I mana flooded G1 and just couldn't do anything to stop him. I played a T3 Sidisi T4 Rhino which was too much for him in G2. Game 3 I was stabilizing when he found an Aqueos Form to finish the game.
Round 2 - Jeskai Tokens
Was a bit worried about this match when I figured out what he was playing because I haven't tested against it at all. I won G1 whipping back a Hornet Queen on T5. I found 2 more Hornet Queens in the next 3 turns and it was just too much for him. Game 2 he was able to go off on a turn I tapped out and swung in with my hornets. Game 3, I played a T3 Sidisi to put the pressure on him and he wasn't able to recover.
Round 3 - Mono U Devotion
I basically ran over him both games. Brought in Abzan Charm from the sideboard to deal with Thassa as soon as he turned her on in G2. We played 2 more games after the match and the results were the same. Master of Waves was the only real power in his deck but it was too weak to my spot removal.
Round 4 - Mardu Aggro
G1 turned into a quick damage race, and a couple Rhino's helped me win the race. G2 he kept a great hand playing T2 Seeker, T3 Rabble, and spent the next 2 turns using burn spells. He got me down below 5 life in G3 but I was able to stabilize, and got both of my Soul's onto the field. He wasn't able to beat the 16 lifelink a turn.
Round 5 - UB Control
I was the unlucky 9 pointer to get paired down and had to play to make top 8. I mulliganed down to 5 and kept a 1 land hand with a Caryatid. I missed on land and he played T3 Ashiok. G2 was a rough start as he was countering everything for the first several turns. He missed on any draw spells and I grinded his hand down. I landed a Sidisi and got a couple zombies before he could answer it. He landed Ashiok which I quickly got rid of with a hardcasted Ashen Rider. I got out of the gate quickly in G3 with a T3 Rhino and T4 Rhino. He was able to get rid of them under 5 life. He resolved an Ashiok that I followed up with a Hornet Queen causing him to have to crack his Perilous Vault. I landed a 2nd Queen after the Vault and it was too much for him.
Top 8 - Abzan Aggro
I won Game 1 as soon as I whipped back a Hornet Queen, he conceded because he couldn't deal with it. Game 2 I had complete control until I allowed him to resolve a Roc with Raid. I could've forced him to monstrous with a Fleecemane Lion and then swung for lethal the next turn. He ended up grinding me out as I drew 2 consecutive lands. I drew poorly in Game 3, unable to find any creatures and he ended up winning.
I'm a bit disappointed because I could have won G2 and made top 4, but live and learn I guess. I was really happy with the deck, very glad I reworked the sideboard like I did. I used every card on the SB, but I will be replacing Despise with a 3rd Thoughtseize. I may also add a 3rd Ashiok, as he's amazing against Abzan decks. Also debating about an Erase or 2 on the SB to deal with Ascendancy decks and mirror matches.
I threw the Sultai Charms in there as they seem like a no brainer. Kill spell, plus a way to discard a Hornet Queen or something to be whipped back. Soul of Inn is mostly a flex spot at the moment. I opted out of the Ashen Rider simply because I played the Abzan Whip list with it, and I hated drawing it (which happened far too many times) and couldn't really cast it. At least soul hits the yard and can be used without a whip. In the SB, I really like Erebos. He has helped against oposing whip/life gain decks fantastically, and few people have removal for him.
I haven't had a chance to test much, but I will likely playtest this week and bring it to an IQ this Saturday. So any changes you guys think would be a great help
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Modern: UWR Breach, UWB Esper control
Legacy: UW RiP/Helm, UR Sneak and Show
I've tried Strength from the Fallen, but far too often it's a do nothing card. It's certainly a decent option though, if you run 4 Courser's it might be better.
Alright, have a big weekend with a lot of standard play coming up. I'll be playing in an Open Trial on Friday, a PPTQ on Saturday morning, and possibly a second PPTQ Saturday afternoon if the morning one starts badly. This will all be capped off by a Team Sealed tournament on Sunday, so a very busy Magic weekend coming up that I'm super excited for!
I'm a little bit iffy on having the Abzan Charm's and Master of Wave's on the SB for this weekend. I feel like they could be better cards. I was actually thinking of 2 Windstorm to bring in against the mirror and Abzan matches to take out Wingmate Roc and tokens. Maybe up to 4 Drown in Sorrow as well since I feel like the deck has become weaker to Mono R in general. Also debating on the Arbor Colossus in the main just being a 2nd Soul of Innistrad. I almost always want a 2nd one. Also debating going down to 2 Commune's to either put the 4th Whip back in the main, or to add a 28th creature. Also strongly thinking of Back to Nature in the SB due to a growing popularity of GB Constellation in my area.
Would love to hear how everyone's been doing with the deck!
Ran my above list to a 4-1 finish through Swiss at the FNM/OT.
Honestly don't remember what all I played against. my only loss was to a RG Monsters deck that I flooded out in land & 4 Caryatid's in G1 and never saw a green source in G2. Forced to keep at 5 with just a Swamp and Polluted Delta.
Top 8 - Boss Sligh
Was surprised I was able to 2-0 this opponent. I won Game 1 off a T4 Doomwake Giant with Pharika on board as well. In game 2 I hit T3 Drown in Sorrow and Murderous Cut his follow up Rabblemaster, then Drown in Sorrow again to take out his 2nd Rabblemaster and Frenzied Goblin.
I honestly can't remember what I played against in top 4 but I lost a quick match.
At the PTQ I played through 8 rounds.
Round 1 - Abzan Reanimator
We went to time in G3 with me having lethal on board for next turn and my opponent was kind enough to concede to me due to the board state.
Round 2 - UB Control
I probably played Game 1 longer then I should have, but I ended up losing a grindfest. G2 came down to grinding his hand down and I was able to resolve Kiora, giving me huge card advantage. I forced him into playing a popping a Vault leaving him tapped out for mana. I drew a Whip of Erebos off my EOT Sultai Charm, and whipped back Soul of Theros to kill him. Unfortunately, we had 30 seconds left in the round so we just called it a draw.
Round 3 - UB Control
So Thrilled when my opponent played his T1 lifegain UB land... I lost Game 1 as he found all 4 of his dissolve's early. I grinded his hand down in Game 2 and he scooped when I resolved a Whip and he had 0 cards in hand. Game 3 was yet another grinding game. He committed both of his Pearl Lake Ancients to the board and I followed up with a Hornet Queen forcing him to play a Vault. When he went to crack Vault and bounce his Pearl Lake's I was able to Abzan Charm one of them away while he bounced 6 lands. Bouncing 6 of his lands ended up being too much for him to overcome as I was able to play multiple cards a turn around his 1 counterspell a turn and I took over, ending the game on T1 of time.
Round 4 - GB Constellation
I won a quick Game 1 as my opponent mulligan'd down to 3 cards. Game 2 was a grind fest with both of us having active Pharika's on the board. He edged me out with about 5 minutes left in the round. Game 3 went to time and we were at a complete board stall to grab me my 2nd draw.
Round 5 - Abzan Reanimator
He took Game 1 by whipping back 2 Ashen Rider's to devastate my board. Game 2, I ran him down with Sidisi and Rhino. Game 3 was looking good for me until he found his Doomwake Giant to clear my hornet's, then an Ashen Rider to hardcast and take over the game.
Round 6 - Sultai Reanimator
I was able to shut down his T4 Sidisi both games with a Rhino and follow it up with my own Sidisi and friends.
Round 7 - Abzan Reanimator
Game 1 I wasn't sure he was on the Reanimator plan because I never saw a Whip, but I did see 2 Soul of Theros. I was able to overwhelm him with Hornet Queen's in Game 1. In game 2 my T3 Ashiok was just too much for him to handle as I stole a Rhino and Caryatid from him. Backed up by my Soul of Theros, I was able to beat him down for the 2-0.
Round 8 - Sultai Reanimator
He won Game 1 recurring his 3 Hornet Queens while I was unable to find my Queens. Game 2 was won quickly by an unanswered Sidisi on my side. His doomwake came out right into a Murderous cut as Sidisi and her zombies over ran him. Game 2 I went to a slightly more controlling deck. I answered his first Sidisi, and then played out an Ashiok that started to steal creatures from him. He ended up stuck with Disdainful Strokes and Unravel the AEther in his hand while I just defended my Ashiok.
I went to a 5-1-2 finish and got 17th out of 149 players. The deck preformed very well all day, and I'm not sure if I'll be changing anything for next week.
So, after my 2 week hiatus, I've learned that this deck is just absurdly more powerful then most other options out there. I spent 3 weeks trying out a lot of other decks in the format. I ran 5-color aggro and Jeskai Tokens at the last couple FNM's, and while a lot of fun, they just didn't feel as powerful. This deck has picked up some extremely powerful options in Fate Reforged as well. I will be updating the Original Post shortly after making this post.
Here's what I'm taking to FNM Friday and will be working on for Grand Prix Miami.
The deck feels absurdly powerful in the new meta while people are trying to make cards like Soulfire Grandmaster and Monastery Mentor work. The addition of Torrent Elemental and Tasigur give our deck a lot more resiliency to removal. I've gone back up to 4 Whip's in the main as a result of so much enchantment hate floating around. Monastery Siege has been outstanding. Playing it against naming Dragons against burn and control is nearly an autowin. Paying 4 for a Lightning Strike or 5 for a Hero's Downfall is pretty bad and all their targeted removal and damage becomes significantly worse. Naming Khans against the other midrange decks just accelerates what we want to do. We get to see an additional card every turn, and pitch the weakest one we have in our hand while speeding up Delve for Murderous Cut and Tasigur. Now, that Tasigur guy... Man is he strong! Untapping with Tasigur gives us a huge advantage. With Tasigur, Murderous Cut, and Whip we can remove things from the graveyard that we don't want returned to our hand, which leads to us normally getting a powerful card back. Torrent Elemental allows us to blow our opponents out in a board stall, or just flat out beat Control after they attempt to stabilize with Elspeth. Another often overlooked card in the set that I believe is amazing for any black deck in at least the sideboard, is Merciless Executioner. He is absolutely insane against UW Herioc. Reality Shift has also become a nice addition to the deck as a cheap answeer, and we could just plain care less about them having a 2/2. I moved Doomwake Giant and Pharika to the sideboard since Mono R aggro has become scarce in my local meta. I will be back to posting weekly results with the deck as I lead up to Grand Prix Miami where my goal is to make Day 2.
For anyone who's still following... *hears crickets*
In playtesting this week, the deck is extremely strong against the new control variants floating around. I grinded out about 30-35 games against UB, UW, and Esper control decks and I won 31 of the games. Torrent Elemental was huge in these matchups allowing me to recur a threat that they could not keep off the board under any circumstance. The shift away from Perilous Vault helps us a lot as well, as UB especially has a lack of answers to a resolved Whip. The addition of Monastery Siege was also a huge benefit. Almost every card in the list needs to be answered quickly by a control deck, and they simply lack the number of answers to deal with the deck. If the meta continues to shift towards control, it could be a huge breakout for this archetype.
In playtesting against the new burn variants, I won 12 out of 12 games. He had a hard time overcoming a couple Rhino's, and a resolved Whip or Monastery Siege was just game over for him. As long as I don't keep a slow hand, I have a good shot against them.
I'll be testing more this week against Mardu and RW Aggro variants. The sideboard may change some as I'm not sure Kiora is required anymore. There also seems to be a lack of UW Herioc now, at least in my area.
I've been brewing around this deck for the last few days. I've been struggling a bit to learn it, but I love how it plays. Every draw feels so powerful. I'm excited to see someone else having success and I'm definitely going to try a few variations based on your version.
It takes time and a lot of play testing to learn how to play against certain decks. Here's a few pointers
If you suspect your opponent is holding a Bile Blight or Lightning Strike, play Siege Rhino before Sidisi.
Never hold back just because you suspect you're running your creature into a counter or removal, we have a lot of high impact cards and they can only keep up so long.
90% of the time, it's best to play Caryatid before Wayfinder.
Be very wary of keeping slow hands, you don't want to do nothing before T4, you'll often just die to any deck with red that way.
I've been stumbling around since Abzan Reanimator fell out of favor (thanks FRF!) too. I think I may switch over to this. My questions --
Do you really need 4 whips?
You comment that you don't want to 'do nothing' before T4. What do you mean by this? Outside of getting a caryatid, there is not much you really CAN do before turn 4 outside of a Satyr Wayfinder. So it seems like you really kind of have limited options to be able to do anything before turn 4. Unless I'm mis-understanding.
Doomwake and Sulimgar in the sideboard seem to serve the same purpose. How do you decide which to bring in?
Is Merciless Executioner really better than Reclamation Sage in the main?
How do you decide between Dragons and Khans for the Siege. And to follow up to that, if playing burn/control, would you do a second siege at the same, or would you mix them up?
When do you pull in thoughtsieze? It seems like a card that seems good but you wouldn't want to replace what you already have in your deck over other sideboard cards. I would think Hero's Downfall would have just as strong of an affect on control (getting rid of their walkers) with more versatility for other matchups.
I've decided after a lot of play with both 4 and 3, that 4 is the right number. If you want, you can run 3, but I urge you to have the 4th in the SB. People are packing enchantment hate, that's the real reason the Whip decks have fallen out of favor.
I mean, you don't want to keep a hand with nothhing you can play before T4. Caryatid, Wayfinder, Reality Shift, and Monastery Siege all drop before 4, with Caryatid both Rhino and Sidisi become T3 plays, and Wayfinder makes Tasigur a T3 play. Keeping a hand with say 4 land, Rhino, Sidisi, Whip might seem strong, but a red deck may very well kill you before you can play anything.
Doomwake comes in against aggro and tokens decks. Silumgar comes in against the Abzan decks w/ Elspeth and control decks.
Reclamation Sage has fallen out of favor in the main due to a lot of people moving towards red in my local meta. Merciless Executioner is excellent when your opponent is short on creatures and against UW Herioc.
The decision on the Siege is made depending on what deck you're facing. Against Burn, Control, and heavy removal decks I always name dragons. I name Khans against other midrange strategies as it speeds our deck up considerably. I will name both Siege's on Dragons against Burn gladly, or a heavy removal deck. Paying 4 extra mana to remove something can completely shut them down.
Thoughtseize comes in against Control, Ascendancy Combo, and control oriented Abzan decks. Hero's Downfall is a much weaker card against control because it allows them an activation before we can stop it. I tried Downfall for weeks, it was always the weakest removal card in the deck. Doomwake Giant became the answer to Elspeth, and now Torrent Elemental is the new walker killer in the deck. We also want to keep our creature count high so Sidisi hits as often as possible.
More comments (and I'm very curious how your RW Aggro testing goes, as it was always tough facing a very fast aggro deck with Abzan Reanimator:
Reality Shift seems odd to me. How is it better than either the Sultai Charm or the Abzan Charm, both of which seem very good and very close to an include in this deck. I might even ask of Sultai Charm isn't better than Monastery Siege because of the versatility?
Drown in Sorrow hits your own guys as well, making it good early-game against aggro, but terrible mid to late game. Wouldn't Bile Blight be better?
Also, at least in Abzan Reanimator, a Crux of Fate or an End Hostilities was very helpful. If you are siding it in, it is usually hurting you far less than them. Wouldn't that be worthwhile of 2 slots in the SB? I'm thinking specifically of that R/W aggro matchup.
Reality Shift is excellent as a hard removal spell for 2 mana. I've played with both Sultai Charm and Abzan Charm in both the main and side, and I they were almost always less then impressive. Sultai Charm was the better of the 2, but it felt terrible to be staring down an Anafenza on T3 holding a Sultai Charm in my hand as my only removal. Monastery Siege could change as testing goes on, but so far I've been very happy with it.
Drown in Sorrow is for the early game. If we make it to the mid-late game against an aggro deck, we will most likely win that game. I'm never afraid to Drown in Sorrow away my board if I can quickly rebuild and it wipes my opponents board too.
I've tried End Hostilities and I just couldn't hit it reliably being in my off color. Crux of Fate should be much easier to cast and is definitely worth consideration.
Pharika will likely end up back in the MB, but I'm not sure what to move for her right now. The Pharika + Doomwake engine is amazing.
I would like to know what is your game plan against Temur (mostly RG) mid/aggro and how do you sideboard against them.
I played SlowLNF's current list in two events at my LGS and these explosive Temur decks were my worst headache. I was able to play consistently against all other decks, but I dont know... I felt that against temur I was always losing the race, doesnt matter what choices did I make.
I went 3-4, conceding my last match at FNM Friday Night. Here's a quick match summary.
Round 1 - Sultai Control
He was using both Crux of Fate and Perilous Vault which proved to be very problematic for me in Game 1. He was mostly a Tap out control deck only utilizing Disdainful Stroke off the SB as far as counters go. I lost a long G1, beat him down quickly in Game 2 after I Thoughtseize'd him T1 to see 5 lands, Monastery Siege, and Tasigur. I took Tasigur and answered his Siege on T3 with a Reclamation Sage. Game 3, I missed my 4th land drop on T4 and that set me too far behind to catch up.
Round 2 - UW Herioc
I lost a quick Game 1 to not finding a Whip. Game 2, I was able to play T3 Sidisi, T4 Whip and force him on the defenseive. I eventually overwhelmed him with Rhino's and Zombie's. Game 3 he couldn't keep anything on the board, he played a T2 Seeker of the Way, and put an Ordeal of heliod on it T3, I answered with Merciless Executioner and then played a Whip on T4 after he played another Seeker. I Whipped Executioner to take care of the Seeker and he then played a Battlewise Hoplite. I drew another Executioner and played it, he scooped showing me a hand of 2 Stubborn Denial's and a God's Willing. He never expected to play against Executioner.
Round 3 - Sultai Ramp
This deck was almost an exact copy of Ali Aintrazi's Ramp deck from SCGDC, only he had added the uncommon Green Dragon and Monastery Siege. He won a long Game 1, but I got a lot of info from his deck. Game 2, I missed my 4th land forever, but he never drew into gas, despite having 2 Frontier Siege's and 3 Caryatid's on the field. I was able to beat him after I finally hit land 4, and played out my 3 Siege Rhino's in hand followed by a Whip. Game 3 he kept a 2 land hand and missed his 3rd on T3 while I curved out, he conceded on T6.
Round 4 - Temur Aggro
I won Game 1 as he flooded on land. game 2 he came out much quicker and hard, I was mistaken to not board in Drown in Sorrow's but I hadn't seen anything in Game 1 so I thought he might be midrange. Game 3, he wasn't able to beat a Siege Rhino followed by Whip.
Round 5 - Temur Midrange
Quick 0-2, I flooded out on lands both games. Can't beat any deck drawing 5 lands in a row.
Round 6 - Jeskai Tokens
He conceded Game 1 on T4 when I played Rhino. Game 2, I got stuck on 3 land and was unable to find my 4th in time to put up a fight. Game 3 I flooded out on land, again drawing 5 lands in a row with a Whip in play, pretty much any threat would have won the game for me.
Round 7 - RW Aggro
I got matched up against a friend who rode with me, I conceded to him as I was quite frustrated after the previous 2 rounds.
I felt like the deck preformed well up until rounds 5 & 6 when I just kept having land issues. I'm not sure what happened here as I pile shuffle'd and mash'd between every game. I do think I'm going to move the Monastery Siege's to the SB as I found myself boarding them out a lot. Doomwake Giant's will come back to the main for now as I'm seeing a big increase in RW Aggro decks. RGx decks can be very tough to play aginst as they can have very explosive starts, that's why you have to be very careful in keeping slow hands against an unknown opponent. Fortunately, the Temur decks have a terrible time beating the conventional Abzan lists and Control because they're very weak to removal in the early game. I'm really debating the Sideboard right now, I may add Ashiok back onto the board somewhere. I'm also debating if Kiora is even needed at all, and I'm leaning towards no. Her original main reason was to combat Herioc, but Executioner is the simple answer to that matchup now. I'm also not sure I want Silumgar on the board. I only brought him in against Control, and even though I did not see him, I don't feel like I ever wanted to draw him. I may replace him with a Pearl Lake Ancient or Sudden Reclamation to test against Control. I'm also feeling like Reclamation Sage is a very underwhelming card compared to what it once was. Glare of Heresy is another card I want in the board to help answer cards like Elspeth, Sorin, and Butcher. I will be doing quite a bit of testing this week and will post up changes later this week before FNM.
I played your list at a pptq last weekend and went 4-2. My list was slightly different as I only had 3 whips (replaced the 4th with Endless Obedience, which was a poor substitute), and 1 Tasigur (replaced with a MD Doomwake Giant, with 2 more in the board). Tasigur is great, and I missed the second copy (since acquired). The one card that I was excited to see every time I drew it was Monastery Siege. However, every time I played it, it was underwhelming. Against Aggro (with red), the concept seemed nice to make they pay more for their burn spells, but making the burn cost more was a secondary concern to the swarm of creatures hitting me every turn. In the other mode, it was helpful but I felt I lost tempo by taking that turn to play it. I am very questionable of this card. I still think we would be better off with something else, be it Sultai Charm, Abzan Charm, Heroes Downfall, or a mid-speed creature MB. (Maybe Hornet's Nest to fill the gaping 3cc slot?)
Went 3-0-2 through Swiss last night, drawing into Top 8.
Round 1 - Rakdos Aggro 2-0
He had fast starts both games, but Wayfinder's chump blocking + cheap Murderous Cut's got me to my 4 drops both games and he was unable to recover from a resolved Whip.
Round 2 - Abzan Aggro 1-1-1
I mulligan'd to 5 in game 1 and was unable didn't draw anything relevant so I held my hand and got all the info from him I could, it was enough to show me he was firmly in Abzan Aggro. I brought in Executioner's that were vital in both games 2 and 3. He kept a creature light hand in game 2 and a couple executioner's left him with nothing. Sidisi beat him down. Game 3 I stalled on 3 land, but saw all 3 Executioner's and a couple Reality Shift's which took care of his creatures. I was able to get the Pharika + Torrent Elemental engine online late which completely halted him from attacking, but I couldn't kill im in time. I had him down to 5 on T5 of turns, with lethal damage on board and his top card did nothing to help him.
Round 3 - Sultai Control 2-1
This was an exact copy of Fabiano's list from SCGDC. I ran him over Game 1 as he missed Crux of Fate on T5 and I swung lethal in with Sidisi and friends. Game 2 I mulligan'd down to 4 and kept a 1 land hand that I should've pitched. Didn't see a 2nd land, conceded as soon as he cast a Dig. Game 3, he wasn't able to answer T2 Wayfinder, T3 Tasigur (Killed), T4 Tasigur, T5 Whip.
Round 4 - Sultai Control 2-0
This was my friend who had been trying Fabiano's list, although we had made some changes. He didn't have Crux of Fate Game 1 to answer my Sidisi horde, and Game 2 he couldn't beat the Pharika/Torrent engine.
Round 5 - ???? Intentional Draw
Top 8 - Abzan Aggro 2-1
He conceded Game 1 after I whipped back a Hornet Queen. Game 2 I kept a slow hand and he curved out too well topping with double Rhino. Game 3 he flooded on land while I curved out.
Top 4 - UW Herioc 1-2
I won a long, odd game 1. He got aggressive when he didn't have protection spells, allowing me to block favorably and kill both of his buffed creatures (I was actually dead if he would've had anything). He spent all 4 Ordeal of Thassa's in Game 1 and then just ran out of cards and couldn't get past my board of Doomwake, Tasigur, Whip, Pharika, Caryatid. Game 2 I kept a slower hand on a mulligan to 6, but I couldn't have hoped for much better going to 5. I missed on a U source for T4 with 2 Sidisi's in hand, and I wasn't able to stabilize in time. Game 3, I had stabilized the board, but drawing 4 lands in a row allowed him to find a guy and buff him while my single Rhino + Whip wasn't a fast enough clock, had I found ANYTHIING instead of those lands, I likely won game 3.
I was extremely happy with the list overall, but I think I will be putting in 2 Crux of Fate to the sideboard in place of the 2 Monastery Siege's. I never wanted to bring them in. The MB is just so good against the meta that there's not a lot of sideboarding happening in games, except for Control matchup's. I feel like the only bad matchup is the Ascendancy combo decks, but those are just not prevalent and have terrible matchups against the Abzan Aggro decks.
On a side note, I have the entire MB of the deck foil'd out, and am only missing 1 Drown in Sorrow, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Merciless Executioner, and 1 Crux of Fate for the sideboard to have the deck completely foil.
How is your testing going against RW aggro? I went to game day yesterday with only a few diff cards, and made final 4 (finished 4-3, losing in top4) with 2 of my losses against R/W aggro. My meta is VERY R/W aggro heavy (5 of the top 8 was R/W aggro), and it has been a struggle to get stabilized. Also, what made you switch to Temple of Plenty over Temple of Mystery?
Testing against RW Aggro has been good. I think it favors us 60/40. Sometimes they'll just come out too fast with the Valorous stance right on time. They usually have a rough time winning if we resolve a whip with anything on the field. Doomwake and Pharika are also very tough for them to beat.
If you're having a lot of RW matchups, I'd suggest going up to 4 Drowns in the SB and going up to 4 Doomwakes in your 75 with at least 2 in the main. Feed the Clan can also be an option off the SB because it synergies with Tasigur very well. Bile Blight is another option. You also want to make sure you don't over sideboard for the matchup. You want to have more answers to their strategy, but don't deviate from what you're deck is trying to do to accomplish that.
The UB Control matchup can be tough, you don't want a slow start against them. If your meta is that heavy in control, I'd recommend 4 Thoughtseize in you're 75, and you could go up to 3 Negate's in the SB, and maybe 2 Disdainful Stroke. Game 1 is about a 50/50 matchup. In the post board games, bring in the counter spells and only fight over their draw spells. Let them burn their hand on countering your creatures and answering your board , if you can keep them from drawing cards, you'll be able to control the game to your favor. Control players will also tend to keep land heavy hands against us knowing we're a slower deck, so early Thoughtseizes can destroy their game plan from the start. It's going to take a lot of testing against control to really understand how to beat them effectively. I played control all of last season so it helps me some in knowing what they're trying to do and being able to see through some of their bluffs. I will say that most of the time, if you're not sure about playing something into a possible Counterspell, you should just go for it. They'll either have it and that sucks, or they won't. Holding a good card to try and bait out a counter with a worse spell is never a good idea, as it allows them to do what they want.
After the last couple weeks, I believe that I'm coming to the conclusion that we do not need Soul of Theros anymore. He was there to blow out board stalls against Abzan Midrange, but now we have Torrent Elemental which is just better at doing this. I may try Soul of Innistrad back in the main, or I may try to play around a little bit and test out Courser of Kruphix in the main.
Soul of Innistrad is underwhelming to me main board. The format feels like it has sped up a bit with FRF, and replacing a 6CC with another 6CC doesn't seem beneficial enough. I think we need a replacement in the 3cc/4cc range.
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4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Siege Rhino
4 Hornet Queen
2 Nyx Weaver
2 Doomwake Giant
1 Ashen Rider
1 Soul of Theros
1 Soul of Innistrad
1 Reclamation Sage
Spells
3 Whip of Erebos
3 Commune with the Gods
3 Murderous Cut
4 Opulent Palace
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Windswept Heath
2 Polluted Delta
2 Island
2 Forest
2 Swamp
2 Plains
1 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Mana Confluence
2 Thoughtseize
2 Drown in Sorrow
2 Abzan Charm
2 Master of Waves
2 Bile Blight
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Despise
1 Doomwake Giant
1 Reclamation Sage
Round 1 - Bant Herioc
I mana flooded G1 and just couldn't do anything to stop him. I played a T3 Sidisi T4 Rhino which was too much for him in G2. Game 3 I was stabilizing when he found an Aqueos Form to finish the game.
Round 2 - Jeskai Tokens
Was a bit worried about this match when I figured out what he was playing because I haven't tested against it at all. I won G1 whipping back a Hornet Queen on T5. I found 2 more Hornet Queens in the next 3 turns and it was just too much for him. Game 2 he was able to go off on a turn I tapped out and swung in with my hornets. Game 3, I played a T3 Sidisi to put the pressure on him and he wasn't able to recover.
Round 3 - Mono U Devotion
I basically ran over him both games. Brought in Abzan Charm from the sideboard to deal with Thassa as soon as he turned her on in G2. We played 2 more games after the match and the results were the same. Master of Waves was the only real power in his deck but it was too weak to my spot removal.
Round 4 - Mardu Aggro
G1 turned into a quick damage race, and a couple Rhino's helped me win the race. G2 he kept a great hand playing T2 Seeker, T3 Rabble, and spent the next 2 turns using burn spells. He got me down below 5 life in G3 but I was able to stabilize, and got both of my Soul's onto the field. He wasn't able to beat the 16 lifelink a turn.
Round 5 - UB Control
I was the unlucky 9 pointer to get paired down and had to play to make top 8. I mulliganed down to 5 and kept a 1 land hand with a Caryatid. I missed on land and he played T3 Ashiok. G2 was a rough start as he was countering everything for the first several turns. He missed on any draw spells and I grinded his hand down. I landed a Sidisi and got a couple zombies before he could answer it. He landed Ashiok which I quickly got rid of with a hardcasted Ashen Rider. I got out of the gate quickly in G3 with a T3 Rhino and T4 Rhino. He was able to get rid of them under 5 life. He resolved an Ashiok that I followed up with a Hornet Queen causing him to have to crack his Perilous Vault. I landed a 2nd Queen after the Vault and it was too much for him.
Top 8 - Abzan Aggro
I won Game 1 as soon as I whipped back a Hornet Queen, he conceded because he couldn't deal with it. Game 2 I had complete control until I allowed him to resolve a Roc with Raid. I could've forced him to monstrous with a Fleecemane Lion and then swung for lethal the next turn. He ended up grinding me out as I drew 2 consecutive lands. I drew poorly in Game 3, unable to find any creatures and he ended up winning.
I'm a bit disappointed because I could have won G2 and made top 4, but live and learn I guess. I was really happy with the deck, very glad I reworked the sideboard like I did. I used every card on the SB, but I will be replacing Despise with a 3rd Thoughtseize. I may also add a 3rd Ashiok, as he's amazing against Abzan decks. Also debating about an Erase or 2 on the SB to deal with Ascendancy decks and mirror matches.
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4 Llanowar Wastes
2 Mana Confluence
4 Opulent Palace
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
4 Temple of Malady
2 Temple of Mystery
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Temple of Plenty
1 Yavimaya Coast
Creatures
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Siege Rhino
2 Doomwake Giant
1 Soul of Innistrad
3 Courser of Kruphix
3 Hornet Queen
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Satyr Wayfinder
3 Murderous Cut
2 Sultai Charm
2 Commune with the Gods
4 Whip of Erebos
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
2 Anafenza the Foremost
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Bile Blight
2 Negate
1 Liliana Vess
1 Nissa, Worldwaker
2 Drown in Sorrow
3 Thoughtseize
I threw the Sultai Charms in there as they seem like a no brainer. Kill spell, plus a way to discard a Hornet Queen or something to be whipped back. Soul of Inn is mostly a flex spot at the moment. I opted out of the Ashen Rider simply because I played the Abzan Whip list with it, and I hated drawing it (which happened far too many times) and couldn't really cast it. At least soul hits the yard and can be used without a whip. In the SB, I really like Erebos. He has helped against oposing whip/life gain decks fantastically, and few people have removal for him.
I haven't had a chance to test much, but I will likely playtest this week and bring it to an IQ this Saturday. So any changes you guys think would be a great help
Legacy: UW RiP/Helm, UR Sneak and Show
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Here's how the deck looks right now.
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Siege Rhino
4 Hornet Queen
2 Doomwake Giant
1 Ashen Rider
1 Soul of Theros
1 Soul of Innistrad
1 Arbor Colossus
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
Spells
4 Murderous Cut
3 Whip of Erebos
3 Commune with the Gods
4 Opulent Palace
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Windswept Heath
2 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
2 Island
2 Plains
2 Forest
1 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Mana Confluence
2 Drown in Sorrow
2 Bile Blight
2 Master of Waves
2 Thoughtseize
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Abzan Charm
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
I'm a little bit iffy on having the Abzan Charm's and Master of Wave's on the SB for this weekend. I feel like they could be better cards. I was actually thinking of 2 Windstorm to bring in against the mirror and Abzan matches to take out Wingmate Roc and tokens. Maybe up to 4 Drown in Sorrow as well since I feel like the deck has become weaker to Mono R in general. Also debating on the Arbor Colossus in the main just being a 2nd Soul of Innistrad. I almost always want a 2nd one. Also debating going down to 2 Commune's to either put the 4th Whip back in the main, or to add a 28th creature. Also strongly thinking of Back to Nature in the SB due to a growing popularity of GB Constellation in my area.
Would love to hear how everyone's been doing with the deck!
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Ran my above list to a 4-1 finish through Swiss at the FNM/OT.
Honestly don't remember what all I played against. my only loss was to a RG Monsters deck that I flooded out in land & 4 Caryatid's in G1 and never saw a green source in G2. Forced to keep at 5 with just a Swamp and Polluted Delta.
Top 8 - Boss Sligh
Was surprised I was able to 2-0 this opponent. I won Game 1 off a T4 Doomwake Giant with Pharika on board as well. In game 2 I hit T3 Drown in Sorrow and Murderous Cut his follow up Rabblemaster, then Drown in Sorrow again to take out his 2nd Rabblemaster and Frenzied Goblin.
I honestly can't remember what I played against in top 4 but I lost a quick match.
At the PTQ I played through 8 rounds.
Round 1 - Abzan Reanimator
We went to time in G3 with me having lethal on board for next turn and my opponent was kind enough to concede to me due to the board state.
Round 2 - UB Control
I probably played Game 1 longer then I should have, but I ended up losing a grindfest. G2 came down to grinding his hand down and I was able to resolve Kiora, giving me huge card advantage. I forced him into playing a popping a Vault leaving him tapped out for mana. I drew a Whip of Erebos off my EOT Sultai Charm, and whipped back Soul of Theros to kill him. Unfortunately, we had 30 seconds left in the round so we just called it a draw.
Round 3 - UB Control
So Thrilled when my opponent played his T1 lifegain UB land... I lost Game 1 as he found all 4 of his dissolve's early. I grinded his hand down in Game 2 and he scooped when I resolved a Whip and he had 0 cards in hand. Game 3 was yet another grinding game. He committed both of his Pearl Lake Ancients to the board and I followed up with a Hornet Queen forcing him to play a Vault. When he went to crack Vault and bounce his Pearl Lake's I was able to Abzan Charm one of them away while he bounced 6 lands. Bouncing 6 of his lands ended up being too much for him to overcome as I was able to play multiple cards a turn around his 1 counterspell a turn and I took over, ending the game on T1 of time.
Round 4 - GB Constellation
I won a quick Game 1 as my opponent mulligan'd down to 3 cards. Game 2 was a grind fest with both of us having active Pharika's on the board. He edged me out with about 5 minutes left in the round. Game 3 went to time and we were at a complete board stall to grab me my 2nd draw.
Round 5 - Abzan Reanimator
He took Game 1 by whipping back 2 Ashen Rider's to devastate my board. Game 2, I ran him down with Sidisi and Rhino. Game 3 was looking good for me until he found his Doomwake Giant to clear my hornet's, then an Ashen Rider to hardcast and take over the game.
Round 6 - Sultai Reanimator
I was able to shut down his T4 Sidisi both games with a Rhino and follow it up with my own Sidisi and friends.
Round 7 - Abzan Reanimator
Game 1 I wasn't sure he was on the Reanimator plan because I never saw a Whip, but I did see 2 Soul of Theros. I was able to overwhelm him with Hornet Queen's in Game 1. In game 2 my T3 Ashiok was just too much for him to handle as I stole a Rhino and Caryatid from him. Backed up by my Soul of Theros, I was able to beat him down for the 2-0.
Round 8 - Sultai Reanimator
He won Game 1 recurring his 3 Hornet Queens while I was unable to find my Queens. Game 2 was won quickly by an unanswered Sidisi on my side. His doomwake came out right into a Murderous cut as Sidisi and her zombies over ran him. Game 2 I went to a slightly more controlling deck. I answered his first Sidisi, and then played out an Ashiok that started to steal creatures from him. He ended up stuck with Disdainful Strokes and Unravel the AEther in his hand while I just defended my Ashiok.
I went to a 5-1-2 finish and got 17th out of 149 players. The deck preformed very well all day, and I'm not sure if I'll be changing anything for next week.
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Here's what I'm taking to FNM Friday and will be working on for Grand Prix Miami.
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Siege Rhino
2 Hornet Queen
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Torrent Elemental
1 Soul of Theros
1 Merciless Executioner
Spells
4 Whip of Erebos
3 Murderous Cut
2 Reality Shift
2 Commune with the Gods
2 Monastery Siege
4 Opulent Palace
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Windswept Heath
2 Polluted Delta
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Forest
2 Plains
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Temple of Malady
1 Mana Confluence
3 Thoughtseize
3 Drown in Sorrow
2 Merciless Executioner
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Doomwake Giant
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
The deck feels absurdly powerful in the new meta while people are trying to make cards like Soulfire Grandmaster and Monastery Mentor work. The addition of Torrent Elemental and Tasigur give our deck a lot more resiliency to removal. I've gone back up to 4 Whip's in the main as a result of so much enchantment hate floating around. Monastery Siege has been outstanding. Playing it against naming Dragons against burn and control is nearly an autowin. Paying 4 for a Lightning Strike or 5 for a Hero's Downfall is pretty bad and all their targeted removal and damage becomes significantly worse. Naming Khans against the other midrange decks just accelerates what we want to do. We get to see an additional card every turn, and pitch the weakest one we have in our hand while speeding up Delve for Murderous Cut and Tasigur. Now, that Tasigur guy... Man is he strong! Untapping with Tasigur gives us a huge advantage. With Tasigur, Murderous Cut, and Whip we can remove things from the graveyard that we don't want returned to our hand, which leads to us normally getting a powerful card back. Torrent Elemental allows us to blow our opponents out in a board stall, or just flat out beat Control after they attempt to stabilize with Elspeth. Another often overlooked card in the set that I believe is amazing for any black deck in at least the sideboard, is Merciless Executioner. He is absolutely insane against UW Herioc. Reality Shift has also become a nice addition to the deck as a cheap answeer, and we could just plain care less about them having a 2/2. I moved Doomwake Giant and Pharika to the sideboard since Mono R aggro has become scarce in my local meta. I will be back to posting weekly results with the deck as I lead up to Grand Prix Miami where my goal is to make Day 2.
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In playtesting this week, the deck is extremely strong against the new control variants floating around. I grinded out about 30-35 games against UB, UW, and Esper control decks and I won 31 of the games. Torrent Elemental was huge in these matchups allowing me to recur a threat that they could not keep off the board under any circumstance. The shift away from Perilous Vault helps us a lot as well, as UB especially has a lack of answers to a resolved Whip. The addition of Monastery Siege was also a huge benefit. Almost every card in the list needs to be answered quickly by a control deck, and they simply lack the number of answers to deal with the deck. If the meta continues to shift towards control, it could be a huge breakout for this archetype.
In playtesting against the new burn variants, I won 12 out of 12 games. He had a hard time overcoming a couple Rhino's, and a resolved Whip or Monastery Siege was just game over for him. As long as I don't keep a slow hand, I have a good shot against them.
I'll be testing more this week against Mardu and RW Aggro variants. The sideboard may change some as I'm not sure Kiora is required anymore. There also seems to be a lack of UW Herioc now, at least in my area.
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If you suspect your opponent is holding a Bile Blight or Lightning Strike, play Siege Rhino before Sidisi.
Never hold back just because you suspect you're running your creature into a counter or removal, we have a lot of high impact cards and they can only keep up so long.
90% of the time, it's best to play Caryatid before Wayfinder.
Be very wary of keeping slow hands, you don't want to do nothing before T4, you'll often just die to any deck with red that way.
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Do you really need 4 whips?
You comment that you don't want to 'do nothing' before T4. What do you mean by this? Outside of getting a caryatid, there is not much you really CAN do before turn 4 outside of a Satyr Wayfinder. So it seems like you really kind of have limited options to be able to do anything before turn 4. Unless I'm mis-understanding.
Doomwake and Sulimgar in the sideboard seem to serve the same purpose. How do you decide which to bring in?
Is Merciless Executioner really better than Reclamation Sage in the main?
How do you decide between Dragons and Khans for the Siege. And to follow up to that, if playing burn/control, would you do a second siege at the same, or would you mix them up?
When do you pull in thoughtsieze? It seems like a card that seems good but you wouldn't want to replace what you already have in your deck over other sideboard cards. I would think Hero's Downfall would have just as strong of an affect on control (getting rid of their walkers) with more versatility for other matchups.
I mean, you don't want to keep a hand with nothhing you can play before T4. Caryatid, Wayfinder, Reality Shift, and Monastery Siege all drop before 4, with Caryatid both Rhino and Sidisi become T3 plays, and Wayfinder makes Tasigur a T3 play. Keeping a hand with say 4 land, Rhino, Sidisi, Whip might seem strong, but a red deck may very well kill you before you can play anything.
Doomwake comes in against aggro and tokens decks. Silumgar comes in against the Abzan decks w/ Elspeth and control decks.
Reclamation Sage has fallen out of favor in the main due to a lot of people moving towards red in my local meta. Merciless Executioner is excellent when your opponent is short on creatures and against UW Herioc.
The decision on the Siege is made depending on what deck you're facing. Against Burn, Control, and heavy removal decks I always name dragons. I name Khans against other midrange strategies as it speeds our deck up considerably. I will name both Siege's on Dragons against Burn gladly, or a heavy removal deck. Paying 4 extra mana to remove something can completely shut them down.
Thoughtseize comes in against Control, Ascendancy Combo, and control oriented Abzan decks. Hero's Downfall is a much weaker card against control because it allows them an activation before we can stop it. I tried Downfall for weeks, it was always the weakest removal card in the deck. Doomwake Giant became the answer to Elspeth, and now Torrent Elemental is the new walker killer in the deck. We also want to keep our creature count high so Sidisi hits as often as possible.
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Reality Shift seems odd to me. How is it better than either the Sultai Charm or the Abzan Charm, both of which seem very good and very close to an include in this deck. I might even ask of Sultai Charm isn't better than Monastery Siege because of the versatility?
Drown in Sorrow hits your own guys as well, making it good early-game against aggro, but terrible mid to late game. Wouldn't Bile Blight be better?
Also, at least in Abzan Reanimator, a Crux of Fate or an End Hostilities was very helpful. If you are siding it in, it is usually hurting you far less than them. Wouldn't that be worthwhile of 2 slots in the SB? I'm thinking specifically of that R/W aggro matchup.
Pharika seems out of place in the SB.
Drown in Sorrow is for the early game. If we make it to the mid-late game against an aggro deck, we will most likely win that game. I'm never afraid to Drown in Sorrow away my board if I can quickly rebuild and it wipes my opponents board too.
I've tried End Hostilities and I just couldn't hit it reliably being in my off color. Crux of Fate should be much easier to cast and is definitely worth consideration.
Pharika will likely end up back in the MB, but I'm not sure what to move for her right now. The Pharika + Doomwake engine is amazing.
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I played SlowLNF's current list in two events at my LGS and these explosive Temur decks were my worst headache. I was able to play consistently against all other decks, but I dont know... I felt that against temur I was always losing the race, doesnt matter what choices did I make.
Round 1 - Sultai Control
He was using both Crux of Fate and Perilous Vault which proved to be very problematic for me in Game 1. He was mostly a Tap out control deck only utilizing Disdainful Stroke off the SB as far as counters go. I lost a long G1, beat him down quickly in Game 2 after I Thoughtseize'd him T1 to see 5 lands, Monastery Siege, and Tasigur. I took Tasigur and answered his Siege on T3 with a Reclamation Sage. Game 3, I missed my 4th land drop on T4 and that set me too far behind to catch up.
Round 2 - UW Herioc
I lost a quick Game 1 to not finding a Whip. Game 2, I was able to play T3 Sidisi, T4 Whip and force him on the defenseive. I eventually overwhelmed him with Rhino's and Zombie's. Game 3 he couldn't keep anything on the board, he played a T2 Seeker of the Way, and put an Ordeal of heliod on it T3, I answered with Merciless Executioner and then played a Whip on T4 after he played another Seeker. I Whipped Executioner to take care of the Seeker and he then played a Battlewise Hoplite. I drew another Executioner and played it, he scooped showing me a hand of 2 Stubborn Denial's and a God's Willing. He never expected to play against Executioner.
Round 3 - Sultai Ramp
This deck was almost an exact copy of Ali Aintrazi's Ramp deck from SCGDC, only he had added the uncommon Green Dragon and Monastery Siege. He won a long Game 1, but I got a lot of info from his deck. Game 2, I missed my 4th land forever, but he never drew into gas, despite having 2 Frontier Siege's and 3 Caryatid's on the field. I was able to beat him after I finally hit land 4, and played out my 3 Siege Rhino's in hand followed by a Whip. Game 3 he kept a 2 land hand and missed his 3rd on T3 while I curved out, he conceded on T6.
Round 4 - Temur Aggro
I won Game 1 as he flooded on land. game 2 he came out much quicker and hard, I was mistaken to not board in Drown in Sorrow's but I hadn't seen anything in Game 1 so I thought he might be midrange. Game 3, he wasn't able to beat a Siege Rhino followed by Whip.
Round 5 - Temur Midrange
Quick 0-2, I flooded out on lands both games. Can't beat any deck drawing 5 lands in a row.
Round 6 - Jeskai Tokens
He conceded Game 1 on T4 when I played Rhino. Game 2, I got stuck on 3 land and was unable to find my 4th in time to put up a fight. Game 3 I flooded out on land, again drawing 5 lands in a row with a Whip in play, pretty much any threat would have won the game for me.
Round 7 - RW Aggro
I got matched up against a friend who rode with me, I conceded to him as I was quite frustrated after the previous 2 rounds.
I felt like the deck preformed well up until rounds 5 & 6 when I just kept having land issues. I'm not sure what happened here as I pile shuffle'd and mash'd between every game. I do think I'm going to move the Monastery Siege's to the SB as I found myself boarding them out a lot. Doomwake Giant's will come back to the main for now as I'm seeing a big increase in RW Aggro decks. RGx decks can be very tough to play aginst as they can have very explosive starts, that's why you have to be very careful in keeping slow hands against an unknown opponent. Fortunately, the Temur decks have a terrible time beating the conventional Abzan lists and Control because they're very weak to removal in the early game. I'm really debating the Sideboard right now, I may add Ashiok back onto the board somewhere. I'm also debating if Kiora is even needed at all, and I'm leaning towards no. Her original main reason was to combat Herioc, but Executioner is the simple answer to that matchup now. I'm also not sure I want Silumgar on the board. I only brought him in against Control, and even though I did not see him, I don't feel like I ever wanted to draw him. I may replace him with a Pearl Lake Ancient or Sudden Reclamation to test against Control. I'm also feeling like Reclamation Sage is a very underwhelming card compared to what it once was. Glare of Heresy is another card I want in the board to help answer cards like Elspeth, Sorin, and Butcher. I will be doing quite a bit of testing this week and will post up changes later this week before FNM.
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4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Sidisi, Brood Tyrant
4 Siege rhino
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Torrent Elemental
2 Doomwake Giant
2 Hornet Queen
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
1 Soul of Theros
Spells
4 Whip of Erebos
3 Murderous Cut
2 Commune with the Gods
2 Reality Shift
4 Opulent Palace
4 Sandsteppe Citadel
2 Polluted Delta
2 Windswept Heath
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Forest
2 Plains
1 Temple of Malady
1 Temple of Plenty
1 mana Confluence
3 Thoughtseize
3 Drown in Sorrow
3 Merciless Executioner
2 Monastery Siege
2 Reclamation Sage
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
Went 3-0-2 through Swiss last night, drawing into Top 8.
Round 1 - Rakdos Aggro 2-0
He had fast starts both games, but Wayfinder's chump blocking + cheap Murderous Cut's got me to my 4 drops both games and he was unable to recover from a resolved Whip.
Round 2 - Abzan Aggro 1-1-1
I mulligan'd to 5 in game 1 and was unable didn't draw anything relevant so I held my hand and got all the info from him I could, it was enough to show me he was firmly in Abzan Aggro. I brought in Executioner's that were vital in both games 2 and 3. He kept a creature light hand in game 2 and a couple executioner's left him with nothing. Sidisi beat him down. Game 3 I stalled on 3 land, but saw all 3 Executioner's and a couple Reality Shift's which took care of his creatures. I was able to get the Pharika + Torrent Elemental engine online late which completely halted him from attacking, but I couldn't kill im in time. I had him down to 5 on T5 of turns, with lethal damage on board and his top card did nothing to help him.
Round 3 - Sultai Control 2-1
This was an exact copy of Fabiano's list from SCGDC. I ran him over Game 1 as he missed Crux of Fate on T5 and I swung lethal in with Sidisi and friends. Game 2 I mulligan'd down to 4 and kept a 1 land hand that I should've pitched. Didn't see a 2nd land, conceded as soon as he cast a Dig. Game 3, he wasn't able to answer T2 Wayfinder, T3 Tasigur (Killed), T4 Tasigur, T5 Whip.
Round 4 - Sultai Control 2-0
This was my friend who had been trying Fabiano's list, although we had made some changes. He didn't have Crux of Fate Game 1 to answer my Sidisi horde, and Game 2 he couldn't beat the Pharika/Torrent engine.
Round 5 - ???? Intentional Draw
Top 8 - Abzan Aggro 2-1
He conceded Game 1 after I whipped back a Hornet Queen. Game 2 I kept a slow hand and he curved out too well topping with double Rhino. Game 3 he flooded on land while I curved out.
Top 4 - UW Herioc 1-2
I won a long, odd game 1. He got aggressive when he didn't have protection spells, allowing me to block favorably and kill both of his buffed creatures (I was actually dead if he would've had anything). He spent all 4 Ordeal of Thassa's in Game 1 and then just ran out of cards and couldn't get past my board of Doomwake, Tasigur, Whip, Pharika, Caryatid. Game 2 I kept a slower hand on a mulligan to 6, but I couldn't have hoped for much better going to 5. I missed on a U source for T4 with 2 Sidisi's in hand, and I wasn't able to stabilize in time. Game 3, I had stabilized the board, but drawing 4 lands in a row allowed him to find a guy and buff him while my single Rhino + Whip wasn't a fast enough clock, had I found ANYTHIING instead of those lands, I likely won game 3.
I was extremely happy with the list overall, but I think I will be putting in 2 Crux of Fate to the sideboard in place of the 2 Monastery Siege's. I never wanted to bring them in. The MB is just so good against the meta that there's not a lot of sideboarding happening in games, except for Control matchup's. I feel like the only bad matchup is the Ascendancy combo decks, but those are just not prevalent and have terrible matchups against the Abzan Aggro decks.
On a side note, I have the entire MB of the deck foil'd out, and am only missing 1 Drown in Sorrow, 1 Thoughtseize, 1 Merciless Executioner, and 1 Crux of Fate for the sideboard to have the deck completely foil.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/598381-kiki-chord-kiki-company
Bring to Niv
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/814060-bring-to-niv-the-golden-deck
Legacy - Lands
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/established-legacy/control/535484-primer-lands
If you're having a lot of RW matchups, I'd suggest going up to 4 Drowns in the SB and going up to 4 Doomwakes in your 75 with at least 2 in the main. Feed the Clan can also be an option off the SB because it synergies with Tasigur very well. Bile Blight is another option. You also want to make sure you don't over sideboard for the matchup. You want to have more answers to their strategy, but don't deviate from what you're deck is trying to do to accomplish that.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/598381-kiki-chord-kiki-company
Bring to Niv
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/814060-bring-to-niv-the-golden-deck
Legacy - Lands
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/established-legacy/control/535484-primer-lands
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/598381-kiki-chord-kiki-company
Bring to Niv
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/814060-bring-to-niv-the-golden-deck
Legacy - Lands
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/established-legacy/control/535484-primer-lands
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/598381-kiki-chord-kiki-company
Bring to Niv
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/814060-bring-to-niv-the-golden-deck
Legacy - Lands
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/established-legacy/control/535484-primer-lands