MTG Salvation

I have not been around in long time but i wanted to talk about the deck a bit. I'm going to the SCG Open in Charlotte, NC come October. I am most likely going to go with this version of the deck. The only real difference in my deck compared to the "normal" ones is that I'm running the full set of Geist of Saint Traft and a Vendilion Clique in the main.
I have not tested Opt yet, but does anyone have data on how much better the instant speed is or how much worse the 1 scry is? Opt obviously plays way better with snap and we can almost be full flash/instant deck.

Does anyone have any spicy cards they been playing with? I know GreatNate is playing(testing?) a Runed Halo in the main and 1 in the side.


One of my main things is idk what to do for the sideboard. What decks are to be expected?

Quote from iamghost

thanks for replying.
mystic gate seems fine sometimes since i run command, clique, wrath of god, supreme verdict, and those all require double (or triple!) U and W. My concerns regard mostly eiganjo because i think that with all those 2/3 and 3/3 creatures running wild around these days, it can allow your GoST to safely attack through them.

You could still run castle in the second mana base you had, i guess - 1 sulfur falls. I did try it that way for a bit, but i always wanted an early red for Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, or an Anger of the Gods so i dropped it.

BUT being able to attack (or block) into 3/3 and survive is nice.

Quote from iamghost

i faced thrun so many times that i would NEVER leave home w/o my wrath of god in SB. that card is a sort of auto-loss for us.

ok guys i have come up with the decision to change my manabase. i always thought that's the most important part of the deck so i am pretty "scared" of making a mess. i am asking you some advices.

this is my actual one:

• 2 Island
  
• 1 Mountain
  
• 3 Arid Mesa
  
• 4 Celestial Colonnade
  
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
  
• 1 Sacred Foundry
  
• 4 Scalding Tarn
  
• 2 Steam Vents
  
• 1 Sulfur Falls
  
• 1 Mystic Gate
  
• 1 Plains
  
• 1 EIganjo Castle
  
• 2 Tectonic Edge

this is what i am thinking to have now:

• 2 Island
  
• 1 Mountain
  
• 4 Arid Mesa
  
• 4 Celestial Colonnade
  
• 2 Hallowed Fountain
  
• 1 Sacred Foundry
  
• 4 Scalding Tarn
  
• 2 Steam Vents
  
• 2 Sulfur Falls
  
• 1 Plains
  
• 2 Tectonic Edge

The second one is actually what i'm running now and as far as having access to all the colors it has been fine. But of course if you dont draw a fetch, you really can't get red easily(but most deck have this problem with their respective colours of course). Overall all im happy with my mana base, I did try Mystic Gate but it actually cause me a lot of problems, so i just dropped it.

Quote from Valanarch

Quote from Killer_Bass

I have not faced a Thrun personally either, but i do agree with buttnakedwonder. I expect to see a lot of the green decks at Richmond running 1-2 somewhere in the 75, if only because a UWr deck won. Hell, Tarmo-Twin could run it in the side for us (and the control version, as well as other control decks and spot removal heavy deck) if they really wanted to.

Tarmo-Twin would also be countering your Wrath of God when you could have just played Supreme Verdict instead.

How many hard counters do they have? if they remand it t4, that leave them with only 2 mana to spend, they cant do anything. Doesn't tarmo-twin side *most* of the combo out, leaving like 1 twin and 2 deceivers?

This hypothetical scenario is of course if they bring in Thrun, in which case Supreme Verdict does nothing and why we wanted Wrath of God from the get go. (im not try to sound like a dick, and sorry if it came across that way)

I have not faced a Thrun personally either, but i do agree with buttnakedwonder. I expect to see a lot of the green decks at Richmond running 1-2 somewhere in the 75, if only because a UWr deck won. Hell, Tarmo-Twin could run it in the side for us (and the control version, as well as other control decks and spot removal heavy deck) if they really wanted to.

Has anyone tried Boros Reckoner, it seems it would be really good againsts zoo by giving it 1st strike. Plus other creature match ups. sure it dies to bolt(but we get to redirect 3 to something else) and PtE but so does just about everything else. I haven't tested it, but since we are mid range i think we could run it.

If someone has tested reckoner can you say how well/bad it did.

Also, since GP Richmond is coming fast and i think there will be lots of UWr Control (just because it won the PT), how about boros charm for the indy and putting 4 to the dome against storm, lili seems pretty good.
Izzet charm has 3 "ok" abilities by themselves. but when they are put together on one card they do get an increase in value just because of the sheer versatility of the card.

These are just food for thought, and as i said before if anyone has tried them can they say how well/bad they were?

Quote from Nixernator

Blue moon was a meta call. Won't be good in an open tournament.

Well that makes me happy lol.

What are we thinking that the Richmond field will look like?

So is Blue Moon just a fling or will it be around for awhile(ie. at Richmond)? If it is the latter, would we need to tweak the mana base to fit more basics or just fetch the basics early?

I think we have a not so good game against them. Blood Moon really kills us if we can't get rid of it. In Game 1 we have very little answers to a resolved one.

Also, what about Swan Song it is a 1 mana answer to Blood Moon, Bitterblossom, Splinter Twin AND all instants and sorceries. We dont really care about the 2/2, we can kill it with anything.

These are just some thoughts.

What would be a good SB doing into GP Richmond?
This will be only my second real big event, so im not to sure what to bring into the unknown meta.

I have all the normal SB cards for the deck, im just not sure what to bring. So any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks guys

This is what i am currently testing and trying out.
Things to note...

Only running 3 Celestial Colonnade, i am testing this because i want to see if there is any huge difference between 3 and 4. *So far* thing have been doing well.

I am trying out Brimaz, king of oreskos, just starting with him so i actually haven't used him yet.

2 Cryptic command. I personally love this card, its one of the BEST cards in modern, so that why i am running it. (It's really personal preference to whether you run them or not)

I do not own 2 Vendilion Clique, but i do plan on getting some, what should i take out for them when i get them?

Quote from Sasky

No, consider replacing Geist with Brimaz if facing zoo. Finks just doesn't do what this deck is supposed to do.

In fact, I think people should be playing a mix of both the cat king and Geist already. He's just that good and offers an alternative angle of attack.

How many would you suggest? What kind of split?
A 4/2 in favor of GoST , a 3/3 split or even a 4/3 still in favor of Geist. Geist is good enough to have 4 copies, is Brimaz good enough to be a 4 of? (I ask cause i really do not know, i have not tested him yet).

Quote from Rinin

That was a joke friend.

Well this is a sad day indeed, but we can have a transformational SB and i thought you had said SB.
But fair enough.

Quote from Rinin

Combo Too.

My sideboard is

4 Splinter Twin
4 Pestermite
4 Deceiver exart
3 izzet charm.


Boom.


inb4 someone thinks I'm serious

How has the combo SB been doing for you?
What matches do you bring it in against? What do you take out?

Has anyone tried any of the swords? Id imagine Fire and Ice or Feast and Famine would be best.
But has anyone actually tried them, if so can you tell me how they worked for you.

Quote from Lectrys

I personally like stuff that flies because they stack with Traft/V. Clique/Colonnade and let me be more reckless with Traft, but then I like my 4+-mana finishers to have Haste so I can semi-tap out for them against combo. I like Stormbreath Dragon the best right now because it has protection from white so it dodges some removal (and Colonnade/Souls), although I tried Thundermaw before and liked it. I think Thundermaw is better than Stormbreath in Big Zoo because it runs enough creatures that already eat removal that Thundermaw can dodge removal even more often in that deck. However, I think Stormbreath is better than Thundermaw in this deck because it runs too few creatures (so Thundermaw is removal bait more often).

I actually really like that Stormbreath Dragon is pro white it just helps it get through but we already know that. Thundermaw Hellkite is great also, in testing i was facing down a a full set of Lingering Souls. I played that Thundermaw Hellkite killed all their dudes and bashed Ajani Vengant for 5.

Both cards are obviously great, i think it will probably boil down to play style or which you personally like better. My next testing will to be a 1/1 split of both and see how that works.

Quote from Phoenios

On the topic of finishers...do you find yourself getting the finisher every game? Most lists I've seen running some 5 drop only do it as a 1-of. I prefer a wincon that shows up more consistently so I run that 2/2 split of Elspeth and Ajani, but that's just me I guess.

How has 4 PW been doing for you? Most list now run 0-2, i opted to drop them completely(this is because i dont like to tap out for something that isnt back breaking like Thundermaw Hellkite,Stormbreath Dragon, etc.).

As for consistency, i would run 2 of your finisher of choice, unless you running multiple ones. them i would split them up. I feel like 2 finishers are fine because this deck has enough draw that you should see them. I was however thinkning awhile back to adding a Stormbreath Dragon as a third finisher. So now we would have 3 finisher plus Geist of Saint Traft and all the burn.

I'm not sure if we have went through this, but have we decided what 5-drop finisher we want to use and in what quantity and mix?
Thundermaw Hellkite
Baneslayer Angel
Strormbreath Dragon
Batterskull

I'm testing something a bit different from what i normally run, but I'm using 2 Thundermaw Hellkite.