Went 2-2 at FNM. Disappointed to lose 2-0 to UR and gutted to lose 1-0 in the final round to BW Vampire lifegain mid-range brew.
Really finding 2 X Anguished Unmaking and 3 X Read the Bones to be a burden in the main deck in the opening game against these decks that chip away so quickly at my life total. They have the means to remove or counter my lifelink creatures so it feels like an uphill battle.
I'm bringing in Orbs of Warding, Declaration in Stone and adding a Blessed Alliance.
Having made just two changes to TBuzzsaw's hybrid deck I took it to FNM and finished fourth in a 16 player 4-round event, going 3-1.
The two changes are -1 grasp, -1 swamp, +1 Blighted Fen, +1 Oath of Liliana.
Round one was against UB zombies. He couldn't keep a creature in play for long and could only answer the first flyer I dropped. Thalia's Lancers were awesome here. I could see his shoulders droop when I played Bruna, which in turn brought Lancers to the field from the graveyard, which in turn gave me Gisella from the library. He conceded quickly after that. I do find I tend to fetch Livana most often with Lancers - so good against aggro.
Round two was against a three colour version of UG crush. For the first 35 minutes of the round we just cancelled each other's threats out, but mine had more depth and I gradually gained the upper hand. The turning point came when I exiled his one Emrakul with transgress and all his sylvan advocates with infinite obliteration. This left him cycling den protectors and pulses to keep his life total above zero. His mistake was not realising sooner that he could not win. So, when he did concede there was not enough time to finish a second game and I took it 1-0.
Round three was against my own son playing Bant Coco. He overwhelmed me with double coco in the first round, but everything went right for me in the second as I caught him with coco in hand with a transgress and languished away an overcommitted battlefield before sticking Kalitas. In the third game he got all he needed and I had to mulligan to five to find more than one land in my opening hand. He finished me fairly quickly, 2-1.
The fourth round was against WR humans. We should win this and I did, but only 2-1 as his second round draw was nuts. I started with a three land hand but didn't get the fourth until turn four. By then I was facing lethal damage from his next attack and even though I had languish in hand I could not play it as the land drawn was CITP tapped - shambling vents. Aargh!
Going forward I have little desire to change the deck. Perhaps in the sideboard the dark petition could be a third Kalitas and I'd like to find a way for the fourth grasp of darkness to be in the 75. Otherwise all is good.
I played in a small 8 person game day, using TBuzzsaw's Angel/PW hybrid all except for replacing a swamp with a blighted fen and replacing Emrakul in the sideboard with an Oath of Liliana.
I won the Swiss going 2-0, 2-1 then ID into the top 4. Oddly, the top was entirely made up of B/W. So it came down to who saw the most of their removal and discard.
I lost in the semi 2-1. In the first two games we each had a game of drawing multiple discard and thus managing to stick a threat. In the decider I kept a five lander. Don't ask me why - I can't explain. Of course he took it to bits with a duress and a transgress. I then drew more land while he got Gideon on line and finished me.
Not sure from your original post whether you've clicked onto this point specifically but Oath also allows you to cast planeswalkers for any colour of magic, so Nissa costs 3, Gideon costs 4 and if you include her in your 75, Chandra costs 6 generic mana. You don't need GG, WW or RR respectively. Which is pretty handy.
Took a version including Chandra to FNM last night. Finished second of fifteen going 3-1. Beat goggles, BG and UW humans but lost narrowly 2-1 to UW Dragons.
Found myself wanting Chandra against both the aggro matches for sweeping and the goggles match for tempo. Only sided her out against UW and never had a problem finding oath so I could cast her.
I played in a small FNM last night and went 4-0 to win. My meta was 1 x white weenie, 1 mirror, 1 BR Dragons and 1 UBW control. The mirror was the final round.
My creature suite is:
4 x Hangarbacks
2 x Ayli
3 x Kalitas
1 x Linvala
I'm also running 2 x Archangel of Tithes in the SB and they were invaluable against Weenie onslaught.
After this tournament I feel that the creature suite is about right. It means I have early threats against control that use up lots of resources and reduce the opponent's hand size. This helps me to feel more confident, when I have the wastes/planeswalker finish in hand, that I can push through the lethal damage. It also makes the deck more resilient to the fast aggro onslaught.
Ayli in particular has been golden. People are reluctant to block her or attack into her. Kalitas on the other hand, while full of great abilities and value, is a total removal magnet. He gets shot on sight. Against the hangarbacks, opponents just seem resigned to having to whittle them down with multiple spells and all the while I'm getting the time to build up my mana for a huge secure the wastes.
Another reason to use a number of non token creatures is virulent plague. People will get wise to an all token strategy, so some level of diversity of threat seems the way forward.
Another FNM win with Abzan. After a poor performance at a PPTQ Sydney and absorbing the comments on this thread I simply dropped the blue. Out went 3 reflector mages and 3 stubborn denials. In came Den Protectors 3 and 4, Wingmate Roc 2, Gideons 1 and 2 and a Silkwrap.
By taking out the blue mana I had room for 5 creature lands too. Suddenly, the mana felt far more consistent and the aggression more reliable.
In a four round tournament, the deck went 2-1 (against Atarka Red), 2-0 (Thopters), 2-0 (B/R dragons), 2-0 (B/W control).
That's my final tournament until the SOI pre-release. So, thank you and good night. The Siege Rhinos are off the form a wilt leaf modern deck.
From everything I'm reading, there seems to be a strong chance. Predictions suggest that decks in the new standard will be two colour not three or four. White and black look likely to continue to have strong removal and disruption. We still have some powerful creatures and Gideon is still a decent Planeswalker. Just waiting for a couple of good Finishers to show up in the spoilers.
Won a 20 person, 5 round FNM with Abzan Blue again. Beat 2 types of Eldrazi Ramp, Landfall, Atarka Red and Hardened Scales along the way. Perhaps a tad fortunate to have avoided the Coco decks but this deck is still up there with the best in my humble opinion.
Some good points are being made here about the hosing effects upon our tokens of Kozilek's Return. To this we can no doubt add Radiant Flames, Flaying Tendrils and Virulent Plague. The latter being a regular and crushing inclusion in Abzan sideboards.
One possibility we could consider in addition to more main deck Kalitas is Pitiless Horde. We have access to lifegain through Sorin and Seeker to offset the upkeep cost even if we don't restrict its use to the dash cost. And it definitely puts the opponent on a short clock.
I won FNM with Abzan blue including Reflector Mage last night. The mana continues to be a little clunky, but I was pleased with the sideboard choices.
Rising Miasma was a preferred alternative to Flaying Tendrils because the BB requirement is tough to meet. Miasma doesn't get out until turn 4 but against landfall and goblins this deck holds out that long so you can get away with it.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet continues to impress too. His zombie making ability enables you to go wide and he's a great second line after Anafenza against rally and coco.
I tried Pitiless Horde for the first time against Eldrazi Ramp. It certainly adds to the aggression of the rest of the creature suite and if you need to play it for its B2 cost, the upkeep life loss can be off set for a while with siege rhinos and our other life gain from Shambling Vents, Kalitas, etc.
In a match I won 2-1, in the third game, horde, Kalitas and a Rhino teamed up to get him down to two life before he could sweep my creatures with Return to Kozilek. All creatures that is except a Hissing Quagmire that swung for lethal the following turn. It's a tight matchup that one, but I think we can mostly pull it off.
Really finding 2 X Anguished Unmaking and 3 X Read the Bones to be a burden in the main deck in the opening game against these decks that chip away so quickly at my life total. They have the means to remove or counter my lifelink creatures so it feels like an uphill battle.
I'm bringing in Orbs of Warding, Declaration in Stone and adding a Blessed Alliance.
Also putting 4 X Gideon back into the main deck.
The two changes are -1 grasp, -1 swamp, +1 Blighted Fen, +1 Oath of Liliana.
Round one was against UB zombies. He couldn't keep a creature in play for long and could only answer the first flyer I dropped. Thalia's Lancers were awesome here. I could see his shoulders droop when I played Bruna, which in turn brought Lancers to the field from the graveyard, which in turn gave me Gisella from the library. He conceded quickly after that. I do find I tend to fetch Livana most often with Lancers - so good against aggro.
Round two was against a three colour version of UG crush. For the first 35 minutes of the round we just cancelled each other's threats out, but mine had more depth and I gradually gained the upper hand. The turning point came when I exiled his one Emrakul with transgress and all his sylvan advocates with infinite obliteration. This left him cycling den protectors and pulses to keep his life total above zero. His mistake was not realising sooner that he could not win. So, when he did concede there was not enough time to finish a second game and I took it 1-0.
Round three was against my own son playing Bant Coco. He overwhelmed me with double coco in the first round, but everything went right for me in the second as I caught him with coco in hand with a transgress and languished away an overcommitted battlefield before sticking Kalitas. In the third game he got all he needed and I had to mulligan to five to find more than one land in my opening hand. He finished me fairly quickly, 2-1.
The fourth round was against WR humans. We should win this and I did, but only 2-1 as his second round draw was nuts. I started with a three land hand but didn't get the fourth until turn four. By then I was facing lethal damage from his next attack and even though I had languish in hand I could not play it as the land drawn was CITP tapped - shambling vents. Aargh!
Going forward I have little desire to change the deck. Perhaps in the sideboard the dark petition could be a third Kalitas and I'd like to find a way for the fourth grasp of darkness to be in the 75. Otherwise all is good.
I won the Swiss going 2-0, 2-1 then ID into the top 4. Oddly, the top was entirely made up of B/W. So it came down to who saw the most of their removal and discard.
I lost in the semi 2-1. In the first two games we each had a game of drawing multiple discard and thus managing to stick a threat. In the decider I kept a five lander. Don't ask me why - I can't explain. Of course he took it to bits with a duress and a transgress. I then drew more land while he got Gideon on line and finished me.
Found myself wanting Chandra against both the aggro matches for sweeping and the goggles match for tempo. Only sided her out against UW and never had a problem finding oath so I could cast her.
My creature suite is:
4 x Hangarbacks
2 x Ayli
3 x Kalitas
1 x Linvala
I'm also running 2 x Archangel of Tithes in the SB and they were invaluable against Weenie onslaught.
After this tournament I feel that the creature suite is about right. It means I have early threats against control that use up lots of resources and reduce the opponent's hand size. This helps me to feel more confident, when I have the wastes/planeswalker finish in hand, that I can push through the lethal damage. It also makes the deck more resilient to the fast aggro onslaught.
Ayli in particular has been golden. People are reluctant to block her or attack into her. Kalitas on the other hand, while full of great abilities and value, is a total removal magnet. He gets shot on sight. Against the hangarbacks, opponents just seem resigned to having to whittle them down with multiple spells and all the while I'm getting the time to build up my mana for a huge secure the wastes.
Another reason to use a number of non token creatures is virulent plague. People will get wise to an all token strategy, so some level of diversity of threat seems the way forward.
By taking out the blue mana I had room for 5 creature lands too. Suddenly, the mana felt far more consistent and the aggression more reliable.
In a four round tournament, the deck went 2-1 (against Atarka Red), 2-0 (Thopters), 2-0 (B/R dragons), 2-0 (B/W control).
That's my final tournament until the SOI pre-release. So, thank you and good night. The Siege Rhinos are off the form a wilt leaf modern deck.
The sideboard is the only place I plan to make changes. Hoping to make room for one each of Rakshsa's Secret and Planar Outburst.
One possibility we could consider in addition to more main deck Kalitas is Pitiless Horde. We have access to lifegain through Sorin and Seeker to offset the upkeep cost even if we don't restrict its use to the dash cost. And it definitely puts the opponent on a short clock.
What do people think?
Rising Miasma was a preferred alternative to Flaying Tendrils because the BB requirement is tough to meet. Miasma doesn't get out until turn 4 but against landfall and goblins this deck holds out that long so you can get away with it.
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet continues to impress too. His zombie making ability enables you to go wide and he's a great second line after Anafenza against rally and coco.
I tried Pitiless Horde for the first time against Eldrazi Ramp. It certainly adds to the aggression of the rest of the creature suite and if you need to play it for its B2 cost, the upkeep life loss can be off set for a while with siege rhinos and our other life gain from Shambling Vents, Kalitas, etc.
In a match I won 2-1, in the third game, horde, Kalitas and a Rhino teamed up to get him down to two life before he could sweep my creatures with Return to Kozilek. All creatures that is except a Hissing Quagmire that swung for lethal the following turn. It's a tight matchup that one, but I think we can mostly pull it off.