Our LGS is doing a league like this after FNMs. You must start with a pre-con and can change 4 cards a week. We are using the Star City Commander videos scoring system as well. Excited to start it this week. Seems like fun.
Agree on so many levels. The combo is just not always there. Tireless tracker is just difficult to answer without path. It's a mana sink when you don't have gavony and just bashes pretty hard.
I disagree. I think Mase33 made some wrong decisions and got punished for it (keeping wrong hands and boarding wrong)
This is no personal attack i just want to give you my personal point of view:
This deck mulligans pretty good and when you need to combo asap dont be shy to take some mulligans.
Second thing is you boarded out 2 Finks vs jeskai. Dont do it! We need as much resilient threats as possible. Board out some 2/2 vanilla combo bears (and at least 1 seer) cause its not likely that we can combo him (this is a very interactive matchup) Moreover this is a matchup where township shines. Get out a noble hierarch with a finks and never overload the board too heavy.
I definitely did not mulligan enough. I stand by my choice to take out Finks. Jesaki just has so many ways to exile that it doesn't really seem to matter. That's my preference and I'm sure I'm wrong.
Match 1: Tooth and Nail (2-1)
Since there is very little interaction between the two decks, it was really who could get there first. Game 1I got there on turn 4 game one, he did not concede, stating he could still win. I srcy'd redcap to the top and allowed him to tooth and nail emrakul waited until he passed the turn and then redcapp'd him 12 times (yes, he literally made me do it). Game 2 he was able to ramp too fast and got emrakul on turn 4. Game 3 I dropped tracker on turn 2 and was able to swing for 6 three turns in a row thanks to Exalted and drew redcap for the finishing 2 dmg.
Match 2: Dredge (1-2) Game 1 I was able to dodge conflagrate the first game which allowed me to combo off on turn 4 again. This is where the cards just stopped being in my favor the rest of the day. Game 2: he boarded in engineered explosives, which I wasn't aware dredge normally had in their sb. He blew me out as I overextended on my two drops. He then proceeded to do dredge things and ended up with 21 power on board after a few dredges. Game 3: I got off to a fast start again. He self milled conflagrate on turn 3 which effectively meant that I had one more turn to get there without having to rebuild my board. I never drew a chord this entire match. I boarded in selfless spirt which would have been a great answer to his conflagrate, but sadly I never drew a Chord. He did end up taking 23rd in the tournament so I don't feel as bad today.
Match 3: Red/Green Scapeshift (1-2) Game 1 Again I was able to assemble the combo via one collected company on turn 3, plus having seer in hand. Game 2 I was able to drop a turn two tracker again and start gaining card advantage. He didn't have a whole lot going on as he did mulligan to 5. He dropped a khalni heart expedition on turn two and went to fetch to put a third counter on it. I told him I had a response, but he never paused, put the third counter on sacrificed it immediately. I was going to destroy it with pridemage, before the third counter was added. This allowed him to get enough mana to scapeshift ftw. Looking back at it I definitely should have called a judge. This was my first large event and was rather unsure if I should have or not. The player to my left said I definitely should have called one (Lesson learned). Game 3 I had been gaining quite a bit of life throughout the early turns thanks to Finks and Courser, however I never drew a chord or co-co. I really should have mull'd more aggressively all day, but was keeping loose hands instead. He eventually casts scapeshift and won.
Match 4: Jeskai Control (1-2) Game 1 He was mana screwed the first game and didn't have access to white mana when he needed to on turn 7 to prevent the combo from happening. Game 2 I take out 2 finks, 2 path, 2 birds and board in Voice, Tracker, Abrupt decay, Maelstrom Pulse. He cleans up my early board which got him down to 6 with an anger, and countered my chord with dispel...(feels bad man). At this point he just 1 for 1s me until he ultimately wins with Celestial Colonnades. Game 3 I had an explosive start and got under a lot of counters, but he had all the right answers when it matters. I never drew or was able to chord for voice.
Overall: I ended up dropping after my third loss. I will say that the information about path in the main proved to be correct. Throughout testing I really enjoyed having it in my hand as it seemed to win me a bunch of games. However, this weekend it often times felt out of place. Moving forward I would probably replace them with one E-Witness and a Gavony township. I still don't think that 2 v 3 townships makes a huge difference as I only activated it once all weekend. Again, I really enjoyed Tracker I thought it was an all star every time I stuck it. It gets out of hand real quick. Moving forward, especially with dredge having the presence it did in MKE I think it's going to be a struggle with a graveyard based strategy, but I'll gladly stick it out with this deck as it's rewarding wins feel real good.
So many decks in the format just get ruined by witness/path sideboard plan -- really easy to run most decks out of threats.
I'd normally agree, but there is so much exile in the format currently. At least in my meta. Maybe tomorrow will be different and I'll want E-Witness idk. For me it's a dead card quite often.
How have those things been working out for you? I'm a fan of the first two, but I've been hesitant to shave Gavony.
Re: spellskite, I'd personally not cut it from the main unless the meta shifted dramatically. There are just too many corner cases where it's amazing. The advantage over Selfless is that both protect the combo, but Skite also randomly hoses decks like Infect and Bogles and Death's Shadow. Plus, you're less likely to be facing sweepers in game one, which is what Selfless is best at countering. You're waaaaay more likely to be interrupted by a Path in game one, which Selfless can't stop.
I've played the deck for around 18 months now and the last three weeks with this build +/- a few minor things in the SB. I am constantly side boarding E-Wit out, especially in the current meta. I have just found that the card draw that Tracker gives has been better. I took one Gavony out when I put the trackers in. My rational was that if I'm spending mana cracking clues, I more than likely won't be able to also be paying for Gavony. I would say that it hasn't had any effect on my win rate. There has been maybe one occasion after a loss, where I wrote down Gavony would have been a good draw.
As for the paths, I'm still debating taking them out and putting in another land (possibly Gavony) and a selfless spirit or E-Wit. I understand why this community doesn't like the main deck paths, but IMO when it's in my hand I just feel safer.
I am planning on doing a wrap up report no matter how it goes, as this is my first large open experience.
Going to SCG MKE with the list below. I have done a fair amount of testing on x-mage and at local shops. I think Tireless tracker is a house on turn 2/3 and rather good against control decks as well. Over performed in my opinion. I'm a little undecided about the sideboard and if Spellskite is really needed in the mainboard or if selfless spirit would be better there. Input is certainly welcome. I'm traveling with the Abzan toolbox so any suggestion will more than likely be available.
Did you happen to play against Bant Eldrazi at all? I cannot for the life of me seem to win this matchup. I am running a list almost identical to yours. Except I include 1 selfless spirit for the fiend hunter. Any help would be appreciated as I'm taking this list to Star City MKE next weekend.
I definitely did not mulligan enough. I stand by my choice to take out Finks. Jesaki just has so many ways to exile that it doesn't really seem to matter. That's my preference and I'm sure I'm wrong.
Match 1: Tooth and Nail (2-1)
Since there is very little interaction between the two decks, it was really who could get there first. Game 1I got there on turn 4 game one, he did not concede, stating he could still win. I srcy'd redcap to the top and allowed him to tooth and nail emrakul waited until he passed the turn and then redcapp'd him 12 times (yes, he literally made me do it). Game 2 he was able to ramp too fast and got emrakul on turn 4. Game 3 I dropped tracker on turn 2 and was able to swing for 6 three turns in a row thanks to Exalted and drew redcap for the finishing 2 dmg.
Match 2: Dredge (1-2)
Game 1 I was able to dodge conflagrate the first game which allowed me to combo off on turn 4 again. This is where the cards just stopped being in my favor the rest of the day. Game 2: he boarded in engineered explosives, which I wasn't aware dredge normally had in their sb. He blew me out as I overextended on my two drops. He then proceeded to do dredge things and ended up with 21 power on board after a few dredges. Game 3: I got off to a fast start again. He self milled conflagrate on turn 3 which effectively meant that I had one more turn to get there without having to rebuild my board. I never drew a chord this entire match. I boarded in selfless spirt which would have been a great answer to his conflagrate, but sadly I never drew a Chord. He did end up taking 23rd in the tournament so I don't feel as bad today.
Match 3: Red/Green Scapeshift (1-2)
Game 1 Again I was able to assemble the combo via one collected company on turn 3, plus having seer in hand. Game 2 I was able to drop a turn two tracker again and start gaining card advantage. He didn't have a whole lot going on as he did mulligan to 5. He dropped a khalni heart expedition on turn two and went to fetch to put a third counter on it. I told him I had a response, but he never paused, put the third counter on sacrificed it immediately. I was going to destroy it with pridemage, before the third counter was added. This allowed him to get enough mana to scapeshift ftw. Looking back at it I definitely should have called a judge. This was my first large event and was rather unsure if I should have or not. The player to my left said I definitely should have called one (Lesson learned). Game 3 I had been gaining quite a bit of life throughout the early turns thanks to Finks and Courser, however I never drew a chord or co-co. I really should have mull'd more aggressively all day, but was keeping loose hands instead. He eventually casts scapeshift and won.
Match 4: Jeskai Control (1-2)
Game 1 He was mana screwed the first game and didn't have access to white mana when he needed to on turn 7 to prevent the combo from happening. Game 2 I take out 2 finks, 2 path, 2 birds and board in Voice, Tracker, Abrupt decay, Maelstrom Pulse. He cleans up my early board which got him down to 6 with an anger, and countered my chord with dispel...(feels bad man). At this point he just 1 for 1s me until he ultimately wins with Celestial Colonnades. Game 3 I had an explosive start and got under a lot of counters, but he had all the right answers when it matters. I never drew or was able to chord for voice.
Overall: I ended up dropping after my third loss. I will say that the information about path in the main proved to be correct. Throughout testing I really enjoyed having it in my hand as it seemed to win me a bunch of games. However, this weekend it often times felt out of place. Moving forward I would probably replace them with one E-Witness and a Gavony township. I still don't think that 2 v 3 townships makes a huge difference as I only activated it once all weekend. Again, I really enjoyed Tracker I thought it was an all star every time I stuck it. It gets out of hand real quick. Moving forward, especially with dredge having the presence it did in MKE I think it's going to be a struggle with a graveyard based strategy, but I'll gladly stick it out with this deck as it's rewarding wins feel real good.
I'd normally agree, but there is so much exile in the format currently. At least in my meta. Maybe tomorrow will be different and I'll want E-Witness idk. For me it's a dead card quite often.
I've played the deck for around 18 months now and the last three weeks with this build +/- a few minor things in the SB. I am constantly side boarding E-Wit out, especially in the current meta. I have just found that the card draw that Tracker gives has been better. I took one Gavony out when I put the trackers in. My rational was that if I'm spending mana cracking clues, I more than likely won't be able to also be paying for Gavony. I would say that it hasn't had any effect on my win rate. There has been maybe one occasion after a loss, where I wrote down Gavony would have been a good draw.
As for the paths, I'm still debating taking them out and putting in another land (possibly Gavony) and a selfless spirit or E-Wit. I understand why this community doesn't like the main deck paths, but IMO when it's in my hand I just feel safer.
I am planning on doing a wrap up report no matter how it goes, as this is my first large open experience.
3 Noble Hierarch
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
2 Wall of Roots
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Murderous Redcap
2 Viscera Seer
2 Eternal Witness
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Courser of Kruphix
4 Chord of Calling
2 Path to Exile
2 Forest
1 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Temple Garden
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
2 Gavony Township
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Path to Exile
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Kataki War's Wage
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Voice of Resurgence
1 Anafenza, the Foremost