I really like what this deck does, especially the options in the long game (Township and Sigarda) but I need some serious help on the mana base. Its just not working for some reason. At 23 lands I'll mostly get low land draws and I'm often stuck with multiple shock lands or M10 duals that don't match up to lands I have in play so they come in untapped.
Now doomed traveler pisses me off, why is he so needed, granted agro but life total doesnt usually matter till 10 mostly... so why doomed?
Not entirely sure why he would piss you off, but imagine you have intangible virtue, favorable winds and a doomed traveler on the board. Traveler is no longer an 1/1 human that becomes a 1/1 spirit, he's a 1/1 human that, if your opponent is dumb enough to block or kill comes back as a 4/4 flyer with vigilance.
Without mana dorks, I don't know how often you'll get to cast Armada Wurm. This deck looks like part ramp/midrange and part aggro. Pick either technique and maximize it. You hurt yourself trying to do both. Especially if you go aggro, I think Mayor of Avabruck isn't helping since you're ideal first five turns you play spells. Thalia is going to make it a lot harder to cast your spells as well. I'd use elite inquisitor over her since he's easy enough to cast, doesn't hurt your spells and is good even against non-zombies. Against zombies/vampires he's just broken.
Contrary to what you think, Rancor is more than fine here. War Falcon can swing for 4 on turn 2. Captain and Thalia really benefit from the extra power. It's crazy with Silverblade Paladin. Look out if you can attach two of them on a guy. I'd much rather splash for Rancor than Sigarda and some Centaur Healers.
I'm really only interested in one buff spell to get the job done. A Spectral Flight/Rancor split might be okay but I'd just rather have a Spectral Flight in my hand, especially when my land is designed to give me forests late and not on turn two when I'd want to play one. Sigarda is just too much of a house not to splash and Centaur Healers fit better in my mana curve when I board them in, otherwise I'd be using Nearheath Pilgrim for the same effect.
I'm trying to squeeze a little green into my UW aggro deck, JUST for Rancor. That's certainly the best card for an aggro deck, you ought to find room for it. Why else are you running green? Your Sigardas can easily be Sublimes or Resto Angels, and I think Champion of the Parish is an overall better MD choice than Dryad Militant. At that point, you can fix your manabase and drop the Hinterland Harbors.
I indeed had Champion for a while, I really like him. I went with Dryad for the build because not everything in the deck buffs him. I found that, a lot of times, he'd get buffed to a 2/2 at most and then die to removal. When Geist and Archangel come down he doesn't get buffed again. I liked that War Falcon and Dryad Militant gave me a guaranteed 2 power attack on turn two (as opposed to a potential 1 power) and can buff to a 3 power just like Champion when Knight of Glory comes in. It also gives the added bonus of screwing over flashback and snapcaster. The major downside is how it interacts with Feeling of Dread and that's a major reason I'm considering switching BACK to Champion.
Rancor is good, I won't argue that, but its really an alternate means to an end. You can either go through your enemy or go around (over) them. Rancor tramples through and shaves damage to the player off the attack. Spectral Flight will often bypass them entirely and, when it doesn't, you drop a Faith's Shield > Protection from X and get through them anyway. I think for a deck looking to really maximize early damage, Spectral Flight is a stronger choice. It also adds some much need protection to your geist. An early bonfire for 2 can ruin your day.
T1: War Falcon
T2: Knight of Glory (swing for 3)
T3: Geist of Saint Traft (swing for 3 or 4)
T4: Spectral Flight on Geist (swing for 9)
I had to drop the Spectral Flights, which I wasn't thrilled about. I'm not sure if all those Feeling of Dreads is where I want to be now, since the deck had taken a more "run them over" approach with Rancor.
Definitely seems like your deck is looking more midrange. I don't know that a deck of 1 and 2 and 3 power early drops can really take advantage of rancor (let's face it, we play it for the trample and the return to hand, the +2 power is gravy). I prefer evasion in a deck like this.
Too many sweepers. Why Garruk? Seems very out of place and a ***** to cast (2GGG) in a three color deck. Also, the distinct lack of Entreats means you don't have a finisher.
i guess my point is, dont call it it esper humans, if humans arent the focus?
In all fairness, its far more humans than it is Esper... Only two non-human drops and most human decks mainboard Geist of Saint Traft, Sublime Archangel and War Falcon who also aren't human. My complaint is having a non-human two drop. The War Falcon is a one drop but it will most likely be falcon OR champion, not falcon into champion of vice versa. Either opening is strong as long as your two drop is human and/or solider/knight.
Come to think of it...Ajani Sunstriker isn't a knight/solider OR a human. So no matter what your one drop is, if your in-hand two drop is Ajani Sunstriker your one drop is either useless (falcon) or a crap 1/1 intead of a beefy 2/2. While I was looking again, I realized you have a LOT of two drops mudding up your curve. You have 7 one drops, TWENTY 2 drops and then 7 three drops. You need to smooth your cuve. I recommend you pick your two best creatures at each point on your mana curve and ditch the rest. Your three and four slot should be absolute beast mode drops to seal the deal. Fill in with one and two mana protection/evasion cards for when your opponent starts to fill up his creature side of the board.
Let me rephrase, to do well in my meta currently I have to be able to handle Flames of the Firebrand because the top decks have it. It's not dies to removal that I'm concerned about, it's "Does this open me up to a 2 for 1? Or in the case of Flames a potential 3:1" If it's just 1:1 removal then that's fine, cards killing other cards is part of the game.
Since you're running Esper, bring in three or four copies of Syncopate off your side board or use a Rootbound Defenses. I bring in Syncopate strictly for matches with Entreat the Angels. Let my opponent miracle it, tap out to cast then syncopate for x=1. Watch them sad face (especially when it was top of their turn and not after a think twice....its a GOOD feeling to kick a miracle in the junk).
This is pretty similar to the list I ran last weekend. I ended up dropping Arbor Elf completely, due to 1) the need to run a lot of Forests to make him reliable
He untaps Temple Garden just as effectively as forests. Especially with the OPs number of forests + Temple Garden, you want Arbor Elf.
Finally, I question (slightly) your decision to run so many 4-ofs. I understand that consistency is key and that you want to maximize your power. But there are enough "same name" sweeper effects (Sever the Bloodline, Detention Sphere, Nightshade Peddler + Izzet Staticaster) that I think diversifying has some value. The only 4-ofs I ran were Avecyn's Pilgrim and Call of the Conclave (early game consistency being more important/less vulnerable). What are other people's thoughts on this issue?
While I can see your point, I think some cards are crucial at four drops. Don't think of them all being out at the same time, but assume a balanced shuffle and think of the chronologically. You want certain cards at certain times. Four ofs are important when you want a card early, not just often often. Hence the four mana dorks. Most ramp decks won't want to play more than one or two mana dorks since, by the time they'd want more their opponent is dead. If they draw more than two, they keep them in hand in case they need to chump block or one dies. This deck runs two aramada wurms because you don't want one in your opening hand but you want one eventually. I can see running three but with four you risk it occupying one of your starting seven and being useless for four to five turns.
With the above in mind, its up to us as players to play consistently. Having four loxodon smiters in your deck doesn't mean you play every single one you draw as soon as you can. Hold it. Protect it from removal and make your opponent think you're holding a card you can react with. Cards in hand are safer than cards on the table (usually) and if you already have the power you need, no reason to rush to play it. You're much more likely to have three to four various creatures in a deck with this many (even with 4 ofs) than you are to have four strangleroots at the same time.
I would take out the strangleroot geist and actually put in elvish arch druids that would help with creating more manna for only one more mana cost, I would also take out 2 loxdon smiter and put in two more armada warm.
The geist is for draws when you don't get a three drop in your opening hand. It allows you dump a two drop and a attack immediately as opposed to needing to wait an extra turn. Its identical to having a Loxodon Smither.
You don't need arch druids for mana with 8 mana dorks. The mana cost addition is more than "one more mana cost" - it borks the curve. This deck has a nuts draw of T1 mana dork, T2 Smiter, T3 Trostani, T4 Thragtusk. You could also do a T3 mana dork + strangle root and push for 6 then drop an armada wurm on turn 4 and push for 16 on turn 5. Arch druid is A) more mana than you need for this deck and B) screws the curve.
Loxodon Smiter is gold in this deck. You want one in your starting hand or draw it before turn three. Four is a requirement. You don't want a wurm in your hand to start and you'd rather draw it a little later so I can see having three but not four. You NEED smiters. They drop on turn 2 most of the time so cutting to two is a terrible idea.
This is one of the most maddening things in Magic, and I see it often. Pillar of Flame exists, so don't run 2-toughness creatures. Oh wait, Murder is a card so creatures are a no-go altogether. In fact, Dreadbore is a new thing, so Planeswalkers as a whole are done.
Deck building and playing as though your opponent will have a specific answer for anything every time is just silly. There's an answer for damn near every card in Standard. That doesn't mean the opposing player will have it in hand every time you play *X* card.
Not to forget that one drops are FAR safer now than they EVER were before - NO MAS GUTSHOT. This is WHY tokens came back. To claim that one drops are vulnerable is silly when they are far more viable than before.
Also, no one really runs Elecktrickery right now. I don't think I've seen one in two weeks either at my FLGS or in tournaments streaming.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=450021
Not entirely sure why he would piss you off, but imagine you have intangible virtue, favorable winds and a doomed traveler on the board. Traveler is no longer an 1/1 human that becomes a 1/1 spirit, he's a 1/1 human that, if your opponent is dumb enough to block or kill comes back as a 4/4 flyer with vigilance.
I'm really only interested in one buff spell to get the job done. A Spectral Flight/Rancor split might be okay but I'd just rather have a Spectral Flight in my hand, especially when my land is designed to give me forests late and not on turn two when I'd want to play one. Sigarda is just too much of a house not to splash and Centaur Healers fit better in my mana curve when I board them in, otherwise I'd be using Nearheath Pilgrim for the same effect.
I indeed had Champion for a while, I really like him. I went with Dryad for the build because not everything in the deck buffs him. I found that, a lot of times, he'd get buffed to a 2/2 at most and then die to removal. When Geist and Archangel come down he doesn't get buffed again. I liked that War Falcon and Dryad Militant gave me a guaranteed 2 power attack on turn two (as opposed to a potential 1 power) and can buff to a 3 power just like Champion when Knight of Glory comes in. It also gives the added bonus of screwing over flashback and snapcaster. The major downside is how it interacts with Feeling of Dread and that's a major reason I'm considering switching BACK to Champion.
Rancor is good, I won't argue that, but its really an alternate means to an end. You can either go through your enemy or go around (over) them. Rancor tramples through and shaves damage to the player off the attack. Spectral Flight will often bypass them entirely and, when it doesn't, you drop a Faith's Shield > Protection from X and get through them anyway. I think for a deck looking to really maximize early damage, Spectral Flight is a stronger choice. It also adds some much need protection to your geist. An early bonfire for 2 can ruin your day.
T1: War Falcon
T2: Knight of Glory (swing for 3)
T3: Geist of Saint Traft (swing for 3 or 4)
T4: Spectral Flight on Geist (swing for 9)
Definitely seems like your deck is looking more midrange. I don't know that a deck of 1 and 2 and 3 power early drops can really take advantage of rancor (let's face it, we play it for the trample and the return to hand, the +2 power is gravy). I prefer evasion in a deck like this.
In all fairness, its far more humans than it is Esper... Only two non-human drops and most human decks mainboard Geist of Saint Traft, Sublime Archangel and War Falcon who also aren't human. My complaint is having a non-human two drop. The War Falcon is a one drop but it will most likely be falcon OR champion, not falcon into champion of vice versa. Either opening is strong as long as your two drop is human and/or solider/knight.
Come to think of it...Ajani Sunstriker isn't a knight/solider OR a human. So no matter what your one drop is, if your in-hand two drop is Ajani Sunstriker your one drop is either useless (falcon) or a crap 1/1 intead of a beefy 2/2. While I was looking again, I realized you have a LOT of two drops mudding up your curve. You have 7 one drops, TWENTY 2 drops and then 7 three drops. You need to smooth your cuve. I recommend you pick your two best creatures at each point on your mana curve and ditch the rest. Your three and four slot should be absolute beast mode drops to seal the deal. Fill in with one and two mana protection/evasion cards for when your opponent starts to fill up his creature side of the board.
Since you're running Esper, bring in three or four copies of Syncopate off your side board or use a Rootbound Defenses. I bring in Syncopate strictly for matches with Entreat the Angels. Let my opponent miracle it, tap out to cast then syncopate for x=1. Watch them sad face (especially when it was top of their turn and not after a think twice....its a GOOD feeling to kick a miracle in the junk).
He untaps Temple Garden just as effectively as forests. Especially with the OPs number of forests + Temple Garden, you want Arbor Elf.
While I can see your point, I think some cards are crucial at four drops. Don't think of them all being out at the same time, but assume a balanced shuffle and think of the chronologically. You want certain cards at certain times. Four ofs are important when you want a card early, not just often often. Hence the four mana dorks. Most ramp decks won't want to play more than one or two mana dorks since, by the time they'd want more their opponent is dead. If they draw more than two, they keep them in hand in case they need to chump block or one dies. This deck runs two aramada wurms because you don't want one in your opening hand but you want one eventually. I can see running three but with four you risk it occupying one of your starting seven and being useless for four to five turns.
With the above in mind, its up to us as players to play consistently. Having four loxodon smiters in your deck doesn't mean you play every single one you draw as soon as you can. Hold it. Protect it from removal and make your opponent think you're holding a card you can react with. Cards in hand are safer than cards on the table (usually) and if you already have the power you need, no reason to rush to play it. You're much more likely to have three to four various creatures in a deck with this many (even with 4 ofs) than you are to have four strangleroots at the same time.
The geist is for draws when you don't get a three drop in your opening hand. It allows you dump a two drop and a attack immediately as opposed to needing to wait an extra turn. Its identical to having a Loxodon Smither.
T2: Smiter
T3: 4 damage
T2: Strangleroot Geist, 2 damage
T3: 2 damage (4 total)
You don't need arch druids for mana with 8 mana dorks. The mana cost addition is more than "one more mana cost" - it borks the curve. This deck has a nuts draw of T1 mana dork, T2 Smiter, T3 Trostani, T4 Thragtusk. You could also do a T3 mana dork + strangle root and push for 6 then drop an armada wurm on turn 4 and push for 16 on turn 5. Arch druid is A) more mana than you need for this deck and B) screws the curve.
Loxodon Smiter is gold in this deck. You want one in your starting hand or draw it before turn three. Four is a requirement. You don't want a wurm in your hand to start and you'd rather draw it a little later so I can see having three but not four. You NEED smiters. They drop on turn 2 most of the time so cutting to two is a terrible idea.
Not to forget that one drops are FAR safer now than they EVER were before - NO MAS GUTSHOT. This is WHY tokens came back. To claim that one drops are vulnerable is silly when they are far more viable than before.
Also, no one really runs Elecktrickery right now. I don't think I've seen one in two weeks either at my FLGS or in tournaments streaming.