If you can convince yourself of the flavor appropriateness, Sun Titan really would rock the house here.
I can see why you like Heliod over Nylea. You're trying to go wide with a bunch of guys. I'm try to go big with a few fatties. Vigilance doesn't matter much to me as my main beaters are Avacyn, Elesh Norn, and Sun Titan.
Even if you don't have High Market, I'm pretty sure that Forest is better than Temple of the False God in this deck. That card's probably a trap in EDH unless you can abuse it.
I don't like Yavimaya Hollow because there are so many bad things that can happen which regeneration doesn't fix. Tuck, bounce, exile, Arrest effects, Humility, etc. A number of popular cards don't allow for regen anyway (Wrath of God). Colorless land are quite bad for our game plan. I try to run as few as possible. That being said, Avacyn covers a lot of the stuff that regen would cover, so maybe the Hollow would be better for you.
I do run Kor Haven but it's only meh. It's on my list of potential cuts. If we're holding up 3 mana per turn to hold off one attacker, we're probably doing it wrong. My gameplan is to advance my board in a manner that provides overlapping protection effects. Something like Saffi Eriksdotter into Gaddock Teeg into Karametra into Avacyn might be my tutor progression for the first few turns (just one example of many possible progressions). So, I'm always tapping out early and I don't need a Maze of Ith effect late. Either I'm winning or I'm too far behind and need a blowout to catch back up(something like Terminus or Myojin of Cleansing Fire). Kor Haven might be better for you since your curve is lower, but I would count it as a spell instead of a land so you don't mess up your early colored mana.
As for Bow of Nylea, it shines in my build thanks to Polukranos, World Eater. Attack, gain deathtouch and literally eat the world. That seems like a massive flavor fail here. The Bow also specifically hoses Kaalia of the Vast if that's a thing in your meta.
A few other thoughts:
Konda's Banner is strong here. Pretty much your whole squad gets +2/+2 (including the bearer).
Knight of the Reliquary seems like it might under-perform. Good card, don't get me wrong, but you don't have enough of a "lands matter" package (not even a Strip Mine) to make her worth it (in my opinion). Now if you had the Dark Depths / Thespian's Stage package, then we'd be talking. But again, huge flavor fail. If you drop Knight, you can also lose Sejiri Steppe, which seems awful if you can't get it at instant speed. The bar for me to tolerate ETB tapped lands or colorless lands is very high.
It feels like you could use a bit more ramp. I like simple stuff along the lines of Nature's Lore, Farseek and Selesnya Signet, especially the Signet because it fixes your mana very well off any two lands. All of them come down before Sisay and allow you to accelerate into her, which is key. I avoid Cultivate and friends because they don't get you to Sisay any faster.
I will mention that Loyal Retainers is human, and he's super good here. It might be a budget issue though. He's much better if you run Sun Titan and incredibly busted if you run Survival of the Fittest. The last one seems off-flavor again.
I find that my deck is just a mediocre, clunky midrange deck if I don't have Sisay. I tried to diversify against this, but it just made the deck worse. So, I'm always on the "get Sisay and protect Sisay" plan. One or two activations and I'm usually good. That's why I'm so interested in good mana early. You can see my current build at the link in my sig if you'd like. I think I'll be adding card-by-card comments soon.
Major update to the list. Theros Block was good to Sisay, wasn't it?
I think the mana base and ramp package could use a bit more tweaking, but it's much better than it was. My biggest issues now seem to be very aggressive decks and opponents who exile my key legends. I guess I could try Riftsweeper. I'd also like to expand the Equipment package. I have several cards that bascially just go get Lightning Greaves. That's a great card, but I think I can do more.
Recent Over-performers:
Heroes' Podium - Thank you Wizards! This card is perfect for Sisay. Polukranos, World Eater - Sizable beater and good removal too. Use with Bow of Nylea for extra goodness. Karametra, God of Harvests - Wow she ramps a lot. It's easy to cast two or three creatures per turn. You just get so far ahead on mana and improve your draw quality in the late game.
Recent Under-performers:
Genesis - So good with Survival of the Fittest, so bad without it. I need a recursion element here. I'm not sure he's the right one. Scavenging Ooze - I need some graveyard hate, but I think I can do better.
Hey, nice take on Captain Sisay. Here are a few humble suggestions from a fellow Sisay player:
You have Mangara of Corondor. He's great. He's even better with sacrifice effects like High Market or the Legendary Miren, the Moaning Well. (If you didn't know, you can sac him with his activated ability on the stack and have him end up in the graveyard for future abuse instead of exiled). I've taken over games with Mangara + Miren + Hua Tuo. Deranged Outcast works here too, and makes me think I might want to run it. Bow of Nylea is good for recursion and is conveniently Legendary.
Good call on Hall of the Bandit Lord. I don't know why more people don't use that card. It's great.
Heroes' Podium has been really good for me. Another legendary source of card advantage and massive pump for your guys.
Spear of Heliod is a Legendary Anthem with a cool ability, so it fits here. You're already playing Kongming, so it looks like you're in the market for that sort of thing.
Martyr's Cause is one of my favorite EDH cards. It's great with Mangara, saves a ton of damage, brickwalls obnoxious voltron decks like Uril and Rafiq (you're the target, not the attacking creature) and is very affordable. What's not to like?
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker is a great Legednary Human that holds off enemy swarm decks. I find her almost necessary against token or aggro decks. She's one of my early Sisay targets if there's a token player at the table.
Oblation is another white staple for me. Pretty much Vindicate that hoses enemy generals. Also, you can do tricks with Sisay: If someone goes to kill her, activate her ability in response and then use Oblation targeting her while the ability is on the stack. You end up drawing two cards and then searching for a Legend (Sisay). Totally blows out the opponent's removal.
Coat of Arms is superb in tribal decks, but it helps other players too, so watch out if you play it.
Steely Resolve seems like it would be outstanding. You can cast it before Sisay and then feel confident that you'll be able to keep her around.
Speaking of ramp, Avacyn's Pilgrim has been great for me and is human.
As for possible cuts:
I find Mageta the Lion to be bad. Myojin of Cleansing Fire is much better, but Mageta is a human, so there's that. I still don't think he's worth it, especially without Avacyn in the deck.
Temple of the False God got cut from my deck because it was bad early and not helpful late. it's only good if it exactly ramps you from 4 to 6, but even then, Karametra will give you all the land you ever need, and you can tutor for her. High Market would be much better, IMHO.
Selesnya Charm could go for one of those as well. It just seems pretty narrow. Swords to Plowshares would be a nice upgrade if you can get one (I think it's in Conspiracy).
You mentioned Yavimaya Hollow but it's been under-performing for me. You can only play so many colorless lands.
I've never been a fan of Akroma's Memorial. I find that it doesn't help if I'm behind and I don't need it if I'm ahead.
As a fellow Spike who crushed a few EDH tables and ruffled more than a few feathers before I "got it", the best advice I can offer you is this:
Don't try to break the format. Try NOT to break it.
This doesn't mean that you should take a powerful deck and dumb it down. This usually leads to a high-variance deck and a bad experience for someone. Either the good part of your deck works in spite your attempts to weaken it and the other players get steamrolled (and steamed!). That's a bad experience for them. Or, you get the bad cards and just sit there taking a beating and thinking "if only I had my REAL cards". That's a bad experience for you. I'm having this exact problem with my Kozilek, Butcher of Truth deck right now. Either I flatten the whole table or play draw-go for 10 turns before someone gets around to killing me. Maybe it's just not possible to build a Kozilek deck that fits the nature of the format. (But I'm not giving up.)
Rather, find something unique/fun/interesting, however you define those things. Then build the best deck possible with that theme/goal in mind. Playing a "casual" format does not mean "I have to play crap." It just means "my goal is different in EDH than it is in a Constructed tournament." In a Constructed tournament, if you're a Spike, you just want to win as efficiently as possible, and forget the rest. In EDH, my goal is to build decks of which I'm proud, that have a reasonable chance of winning a fair game and that are fun to play and fun to play against. My favorite thing is when an opponent says "Hey man, cool deck", even if I win. Another good test is "if I swapped decks with my opponent, would I enjoy playing against my own deck?" If the answer is no, back to the drawing board.
Just because you build a unique/fun/interesting deck doesn't mean that it has to be poorly designed. If you want to build a Baron Sengir Vampire Tribal deck, for crying out loud, do it right. Have a mana curve. Have some synergy. Play some answers. Play good cards. Some might label you a "try-hard", but that's just nonsense. You probably can't be a "try-hard" if you're playing Vampire Tribal in EDH. I'm an engineer by trade. Things which are poorly designed make me sad. If you're going to do something, do it all the way. Don't confuse "casual" with "mediocre" or "sloppy". (Nothing against the Baron. He's in my Olivia deck. I just used him as an example of a fun and flavorful but not super-competitive creature)
For a specific recommendation, you might want to try Darien, King of Kjeldor. He's mono-colored, not green or red, and has a very unique effect. Soldier tribal is fine (and he counts as a Soldier in the Oracle text). But, you can do better. Think of the ways to damage yourself for fun and profit (City of Brass, Mana Vault, etc). Think about what to do with all those soldiers. Then figure out a way to reliably cast a 6-drop commander in a color with mediocre ramp options and awful card draw. If you decide to go that route, PM me or ping the thread. I've build the deck before and it's a blast.
Greetings. Nice thread. I'm getting ready to play at SCG Fort Worth in a few weeks. I haven't played a Legacy tournament since it was called "Type 1.5" but I think I'll give it a shot. I'll probably play Affinity since it can hopefully cover some of my lack of experience in the format with overwhelming offense. I'm probably going to keep it simple, like Ian Anderson's build from SCG Oakland last year. For reference:
My only change from Anderson's list is to swap an Academy Ruins with a Glimmervoid because I've been having color issues. Anyway, the deck plays very well, I'm just not sure what to take out when sideboarding. Here's my guess at a sideboarding plan versus some of the major archetypes that I know of. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
VS Delver
+4 Chalice, +2 Rest in Peace, -4 Signal Pest, -1 ravager, -1 champion
VS StoneBlade
+4 Chalice, -4 Signal Pest. Spell Pierce seems good too, but don't know what to cut.
VS Death and taxes
Nothing? Chalice and Canonist don't do much. Rest in Peace is blank. Spell Pierce for Swords to Plowshares? Yeah, that seems bad. I guess we just hope to beat face before they can get us.
VS Lands
I don't even know. Maybe some Rest in Peace to mess up Life from the Loam, taking some number of Ravagers and Champions?
VS Storm
+4 Chalice, +4 Canonist, -4 Champion, -4 Signal Pest
VS Reanimator
+4 Chalice, +4 Rest in Peace, -4 Champion, -4 Signal Pest
VS Burn
+4 Chalice, -4 Signal Pest
VS Elves
+4 Chalice, -4 Signal Pest
If these are totally wrong, please tell me. You won't hurt my feelings. I play Standard all the time, but I'm a Legacy n00b. Thanks!
I saw your comment above, but I find Nevinyrral's Disk to be just fine. It has to make it around the table before you can pop it, but even if someone kills it, Glissa can just get it back when something dies. And, when you you do pop it, you can get it back from the Glissa trigger. In a similar way, I find Plague Boiler to be quite good. You'd think the three counter issue would be a severe drawback, but many times you can just use it after a turn or even right away.
I see that you play Gaze of Granite as another sweeper, and I'm wondering why I don't play it. Seems like a complete blowout. Thanks for the idea!
Finally, I find cards like Urza's Bauble to be surprisingly useful with Glissa. There have been games where I've literally drawn 10 cards with the stupid thing.
Is it possible to play a kinder, gentler Kozilek? The shop where I play just cannot handle this monster of a deck, but I rather enjoy playing it. It's not about wrecking scrubs with this high-powered killing machine, it's just that I find colorless EDH to be quite interesting, and this is exactly my kind of colorless EDH build.
Is there anyway to play Koziliek as a general without just crushing casual tables? I mean, sure, I could take out the good cards and fill the deck with garbage like Jangling Automaton, but that's just terrible. I'm thinking about an effective deck with a lower ceiling.
The plan against sweepers is Gaddock Teeg (and Avacyn if I can get there). If it becomes too much of a problem, I'll diversify away from the mana guys.
I've never tried Glory but that could be great. I especially like the foil promo version in Hebrew. It's about the coolest looking Magic card I've seen.
Significant update to the list. The first version left a lot to be desired, but I'm excited about the way that this one turned out.
I think I may have lowered the curve a bit too far and that I'm light on win conditions. One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to turn Sisay into a win condition via Commander Damage to be used against opponents who gain a bunch of life. Any ideas?
Thanks again. What would you cut from my current list? I'm thinking I could drop one mana rock, maybe up to 3 equipment, and possibly the leonin package (shikari and abunis). I might be willing to go down to 38 land, but I'm not sure.
If you're going for a Zombie theme, Graveborn Muse is nuts. I play it in my Glissa deck. Even just the Muse and Glissa is two cards per turn. It's amazing.
If you're looking for Green and Black, maybe Glissa, the Traitor? Deathtouch comes standard and you get value off the pings. The new gorgons from Theros seem like a good fit as well.
Thanks man. I really appreciate the comments. Please see my thoughts below.
Quote from Jake1991 »
Eternal Dragon is a great utility card. Tutors for a land early game and is a good back-up flier to hold Equipment. Works well with Sword of Light and Shadow.
I've played the dragon before, and it always felt a bit slow. But, you're right about Sword of Light and Shadow. That seems pretty bonkers. I'll try it.
Quote from Jake1991 »
Reveillark works well in decks with numerous low-power creatures.
This was in an earlier version when I had more creatures. I feel like I don't want to see it early, but it can be solid late game. It's always a 2-for-1, and that's pretty good for mono-white.
Quote from Jake1991 »
Silverblade Paladin offers double strike while granting double strike to itself. Great for Kemba and as a back-up plan.
I've been testing this card in my Captain Sisay deck. You're right. It's amazing. A definite keeper.
Quote from Jake1991 »
Batterskull is amazing. It plays like a beefy mid-sized creature and offers a great boost. Great target for an early-game Stoneforge Mystic.
Can't really go wrong with Stoneforge into Batterskull. Do you think it's better than Argentum Armor? That thing gets stuck in my hand frequently.
Mistveil Plains tucks cards from your graveyard. It has great synergy with Stonehewer Giant, as you can tuck destroyed Equipment to re-tutor back onto the field. It can be tutored with Eternal Dragon.
I can see why you like Heliod over Nylea. You're trying to go wide with a bunch of guys. I'm try to go big with a few fatties. Vigilance doesn't matter much to me as my main beaters are Avacyn, Elesh Norn, and Sun Titan.
Even if you don't have High Market, I'm pretty sure that Forest is better than Temple of the False God in this deck. That card's probably a trap in EDH unless you can abuse it.
I don't like Yavimaya Hollow because there are so many bad things that can happen which regeneration doesn't fix. Tuck, bounce, exile, Arrest effects, Humility, etc. A number of popular cards don't allow for regen anyway (Wrath of God). Colorless land are quite bad for our game plan. I try to run as few as possible. That being said, Avacyn covers a lot of the stuff that regen would cover, so maybe the Hollow would be better for you.
I do run Kor Haven but it's only meh. It's on my list of potential cuts. If we're holding up 3 mana per turn to hold off one attacker, we're probably doing it wrong. My gameplan is to advance my board in a manner that provides overlapping protection effects. Something like Saffi Eriksdotter into Gaddock Teeg into Karametra into Avacyn might be my tutor progression for the first few turns (just one example of many possible progressions). So, I'm always tapping out early and I don't need a Maze of Ith effect late. Either I'm winning or I'm too far behind and need a blowout to catch back up(something like Terminus or Myojin of Cleansing Fire). Kor Haven might be better for you since your curve is lower, but I would count it as a spell instead of a land so you don't mess up your early colored mana.
As for Bow of Nylea, it shines in my build thanks to Polukranos, World Eater. Attack, gain deathtouch and literally eat the world. That seems like a massive flavor fail here. The Bow also specifically hoses Kaalia of the Vast if that's a thing in your meta.
A few other thoughts:
Konda's Banner is strong here. Pretty much your whole squad gets +2/+2 (including the bearer).
Increasing Devotion? Seems pretty good.
Knight of the Reliquary seems like it might under-perform. Good card, don't get me wrong, but you don't have enough of a "lands matter" package (not even a Strip Mine) to make her worth it (in my opinion). Now if you had the Dark Depths / Thespian's Stage package, then we'd be talking. But again, huge flavor fail. If you drop Knight, you can also lose Sejiri Steppe, which seems awful if you can't get it at instant speed. The bar for me to tolerate ETB tapped lands or colorless lands is very high.
It feels like you could use a bit more ramp. I like simple stuff along the lines of Nature's Lore, Farseek and Selesnya Signet, especially the Signet because it fixes your mana very well off any two lands. All of them come down before Sisay and allow you to accelerate into her, which is key. I avoid Cultivate and friends because they don't get you to Sisay any faster.
I will mention that Loyal Retainers is human, and he's super good here. It might be a budget issue though. He's much better if you run Sun Titan and incredibly busted if you run Survival of the Fittest. The last one seems off-flavor again.
I find that my deck is just a mediocre, clunky midrange deck if I don't have Sisay. I tried to diversify against this, but it just made the deck worse. So, I'm always on the "get Sisay and protect Sisay" plan. One or two activations and I'm usually good. That's why I'm so interested in good mana early. You can see my current build at the link in my sig if you'd like. I think I'll be adding card-by-card comments soon.
I think the mana base and ramp package could use a bit more tweaking, but it's much better than it was. My biggest issues now seem to be very aggressive decks and opponents who exile my key legends. I guess I could try Riftsweeper. I'd also like to expand the Equipment package. I have several cards that bascially just go get Lightning Greaves. That's a great card, but I think I can do more.
Recent Over-performers:
Heroes' Podium - Thank you Wizards! This card is perfect for Sisay.
Polukranos, World Eater - Sizable beater and good removal too. Use with Bow of Nylea for extra goodness.
Karametra, God of Harvests - Wow she ramps a lot. It's easy to cast two or three creatures per turn. You just get so far ahead on mana and improve your draw quality in the late game.
Recent Under-performers:
Genesis - So good with Survival of the Fittest, so bad without it. I need a recursion element here. I'm not sure he's the right one.
Scavenging Ooze - I need some graveyard hate, but I think I can do better.
You have Mangara of Corondor. He's great. He's even better with sacrifice effects like High Market or the Legendary Miren, the Moaning Well. (If you didn't know, you can sac him with his activated ability on the stack and have him end up in the graveyard for future abuse instead of exiled). I've taken over games with Mangara + Miren + Hua Tuo. Deranged Outcast works here too, and makes me think I might want to run it. Bow of Nylea is good for recursion and is conveniently Legendary.
Good call on Hall of the Bandit Lord. I don't know why more people don't use that card. It's great.
Sun Titan, Linvala, Keeper of Silence and Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite would be absolutely awesome here, but I'm guessing you left them out for flavor reasons. Understandable.
Heroes' Podium has been really good for me. Another legendary source of card advantage and massive pump for your guys.
Spear of Heliod is a Legendary Anthem with a cool ability, so it fits here. You're already playing Kongming, so it looks like you're in the market for that sort of thing.
Martyr's Cause is one of my favorite EDH cards. It's great with Mangara, saves a ton of damage, brickwalls obnoxious voltron decks like Uril and Rafiq (you're the target, not the attacking creature) and is very affordable. What's not to like?
Michiko Konda, Truth Seeker is a great Legednary Human that holds off enemy swarm decks. I find her almost necessary against token or aggro decks. She's one of my early Sisay targets if there's a token player at the table.
Oblation is another white staple for me. Pretty much Vindicate that hoses enemy generals. Also, you can do tricks with Sisay: If someone goes to kill her, activate her ability in response and then use Oblation targeting her while the ability is on the stack. You end up drawing two cards and then searching for a Legend (Sisay). Totally blows out the opponent's removal.
Coat of Arms is superb in tribal decks, but it helps other players too, so watch out if you play it.
Steely Resolve seems like it would be outstanding. You can cast it before Sisay and then feel confident that you'll be able to keep her around.
Benevolent Bodyguard is a good Sisay preserver, and is Human.
Thousand-Year Elixir is amazing with Sisay, and it helps some of your other guys too. Magewright's Stone is fine as a budget option.
Retribution of the Meek is a good sweeper that would work here (along the lines of Harsh Mercy).
For tutors, I run Eladamri's Call, Green Sun's Zenith, Steelshaper's Gift (to get Lightning Greaves), and Enlightened Tutor. Gift is a little narrow but the rest are great. If you go with Zenith, add a Dryad Arbor for Turn one ramp.
Speaking of ramp, Avacyn's Pilgrim has been great for me and is human.
As for possible cuts:
I find Mageta the Lion to be bad. Myojin of Cleansing Fire is much better, but Mageta is a human, so there's that. I still don't think he's worth it, especially without Avacyn in the deck.
Temple of the False God got cut from my deck because it was bad early and not helpful late. it's only good if it exactly ramps you from 4 to 6, but even then, Karametra will give you all the land you ever need, and you can tutor for her. High Market would be much better, IMHO.
Revoke Existence is quite narrow. Consider Oblation (above) or Return to Dust for an easy 2-for-1.
Selesnya Charm could go for one of those as well. It just seems pretty narrow. Swords to Plowshares would be a nice upgrade if you can get one (I think it's in Conspiracy).
You mentioned Yavimaya Hollow but it's been under-performing for me. You can only play so many colorless lands.
I've never been a fan of Akroma's Memorial. I find that it doesn't help if I'm behind and I don't need it if I'm ahead.
Heliod seems merely ok. (Nylea is great, though).
Elder of Laurels and Imposing Sovereign seem like good candidates for replacement as well. They're fine, but I think you can do better.
Anyway, really cool deck. I hope it serves you well!
Don't try to break the format. Try NOT to break it.
This doesn't mean that you should take a powerful deck and dumb it down. This usually leads to a high-variance deck and a bad experience for someone. Either the good part of your deck works in spite your attempts to weaken it and the other players get steamrolled (and steamed!). That's a bad experience for them. Or, you get the bad cards and just sit there taking a beating and thinking "if only I had my REAL cards". That's a bad experience for you. I'm having this exact problem with my Kozilek, Butcher of Truth deck right now. Either I flatten the whole table or play draw-go for 10 turns before someone gets around to killing me. Maybe it's just not possible to build a Kozilek deck that fits the nature of the format. (But I'm not giving up.)
Rather, find something unique/fun/interesting, however you define those things. Then build the best deck possible with that theme/goal in mind. Playing a "casual" format does not mean "I have to play crap." It just means "my goal is different in EDH than it is in a Constructed tournament." In a Constructed tournament, if you're a Spike, you just want to win as efficiently as possible, and forget the rest. In EDH, my goal is to build decks of which I'm proud, that have a reasonable chance of winning a fair game and that are fun to play and fun to play against. My favorite thing is when an opponent says "Hey man, cool deck", even if I win. Another good test is "if I swapped decks with my opponent, would I enjoy playing against my own deck?" If the answer is no, back to the drawing board.
Just because you build a unique/fun/interesting deck doesn't mean that it has to be poorly designed. If you want to build a Baron Sengir Vampire Tribal deck, for crying out loud, do it right. Have a mana curve. Have some synergy. Play some answers. Play good cards. Some might label you a "try-hard", but that's just nonsense. You probably can't be a "try-hard" if you're playing Vampire Tribal in EDH. I'm an engineer by trade. Things which are poorly designed make me sad. If you're going to do something, do it all the way. Don't confuse "casual" with "mediocre" or "sloppy". (Nothing against the Baron. He's in my Olivia deck. I just used him as an example of a fun and flavorful but not super-competitive creature)
For a specific recommendation, you might want to try Darien, King of Kjeldor. He's mono-colored, not green or red, and has a very unique effect. Soldier tribal is fine (and he counts as a Soldier in the Oracle text). But, you can do better. Think of the ways to damage yourself for fun and profit (City of Brass, Mana Vault, etc). Think about what to do with all those soldiers. Then figure out a way to reliably cast a 6-drop commander in a color with mediocre ramp options and awful card draw. If you decide to go that route, PM me or ping the thread. I've build the deck before and it's a blast.
Good hunting.
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Etched Champion
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Vault Skirge
Planeswalkers (3)
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
Spells (16)
4 Cranial Plating
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Mox Opal
4 Thoughtcast
4 Ancient Den
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Glimmervoid
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ethersworn Canonist
4 Rest in Peace
3 Spell Pierce
My only change from Anderson's list is to swap an Academy Ruins with a Glimmervoid because I've been having color issues. Anyway, the deck plays very well, I'm just not sure what to take out when sideboarding. Here's my guess at a sideboarding plan versus some of the major archetypes that I know of. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
VS Delver
+4 Chalice, +2 Rest in Peace, -4 Signal Pest, -1 ravager, -1 champion
VS StoneBlade
+4 Chalice, -4 Signal Pest. Spell Pierce seems good too, but don't know what to cut.
VS Death and taxes
Nothing? Chalice and Canonist don't do much. Rest in Peace is blank. Spell Pierce for Swords to Plowshares? Yeah, that seems bad. I guess we just hope to beat face before they can get us.
VS Lands
I don't even know. Maybe some Rest in Peace to mess up Life from the Loam, taking some number of Ravagers and Champions?
VS Storm
+4 Chalice, +4 Canonist, -4 Champion, -4 Signal Pest
VS Reanimator
+4 Chalice, +4 Rest in Peace, -4 Champion, -4 Signal Pest
VS Burn
+4 Chalice, -4 Signal Pest
VS Elves
+4 Chalice, -4 Signal Pest
If these are totally wrong, please tell me. You won't hurt my feelings. I play Standard all the time, but I'm a Legacy n00b. Thanks!
I saw your comment above, but I find Nevinyrral's Disk to be just fine. It has to make it around the table before you can pop it, but even if someone kills it, Glissa can just get it back when something dies. And, when you you do pop it, you can get it back from the Glissa trigger. In a similar way, I find Plague Boiler to be quite good. You'd think the three counter issue would be a severe drawback, but many times you can just use it after a turn or even right away.
I see that you play Gaze of Granite as another sweeper, and I'm wondering why I don't play it. Seems like a complete blowout. Thanks for the idea!
If you go with extra sweepers, Darksteel Plate is super.
You play Urborg, but not Cabal Coffers. Is that intentional? The combo is just too good when you can re-use Expedition map.
You've got Birthing Pod and Wurmcoil Engine. That makes Sheoldred, Whispering One look very attractive. I've won many a game with that Pod chain. I use Precursor Golem in the 5 slot for extra silliness.
Finally, I find cards like Urza's Bauble to be surprisingly useful with Glissa. There have been games where I've literally drawn 10 cards with the stupid thing.
Is there anyway to play Koziliek as a general without just crushing casual tables? I mean, sure, I could take out the good cards and fill the deck with garbage like Jangling Automaton, but that's just terrible. I'm thinking about an effective deck with a lower ceiling.
Maybe downgrade the ramp (say Guardian Idol instead of Mana Crypt)? Make it all about mid-level, decent artifact creatures (like Wurmcoil Engine)?
The plan against sweepers is Gaddock Teeg (and Avacyn if I can get there). If it becomes too much of a problem, I'll diversify away from the mana guys.
Genesis has gone in and out of the deck. I'm testing Hua Tuo, Honored Physician in that spot right now. As good as Genesis is when you draw Survival of the Fittest, he seems really bad when you don't.
I've never tried Glory but that could be great. I especially like the foil promo version in Hebrew. It's about the coolest looking Magic card I've seen.
As for Cultivate and Kodama's reach, those are intentionally missing. I went for a lower curve with ramp creatures like Birds of Paradise, Bloom Tender, and Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary. These guys help with Gaea's Cradle, come down at least a turn earlier, and can be pitched to Survival of the Fittest if I draw them late in the game.
I think I may have lowered the curve a bit too far and that I'm light on win conditions. One thing I haven't figured out yet is how to turn Sisay into a win condition via Commander Damage to be used against opponents who gain a bunch of life. Any ideas?
I've played the dragon before, and it always felt a bit slow. But, you're right about Sword of Light and Shadow. That seems pretty bonkers. I'll try it.
This was in an earlier version when I had more creatures. I feel like I don't want to see it early, but it can be solid late game. It's always a 2-for-1, and that's pretty good for mono-white.
I've been testing this card in my Captain Sisay deck. You're right. It's amazing. A definite keeper.
Can't really go wrong with Stoneforge into Batterskull. Do you think it's better than Argentum Armor? That thing gets stuck in my hand frequently.
Yup. Good with the Swords.
I've tried it before and it always felt a bit slow. By the time I get 6 mana, do I need to double it? If I'm stuck on 4, this does not help.
This would teach that Red mage not to Vandalblast my equipment.
How did I miss this one? Blow up the world and leave all my weapons. Seems good.
It's card advantage, but is it enough? Would Argivian Archeologist be better?
Those are great, of course, but I'm not sure that I can afford 1-for-1's.
All those lands should be in there. Thanks again for the tips!