Round 1 vs. Zoo-ish Abzan 2-0
Game 1 he gets a ton of Lingering Souls tokens, but I get triple-Knight Exemplar, and he simply can't deal with the beats. I decide not to board in Relics, as I didn't see any grave-interaction in game 1. Game 2 is sort of a race - He has a ton of spirit tokens with a township, but I get a Kessig Wolf-Run out, so he can't chump my Mirran Crusader.
Round 2 vs. Heartless Summoning Combo 2-1
Game 1 I have no clue what he's doing. He keeps dropping Solemn Simulacrums, and ramps a ton, but never does anything, so I just turn my dudes sideways and end up winning. Game 2 I brainfart completely, and keep a onelander with Hierarch and 5 3+ drops. I never see the second land, but I did see a great part of his deck (Heartless Summoning, Mulldrifter etc. Game 3, I get a decent curve, and end up comboing him out, tapping a wurmcoil in the process (Although I did have a path in hand). I would have probably still won that last game even without the combo.
Round 3 vs. Splinter Twin 2-0
Game 1 I play around the twin pretty much the entire game (Although it turns out he didn't have it in the end). He controls me for a very long time, but I eventually manage to resolve a Collected Company, and win in two turns from there, by fetching a Wolf Run for the trample finish. Game 2 he gets stuck on two lands, and I resolve a Thalia for his eventual Anger of the Gods (that he didn't reach).
Round 4 vs. Zoo 1-2
This was against a good friend of mine. Game one he gets a very strong start with T1 Nacatl into more dudes. We have a crazy stack where he attacks with a 4/4 Scooze, I block with my 4/4 KotR, he eats a land, I fetch a land with KotR, he eats another land in response, I get a fetch land and fetch again, he eats a third land, I Vial in an Exemplar, and he end up having the bolt for it. If he didn't have that bolt, I'd likely have won the game. I resolve a below-average CoCo, and Elspeth manages to stall out, but I eventually take too much damage. I see Goyf and Scooze, so I decide to side graveyard hate in, as well as siding the combo out in order to get a more consistent threat level. Game 2 he gets out a turn 2 Blood Moon into Stony Silence, but he doesn't have much pressure, and I get triple-Hierarch for the blood moon. I end up hitting him for 12 with my Mirran Crusader through his field. Game 3 he gets the nuts draw, and topdecks the land he needs on turn 2, so he has too much pressure for me to win against. Lyev Skyknight was really good in this MU.
Round 5 vs. 8-rack 0-2
Game 1 he strips my hand in a few turns, then resolves double rack-effects into a bridge. Textbook game, pretty much unwinable. Game 2 I brainfart and don't side Path to Exile out. I end up mulling to five, and he gets triple-rack effect out (A mull to five is pretty bad against that btw). I get KotR into Retreat, but I have to fetch with the KotR to play the retreat. I he passes the turn with 3 racks on the stack, but I fetch up a Horizon Canopy in response, and end up on 1 instead of 0. Unfortunately, he's still on 20, and I don't have access to red mana, so I end up hitting him for 14 since I can't wolf-run.
Thoughts and observations:
The deck was really fun to play! Having an alternate wincon lets you win some games that you shouldn't normally be able to win (Although that didn't happen this time around). My sideboard felt really unrefined (I pretty much just threw it together before the tourney), and definitely deserves a look. I want some amount of disenchant effects for sure.
Retreat to Coralhelm didn't feel bad to draw, even if the deck only combos off around 20% of the wins. I think 3 is the correct number if you're not banking on comboing off as often as possible. If you're looking to do a bant list, I'd say it's probably the correct choice to play the retreat, although it's not necessarily correct to play the bant list. The combo might need more protection. Ultimately, I think it still needs a ton of testing and a ton of refinement, but it played pretty good IMHO.
Lyev Skyknight feels like a really strong card in the creature-based matchups, and the flying is extremely relevant. Kessig Wolf Run was the overperformer, trample is something I've definitely missed, and vastly improves the deck against spirit tokens. Elspeth didn't feel great, the deck is simply usualy a bit too slow to take advantage of the flight effect. I still want to test out Gideon.
I'll report again once I get my hands on some more results.
They left out the part where Yawgmoth is resurrected,but has been cleansed as Yawgmoth the Redeemed,and now must awaken Chromium so that Karn can fuse with him and create what can only be known as : the ultimate taco.
Skyhunter and Holy Nimbus I think comes down to personal preference. If there's a lot of black and red decks in your meta then Paladin en-Vec might be maindeck worthy. If Honor of the Pure isn't cutting it for you you could try Light From Within. Its more expensive but with your double and triple white mana symbols its a huge boost.
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Collecting Timbermare, hit me up if you have any for trade
Round 1 vs. R/G Tron (2-0)
It's his first time playing the deck, although he didn't make too many mistakes. Game 1 he gets an early Karn, but i get to kill it with a 10-damage Mirran Crusader (Double Hierarch+Exemplar). I get back-to-back Collected Company, and he draws the Ugin one turn too late. Game 2 I keep a relatively slow hand with a Vial and the combo, he starts doing his own stuff, I vial in KotR at the end of his turn, drop Retreat and combo him out.
Round 2 vs. Kiki-Chord (2-1)
Game 1 he has a below-average hand, and after fighting with his removal in the early game, I get out the combo, and he scoops. Game 2 I flood super hard (Triple Hierarch), and he gets me with the chord for Kiki. Game 3 goes to time, Knight of Meadowgrain did a ton of work with Kessig Wolf Run (that combination is insane in the grindy matchups). He gets a resto-thragtusk turn, but simply can't keep up with my larger dudes, especially with the wolf run. I end the game on the second-to-last turn in time.
Round 3 vs. Grixis Delver (2-0)
He has no sideboard, since he just put the deck together. Game 1, he gets me to 5 before I stabilize. I have to shock myself to 3 in order to properly develop my board. I somehow manage to just beat him down without him doing anything. Turns out he topdecked double tasigur, as well as double spell pierce, neither of which does anything. Game two, he gets double Delver and a Young Pyromancer, but his delvers doesn't flip by turn 5, and Auriok Champion does a ton of work, gaining me 5-6 life and killing off two elemental tokens. Definitely lucky, although I don't think it would be unwinnable had his delvers flipped.
Round 4 vs. Twin (1-2)
Game 1 I get the beats with double Knight of the Reliquary. He stalls for a few turns, but I have a path for his only twin enabler, and I quickly get him with my 9/9s. Game 2 wasn't exciting - I get a subpar start, and does what twin does the best, out-tempo me and combos out. Game 3 drags out for a bit, I get him to 6, with a decent board, but he has the Twin. I vial in a Skyknight to detain his deciever to try and topdeck removal. I draw a land, find a Horizon Canopy with KotR, and draw an additional land. Close game!
Round 5 vs. R/G Tron (2-0)
Game 1, I get a few dudes on board and start beating down. He casts Oblivion Sower and gets my Kessig Wolf Run (Scary!). I get out an exemplar and start swinging with a doublestriking Student of Warfare (Sad times for the tron player when he has to chump with a 5/8). He never finds Ugin, as my board developed too rapidly. Game 2, he goes to 5 cards, keeps a hand with two Tron-pieces, an Expedition Map and a Karn Liberated. I cast turn two Gaddock Teeg. He loses.
Overall, the deck felt much more fluid than last friday, with a few more two drops. Definitely impressed with Knight of Meadowgrain in the matches where the life mattered, so I'm probably gonna run one more next week. The combo gives a lot more reach in matches where it's needed (Tron, for example), but can be tough to force through - I sided Retreat out against Delver and Twin. The sideboard still feels unrefined. I'm switching Kataki back to Stony Silence, since it does more in the tron matchup. Probably cut a Disenchant, and most likely the leylines. Auriok Champion overperformed though, and will definitely be kept in.
I'm contemplating trying out a non-vial version. I'll try to keep posting my results.
They left out the part where Yawgmoth is resurrected,but has been cleansed as Yawgmoth the Redeemed,and now must awaken Chromium so that Karn can fuse with him and create what can only be known as : the ultimate taco.
I'm contemplating trying out a non-vial version. I'll try to keep posting my results.
Please do! I'm currently working on building version of this deck and I've been avoiding the Vial for budget reasons; I'd love to see someone's recommendations on how to work around not having it.
Together, these of course dictate Bant colors which means a few more lands will be needed. Knight of the White Orchid is really good for helping with the mana although a knight-fall style deck will run so many fetches Orchid might not be necessary.
Such a deck would be primarily a linear, aggressive deck fueled by CoCo with a combination back-up plan with KotR and RtC.
The vulnerabilities of a typical knight deck are only partly addressed by CoCo and RtC and the weakness to Blood Moon would be significant.
I'd probably have to throw in a copy of Rafiq, even if he's not really good enough and a copy or two of the new Gideon seems like a reasonable idea.
But it's not as if I've been giving this a great deal of thought, you know.
I think I want an additional manadork, with the amount of three drops in this deck, perhaps even two. I'm not sure about 4x Collected Company, but the card is just so strong.
I won't be testing this deck out tomorrow, but perhaps next friday or the one afterwards. I still really want to try out Gideon (I don't have one yet). I'll see if I can trade for one before FNM tomorrow.
Worth noting that the zoo-shell is probably still a better home for the combo, although it still feels strong in this shell, and is fun experimenting with.
They left out the part where Yawgmoth is resurrected,but has been cleansed as Yawgmoth the Redeemed,and now must awaken Chromium so that Karn can fuse with him and create what can only be known as : the ultimate taco.
If I'm being honest, the mana base is a bit rudimentary, and maybe I could throw some Emeria, the Sky Ruin/Ghost Quarter/Horizon Canopy/Sejiri Steppe in there. But the deck works - it's resilient, consistent, and has enough offense to get the job done. Every card in the sideboard has performed well thus far (especially Knight of the Holy Nimbus, which I'm considering mainboarding over Knight of the White Orchid) except Pithing Needle, which I could swap out for pretty much anything, really (which means I'm open to suggestions, especially if they help me beat combo decks). Last but not least, allow me to put in a good word for Wilt-Leaf Liege, because it's been a bear for people to deal with. With White Orchid and Vial, it's not as hard to get on the table as 20 lands would otherwise indicate, and it's too big for most removal (pretty much only dies to Dismember, Path to Exile, or Terminate). The anthem effect and the discard hate are also pretty relevant in the current meta (bonus points if you get it in play off a Liliana of the Veil +1). Let me know what you think.
Note that the the results might be skewered, because my metagame seems to be pretty much purely bad matchups.
Round 1 vs. Scapeshift (0-2)
He stalls out just quite enough, and gets a turn 6-7 Scapeshift both games.
Round 2 vs. Ad Nauseam (2-1)
Game 1 I decide to keep, but somehow fail to notice two of my lands doesn't tap for white (Breeding Pool+Forest), and get manascrewed with four double-white cards in my hand. In retroperspective, I'd have lost that game whether I got to play my cards or not. Game 2, I get an early Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and get a Negate on his Ad Nauseam, which he Pact of Negations. I'm just about to scoop, until I notice he doesn't have mana to pay for the increased cost of the pact. He hadn't noticed either, so I end up winning. Game 3 he manashorts, and I get the turn 2 Thalia again.
Round 3 vs. UW-Tron (2-1)
Game 1, I get down a lot of dudes, he wipes the board, I play a Wilt-Leaf Liege, which ends up beating him to 2 (He has 5 cards in hand, a million mana and doesn't cast anything, so I play around counterspells by not casting anything myself). He gets to 15 and casts Emrakul. I scoop. Game 2, I drop a Hierarch into KotR. He drops Celestial Colonnade into double Expedition Map. I have the Stony Silence ready, but I topdeck Retreat to Coralhelm, and combo him out instead. Game 3, I get him to 2 with double KotR plus Knight Exemplar for wipe-protection. He casts Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, which I promptly path, and hit him for lethal.
Round 4 vs. Mono-U Faeries (2-0)
This is the first time I ever get to play against my brother at FNM. My deck plays faster than his in both games, and I have too many threats for him to deal with, and outrace him. My odds were even more improved by the fact that I had Cavern of Souls in both games, although he didn't play that many counterspells. Game one was the highlight of the evening, having Kytheon, Hero of Akros flip... twice!
The Vial-less version actually feels a lot better to play - I've gotten to the point where I play so many noncreature spells, that it simply doesn't feel like I get enough tempo out of the card. I probably want another BoP, perhaps even another land as well (Probably a Horizon Canopy).
Kytheon, Hero of Akros turned out to be pretty decent, although him not being a knight hurt a bit. I think he's decent for mono-white lists, if they want more one-drops, perhaps like rothgar13's above. 2 Retreat to Coralhelm felt better than 3, because the deck is more than capable of winning without it, and you really don't want to draw it without KotR. Having a few more lands also increases the value of the card.
I didn't get a good impression of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, because I unfortunately didn't draw him more than twice. On the other hand, he would be pretty poor in most of the matchups that I faced today. Still going try and test him. Negate was the absolute all-star of the sideboard, and I'll probably get at least one more of those effects as well. I Remanded two 4+ mana cost spells today, and will probably try out one in the main, as it's a way to win for me against the unfair decks. Sunlance didn't see a lot of play because of my matchups, but felt pretty good against the fairie deck. I'll probably keep at least 1 in against the aggressive decks such as Zoo or Burn.
This is probably how my updated list will look based on performance today:
They left out the part where Yawgmoth is resurrected,but has been cleansed as Yawgmoth the Redeemed,and now must awaken Chromium so that Karn can fuse with him and create what can only be known as : the ultimate taco.
If I'm being honest, the mana base is a bit rudimentary, and maybe I could throw some Emeria, the Sky Ruin/Ghost Quarter/Horizon Canopy/Sejiri Steppe in there. But the deck works - it's resilient, consistent, and has enough offense to get the job done. Every card in the sideboard has performed well thus far (especially Knight of the Holy Nimbus, which I'm considering mainboarding over Knight of the White Orchid) except Pithing Needle, which I could swap out for pretty much anything, really (which means I'm open to suggestions, especially if they help me beat combo decks). Last but not least, allow me to put in a good word for Wilt-Leaf Liege, because it's been a bear for people to deal with. With White Orchid and Vial, it's not as hard to get on the table as 20 lands would otherwise indicate, and it's too big for most removal (pretty much only dies to Dismember, Path to Exile, or Terminate). The anthem effect and the discard hate are also pretty relevant in the current meta (bonus points if you get it in play off a Liliana of the Veil +1). Let me know what you think.
Emeria will not likely ever perform with twelve Plains. I think you'd have to give up Mutavaults to play Ghost Quarters. A copy or two on Canopy sounds like a reasonable idea but Blood Moon becomes a bigger threat as the basic count goes down.
That's a fair point on Emeria, the Sky Ruin, plus it enters the battlefield tapped. I'll probably drop that from consideration. I'm a bit loath to give up Mutavault for mainboard Ghost Quarter, though. Maybe I trim the Cavern of Souls count (though hitting WW on turn 2 might be hard if I do that...), or bring it in off the sideboard and promote one of my cards in there to the mainboard (thinking Knight of the Holy Nimbus for either Leonin Skyhunter or Knight of Meadowgrain). And while you're right about Blood Moon having more game against me the more nonbasics I have, I think there's a pretty established ceiling to its effectiveness - any deck with 10+ basics (as I intend to have), Æther Vial, and enchantment hate in the board can't really be shut down by the Moon.
Retreat to Coralhelm is a combo piece for Knight of Reliquary. Based on what I have read so far, any competitive Bant-based deck could take advantage of that combo.
I'm not sure a tribal Knights build is the best place for this combo, since we're dedicating a lot of card slots to being a tribal deck. The white weenie and standard GW Knight builds are essentially aggro decks.
My definition of a Knights deck is that the deck is tribal (heavy concentration of Knights) and that definition makes the deck lean towards aggro strategies. If you only have 8 Knights or fewer out of all your deck's creatures, I don't consider that a Knights deck anymore.
I agree with Shiroe. After having played with the combo in a knight-shell, I can pretty confidently say that a knight-deck isn't the best shell for the combo. That doesn't mean that it isn't good though. KotR is a very strong card in the midrange games, especially when drawn in multiples, as they can buff each other. The green splash gives access to Collected Company, which is obviously a strong card in a deck full of 3-drops. It also gives acces to manadorks, most notably Hierarch, which synergizes well with double strikers, as well as Knight of the White Orchid when you're on the draw. Also, a 1-3-4 curve just feels so much better than a 1-2-3 curve, when you cast your Knight of Meadowgrain, and the opponent plays a goyf.
The blue splash then gives access to the combo. Which is strong to have, because it allows us to win some more or less unwinnable games/matchups. The downside is, that playing the combo reduces your threat density, and that Retreat is sometimes a dead draw. Hence why I ended up playing only 2 - KotR can kick some major butt on it's own, and the added upside of having 10-15% of your wins come out of nowhere is a real threat, that the opponent has to respect. Splashing blue also gives access to counterspells in the sideboard, which can really increase some of the bad matchups (Tron, for example). If you want to more consistently combo out, Court Hussar may be worth testing out (You were talking about tribal cantrip, and that card is pretty good, but unfortunately dies from CoCo/Vial).
I'm not saying the correct way to build the deck is to play the combo, or even play multiple colors, as the different versions are capable of different things, but I have to admit I quite like how my current list is playing. I have to agree that it's important to keep the amount of actual knight creatures high though, something I'm not that good at because I want to test out all kinds of things.
They left out the part where Yawgmoth is resurrected,but has been cleansed as Yawgmoth the Redeemed,and now must awaken Chromium so that Karn can fuse with him and create what can only be known as : the ultimate taco.
I don't think tribal Knights will ever be more than a Tier 3 deck unless Wizards creates more Knights with non-combat effects (See Steward of Valeron). Knights is an occupation type, so I think Wizards mostly gives this occupation combat skills. Merfolk and Elves are species, and they can have many occupations. Merfolk and Elf decks work very well, because the cards you use cover many occupations, and that in turn provides broad strategic coverage (card draw, mana ramp, counter spells, etc.).
If you go the tribal Knights route, you don't have a lot of cards slots left for other spells and creatures.
If you decide to use the KotR/RtC combo, a Bant shell is much better (competitive) for the deck, but you don't really have a dedicated tribal Knight deck anymore. See the "Knightfall" deck, which has Bant and Zoo variants.
As for protection spells...
If you treat your deck as a white-based aggro deck, Brave the Elements is the "best" protection card. It protects all your white-based knights, so it can be used as an alpha strike or to prevent damage from Pyroclasm or a similar card.
Stave Off works fine to protect one creature and to use as anti-Twin card and to prevent Tainted Strike from being useful.
I feel that the other two protection cards are personal choices. I don't consider Faith's Shield's Fateful Hour effect to be relevant in many cases. If the Knights player is down to 5 life or less, then that player is probably going to lose the game more often than not.
Dromoka's Command is used in some Knights builds, but I think this card is dependent on the local meta. I am not sure it is a consistent inclusion in a tribal Knights deck.
Wrath of God is meta call. I think wrath effects have largely fallen out of favor, because Modern is so fast, and board sweeping is generally used with control decks, which a tribal Knights deck is not.
From my personal experience, going turn 1 Student into turn 2 level up / 2-drop into turn 3 3-drop typically feels weaker than going turn 1 dork into turn 2 3-drop into turn 4 Collected Company/Wilt-Leaf Liege/even another 3-drop. The first line of play puts more pressure on the opponent at first, but 'ramping out' higher cost cards is stronger the further the game goes. Of course, you don't want to draw the dorks later in the game. That's why we're playing Kessig Wolf Run and Gavony Township especially.
Also, when you're playing the combo, it's probably wrong to go all-in on it. I'm only playing two copies of retreat in my deck, which ensures I rarely draw more than one copy, and gives me the opportunity and threat of an 'oops, I win' moment. I want to try out Court Hussar as a way to dig for it, but I'm not sure it's even required. The deck is still a pretty typical midrange deck, it just has that extra reach to it.
They left out the part where Yawgmoth is resurrected,but has been cleansed as Yawgmoth the Redeemed,and now must awaken Chromium so that Karn can fuse with him and create what can only be known as : the ultimate taco.
My definition of a Knights deck is that the deck is tribal (heavy concentration of Knights) and that definition makes the deck lean towards aggro strategies. If you only have 8 Knights or fewer out of all your deck's creatures, I don't consider that a Knights deck anymore.
I tend to agree with Shiroe here regarding the definition of a Knight deck, otherwise the Knightfall deck which plays 4x Knight of the Reliquary would have qualify as one.
I agree with Shiroe. After having played with the combo in a knight-shell, I can pretty confidently say that a knight-deck isn't the best shell for the combo. That doesn't mean that it isn't good though. KotR is a very strong card in the midrange games, especially when drawn in multiples, as they can buff each other. The green splash gives access to Collected Company, which is obviously a strong card in a deck full of 3-drops. It also gives acces to manadorks, most notably Hierarch, which synergizes well with double strikers, as well as Knight of the White Orchid when you're on the draw. Also, a 1-3-4 curve just feels so much better than a 1-2-3 curve, when you cast your Knight of Meadowgrain, and the opponent plays a goyf.
The blue splash then gives access to the combo. Which is strong to have, because it allows us to win some more or less unwinnable games/matchups. The downside is, that playing the combo reduces your threat density, and that Retreat is sometimes a dead draw. Hence why I ended up playing only 2 - KotR can kick some major butt on it's own, and the added upside of having 10-15% of your wins come out of nowhere is a real threat, that the opponent has to respect. Splashing blue also gives access to counterspells in the sideboard, which can really increase some of the bad matchups (Tron, for example). If you want to more consistently combo out, Court Hussar may be worth testing out (You were talking about tribal cantrip, and that card is pretty good, but unfortunately dies from CoCo/Vial).
I'm not saying the correct way to build the deck is to play the combo, or even play multiple colors, as the different versions are capable of different things, but I have to admit I quite like how my current list is playing. I have to agree that it's important to keep the amount of actual knight creatures high though, something I'm not that good at because I want to test out all kinds of things.
Also agree with you here about keeping the "actual knight creatures" high enough - ironically this might just be the factor holding back Tribal Knights since the Knights are often lacking in more powerful abilities or insane power/toughness stats. That being said, the likes of Knight of Meadowgrain, Black Knight and White Knight do pack a punch(against opponents who only have Path to Exile for removal or Black removal spells respectively). I usually like to slap on a Rancor in order to make them much more threatening.
Tivadar of Thorn, as much as I love him, is not really good enough to warrant even a side-board slot unless, perhaps, one regularly plays against Goblins.
1. What do you think about Riftmarked Knight ? Too slow for Modern ?
This is too slow for Modern. You can't really use its suspend ability since it costs 3 CMC, so you won't often be able to get its token creatures companion.
I think Fiendslayer Paladin is a meta call. If your local meta is playing Pyroclasm or similar effects, Fiendslayer Paladin can't help you. Color protection is very useful in a creature-heavy match, which is why Wizards is cutting down on the number of cards with that keyword ability.
In my opinion, some Modern metas (not all) have a lot of red spells and Tarmogoyf. In these cases, Paladin en-Vec and Mirran Crusader are strong. If you don't think your local Modern meta has those spells, you can swap those Knights out for other Knights.
Flying is a good evasion ability, but it hasn't appeared on Knights in a good combination of other abilities. Leonin Skyhunter has flying for WW but no other abilities. White Shield Crusader has protection from black, but require W to give it flying. Generally, we don't want to spend mana every turn to pump creature abilities, because we won't have mana to cast spells.
I like White Shield Crusader for his pump ability as well as his flying. I also like Nimbus. Meadowgrain is too good not to run, IMO. I run about ten two-drops, two Crusaders, four Nimbus, and four Meadowgrain.
Color protection is one of the few things Knights have going for them outside of Exemplar. It's simple to build a Knight deck that wrecks Burn or Rakdos or Zombies. If that's your play-group than have at it.
im also afraid of anger of the gods
5x Plains
4x Windswept Heath
3x Flooded Strand
2x Temple Garden
1x Breeding Pool
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Sejiri Steppe
1x Kessig Wolf Run
Creatures (25)
4x Noble Hierarch
3x Student of Warfare
4x Knight of the White Orchid
4x Knight of the Reliquary
4x Knight Exemplar
4x Lyev Skyknight
2x Mirran Crusader
4x Path to Exile
4x Æther vial
3x Retreat to Coralhelm
3x Collected Company
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Stony Silence
2x Sword of Fire and Ice
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2x Wlit-Leaf Liege
1x Mirran Crusader
1x Wrath of God
1x Brave the Elements
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Spellskite
Round 1 vs. Zoo-ish Abzan 2-0
Game 1 he gets a ton of Lingering Souls tokens, but I get triple-Knight Exemplar, and he simply can't deal with the beats. I decide not to board in Relics, as I didn't see any grave-interaction in game 1. Game 2 is sort of a race - He has a ton of spirit tokens with a township, but I get a Kessig Wolf-Run out, so he can't chump my Mirran Crusader.
Round 2 vs. Heartless Summoning Combo 2-1
Game 1 I have no clue what he's doing. He keeps dropping Solemn Simulacrums, and ramps a ton, but never does anything, so I just turn my dudes sideways and end up winning. Game 2 I brainfart completely, and keep a onelander with Hierarch and 5 3+ drops. I never see the second land, but I did see a great part of his deck (Heartless Summoning, Mulldrifter etc. Game 3, I get a decent curve, and end up comboing him out, tapping a wurmcoil in the process (Although I did have a path in hand). I would have probably still won that last game even without the combo.
Round 3 vs. Splinter Twin 2-0
Game 1 I play around the twin pretty much the entire game (Although it turns out he didn't have it in the end). He controls me for a very long time, but I eventually manage to resolve a Collected Company, and win in two turns from there, by fetching a Wolf Run for the trample finish. Game 2 he gets stuck on two lands, and I resolve a Thalia for his eventual Anger of the Gods (that he didn't reach).
Round 4 vs. Zoo 1-2
This was against a good friend of mine. Game one he gets a very strong start with T1 Nacatl into more dudes. We have a crazy stack where he attacks with a 4/4 Scooze, I block with my 4/4 KotR, he eats a land, I fetch a land with KotR, he eats another land in response, I get a fetch land and fetch again, he eats a third land, I Vial in an Exemplar, and he end up having the bolt for it. If he didn't have that bolt, I'd likely have won the game. I resolve a below-average CoCo, and Elspeth manages to stall out, but I eventually take too much damage. I see Goyf and Scooze, so I decide to side graveyard hate in, as well as siding the combo out in order to get a more consistent threat level. Game 2 he gets out a turn 2 Blood Moon into Stony Silence, but he doesn't have much pressure, and I get triple-Hierarch for the blood moon. I end up hitting him for 12 with my Mirran Crusader through his field. Game 3 he gets the nuts draw, and topdecks the land he needs on turn 2, so he has too much pressure for me to win against. Lyev Skyknight was really good in this MU.
Round 5 vs. 8-rack 0-2
Game 1 he strips my hand in a few turns, then resolves double rack-effects into a bridge. Textbook game, pretty much unwinable. Game 2 I brainfart and don't side Path to Exile out. I end up mulling to five, and he gets triple-rack effect out (A mull to five is pretty bad against that btw). I get KotR into Retreat, but I have to fetch with the KotR to play the retreat. I he passes the turn with 3 racks on the stack, but I fetch up a Horizon Canopy in response, and end up on 1 instead of 0. Unfortunately, he's still on 20, and I don't have access to red mana, so I end up hitting him for 14 since I can't wolf-run.
Thoughts and observations:
The deck was really fun to play! Having an alternate wincon lets you win some games that you shouldn't normally be able to win (Although that didn't happen this time around). My sideboard felt really unrefined (I pretty much just threw it together before the tourney), and definitely deserves a look. I want some amount of disenchant effects for sure.
Retreat to Coralhelm didn't feel bad to draw, even if the deck only combos off around 20% of the wins. I think 3 is the correct number if you're not banking on comboing off as often as possible. If you're looking to do a bant list, I'd say it's probably the correct choice to play the retreat, although it's not necessarily correct to play the bant list. The combo might need more protection. Ultimately, I think it still needs a ton of testing and a ton of refinement, but it played pretty good IMHO.
Lyev Skyknight feels like a really strong card in the creature-based matchups, and the flying is extremely relevant. Kessig Wolf Run was the overperformer, trample is something I've definitely missed, and vastly improves the deck against spirit tokens. Elspeth didn't feel great, the deck is simply usualy a bit too slow to take advantage of the flight effect. I still want to test out Gideon.
I'll report again once I get my hands on some more results.
4x Student of Warfare
4x Knight of Meadowgrain
4x Knight of the White Orchid
4x Leonin Skyhunter
4x Knight Exemplar
4x Mirran Crusader
2x Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
1x Hero of Bladehold
1x Wilt-Leaf Liege
19x Plains
1x Emeria, The Sky Ruin
1x Windbrisk Heights
Instant (7)
3x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
2x Honor of the Pure
Planeswalker (2)
2x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
I would play Æther Vial and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar if they weren't so expensive.
1. Should I keep Leonin Skyhunter or replace it with Knight of the Holy Nimbus ?
2. Should I keep Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers or replace them with: Silverblade Paladin or Paladin en-Vec or Fiendslayer Paladin ?
3. Is there anything better I can play instead of Honor of the Pure ?
4x Noble Hierarch
3x Student of Warfare
4x Knight of the White Orchid
2x Knight of Meadowgrain
4x Knight Exemplar
4x Knight of the Reliquary
3x Lyev Skyknight
2x Mirran Crusader
Noncreatures
4x Path to Exile
4x Æther Vial
3x Retreat to Emeria
3x Collected Company
5x Plains
4x Windswept Heath
3x Flooded Strand
2x Temple Garden
1x Breeding Pool
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Sejiri Steppe
1x Kessig Wolf Run
3x Leyline of Sanctity
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2x Kataki, War's Wage
2x Disenchant
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Spellskite
1x Aurok Champion
1x Wrath of God
Matches:
Round 1 vs. R/G Tron (2-0)
It's his first time playing the deck, although he didn't make too many mistakes. Game 1 he gets an early Karn, but i get to kill it with a 10-damage Mirran Crusader (Double Hierarch+Exemplar). I get back-to-back Collected Company, and he draws the Ugin one turn too late. Game 2 I keep a relatively slow hand with a Vial and the combo, he starts doing his own stuff, I vial in KotR at the end of his turn, drop Retreat and combo him out.
Round 2 vs. Kiki-Chord (2-1)
Game 1 he has a below-average hand, and after fighting with his removal in the early game, I get out the combo, and he scoops. Game 2 I flood super hard (Triple Hierarch), and he gets me with the chord for Kiki. Game 3 goes to time, Knight of Meadowgrain did a ton of work with Kessig Wolf Run (that combination is insane in the grindy matchups). He gets a resto-thragtusk turn, but simply can't keep up with my larger dudes, especially with the wolf run. I end the game on the second-to-last turn in time.
Round 3 vs. Grixis Delver (2-0)
He has no sideboard, since he just put the deck together. Game 1, he gets me to 5 before I stabilize. I have to shock myself to 3 in order to properly develop my board. I somehow manage to just beat him down without him doing anything. Turns out he topdecked double tasigur, as well as double spell pierce, neither of which does anything. Game two, he gets double Delver and a Young Pyromancer, but his delvers doesn't flip by turn 5, and Auriok Champion does a ton of work, gaining me 5-6 life and killing off two elemental tokens. Definitely lucky, although I don't think it would be unwinnable had his delvers flipped.
Round 4 vs. Twin (1-2)
Game 1 I get the beats with double Knight of the Reliquary. He stalls for a few turns, but I have a path for his only twin enabler, and I quickly get him with my 9/9s. Game 2 wasn't exciting - I get a subpar start, and does what twin does the best, out-tempo me and combos out. Game 3 drags out for a bit, I get him to 6, with a decent board, but he has the Twin. I vial in a Skyknight to detain his deciever to try and topdeck removal. I draw a land, find a Horizon Canopy with KotR, and draw an additional land. Close game!
Round 5 vs. R/G Tron (2-0)
Game 1, I get a few dudes on board and start beating down. He casts Oblivion Sower and gets my Kessig Wolf Run (Scary!). I get out an exemplar and start swinging with a doublestriking Student of Warfare (Sad times for the tron player when he has to chump with a 5/8). He never finds Ugin, as my board developed too rapidly. Game 2, he goes to 5 cards, keeps a hand with two Tron-pieces, an Expedition Map and a Karn Liberated. I cast turn two Gaddock Teeg. He loses.
Overall, the deck felt much more fluid than last friday, with a few more two drops. Definitely impressed with Knight of Meadowgrain in the matches where the life mattered, so I'm probably gonna run one more next week. The combo gives a lot more reach in matches where it's needed (Tron, for example), but can be tough to force through - I sided Retreat out against Delver and Twin. The sideboard still feels unrefined. I'm switching Kataki back to Stony Silence, since it does more in the tron matchup. Probably cut a Disenchant, and most likely the leylines. Auriok Champion overperformed though, and will definitely be kept in.
I'm contemplating trying out a non-vial version. I'll try to keep posting my results.
Please do! I'm currently working on building version of this deck and I've been avoiding the Vial for budget reasons; I'd love to see someone's recommendations on how to work around not having it.
Together, these of course dictate Bant colors which means a few more lands will be needed. Knight of the White Orchid is really good for helping with the mana although a knight-fall style deck will run so many fetches Orchid might not be necessary.
Such a deck would be primarily a linear, aggressive deck fueled by CoCo with a combination back-up plan with KotR and RtC.
The vulnerabilities of a typical knight deck are only partly addressed by CoCo and RtC and the weakness to Blood Moon would be significant.
I'd probably have to throw in a copy of Rafiq, even if he's not really good enough and a copy or two of the new Gideon seems like a reasonable idea.
But it's not as if I've been giving this a great deal of thought, you know.
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Knight Exemplar
4x Knight of the Reliquary
3x Student of Warfare
3x Knight of the White Orchid
3x Knight of Meadowgrain
3x Lyev Skyknight
2x Mirran Crusader
1x Birds of Paradise
4x Path to Exile
4x Collected Company
3x Retreat to Coralhelm
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Lands
4x Plains
4x Windswept Heath
4x Flooded Strand
2x Temple Garden
1x Breeding Pool
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Sejiri Steppe
1x Kessig Wolf Run
1x Forest
I think I want an additional manadork, with the amount of three drops in this deck, perhaps even two. I'm not sure about 4x Collected Company, but the card is just so strong.
I won't be testing this deck out tomorrow, but perhaps next friday or the one afterwards. I still really want to try out Gideon (I don't have one yet). I'll see if I can trade for one before FNM tomorrow.
Worth noting that the zoo-shell is probably still a better home for the combo, although it still feels strong in this shell, and is fun experimenting with.
4 Æther Vial
Creatures (28)
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Knight of the White Orchid
4 Leonin Skyhunter
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Student of Warfare
4 Wilt-Leaf Liege
4 Brave the Elements
4 Path to Exile
Lands (20)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mutavault
12 Plains
2 Disenchant
4 Knight of the Holy Nimbus
4 Paladin en-Vec
1 Pithing Needle
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
If I'm being honest, the mana base is a bit rudimentary, and maybe I could throw some Emeria, the Sky Ruin/Ghost Quarter/Horizon Canopy/Sejiri Steppe in there. But the deck works - it's resilient, consistent, and has enough offense to get the job done. Every card in the sideboard has performed well thus far (especially Knight of the Holy Nimbus, which I'm considering mainboarding over Knight of the White Orchid) except Pithing Needle, which I could swap out for pretty much anything, really (which means I'm open to suggestions, especially if they help me beat combo decks). Last but not least, allow me to put in a good word for Wilt-Leaf Liege, because it's been a bear for people to deal with. With White Orchid and Vial, it's not as hard to get on the table as 20 lands would otherwise indicate, and it's too big for most removal (pretty much only dies to Dismember, Path to Exile, or Terminate). The anthem effect and the discard hate are also pretty relevant in the current meta (bonus points if you get it in play off a Liliana of the Veil +1). Let me know what you think.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Student of Warfare
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
3 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Lyev Skyknight
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
Spells
4 Path to Exile
2 Retreat to Coralhelm
3 Collected Company
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Windswept Heath
4 Plains
3 Flooded Strand
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Gavony Township
1 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stony Silence
2 Negate
2 Sunlance
1 Remand
1 Disenchant
1 Auriok Champion
1 Wrath of God
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Gaddock Teeg
Note that the the results might be skewered, because my metagame seems to be pretty much purely bad matchups.
Round 1 vs. Scapeshift (0-2)
He stalls out just quite enough, and gets a turn 6-7 Scapeshift both games.
Round 2 vs. Ad Nauseam (2-1)
Game 1 I decide to keep, but somehow fail to notice two of my lands doesn't tap for white (Breeding Pool+Forest), and get manascrewed with four double-white cards in my hand. In retroperspective, I'd have lost that game whether I got to play my cards or not. Game 2, I get an early Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and get a Negate on his Ad Nauseam, which he Pact of Negations. I'm just about to scoop, until I notice he doesn't have mana to pay for the increased cost of the pact. He hadn't noticed either, so I end up winning. Game 3 he manashorts, and I get the turn 2 Thalia again.
Round 3 vs. UW-Tron (2-1)
Game 1, I get down a lot of dudes, he wipes the board, I play a Wilt-Leaf Liege, which ends up beating him to 2 (He has 5 cards in hand, a million mana and doesn't cast anything, so I play around counterspells by not casting anything myself). He gets to 15 and casts Emrakul. I scoop. Game 2, I drop a Hierarch into KotR. He drops Celestial Colonnade into double Expedition Map. I have the Stony Silence ready, but I topdeck Retreat to Coralhelm, and combo him out instead. Game 3, I get him to 2 with double KotR plus Knight Exemplar for wipe-protection. He casts Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, which I promptly path, and hit him for lethal.
Round 4 vs. Mono-U Faeries (2-0)
This is the first time I ever get to play against my brother at FNM. My deck plays faster than his in both games, and I have too many threats for him to deal with, and outrace him. My odds were even more improved by the fact that I had Cavern of Souls in both games, although he didn't play that many counterspells. Game one was the highlight of the evening, having Kytheon, Hero of Akros flip... twice!
Round 5 vs. RG-Tron (1-2)
Game 1 He punts by exiling my Kytheon, Hero of Akros instead of my Student of Warfare, and I get a 'freebie'-Karn. I have the path for his Wurmcoil Engine, and win with Collected Company through Oblivion Stone. Game 2, I have the Negate for his turn 4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, but get wiped by Oblivion Stone, and never find the Path for his Wurmcoil. Game 3 drags out, and he end up casting Emrakul, the Aeons Torn.
-
The Vial-less version actually feels a lot better to play - I've gotten to the point where I play so many noncreature spells, that it simply doesn't feel like I get enough tempo out of the card. I probably want another BoP, perhaps even another land as well (Probably a Horizon Canopy).
Kytheon, Hero of Akros turned out to be pretty decent, although him not being a knight hurt a bit. I think he's decent for mono-white lists, if they want more one-drops, perhaps like rothgar13's above. 2 Retreat to Coralhelm felt better than 3, because the deck is more than capable of winning without it, and you really don't want to draw it without KotR. Having a few more lands also increases the value of the card.
I didn't get a good impression of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, because I unfortunately didn't draw him more than twice. On the other hand, he would be pretty poor in most of the matchups that I faced today. Still going try and test him. Negate was the absolute all-star of the sideboard, and I'll probably get at least one more of those effects as well. I Remanded two 4+ mana cost spells today, and will probably try out one in the main, as it's a way to win for me against the unfair decks. Sunlance didn't see a lot of play because of my matchups, but felt pretty good against the fairie deck. I'll probably keep at least 1 in against the aggressive decks such as Zoo or Burn.
This is probably how my updated list will look based on performance today:
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Student of Warfare
2 Birds of Paradise
3 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Lyev Skyknight
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
Spells
4 Path to Exile
1 Remand
2 Retreat to Coralhelm
4 Collected Company
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Windswept Heath
3 Plains
3 Flooded Strand
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Sejiri Steppe
1 Gavony Township
1 Kessig Wolf Run
200 Counterspell
Emeria will not likely ever perform with twelve Plains. I think you'd have to give up Mutavaults to play Ghost Quarters. A copy or two on Canopy sounds like a reasonable idea but Blood Moon becomes a bigger threat as the basic count goes down.
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I'm not sure a tribal Knights build is the best place for this combo, since we're dedicating a lot of card slots to being a tribal deck. The white weenie and standard GW Knight builds are essentially aggro decks.
My definition of a Knights deck is that the deck is tribal (heavy concentration of Knights) and that definition makes the deck lean towards aggro strategies. If you only have 8 Knights or fewer out of all your deck's creatures, I don't consider that a Knights deck anymore.
The blue splash then gives access to the combo. Which is strong to have, because it allows us to win some more or less unwinnable games/matchups. The downside is, that playing the combo reduces your threat density, and that Retreat is sometimes a dead draw. Hence why I ended up playing only 2 - KotR can kick some major butt on it's own, and the added upside of having 10-15% of your wins come out of nowhere is a real threat, that the opponent has to respect. Splashing blue also gives access to counterspells in the sideboard, which can really increase some of the bad matchups (Tron, for example). If you want to more consistently combo out, Court Hussar may be worth testing out (You were talking about tribal cantrip, and that card is pretty good, but unfortunately dies from CoCo/Vial).
I'm not saying the correct way to build the deck is to play the combo, or even play multiple colors, as the different versions are capable of different things, but I have to admit I quite like how my current list is playing. I have to agree that it's important to keep the amount of actual knight creatures high though, something I'm not that good at because I want to test out all kinds of things.
If you go the tribal Knights route, you don't have a lot of cards slots left for other spells and creatures.
If you decide to use the KotR/RtC combo, a Bant shell is much better (competitive) for the deck, but you don't really have a dedicated tribal Knight deck anymore. See the "Knightfall" deck, which has Bant and Zoo variants.
As for protection spells...
If you treat your deck as a white-based aggro deck, Brave the Elements is the "best" protection card. It protects all your white-based knights, so it can be used as an alpha strike or to prevent damage from Pyroclasm or a similar card.
Stave Off works fine to protect one creature and to use as anti-Twin card and to prevent Tainted Strike from being useful.
I feel that the other two protection cards are personal choices. I don't consider Faith's Shield's Fateful Hour effect to be relevant in many cases. If the Knights player is down to 5 life or less, then that player is probably going to lose the game more often than not.
Dromoka's Command is used in some Knights builds, but I think this card is dependent on the local meta. I am not sure it is a consistent inclusion in a tribal Knights deck.
Wrath of God is meta call. I think wrath effects have largely fallen out of favor, because Modern is so fast, and board sweeping is generally used with control decks, which a tribal Knights deck is not.
Basically, our typical one and two-drops aren't that strong. A turn 1 Æther Vial is obviously really powerful, but Student of Warfare, and to a lesser extent Knight of the White Orchid and Knight of Meadowgrain only does so much in a format where Lightning Bolt is the most played card.
From my personal experience, going turn 1 Student into turn 2 level up / 2-drop into turn 3 3-drop typically feels weaker than going turn 1 dork into turn 2 3-drop into turn 4 Collected Company/Wilt-Leaf Liege/even another 3-drop. The first line of play puts more pressure on the opponent at first, but 'ramping out' higher cost cards is stronger the further the game goes. Of course, you don't want to draw the dorks later in the game. That's why we're playing Kessig Wolf Run and Gavony Township especially.
Also, when you're playing the combo, it's probably wrong to go all-in on it. I'm only playing two copies of retreat in my deck, which ensures I rarely draw more than one copy, and gives me the opportunity and threat of an 'oops, I win' moment. I want to try out Court Hussar as a way to dig for it, but I'm not sure it's even required. The deck is still a pretty typical midrange deck, it just has that extra reach to it.
I tend to agree with Shiroe here regarding the definition of a Knight deck, otherwise the Knightfall deck which plays 4x Knight of the Reliquary would have qualify as one.
Also agree with you here about keeping the "actual knight creatures" high enough - ironically this might just be the factor holding back Tribal Knights since the Knights are often lacking in more powerful abilities or insane power/toughness stats. That being said, the likes of Knight of Meadowgrain, Black Knight and White Knight do pack a punch(against opponents who only have Path to Exile for removal or Black removal spells respectively). I usually like to slap on a Rancor in order to make them much more threatening.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
2. Many knights have protection from color, what about playing them together in the same deck ?
White Knight, Mirran Crusader, Stillmoon Cavalier, Paladin en-Vec (and Riftmarked Knight, Tivadar of Thorn, White Shield Crusader, Knight of Glory)
*Too bad that Silver Knight wasn't reprinted, could be much more useful than Tivadar of Thorn.
Something like this:
3x Student of Warfare
4x White Knight
4x Knight of Glory
4x Knight Exemplar
4x Mirran Crusader
4x Paladin en-Vec
3x Stillmoon Cavalier
3x Fiendslayer Paladin
3x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
Artifact (4)
4x Æther Vial
Land (20)
20x Plains
Knight of Meadowgrain into Fiendslayer is usually good-game against Burn.
Tivadar of Thorn, as much as I love him, is not really good enough to warrant even a side-board slot unless, perhaps, one regularly plays against Goblins.
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn
This is too slow for Modern. You can't really use its suspend ability since it costs 3 CMC, so you won't often be able to get its token creatures companion.
I think Fiendslayer Paladin is a meta call. If your local meta is playing Pyroclasm or similar effects, Fiendslayer Paladin can't help you. Color protection is very useful in a creature-heavy match, which is why Wizards is cutting down on the number of cards with that keyword ability.
Even without the token doesn't Riftmarked Knight seem at least ok with: Pro-Black and Flanking ?
How (good/bad) is White Shield Crusader ? (compared to White Knight/Knight of Glory)
What do you think about the whole "Color-protected Knights" deck idea/theme ?
Any good support cards for it ? (Brave the Elements seems a bit unnecessary here)
Maybe: Honor of the Pure, Mark of Asylum, Dolmen Gate, Disenchant/Revoke Existence, Rebuff the Wicked, Harm's Way or Dismember ?
Flying is a good evasion ability, but it hasn't appeared on Knights in a good combination of other abilities. Leonin Skyhunter has flying for WW but no other abilities. White Shield Crusader has protection from black, but require W to give it flying. Generally, we don't want to spend mana every turn to pump creature abilities, because we won't have mana to cast spells.
What is the opinion on Spectral Rider ? (for the Leonin Skyhunter slot)
I would probably prefer Knight of the Holy Nimbus over both of them.
Color protection is one of the few things Knights have going for them outside of Exemplar. It's simple to build a Knight deck that wrecks Burn or Rakdos or Zombies. If that's your play-group than have at it.
Frenzy-Affinity-Ghost Quarter-Rock-Tokens- RGWPhyrexian Zoo- WVial KnightsStandard:
BW Knights(Rotated)Pioneer: RW Knights - BW Rally Zombies - UW Heroes
Commander:WUG
Jenara, Asura of War- WGSigarda, Host of HeronsCasualties of economicsLegacy: Good-night, sweet prince. Mono-R Burn