphinx's Revelation, and Think Twice to help you dig, gain card advantage and fix your hand, do you necessarily need four planeswalkers that essentially do the same thing at 4cmc a pop?
I'm simply starting a discussion and expressing my thoughts, so feel free to let me know what you guys have to say about both my opinions and decklist.
Thank you!
GW Aggro
feeling of dread, azorius charm, unsummon
My 180 Modern Bordered Only Cube
Feeling of dread, or azorius charm + nephalia drownyard
EDH: Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
no......why?....but terminus....and supreme verdict....Killing wave is very bad for a control deck. Usually we will use a wrath when there are > 1 creature on the board and on turn 4 if possible. Out opponent is the aggressor every time assuming you need the wrath. This means that their life is irrelevant as long as you die first. So your plan is to killing wave for lets say 3 mana, and lets say they have 3 creatures out. As an aggro deck i will happily pay 9 life to keep all my creatures and keep the pressure on.
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Nephalia Drownyard
3 Plains
2 Swamp
27 lands
0 creatures
4 Azorius Charm
4 Detention Sphere
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
4 Lingering Souls
1 Sever the Bloodline
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Syncopate
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
3 Terminus
3 Ultimate Price
33 other spells
2 Angel of Serenity
3 Dissipate
3 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Negate
1 Pithing Needle
3 Seraph of Dawn
1 Sever the Bloodline
1 Ultimate Price
_shipitholla's 3-1 finish on MTGO
BGStandard Green AggroGB
UWRGModern Saheeli CobraGRWU
UBRGLegacy StormGRBU
Wizards Certified Rules Advisor
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Plains
26 lands
0 creatures
4 Detention Sphere
4 Jace, Architect of Thought
4 Lingering Souls
4 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Terminus
3 Think Twice
2 Ultimate Price
2 Angel of Serenity
1 Dispel
3 Dissipate
3 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Seraph of Dawn
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Ultimate Price
4 Sorin seems a bit much. I also don't have the Angels, so I was going to run Drogskol Reaver instead... and I'm short a Jace, so if I can't get that I was going to run something like Psychic Spiral or Elixir of Immortality. Spiral seems like a way to push mill to a win when it's needed and worst case gives you the ability to recycle your graveyard. There's also a bit of RDW in my local meta so I'm adding something to help there.
This is the list I think I'll run:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Nephalia Drownyard
4 Plains
26 lands
0 creatures
4 Azorius Charm
4 Detention Sphere
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Psychic Sprial
4 Lingering Souls
4 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
3 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
4 Terminus
3 Think Twice
2 Ultimate Price
2 Drogskol Reaver
1 Dispel
3 Dissipate
2 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Seraph of Dawn
2 Sever the Bloodline
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Ultimate Price
I'm not opposed to the Spiral being something else. I've also considered a verdict/terminus mix. The Dispel may become a Negate tonight.
My meta is pretty all over the place. Some bant, both control and aggro, some janky bw aggro builds, some mono-red, a couple of UW control players, Jund once in a while, fairly random from week to week.
A friend of mine is playing almost this exact list. It is very good. Playing UWR control against it preboard i went like 1-10 against it.
I agree, Spiral is narrow but a totally random win. Worst case it recycles my yard. Best case it puts my opponent in mill range. I've had testing games where I've hit up to 25 milled from it in a late game where I've drawn multiple Revelations.
I really want to run snaps, I just don't seem to have enough spells to make it worth it when I've tried. The few that I do, like Terminus, seemed counter productive to having that body in play. It's part of why I decided on Spiral, I can instead recycle those back in. Not as 'on demand' as snap, but gives me the chance to draw and use them again.
I like your list though, something I'll definitely compare to.
How do you fare against Jund? That deck is a real menace. I've gotten it down to a 1-1 draw at best in timed Swiss rounds, but I've yet to achieve an actual win against it without them stalling out one way or another. It's part of the reason I'm running the Orb, along with random RDW. Orb stops them from being able to hit me with a lot of things. I've also considered Faith's Shield to stop Dreadbore and Zealous Conscripts on my PW. I just can't bring myself to run it given that it doesn't seem like it will do much else for me.
Do you ever find yourself wanting Think Twice? I go back and forth on whether or not to take up the slots with it. I'd rather run more spot removal and main win cons, like Reaver, but sometimes getting those extra cards is super important.
I replaced a sideboarded Drownyard with one and it has been quite good when it is needed. Obviously very niche, though.
(Anecdote time: I was playing against that Flores Epic Experiment deck with Devastation Tide/Reforge the Soul and psychic spiral. He stacked an experiment such that he would Spiral me for the rest of my GY and then soul would go off for the win (with me unable to draw). I let the spiral resolve, then spiraled him, resetting my whole library and having him flip 56 cards, which killed him off his own reforge. He was.... annoyed ;))