Oh, did you play in the IQ at the Comic Book Store yesterday? I've hardly ever seen big mana there, which has always been surprising. I guess enough people figured out how fair the store was and decided to capitalize on it.
What was your 75? And did you play against "normal" Affinity or Hardened Scales?
I was always kind of underwhelmed by 5-mana Nissa, I think Vraska comes in for the same matchups but also has way more utility elsewhere.
At SCG Philly, I brought Vraska in against:
- U/R Phoenix
- Pyro Prison
- Mono W Eldrazi Taxes
- Affinity (Experimental Frenzy, not Hardened Scales
- U/W Control
- Whir Prison
The only decks I would have brought Nissa in against would have been U/W. Honestly, if you're not convinced to try Vraska at this point then I don't think you're going to be, she really does exactly what she looks like she'll do.
I've been extremely happy to have 1 Vraska in my 75. She hasn't graduated from the sideboard to the main deck yet, but I find myself boarding her in pretty regularly. A repeatable Abrupt Decay is no joke, and I second everything Tempest said about her helping to mitigate flood. I've found her -3 to be particularly good against Whir and in the mirror. I was always kind of underwhelmed by 5-mana Nissa, I think Vraska comes in for the same matchups but also has way more utility elsewhere.
My gut says 1-2, basically replacing any main deck copies of Collective Brutality. It really is great how diverse the 2 CMC removal spot has become, between Assassin's Trophy, Abrupt Decay, Collective Brutality, and Triumph you can really round out your removal nicely.
Storrev's effect is certainly powerful, but the lack of immediate value and need to actually deal damage is probably going to hold...is it a her?...back. Notably, the 5/4 body does not line up very well against Tarmogoyf in the average B/Gx mirror, and is also typically outclassed by Death's Shadow and only trades with Angler for no value. In general I'm just not sure that this is really better than the options we already have available for grindy matchups.
Liliana's Triumph seems fantastic and main-deckable to me. Given that a number of lists already play 5 Lilianas, I think your chances of getting the discard clause are pretty decent, and its general synergy with both of our Lilanas is very strong. Last Hope clears out small creatures and makes the edict more likely to tag something big. LotV is even better as she forces your opponent to play out their hand and be more vulnerable to being hit with discard in their draw step. This also provides an instant speed answer to Primeval Titan that doesn't ramp, and can be played in response to Khalni Garden or before Amulet Titan can even tutor it. The additional hand pressure is also super relevant against decks like Izzet Phoenix and GDS, and I think in general the ability to curve something like LotV -> Liliana's Triump + 2-drop is incredibly powerful. I'm extremely high on this card in the current builds of BG right now.
What was your 75? And did you play against "normal" Affinity or Hardened Scales?
This is wildly disingenuous when that post was making the argument that Vraska comes in against the same decks as Nissa, as well as a few more:
At SCG Philly, I brought Vraska in against:
- U/R Phoenix
- Pyro Prison
- Mono W Eldrazi Taxes
- Affinity (Experimental Frenzy, not Hardened Scales
- U/W Control
- Whir Prison
The only decks I would have brought Nissa in against would have been U/W. Honestly, if you're not convinced to try Vraska at this point then I don't think you're going to be, she really does exactly what she looks like she'll do.
Liliana's Triumph seems fantastic and main-deckable to me. Given that a number of lists already play 5 Lilianas, I think your chances of getting the discard clause are pretty decent, and its general synergy with both of our Lilanas is very strong. Last Hope clears out small creatures and makes the edict more likely to tag something big. LotV is even better as she forces your opponent to play out their hand and be more vulnerable to being hit with discard in their draw step. This also provides an instant speed answer to Primeval Titan that doesn't ramp, and can be played in response to Khalni Garden or before Amulet Titan can even tutor it. The additional hand pressure is also super relevant against decks like Izzet Phoenix and GDS, and I think in general the ability to curve something like LotV -> Liliana's Triump + 2-drop is incredibly powerful. I'm extremely high on this card in the current builds of BG right now.