Lost to GB Constellation in 3 games, beat an aggro brew and mono-black aggro. In top 8, beat temur ascendancy combo (this match-up is favorable), beat the GB Constellation player this time (I don't think this match-up is favorable though), and beat Sultai control.
The deck seems very solid. Random thoughts: I don't know what to do with Lightning Strikes. I found myself siding out the two I had in the main a lot in favor of Stokes, which I had a lot of success with. I like the Firedrinkers out of the board when on the play against decks you want to go under; I might go up to 3 of them. I'm not convinced on Purphoros in the main, although I'll keep trying him. Ashcloud Phoenix is really solid, and Eidolon is maybe the best card in the deck; always want a turn 2 Eidolon.
I am very, very against any sort of splash with Soul Sisters in general, but alphagprime, yours is probably my favorite I've seen so far. Ignoring the mana base (which I am not an expert in as I play mostly mono-colored decks), I really like the black additions and the purposes they serve. Orzhov Charm for Ranger of Eros makes a lot of sense to me for a few reasons: 1) It replaces the 1 CMC creature return effect. It does it in a worse way, but you still have access to that effect. 2) It adds removal to the a deck that probably wants 2-3 more removal spells main than Path to Exile (although as I've said in the past I don't think this is a high priority). 3) It gets rid of Ranger of Eos and replaces it with a versatile, powerful card. I've been really souring to Ranger lately. I think it's the worst card in the deck, and I don't think it's very close. I don't think this deck needs to be running 4 CMC cards and I don't find Ranger has a big enough impact to cost that much. Sure it has won me games before, but does that net positive versus the games it loses me by sitting in my hand or the games Orzhov Charm or another replacement would win? It's unclear to me what the answer to that is and is hard to test.
The other change of Ligering Souls for Spectral Procession seems like a slight gain for the deck. It certainly doesn't make up for the splash on its own, but it gets closer if you add Orzhov Charm. I still agree with Alaskan that splashes don't work with this deck, but I think you're on the right track here. (Side note: I disagree with you Alaskan that the red splash is better. Also that is just an entirely different deck). From my end the Ranger into Orzhov Charm swap is very interesting and should be looked into, but I still don't think this splash warrants the inconsistency and life loss the non-basics add. Something I don't think people here have looked into enough is Brimaz in this deck (which has been having some success on Dailies), so maybe the splash becomes worth it for some reason if Brimaz is in this deck? Something like that is worth looking into.
Awesome and congrats on the 3-1! 22-23 lands makes sense if you're playing 3 Brimaz and 4 Ranger. Why cut Martyrs and Honors for the Brimazes? I'd definitely think of cutting a Warden and Attendant before either of those, but I guess your version is more mid-rangy with the additional 3 and 4 drops.
Athreos is interesting and we should definitely test him with this deck, but from a theoretical standpoint he doesn't fit with the strategy of the deck or its synergies. The first thing to note is that he's rarely going to be turned on (maybe with the exception of decks that maindeck 4 Auriok Champion but even then it's tough), so the only thing he does is his ability. "Whenever another creature you own dies, return it to your hand unless target opponent pays 3 life." Is this even good in this deck? It does nothing with Spectral Procession. It does nothing with Martyr because your hand is probably empty or close to it by the time you have this on the field and have activated the Martyr. Warden and Ascendant aren't really that exciting to recur. Pridemate would lose is counters when coming back, and Ascendant is only good to recur when you're over 30 life. So no card in the deck on its own is really great with its ability.
I think over time though, it's appealing recurring multiples of these in grindy match-ups. It's basically the same theory as having Immortal Servitude in your sideboard, except it's better because it's all creatures and worse because they're not all at once. The problem with going to route of splashing black for this and playing Lingering Souls (probably in addition to the some number of Spectral Processions you keep in the deck) is that Souls does nothing with this. I think this card probably does way too little to even play, much less warrant the splash. But the percentage of grindy, long games I have with this deck is really high so it's definitely appealing in that regard as it improves those games a lot.
The Ram really isn't even close to being a good sideboard card for this deck. Soul Sisters needs to be proactive or it's doing nothing except gaining a little life. The only synergy this Ram has is giving Ajani's Pridemate a +1/+1 counter every turn, which is terrible. I guess it could be a wall against Zoo, but why do we need a wall when we're gaining a bunch of life already.
Deicide 1W
Instant (R)
Exile target enchantment. If the exiled card is a God card, search its controller's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with the same name as that card and exile them, then that player shuffles his or her library. "It is done."
- Elspeth
"I refuse to believe it is a bad matchup though, so I'm going to assume it is not," LSV says after losing game 1. I think this showcases most pros opinions towards this deck; that it couldn't possibly be good, but he does overall seem more respectful of it than most. After losing game two he revises that opinion to "I don't think it's horrible, but I don't think it's great." I think this is a pretty accurate assessment. There are two UR Delver players in my local meta, and I've found the matchup to be close to even, maybe 55% or 60% favored towards us. Of note is that LSV only had 1 electrolyze in his 75 which I've found to be their best card against us.
Soul Sisters is definitely not just a life gain deck, and not really a life gain deck at all. You don't win by gaining a lot of life. Gaining life just serves 3 purposes in the deck: 1) Turn on Serra Ascendant 2) Create a big Pridemage 3) Raise your life total above what damage decks in this format can deal. #3 is very much a minor point of the deck. As idm said, this deck usually wins by beating down with flying weenies. It can also win with Martyr/Ascendant, which diversifies the plan of attack with the deck.
idm, I think you're deluding yourself a little if you think this deck is tier 1.5. Maybe we have different definitions of tiers in Modern, but this deck hasn't put up a good GP result in forever. It won one PTQ last year and probably did ok in a few more. It put 1 copy into Day 2 of the 4k person GP Richmond. It puts up a 3-1 result in MTGO dailies maybe twice a month. One reason for this lack of results is that no one is playing the deck right now and it isn't really respected. It's unfairly seen as a cute lifegain deck, which it isn't as discussed above. But it isn't putting up any results right now, or in the past year or more, and is tier 2.5 at best, probably tier 3. I think this is what makes Picelli89 want to splash a color or brew up a similar but new build. It seems like there's the potential for a Soul Sister-y modern deck that can do so much better than tier 3. And maybe there is and the only problem is that not enough people are playing the deck right now to find it. But the current build of the deck that has existed in basically the same form for several years is solid, occasionally does well in localized results and metas, and is what it is right now.
I think it's great to try splashes and new approaches with this deck, but it's pretty ridiculous to say that splashing something is necessary because this deck doesn't put up competitive results. A splash could easily make this deck worse and less competitive. If there was an obvious splash, people would be consistently doing it and putting up results with it. People have went RW with the Norin build and are still playing it, but that deck also has 0 competitive good results. People are brewing with a black splash, which is cool, but there's nothing to show for it yet.
In terms of the specific black splash you talk about- only having Path as removal is definitely a problem with the deck. Orzhov Charm would possibly slightly improve the deck (Zealous Persecution is maybe also ok), but considering this deck needs to preserve life, it alone is definitely not worth a splash. If this deck could magically play another playset of a good white removal spell, I don't think that would make the deck competitive. Removal isn't the reason this isn't tier 1. So even in the ideal scenario which ignores the life loss of the splash, it doesn't get there.
It's interesting to think about removing Martyr and Ascendant, and going more of a pure Orzhov build (which people in this thread have tried), but that is basically a completely different deck. Without extensive testing, it's impossible to say that deck is better than this one.
BoBoCTiberius - I think most lists run 1 Leyline in the board. I finally was able to trade in for one, so I've got it in my board now. It's definitely very good again certain decks, it's just that those decks aren't played that much right now, so you don't want to take up more than 1 or 2 slots in your board for it.
Your list looks pretty solid SoulCrusher. I'd prefer basic Plains instead of Flagstones, but I don't think it matters too much. I don't think Mistveil does anything, although 1 Cavern seems reasonable. I see people going in different directions on Ghost Quarters vs Tec Edge. I've always played Ghost Quarters, and I think they're fine, but Tec Edge seems fine too. It's probably hard to tell which is definitively "right". Some people run both, but I don't love playing that many non-white sources. I play only 2 Ghost Quarter main and it's fine, but 3 or even 4 are reasonable too. You can probably go down to 21 lands, especially if you're only running 2 non-white sources.
I've played Brave main and side, and I don't think it's where you want to be with this deck. Occasionally it'll be a solid 1-for-1 but most of the time it just sits in your hand. You could add a Ranger and Sister main instead of them.
Your sideboard seems good. I haven't tried Flare or Nevermore, but they seem ok. I would consider adding 1 or 2 more Sundering Growths instead of some number of them though, as I've found Sundering Growth to be a really solid sideboard card that can come in in a lot of situations.
Round 1: 2-0 v UWR Control. He was playing a very controlling version of the deck so I was able to keep up a high life total both games after early Martyrs, allowing me to beat down in grindy games with Serra Ascendants. Drew paths at the right times for his Celestial Colonnades.
Round 2: 2-1 v Mono-Red Goblins. This match-up seems somewhat close, unlike burn. Wardens/Attendants/Champions were very good at gaining a bunch of life off his many goblins. The game I lost was to double Goblin Grenade/Reverberate.
Round 3: 2-0 v Mono-U Tron. He got land screwed both games; the second game brining Ghost Quarter in definitely helped after he finally got tron together and I was able to kill one of the pieces before he could set off an Oblivion Stone.
Top 4: 0-2 v Fairies. Game one I got destroyed by a main deck Sword of War and Peace. I was definitely ahead before he resolved that. I brought in my Sundering Growths for game two and was able to kill that Sword, but then he played a Body and Mind, and although not as devastating, still killed me. I think this match-up is close, maybe good if he doesn't get a sword out. It's just tricky to play around the counterspells.
Overall I felt better with the deck tonight, although I definitely had easier match-ups than before. 2 Auriok Champion main, 1 SB continues to seem good. In some matches Champion is so good you want her main, and in the others she's not horrible. I think it's close though between maining and SBing her, and is probably meta dependent. I find myself brining in Ghost Quarters most matches and I think not having those main is probably a mistake, and I'll move the two I have out of the SB, which also frees up 2 spots. I've found Sundering Growth to be one of my best SB options and might even want to go up to a third. Dryad Militant is not doing much in my board other than a random aggressive creature that sometimes hoses Snapcaster.
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
4 Flamewake Phoenix
4 Fanatic of Mogis
3 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Purphoros, God of the Forge
2 Lightning Strike
3 Crater's Claws
21 Mountain
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Lightning Strike
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Firedrinker Satyr
2 Hammer of Purphoros
2 Wild Slash
Lost to GB Constellation in 3 games, beat an aggro brew and mono-black aggro. In top 8, beat temur ascendancy combo (this match-up is favorable), beat the GB Constellation player this time (I don't think this match-up is favorable though), and beat Sultai control.
The deck seems very solid. Random thoughts: I don't know what to do with Lightning Strikes. I found myself siding out the two I had in the main a lot in favor of Stokes, which I had a lot of success with. I like the Firedrinkers out of the board when on the play against decks you want to go under; I might go up to 3 of them. I'm not convinced on Purphoros in the main, although I'll keep trying him. Ashcloud Phoenix is really solid, and Eidolon is maybe the best card in the deck; always want a turn 2 Eidolon.
The other change of Ligering Souls for Spectral Procession seems like a slight gain for the deck. It certainly doesn't make up for the splash on its own, but it gets closer if you add Orzhov Charm. I still agree with Alaskan that splashes don't work with this deck, but I think you're on the right track here. (Side note: I disagree with you Alaskan that the red splash is better. Also that is just an entirely different deck). From my end the Ranger into Orzhov Charm swap is very interesting and should be looked into, but I still don't think this splash warrants the inconsistency and life loss the non-basics add. Something I don't think people here have looked into enough is Brimaz in this deck (which has been having some success on Dailies), so maybe the splash becomes worth it for some reason if Brimaz is in this deck? Something like that is worth looking into.
3 Ghost Quarter
11 Plains
4 Windbrisk Heights
4 Ajani's Pridemate
4 Auriok Champion
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Serra Ascendant
3 Soul Warden
3 Soul's Attendant
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Path to Exile
4 Spectral Procession
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Disenchant
1 Dismember
1 Fracturing Gust
3 Rest in Peace
3 Spellskite
3 Suppression Field
Notable is the 1 Brimaz main and 1 side, and the 4 Auriok Champions main. Also 0 Ranger of Eos in the 75.
I think over time though, it's appealing recurring multiples of these in grindy match-ups. It's basically the same theory as having Immortal Servitude in your sideboard, except it's better because it's all creatures and worse because they're not all at once. The problem with going to route of splashing black for this and playing Lingering Souls (probably in addition to the some number of Spectral Processions you keep in the deck) is that Souls does nothing with this. I think this card probably does way too little to even play, much less warrant the splash. But the percentage of grindy, long games I have with this deck is really high so it's definitely appealing in that regard as it improves those games a lot.
Deicide 1W
Instant (R)
Exile target enchantment. If the exiled card is a God card, search its controller's graveyard, hand, and library for any number of cards with the same name as that card and exile them, then that player shuffles his or her library.
"It is done."
- Elspeth
"I refuse to believe it is a bad matchup though, so I'm going to assume it is not," LSV says after losing game 1. I think this showcases most pros opinions towards this deck; that it couldn't possibly be good, but he does overall seem more respectful of it than most. After losing game two he revises that opinion to "I don't think it's horrible, but I don't think it's great." I think this is a pretty accurate assessment. There are two UR Delver players in my local meta, and I've found the matchup to be close to even, maybe 55% or 60% favored towards us. Of note is that LSV only had 1 electrolyze in his 75 which I've found to be their best card against us.
idm, I think you're deluding yourself a little if you think this deck is tier 1.5. Maybe we have different definitions of tiers in Modern, but this deck hasn't put up a good GP result in forever. It won one PTQ last year and probably did ok in a few more. It put 1 copy into Day 2 of the 4k person GP Richmond. It puts up a 3-1 result in MTGO dailies maybe twice a month. One reason for this lack of results is that no one is playing the deck right now and it isn't really respected. It's unfairly seen as a cute lifegain deck, which it isn't as discussed above. But it isn't putting up any results right now, or in the past year or more, and is tier 2.5 at best, probably tier 3. I think this is what makes Picelli89 want to splash a color or brew up a similar but new build. It seems like there's the potential for a Soul Sister-y modern deck that can do so much better than tier 3. And maybe there is and the only problem is that not enough people are playing the deck right now to find it. But the current build of the deck that has existed in basically the same form for several years is solid, occasionally does well in localized results and metas, and is what it is right now.
In terms of the specific black splash you talk about- only having Path as removal is definitely a problem with the deck. Orzhov Charm would possibly slightly improve the deck (Zealous Persecution is maybe also ok), but considering this deck needs to preserve life, it alone is definitely not worth a splash. If this deck could magically play another playset of a good white removal spell, I don't think that would make the deck competitive. Removal isn't the reason this isn't tier 1. So even in the ideal scenario which ignores the life loss of the splash, it doesn't get there.
It's interesting to think about removing Martyr and Ascendant, and going more of a pure Orzhov build (which people in this thread have tried), but that is basically a completely different deck. Without extensive testing, it's impossible to say that deck is better than this one.
BoBoCTiberius - I think most lists run 1 Leyline in the board. I finally was able to trade in for one, so I've got it in my board now. It's definitely very good again certain decks, it's just that those decks aren't played that much right now, so you don't want to take up more than 1 or 2 slots in your board for it.
Silence the Believers
2BB
Instant
Strive - Silence the Believers costs 2B more to cast for each target beyond the first.
Exile any number of target creatures and all Auras attached to them.
I've played Brave main and side, and I don't think it's where you want to be with this deck. Occasionally it'll be a solid 1-for-1 but most of the time it just sits in your hand. You could add a Ranger and Sister main instead of them.
Your sideboard seems good. I haven't tried Flare or Nevermore, but they seem ok. I would consider adding 1 or 2 more Sundering Growths instead of some number of them though, as I've found Sundering Growth to be a really solid sideboard card that can come in in a lot of situations.
Dawnbringer Charioteers 2WW
Creature - Human Solider (R)
Flying, Lifelink
Heroic - Whenever you cast a spell that targets Dawnbringer Charioteers, put a +1/+1 counter on Dawnbringer Charioteers.
2/4
"Nyx may belong to the gods, but the skies of Theros are ours."
3 Soul Warden
3 Soul's Attendant
4 Martyr of Sands
2 Auriok Champion
4 Ajani's Pridemate
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Serra Ascendant
3 Ranger of Eos
4 Path to Exile
4 Honor of the Pure
19 Plains
2 Windbrisk Heights
2 Sundering Growth
2 Dryad Militant
2 Rest in Peace
2 Suppression Field
1 Witchbane Orb
3 Stony Silence
1 Auriok Champion
2 Ghost Quarter
Round 1: 2-0 v UWR Control. He was playing a very controlling version of the deck so I was able to keep up a high life total both games after early Martyrs, allowing me to beat down in grindy games with Serra Ascendants. Drew paths at the right times for his Celestial Colonnades.
Round 2: 2-1 v Mono-Red Goblins. This match-up seems somewhat close, unlike burn. Wardens/Attendants/Champions were very good at gaining a bunch of life off his many goblins. The game I lost was to double Goblin Grenade/Reverberate.
Round 3: 2-0 v Mono-U Tron. He got land screwed both games; the second game brining Ghost Quarter in definitely helped after he finally got tron together and I was able to kill one of the pieces before he could set off an Oblivion Stone.
Top 4: 0-2 v Fairies. Game one I got destroyed by a main deck Sword of War and Peace. I was definitely ahead before he resolved that. I brought in my Sundering Growths for game two and was able to kill that Sword, but then he played a Body and Mind, and although not as devastating, still killed me. I think this match-up is close, maybe good if he doesn't get a sword out. It's just tricky to play around the counterspells.
Overall I felt better with the deck tonight, although I definitely had easier match-ups than before. 2 Auriok Champion main, 1 SB continues to seem good. In some matches Champion is so good you want her main, and in the others she's not horrible. I think it's close though between maining and SBing her, and is probably meta dependent. I find myself brining in Ghost Quarters most matches and I think not having those main is probably a mistake, and I'll move the two I have out of the SB, which also frees up 2 spots. I've found Sundering Growth to be one of my best SB options and might even want to go up to a third. Dryad Militant is not doing much in my board other than a random aggressive creature that sometimes hoses Snapcaster.