Regarding ghostly prison, yes it is a dead card against certain decks, but you also have to remember its white and can just sit in your hand to gain life with if it serves no real purposes. Sure it would be better to have more relevant cards, but it's not completely dead I would say.
@Lear_the_cat i've been wanting to try to use brisela for ages and I just couldn't really find a way to get it to work, thalia's lancers seems like a really great addition and dropping the serras makes sense to a degree with all the fatal pushes and paths around lately.
Yeah, that's true about prisons. Same for other situative and white SB cards.
Lancers are also great that they can find Flagstones to make landdrop and can search Avacyn to sweep opp's board.
The main reason I'm not playing Ascendant not bcs of push (it's barely playable for now) but bcs of tonns of discard spells that easily disrupt our synergy and Serras become dead cards.
- Cavern: I used to run a copy of cavern with wayfarer but i was not impressed. We already have proc and emeria (another reason to not play non plains) that are great vs counters so i dont think its needed.
You can't beat Control with only Emerias and Proclamations bcs they're very slow engines and their fast Teferi\Elspeth can win them game while you're trying to start your engines.
That's why you need Cavern to keep pressing control decks also they're usefull against Chalices.
- Surgical: I dont play surgical for budget reasons as its like 30 million tix so i dont know if its better or worse than RIP/ Relic.
Yeah, but you also can play Surgical as Cranial effect card to get rid of problematic cards opponent has. For example: exile all Cryptic Commands or other 4 of counterspells. Also they help a lot against Tron decks to hate their manabase.
Yeah, true. But it's fine if you can change your tactics with SB cards.
Runed Halo is fine against solotreats like Death's shadow and Valakut but it will not help against Storm bcs last time they're playing mainboard bounce.
Ghostly Prisons are great for mtgo where're a lot of aggro decks.
I don't really like GP but they're fine when I can divide my ways of fighting diff strategies.
It's just another version. Serra ascendant lists are more like White weenie deck and this is more Midrange\control version.
I had theese thoughts before building this decklist:
I want good Aggro Mmatch up
I want to be sure to win combo decks postside
For first one I need Ghostly Prisons and Martyr Pac with some single and mass removals. That looks easy.
To solve second task I just used ALL my sideboard space to improve my baad match ups. I even put Hex parasite in main and he was good, though.
After solving theese two task I came to a question - how not to loose to Midrange and Control Strategies?
First I was thinking about Wg with light splash for Sigarda and Karametra but after testing version with them and Brisella came to monoW version. Also Avacyn was a very great addition as "wrath" card in agro meta and great menace for midrange\control decks. To fight control decks Caverns on Humand and Angels were very helpfull.
Also I returned to 2 Weathered Wayfarers for CA engines and way to fight Tron deck in mainboard.
I'm working mostly, has no time and possibility to play and test modern.
Didn't test Sphere but I think 3 of is the minimum you should have in Sideboard. It's too good not to play it less bcs hates almost all Martyr's bad match ups.
I don't like single Mind stone and O-rings, I see 3 Cast Outs will be much better.
First reason - you can cycle Cast out to find Wrathes or support aggro plan in searching of more crearues.
Second reason - Cast Out has flash (very huge up) and evade Abrupt Decay effects.
About side - I guess a lot of gravehate is reasonable in mtho metagame full of Storms and KCI but now with Damping Sphere you can easily go from them and add Sphere+Ghostly Prisons in SB.
Decklist is mostly fine and I love this article. Can see from Allen's explanations that he has already played Martyr Proc a lot.
Some singles in deck are questionable but mostly it looks good for me.
@Jiskel
And do you have Marsh Flats? I think they will suit much better while you don't have Search for Azcantas and other cheap UW spells.
Also you can trade for free 1 Mistveil plain into 1 Mystic Gate to cast Sphinx's revelation much more comfortable.
Actually, you can try split of GW and UG manladnds if you don't have any Celestial Colonnade, changing same time you manabase with shocklands.
Also I don't see much use if Cycland for now with 23 lands (without any ramp as Azcanta or Crucible) - I would prefer to maximaze manabase's stabilisation.
About nonHuman meta - don't you want then just 3 Supremes mainboard? Or you're afraid of Blood moon effects?
Oh, I see. Actually, I think GQ + Flagstones is pretty slow mana stabilization and went away from it unless I'm on 1 or 2 colored manabase.
Baron is better bcs he casts much easier (5 colored sources sometimes are a problem) and lifegain is relevant. Oversoul is better againsg Jund and Grixis like more protected creature as Sigarda.
And you mentioned it right - you can kill with Blood baron against Shadow in one strike.
Yeah, same feelings. Also very important term of it - this card EXILES. It's much easier to exile bogle than break all enchantments or Lantern can't get back his Bridges or stuff with Ruins and etc.
Kambal is better - he can be used more widely: he's better against Strom bcs Storm decks have a lot of unswers hor him while Kambal works close to Rule of law. He also can be used against Burn, Control decks and etc like life drain creatures, make opp's life very painfull.
About Ad Nauseum - Gaddock Teeg is usually enough for first game and Kambal can speed up a clock. Also Kambal kills through Phyrexian Unlife bcs he make opp loose life not take dmg. And ther're a lot of small + Kambal has.
Search for Azcanta is incredible in less creature based version. I even started playin 2 copies like 0.5 of Land instead of 24th. Also it's looting effect helps a lot.
I alos like that 5 and 6 mana Elspeths have "wrath of god" lind of effects. I mean they can protect themselves pretty good and still make good pressure on opponent with their tokens. Also tokens are great foor for sac engines. Maybe it will be worth trying Orzhov or Abzan midrange with new Legendary Moxes.
I was thinking about all this options but it strongly depends on you main secondary color. I prefer blue and have a lot of blue cards fron 2nd to 4th drop so I'm playing Flooded strand instead of Windswept Heath, so I can't play non Island lands. Also for light splash I think it's important that it should be tutorable by fetches or something else. Also there're option to add basic Swamp for GQ or FoR.
@Jiskel
Actually, it's pretty hard to contain more than 4 colorless lands in 3+ colored manabase. Bcs Weathered wayfarer isn't working well for me so I don't see big advantage of having 5th LD land and colorless source.
About colors. I also like Abzan variation but I think it's better suited for nonWish version (bcs black doesn't give 4-mana wrath card) with Aylies and Abzan Ascendancy and with token generator planeswalkers like 4-mana Gideon or Elspeth. (tribal on Elspeth, mmm? ) Mmm.. Midrange like with disruption and removals?
But black still give a lot of powerfull options. And I'm going to test light splash on black in Bant version by adding Watery Grave for optimization my Sideboard and Wishboard to get more space.
Some exchanges I would like to see: Fracturing Gust ----> Merciless Eviction ( I don't like Idea of killing my Detention Spheres and Azcantas) Meddling Mage ----> Kambal, Consul of Allocation (last one is good Wish-card against Burn
Also I want try out Blood Baron of Vizkopa
I don't see much use of Refuge - it's colorless, got killed my LD very fast and pretty expensive - total 3 mana for activation.
I think I need to rebuild my manabase, go away from Flagstones and GQ, adding Field of Ruins and 4 Fetches to get my 2 extra colors in time.
Also I wonder if it will be better to go away from blue to black color for Wishboard optimisation like: exchange Supreme Verdict + Fracturing Gust to Merciless eviction and etc. It will be especially important when I will be adding 4 of Sphere of Resistence.
What's your thoughts?
When Damping Sphere will be released, I don't think I will be playing Rule of Law anymore.
About what cards to cut from last decklist:
-1 Caustic Caterpillar (I don't see need of playing him nowadays so I guess this will not be painfull cut while I still have Fracturing Gust in wishboard)
-1 Meddling Mage (I think that Gaddock Teeg in game one should be enough to win game while opponent doesn't have SB answers for him and postside we will have a lot of Spheres)
-1 Supreme Verdict (Not sure about this cut but it have some reasons - in most games I usually cats 1 Supreme from wishboard, it's pretty rare situation when I need 2nd. Also I hope that 3 Wrath cards in main will be enough. Actually, better look what meta will be)
-1 Narset Transcendent (Well, we already have Ajani in wishboard as CA planeswalker that will be replaced by Teferi, so I don't see any need of 2nd Planeswalker card here)
+4 Damping Sphere.
Actually it's just first thoughts how I will cut. If metagame will go more for Aggro/Midrange/Control decks, I guess SB plan will be different with less Spheres.
Yeah, that's true about prisons. Same for other situative and white SB cards.
Lancers are also great that they can find Flagstones to make landdrop and can search Avacyn to sweep opp's board.
The main reason I'm not playing Ascendant not bcs of push (it's barely playable for now) but bcs of tonns of discard spells that easily disrupt our synergy and Serras become dead cards.
Depends on metagame. Overall Solemnity is better but Blessed alliance has wider usage.
You can't beat Control with only Emerias and Proclamations bcs they're very slow engines and their fast Teferi\Elspeth can win them game while you're trying to start your engines.
That's why you need Cavern to keep pressing control decks also they're usefull against Chalices.
Yeah, but you also can play Surgical as Cranial effect card to get rid of problematic cards opponent has. For example: exile all Cryptic Commands or other 4 of counterspells. Also they help a lot against Tron decks to hate their manabase.
Runed Halo is fine against solotreats like Death's shadow and Valakut but it will not help against Storm bcs last time they're playing mainboard bounce.
I don't really like GP but they're fine when I can divide my ways of fighting diff strategies.
It's just another version. Serra ascendant lists are more like White weenie deck and this is more Midrange\control version.
I had theese thoughts before building this decklist:
- I want good Aggro Mmatch up
- I want to be sure to win combo decks postside
For first one I need Ghostly Prisons and Martyr Pac with some single and mass removals. That looks easy.To solve second task I just used ALL my sideboard space to improve my baad match ups. I even put Hex parasite in main and he was good, though.
After solving theese two task I came to a question - how not to loose to Midrange and Control Strategies?
First I was thinking about Wg with light splash for Sigarda and Karametra but after testing version with them and Brisella came to monoW version. Also Avacyn was a very great addition as "wrath" card in agro meta and great menace for midrange\control decks. To fight control decks Caverns on Humand and Angels were very helpfull.
Also I returned to 2 Weathered Wayfarers for CA engines and way to fight Tron deck in mainboard.
Maybe Emeria Angels?
In attachment some funny Brisela autowins
Runed Halo will be great against Valakut decks and Liliana.
Didn't test Sphere but I think 3 of is the minimum you should have in Sideboard. It's too good not to play it less bcs hates almost all Martyr's bad match ups.
I want to test this list but still have some issues with manabase:
https://deckbox.org/sets/1997486
4 Flooded Strand
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Temple Garden
1 Botanical Sanctum
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Stirring Wildwood
2 Celestial Colonnade
1 Mistveil Plains
1 Mystic Gate
1 Wooded Bastion
2 Plains
1 Island
1 Gavony Township
1 Kami of False Hope
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Path to Exile
2cc (10):
1 Declaration in Stone
2 Search for Azcanta
3 Glittering Wish
4 Squadron Hawk
3cc (6):
2 Proclamation of Rebirth
4 Ghostly Prison
4cc (8):
3 Ranger of Eos
2 Cast Out
1 Day of Judgment
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Hex Parasite
4 Damping Sphere
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Gaddock Teeg
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Pride of the Clouds
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
1 Sphinx's Revelation
First reason - you can cycle Cast out to find Wrathes or support aggro plan in searching of more crearues.
Second reason - Cast Out has flash (very huge up) and evade Abrupt Decay effects.
About side - I guess a lot of gravehate is reasonable in mtho metagame full of Storms and KCI but now with Damping Sphere you can easily go from them and add Sphere+Ghostly Prisons in SB.
Some singles in deck are questionable but mostly it looks good for me.
And do you have Marsh Flats? I think they will suit much better while you don't have Search for Azcantas and other cheap UW spells.
Also you can trade for free 1 Mistveil plain into 1 Mystic Gate to cast Sphinx's revelation much more comfortable.
Actually, you can try split of GW and UG manladnds if you don't have any Celestial Colonnade, changing same time you manabase with shocklands.
Also I don't see much use if Cycland for now with 23 lands (without any ramp as Azcanta or Crucible) - I would prefer to maximaze manabase's stabilisation.
About nonHuman meta - don't you want then just 3 Supremes mainboard? Or you're afraid of Blood moon effects?
Actually, you can splash red for Dragonmaster and feel much more safe against Blood moons and land based decks thanks to Nahiri, the Harbinger and Crumble to Dust. But I think Dragonmaster won't do much work, bcs meta is pretty fast and he will be like Weathered wayfarer.
Another option - you can try Mikaeus, the Lunarch or Kytheon, Hero of Akros and etc. Some 1 drop creatures that can give interestion angles of attack of defence.
Other funny options in blue: Embodiment of Spring, Sidisi's Faithfu (lul), Realmwright (we hate blood moon)
Yeah, main problem of Sorin Tribal - they can't defend themselves while other white planeswalker can defend and create boardpresence same time.
Ew, yeah, I'm a bit dumb. No, still didn't test it but in plans.
Oh, I see. Actually, I think GQ + Flagstones is pretty slow mana stabilization and went away from it unless I'm on 1 or 2 colored manabase.
Baron is better bcs he casts much easier (5 colored sources sometimes are a problem) and lifegain is relevant. Oversoul is better againsg Jund and Grixis like more protected creature as Sigarda.
And you mentioned it right - you can kill with Blood baron against Shadow in one strike.
Yeah, same feelings. Also very important term of it - this card EXILES. It's much easier to exile bogle than break all enchantments or Lantern can't get back his Bridges or stuff with Ruins and etc.
Kambal is better - he can be used more widely: he's better against Strom bcs Storm decks have a lot of unswers hor him while Kambal works close to Rule of law. He also can be used against Burn, Control decks and etc like life drain creatures, make opp's life very painfull.
About Ad Nauseum - Gaddock Teeg is usually enough for first game and Kambal can speed up a clock. Also Kambal kills through Phyrexian Unlife bcs he make opp loose life not take dmg. And ther're a lot of small + Kambal has.
Search for Azcanta is incredible in less creature based version. I even started playin 2 copies like 0.5 of Land instead of 24th. Also it's looting effect helps a lot.
I alos like that 5 and 6 mana Elspeths have "wrath of god" lind of effects. I mean they can protect themselves pretty good and still make good pressure on opponent with their tokens. Also tokens are great foor for sac engines. Maybe it will be worth trying Orzhov or Abzan midrange with new Legendary Moxes.
I was thinking about all this options but it strongly depends on you main secondary color. I prefer blue and have a lot of blue cards fron 2nd to 4th drop so I'm playing Flooded strand instead of Windswept Heath, so I can't play non Island lands. Also for light splash I think it's important that it should be tutorable by fetches or something else. Also there're option to add basic Swamp for GQ or FoR.
Actually, it's pretty hard to contain more than 4 colorless lands in 3+ colored manabase. Bcs Weathered wayfarer isn't working well for me so I don't see big advantage of having 5th LD land and colorless source.
About colors. I also like Abzan variation but I think it's better suited for nonWish version (bcs black doesn't give 4-mana wrath card) with Aylies and Abzan Ascendancy and with token generator planeswalkers like 4-mana Gideon or Elspeth. (tribal on Elspeth, mmm?
But black still give a lot of powerfull options. And I'm going to test light splash on black in Bant version by adding Watery Grave for optimization my Sideboard and Wishboard to get more space.
Some exchanges I would like to see:
Fracturing Gust ----> Merciless Eviction ( I don't like Idea of killing my Detention Spheres and Azcantas)
Meddling Mage ----> Kambal, Consul of Allocation (last one is good Wish-card against Burn
Also I want try out Blood Baron of Vizkopa
I don't see much use of Refuge - it's colorless, got killed my LD very fast and pretty expensive - total 3 mana for activation.
Happy that videos help you!
Links for last stream:
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/239774066
Youtube - https://youtu.be/ZnpPGFA7Sqg
Yesterday finished next stream with Martyr Proc of Gideons.
Here you can find videos:
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/239403615
Youtube - https://youtu.be/LOC9ijVY0C0
I think I need to rebuild my manabase, go away from Flagstones and GQ, adding Field of Ruins and 4 Fetches to get my 2 extra colors in time.
Also I wonder if it will be better to go away from blue to black color for Wishboard optimisation like: exchange Supreme Verdict + Fracturing Gust to Merciless eviction and etc. It will be especially important when I will be adding 4 of Sphere of Resistence.
What's your thoughts?
About what cards to cut from last decklist:
-1 Caustic Caterpillar (I don't see need of playing him nowadays so I guess this will not be painfull cut while I still have Fracturing Gust in wishboard)
-1 Meddling Mage (I think that Gaddock Teeg in game one should be enough to win game while opponent doesn't have SB answers for him and postside we will have a lot of Spheres)
-1 Supreme Verdict (Not sure about this cut but it have some reasons - in most games I usually cats 1 Supreme from wishboard, it's pretty rare situation when I need 2nd. Also I hope that 3 Wrath cards in main will be enough. Actually, better look what meta will be)
-1 Narset Transcendent (Well, we already have Ajani in wishboard as CA planeswalker that will be replaced by Teferi, so I don't see any need of 2nd Planeswalker card here)
+4 Damping Sphere.
Actually it's just first thoughts how I will cut. If metagame will go more for Aggro/Midrange/Control decks, I guess SB plan will be different with less Spheres.