Cards for consideration: Goblin Rabblemaster:plays nicer with Butcher but not so nice with Anger of the Gods. Much faster clock on an empty board. Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Might just be a better finisher.
Removal is obviously subject to change. Some number of Banishing Light is probably appropriate. I'm debating weather the main deck Angers are necessary and maybe just a SB option.
This might change after the meta shifts, but usually at the beginning, angro is rampant since control isn't really too stabalized, which is why my removal package looks pretty large. I was running Sign in BLood in Tormenting Voice's spot. I ended up switching it to not be as suicidal, but while it goes from a 2 for 1 to a break even card, it is really easy to discard with late game thoughtseizes/maggots.
Brain Maggot has been an all-star in light removal matches, and even against decks with removal, still can do work, taking the cheaper removal spell, forcing a harder one (since I run few creatures, all of them mildly resistant to removal under 3 CM). Following thoughtseize up with this is brutal as hell against most decks. Wingmate Roc is a test spot. I am not sure if I want him, a singleton ELspeth, or Zurgo, but all three have their moments.
You're right on with Crackling Doom. You also want to run Rabblemaster and Mardu Ascension. Sarkhan is cute, but isn't nearly as good as Stormbreath. His ultimate is actually bad in your deck, since you're running a lot of reactive spells, also, 6 5-drops is way too hard on your mana base. Despise is great, I'd go to 4 Despise and 3 Thoughtseize.
Anger of the Gods should be in your sideboard, as it's a dead card against most non-aggro match-ups.
Butcher isn't being utilized to his fullest here but even when it's not it's still a very solid creature, so I probably would still play a full set. But yes, if it's possible to make room for Rabblemaster it should be done.
@Hymn to Pat: I like a set of Hero's Demise and Mardu Charm. I'm not sold on Mardu Ascension in this kind of deck. Not with only 12 creatures, only 4 of which would really need protecting via the +3 to toughness (Rabblemaster). I keep my Angers in the sideboard.
This list made Top 8 at SCG Edison over the weekend. I like the use of Lightning Strike over Bile Blight as removal that can just go straight to the opponents face to close out a game.
What sort of MU does this deck have against GR Monsters? I have most of this deck's money cards, except Sarkhan, and am torn between the two builds. Butcher of the Horde and Polukranos both seem pretty juicy.
Tested the Top8 SCG deck against Azban and it is awesome. Crackling Doom is incredible, instant speed sacrifice that hits the biggest creature in a format that is always about getting out the biggest threat is gold. Sorin into Sarkhan is just mean, swinging turn 5 with a 5/4 haste, flying, lifelink Sarkhan dragon is disgusting.
Crackling Doom is indeed incredible, I have basically dropped Mardu Charm from my lists all together. The top 8 deck is pretty solid and I am surprised there is not more hype about it, which is fine by. Another thing I have been testing is Wingmate Roc that card is a pure beating.
This list made Top 8 at SCG Edison over the weekend. I like the use of Lightning Strike over Bile Blight as removal that can just go straight to the opponents face to close out a game.
Lightning Strike is played to kill planeswalkers more so than even dome opponents. The deck is really strong, ample removal, great card value, mostly evasive threats.
Wingmate Roc isn't nearly consistent enough with only 11 creatures with converted mana 4 or less, 13 if you count Sorin. Lets face it, Strombreath and Sarkhan are better 5 mana closers and we don't want anymore clogging up the deck. Unless you play the deck completely different than the successful shells.
Thoughts on a card like Seeker of the Way in this deck?
Helps with the early life gain, and is a solid beater in the lategame still (3/3 life linker is no joke right now) or is it too small for this style of deck.
Crackling Doom is indeed incredible, I have basically dropped Mardu Charm from my lists all together. The top 8 deck is pretty solid and I am surprised there is not more hype about it, which is fine by. Another thing I have been testing is Wingmate Roc that card is a pure beating.
I agree the SCG list is the best one I have seen so far and I think too mant people are still trying to make the deck into Aristocrats 10.0 or whatever. Mardu has the BEST unconditional removal in a format with very little unconditional removal. Wingmate-Roc I think is too small of a flyer and can't swing until turn 6 where as most of our flyers cna swing by turn 5. The real challenge about our deck I found is how many 5/4 or 4/4 haste flyers we can drop on turn 5, the token aspect allows us to flood the board if we don't hit our removal and feeds Butcher without overwhelming us with 1/1 tokens that don't scale well into late game. Mardu charm is just meh compared to Hero's Downfall and Crackling Doom. I found that Crackling Doom hit EVERYTHING that I wanted it too, turn 3 Courser of Kurphix, turn 3-4 Siege Rhino, and the biggest threat against our deck full of flyer finishers, turn 4-5 Arbor Colossus.
Wingmate Roc isn't nearly consistent enough with only 11 creatures with converted mana 4 or less, 13 if you count Sorin. Lets face it, Strombreath and Sarkhan are better 5 mana closers and we don't want anymore clogging up the deck. Unless you play the deck completely different than the successful shells.
I agree about Wingmate-Roc, there are better options for us.
Played the above to top 16 at the Waco 5k; played badly/got unlucky to miss top 8 after winning the first 5 rounds, mostly my fault. Configured the MD to fight aggro since I assumed week 0 would be rabble red everywhere but played it zero times the whole weekend. Two losses were to the Mardu midrange and RW burn deck that both made top8 in the same event. Beat a bunch of azban decks, one mirror match (like whats being posted here, runs butcher, etc) and a mono-green devotion deck.
Butcher of the Horde: Bought nearly the whole 75 because I thought this card is just the reason to be in the colors. And just didn't like it. Now I only have one evening of limited testing before the 5k and the 5k itself, but whenever I played butcher, he never had haste when I wanted him to or just died to basically every removal spell after I sacced something the following turn. I wanted him to play like Falkenrath Aristocrat but wasn't getting same thing done. He just had enough food to be more than a 5/4 flier that sometimes pulls ahead when you probably are already ahead. Still think its a great card, but belongs as a curve-topper in an aggressive Mardu deck or in a more dedicated tokens deck.
Nyx-Fleece Ram: Late addition to the deck after moving away from butcher of the horde. Lowers the curve and is obviously good against aggro. Surprisingly good against the Abzan midrange decks, held off Seige Rhinos and monstrous Fleecemane Lions until my fliers and planewalkers could get the job done. Also attacked a bunch to trigger the raid on...
Wingmate Roc: Ram went a long way towards always having this in Broodmate mode. Life gain helps racing, good versus spot removal, plays well with and against Elspeth. Wasn't sure if this should just be Stormbreath Dragon, but wasn't unhappy with the choice.
Ashcloud Phoenix: Card is bonkers. Harder to kill threat that replaced Butcher of the Horde. Got me back into games I didn't feel like I had business winning. Abzan midrange does have a lot of maindeck answers, but they still had to have them.
Removal suite: Lightning strike was my choice for two drop removal, since I moved away from the black-based midrange deck into a RW shell. Could have been Magma Jet instead, but was pretty sure Sidisi and other 3-power creatures were something I cared about more. Mardu Charm got the nod over Crackling Doom just for the sake of diversity; 4 damage clears away most 3 and 4 drops, all the 2 drops I expected to face and first strikers seems great vs mono-red's creatures. Duress mode on draw step was also good every time I used it, usually after starting a game on Thoughtseize so I knew I wasn't missing. Banishing Light to clean up anything else.
Planeswalkers: Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker was good enough that I'd consider finding room for the 3rd in the MD. Went into the planeswalker-based control sideboard plan almost every round and didn't regret it. Possible this is just the route to follow, but never tried that plan against dedicated aggro decks. Needs testing. Oh and Elspeth, Sun's Champion is still a hell of a card if you didn't know already.
Played the above to top 16 at the Waco 5k; played badly/got unlucky to miss top 8 after winning the first 5 rounds, mostly my fault. Configured the MD to fight aggro since I assumed week 0 would be rabble red everywhere but played it zero times the whole weekend. Two losses were to the Mardu midrange and RW burn deck that both made top8 in the same event. Beat a bunch of azban decks, one mirror match (like whats being posted here, runs butcher, etc) and a mono-green devotion deck.
Butcher of the Horde: Bought nearly the whole 75 because I thought this card is just the reason to be in the colors. And just didn't like it. Now I only have one evening of limited testing before the 5k and the 5k itself, but whenever I played butcher, he never had haste when I wanted him to or just died to basically every removal spell after I sacced something the following turn. I wanted him to play like Falkenrath Aristocrat but wasn't getting same thing done. He just had enough food to be more than a 5/4 flier that sometimes pulls ahead when you probably are already ahead. Still think its a great card, but belongs as a curve-topper in an aggressive Mardu deck or in a more dedicated tokens deck.
Nyx-Fleece Ram: Late addition to the deck after moving away from butcher of the horde. Lowers the curve and is obviously good against aggro. Surprisingly good against the Abzan midrange decks, held off Seige Rhinos and monstrous Fleecemane Lions until my fliers and planewalkers could get the job done. Also attacked a bunch to trigger the raid on...
Wingmate Roc: Ram went a long way towards always having this in Broodmate mode. Life gain helps racing, good versus spot removal, plays well with and against Elspeth. Wasn't sure if this should just be Stormbreath Dragon, but wasn't unhappy with the choice.
Ashcloud Phoenix: Card is bonkers. Harder to kill threat that replaced Butcher of the Horde. Got me back into games I didn't feel like I had business winning. Abzan midrange does have a lot of maindeck answers, but they still had to have them.
Removal suite: Lightning strike was my choice for two drop removal, since I moved away from the black-based midrange deck into a RW shell. Could have been Magma Jet instead, but was pretty sure Sidisi and other 3-power creatures were something I cared about more. Mardu Charm got the nod over Crackling Doom just for the sake of diversity; 4 damage clears away most 3 and 4 drops, all the 2 drops I expected to face and first strikers seems great vs mono-red's creatures. Duress mode on draw step was also good every time I used it, usually after starting a game on Thoughtseize so I knew I wasn't missing. Banishing Light to clean up anything else.
Planeswalkers: Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker was good enough that I'd consider finding room for the 3rd in the MD. Went into the planeswalker-based control sideboard plan almost every round and didn't regret it. Possible this is just the route to follow, but never tried that plan against dedicated aggro decks. Needs testing. Oh and Elspeth, Sun's Champion is still a hell of a card if you didn't know already.
interesting R/W/b list, most of the lists in the thread have been R/B/w, but it is nice to have a different take. The problems I see with your list, are that you don't have many answers for Siege Rhino, Polukranos, and Arbor Colossus. Yeah 3 and 4 damage burn spells hurt early game and aggro decks, but a lot of the finishers have 5 or 6 toughness. 3 Banishing Light to fight off 4 Siege Rhinos, 2 Arbor Colossus, 2 Elspeth, and 1-2 Sorins is not that good. This is where I think the R/W weakness comes in, Hero's Downfall is THE best single target removal in the format, it hits any and all finishers at instant speed. The other card I am unsure about is Ashcloud Phoenix, it lacks haste and although it can come back repeatedly, it requires 6 mana to do so. The 1 toughness means it can be chump-blocked and killed by spirit tokens all day long. And when it is morphed as a 2/2 it can be easily killed without coming back.
Agreed about the four drop issue, started with two Banishing Lights and moved up to three so I could have something to answer them. Decided I would just sideboard against those decks with the planeswalkers in the board, Utter Ends and End Hostilities. Played and beat Abzan midrange twice, and the dumb rams blocked Seige Rhino all day.
Was still happy with how things played out, since I feel like I got paired against the wrong side of the field; played maindeck rams and rocs to fight off aggression and ended up battling midrange grinds all day instead. Ashcloud Phoenix really shined here, once we got into top decking, always having something to spend mana on, block or start attacking once I hit more creatures was great. What makes flying spirits right now anyway? I can't think of anything that makes 1/1s that fly.
Played the above to top 16 at the Waco 5k; played badly/got unlucky to miss top 8 after winning the first 5 rounds, mostly my fault. Configured the MD to fight aggro since I assumed week 0 would be rabble red everywhere but played it zero times the whole weekend. Two losses were to the Mardu midrange and RW burn deck that both made top8 in the same event. Beat a bunch of azban decks, one mirror match (like whats being posted here, runs butcher, etc) and a mono-green devotion deck.
Butcher of the Horde: Bought nearly the whole 75 because I thought this card is just the reason to be in the colors. And just didn't like it. Now I only have one evening of limited testing before the 5k and the 5k itself, but whenever I played butcher, he never had haste when I wanted him to or just died to basically every removal spell after I sacced something the following turn. I wanted him to play like Falkenrath Aristocrat but wasn't getting same thing done. He just had enough food to be more than a 5/4 flier that sometimes pulls ahead when you probably are already ahead. Still think its a great card, but belongs as a curve-topper in an aggressive Mardu deck or in a more dedicated tokens deck.
Nyx-Fleece Ram: Late addition to the deck after moving away from butcher of the horde. Lowers the curve and is obviously good against aggro. Surprisingly good against the Abzan midrange decks, held off Seige Rhinos and monstrous Fleecemane Lions until my fliers and planewalkers could get the job done. Also attacked a bunch to trigger the raid on...
Wingmate Roc: Ram went a long way towards always having this in Broodmate mode. Life gain helps racing, good versus spot removal, plays well with and against Elspeth. Wasn't sure if this should just be Stormbreath Dragon, but wasn't unhappy with the choice.
Ashcloud Phoenix: Card is bonkers. Harder to kill threat that replaced Butcher of the Horde. Got me back into games I didn't feel like I had business winning. Abzan midrange does have a lot of maindeck answers, but they still had to have them.
Removal suite: Lightning strike was my choice for two drop removal, since I moved away from the black-based midrange deck into a RW shell. Could have been Magma Jet instead, but was pretty sure Sidisi and other 3-power creatures were something I cared about more. Mardu Charm got the nod over Crackling Doom just for the sake of diversity; 4 damage clears away most 3 and 4 drops, all the 2 drops I expected to face and first strikers seems great vs mono-red's creatures. Duress mode on draw step was also good every time I used it, usually after starting a game on Thoughtseize so I knew I wasn't missing. Banishing Light to clean up anything else.
Planeswalkers: Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker was good enough that I'd consider finding room for the 3rd in the MD. Went into the planeswalker-based control sideboard plan almost every round and didn't regret it. Possible this is just the route to follow, but never tried that plan against dedicated aggro decks. Needs testing. Oh and Elspeth, Sun's Champion is still a hell of a card if you didn't know already.
interesting R/W/b list, most of the lists in the thread have been R/B/w, but it is nice to have a different take. The problems I see with your list, are that you don't have many answers for Siege Rhino, Polukranos, and Arbor Colossus. Yeah 3 and 4 damage burn spells hurt early game and aggro decks, but a lot of the finishers have 5 or 6 toughness. 3 Banishing Light to fight off 4 Siege Rhinos, 2 Arbor Colossus, 2 Elspeth, and 1-2 Sorins is not that good. This is where I think the R/W weakness comes in, Hero's Downfall is THE best single target removal in the format, it hits any and all finishers at instant speed. The other card I am unsure about is Ashcloud Phoenix, it lacks haste and although it can come back repeatedly, it requires 6 mana to do so. The 1 toughness means it can be chump-blocked and killed by spirit tokens all day long. And when it is morphed as a 2/2 it can be easily killed without coming back.
If you force your opponent to waste 2 cards on your phoenix than you're already ahead especially in mid-game. That means less removal would be pointed at butcher or rabblemaster. The phoenix is an amazing card against any mid-range or control deck.
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4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Planeswalkers (2)
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Artifacts/Enchantments (1)
1 Whip of Erebos
Spells (20)
4 Sign In Blood
2 Crackling Doom
4 Thoughtseize
3 Despise
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Bile Blight
2 Magma Spray
2 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Mana Confluence
4 Nomad Outpost
Cards for consideration:
Goblin Rabblemaster:plays nicer with Butcher but not so nice with Anger of the Gods. Much faster clock on an empty board.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Might just be a better finisher.
Removal is obviously subject to change. Some number of Banishing Light is probably appropriate. I'm debating weather the main deck Angers are necessary and maybe just a SB option.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
Here we are:
4x Temple of Malice
4x Temple of Silence
2x Temple of Triumph
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Battlefield Forge
2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2x Mountain
2x Plains
3x Brain Maggot
3x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Wingfeather Roc
Other Spells (26)
4x Thoughseize
3x Tormenting Voice
4x Anger of the Gods
2x Crackling Doom
3x Mardu Charm
3x Hero's Downfall
3x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
This might change after the meta shifts, but usually at the beginning, angro is rampant since control isn't really too stabalized, which is why my removal package looks pretty large. I was running Sign in BLood in Tormenting Voice's spot. I ended up switching it to not be as suicidal, but while it goes from a 2 for 1 to a break even card, it is really easy to discard with late game thoughtseizes/maggots.
Brain Maggot has been an all-star in light removal matches, and even against decks with removal, still can do work, taking the cheaper removal spell, forcing a harder one (since I run few creatures, all of them mildly resistant to removal under 3 CM). Following thoughtseize up with this is brutal as hell against most decks. Wingmate Roc is a test spot. I am not sure if I want him, a singleton ELspeth, or Zurgo, but all three have their moments.
The GJ way path to no lynching:
Anger of the Gods should be in your sideboard, as it's a dead card against most non-aggro match-ups.
4 Butcher of the Horde
4 Stormbreath Dragon
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Artifacts/Enchantments (1)
1 Whip of Erebos
Spells (19)
4 Sign In Blood
2 Crackling Doom
3 Thoughtseize
4 Despise
2 Hero's Downfall
2 Bile Blight
2 Magma Spray
2 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Mana Confluence
4 Nomad Outpost
4 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Mardu Charm
4 Stoke the flames
3 thoughtseize
2 Banishing Light
1 Hero's downfall
4 Nomad outpost
4 Battlefield forge
4 Caves of Koilos
4 mana confluence
4 temple of malice
3 mountain
1 plains
Let me know what you think. This is a very very rough draft.
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
3 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Battlefield Forge
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Caves of Koilos
2 Mana Confluence
4 Nomad Outpost
2 Temple of Malice
2 Temple of Silence
1 Temple of Triumph
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Lightning Strike
1 Despise
4 Thoughtseize
2 Suspension Field
2 Nyx-Fleece Ram
3 Magma Spray
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Despise
1 Harness by Force
This list made Top 8 at SCG Edison over the weekend. I like the use of Lightning Strike over Bile Blight as removal that can just go straight to the opponents face to close out a game.
I Stream MTGO on Twitch: broodwarjc
I also post recordings of those streams on Youtube: broodwarjcavidgamer
Standard Deck:
BUPirates
Modern Deck:
B8-Rack
Lightning Strike is played to kill planeswalkers more so than even dome opponents. The deck is really strong, ample removal, great card value, mostly evasive threats.
Helps with the early life gain, and is a solid beater in the lategame still (3/3 life linker is no joke right now) or is it too small for this style of deck.
Thanks Hero's of the Plane
Modern
-------------
xRxAffinityxRx
I agree the SCG list is the best one I have seen so far and I think too mant people are still trying to make the deck into Aristocrats 10.0 or whatever. Mardu has the BEST unconditional removal in a format with very little unconditional removal. Wingmate-Roc I think is too small of a flyer and can't swing until turn 6 where as most of our flyers cna swing by turn 5. The real challenge about our deck I found is how many 5/4 or 4/4 haste flyers we can drop on turn 5, the token aspect allows us to flood the board if we don't hit our removal and feeds Butcher without overwhelming us with 1/1 tokens that don't scale well into late game. Mardu charm is just meh compared to Hero's Downfall and Crackling Doom. I found that Crackling Doom hit EVERYTHING that I wanted it too, turn 3 Courser of Kurphix, turn 3-4 Siege Rhino, and the biggest threat against our deck full of flyer finishers, turn 4-5 Arbor Colossus.
I agree about Wingmate-Roc, there are better options for us.
I Stream MTGO on Twitch: broodwarjc
I also post recordings of those streams on Youtube: broodwarjcavidgamer
Standard Deck:
BUPirates
Modern Deck:
B8-Rack
4 Goblin rabblemaster
4 Butcher of the horde
3 stormbreath dragon
3 Wingmate Roc
2 Crackling doom
3 Hero's Downfall
3 Lightning Strike
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Banishing light
1 Mardu ascendency
4 Temple of Malice
4 Nomad Outpost
3 Bloodstained mire
2 swamp
2 Mountain
3 caves of kolios
3 battlefield forge
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
3 Mana Confluence
1 utter end
2 despise
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Read the bones
2 suspension field
1 Banishing Light
1 deicide
2 pharikas cure
Tested pretty well and borderline reminds me of the old jund deck from alara\Zendikar days
4 Battlefield Forge
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Caves of Koilos
2 Mountain
4 Nomad Outpost
3 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Temple of Silence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Creatures:
4 Ashcloud Phoenix
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Nyx-Fleece Ram
3 Wingmate Roc
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Spells:
3 Banishing Light
3 Lightning Strike
4 Mardu Charm
4 Thoughtseize
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Brain Maggot
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 End Hostilities
2 Last Breath
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
2 Utter End
Played the above to top 16 at the Waco 5k; played badly/got unlucky to miss top 8 after winning the first 5 rounds, mostly my fault. Configured the MD to fight aggro since I assumed week 0 would be rabble red everywhere but played it zero times the whole weekend. Two losses were to the Mardu midrange and RW burn deck that both made top8 in the same event. Beat a bunch of azban decks, one mirror match (like whats being posted here, runs butcher, etc) and a mono-green devotion deck.
Butcher of the Horde: Bought nearly the whole 75 because I thought this card is just the reason to be in the colors. And just didn't like it. Now I only have one evening of limited testing before the 5k and the 5k itself, but whenever I played butcher, he never had haste when I wanted him to or just died to basically every removal spell after I sacced something the following turn. I wanted him to play like Falkenrath Aristocrat but wasn't getting same thing done. He just had enough food to be more than a 5/4 flier that sometimes pulls ahead when you probably are already ahead. Still think its a great card, but belongs as a curve-topper in an aggressive Mardu deck or in a more dedicated tokens deck.
Nyx-Fleece Ram: Late addition to the deck after moving away from butcher of the horde. Lowers the curve and is obviously good against aggro. Surprisingly good against the Abzan midrange decks, held off Seige Rhinos and monstrous Fleecemane Lions until my fliers and planewalkers could get the job done. Also attacked a bunch to trigger the raid on...
Wingmate Roc: Ram went a long way towards always having this in Broodmate mode. Life gain helps racing, good versus spot removal, plays well with and against Elspeth. Wasn't sure if this should just be Stormbreath Dragon, but wasn't unhappy with the choice.
Ashcloud Phoenix: Card is bonkers. Harder to kill threat that replaced Butcher of the Horde. Got me back into games I didn't feel like I had business winning. Abzan midrange does have a lot of maindeck answers, but they still had to have them.
Removal suite: Lightning strike was my choice for two drop removal, since I moved away from the black-based midrange deck into a RW shell. Could have been Magma Jet instead, but was pretty sure Sidisi and other 3-power creatures were something I cared about more. Mardu Charm got the nod over Crackling Doom just for the sake of diversity; 4 damage clears away most 3 and 4 drops, all the 2 drops I expected to face and first strikers seems great vs mono-red's creatures. Duress mode on draw step was also good every time I used it, usually after starting a game on Thoughtseize so I knew I wasn't missing. Banishing Light to clean up anything else.
Planeswalkers: Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker was good enough that I'd consider finding room for the 3rd in the MD. Went into the planeswalker-based control sideboard plan almost every round and didn't regret it. Possible this is just the route to follow, but never tried that plan against dedicated aggro decks. Needs testing. Oh and Elspeth, Sun's Champion is still a hell of a card if you didn't know already.
interesting R/W/b list, most of the lists in the thread have been R/B/w, but it is nice to have a different take. The problems I see with your list, are that you don't have many answers for Siege Rhino, Polukranos, and Arbor Colossus. Yeah 3 and 4 damage burn spells hurt early game and aggro decks, but a lot of the finishers have 5 or 6 toughness. 3 Banishing Light to fight off 4 Siege Rhinos, 2 Arbor Colossus, 2 Elspeth, and 1-2 Sorins is not that good. This is where I think the R/W weakness comes in, Hero's Downfall is THE best single target removal in the format, it hits any and all finishers at instant speed. The other card I am unsure about is Ashcloud Phoenix, it lacks haste and although it can come back repeatedly, it requires 6 mana to do so. The 1 toughness means it can be chump-blocked and killed by spirit tokens all day long. And when it is morphed as a 2/2 it can be easily killed without coming back.
I Stream MTGO on Twitch: broodwarjc
I also post recordings of those streams on Youtube: broodwarjcavidgamer
Standard Deck:
BUPirates
Modern Deck:
B8-Rack
Was still happy with how things played out, since I feel like I got paired against the wrong side of the field; played maindeck rams and rocs to fight off aggression and ended up battling midrange grinds all day instead. Ashcloud Phoenix really shined here, once we got into top decking, always having something to spend mana on, block or start attacking once I hit more creatures was great. What makes flying spirits right now anyway? I can't think of anything that makes 1/1s that fly.