I agree, I need to find some hybridizations, and I also see your point about the scooze, it probably needs to be flipped in numbers with the healer, as I've noticed it does become a bear usually, post verdict it does get a little bit better, but I've often found myself wanting it to just be a healer in some scenarios.
Had a bad night last night, went 1-3 drop to get some food because I was starving, first Thing I've noticed, my list flooded out a ton, against the matchup I tuned it to beat (R/W devotion) I lost 4 of 5 games to flooding out. not being able to have a hard answer to stormbreath other than arbor colossus or polukranos monstrosity is devastating.
Round 1 was against R/W devotion. Game 1 I flooded out hard and lost to easily one of their slower hands. Game 2 went much better and I was able to curve out mystic, healer, polukranos, unflinching courage, monstrous polukranos, the game ended very fast without a chain for them. Game 3 I flooded out again after only being able to land a couple dorks and a healer and die. 0-1
Round 2 was also against R/W aggro, and in both games I was on the play and flooded out terribly, I do consider flooding out btw drawing nothing but lands and dorks as they are effectively lands for this deck's purposes. 0-2
Round 3 was against a rogue mono-black newt, cauldron, witch deck that I was able to win very easily with healers and polukranos and Nylea.
Which leads me to the second point and I definitely agree with you H1jack, this deck needs Verdict. Maybe not all 4 in the main but atleast 2, and agruably 3 in an agressive meta. 1-2
At this point I was out of pack contention as we do not make a top 8 cut, and my friends were not playing this week and asked if I wanted to drop and go get half off appetizers at applebees.....I chose the more delicious option.
Changes I will be making
Maindeck
-2 cyclonic rift
-1 sylvan caryatid
+3 supreme verdict
I feel like the deck just needs verdict to have a chance of answering red/W devotion and mono black. We are the deck which durdles more, and as a result they just go cackler, zealot, tree, tree nykthose, fanatic and we're dead by turn 4 or 5, when we want to start attacking into them. d-sphere can only do so much work, and it's hard to get profitable 2-for one's sometimes, but verdict can often generate 3 and 4 for one's allowing time to catch up with a sphinx and get the game back on track.
Once born of the god's hits and the meta shifts, a more "Big Green Men" approach may be better, but for right now I think verdict is the plan to be on until then.
I personally have very little experience against mono-black and I don't quite know exactly how their lists will change once born hits, but both games I've played I won when I either A) mimicked a desecration demon, or B) mimicked a grey merchant and in both cases they failed to draw any of their relevant kill spells. I personally run a more creature centered list that forgoes, the use of planeswalkers as I felt that elspeth was too clunky when I really wanted to be ending the game on turn 8 at the latest, cyclonic rift is an all-star for me, and I felt as though verdict was counter productive with as many dorks as I am running. I'll have my results for tonight posted later using the exact list I have in the primer though I'm considering changing out the 2 primeval bounties for 2 progenitor mimicks as I often find myself seeing it as a win-con they must answer and at the very least a time buyer. I like having prophet of kruphix but idk where to fit him into my build. Maybe a couple in the side versus other midrange and control decks. I typically had issues of having a very high curve meaning I just auto-lost to aggro the one tournament I used him, but when he stuck for more than two turns he basically sealed the game for me. I also like Jace, but I feel like against midrange and mono black, which is more prevalent in my meta he's a tad lackluster. As for beating mono-black's disruption I've found that it's extremely hard to do anything against back to back discard spells, the best option I've found is streamlining the deck post side to play high quality threats so even if they remove a sphinx, or a d-sphere or verdict, there's something they still have to be afraid of or just lose to.
As for other news, with born of the gods completely spoiled I want to make some comments about cards I'll be excited to have in the deck. I feel like most people that blitz aggro will probably decrease in popularity after born of the gods becomes legal, and with that I'll probably be replacing my centaur healers with coursers of kruphix. The oracle of mul daya effect and 2/4 body are very relevant in the new meta we may see, I can see also removing more of the 2 drops to make room for more utility and counters.
Why play Bant Midrange?
Bant Midrange is a "value" midrange deck, full of creatures which can allow you to put early pressure on opponents without being completely dead in the late game. It possess the ability to ramp into powerful turn 3 and 4 plays and can end the game immediately past that. Access to sphinx's revelation means that flooding out isn't always the death of you in grindy matches, and can provide you the ability to drown your opponent in card advantage. The deck also has access to one of the best removal spells in the game in the form of detention sphere, and the deck is highly customizable allowing for good performance no matter what your particular meta is.
Arbor Colossus Great answer to stormbreath and can shut down and take over the ground game if necessary, GGG is a slight drawback but adds to devotion which is good, recommend 0-2
Scavenging Ooze Powerful card in the late game and a solid turn two play, recommend 4
Centaur Healer It was great in wolfrun bant to help beat aggro and add to the board, and is still good now, sort of lackluster against midrange and control though so only recommended if aggro is prevalent in your meta, 0-4, meta dictated.
Nylea, God of the Hunt Can completely swing the game in your favor by giving your fatties trample and pumping is relevant in most cases. Hitting five devotion can be a chore though unless you go a heavy green route, recommend 0-2
Prime Speaker Zegana She's expensive, and sometimes a gamble, but can turn the game around in a single turn, and with an on average draw of 4 cards off of her, she's still a good card. recommend 1-2
Prophet of Kruphix Tested this car extensively and found it very poor in the aggro matchup, good in the control matchup and phenomenal in the midrange matchup, but not a very relevant body, meta dictated, 0-3
Aetherling Closes out games with little to no effort, but can be hard to find room for him without cluttering the 6-drop slot, recommend 0-2 in main and mandatory in the sideboard at least
Progenitor Mimick I have a soft spot for this card as it allows you to win games you otherwise have no business winning, but is a high variance card. It will punish any opponent who cannot remove it immediately when you hit a value creature such as master of waves or grey merchant, or desecration demon, or even arbor colossus. If you need to cut room in your deck he'd be the first to go, but likewise if you need an extra slot on the upper end of the curve, give him a chance, recommend 0-1.
Loxodon Smiter The other side of the centaur healer coin, if midrange and control are prevalent in your meta sleeve this up instead, recommend 0-4, meta dictated
Spells
Sphinx's Revelation The main reason for this deck to even dip into white. An amazing card and well worth using, recommend 2-4 though I feel 3 is the correct number
Detention Sphere One of the best removal spells in the format by being able to hit gods, legendary equipment, and score 2 or 3 for ones, recommend 3-4
Supreme Verdict Ultimately a Poor choice for this deck unless you intend on playing a very high curve and few dorks, great against aggro and devotion decks, if you go this route I suggest not using mystics, 0-4 build specific
Cyclonic Rift Allows for amazing blowouts and instant wins in a single turn. Recommend 2-3 though I feel 2 is the correct number.
Primeval Bounty An amazing utility spell, most feel that it's a "win-more" card but can be almost as crucial as sphinx for bailing you out of a tough spot. recommend 0-2
Dissolve mandatory counterspell for the control matchup, if going a creature heavy route, then probably found in the SB, recommend 0-2
Jace, Architect of Thought Great card, however in this deck even he can be an under-performer. Often you will gain more card advantage by ramping into a huge sphinx or zegana. If you intend to play a higher curve build then recommend 2-3
Plasm Capture An amazing card that can turn the game around if you have the right follow-up cards in hand. However, UUGG is very taxing on a tri-color mana base and this is the card you want to run only if you intend to go a more high end control-style build, recommend 0-2
Bow of Nylea I haven't tested this card, but it seems good on paper, and can add to devotion, but the 3 drop slot may be better served by either smiter or healer, though I feel if you wish to run it then 0-2 would be the correct number.
Sideboard Staples
Fleecemane Lion Amazing against control if you can manage to monstrous it, recommend 0-3
Mistcutter Hydra Great against mono-blue and control alike, recommend 2-3
Selesnya Charm Hits Gods whe they're turned on as well as desecration demon, and obzedat, recommend 0-3
Unflinching Courage Great way to get ahead and quick too against midrange and aggro, recommend 0-2
Gainsay An important card to win counter wars as well as stop an early thassa, or master of waves. recommend 0-2
Jace, Memory Adept Very much still the bane of control when you can protect it that it always has been. Also gives an extra way to attack the control deck. recommend 1-2
Advent of the Wurm great against midrange and aggro, especially when backed up with an unflinching courage. recommend 2-3
Below is my current list that I am running in a meta which is typically full of aggro, some mono black and mono blue, and the occasional midrange or control matchup. Sample Decklist
just got back from FNM running this 75 list. I went 4-0 placing first. Match one was u/w homebrew, match 2 was goblins, match 3 was b/w tokens, and match 4 was b/r vamps.
match one was u/w homebrew. 2-0. the kid was pretty new to magic and didn't have a great deck, and he was still learning as well. I felt kind of bad for winning as easily as i did but I've been there before and he had fun playing the game so that's what matters.
match 2 was mono red goblins. 2-0. game one went fairly easy he dropped and early arsonist then flunkies which was held at bay as long as I kept killing everything else on the board. a goblin wardriver gave it the helping hand it needed to drop me to five, but i luckily landed a slagstorm and and a batterskull and proceeded to get myself back into the game winning finally.
game 2 was a little different he dropped and early mog flunkies again but this time i was ready with a tribute and some roadblock action from augur of bolas. however he ran out an early krinko which i couldn't kill and preceded to crank out goblin tokens. i landed a wurmcoil which ate his second flunkies and still forced me to take 8 total from the tokens he had swung with 7 tokens and an arsonist. I was at 8 life, and I dropped down tamiyo who let me draw 8 cards and with six sweepers my luck had me drawing and casting a slagstorm to wipe his board. a grave titan turned the tide and handed me the win.
I think i brought in a tribute, a life's finale, and an olivia while i cut the alchemies
match 3 was against b/w tokens which did not run blood artist. 2-0
the first game was a little intense I found myself on the ropes as a massive pile of tokens threatened to overrun me, I found myself casting and fetching batterskull a few times to stay in the game, along with devil's playing and murdering anything he threw at me. Thankfully the batterskull kept enough pressure to force him to run out of steam and let me get back in the game.
after removing the augurs and the alchemies and adding in the life's finale, the olivia, 2 ratchet bombs and the memoricide we shuffled up for game two. not to speak bad of my opponent but he shuffled very hastily while I mulliganed down to 5 on the draw. I had two land in hand hit a third and fourth land and a ponder revealed an olivia, a liliana, and a black sun. while my opponent stalled on two land (i do believe due to his in adequate amount of shuffling) I preceded to beat face with a 4/4 olivia winning the match.
my last and final match was against b/r vampires 2-1.
I was on the play game one which i was happy about after mulliganing to 6. the game preceded just as I thought it would. He'd play a vampire I'd kill it. this went on until about turn 7 when I dropped a tamiyo with a black sun, wurmcoil and slagstorm in hand. I drew into a few murders and safely landed tamiyo to 8 as he kept tutoring up more threats for the to answer. I popped tamiyo and repeatedly slagstormed everything each turn until i could drop a wurmcoil and alchemy for a pillar of flame and end the game.
game 2 I got completely steamrolled. on the draw I ended up facing down a turn 4 and 5 vampire nocturnus with no answer and scooped quite quickly.
game 3 on the play and it preceded much the same way the first one did. he's play a threat I'd kill it. I was able to safely land an olivia and to my surprise he had no answer or olivia of his own to destroy it with. all he could do was play vampires which i was happy to steal every turn and beat him to death with.
I think the final sb-ing was -3 augur -3 alchemy adding in an olivia, a life's finale, a negate, a surgical, a tribute to hunger and a memoricide.
overall I'm very happy with the deck's performance. I did have to borrow the two liiana's and I'm hoping i can tomorrow at game day as well, but if not then two tribute to hunger will have to do. I do believe that grixis walkers can be a thing and it is difficult to answer many of the haymakers the deck can drop down. It is nice to not that after testing with proxys I would highly recommend snapcaster over the augur, but he does very nice in a pinch. good luck to everyone playing tomorrow and have fun.
any incredibly fast aggro deck still proves to be a problem for this deck. is there really nothing we can do besides hope we draw into enough kill spells to destroy every threat they put down?
Here are the changes I have made between version 1.0 and 2.0. MD -1 rootbound crag, -1 shimmering grotto, -2 liliana, -1 bomb, -2 desperate ravings, -1 ancient grudge, -3 leak, -1 sorin +1 dragoskull, +1 drowned catacomb, +1 black sun, +2 pillar of flame, +2 vampire nighthawk, +1 griselbrand, +3 dissipate, +1 increasing ambition, +1 lotus, +1 bolas.
I added more removal to help with the fast aggro decks, I've never used dissipation field before but I figure against dedicated aggro it could be useful but ill be testing with it, so far i love the two nighthawks mainboard, they help against aggro so much because they don't suffer the drawback to thalia and can survive combat with her all while netting me a little life and in the lategame they can almost function as the third and fourth murder in the deck. Other than that I feel what the deck is seriously missing are two snapcasters which I'd love to add as soon as I can get some
just got back from my FNM going 2-1 coming in third of 8 players. my matches were g1: G/W homebrew, g2: boros humans, and g3: angels
match 1 was easy the first game he never really played a threat, I just landed batterskull and kept ramming home until he was dead.
g2 I brought in deathmark, the second ratchet bomb and i forget what else, but it ended much the same way, I dropped a titan and proceeded to beat face. the player was also a little new and young so I don't think he had the experience of a vet
match 2 was a heartbreaker, I will go on and say now that my deck is incredibly weak in the humans matchup and it showed. he landed turn 2 thalia's in both games and just proceeded to bash me to a bloody pulp. I sideboarded in life's finale, the second ratchet bomb, an ancient grudge for the swords and that was it if i recall
my third match was against angels. g1 he got land flooded and had o-rings for my titans but sorin dropped him directly to 10 and a bolas destroyed the ring on my inferno titan allowing me to kill him.
g2 he landed two early silverblade paladins and bonded them each to gather the townsfolk tokens. I couldn't get the two liliana of the veils for my list so I ran barter in bloods which caused him to sac his two tokens. the silverblade then paired with sigarda, host of herons and came in for 4, an inferno titan killed it leaving him to swing for 5 each turn with sigarda. after killing his other silverblade I was able to cast olivia and let him through with sigarda dropping me to 6, then i swung with an inferno titan and oliva for exactly 12 to kill him next turn.
my thoughts on the deck are that it just plain and simple needs more removal. Sorin wasn't as good here and I had hoped, and without snapcasters I'm really not extracting the full value of ponder so I made a switch towards a more "BIG grixis" style of deck using 2 gilded lotus, 2 bolas, a griselbrand and a ton of removal I'll post the new decklist in the coming days after some work on it
just my suggestions but something wolf run is highly vulnerable to is something like corrupted conscience and even mind control if they are playing titans. let them do all the work of putting into play the big creature and then put down an enchantment they will most likely have a hard time dealing with. only answer they might have is acidic slime
but how would corrupted conscience help in other matchups in the side? would it be a multi-tool esque card suitable for other matchups or is it our only silver bullet against WRR. I find that digging hard turns 2-4 or ramping them out to grab an olivia helps. just let them do their thing and on turn 6 borrow their titan at the end of the turn and the more mana we can grab for a control deck the better.
at the current moment i'd never try dropping ponder for anything. i see augur of bolas more as an addition to card manipulation to go with ponder..
that's basically where I drew my conclusions at. ponder always was and has proven to be one of my best land filters i've had in a deck. I still think some improvement could be made in the coming weeks but this is as good a starting point as any to start refining the lists. Also been reading up on articles lately and from the sound of things standard's metagame is in a free-for-all mash up with many different deck from G/W aggro to delver to esper to U/B taking undefeated top 8's all over the place. once the meta settles it would probably be a better time to refine the lists. but I definitely feel like a storm's-a-comin' to the standard meta
I've done some small testing with augur of bolas as a replacement for ponder but I just can't justify the switch in my build until after rotation. I feel like maybe in a different version of grixis like walker grixis it could be better but i'd rather have the ponder to smooth out my land drops early in the match and rely on my sweepers for protection
after I shore up a few more games I'll post my final list that I'll be bringing to FNM tomorrow night, it differs a little from my original I posted a couple pages ago
Round 1 was against R/W devotion. Game 1 I flooded out hard and lost to easily one of their slower hands. Game 2 went much better and I was able to curve out mystic, healer, polukranos, unflinching courage, monstrous polukranos, the game ended very fast without a chain for them. Game 3 I flooded out again after only being able to land a couple dorks and a healer and die. 0-1
Round 2 was also against R/W aggro, and in both games I was on the play and flooded out terribly, I do consider flooding out btw drawing nothing but lands and dorks as they are effectively lands for this deck's purposes. 0-2
Round 3 was against a rogue mono-black newt, cauldron, witch deck that I was able to win very easily with healers and polukranos and Nylea.
Which leads me to the second point and I definitely agree with you H1jack, this deck needs Verdict. Maybe not all 4 in the main but atleast 2, and agruably 3 in an agressive meta. 1-2
At this point I was out of pack contention as we do not make a top 8 cut, and my friends were not playing this week and asked if I wanted to drop and go get half off appetizers at applebees.....I chose the more delicious option.
Changes I will be making
Maindeck
-2 cyclonic rift
-1 sylvan caryatid
+3 supreme verdict
I feel like the deck just needs verdict to have a chance of answering red/W devotion and mono black. We are the deck which durdles more, and as a result they just go cackler, zealot, tree, tree nykthose, fanatic and we're dead by turn 4 or 5, when we want to start attacking into them. d-sphere can only do so much work, and it's hard to get profitable 2-for one's sometimes, but verdict can often generate 3 and 4 for one's allowing time to catch up with a sphinx and get the game back on track.
Once born of the god's hits and the meta shifts, a more "Big Green Men" approach may be better, but for right now I think verdict is the plan to be on until then.
Better Luck next time.
As for other news, with born of the gods completely spoiled I want to make some comments about cards I'll be excited to have in the deck. I feel like most people that blitz aggro will probably decrease in popularity after born of the gods becomes legal, and with that I'll probably be replacing my centaur healers with coursers of kruphix. The oracle of mul daya effect and 2/4 body are very relevant in the new meta we may see, I can see also removing more of the 2 drops to make room for more utility and counters.
Why play Bant Midrange?
Bant Midrange is a "value" midrange deck, full of creatures which can allow you to put early pressure on opponents without being completely dead in the late game. It possess the ability to ramp into powerful turn 3 and 4 plays and can end the game immediately past that. Access to sphinx's revelation means that flooding out isn't always the death of you in grindy matches, and can provide you the ability to drown your opponent in card advantage. The deck also has access to one of the best removal spells in the game in the form of detention sphere, and the deck is highly customizable allowing for good performance no matter what your particular meta is.
Card Discussion
Creatures
Elvish Mystic Solid turn one dork, recommend 4
Sylvan Caryatid No birds of Paradise, but almost as good since it can chump effectively, recommend 4
Polukranos World Eater One of this decks best bombs, recommend 3-4
Arbor Colossus Great answer to stormbreath and can shut down and take over the ground game if necessary, GGG is a slight drawback but adds to devotion which is good, recommend 0-2
Scavenging Ooze Powerful card in the late game and a solid turn two play, recommend 4
Centaur Healer It was great in wolfrun bant to help beat aggro and add to the board, and is still good now, sort of lackluster against midrange and control though so only recommended if aggro is prevalent in your meta, 0-4, meta dictated.
Nylea, God of the Hunt Can completely swing the game in your favor by giving your fatties trample and pumping is relevant in most cases. Hitting five devotion can be a chore though unless you go a heavy green route, recommend 0-2
Prime Speaker Zegana She's expensive, and sometimes a gamble, but can turn the game around in a single turn, and with an on average draw of 4 cards off of her, she's still a good card. recommend 1-2
Prophet of Kruphix Tested this car extensively and found it very poor in the aggro matchup, good in the control matchup and phenomenal in the midrange matchup, but not a very relevant body, meta dictated, 0-3
Aetherling Closes out games with little to no effort, but can be hard to find room for him without cluttering the 6-drop slot, recommend 0-2 in main and mandatory in the sideboard at least
Progenitor Mimick I have a soft spot for this card as it allows you to win games you otherwise have no business winning, but is a high variance card. It will punish any opponent who cannot remove it immediately when you hit a value creature such as master of waves or grey merchant, or desecration demon, or even arbor colossus. If you need to cut room in your deck he'd be the first to go, but likewise if you need an extra slot on the upper end of the curve, give him a chance, recommend 0-1.
Loxodon Smiter The other side of the centaur healer coin, if midrange and control are prevalent in your meta sleeve this up instead, recommend 0-4, meta dictated
Spells
Sphinx's Revelation The main reason for this deck to even dip into white. An amazing card and well worth using, recommend 2-4 though I feel 3 is the correct number
Detention Sphere One of the best removal spells in the format by being able to hit gods, legendary equipment, and score 2 or 3 for ones, recommend 3-4
Supreme Verdict Ultimately a Poor choice for this deck unless you intend on playing a very high curve and few dorks, great against aggro and devotion decks, if you go this route I suggest not using mystics, 0-4 build specific
Cyclonic Rift Allows for amazing blowouts and instant wins in a single turn. Recommend 2-3 though I feel 2 is the correct number.
Primeval Bounty An amazing utility spell, most feel that it's a "win-more" card but can be almost as crucial as sphinx for bailing you out of a tough spot. recommend 0-2
Dissolve mandatory counterspell for the control matchup, if going a creature heavy route, then probably found in the SB, recommend 0-2
Syncopate see above
Jace, Architect of Thought Great card, however in this deck even he can be an under-performer. Often you will gain more card advantage by ramping into a huge sphinx or zegana. If you intend to play a higher curve build then recommend 2-3
Plasm Capture An amazing card that can turn the game around if you have the right follow-up cards in hand. However, UUGG is very taxing on a tri-color mana base and this is the card you want to run only if you intend to go a more high end control-style build, recommend 0-2
Bow of Nylea I haven't tested this card, but it seems good on paper, and can add to devotion, but the 3 drop slot may be better served by either smiter or healer, though I feel if you wish to run it then 0-2 would be the correct number.
Sideboard Staples
Fleecemane Lion Amazing against control if you can manage to monstrous it, recommend 0-3
Mistcutter Hydra Great against mono-blue and control alike, recommend 2-3
Selesnya Charm Hits Gods whe they're turned on as well as desecration demon, and obzedat, recommend 0-3
Unflinching Courage Great way to get ahead and quick too against midrange and aggro, recommend 0-2
Gainsay An important card to win counter wars as well as stop an early thassa, or master of waves. recommend 0-2
Jace, Memory Adept Very much still the bane of control when you can protect it that it always has been. Also gives an extra way to attack the control deck. recommend 1-2
Advent of the Wurm great against midrange and aggro, especially when backed up with an unflinching courage. recommend 2-3
Core Creature-Base
4x Sylvan Caryatid
4x Scavenging Ooze
3x Polukranos, World Eater
2x Prime Speaker Zegana
Core Spell-Base
4x Detention Sphere
2x Primeval Bounty
Below is my current list that I am running in a meta which is typically full of aggro, some mono black and mono blue, and the occasional midrange or control matchup.
Sample Decklist
4x Breeding Pool
4x Temple Garden
4x Hallowed Fountain
4x Temple of Mystery
2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
3x forest
2x Selsnya Guildgate
2x Azorius Guildgate
creatures 22
4x Scavenging Ooze
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Sylvan Caryatid
3x Polukranos
3x Centaur Healer
2x Arbor Colossus
2x Prime Speaker Zegana
2x Nylea God of the Hunt
3x Sphinx's Revelation
4x Detention Sphere
2x Cyclonic Rift
2x Primeval Bounty
2x Fleecemane Lion
3x Mistcutter Hydra
3x Unflinching Courage
2x Gainsay
2x Selesnya Charm
2x Dissolve
1x Jace, memory Adept
3 augur of bolas
1 grave titan
1 olivia voldaren
1 wurmcoil engine
artifact - 3
2 gilded lotus
1 batterskull
instants - 9
3 forbidden alchemy
3 mana leak
2 murder
1 ancient grudge
sorceries - 12
2 black sun's zenith
2 whipflare
2 slagstorm
2 pilar of flame
2 ponder
1 red sun's zenith
1 devil's play
4 dragonskull summit
3 sulfur falls
2 desolate lighthouse
2 darkslickshores
1 evolving wilds
4 island
4 drowned catacomb
3 swamp
2 mountain
2 nicol bolas, planeswalker
1 tamiyo, the moon sage
2 liliana of the veil
1 negate
1 tribute to hunger
1 surgical extraction
1 olivia voldaren
1 life's finale
1 memoricide
2 ratchet bomb
1 evil twin
1 ancient grudge
1 volition reins
2 dissipate
1 griselbrand
1 blue sun's zenith
match one was u/w homebrew. 2-0. the kid was pretty new to magic and didn't have a great deck, and he was still learning as well. I felt kind of bad for winning as easily as i did but I've been there before and he had fun playing the game so that's what matters.
match 2 was mono red goblins. 2-0. game one went fairly easy he dropped and early arsonist then flunkies which was held at bay as long as I kept killing everything else on the board. a goblin wardriver gave it the helping hand it needed to drop me to five, but i luckily landed a slagstorm and and a batterskull and proceeded to get myself back into the game winning finally.
game 2 was a little different he dropped and early mog flunkies again but this time i was ready with a tribute and some roadblock action from augur of bolas. however he ran out an early krinko which i couldn't kill and preceded to crank out goblin tokens. i landed a wurmcoil which ate his second flunkies and still forced me to take 8 total from the tokens he had swung with 7 tokens and an arsonist. I was at 8 life, and I dropped down tamiyo who let me draw 8 cards and with six sweepers my luck had me drawing and casting a slagstorm to wipe his board. a grave titan turned the tide and handed me the win.
I think i brought in a tribute, a life's finale, and an olivia while i cut the alchemies
match 3 was against b/w tokens which did not run blood artist. 2-0
the first game was a little intense I found myself on the ropes as a massive pile of tokens threatened to overrun me, I found myself casting and fetching batterskull a few times to stay in the game, along with devil's playing and murdering anything he threw at me. Thankfully the batterskull kept enough pressure to force him to run out of steam and let me get back in the game.
after removing the augurs and the alchemies and adding in the life's finale, the olivia, 2 ratchet bombs and the memoricide we shuffled up for game two. not to speak bad of my opponent but he shuffled very hastily while I mulliganed down to 5 on the draw. I had two land in hand hit a third and fourth land and a ponder revealed an olivia, a liliana, and a black sun. while my opponent stalled on two land (i do believe due to his in adequate amount of shuffling) I preceded to beat face with a 4/4 olivia winning the match.
my last and final match was against b/r vampires 2-1.
I was on the play game one which i was happy about after mulliganing to 6. the game preceded just as I thought it would. He'd play a vampire I'd kill it. this went on until about turn 7 when I dropped a tamiyo with a black sun, wurmcoil and slagstorm in hand. I drew into a few murders and safely landed tamiyo to 8 as he kept tutoring up more threats for the to answer. I popped tamiyo and repeatedly slagstormed everything each turn until i could drop a wurmcoil and alchemy for a pillar of flame and end the game.
game 2 I got completely steamrolled. on the draw I ended up facing down a turn 4 and 5 vampire nocturnus with no answer and scooped quite quickly.
game 3 on the play and it preceded much the same way the first one did. he's play a threat I'd kill it. I was able to safely land an olivia and to my surprise he had no answer or olivia of his own to destroy it with. all he could do was play vampires which i was happy to steal every turn and beat him to death with.
I think the final sb-ing was -3 augur -3 alchemy adding in an olivia, a life's finale, a negate, a surgical, a tribute to hunger and a memoricide.
overall I'm very happy with the deck's performance. I did have to borrow the two liiana's and I'm hoping i can tomorrow at game day as well, but if not then two tribute to hunger will have to do. I do believe that grixis walkers can be a thing and it is difficult to answer many of the haymakers the deck can drop down. It is nice to not that after testing with proxys I would highly recommend snapcaster over the augur, but he does very nice in a pinch. good luck to everyone playing tomorrow and have fun.
SB: -1 surgical extraction, -2 curse of death's hold, -1 dissipate, -1 deathmark, -1 tamiyo, +1 ratchet bomb, +1 evil twin, +1 mana leak, +1 nighthawk, +1 dissipation field, +1 jace
I added more removal to help with the fast aggro decks, I've never used dissipation field before but I figure against dedicated aggro it could be useful but ill be testing with it, so far i love the two nighthawks mainboard, they help against aggro so much because they don't suffer the drawback to thalia and can survive combat with her all while netting me a little life and in the lategame they can almost function as the third and fourth murder in the deck. Other than that I feel what the deck is seriously missing are two snapcasters which I'd love to add as soon as I can get some
match 1 was easy the first game he never really played a threat, I just landed batterskull and kept ramming home until he was dead.
g2 I brought in deathmark, the second ratchet bomb and i forget what else, but it ended much the same way, I dropped a titan and proceeded to beat face. the player was also a little new and young so I don't think he had the experience of a vet
match 2 was a heartbreaker, I will go on and say now that my deck is incredibly weak in the humans matchup and it showed. he landed turn 2 thalia's in both games and just proceeded to bash me to a bloody pulp. I sideboarded in life's finale, the second ratchet bomb, an ancient grudge for the swords and that was it if i recall
my third match was against angels. g1 he got land flooded and had o-rings for my titans but sorin dropped him directly to 10 and a bolas destroyed the ring on my inferno titan allowing me to kill him.
g2 he landed two early silverblade paladins and bonded them each to gather the townsfolk tokens. I couldn't get the two liliana of the veils for my list so I ran barter in bloods which caused him to sac his two tokens. the silverblade then paired with sigarda, host of herons and came in for 4, an inferno titan killed it leaving him to swing for 5 each turn with sigarda. after killing his other silverblade I was able to cast olivia and let him through with sigarda dropping me to 6, then i swung with an inferno titan and oliva for exactly 12 to kill him next turn.
my thoughts on the deck are that it just plain and simple needs more removal. Sorin wasn't as good here and I had hoped, and without snapcasters I'm really not extracting the full value of ponder so I made a switch towards a more "BIG grixis" style of deck using 2 gilded lotus, 2 bolas, a griselbrand and a ton of removal I'll post the new decklist in the coming days after some work on it
but how would corrupted conscience help in other matchups in the side? would it be a multi-tool esque card suitable for other matchups or is it our only silver bullet against WRR. I find that digging hard turns 2-4 or ramping them out to grab an olivia helps. just let them do their thing and on turn 6 borrow their titan at the end of the turn and the more mana we can grab for a control deck the better.
that's basically where I drew my conclusions at. ponder always was and has proven to be one of my best land filters i've had in a deck. I still think some improvement could be made in the coming weeks but this is as good a starting point as any to start refining the lists. Also been reading up on articles lately and from the sound of things standard's metagame is in a free-for-all mash up with many different deck from G/W aggro to delver to esper to U/B taking undefeated top 8's all over the place. once the meta settles it would probably be a better time to refine the lists. but I definitely feel like a storm's-a-comin' to the standard meta
3x Dragonskull Summit
2x Drowned Catacomb
1x Evolving Wilds
3x Island
3x Mountain
1x Shimmering Grotto
4x Sulfur Falls
4x Swamp
3x Darkslick Shores
1x Rootbound Crag
Sorcery (9)
1x Black Sun's Zenith
1x Devil's Play
2x whipflare
2x Slagstorm
2x ponder
1 red sun's zenith
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x pristine talisman
1x batterskull
Instant (13)
2x murder
3x Forbidden Alchemy
4x desperate ravings
1x ancient grudge
3x Mana Leak
Creature (4)
1x grave titan
2x Olivia Voldaren
1x inferno titan
Planeswalker (4)
2x Liliana of the Veil
1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
1x Sorin Markov
1x life's finale
1x ratchet bomb
1x mana leak
1x negate
2x memoricide
1x surgical extraction
2x curse of death's hold
2x ancient grudge
1x blue sun's zenith
1x dissipate
1x deathmark
1x tamiyo, the moon sage / jace, memory adept
I've done some small testing with augur of bolas as a replacement for ponder but I just can't justify the switch in my build until after rotation. I feel like maybe in a different version of grixis like walker grixis it could be better but i'd rather have the ponder to smooth out my land drops early in the match and rely on my sweepers for protection