Post Companion nerf, Lurrus is looking like the now best shell to still play Druid. Laplasjan placed highly in the Challenge over the weekend and 5-0
d a Prelim yesterday both with the same list pre-nerf.
Druid is able to survive the Companion nerf better than the other Lurrus lists thanks to manadorks and a bunch of ways to protect it to continually accrue CA. On that note, here's a new card that might end up replacing a couple flex slots.
Our ideal opening hands are ones that have Druid and some way to beat a kill spell while still killing on T3. This Benevolent Body Guard riff is another card that allows for that, which is mostly worse than Giver but does have some advantages over Giver in spots where you have Lunge in hand. It is also neat with Lurrus as are most creatures with sac effects, and Ranger-Captain for people who are off the Companion.
MTGsalvation is pretty dead these days, but I figured I'd share where I'll start post IKO. Lurrus has interested me, and I'd like to try it out in Druid. We're definitely interested in recurring threats and T1 Dork into T2 Bauble, Lurrus, Bauble can be quite powerful against certain decks. We have to pass up Shalai and Ranger in the MD, as well as a few SB staples like Knight of Autumn, Deputy, and T3feri. Could be worth it, may not be, only real way to find out is playtesting.
One awkward thing without Shalai is we can run into issues with win cons. A Karn TCG can brick us for example, and there are not any good alternate win cons under two mana. That said, Karn TCG -> Needle already kind of punks us. We do have a work around if they play KTCG on curve and can't Needle Druid right away. It doesn't work on MTGO, but in paper we can stack our deck with infinite Duskwatch activations and Canopy into a Finale. There might be other options here, and honestly E Tron and Mono G Tron tend to be fine matchups already.
The metagame at large is pretty grindy, making typical Druid combo less ideal. I tried to solve this problem by playing this variant below when Once Upon a Time was legal (I cut them for 2 Finale, 1 fetch, 1 Noble). Coatl not only is another cheap two-for-one, but it synergizes well with both Giver and Longbow. I would recommend this variant if you expect to face a lot of Jund, DS, and midrange in general. I didn't mind running Astrolabe, additional one drops are great here and it allows us to run Magus painlessly which solves the issue of a worse Big Mana matchup when slowing the deck down.
If the Lurrus variant above is a little too small ball, I might try adding Coatl since the two work together nicely.
Holden Wolfe placed 9th this past weekend with a more typical Druid Evolution list running with zero Stoneforge, no splash, and unsurprisingly a full set of Once Upon a Time. This looks like a great place to start with Druid post-Eldraine.
If this spell is the first spell you've cast this game, you may cast it without paying its mana cost.
Look at the top five cards of your library. You may reveal a creature or land card from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
An interesting card got spoiled today. Variants of our deck are already at least somewhat interested in play with Commune with Nature effects. Paying 2 mana for it is definitely below rate, even if this does dig for lands. That said, this card breaks down to be essentially 0 mana in your opening hand, or 0 mana if you top deck it without a T1 play.
I really like how this in the opener can allow for you to dig for a T1 Birds or Giver.
I'll be interested to how this one shakes out. It definitely seems tailor-made for the Hall of the Bandit Lord versions of Druid combo that seek to T2 as often as possible. A hand of fetch, Bauble, Street Wraith, Once Upon a Time could T1 a Traverse with Delirium, pretty impressive.
Considering the deck in this thread's scope, it seems at its best in lists with 4 Evo, 4 Lunge. You can more comfortably go to 6 mana dorks and 19 non Dryad Arbor lands with this in your deck.
The rationale for this approach seems to be that you kind of do the Tarmotwin thing. Giver into Stoneforge can be a beating, and having another two-drop lightning rod tells the opponent to choose between dying to Batterskull or die to the combo.
While it might seem like a playset of SFM adds a lot of air to the deck, the aspect that looks to be pushing this idea over the edge is Viridian Longbow. This pauper all star happens to be a kill in combination with Druid + Vizier, meaning Stoneforge can be sort of like a Ranger-Captain of Eos. If you're playing Rhonas or Plague Engineer in your 75, you have a neat combo that gives Lightning Greaves + Shalai a run for its money.
I've added a Stoneforge section to the primer. As always, I'm open to any feedback you have.
Whoops Messed up my decklist, didn't change the MD. I do like 1 SFM MD. This is what I'm playing this weekend. Not sure how needed Shalai is, but I do like it so we don't lose to Karn TGC in Game 1. Could be better as a Knight of Autumn to also beat Needle effects out of Whirza in Game 1. I'm also not sure on if Sinew and Steel is better as a 4th Tef, but it does seem a bit better than Manriki-Gusari.
Stoneforge entering the format with Looting and Gaak leaving is a pretty big shake up. Who knows what'll happen to the Looting decks, UR Phoenix taken down a notch is fairly big for us.
Some might worry about an uptick in fair strategies with SFM, but I've always been excited about the prospect of the card in our deck as a 1 + 3. A 1-of Stoneforge in the main with a Bskull is a real beatdown plan that doesn't share the same problems Tracker or Shalai have. Packing the rest of the playset in the side with a Sword of Light and Shadow feels like a good plan to beat fair decks.
I'll be trying this list for a week or two to get a feel for the card. Manriki-Gusari is like 70% a meme, but I'd like to just give it a whirl to gauge its usefulness in SFM mirrors.
I've updated the primer and post title for the big changes that have come with WAR and MH1. No one seems to agree on the name for now, but I'll be happy to change the post title as needed
Congrats to Laurens Van der Beek on their 10th place finish last weekend. They decided to play a red splash for maindeck Magus of the Moon and also they played a black splash for some sideboard bullets. Veil of Summer is proving to be a high impact card for our deck, allowing us to easier stay on the combo plan in fair matchups.
Long story short, midrange hell is midrange hell. There are a limited number of cards that the opponent needs to answer, so it is easy for the opponent to have sufficient answers. I'm going to be trying something drastically different for now. If the meta gets really fast again, such that creature removal is low, I'd try this again (it thrived in the original Hogaak meta). Otherwise, I'll be on a Druid combo that has card advantage built in.
Whew am I there with you. I have moved off of Neoform for now. I still like 4 Evos but I'm seeing a whole bunch of UW, Jund, and DS on MTGO and for me locally. I'm on a fairly typical maindeck presently, still deciding between a blue or black splash for now.
You might like this version of the deck that's 5-0'd a couple of times. It's better equipped to win game one against fair strategies.
By the way, why do you play more than one Duskwatch? You only need one. That extra slot could be a second Lil Teferi in the MD.
My meta is absolutely polluted with UW and Bx. So even without having concrete data on Veil, I'll be jamming it hard. Post board I'll be on 4x Lil Tefer and 4x Veil. The 4x Giver is obvious. I think I keep all 4 Lunge in, post board despite the GY hate, just because it increases the number of win routes.
Playing 7x cards that 2-for-1 me, in a meta of removal and discard and counterspells is not viable. I'm trying some brews while I figure out where I want to go with the deck. I'm certain 4x MD Giver and 3-4x SB Veil will be in any version I build. Once I have anything worth discussing, I'll report back.
I suppose I just like Duskwatch to help in fair matchups, and don't mind more than one. Some way to help beat down when needed is nice, usually it's how I win the fair way when I get Surgical'd or whatever. I have been considering other options for the slot, not sure what I want to do yet.
I do like testing by just playing a bunch and seeing what you think in practice. I'd think you could try a list that plays more MD Tef with 4x Finale and 4x Eladamri's Call for tutors. I have experimented with slower lists like that for more fair metagames. Good luck brewing
Anyone tested Veil of Summer yet? Reid Duke's article on it gives me high hopes. It's already $2 each! I hope to be taking it for a spin at FNM.
How do you like Veil compared to Teferi, Time Raveler? Or are you playing Veils beyond your 4th TTR? I'm not sure counters and black removal are personally what I'm most worried about presently out of matchups like UW and Jund, moreso spot removal, planeswalkers, and sweepers. You did mention you have a bunch of fair decks in your meta, so I'm interested to hear what your experience has been like.
I've been changing up my list slightly. I've added the 4th Giver and Ranger-Captain of Eos along with couple Razorverge Thickets to help cast them. I made room by cutting the 3rd Duskwatch and Ezuri, and for lands I took out the 3rd Forest and 10th fetch. If I'm finding the mana a little greedy on 2 Forests, I'll trim the 9th fetch for a 3rd Forest. Overall, I definitely have liked Giver more and more as MH1 has shifted Modern into a slower, more fair place thanks to W&6 and Force of Negation mostly. Ranger-Captain is a nice option over Ezuri to help in fair matchups. It's not as good at protecting Druid, but I've liked the ability to two-for-one. Double white is definitely a problem, but I just need to get some reps in with it to really evaluate that cost.
I had a nice FNM beating UW Control, E Tron, losing to Jund, and beating Phoenix. My G1 against Jund was pretty funny where on the play I T1 Noble, it gets Pushed, T2 Druid, and my opponent T2 plays Hexdrinker and casts TS seeing this hand: Neoform, E Wit, Postmortem Lunge. They take E Witness and I top a 2nd Lunge to win with a neat sequence of Lunge Noble, Neoform it into Vizier for infy mana, Lunge Witness to bring back Neoform and Neoform Vizier into Ezuri FTW.
I'm hope to stream at least a couple leagues this week with the list below at twitch.tv/chillerpillar
Also, the Discord channels for Druid combo got some reorganizing. All-in shells, like this deck, are now separate from Chalice shells. Things should be clearer now.
One other card I remembered recently is Intrepid Hero. Obviously has its fair share of problems, but large creatures are often the biggest problem in some midrange matchups and realistically all our options for midrange beyond pro-black creatures aren't great.
...all the other decks that disrupt on multiple axes and apply pressure, such as BW Eldrazi, Mardu Pyromancer, and Esper Death's Shadow.
So I'm looking for alternatives.
Hm, so you'd like cards that are good against midrange strategies that could Path a Colossus? Sword of Light and Shadow , Dusk // Dawn, or Hexdrinker might be worth trying out. Ranger (Captain) of Eos are two to consider if you try a Hexdrinker or two, getting Ballista is strong with them too.
@AcademyRuins: Due to the diversity of midrange strategies, I'm looking for answers besides Chameleon Colossus, etc. Have you found any good hate?
Congratulations on the win mirrislegend! Exciting for you I'm sure. You could post your tourney report to /r/ModernMagic and /r/modernspikes
The problem with midrange is that the combination of discard and removal makes it the most difficult archetype to combo against. On top of that, they have more card advantage and better raw card quality, so it's hard to try and grind them out. And lastly, quick clocks like Goyf and Scooze mean you have to draw removal or somehow race them.
Pro black creatures work because it's a way to play fair that simply cheeses midrange instead of playing their grindy two-for-one game. I'm guessing Mirran Crusader or Mystic Enforcer aren't what you're looking for :o) The advantage with those two over Colossus against BG is that they better deal with a board of opposing green beaters. Beyond pro black creatures, with 4 Tef already in the 75 the best suggestion I have are walkers like Gideon AoZ. You could try going super deep with other cheese plans like Asceticism which would allow you to chump, regen until you assemble the combo. But it goes without saying that 5 mana is a lot. I tried Tireless Tracker, which was okay, but it underperformed most of the time. It's not hard to race the clues or the body, and they can easily kill it within a turn to limit you to one or two clues drawn.
By the way, I've been liking Giver after recognizing that I want more protection effects than 4 Lunge. Presently, I am cutting the extra dork, 3rd Neoform, and 2nd main deck Tef for 3 Giver. I moved the Tef to the board, cutting the 3rd BFT.
Ballista beats Bridge. If you're going to play one win con, I'd advise Ballista for that reason. here.
Can't you just attack with the 0-powered Druid and then untap it before damage to pump it infinitely large? Or are we more concerned that we are sacrificing Vizier to tutor out Ezuri in the first place?
Whoops, you're right. I suppose there are things like Worship to consider, or the Ad Naus matchup. Remembering that you can attack through bridge, perhaps Ezuri/Rhonas could be okay to play as your only win con.
This should be a permanent link to the Druid discord. There's no channel for this particular version of Druid Combo but we can change that. Let me know if anyone has trouble with it: https://discord.gg/C7WdRPr
I'd be happy to link to the Discord in the primer.
Thanks for the great feedback!
A couple more thoughts/questions:
Should we still be playing Walking Ballista or other wincons when Ezuri almost always is just as effective and works far better with the ~11 tutors that put something onto the battlefield? I also don't see how giving Rhonas multiple creatures the ability to attack for infinite is very useful, and the possibility of a backup beatdown plan if your druids are removed seems pretty marginal to me in the context of Modern.
In the same vein, Duskwatch Recruiter also seems pretty useless. Ezuri fills the role of the battlefield-tutorable creature that wins the game now and doesn't require Ballista as an actual kill condition. Not working with Neoform also shouldn't be a big concern as you can just sac the Vizier of Remedies to get it out.
Going back to one of @AcademyRuins' previous lists, is Teferi, Time Raveler really better than having more tutors (likely Eladamri's Calls, which personally I have found a great supplement to the current suite as they allow t3 Druid and also dodge Cage)? I have not tested w/ him and are curious of yall's opinions on him.
In general, I feel like we should basically refine the deck to combo backup pieces (Greaves, Stepmom, Lunge, EWit), tutors (Neoform, Evolution, Finale, Call), obviously the actual combo cards, and a wincon. Other interactive cards and bullets just take away from the t3-t4 potential of this deck, which I feel like with Stepmom is the best place for this deck to be in the Modern environment.
Ballista beats Bridge. If you're going to play one win con, I'd advise Ballista for that reason.
I'd encourage you to explore a decklist that suits your liking. There is endless depth to the Druid Vizier shell, to the point that differences in play style and plan preference can result in wildly different lists. If you think cards like Rhonas, Duskwatch, and Teferi are suboptimal, play with 4 to see them often, or play with 0 to see how much you miss them.
As for thoughts on Teferi, I talk a bit about it here.
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2 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Giver of Runes
1 Spellskite
4 Devoted Druid
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Walking Ballista
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Finale of Devastation
1 Chord of Calling
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Temple Garden
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Blossoming Defense
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den
3 Path to Exile
4 Veil of Summer
d a Prelim yesterday both with the same list pre-nerf.
Druid is able to survive the Companion nerf better than the other Lurrus lists thanks to manadorks and a bunch of ways to protect it to continually accrue CA. On that note, here's a new card that might end up replacing a couple flex slots.
[img]https://cdn1.mtggoldfish.com/images/gf/Selfless+Guard+Dog+%5BM21%5D.jpg[/img}
Our ideal opening hands are ones that have Druid and some way to beat a kill spell while still killing on T3. This Benevolent Body Guard riff is another card that allows for that, which is mostly worse than Giver but does have some advantages over Giver in spots where you have Lunge in hand. It is also neat with Lurrus as are most creatures with sac effects, and Ranger-Captain for people who are off the Companion.
One awkward thing without Shalai is we can run into issues with win cons. A Karn TCG can brick us for example, and there are not any good alternate win cons under two mana. That said, Karn TCG -> Needle already kind of punks us. We do have a work around if they play KTCG on curve and can't Needle Druid right away. It doesn't work on MTGO, but in paper we can stack our deck with infinite Duskwatch activations and Canopy into a Finale. There might be other options here, and honestly E Tron and Mono G Tron tend to be fine matchups already.
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Forest
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Plains
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
Creatures (22)
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Giver of Runes
4 Devoted Druid
2 Duskwatch Recruiter
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Walking Ballista
4 Mishra's Bauble
Instants (4)
4 Eladamri's Call
Sorceries (10)
3 Eldritch Evolution
4 Finale of Devastation
3 Postmortem Lunge
1 Lurrus of the Dream-Den (Companion)
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Kor Firewalker
3 Path to Exile
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Qasali Pridemage
4 Veil of Summer
If the Lurrus variant above is a little too small ball, I might try adding Coatl since the two work together nicely.
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Prismatic Vista
3 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
Creatures (27)
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Giver of Runes
3 Ice-Fang Coatl
4 Devoted Druid
3 Vizier of Remedies
4 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
4 Eladamri's Call
Sorceries (4)
4 Finale of Devastation
Artifacts (6)
1 Viridian Longbow
1 Batterskull
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
1 Collector Ouphe
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Knight of Autumn
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Path to Exile
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Veil of Summer
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Giver of Runes
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (19)
4 Once Upon a Time
4 Eladamri's Call
3 Eldritch Evolution
4 Finale of Devastation
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Windswept Heath
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Forest
1 Plains
2 Temple Garden
3 Razorverge Thicket
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Collector Ouphe
1 Knight of Autumn
3 Kor Firewalker
3 Path to Exile
4 Veil of Summer
1 Gaddock Teeg
I really like how this in the opener can allow for you to dig for a T1 Birds or Giver.
I'll be interested to how this one shakes out. It definitely seems tailor-made for the Hall of the Bandit Lord versions of Druid combo that seek to T2 as often as possible. A hand of fetch, Bauble, Street Wraith, Once Upon a Time could T1 a Traverse with Delirium, pretty impressive.
Considering the deck in this thread's scope, it seems at its best in lists with 4 Evo, 4 Lunge. You can more comfortably go to 6 mana dorks and 19 non Dryad Arbor lands with this in your deck.
Anyone looking to try this one out?
One pilot managed to top 16 the open with a straight GW list.
The rationale for this approach seems to be that you kind of do the Tarmotwin thing. Giver into Stoneforge can be a beating, and having another two-drop lightning rod tells the opponent to choose between dying to Batterskull or die to the combo.
While it might seem like a playset of SFM adds a lot of air to the deck, the aspect that looks to be pushing this idea over the edge is Viridian Longbow. This pauper all star happens to be a kill in combination with Druid + Vizier, meaning Stoneforge can be sort of like a Ranger-Captain of Eos. If you're playing Rhonas or Plague Engineer in your 75, you have a neat combo that gives Lightning Greaves + Shalai a run for its money.
I've added a Stoneforge section to the primer. As always, I'm open to any feedback you have.
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Giver of Runes
4 Devoted Druid
3 Vizier of Remedies
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (15)
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Finale of Devastation
3 Postmortem Lunge
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Batterskull
Land (19)
4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
1 Plains
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Path to Exile
1 Burrenton-Forge Tender
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Meddling Mage
1 Deputy of Detention
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of Sinew and Steel
Some might worry about an uptick in fair strategies with SFM, but I've always been excited about the prospect of the card in our deck as a 1 + 3. A 1-of Stoneforge in the main with a Bskull is a real beatdown plan that doesn't share the same problems Tracker or Shalai have. Packing the rest of the playset in the side with a Sword of Light and Shadow feels like a good plan to beat fair decks.
I'll be trying this list for a week or two to get a feel for the card. Manriki-Gusari is like 70% a meme, but I'd like to just give it a whirl to gauge its usefulness in SFM mirrors.
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Giver of Runes
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (16)
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Finale of Devastation
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Path to Exile
1 Burrenton-Forge Tender
1 Caustic Caterpillar
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Meddling Mage
1 Deputy of Detention
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
3 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Manriki-Gusari
Congrats to Laurens Van der Beek on their 10th place finish last weekend. They decided to play a red splash for maindeck Magus of the Moon and also they played a black splash for some sideboard bullets. Veil of Summer is proving to be a high impact card for our deck, allowing us to easier stay on the combo plan in fair matchups.
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Giver of Runes
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (16)
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Finale of Devastation
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
2 Forest
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
3 Veil of Summer
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Plaguecrafter
1 Plague Engineer
2 Path to Exile
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Hexdrinker
1 Collector Ouphe
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
You might like this version of the deck that's 5-0'd a couple of times. It's better equipped to win game one against fair strategies.
4 Giver of Runes
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
2 Eternal Witness
1 Deputy of Detention
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Eladamri's Call
4 Finale of Devastation
3 Postmortem Lunge
Lands (21)
4 Windswept Heath
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
2 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Collector Ouphe
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Kor Firewalker
3 Path to Exile
3 Ravenous Trap
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Unified Will
1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
I do like testing by just playing a bunch and seeing what you think in practice. I'd think you could try a list that plays more MD Tef with 4x Finale and 4x Eladamri's Call for tutors. I have experimented with slower lists like that for more fair metagames. Good luck brewing
I've been changing up my list slightly. I've added the 4th Giver and Ranger-Captain of Eos along with couple Razorverge Thickets to help cast them. I made room by cutting the 3rd Duskwatch and Ezuri, and for lands I took out the 3rd Forest and 10th fetch. If I'm finding the mana a little greedy on 2 Forests, I'll trim the 9th fetch for a 3rd Forest. Overall, I definitely have liked Giver more and more as MH1 has shifted Modern into a slower, more fair place thanks to W&6 and Force of Negation mostly. Ranger-Captain is a nice option over Ezuri to help in fair matchups. It's not as good at protecting Druid, but I've liked the ability to two-for-one. Double white is definitely a problem, but I just need to get some reps in with it to really evaluate that cost.
I had a nice FNM beating UW Control, E Tron, losing to Jund, and beating Phoenix. My G1 against Jund was pretty funny where on the play I T1 Noble, it gets Pushed, T2 Druid, and my opponent T2 plays Hexdrinker and casts TS seeing this hand: Neoform, E Wit, Postmortem Lunge. They take E Witness and I top a 2nd Lunge to win with a neat sequence of Lunge Noble, Neoform it into Vizier for infy mana, Lunge Witness to bring back Neoform and Neoform Vizier into Ezuri FTW.
I'm hope to stream at least a couple leagues this week with the list below at twitch.tv/chillerpillar
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Giver of Runes
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
2 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Eternal Witness
1 Ranger-Captain of Eos
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (13)
2 Neoform
3 Finale of Devastation
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Postmortem Lunge
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills.
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
2 Forest
1 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Waterlogged Grove
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Path to Exile
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Spellskite
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Meddling Mage
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Deputy of Detention
3 Teferi, Time Raveler
2 Chameleon Colossus
1 Mystic Enforcer
The problem with midrange is that the combination of discard and removal makes it the most difficult archetype to combo against. On top of that, they have more card advantage and better raw card quality, so it's hard to try and grind them out. And lastly, quick clocks like Goyf and Scooze mean you have to draw removal or somehow race them.
Pro black creatures work because it's a way to play fair that simply cheeses midrange instead of playing their grindy two-for-one game. I'm guessing Mirran Crusader or Mystic Enforcer aren't what you're looking for :o) The advantage with those two over Colossus against BG is that they better deal with a board of opposing green beaters. Beyond pro black creatures, with 4 Tef already in the 75 the best suggestion I have are walkers like Gideon AoZ. You could try going super deep with other cheese plans like Asceticism which would allow you to chump, regen until you assemble the combo. But it goes without saying that 5 mana is a lot. I tried Tireless Tracker, which was okay, but it underperformed most of the time. It's not hard to race the clues or the body, and they can easily kill it within a turn to limit you to one or two clues drawn.
By the way, I've been liking Giver after recognizing that I want more protection effects than 4 Lunge. Presently, I am cutting the extra dork, 3rd Neoform, and 2nd main deck Tef for 3 Giver. I moved the Tef to the board, cutting the 3rd BFT.
I'd encourage you to explore a decklist that suits your liking. There is endless depth to the Druid Vizier shell, to the point that differences in play style and plan preference can result in wildly different lists. If you think cards like Rhonas, Duskwatch, and Teferi are suboptimal, play with 4 to see them often, or play with 0 to see how much you miss them.
As for thoughts on Teferi, I talk a bit about it here.