MTG Salvation

I'm not feeling Wolf Run in a 20-land deck. Plus the colour requirements are very real, which is why I don't have Caverns main. Canonist sounds cool but I'm not sure it's good enough now that Storm is not a thing. And Peddler/Caster is cute but not good enough for modern imo and certainly not aggressive enough for this deck.

Just realized I left Path out somehow, it's probably better than Rampager for getting through big dudes like Goyf. Also Mikaeus may be too cute and Elite may not be good enough though I don't know what I'd play over it. I'll actually be testing this deck out tonight, I'll post results. I think it really hinges on whether CotP and E1 are good enough early to make up for how terrible it is to topdeck them.

So I've been brewing, anyone think a Naya humans deck could work in Modern? I'm thinking something like:


Lightning Mauler is another sweet human that could fit, and just playing Goyf may be right. The deck also gets sweet sideboard options in Cavern of Souls and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben. It basically functions just like the standard Naya Blitz deck but with better burn and some better dudes.

Quote from Corazu

I don't think she replaces Goyf though, since she's boltable. Maybe 2 and 2 with Flinthoof?

That's what I've been playing. Also thought about cutting the fourth Goyf instead of a Boar so it's 3/3/2, since I'm not running Tarfire and Seal so my Goyfs are usually 3/4. But the Goyfs just have more upside , all it takes is a size or visions from the opponet to make it even bigger so yeah I'm splitting with Boar.

So I'm really liking Vexing Devil, which is unexpected for me as I've hated that card (and all Punisher cards) since day one. This deck is honestly perfect for him. 9 times out of ten he's a one-sided Flame Rift and the other times he either eats a removal spell or helps beat your opponent down (say they couldn't afford to pay the 4, you've got another overcosted fatty on the board!). Also evolves E1 a as far as 4/4 where previously only Goyf could push it past 3/3.

Currently I'm testing Talara's Battalion in this deck and actually find that its good so far. I know I mentioned it earlier but didn't get any responses. Last night I played gamws against the mirror, Jund and Pod and Battalion was good in all those MUs (against pod because she can swing into Wall of Roots and trades with Restoration Angel - they've got a lot of 4-toughness guys). A few times I topdecked one or had one stuck in my hand but not often at all (I was running two). Usually she came down off BTE or I'd be holding another one drop anyway on turn three. Anyone else remember the hype when Battalion came out? How she preordered at 20 bucks and was gonna be the next Goyf but turned out being crap? I think it may finally be her time!

Also Lantern should that list be here and not in the Naya thread?

Mono red is the best of the decks you listed by far. Outside of those options though I'd suggest GR aggro. The deck is still very good without Goyfs. The only important money cards other than Goyf are stomping grounds and goblin guides, which should be easy to find.

Mom = creature you control, so not great against Twin/Pod, but maybe in Twin, there's already UWR Twin decks doing well. I think she would be a neat reprint but maybe too good for standard. I'd really like to see is Chain Lightning tbh though Burn might be too good with it. I really just want another good burn spell for Zoo.

It's still playable without Goyf but replacements are all going to be worse. Also I'm pretty sure this isn't the place for budget talk. I noticed that budget talk already started in the Gruul thread, maybe make a new thread for budget discussion?

Also Lantern those last two lists aren't Domain.

Probably a "sweet but not good" sort of option but a friend mentioned Talaria's Battalion, half-jokingly but it got me thinking. Obviously awesome off Emissary, and we often have an extra one-drop turn 3 (not that we always hit the third land drop). Any chance battalion is finally good? I might at least test 1-2 (as its a terrible topdeck if you're hellbent) over some boars or something, even the 4th Goyf.

The list in my sig kills tables pretty consistently. It's my most powerful-without-being-unfair deck. There are definitely expensive cards and lots of tutors, though, both of which can be an issue for some people. Still somewhere to look for ideas, though.

I brewed up a sort of Bant control deck and did well with it, it was basically UW Resto Angel with Tarmogoyf, Noble Hierarch and Bant Charm (all-star). Then I discovered that Brian Demars had made the same deck and placed highly with it in Columbus. So not entirely original but at least I knew o ha something. Then the format shifted and the deck wasn't so good. Other than that all I've really done is tweak decks though I think I'm pretty good at it. Currently testing Talara's Battalion in Gruul Aggro. Probably bad but BTE into Battalion seems sweet.

So after crushing 3 straight 4-round local tournaments, on the weekend I went 0-2 in a PTQ, stayed in a couple rounds and wound up 1-3 before I dropped to Cube. I beat Scapeshift and lost to the mirror, Jund and Affinity. The mirror games were very close but he had Searing Blaze and I didn't. Still in game three I had bigger dudes than him (Goyf and 2 BTS) and made a bad attack into his 2/2s and 2/3s, he chumped and had multiple burn spells to finish them off. We were both hellbent at this point and he topdecked better than I. If I hadn't made that terrible attack I was probably way ahead, and who knows what could've happened with the first round win. He played favourable matchups the rest of the day. Next round I played affinity and lost in 2, he was just a turn faster than me and I tried to play control game 2 but didn't get much of a clock going and eventually died to Inkmoth. Jund went to game three, in game three I had E1 into BTE-Ape-Rancor with more action coming after and I still lost. He had a bunch of removal and Goyfs which were just massive roadblocks. Having the nut draw on the play and still losing was pretty disheartening. I played Scapeshift next round and just beat him down really fast twice, not much to say. In most of the games I didn't describe I just drew incredibly poorly. 1-landers that didn't pan out, too many lands off the top, etc. The variance was bound to catch up to me at some point, I guess, just sucks.

Anyway I've been testing with white for 4 Lion, 4 Helix and 2 Path (and SB stuff), mainly just wanted more good burn but Lion and Path are sweet too. The mana has been pretty awkward. BTE is definitely a lot worse, she can't cast Helix or Lion which is sometimes an issue - you really have to plan your turns and fetches out and you wind up mulliganing a lot more. havibg miltiple white spells to cast is sometimes really hard. Also the low land count doesn't help. The MD of my Naya list is:



Might need more lands but I was liking 17 with Gruul and I like all the spells. Idk what to do with it right now, any help is appreciated!

Quote from MRHblue

Thats part of the point, it does not cost 7 in Kaalia.

But why drop this when you could drop an angel or demon that actually does something? I haven't played Kaalia, I hate the color combination and find her to be the most boring, predictable general conceivable, but if I did I'm positive that I could find plenty of better angels, demons and dragons than Arbiter. Cheating in bad cards doesn't make them good. Also there will be times that you hardcast her.

It's super annoying and that's pretty much it. For 7 mana I want more than a 5/6 flyer that annoys the rest of the table. Other super annoying cards like Rhystic Study ("Are you paying one? Are you paying one? Are you paying one?") at least do a lot of work for you.

A couple small updates:
- Rhys, Reap and Sow
+ Sylvan Primordial, Windbrisk Heights

Rhys was usually win-more, Reap and Sow was nothing exciting and pretty expensive. Heights should've always been in I just missed it and I wanted another land anyway, and Primordial is pretty obvious. Bonkers everywhere, extra bonkers here. Also I'm getting my Hazezon altered to be Jafar from Disney's Aladdin, I'll post later this week when I get it back.

Also fixe a typo in OP - "did a hamster" now correctly reads "get a haste"

If you're just voltronning with Jor then Psychotic Fury is a strong option as well.