whats the mirror match like!? that's pretty great and the tope end reminds me of the value unburial rites list that also runs red for faithless lootings. if i'm not mistaken it's Eric Pins list on MTG Top 8 (unburial rites value). Wurmcoil, Elesh Norn, Iona, and others of the like instead of serenity. my problem is Angel of Serenity is a top favorite card and it's just great to mill and reanimate.
Creatures: 18
Arbor Elf x 4
Satyr Wayfinder x 4
Angel of Serenity x 2
Siege Rhino x 3
Thragtusk x 1
Grave Titán x 1
Obzedat x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Renegade Rallier x 1
Instants: 5
Grisly Salvage x 3
Path to Exile x 2
Sorceries: 10
Unburial Rites x 3
Traverse the Ulvenwald x 3
Lingering Souls x 2
Collective Brutality x 2
Other Spells: 6
Utopia Sprawl x 4
Liliana of the Veil x 2
Land: 21
Windswept Heath x 4
Verdant Catacombs x 3
Marsh Flats x 3 (will most likely trade in 1 flats for a Catacombs)
Overgrown Tomb x 2
Temple Garden x 2
Godless Shrine x 1
Forest x 2
Swamp x 1
Plains x 1
Gavony Township x 1
Westvale Abbey x 1
The only real changes considering are Obzedat for more removal, though Obzedat is a decent finisher and dodges sorcery removal. Angel of Sanctions is great because it's removal and a threat, but a bit too easy to remove right? Vault of the Archangel for Westvale, mostly considering we aren't playing that many lingering souls. And one more salvage would help hit more targets for the Unburial Rites strategy. This I felt was best achieved through self mill grisly salvage and discard options with brutality and lili of the veil.
Creatures: 19
Angel of Serenity x 2
Siege Rhino x 4
Thragtusk x 1
Obzedat Ghost Council x 1
Grave Titan x 1
Satyr Wayfinder x 4
Arbor Elf x 4
Tarmogoyf x 2
Instants and Sorceries: 14
Unburial Rites x 3
Grisly Salvage x 3
Traverse the Ulvenwald x 3
Path to Exile x 3
Lingering Souls x 2
Other Spells: 7
Utopia Sprawl x 4
Liliana of the Veil x 2
Liliana the Last Hope x 1
Lands: 20
Forest x 2
Plains x 1
Swamp x 1
Overgrown Tomb x 2
Temple Garden x 2
Godless Shrine x 1
Verdant Catacomb x 3
Windswept Heath x 3
Marsh Flats x 3
Gavony Township x 1
Vault of the Archangel x 1
on another note, how much do you like Smuggler's copter in the deck? i presume it does enough work that it's in, kinda like a pseudo delver of secrets feel being a threat and great hand and graveyard fixer.
Grapple worked well considering we were always hitting either the land or creature, and it was usually more relevant in the end game being able to hit a threat to finish the game.
I do miss the satyr though. both have merits, and satyr becomes better against graveyard hate where as grapple loses to rest in peace or other mass graveyard removal. I have also blown out opponent's scooze triggers with grapple...
Creatures: 18
Angel of serenity x 2
Siege rhino x 4
Thragtusk x 1
Scavenging ooze x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Eternal witness x 1
Kourser of kruphix x 2
Arbor elf x 4
Restoration angel x 2
Instants and Sorceries: 18
Unburial rites x 3
Traverse the ulvenwald x 3
Grapple with the past x 3
Path to exile x 4
Lingering souls x 3
Grisly salvage x 3
Other spells: 4
Utopia sprawl x 4
Lands: 20
what i meant by combo, was going in more on the self mill/ reanimation gameplan. I compare it to the stock junk rites back in rtr, with playsets of the reanimation targets and unburial rites engine.
Hey Khai, by any chance would you have more game play videos that you'd be willing to share?
I haven't had the best luck playing the deck, but perhaps a more focus on the combo build would benefit? or it could be just me, I could very well be sequencing wrong and or not making the right moves.
turns out, this past list was trying too hard... i'm gonna try and go back to the original and work my way down. perhaps the unburial rites combo is most desired with less watered down options of having versatility.
At the moment I'm thinking this list Is what I want to try next:
Creatures: 18
Angel of serenity x 2
Siege rhino x 3
Thragtusk x 1
Scavenging ooze x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Eternal witness x 1
Grim flayer x 4
Birds of paradise x 3
Restoration angel x 1
Tasigur x 1
Instants and Sorceries: 17
Unburial rites x 3
Thoughtsieze x 3
Path to exile x 4
Lingering souls x 4
Grisly salvage x 2
Collective brutality x 1
Other spells: 3
Liliana of the veil x 2
Liliana the last hope x 1
Lands x 22
This to me is less all in on the unburial rites combo and plays the midrange more effectively. Though, casting angel of serenity will only really happen with unburial rights as casting above 4 is something abzan really tries to get at.
This to me I think would feel pretty good.
Creatures: 18
Angel of serenity x 2
Siege rhino x 4
Thragtusk x 1
Scavenging ooze x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Eternal witness x 1
Kourser of kruphix x 2
Arbor elf x 4
Restoration angel x 2
Instants and Sorceries: 18
Unburial rites x 3
Traverse the ulvenwald x 3
Grapple with the past x 3
Path to exile x 4
Lingering souls x 3
Grisly salvage x 3
Other spells: 4
Utopia sprawl x 4
20 lands of the essentials, less 3-4 needed fetches to complete it.
This list is a lot of fun, though I did find myself stuck in different situations with less to do.
The biggest changes would be the arbor elf and sprawl combo for just a playset of birds of paradise, and then a combination of thoughtsieze and IOK to hit threats before they are threats. And then tasigur for grindier matchups. And then collective brutality Mainbaord due to versatility and graveyard engine.
Biggest upsets go to rest in peace and main board relic of progenitus and blood moons
In the last tournament I played in I got wrecked: lost to merfolk, won against lantern control, and lost to Kiki chord twice.
Fun games but always got caught getting nowhere real fast. Made me think perhaps a hybrid of the junk midrange and junk rites could potentially be the twist needed. Being able to hit threats before they are threats is nice. And the arbor sprawl combo is great, except with the awkward no forest hands or draws.
getting the chance to play the other night at MTG Card Market (featured match game play on 11/30/16, around 58 mins)the deck is great fun. I am missing a few fetches and will look to get that squared.
current list:
4 Arbor Elf
1 Restoration Angel
1 Thragtusk
2 Angel of Serenity
3 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Siege Rhino
1 Shriekmaw
1 Eternal Witness
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Path to Exile
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Unburial Rites
4 Lingering Souls
4 Utopia Sprawl
won first round against Jund, Won second round to Jeskai kiki, round 3 lost terribly to Tron (lessons learned in side boarding) and then lost to infect found 4.
Traverse was amazing when deliurium was on, otherwise searching for basics is only suboptimal, same went for the arbor elf and sprawl combo. it two of the three pieces were missing it was not quite helpful.
though, i will be looking to tweak so that it's possibly less reliant of the arbor elf sprawl combo. grisly at 4 was more sufficient than the 4th wayfinder. and Rhino at 4 was just great, hitting rhino was always good.
For what it's worth, I'm a real big fan and would love to see more gameplay. Junk rites is one of my favorite decks of all time and after playing this version, I feel and think you are are on to something.
I am play testing all versions and would love to see more progress. At this moment, I couldn't agree more that the traverse's are spot on. Though, the grim flayer to me makes sense it's too "meta". I don't know yet of a real traditional junk rites build other than the streamline version (when it was played in atandard) but I am extremely interested and will be following up after more play testing.
That being said, success in matches are very real against jund, eapicailly with a playset of rhinos. Though, a bit tougher against rack discard (mostly depending on draws).
Creatures: 18
Arbor Elf x 4
Satyr Wayfinder x 4
Angel of Serenity x 2
Siege Rhino x 3
Thragtusk x 1
Grave Titán x 1
Obzedat x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Renegade Rallier x 1
Instants: 5
Grisly Salvage x 3
Path to Exile x 2
Sorceries: 10
Unburial Rites x 3
Traverse the Ulvenwald x 3
Lingering Souls x 2
Collective Brutality x 2
Other Spells: 6
Utopia Sprawl x 4
Liliana of the Veil x 2
Land: 21
Windswept Heath x 4
Verdant Catacombs x 3
Marsh Flats x 3 (will most likely trade in 1 flats for a Catacombs)
Overgrown Tomb x 2
Temple Garden x 2
Godless Shrine x 1
Forest x 2
Swamp x 1
Plains x 1
Gavony Township x 1
Westvale Abbey x 1
The only real changes considering are Obzedat for more removal, though Obzedat is a decent finisher and dodges sorcery removal. Angel of Sanctions is great because it's removal and a threat, but a bit too easy to remove right? Vault of the Archangel for Westvale, mostly considering we aren't playing that many lingering souls. And one more salvage would help hit more targets for the Unburial Rites strategy. This I felt was best achieved through self mill grisly salvage and discard options with brutality and lili of the veil.
Creatures: 19
Angel of Serenity x 2
Siege Rhino x 4
Thragtusk x 1
Obzedat Ghost Council x 1
Grave Titan x 1
Satyr Wayfinder x 4
Arbor Elf x 4
Tarmogoyf x 2
Instants and Sorceries: 14
Unburial Rites x 3
Grisly Salvage x 3
Traverse the Ulvenwald x 3
Path to Exile x 3
Lingering Souls x 2
Other Spells: 7
Utopia Sprawl x 4
Liliana of the Veil x 2
Liliana the Last Hope x 1
Lands: 20
Forest x 2
Plains x 1
Swamp x 1
Overgrown Tomb x 2
Temple Garden x 2
Godless Shrine x 1
Verdant Catacomb x 3
Windswept Heath x 3
Marsh Flats x 3
Gavony Township x 1
Vault of the Archangel x 1
on another note, how much do you like Smuggler's copter in the deck? i presume it does enough work that it's in, kinda like a pseudo delver of secrets feel being a threat and great hand and graveyard fixer.
I do miss the satyr though. both have merits, and satyr becomes better against graveyard hate where as grapple loses to rest in peace or other mass graveyard removal. I have also blown out opponent's scooze triggers with grapple...
Creatures: 18
Angel of serenity x 2
Siege rhino x 4
Thragtusk x 1
Scavenging ooze x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Eternal witness x 1
Kourser of kruphix x 2
Arbor elf x 4
Restoration angel x 2
Instants and Sorceries: 18
Unburial rites x 3
Traverse the ulvenwald x 3
Grapple with the past x 3
Path to exile x 4
Lingering souls x 3
Grisly salvage x 3
Other spells: 4
Utopia sprawl x 4
Lands: 20
what i meant by combo, was going in more on the self mill/ reanimation gameplan. I compare it to the stock junk rites back in rtr, with playsets of the reanimation targets and unburial rites engine.
I haven't had the best luck playing the deck, but perhaps a more focus on the combo build would benefit? or it could be just me, I could very well be sequencing wrong and or not making the right moves.
Creatures: 18
Angel of serenity x 2
Siege rhino x 3
Thragtusk x 1
Scavenging ooze x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Eternal witness x 1
Grim flayer x 4
Birds of paradise x 3
Restoration angel x 1
Tasigur x 1
Instants and Sorceries: 17
Unburial rites x 3
Thoughtsieze x 3
Path to exile x 4
Lingering souls x 4
Grisly salvage x 2
Collective brutality x 1
Other spells: 3
Liliana of the veil x 2
Liliana the last hope x 1
Lands x 22
This to me is less all in on the unburial rites combo and plays the midrange more effectively. Though, casting angel of serenity will only really happen with unburial rights as casting above 4 is something abzan really tries to get at.
This to me I think would feel pretty good.
Creatures: 18
Angel of serenity x 2
Siege rhino x 4
Thragtusk x 1
Scavenging ooze x 1
Shriekmaw x 1
Eternal witness x 1
Kourser of kruphix x 2
Arbor elf x 4
Restoration angel x 2
Instants and Sorceries: 18
Unburial rites x 3
Traverse the ulvenwald x 3
Grapple with the past x 3
Path to exile x 4
Lingering souls x 3
Grisly salvage x 3
Other spells: 4
Utopia sprawl x 4
20 lands of the essentials, less 3-4 needed fetches to complete it.
This list is a lot of fun, though I did find myself stuck in different situations with less to do.
The biggest changes would be the arbor elf and sprawl combo for just a playset of birds of paradise, and then a combination of thoughtsieze and IOK to hit threats before they are threats. And then tasigur for grindier matchups. And then collective brutality Mainbaord due to versatility and graveyard engine.
Biggest upsets go to rest in peace and main board relic of progenitus and blood moons
Fun games but always got caught getting nowhere real fast. Made me think perhaps a hybrid of the junk midrange and junk rites could potentially be the twist needed. Being able to hit threats before they are threats is nice. And the arbor sprawl combo is great, except with the awkward no forest hands or draws.
current list:
4 Arbor Elf
1 Restoration Angel
1 Thragtusk
2 Angel of Serenity
3 Satyr Wayfinder
4 Siege Rhino
1 Shriekmaw
1 Eternal Witness
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Path to Exile
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Unburial Rites
4 Lingering Souls
4 Utopia Sprawl
won first round against Jund, Won second round to Jeskai kiki, round 3 lost terribly to Tron (lessons learned in side boarding) and then lost to infect found 4.
Traverse was amazing when deliurium was on, otherwise searching for basics is only suboptimal, same went for the arbor elf and sprawl combo. it two of the three pieces were missing it was not quite helpful.
though, i will be looking to tweak so that it's possibly less reliant of the arbor elf sprawl combo. grisly at 4 was more sufficient than the 4th wayfinder. and Rhino at 4 was just great, hitting rhino was always good.
For what it's worth, I'm a real big fan and would love to see more gameplay. Junk rites is one of my favorite decks of all time and after playing this version, I feel and think you are are on to something.
I am play testing all versions and would love to see more progress. At this moment, I couldn't agree more that the traverse's are spot on. Though, the grim flayer to me makes sense it's too "meta". I don't know yet of a real traditional junk rites build other than the streamline version (when it was played in atandard) but I am extremely interested and will be following up after more play testing.
That being said, success in matches are very real against jund, eapicailly with a playset of rhinos. Though, a bit tougher against rack discard (mostly depending on draws).
Hope to keep this post alive!
-Rob McD.