Hi Everyone, recently have been doing well with this configuration as more of a Grixis tempo/midrange style of deck rather than a full-on control deck.
Some thoughts on my decklist:
Cards I've been impressed with - Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Olivia Voldaren
Chandra has been really good for me at presenting a threat for decks that try to grind the game out over time, and is a great card to play on a nearly empty board. Olivia Voldaren has been fantastic against Lingering Souls decks, as well as the plethora of small creature decks. It's great against Elves, Abzan CoCo, Tokens etc. It gets out of control pretty quick and has a snowball effect on the game.
I've actually cut Serum Visions completely from my list, as I've just found it to be less impactful than many other cards as a topdeck or in situations where you are looking to play a big threat. At least in this style of deck, I've been more impressed with the effect thought scour gives to slam down a T2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang. Lightning Bolt is more of a card for my LGS metagame, but cutting some number has felt a lot better against the Eldrazi Tron, UW Control, and Death's Shadow variants.
This style of deck is more concerned with playing a early threat and protecting it, using it to gain card advantage over time. With the popularity of more Devoted Druid / Vizier of Remedies decks popping up, I added a copy of Grim Lavamancer to the maindeck. It gives quite a bit of repeatable damage, useful for picking off mana dorks, breaking up the combo, and can also help against Affinity, Elves, Tokens, etc. Since we're filling up our graveyard a lot, it actually helps with Tasigur, the Golden Fang activations in getting rid of the stuff you don't want to get back, such as Inquisition of Kozilek or Thought Scour later in the game.
Let me know what you think, if you have questions about why I made choices, or see weird sideboard cards, its most likely just because of my local metagame being different.
Just went 4-0 in my FNM tonight with Mono-White Death and Taxes. Played against Storm, Bant Eldrazi, GW Midrange, and Mono U Tron.
If anyone wants a list I used or a tourney report I'd be more than happy to post it!
Just went 4-0 in my FNM tonight with Mono-White Death and Taxes. Played against Storm, Bant Eldrazi, GW Midrange, and Mono U Tron.
If anyone wants a list I used or a tourney report I'd be more than happy to post it!
Looking forward for that list, and a small report is always welcome
G1: I win the die roll and go first, I keep a hand of Aether Vial, Dryad Militant, Leonin Arbiter, Mirran Crusader, Plains, Plains, Ghost Quarter. I start with vial t1 and see a t1 serum visions off of an island, not sure what my opp is on yet. Vial in Militant, and draw Thalia for my draw step. Play Thalia instead of arbiter, and tempo him out before he gets more than one or two cantrips going. A thought scour reveals a goblin electromancer, so I guess storm.
Sideboarding:
IN - 2x Rest in peace
OUT - 2x Path to Exile
I feel this matchup is pretty good for us already since we have thalia and arbiter to slow down his land drops and cantrips. I bring in rest in peace so past in flames and pyromancer's ascension don't work.
G2: My opponent starts off with a t1 serum visions and keeps both cards on top. I had to mulligan to 5 and keep a hand with Vial, Arbiter, Blade Splicer, and 3 lands. I scoop to a t3 double empty the warrens for 38 goblins.
G3: I keep Vial, Dryad Militant, Thalia, Flickerwisp, Plains, Plains, Eiganjo Castle. I end up vialing in the dryad militant t2 after playing thalia, and draw a leonin arbiter and ghost quarter. I GQ his shivan reef and he's stuck on lands the rest of the game.
Record 1-0
Match 2 vs Bant Eldrazi:
G1: I lose the die roll and mulligan to 6. Keeping vial, serra avenger, thalia, mirran crusader, plains, ghost quarter. He plays a t1 noble heirarch but then does nothing until he hits his 3rd land. He plays cavern and names eldrazi, plays a Thought-Knot Seer. I manage to vial in a flickerwisp in response and he takes my path to exile i had drawn the turn before. Serra Avenger and Flickerwisp beat for 6 in the air and mirran crusader and thalia hold back the TKS on the ground. He plays a second TKS into reality smasher, but I'm able to outrace him with my fliers.
I feel this matchup is probably coming down to who can race each other faster. Our best chance is to use Serra Avengers and Flickerwisps and hold the ground with blade splicers and our first strikers. Sunlance is good at killing early mana dorks and is a good answer to an Eldrazi Displacer, which can cause us headaches with trying to attack.
G2: I keep a good 7 of vial, serra avenger, thalia, blade splicer, mirran crusader, and 2 plains. I play out my hand and draw a path to exile and a sunlance. The game goes on for a while at a standstill of big creatures on the ground until he draws Eldrazi Displacer. He blinks a Drowner of Hope twice and gets a ton of scions into play to tap down my lone serra avenger. I sunlance the displacer, and he chooses to not attack for a turn or two, and uses his leftover scions to tap down my serra avenger each turn. I end up drawing a flickerwisp, use it to create another golem token, and then draw restoration angel. He eventually runs out of scions to tap down my creatures and my fliers win the day.
Record 2-0
Match 3 vs GW Midrange:
G1: I keep a reasonable hand with dryad militant, thalia, blade splicer, leonin arbiter, ghost quarter and 2 plains. He plays birds of paradise t1 and i play my militant. He plays loxodon smiter on t2, and I play out my thalia. I take a hit or two from the smiter, and he gets stuck on 2 lands and a birds. He tries to cast a lingering souls, but I remind him he has to pay the 1 extra mana. I draw into a mirran crusader and a serra avenger. Serra avenger slowly starts to whittle away his life total, and he draws only 1 land for the rest of the game. Dryad militant prevents lingering souls from being flashed back and I fight through the spirit tokens to win.
Sideboard: This matchup again comes down to our ability to draw fliers and mirran crusader, as nearly everything in his deck is a Green creature. Its much harder to shut down his mana since he has 8 mana dorks and most of his stuff is creature spells.
IN: 3x Kitchen Finks, 2x Sunlance
OUT: 2x Leonin Arbiter, 3x Dryad Militant
G2: I mulligan to 5 and am forced to keep vial, thalia, path to exile, mirran crusader, plains. He plays a t1 noble heirarch, and I play my vial. He plays t2 Quasali Pridemage and blows up my vial. Owch. I draw no land and pass. He plays another pridemage and I'm still on one land. He plays a wilt-leaf-liege and I path it, but am unable to recover from the damage of taking 4 a turn from the second pridemage. Brutal.
G3: I keep a much better 6 card hand of vial, leonin arbiter, mirran crusader, blade splicer, mutavault, plains, plains. He plays no mana dork this game and a t2 voice of resurgence into t3 voice of resurgence, leaving path mana open. I play mirran crusader and it gets pathed. I draw into a flickerwisp and make some blade splicer golems, and path a wilt-leaf liege. I draw into a serra avenger and a restoration angel, and he slams down a baneslayer angel. Yikes. I take a few hits for 6 in the air due to exalted, but im hitting him for 9 each turn with flickerwisp, serra avenger, and restoration angel. I draw another flickerwisp when I'm at 6 life and would be forced to block with serra avenger. I attack for my turn, putting him down to 8. He's been gaining lots of life every turn but I'm able to block with serra avenger, and vial in flickerwisp, negating his lifegain, and gaining an extra flier. I swing in on my turn with all my fliers and he has a path, but 9 damage is enough to get through. A close game but Serra Avenger and Flickerwisp saved the day!
Record 3-0
Onto the finals!
Match 4 vs Mono U Tron:
G1: I keep a hand with vial, dryad militant, thalia, mirran crusader, mutavault, and 2 plains. I win the die roll and he puts a Gemstone Caverns into play before I take my turn. I play vial and pass. He plays Urza's Tower and Chalice of the Void on 1. Okay. I play thalia on t2 and pass. He plays an island and repeals my Vial, and I put dryad militant into play in response. He used all his mana, so he passes. I untap and play a mirran crusader, and start to beat down. He doesn't assemble tron in time and dies with counters in his hand.
Sideboard: Mono U tron is known for playing Academy Ruins and Mindslaver, but we have lots of ways in our maindeck to punish their manabase already. I'd say its pretty favorable for us if we can disrupt their game plan with a good hand. We want to be fast, and if the game drags long we are most likely going to lose.
IN: 1x Rest in Peace, 1x Grand Abolisher, 2x Kataki, War's Wage
OUT: 1x Brimaz, 1x Restoration Angel, 1x Mirran crusader, 1x Aether Vial
G2: Game 2 starts off nearly the same fashion. He plays t2 chalice of the void for 1, but I've already played my Aether Vial on my turn. I vial in a dryad militant and play a leonin arbiter. He passes with 2 tron lands and an island up. I draw a ghost quarter and play thalia first, hoping he will use something to respond. He plays a Thirst for Knowledge in response, and ditches a Mindslaver. I then ghost quarter his Urza's Tower, putting him down to 2 lands. He can't really recover and doesn't have enough mana to play his cards through thalia anymore. I vial in a blade splicer and he concedes.
Record 4-0
The list isn't perfect, and my sideboard is more tuned for the players in my metagame. There's a guy who plays lantern control and an affinity player, so I tend to have more artifact hate cards than usual in my sideboard. However, there's a few abzan company players that are around and a guy running a Ink-Treader Nephilim deck with Cloudshift, Siege Rhino, and an effect that taps all creatures and lets you draw cards. I might take out the kataki's and grand abolisher for a spirit of the labyrinth, grafdiggers cage, etc. Any advice towards my build? I'd like to keep it mono-white or as close to it as I can get, as Serra Avenger is kind of a pet card of mine. I just can't seem to let it go, since it wins me a lot of games! Also going to try out Thalia 2.0 in this deck when she comes out and see how good she is.
Just went 4-0 in my FNM tonight with Mono-White Death and Taxes. Played against Storm, Bant Eldrazi, GW Midrange, and Mono U Tron.
If anyone wants a list I used or a tourney report I'd be more than happy to post it!
Hi everyone! I'm a long-time lurker here on the W/x death and taxes forum, and I absolutely love this archetype in modern. I really enjoy reading and seeing everyone's opinions on the different types of decklists running around, so I finally gave in and decided to post my decklist I've been playing for the last few months.
The main draw to the red splash in this deck is for Blood Moon and Lightning Bolt, and post-sideboard we get Wear // Tear and Rending Volley. I've felt that with previous versions of Death and Taxes, I would always be struggling to deal with Affinity, Infect, and Twin. Having access to two of the best removal spells in the modern format, Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile, gives us lots of early interaction against aggressive creature decks like Affinity or Infect. Adding more spells to a Thalia-based deck seems odd, but I've found that Thalia rarely sticks around against the decks we want to resolve our Blood Moons against the most. Some games of Death and Taxes I've gotten my opponent down to maybe 5 or 4 life, and haven't been able to connect with creatures to finish off that last bit of damage. Lightning Bolt can help in this department as well. The new addition of Rending Volley in the sideboard is good against Deceiver Exarch, Loxodon Smiter, and Wilt-Leaf Liege. Not to mention, with the rise in Merfolk decklists popping up, Rending Volley can help a lot to keep them off of their lords. This list is a bit weaker to burn strategies, and the sideboard might need some tweaking of the numbers to get the right amount of Kor Firewalker and Kitchen Finks correct.
I'd love to hear some of all of your input on the decklist, what you think, and how it can be improved. I'm planning on running a list close to this at the upcoming SCG Modern 5k in Milwaukee.
Any comments/criticisms are appreciated!
Thank you!
Some thoughts on my decklist:
Cards I've been impressed with - Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Olivia Voldaren
Chandra has been really good for me at presenting a threat for decks that try to grind the game out over time, and is a great card to play on a nearly empty board. Olivia Voldaren has been fantastic against Lingering Souls decks, as well as the plethora of small creature decks. It's great against Elves, Abzan CoCo, Tokens etc. It gets out of control pretty quick and has a snowball effect on the game.
Cards I've become less impressed with over time - Lightning Bolt and Serum Visions
I've actually cut Serum Visions completely from my list, as I've just found it to be less impactful than many other cards as a topdeck or in situations where you are looking to play a big threat. At least in this style of deck, I've been more impressed with the effect thought scour gives to slam down a T2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang. Lightning Bolt is more of a card for my LGS metagame, but cutting some number has felt a lot better against the Eldrazi Tron, UW Control, and Death's Shadow variants.
This style of deck is more concerned with playing a early threat and protecting it, using it to gain card advantage over time. With the popularity of more Devoted Druid / Vizier of Remedies decks popping up, I added a copy of Grim Lavamancer to the maindeck. It gives quite a bit of repeatable damage, useful for picking off mana dorks, breaking up the combo, and can also help against Affinity, Elves, Tokens, etc. Since we're filling up our graveyard a lot, it actually helps with Tasigur, the Golden Fang activations in getting rid of the stuff you don't want to get back, such as Inquisition of Kozilek or Thought Scour later in the game.
2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Grim Lavamancer
Spells
4 Thought Scour
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Fatal Push
2 Lightning Bolt
3 Terminate
2 Logic Knot
3 Kolaghan's Command
2 Cryptic Command
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Sunken Hollow
3 Scalding Tarn
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Shatterstorm
2 Countersquall
1 Counterflux
2 Thoughtseize
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Damnation
1 Crumble to Dust
Let me know what you think, if you have questions about why I made choices, or see weird sideboard cards, its most likely just because of my local metagame being different.
Here's the list I ran last night:
3 Dryad Militant
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Serra Avenger
4 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Restoration Angel
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
Lands (23)
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Tectonic Edge
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
2 Mutavault
1 Eiganjo Castle
12 Plains
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Sunlance
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Kor Firewalker
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Grand Abolisher
2 Kataki, War's Wage
Match Report:
Match 1 vs UR Storm:
G1: I win the die roll and go first, I keep a hand of Aether Vial, Dryad Militant, Leonin Arbiter, Mirran Crusader, Plains, Plains, Ghost Quarter. I start with vial t1 and see a t1 serum visions off of an island, not sure what my opp is on yet. Vial in Militant, and draw Thalia for my draw step. Play Thalia instead of arbiter, and tempo him out before he gets more than one or two cantrips going. A thought scour reveals a goblin electromancer, so I guess storm.
Sideboarding:
IN - 2x Rest in peace
OUT - 2x Path to Exile
I feel this matchup is pretty good for us already since we have thalia and arbiter to slow down his land drops and cantrips. I bring in rest in peace so past in flames and pyromancer's ascension don't work.
G2: My opponent starts off with a t1 serum visions and keeps both cards on top. I had to mulligan to 5 and keep a hand with Vial, Arbiter, Blade Splicer, and 3 lands. I scoop to a t3 double empty the warrens for 38 goblins.
G3: I keep Vial, Dryad Militant, Thalia, Flickerwisp, Plains, Plains, Eiganjo Castle. I end up vialing in the dryad militant t2 after playing thalia, and draw a leonin arbiter and ghost quarter. I GQ his shivan reef and he's stuck on lands the rest of the game.
Record 1-0
Match 2 vs Bant Eldrazi:
G1: I lose the die roll and mulligan to 6. Keeping vial, serra avenger, thalia, mirran crusader, plains, ghost quarter. He plays a t1 noble heirarch but then does nothing until he hits his 3rd land. He plays cavern and names eldrazi, plays a Thought-Knot Seer. I manage to vial in a flickerwisp in response and he takes my path to exile i had drawn the turn before. Serra Avenger and Flickerwisp beat for 6 in the air and mirran crusader and thalia hold back the TKS on the ground. He plays a second TKS into reality smasher, but I'm able to outrace him with my fliers.
IN: 3x Kitchen Finks 2x Sunlance
OUT: 1x Thalia, 1x Leonin Arbiter, 3x Dryad Militant
I feel this matchup is probably coming down to who can race each other faster. Our best chance is to use Serra Avengers and Flickerwisps and hold the ground with blade splicers and our first strikers. Sunlance is good at killing early mana dorks and is a good answer to an Eldrazi Displacer, which can cause us headaches with trying to attack.
G2: I keep a good 7 of vial, serra avenger, thalia, blade splicer, mirran crusader, and 2 plains. I play out my hand and draw a path to exile and a sunlance. The game goes on for a while at a standstill of big creatures on the ground until he draws Eldrazi Displacer. He blinks a Drowner of Hope twice and gets a ton of scions into play to tap down my lone serra avenger. I sunlance the displacer, and he chooses to not attack for a turn or two, and uses his leftover scions to tap down my serra avenger each turn. I end up drawing a flickerwisp, use it to create another golem token, and then draw restoration angel. He eventually runs out of scions to tap down my creatures and my fliers win the day.
Record 2-0
Match 3 vs GW Midrange:
G1: I keep a reasonable hand with dryad militant, thalia, blade splicer, leonin arbiter, ghost quarter and 2 plains. He plays birds of paradise t1 and i play my militant. He plays loxodon smiter on t2, and I play out my thalia. I take a hit or two from the smiter, and he gets stuck on 2 lands and a birds. He tries to cast a lingering souls, but I remind him he has to pay the 1 extra mana. I draw into a mirran crusader and a serra avenger. Serra avenger slowly starts to whittle away his life total, and he draws only 1 land for the rest of the game. Dryad militant prevents lingering souls from being flashed back and I fight through the spirit tokens to win.
Sideboard: This matchup again comes down to our ability to draw fliers and mirran crusader, as nearly everything in his deck is a Green creature. Its much harder to shut down his mana since he has 8 mana dorks and most of his stuff is creature spells.
IN: 3x Kitchen Finks, 2x Sunlance
OUT: 2x Leonin Arbiter, 3x Dryad Militant
G2: I mulligan to 5 and am forced to keep vial, thalia, path to exile, mirran crusader, plains. He plays a t1 noble heirarch, and I play my vial. He plays t2 Quasali Pridemage and blows up my vial. Owch. I draw no land and pass. He plays another pridemage and I'm still on one land. He plays a wilt-leaf-liege and I path it, but am unable to recover from the damage of taking 4 a turn from the second pridemage. Brutal.
G3: I keep a much better 6 card hand of vial, leonin arbiter, mirran crusader, blade splicer, mutavault, plains, plains. He plays no mana dork this game and a t2 voice of resurgence into t3 voice of resurgence, leaving path mana open. I play mirran crusader and it gets pathed. I draw into a flickerwisp and make some blade splicer golems, and path a wilt-leaf liege. I draw into a serra avenger and a restoration angel, and he slams down a baneslayer angel. Yikes. I take a few hits for 6 in the air due to exalted, but im hitting him for 9 each turn with flickerwisp, serra avenger, and restoration angel. I draw another flickerwisp when I'm at 6 life and would be forced to block with serra avenger. I attack for my turn, putting him down to 8. He's been gaining lots of life every turn but I'm able to block with serra avenger, and vial in flickerwisp, negating his lifegain, and gaining an extra flier. I swing in on my turn with all my fliers and he has a path, but 9 damage is enough to get through. A close game but Serra Avenger and Flickerwisp saved the day!
Record 3-0
Onto the finals!
Match 4 vs Mono U Tron:
G1: I keep a hand with vial, dryad militant, thalia, mirran crusader, mutavault, and 2 plains. I win the die roll and he puts a Gemstone Caverns into play before I take my turn. I play vial and pass. He plays Urza's Tower and Chalice of the Void on 1. Okay. I play thalia on t2 and pass. He plays an island and repeals my Vial, and I put dryad militant into play in response. He used all his mana, so he passes. I untap and play a mirran crusader, and start to beat down. He doesn't assemble tron in time and dies with counters in his hand.
Sideboard: Mono U tron is known for playing Academy Ruins and Mindslaver, but we have lots of ways in our maindeck to punish their manabase already. I'd say its pretty favorable for us if we can disrupt their game plan with a good hand. We want to be fast, and if the game drags long we are most likely going to lose.
IN: 1x Rest in Peace, 1x Grand Abolisher, 2x Kataki, War's Wage
OUT: 1x Brimaz, 1x Restoration Angel, 1x Mirran crusader, 1x Aether Vial
G2: Game 2 starts off nearly the same fashion. He plays t2 chalice of the void for 1, but I've already played my Aether Vial on my turn. I vial in a dryad militant and play a leonin arbiter. He passes with 2 tron lands and an island up. I draw a ghost quarter and play thalia first, hoping he will use something to respond. He plays a Thirst for Knowledge in response, and ditches a Mindslaver. I then ghost quarter his Urza's Tower, putting him down to 2 lands. He can't really recover and doesn't have enough mana to play his cards through thalia anymore. I vial in a blade splicer and he concedes.
Record 4-0
The list isn't perfect, and my sideboard is more tuned for the players in my metagame. There's a guy who plays lantern control and an affinity player, so I tend to have more artifact hate cards than usual in my sideboard. However, there's a few abzan company players that are around and a guy running a Ink-Treader Nephilim deck with Cloudshift, Siege Rhino, and an effect that taps all creatures and lets you draw cards. I might take out the kataki's and grand abolisher for a spirit of the labyrinth, grafdiggers cage, etc. Any advice towards my build? I'd like to keep it mono-white or as close to it as I can get, as Serra Avenger is kind of a pet card of mine. I just can't seem to let it go, since it wins me a lot of games! Also going to try out Thalia 2.0 in this deck when she comes out and see how good she is.
If anyone wants a list I used or a tourney report I'd be more than happy to post it!
3 Dryad Militant
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Blade Splicer
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Mangara of Corondor
2 Restoration Angel
Spells
4 Æther Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Blood Moon
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Arid Mesa
4 Sacred Foundry
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Eiganjo Castle
6 Plains
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Wear // Tear
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Rending Volley
1 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Dismember
1 Kitchen Finks
The main draw to the red splash in this deck is for Blood Moon and Lightning Bolt, and post-sideboard we get Wear // Tear and Rending Volley. I've felt that with previous versions of Death and Taxes, I would always be struggling to deal with Affinity, Infect, and Twin. Having access to two of the best removal spells in the modern format, Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile, gives us lots of early interaction against aggressive creature decks like Affinity or Infect. Adding more spells to a Thalia-based deck seems odd, but I've found that Thalia rarely sticks around against the decks we want to resolve our Blood Moons against the most. Some games of Death and Taxes I've gotten my opponent down to maybe 5 or 4 life, and haven't been able to connect with creatures to finish off that last bit of damage. Lightning Bolt can help in this department as well. The new addition of Rending Volley in the sideboard is good against Deceiver Exarch, Loxodon Smiter, and Wilt-Leaf Liege. Not to mention, with the rise in Merfolk decklists popping up, Rending Volley can help a lot to keep them off of their lords. This list is a bit weaker to burn strategies, and the sideboard might need some tweaking of the numbers to get the right amount of Kor Firewalker and Kitchen Finks correct.
I'd love to hear some of all of your input on the decklist, what you think, and how it can be improved. I'm planning on running a list close to this at the upcoming SCG Modern 5k in Milwaukee.
Any comments/criticisms are appreciated!
Thank you!