I really like your list. I enjoy the aggro/D&T hybrid approach. Your more controlling creatures are still viable beaters (Militant, Thalia 1.0 & 2.0), especially when powered out on turn 1 with Spirit Guide. SB seems pretty stock for a mono white list.
There's also a W/Colorless build that I'm trying to construct as a way to cheat in creatures and other permanents to avoid counter spells and putting a "second wind" after a board wipe.
Hmm, I like where you're going, but Marshal's triple white cost seems rough in a deck running that many colorless-producing-only lands. Even the double white in cards like Serra Avenger, Gideon, etc. could be hard. I do love myself some Kithkin, though, so I got happy at the Knight of Meadowgrain inclusion (and Figure of Destiny from the red list).
Hmm, I like where you're going, but Marshal's triple white cost seems rough in a deck running that many colorless-producing-only lands. Even the double white in cards like Serra Avenger, Gideon, etc. could be hard. I do love myself some Kithkin, though, so I got happy at the Knight of Meadowgrain inclusion (and Figure of Destiny from the red list).
I've been in that situation, that's why if I can't hit the right colors, I'll have to cheat them in, thus vial and reshaper. Vial can help an early avenger or slam in a marshal if I can't cast it. Reshaper on the other hand, can either help with fixing lands or put in the creatures we can't cast.
Lands are pretty much the same as earlier, just added Horizon lands with 3x Silent Clearing - cheapest ones avalible. They were OK, I think 3 is the proper amount.
The 1-drop suite is both agressive and well rounded. Ranger-Captain of Eos being able to tutor clutch 1-drops proved to be extremelly good and allows me to play 1-of for things like Giver of Runes (she really does the job! wouldn't play more than 1 though), Dauntless Bodyguard (definately overperformed, thinking about adding 2nd in spot of Isamaru), Martyr of Sands (in SB as a tutorable counter to Burn, Storm, etc) and potentially Burrenton Forge-Tender (vs Burn and decks playing Anger of the Gods, not sure if it's worth it with Bodyguards and 4x Selfless Spirits being played though).
Dropped Soldier of the Pantheon as he didn't do anything special in my last games. I strongly believe right now that Dauntless Bodyguard is much better 1-drop than him, especially with Ranger-Captain.
Judge's Familiar worked and would add more copies but I don't see a spot for them right now.
Leonin Arbiter proved himself to be really important in screwing with opponents. Sometimes people forgot he is on the board and still wanted to fetch EOT. Once I blew 2 lands with Ghost Quarters to already mana screwed UW control. Path to Exile becomes 1 mana exile with no drawbacks. Only problem here is he clashes with Ranger-Captain of Eos... Also with Flagstones of Trokair but it wasn't problematic yet.
Selfless Spirit and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben are a must. Thinking about adding 4th Thalia. But I had a game with 3 Thalias in hand. I have mixed feelings about this.
Benalish Marshal is still great. Fights on 3-drop slot with Ranger-Captain of Eos which replaced 2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar and 1x Wilt-Leaf Liege. Both are amazing but ultimatelly ended up with 4 Marshalls because they are much better "Gotcha!" with Windbrisk Heights and Ranger-Captain clashes with Leonin Arbiter. Wilt-Leaf Liege, which already has a nickname of "Doe" in my LGS, was dropped to 2x. I had 2 copies in my opening hand once and I wasn't happy. Right now she's just a resilient 4 mana lord, something really needed but ultimatelly nothing to write book about.
There was a guy telling me that Spectral Procession is too bad for this deck. Not sure what to think about it. Until now it was the best topdeck I could count on but right now I'm much happier to pick Ranger-Captain. I may actually add 4th R-C and cut 1 Procession. Or more and get some more 1-drops. Or more Paths.
Speaking of Path to Exile I really think I should be playing 4 maindeck. It really is great vs Phoenix, TiTi's, clutch Humans, Eldrazi etc. On the other hand it's useless vs UW control, Ad Nauseam (one of the decks I've lost against the other being Bant Toolbox) and other combo/prison decks. Overall though the meta right now seems to be creature-heavy with GY shenanigans and I think it actually might be good idea to impelement 4 copies mainboard.
Sideboard is hardest part here. 3x Rest in Peace, 2x Stony Silence seem self-explanatory. Leonin Relic-Warder I still believe is good but I'm thinking about cutting them, adding another Stony Silence and freeing 2 more SB slots. Damping Sphere is still great vs Storm and Tron. Tocatli Honor Guard is very good vs Humans, shutting them off completely, and to some extent Spirits. Worship vs creature decks, combo decks and Burn. I think 1-off is good enough. Martyr of Sands was explained earlier. Ethersworn Canonist and Eidolon of Rhetoric were dropped because I think I have enough maindeck hate for spell decks.
But there I think I'm a little bit too weak to burn. And it's rising in popularity again. I may be forced to shift SB a bit.
Thought about adding Gideon Blackblade somewhere, maybe in SB instead of Leo-RW. Giving lifelink to other creatures is great vs Burn and -6 fills the role of Leo-RW, getting rid of Ensnaring Bridge and other annoying permanents. Also is hard to remove for control, survives most damage based removal, dodges Fatal Push and Liliana of the Veil... And suddenly Gideon of the Trials may be a thing. Yeah, I think I like that idea.
Something I just figured - 3 cards I can sac whenever I want + 1 conditional sac means Bridge from Below isn't staying for long. And I think it's relevant in a world when Hogaak Bridgevine is the new hot thing.
Me again on original account, very long post incoming but I need to write this down if only to simply archive my thoughts.
Played the deck above, with some minor changes, and failed miserably on FNM going 0/4 I realize though that I lost at least 3 games because of my own mistakes and I believe the matches would be much better if I had more experience with this new take on the deck. Here is exact list:
Match 1 vs Bant Spirits - 1:2, was close, game 2 I won with Worship + Tocatli Honor Guard, game 3 he had 3 Spell Quellers ready for my Worship. Overall very hard matchup and Worship won me a game here. I don't think I could do anything better here.
Match 2 vs Abzan Company - 0:2 game 1 on the draw he went off on turn 3 - I had Ranger-Captain of Eos in hand so I guess I pretty much lost because of die roll as I could easly stop his Finale of Devastation from being cast. Game 2 I got stuck on 1 land... Had great hand and if I had 2nd land and drop Leonin Arbiter I'd probably win this game.
Match 3 vs UW Control - 1:2, I lost this one because I made 3 huge mistakes concerning bad sequencing and missing triggers. This matchup feels very favorable and I should win this one if I'd play correctly.
Match 4 vs Whir Prison - 0:2, probably the worst matchup there is for this deck, no maindeck answers for Ensnaring Bridge meant easy game 1 loss. Game 2 was lost because I missed Ranger-Captain of Eos sac activation when I should use it.
Had some casual for fun matches with other UW Spirits, UR Phoenix and 5C Humans players and all decks wrecked mine...
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Still, I really enjoyed playing this version. Some cards underperformed though.
Dauntless Bodyguard was here as 2x and worked. But he worked much better as picked by Ranger-Captain of Eos when necessary. In opening hand he was the last card I wished to play.
Leonin Arbiter was OK. People kept forgetting that he denies library searching so many times. He blocked my Ranger-Cap twice though and I don't think these 2 should be played in the same deck. And when he should matter the most I was mana screwed... I decided to go down with all 4 copies and increase my 1-drop suite as well as getting 4th copy of Ranger-Cap here. It does make Ghost Quarter and Path to Exile worse but I think playing 4 copies of Arbiter moves the deck too much towards Taxes while going away from its aggro gameplan which isn't what I want.
GQ will still be good vs Tron and Path will keep on doing its job in removing most problematic threats.
This might be wrong, as Arbiter really worked 2 weeks ago, but I'm willing to try the deck without them again anyways.
Gideon Blackblade underperformed. He won this 1 game vs UW Control but the game would be won even without him. And vs Whir he wasn't good enough. Moving into 6 loyality to exile Ensnaring Bridge proved to be too ambitious, especially when opponent had Spellskite in play. He was supposed to be good vs Burn and Ensnaring Bridge decks but he's way too slow and there aren't targets good enough to lifelink and get significant amount of life back.
Tocatli Honor Guard did some work vs Spirits. Definately would shut down Humans. But it feels too narrow. Outside of these 2 matchups it isn't really that useful. And still opponent smashes me with flyers. Spirits are all flyers and Humans got Mantis Rider. 1/3 body for 2 is everything but impressive in this kind of deck. So while it stopped ETB's of Spirits and Humans it didn't do anything else. I want something more from my cards.
***
Learning my lesson I went back to the old list a little bit.
4x Dryad Militants are a must, way too good to pass and 1st main reason not to go mono W Humans.
3rd Kytheon, Hero of Akros is better choice than 2nd Dauntless Bodyguard. Judge's Familiar was always welcome in my opening hand. I like it much better than Soldier of the Pantheon. I wish I played more than 2 copies but I can't find spot for them.
Some 1-ofs because Ranger-Captain of Eos allows it and because they are very good but only when needed. Dauntless Bodyguard - good in protecting important targets later on. Giver of Runes - gave me ~2-3 turns vs Spirit player, not enough to win but I see her power. She has so much uses that it's hard for me to exlude her.
Adding 1x Mikaeus, the Lunarch just to test him. Being semi anthem effect and potentially huge beater he might be key in stall games vs most hard creature matchups. Gives style points as well.
If any of the above won't work then I'll just switch them for more Familiars.
I'd play 2 Path to Exiles maindeck as it's super important vs Thing in the Ice, Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis and other unfair creatures. I play 3 maindeck because there is only SB slot for 1 and I really want 4 copies in 75.
Maindeck Selfless Spirit is another main reason not to play mono W Humans. He saved the game so many times I can't even count it. Definately 4x.
I sometimes want 4th Thalia, Guardian of Thraben as the 1st one almost always eats first removal, but I can't really convince myself of this. Also I don't have 4th copy right now. Leonin Relic-Warder was added again in 2 copies as maindeck answer not only to old stuff like Ensnaring Bridge, Aether Vial or Expedition Map, but also a lot of new toys like Altar of Dementia and Aria of Flame. It seems like there is always a good target for this guy.
Ranger-Captain of Eos upped to 4x. This guy is nuts. He's great topdeck, gives a lot of flexibility and is awesome vs combo and control decks. Benalish Marshal keeps on being the best anthem effect for me. Spectral Procession keeps on being huge card even though people underestimate it and is 3rd huge reason not to play mono W Humans. This card brought me back to the game from bad board states so many times I stopped even counting them.
Wilt-Leaf Liege is needed as another anthem effect - 4 Marshals aren't enough . 6-8 feels like the proper amount of anthems in this deck and WLL is the best of the bunch I think (counting Mikaeus, the Lunarch and Shefet Dunes as semi-anthems). Also randomly discarding it T1/T2/T3 wins games by itself.
I'm very happy with this landbase right now. The numbers are almost perfect, the only thing is the amount of Silent Clearing (playing them because it's the cheapest horizon land right now, any other can do). It was used to draw a card ~2 times. There is a lot to do in this deck with mana - lot of 3CMC cards, Kytheon ability, Ranger-Cap getting stuff, 3 taplands, add opponent bouncing my cards or Remanding... All of this forces some real decisionmaking regarding mana distribution. Thinking about cutting one for another Plains or even drop down to 21 lands and play another 1-drop, but playing Windbrisk Heights actually excludes this idea. More testing needed.
Sideboard-wise:
2x Martyr of Sands - if played then 1 isn't consistent enough vs Burn, 2 seems better. Also being tutorable with Ranger-Captain of Eos helps, especially vs Thing in the Ice decks - UR Phoenix and, especially, Blue Moon.
1x Damping Sphere because it's good vs lot of different decks. Simple.
1x Ethersworn Canonist and 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric for Phoenix, Storm, partially Bridgevine and much more field. Denying casting multiple spells per turn annoys more decks than I initially thought. I prefer Eidolon because of 4 toughness and stronger ability but the difference between 2CMC and 3CMC is just huge, hence the split.
2x Stony Silence and + 1x Kataki, War's Wage was added instead of 3rd Stony. The enchantment doesn't do that much vs Whir, Affinity etc. Kataki attacks artifacts from different angle. He will wreck Affinity much harder than Stony. Forces Whir to pay for stuff giving me more time to find Relic-Warder. And is also a body which is relevant in this matchup. I think splitting the hate is good idea.
Similar story with GY hate. 3x Rest in Peace seems obvious. I want to diversify it and try Jötun Grunt.
If they won't work then I'll just switch back to 3x Stony and 3x RiP.
Brought back 2x Stillmoon Cavalier instead of Tocatli Honor Guard. Even though it costs 1 more it seems like it's good enough vs Spirits and Humans, not really by hating their strategy, but by having prot White - and that means their whole deck pretty much. And if something isn't White then I can give him first strike and boost power. Tests will show if it's actually better or not. Worship works for me as 1-of vs low-removal creature and combo decks like Humans, Ad Nauseam and Red decks.
And last slot for the last Path to Exile
Dropped Phyrexian Revoker. Obviously when he is needed he works wonders. But most of the time he's just blank 2/1 whose hate isn't that gamebreaking. He could be good maindeck material in a different metagame, like he is in Legacy and Vintage.
I am very interested in your results.
And I think I understand the whys and hows of what happened.
Our decks really are quite different.
I think I can see why the Ranger of Eos is working for you, and also why I am having trouble figuring out how to include him.
He is like a one shot Gaddock, and that is why I think I might pass.
Against Whir Prison, Gaddock is a win. I don't need the coin toss.
Against W/U, Gaddock is a win.
Against Abzan Co, Gaddock is a win. Well, probably.
Against Bant Spirits, If we are going to win, it is a race, and my deck is WAY angrier.
Your one drops counted 19 power, My One drops have 25 power. And Soldier of the Pantheon is critical in this match up. (And Dryad is power 26, and maybe the 4 fetchlands count as well, so 30 power, sorta, which is a whole lot more than 19)
Collected company is real power, and Gaddock stops it.
Bant Spirits is a hard match up for me, but I can win it.
My two base deck answers to Ensnaring Bridge + Aether vial can pull me out of unwinable board states.
I am figuring my 2 base deck Path are going down to 1
The Lunarch is not a starter for me.
D.Bodyguard has proven to be terrible, and I aint going back.
WLL is just more effective for me than you, it is so much more aggressive than Ranger.
Giver of Runes starting to be useful on turn 5 just seems hopeful when summoned of a Ranger, same with Lunarch. I just don't want my game to go that long.
Possibly try this out? Slashed the land count by 1 since you won't need to get to 4 mana nearly as often. Yes ranger and playing the card is still great, but with WLL gone you have more opportunities to blitz them from the start of the game.
Force is the card I've been testing with good results. You have to make a concession to play with hawks to make it really good, but the speed that it comes out and the early pressure makes it an allstar.
Also toying with the idea of making a small black splash, mainly only for the cut of procession and replace it with lingering souls... and a 2 or 3 of Collective Brutality in the SB. The abilities on that card is exactly what this deck needs. Removes problematic small creatures, duress to remove a combo card, and adds just that little bit of reach when the board stalls up.
Why are these changes good?
I see one neat combo, and lots of bad decisions.
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Winbrisk heights is worse, because you are only playing 3 lords.
Flipping a Virtue is just not as strong as flipping a Marshal or a WLL
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17 sources of W is just not enough to reliably cast WWW
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Horizon canopy is great for me as land 23, 22 & 21
I do not want them as land 20, or 19.
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I dont want the 3rd little Thalia because of Legend clashes.
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Kytheon is worse because you are playing less 1 drops.
Kytheon is worse because you have less land.
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Dryad Militant is MUCH worse because you removed the WLL.
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Squadron Hawk is just weak, especially in a sprint deck.
Getting 2 Squadron Hawks in the first 8 or 9 cards is terrible.
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Ranger of Eos just wont work properly in a slow deck. Ranger does stop the Wrath for a turn, but then you don't kill them, so, next turn they kill your creatures.
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Dauntless Bodyguard seems terrible in this. No creatures are worth defending. So what if you get him on turn 3 from a Ranger?
Giver of runes of the Ranger is also just bad. Turn 1 Giver is also pretty ordinary.
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Slowing the deck down, doing less damage, reducing the creature count, increasing mana screw, increasing colour screw . . . Why?
Sure, it is a white weenie deck, so it will win games. How does this improve it?
What are these changes good at fighting?
Which deck are they good against?
The cards I play in my Army of Teeg have been worn down over hundreds of games in dozens of tournaments.
An untested decklist and 'Possibly try this out? ' really isn't where I am.
I don't consider Ranger-Captain of Eos only as a one-shot Gaddock. More importantly I consider him as a 2 for 1 value card that tutors needed cards for given situation. If I want more power I pick Kytheon, Hero of Akros or Dryad Militant. I want to be safer vs combo or control then I pick Judge's Familiar. If I want to protect my Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or any lord then I want Dauntless Bodyguard. If there is board stall or want to protect myself from huge beaters then I take Giver of Runes. If I want Mikaeus, the Lunarch then I pick Mikaeus. I don't know if he'll be any good but I'm willing to try him out at next FNM
If any of the 1-ofs won't work I'll just add more Familiars or I'll go back to Soldier of the Pantheons. Legion's Landing can't be tutored with R-Cap and I completely threw away this card from my maybelist.
R-Cap provides 2 bodies for 4 mana that are super important in this deck and gives a good protection against combo and control decks (hi Terminus). He really feels like a natural fit for this deck even though it makes the deck more 3-drop heavy. It is really the best topdeck that can happen for this deck
Gaddock Teeg really fixes a lot problems that I'm facing.
Stopping Collected Company, Cryptic Command, Ad Nauseam, Wraths,, most tutors, all Tron win cons.
But he doesn't fix the biggest problems - Humans, Spirits and Thing in the Ice decks - Izzet Phoenix and Blue Moon (that nobody plays anymore so I'm not going to count it). That and $$$ are the main reasons I want to stay mono White.
Humans is a roll that mostly outtempoes me
Spirits simply seems like the better version of my deck because everything flies and is more distruptive.
Flipping TiTi bounces all my creatures and there is no counterplay here. Spectral Procession, while being one of the best cards in the deck, is particularly bad in this matchup. Post SB R-Cap into Martyr of Sands after big bounce is huge life swing and might be the way to decently build back after this.
R-Cap made Martyr much more appealing SB option and the one I want to play most. Path to Exile is fantastic vs these bad matchups and is good excuse to play 3 maindeck.
With Bridge from Below banned I expect these 3 worst enemy decks to be the most popular right now. And that's bad for this deck.
I already thought about Force of Virtue and I don't think it's better than Wilt-Leaf Liege in this deck. WLL has legs, provides much stronger effect and discarding him happens sometimes. Force requires me to spend some gas to cast it cheaper way. And then it's just Honor of the Pure which I didn't like in this deck anyways. Also I don't want to play Squadron Hawks in this deck, it doesn't go well with my gameplan.
22 lands is good because there is a lot of utility in them besides giving mana. I have 3 taplands and the deck is heavy on 3-drops. I actually want these ~4 lands to play 3-drop and 1-drop in mid game, or play something after flipping Windbrisk or preventing damage with Eiganjo Castle or giving indestructible to Kytheon, or pay 4th mana for Procession while Thalia is in play... And when I'm playing vs Tron I want to use my GQ's to slow them down most of the time. I wouldn't cut the lands in this deck.
I think Collective Brutality is so good because of it's discard with Escalate instead of its versality.
If I'd want to splash any color then it definately would be Red for Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix to support the aggro plan.
"17 sources of W is just not enough to reliably cast WWW"
If it's not vs Tron then most of the time I GQ my own lands if I really need 3rd W source. I wouldn't count these as full W source but I never really had problems with casting WWW on turn 3 with this deck when needed.
"I dont want the 3rd little Thalia because of Legend clashes."
You dropped Thalia to 2x then?
Personally I'm almost always happy to see her in my opening hand and she almost always is eating removal asap. I think 3 is good amount.
I went with 21 lands because you don't ever actually need the 4th land drop. When you do reach 4 mana you really want 1 of them to be a horizon land or a quarter.
You asked how is my version better in any way. My version is better at being aggressive. Turn 1 play a dude then turn 2 play hawk and on there turn play a free honor the pure or 2 with no card disadvantage. Next turn either play ranger, or drop a few more guys and get ready to clean it up.
Hawks while looking slow enable free lords and give 1 for 1 removal headaches. Imagine a scenario where you are against jund or something similar and you play hawks that are 3/3 fliers.
While not this version, I was playing against burn. I dropped a turn 1 Familiar. They played Swiftspear and attacked. Thinking I have to take the damage. I pitched a white card and dropped down Force. The tempo gain was enough to put them on the backpedals. They lost that damage and all of the prowess damage it would have done in the following turns. Don't disregard free anthem effects.
I'm a fan of WiLL but it can so easily be felt with. Path, push, etc. Is predictable for counters, etc.
I'm not a fan of Honor the Pure either. The tempo lost is incredible. Between Ranger and hawks you don't have that tempo loss. You can play it on curve while playing your guys.
I go with 23 land because I need 3 land.
I go with 22 sources of W because I need WWW.
I still get mana screwed, and colour screwed.
My 23rd coloured land has annoyed me sometimes, but Megatog is OK with 17.
You guys play too little land for my tastes
You guys play colourless sources to stop decks I don't need to. (And it is the right choice, not saying otherwise.)
I gave up on GQ went I started drawing 2 GQ, one Plains, and just lost.
Those types of Bad Draws annoy me, so I play my deck, where I can't get them.
I am at the point of writing notes to myself to be careful when I draw my 23rd land, the Dryad Arbor, so I do not cast the Dryad Militant in my opening hand to avoid possible colour screw on turn 3. That is the level of consistency built into My Army.
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Squadron Hawk is a bad card.
When I wrote "I see one neat combo, and lots of bad decisions.", let me walk you thru it.
Say you draw a squadron hawk in your opening hand, of the other 59 cards, 3 more are Squadron Hawks, and 3 are force of virtue.
You are just as likely to be unlucky, as you are lucky. That blows. And if you ARE lucky, great! Now draw a second Squadron Hawk in the remaining 58.
And how about that hand where you draw 3 squadron Hawks, and no Virtue? Or 3 Virtue, and no Hawks?
When I draw all 3 WLL, sure, I am most likely going to mulligan. But that is 3 out of 3. Not 3 out of 4. And sometimes, 3 WLL is OK.
But thats my only mulligan like that.
I aint disregarding the free Anthem off a Squaddie, that is the 'One neat Combo', but, . . .Really?
Suddenly you are playing a disenchant target that costs 2 cards.
I am specifically not playing ANY disenchant targets.
Discard a WLL wins games, don't discount that either.
You have found a neat combo, and want to play it, so go ahead.
But. . . Megatog - "My version is better at being aggressive."
I don't think so.
This is your suggested draw :
Turn 1 Giver of Runes
Turn 2 Squaddie (+3 Squaddie), Virtue
Turn 3 - Take 2, RC get a dude
Turn 4 - take 2+4, cast dude + Squaddie
Turn 5 - Take 2+4+3+2, + Squaddie
Turn 6 - WIN !
My Deck wants a turn 4 Kill.
(Replace the defensive Giver of Kisses with a proper aggro creature and you add 12 damage by turn 5)
So, No, Squadron Hawk is not more aggressive.
Spectral Procession is 3x 1/1 flyers for WWW
Squadron Hawk is 3x 1/1 Flyers for 1W, 1W, 1W
Spectral Procession is half the cost, for the same.
If you do not get a Virtue, Squadron hawk is just bad. With a virtue, it is going to be discarded on turn 1.
Insert a turn 4 Wrath, or a turn 4 O-Stone & Boom, or a Turn 4 Ugin, or turn 4 combo win, and you is in bad times. (Sometimes RC still can't stop the combo)
Those situations happening are my starting point.
Turn 4 aggro win on the play beats them, therefore these changes are not 'Aggressive'.
I played a lot of Squadron Hawk in the initial version of this deck, and I had neat combos.
I sometimes pulled them off, and I lost a lot.
I stopped playing Squadron hawk because I wanted more aggressive cards.
Decklists that have not been played in tournaments using cards I stopped playing 2 years ago are going to have a real hard time convincing me.
I mean... seriously?
Compare that to when you draw the cards we both play :
Turn 1 - 2/1
Turn 2 - 2/1 + 2/1 + take 2
Turn 3 - Benanaman + take 9
Turn 4 - Win - take 12
With 3 cards spare on the play.
(Add a turn 4 WLL and there is another 4 or 5 incoming. Go ahead and Path/Push/Bolt something)
Squadron Hawk just aint in that mindset.
And RCoE just looks ordinary. . . .
Your suggested problem cards : "Path, Push, etc" are all going to land on something. You are not dodging them by casting Virtue. If you do not cast it for 'free', but instead actually have to cast it manually, it is just a bad anthem. And the creature it boosts get killed by 'Path, Push, etc'
When you have 1 card on the table, I do not want it to be Force of Virtue.
I do not want to help them kill my creatures by discarding them.
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RC is just NOT aggressive. He does nothing the turn he comes down. He has a 1 for 1 natural power ratio. He has no combat abilities
Against TiTi or Burn, sure, RC getting a Martyr seems neat.
Getting a Militant on turn 4 is going to be ordinary, A bodyguard is going to be ordinary, A giver of runes is going to be ordinary, A Kytheon might be OK, Mikie might be OK on turn 5. I do not want to go into Top deck mode, ever. I want to kill them instead. RC is just looking worse and worse.
Against Terminus, yeah, sure. Your 3 mana creature went zero for 1, if you predicted it.
Big Thalia still seems slightly better for me, and I have stopped playing her.
I have stopped playing the 3rd Little Thalia because of Legend problems. I am at the point where smoothing out that level of wrinkle matters to me.
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Bridge from Below was completely not a problem for me. Selfless Spirit made it just go away. Pity really.
For a brief moment Dauntless bodyguard had a reason to exist, but, no, he is back to being a bad card.
Has anyone tried a more hatebears approach with the deck ?
I've seen this version and I think that with some tweaking it can be pretty decent.
Some cards I didn't really like there were: Eldrazi Displacer - seemed too slow (without E.Temple) and not realiable enough. Tithe Taker - too low impact, like a weaker Grand Abolisher that is better against removal. Mangara - cute effect but slow so probably a SB card at best. Kor Skyfisher - a bad filler card (as a sorcery Resto). Field of Ruin - too slow for an aggressive deck, I'd rather have Tectonic Edge or Scavenger Grounds (for GY-hate) instead.
Instead of these cards I've added the following:
4x Smuggler's Copter - much needed card filtering and evasion for the deck, also helps attack after a wrath if you topdeck/sandbag creatures.
4x Remorseful Cleric - an evasive threat and nuking GY's is relevant against most decks now that this is a maindeck card for me rather than a SB option.
3x Benalish Marshal - a bit questionable as a vulnerable anthem but it pumps the small fliers into legit threats and also gets Copter out of bolt range (though it'll probably get bolt'ed itself).
Other cards I considered:
# Brave the Elements - as protection against damage based wraths and a potential alpha-strike option through blockers.
# Gideon of the Trials - another SB option against wraths, big threats and also burn.
# Disenchant/Fragmentize - possibly over Mangara as faster option to kill artifacts/enchantments as 2x Leonin Relic-Warder might not be enough.
I've played my share of D&T games already and for some longer time D&T/Hatebears have this problem that they have no real game ender and while their taxers are annoying they aren't formidable enough. Without Eldrazis Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher their threats seem a bit underwhelming from my experience.
Last time I played more of a Hatebearish decklist I went 0/4 losing to everything I've faced (not saying that I played perfectly, because I did not, but a lot of the times deck felt inferior).
My main idea was to play Hatebears style deck but instead of playing Eldrazi I decided to end the curve with anthems.
I don't think pure White Weenie style is fast enough for the meta right now. No matter what I would build into, other aggro decks seem to be faster or have more reliable kill potential.
Another problem of modern Weenies is that they have no reach so if board wipe happens it's hard to recover.
The lack of speed is fixed by taxing. The vunerability to board wipes is fixed by resilence. Selfless Spirit provides this resilience. As well as Ranger-Captain of Eos.
The thing is UW Spirits look like strictly better version of what I'm trying to play right now.
They are more resilient, more distruptive and more evasive.
Yup, definately looks like worse Spirits.
I might try Mono W Humans sometime soon. Champion of the Parish is bonkers and Thalia's Lieutenant is great 2 mana "lord". Earlier on this was the deck with typical White Weenie problems I've mentioned above. Lately it got strong end-curve toppers in Ranger-Captain of Eos and Gideon Blackblade that might be the remedy.
I can easly go 20 lands and 36 Humans. And get lower curve, more power, speed and card advantage (definately would play Thraben Inspector) than before.
I didn't want to limit myself to one creature type though. Cards like Dryad Militant, Selfless Spirit or Spectral Procession proved themselves to be very strong. Also the only real payoffs from staying Humans are Parish and Lieutenant and that's 8 cards. And if I don't get any of these 2 then it plays like normal, underwhelming White Weenie. (Actually most of the best Humans are Soldiers as well so there might be some additional advantage in playing Field Marshal)
Still I might try that in near future. Dunno.
Deck was strong and fast. Turn 1 Parish, t2 Bodyguard + Kytheon, t3 Blackblade, swing all, flip Kytheon and concede happened.
There are 12 cards that replace themselves, quite a lot for an aggro deck. That gives quite a lot of gas for longer games.
Mardu made a lot of 1 for 1 trades with its removal and after some time it got upper hand. Knowing when to sac Ranger-Captain is hard - I lost a game because he resolved Anger of the Gods later in the game. I had Kytheon on board and no mana open to make him indestructible. If I'd sac R-C Kytheon would live and he'd probably end the job. Brave the Elements proved to be very strong as a finisher and was the only card that could win that last game vs Pyro, but I didn't draw it. Card overperformed and I can see it being played as 3 or even 4-of. Auriok Champion would've been amazing vs Pyromancer. Increasing Brave the Elements count to 4 would make me drop Selfless Spirits from SB and throw in Aurioks. Benalish Marshal wasn't as good here as in earlier iteration of the deck. This deck is dependent on early Parish or Lieutenant going big and didn't seem to go as wide. I think reducing the amount of Marshals to 2 is good enough. Also thought about changing the last remaining 2 for Field Marshals, even though he doesn't pump whole team (but that touches only Bodyguards and sideboard creatures so I think it's worth it). That first strike for the whole team actually might be very handy in creature matchups.
I don't know if Quarters are worth keeping as I really need all W sources with so many 1-drops. I think that sacrificing some Tron hate and land filtering for more consistant mana base is worth the trade. Maybe I could possibly go with 1-2 Sunbaked Canyon while throwing away Quarters for more card advantage. With new Horizon Lands being printed I'm not sure how many of them I really want.
Or maybe adding in some [card]Smuggler's Copter[card]s would be better/safer for card filtering while keeping smaller/more important creatures in base (Marshals, Bodyguards, Inspectors).
It felt like this deck trades some resiliency and hate for raw power and speed compared to the old one. It should be able to close games 1 turn sooner on average. I have more big haymakers in sideboard rather than couple of different options to counter opposing gameplans and I think it's better approach for White aggro decks. Gideon Blackblade gives me mainboard options vs Burn or Ensnaring Bridge decks and resiliency vs Control.
I'm not sure I like this iteration more, as limiting myself to Humans only is quite crippling, but I think the deck is better than the last one.
I thought I'll add up a White Weenie list that caught my attention as it went 5-0 in Modern League this month. Piloted by internetsurfer09, it is something that looks like very similar to a deck I was toying with for some time now:
19 1-drops (+3 Paths) is wild and very agressive. Lot of cards I've played/considered playing are here, the numbers are somehow weird to me though (1 Kytheon, 2 Dryads etc.). Signal Pest is something I never really considered in this deck (which is kind of retarded as I thought a bit about Accorder Paladin after all) but could be potentially quite strong and cheap anthem effect. Boros Elite is easly 1 mana 3/3 swinger in this type of deck.
15 White fetchlands is a lot of gas for Steppe Lynx and Revolt enabler for Countless Gears Renegade which is some sweet 2 mana 3/3 spread in 2 bodies, great value in a deck with so many ways to pump a body. Makes me want to buy some more fetches but...
Also, Venerated Loxodon appears here as a high-end threat. He does wonders in standard right now but I don't know if he's strong enough to see modern play. Convoking does cost quite a lot of damage but sometimes it can't be pushed anyways in creature matchups (Humans and Spirits mainly) so it might be worthwhile to sacrifice the turn for huge amount of extra power.
Very straightforward SB. A lot of 4-ofs to distrupt enemy gameplan + some fillers from mainboard. Simple and efficient, just like the SB should be done for aggro decks.
Not really sure how the deck would work without fetches, Lynxes and Renegades. It's awesome that this archetype has some potential to steal games and make perfect record in a league during meta full of wicked, unfair stuff.
So I've been trying a lot of stuff with this deck lately, tuning it up, trying new ideas and forgetting them. Some I'm unsure of, some I'm sure that are mediocre. I think it's stronger in current metagame rather than back in Hogaak era and that's why I came back to it and toy a little bit. This is the version I've settled with for now:
The biggest change is dropping 2x Widbrisk Heights and 2x Wilt-Leaf Liege for 4x Honor of the Pure. I'm pretty confident that this is the right move because:
1) 2 mana anthem/lord is just too good to pass - lesson learned from Thalia's Lieutenant vs Benalish Marshal clash from my Mono W Humans deck tests. In a lot of games HotP felt much better than Marshal due to its cost and being Enchantment = harder to remove.
2) Windbrisk Heights means too much tempo loss, Horizon lands mean no tempo loss and still they provide much needed card draw during floods. Right now I'm playing 6 Horizons - I think it might be 1 too many. No Windbrisk means WLL is worse so it was easy cut.
1-drop suite is almost unchanged, 4x Dryads, 4x Soldiers and 3x Kytheons being strongest all around Lions and 1x Isamaru doing his job decent enough. Student of Warfare was something I included in the spot of Thalia, Heretic Cathar because he is also 3 mana 3 power first striker, but I also found out that Thalias ability isn't that relevant most of the times (at least not for a 3-drop, if she'd be dropped on T2 it would be much better) while another 1-drop is always welcome. I like that guy, him going 3/3 + getting another +1/+1 from HotP/Marshal makes him great creature vs Batterskull which is quite popular lately. I think I'll try 2nd one in spot of Legion's Landing - he's better standalone card and there are Field of Ruin running around pretty much everywhere lately. I might need to find another good 1-drop... Any ideas?
Sideboard is mostly for my LGS but I think it's the best SB for this deck right now overall. Grafdigger's Cage over Rest in Peace purely because of Collected Company decks. I think that right now it's stronger GY hating card anyways as these aren't that popular anymore. Tocatli Honor Guard because there is a lot of creature ETB triggers flying around. I'm 100% positive that I will replace them with Hushbringer in a week.
My results with this deck are still a little bit above average, going 4/0, 2/2 and 2/2 during last three FNMs. Deck struggles a bit with its curve, I'm mulliganing more than I'd want to because I'm getting hand like 2 lands, 2 Spectrals, 1 Marshal, 1 Path and Brave. Or I have no-lander (which happened twice in a row last Friday). Situations like this make me want to increase the amount of 1-drops but it seems like there isn't any more good standalone 1-drop creatures.
Not sure if 4 Benalish Marshals aren't a bit too much - might cut 1 or 2 for more 1-drops.
Also thought about playing Leonin Arbiters because of all SFM, Urza, Scapeshift and Amulet decks running around lately but it's hard to find any free spot for them. I feel like Leonin Relic-Warder stopped being maindeckable material so maybe here and 2 Marshals...
There's also a W/Colorless build that I'm trying to construct as a way to cheat in creatures and other permanents to avoid counter spells and putting a "second wind" after a board wipe.
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Serra Avenger
4 Knight of Meadowgrain
4 Matter Reshaper
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Blade Splicer
4 Benalish Marshal
3 Eldrazi Displacer
Noncreature Spells
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
1 Always Watching
1 Gideon Blackblade
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Shefet Dunes
4 Horizon Canopy
2 Field of Ruin
1 Mutavault
7 Plains
1 Wastes
2 Tocatli Honor Guard
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
I tried to add Thought-Knot Seer and Reality Smasher but that would result in me cutting some crucial cards. Believe me I would love to play an indestructible eldrazi outside of Ulamog and Emrakul. If I can find a spot for these two, I could consider adding Baneslayer Angel, Lyra Dawnbringer or even Resplendent Angel
I've been in that situation, that's why if I can't hit the right colors, I'll have to cheat them in, thus vial and reshaper. Vial can help an early avenger or slam in a marshal if I can't cast it. Reshaper on the other hand, can either help with fixing lands or put in the creatures we can't cast.
Have you had a chance to play the list in any events, online or paper?
Anyways I've had a blast for last 2 tournaments (going 3-1 in both going overall 6-2) with this list:
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Ghost Quarter
6x Plains
1x Shefet Dunes
3x Silent Clearing
3x Windbrisk Heights
1x Dauntless Bodyguard
4x Dryad Militant
1x Giver of Runes
1x Isamaru, Hound of Konda
2x Judge's Familiar
3x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4x Selfless Spirit
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Benalish Marshal
3x Ranger-Captain of Eos
2x Wilt-Leaf Liege
Sorcery (4)
4x Spectral Procession
Instant (2)
2x Path to Exile
1x Martyr of Sands
2x Path to Exile
1x Damping Sphere
3x Leonin Relic-Warder
3x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
2x Tocatli Honor Guard
1x Worship
Deck is really cool and synergizes well.
Lands are pretty much the same as earlier, just added Horizon lands with 3x Silent Clearing - cheapest ones avalible. They were OK, I think 3 is the proper amount.
The 1-drop suite is both agressive and well rounded. Ranger-Captain of Eos being able to tutor clutch 1-drops proved to be extremelly good and allows me to play 1-of for things like Giver of Runes (she really does the job! wouldn't play more than 1 though), Dauntless Bodyguard (definately overperformed, thinking about adding 2nd in spot of Isamaru), Martyr of Sands (in SB as a tutorable counter to Burn, Storm, etc) and potentially Burrenton Forge-Tender (vs Burn and decks playing Anger of the Gods, not sure if it's worth it with Bodyguards and 4x Selfless Spirits being played though).
Dropped Soldier of the Pantheon as he didn't do anything special in my last games. I strongly believe right now that Dauntless Bodyguard is much better 1-drop than him, especially with Ranger-Captain.
Judge's Familiar worked and would add more copies but I don't see a spot for them right now.
Dryad Militant and Kytheon, Hero of Akros are too good to pass. Maybe 3x Kytheons are 1 too many.
Leonin Arbiter proved himself to be really important in screwing with opponents. Sometimes people forgot he is on the board and still wanted to fetch EOT. Once I blew 2 lands with Ghost Quarters to already mana screwed UW control. Path to Exile becomes 1 mana exile with no drawbacks. Only problem here is he clashes with Ranger-Captain of Eos... Also with Flagstones of Trokair but it wasn't problematic yet.
Selfless Spirit and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben are a must. Thinking about adding 4th Thalia. But I had a game with 3 Thalias in hand. I have mixed feelings about this.
Benalish Marshal is still great. Fights on 3-drop slot with Ranger-Captain of Eos which replaced 2x Thalia, Heretic Cathar and 1x Wilt-Leaf Liege. Both are amazing but ultimatelly ended up with 4 Marshalls because they are much better "Gotcha!" with Windbrisk Heights and Ranger-Captain clashes with Leonin Arbiter.
Wilt-Leaf Liege, which already has a nickname of "Doe" in my LGS, was dropped to 2x. I had 2 copies in my opening hand once and I wasn't happy. Right now she's just a resilient 4 mana lord, something really needed but ultimatelly nothing to write book about.
There was a guy telling me that Spectral Procession is too bad for this deck. Not sure what to think about it. Until now it was the best topdeck I could count on but right now I'm much happier to pick Ranger-Captain. I may actually add 4th R-C and cut 1 Procession. Or more and get some more 1-drops. Or more Paths.
Speaking of Path to Exile I really think I should be playing 4 maindeck. It really is great vs Phoenix, TiTi's, clutch Humans, Eldrazi etc. On the other hand it's useless vs UW control, Ad Nauseam (one of the decks I've lost against the other being Bant Toolbox) and other combo/prison decks. Overall though the meta right now seems to be creature-heavy with GY shenanigans and I think it actually might be good idea to impelement 4 copies mainboard.
Sideboard is hardest part here. 3x Rest in Peace, 2x Stony Silence seem self-explanatory. Leonin Relic-Warder I still believe is good but I'm thinking about cutting them, adding another Stony Silence and freeing 2 more SB slots.
Damping Sphere is still great vs Storm and Tron.
Tocatli Honor Guard is very good vs Humans, shutting them off completely, and to some extent Spirits.
Worship vs creature decks, combo decks and Burn. I think 1-off is good enough.
Martyr of Sands was explained earlier.
Ethersworn Canonist and Eidolon of Rhetoric were dropped because I think I have enough maindeck hate for spell decks.
But there I think I'm a little bit too weak to burn. And it's rising in popularity again. I may be forced to shift SB a bit.
Thought about adding Gideon Blackblade somewhere, maybe in SB instead of Leo-RW. Giving lifelink to other creatures is great vs Burn and -6 fills the role of Leo-RW, getting rid of Ensnaring Bridge and other annoying permanents. Also is hard to remove for control, survives most damage based removal, dodges Fatal Push and Liliana of the Veil... And suddenly Gideon of the Trials may be a thing. Yeah, I think I like that idea.
Something I just figured - 3 cards I can sac whenever I want + 1 conditional sac means Bridge from Below isn't staying for long. And I think it's relevant in a world when Hogaak Bridgevine is the new hot thing.
Overall deck is fun and works for me.
Played the deck above, with some minor changes, and failed miserably on FNM going 0/4 I realize though that I lost at least 3 games because of my own mistakes and I believe the matches would be much better if I had more experience with this new take on the deck. Here is exact list:
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Ghost Quarter
6x Plains
1x Shefet Dunes
3x Silent Clearing
3x Windbrisk Heights
1-drops (11)
2x Dauntless Bodyguard
4x Dryad Militant
1x Giver of Runes
2x Judge's Familiar
2x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Selfless Spirit
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3-drops (11)
4x Benalish Marshal
3x Ranger-Captain of Eos
4x Spectral Procession
4-drops (2)
2x Wilt-Leaf Liege
Other (3)
3x Path to Exile
1x Martyr of Sands
1x Path to Exile
1x Damping Sphere
3x Rest in Peace
3x Stony Silence
3x Tocatli Honor Guard
2x Gideon Blackblade
1x Worship
Match 1 vs Bant Spirits - 1:2, was close, game 2 I won with Worship + Tocatli Honor Guard, game 3 he had 3 Spell Quellers ready for my Worship. Overall very hard matchup and Worship won me a game here. I don't think I could do anything better here.
Match 2 vs Abzan Company - 0:2 game 1 on the draw he went off on turn 3 - I had Ranger-Captain of Eos in hand so I guess I pretty much lost because of die roll as I could easly stop his Finale of Devastation from being cast. Game 2 I got stuck on 1 land... Had great hand and if I had 2nd land and drop Leonin Arbiter I'd probably win this game.
Match 3 vs UW Control - 1:2, I lost this one because I made 3 huge mistakes concerning bad sequencing and missing triggers. This matchup feels very favorable and I should win this one if I'd play correctly.
Match 4 vs Whir Prison - 0:2, probably the worst matchup there is for this deck, no maindeck answers for Ensnaring Bridge meant easy game 1 loss. Game 2 was lost because I missed Ranger-Captain of Eos sac activation when I should use it.
Had some casual for fun matches with other UW Spirits, UR Phoenix and 5C Humans players and all decks wrecked mine...
***
Still, I really enjoyed playing this version. Some cards underperformed though.
Dauntless Bodyguard was here as 2x and worked. But he worked much better as picked by Ranger-Captain of Eos when necessary. In opening hand he was the last card I wished to play.
Leonin Arbiter was OK. People kept forgetting that he denies library searching so many times. He blocked my Ranger-Cap twice though and I don't think these 2 should be played in the same deck. And when he should matter the most I was mana screwed... I decided to go down with all 4 copies and increase my 1-drop suite as well as getting 4th copy of Ranger-Cap here. It does make Ghost Quarter and Path to Exile worse but I think playing 4 copies of Arbiter moves the deck too much towards Taxes while going away from its aggro gameplan which isn't what I want.
GQ will still be good vs Tron and Path will keep on doing its job in removing most problematic threats.
This might be wrong, as Arbiter really worked 2 weeks ago, but I'm willing to try the deck without them again anyways.
Gideon Blackblade underperformed. He won this 1 game vs UW Control but the game would be won even without him. And vs Whir he wasn't good enough. Moving into 6 loyality to exile Ensnaring Bridge proved to be too ambitious, especially when opponent had Spellskite in play. He was supposed to be good vs Burn and Ensnaring Bridge decks but he's way too slow and there aren't targets good enough to lifelink and get significant amount of life back.
Tocatli Honor Guard did some work vs Spirits. Definately would shut down Humans. But it feels too narrow. Outside of these 2 matchups it isn't really that useful. And still opponent smashes me with flyers. Spirits are all flyers and Humans got Mantis Rider. 1/3 body for 2 is everything but impressive in this kind of deck. So while it stopped ETB's of Spirits and Humans it didn't do anything else. I want something more from my cards.
***
Learning my lesson I went back to the old list a little bit.
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Ghost Quarter
6x Plains
1x Shefet Dunes
3x Silent Clearing
3x Windbrisk Heights
1-drops (12)
1x Dauntless Bodyguard
4x Dryad Militant
1x Giver of Runes
2x Judge's Familiar
3x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1x Mikaeus, the Lunarch
2x Leonin Relic-Warder
4x Selfless Spirit
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3-drops (12)
4x Benalish Marshal
4x Ranger-Captain of Eos
4x Spectral Procession
4-drops (2)
2x Wilt-Leaf Liege
Other (3)
3x Path to Exile
2x Martyr of Sands
1x Path to Exile
1x Damping Sphere
1x Jötun Grunt
1x Kataki, War's Wage
2x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
2x Stillmoon Cavalier
1x Worship
4x Dryad Militants are a must, way too good to pass and 1st main reason not to go mono W Humans.
3rd Kytheon, Hero of Akros is better choice than 2nd Dauntless Bodyguard.
Judge's Familiar was always welcome in my opening hand. I like it much better than Soldier of the Pantheon. I wish I played more than 2 copies but I can't find spot for them.
Some 1-ofs because Ranger-Captain of Eos allows it and because they are very good but only when needed.
Dauntless Bodyguard - good in protecting important targets later on.
Giver of Runes - gave me ~2-3 turns vs Spirit player, not enough to win but I see her power. She has so much uses that it's hard for me to exlude her.
Adding 1x Mikaeus, the Lunarch just to test him. Being semi anthem effect and potentially huge beater he might be key in stall games vs most hard creature matchups. Gives style points as well.
If any of the above won't work then I'll just switch them for more Familiars.
I'd play 2 Path to Exiles maindeck as it's super important vs Thing in the Ice, Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis and other unfair creatures. I play 3 maindeck because there is only SB slot for 1 and I really want 4 copies in 75.
Maindeck Selfless Spirit is another main reason not to play mono W Humans. He saved the game so many times I can't even count it. Definately 4x.
I sometimes want 4th Thalia, Guardian of Thraben as the 1st one almost always eats first removal, but I can't really convince myself of this. Also I don't have 4th copy right now.
Leonin Relic-Warder was added again in 2 copies as maindeck answer not only to old stuff like Ensnaring Bridge, Aether Vial or Expedition Map, but also a lot of new toys like Altar of Dementia and Aria of Flame. It seems like there is always a good target for this guy.
Ranger-Captain of Eos upped to 4x. This guy is nuts. He's great topdeck, gives a lot of flexibility and is awesome vs combo and control decks.
Benalish Marshal keeps on being the best anthem effect for me.
Spectral Procession keeps on being huge card even though people underestimate it and is 3rd huge reason not to play mono W Humans. This card brought me back to the game from bad board states so many times I stopped even counting them.
Wilt-Leaf Liege is needed as another anthem effect - 4 Marshals aren't enough . 6-8 feels like the proper amount of anthems in this deck and WLL is the best of the bunch I think (counting Mikaeus, the Lunarch and Shefet Dunes as semi-anthems). Also randomly discarding it T1/T2/T3 wins games by itself.
I'm very happy with this landbase right now. The numbers are almost perfect, the only thing is the amount of Silent Clearing (playing them because it's the cheapest horizon land right now, any other can do). It was used to draw a card ~2 times. There is a lot to do in this deck with mana - lot of 3CMC cards, Kytheon ability, Ranger-Cap getting stuff, 3 taplands, add opponent bouncing my cards or Remanding... All of this forces some real decisionmaking regarding mana distribution. Thinking about cutting one for another Plains or even drop down to 21 lands and play another 1-drop, but playing Windbrisk Heights actually excludes this idea. More testing needed.
Sideboard-wise:
2x Martyr of Sands - if played then 1 isn't consistent enough vs Burn, 2 seems better. Also being tutorable with Ranger-Captain of Eos helps, especially vs Thing in the Ice decks - UR Phoenix and, especially, Blue Moon.
1x Damping Sphere because it's good vs lot of different decks. Simple.
1x Ethersworn Canonist and 1x Eidolon of Rhetoric for Phoenix, Storm, partially Bridgevine and much more field. Denying casting multiple spells per turn annoys more decks than I initially thought. I prefer Eidolon because of 4 toughness and stronger ability but the difference between 2CMC and 3CMC is just huge, hence the split.
2x Stony Silence and + 1x Kataki, War's Wage was added instead of 3rd Stony. The enchantment doesn't do that much vs Whir, Affinity etc. Kataki attacks artifacts from different angle. He will wreck Affinity much harder than Stony. Forces Whir to pay for stuff giving me more time to find Relic-Warder. And is also a body which is relevant in this matchup. I think splitting the hate is good idea.
Similar story with GY hate. 3x Rest in Peace seems obvious. I want to diversify it and try Jötun Grunt.
If they won't work then I'll just switch back to 3x Stony and 3x RiP.
Brought back 2x Stillmoon Cavalier instead of Tocatli Honor Guard. Even though it costs 1 more it seems like it's good enough vs Spirits and Humans, not really by hating their strategy, but by having prot White - and that means their whole deck pretty much. And if something isn't White then I can give him first strike and boost power. Tests will show if it's actually better or not.
Worship works for me as 1-of vs low-removal creature and combo decks like Humans, Ad Nauseam and Red decks.
And last slot for the last Path to Exile
Dropped Phyrexian Revoker. Obviously when he is needed he works wonders. But most of the time he's just blank 2/1 whose hate isn't that gamebreaking. He could be good maindeck material in a different metagame, like he is in Legacy and Vintage.
I am very interested in your results.
And I think I understand the whys and hows of what happened.
Our decks really are quite different.
I think I can see why the Ranger of Eos is working for you, and also why I am having trouble figuring out how to include him.
He is like a one shot Gaddock, and that is why I think I might pass.
Against Whir Prison, Gaddock is a win. I don't need the coin toss.
Against W/U, Gaddock is a win.
Against Abzan Co, Gaddock is a win. Well, probably.
Against Bant Spirits, If we are going to win, it is a race, and my deck is WAY angrier.
Your one drops counted 19 power, My One drops have 25 power. And Soldier of the Pantheon is critical in this match up. (And Dryad is power 26, and maybe the 4 fetchlands count as well, so 30 power, sorta, which is a whole lot more than 19)
Collected company is real power, and Gaddock stops it.
Bant Spirits is a hard match up for me, but I can win it.
My two base deck answers to Ensnaring Bridge + Aether vial can pull me out of unwinable board states.
I am figuring my 2 base deck Path are going down to 1
The Lunarch is not a starter for me.
D.Bodyguard has proven to be terrible, and I aint going back.
WLL is just more effective for me than you, it is so much more aggressive than Ranger.
Giver of Runes starting to be useful on turn 5 just seems hopeful when summoned of a Ranger, same with Lunarch. I just don't want my game to go that long.
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Ghost Quarter
6x Plains
1x Shefet Dunes
3x Silent Clearing
2x Windbrisk Heights
Creatures (30)
1x Dauntless Bodyguard
4x Dryad Militant
1x Giver of Runes
1x Isamaru, Hound of Konda
2x Judge's Familiar
3x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4x Selfless Spirit
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3x Benalish Marshal
4x Ranger-Captain of Eos
Sorcery (4)
4x Spectral Procession
Instant (2)
2x Path to Exile
Enchantment (3)
3x Force of Virtue
1x Martyr of Sands
2x Path to Exile
1x Damping Sphere
3x Leonin Relic-Warder
3x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
2x Tocatli Honor Guard
1x Worship
Possibly try this out? Slashed the land count by 1 since you won't need to get to 4 mana nearly as often. Yes ranger and playing the card is still great, but with WLL gone you have more opportunities to blitz them from the start of the game.
Force is the card I've been testing with good results. You have to make a concession to play with hawks to make it really good, but the speed that it comes out and the early pressure makes it an allstar.
Also toying with the idea of making a small black splash, mainly only for the cut of procession and replace it with lingering souls... and a 2 or 3 of Collective Brutality in the SB. The abilities on that card is exactly what this deck needs. Removes problematic small creatures, duress to remove a combo card, and adds just that little bit of reach when the board stalls up.
I see one neat combo, and lots of bad decisions.
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Winbrisk heights is worse, because you are only playing 3 lords.
Flipping a Virtue is just not as strong as flipping a Marshal or a WLL
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17 sources of W is just not enough to reliably cast WWW
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Horizon canopy is great for me as land 23, 22 & 21
I do not want them as land 20, or 19.
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I dont want the 3rd little Thalia because of Legend clashes.
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Kytheon is worse because you are playing less 1 drops.
Kytheon is worse because you have less land.
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Dryad Militant is MUCH worse because you removed the WLL.
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Squadron Hawk is just weak, especially in a sprint deck.
Getting 2 Squadron Hawks in the first 8 or 9 cards is terrible.
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Ranger of Eos just wont work properly in a slow deck. Ranger does stop the Wrath for a turn, but then you don't kill them, so, next turn they kill your creatures.
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Dauntless Bodyguard seems terrible in this. No creatures are worth defending. So what if you get him on turn 3 from a Ranger?
Giver of runes of the Ranger is also just bad. Turn 1 Giver is also pretty ordinary.
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Slowing the deck down, doing less damage, reducing the creature count, increasing mana screw, increasing colour screw . . . Why?
Sure, it is a white weenie deck, so it will win games. How does this improve it?
What are these changes good at fighting?
Which deck are they good against?
The cards I play in my Army of Teeg have been worn down over hundreds of games in dozens of tournaments.
An untested decklist and 'Possibly try this out? ' really isn't where I am.
Feel free to type up your results.
If any of the 1-ofs won't work I'll just add more Familiars or I'll go back to Soldier of the Pantheons.
Legion's Landing can't be tutored with R-Cap and I completely threw away this card from my maybelist.
R-Cap provides 2 bodies for 4 mana that are super important in this deck and gives a good protection against combo and control decks (hi Terminus). He really feels like a natural fit for this deck even though it makes the deck more 3-drop heavy. It is really the best topdeck that can happen for this deck
Gaddock Teeg really fixes a lot problems that I'm facing.
Stopping Collected Company, Cryptic Command, Ad Nauseam, Wraths,, most tutors, all Tron win cons.
But he doesn't fix the biggest problems - Humans, Spirits and Thing in the Ice decks - Izzet Phoenix and Blue Moon (that nobody plays anymore so I'm not going to count it). That and $$$ are the main reasons I want to stay mono White.
Humans is a roll that mostly outtempoes me
Spirits simply seems like the better version of my deck because everything flies and is more distruptive.
Flipping TiTi bounces all my creatures and there is no counterplay here. Spectral Procession, while being one of the best cards in the deck, is particularly bad in this matchup. Post SB R-Cap into Martyr of Sands after big bounce is huge life swing and might be the way to decently build back after this.
R-Cap made Martyr much more appealing SB option and the one I want to play most.
Path to Exile is fantastic vs these bad matchups and is good excuse to play 3 maindeck.
With Bridge from Below banned I expect these 3 worst enemy decks to be the most popular right now. And that's bad for this deck.
I already thought about Force of Virtue and I don't think it's better than Wilt-Leaf Liege in this deck. WLL has legs, provides much stronger effect and discarding him happens sometimes. Force requires me to spend some gas to cast it cheaper way. And then it's just Honor of the Pure which I didn't like in this deck anyways. Also I don't want to play Squadron Hawks in this deck, it doesn't go well with my gameplan.
22 lands is good because there is a lot of utility in them besides giving mana. I have 3 taplands and the deck is heavy on 3-drops. I actually want these ~4 lands to play 3-drop and 1-drop in mid game, or play something after flipping Windbrisk or preventing damage with Eiganjo Castle or giving indestructible to Kytheon, or pay 4th mana for Procession while Thalia is in play... And when I'm playing vs Tron I want to use my GQ's to slow them down most of the time. I wouldn't cut the lands in this deck.
I think Collective Brutality is so good because of it's discard with Escalate instead of its versality.
If I'd want to splash any color then it definately would be Red for Lightning Bolt and Lightning Helix to support the aggro plan.
"17 sources of W is just not enough to reliably cast WWW"
If it's not vs Tron then most of the time I GQ my own lands if I really need 3rd W source. I wouldn't count these as full W source but I never really had problems with casting WWW on turn 3 with this deck when needed.
"I dont want the 3rd little Thalia because of Legend clashes."
You dropped Thalia to 2x then?
Personally I'm almost always happy to see her in my opening hand and she almost always is eating removal asap. I think 3 is good amount.
You asked how is my version better in any way. My version is better at being aggressive. Turn 1 play a dude then turn 2 play hawk and on there turn play a free honor the pure or 2 with no card disadvantage. Next turn either play ranger, or drop a few more guys and get ready to clean it up.
Hawks while looking slow enable free lords and give 1 for 1 removal headaches. Imagine a scenario where you are against jund or something similar and you play hawks that are 3/3 fliers.
While not this version, I was playing against burn. I dropped a turn 1 Familiar. They played Swiftspear and attacked. Thinking I have to take the damage. I pitched a white card and dropped down Force. The tempo gain was enough to put them on the backpedals. They lost that damage and all of the prowess damage it would have done in the following turns. Don't disregard free anthem effects.
I'm a fan of WiLL but it can so easily be felt with. Path, push, etc. Is predictable for counters, etc.
I'm not a fan of Honor the Pure either. The tempo lost is incredible. Between Ranger and hawks you don't have that tempo loss. You can play it on curve while playing your guys.
I go with 22 sources of W because I need WWW.
I still get mana screwed, and colour screwed.
My 23rd coloured land has annoyed me sometimes, but Megatog is OK with 17.
You guys play too little land for my tastes
You guys play colourless sources to stop decks I don't need to. (And it is the right choice, not saying otherwise.)
I gave up on GQ went I started drawing 2 GQ, one Plains, and just lost.
Those types of Bad Draws annoy me, so I play my deck, where I can't get them.
I am at the point of writing notes to myself to be careful when I draw my 23rd land, the Dryad Arbor, so I do not cast the Dryad Militant in my opening hand to avoid possible colour screw on turn 3. That is the level of consistency built into My Army.
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Squadron Hawk is a bad card.
When I wrote "I see one neat combo, and lots of bad decisions.", let me walk you thru it.
Say you draw a squadron hawk in your opening hand, of the other 59 cards, 3 more are Squadron Hawks, and 3 are force of virtue.
You are just as likely to be unlucky, as you are lucky. That blows. And if you ARE lucky, great! Now draw a second Squadron Hawk in the remaining 58.
And how about that hand where you draw 3 squadron Hawks, and no Virtue? Or 3 Virtue, and no Hawks?
When I draw all 3 WLL, sure, I am most likely going to mulligan. But that is 3 out of 3. Not 3 out of 4. And sometimes, 3 WLL is OK.
But thats my only mulligan like that.
I aint disregarding the free Anthem off a Squaddie, that is the 'One neat Combo', but, . . .Really?
Suddenly you are playing a disenchant target that costs 2 cards.
I am specifically not playing ANY disenchant targets.
Discard a WLL wins games, don't discount that either.
You have found a neat combo, and want to play it, so go ahead.
But. . . Megatog - "My version is better at being aggressive."
I don't think so.
This is your suggested draw :
Turn 1 Giver of Runes
Turn 2 Squaddie (+3 Squaddie), Virtue
Turn 3 - Take 2, RC get a dude
Turn 4 - take 2+4, cast dude + Squaddie
Turn 5 - Take 2+4+3+2, + Squaddie
Turn 6 - WIN !
My Deck wants a turn 4 Kill.
(Replace the defensive Giver of Kisses with a proper aggro creature and you add 12 damage by turn 5)
So, No, Squadron Hawk is not more aggressive.
Spectral Procession is 3x 1/1 flyers for WWW
Squadron Hawk is 3x 1/1 Flyers for 1W, 1W, 1W
Spectral Procession is half the cost, for the same.
If you do not get a Virtue, Squadron hawk is just bad. With a virtue, it is going to be discarded on turn 1.
Insert a turn 4 Wrath, or a turn 4 O-Stone & Boom, or a Turn 4 Ugin, or turn 4 combo win, and you is in bad times. (Sometimes RC still can't stop the combo)
Those situations happening are my starting point.
Turn 4 aggro win on the play beats them, therefore these changes are not 'Aggressive'.
I played a lot of Squadron Hawk in the initial version of this deck, and I had neat combos.
I sometimes pulled them off, and I lost a lot.
I stopped playing Squadron hawk because I wanted more aggressive cards.
Decklists that have not been played in tournaments using cards I stopped playing 2 years ago are going to have a real hard time convincing me.
I mean... seriously?
Compare that to when you draw the cards we both play :
Turn 1 - 2/1
Turn 2 - 2/1 + 2/1 + take 2
Turn 3 - Benanaman + take 9
Turn 4 - Win - take 12
With 3 cards spare on the play.
(Add a turn 4 WLL and there is another 4 or 5 incoming. Go ahead and Path/Push/Bolt something)
Squadron Hawk just aint in that mindset.
And RCoE just looks ordinary. . . .
Your suggested problem cards : "Path, Push, etc" are all going to land on something. You are not dodging them by casting Virtue. If you do not cast it for 'free', but instead actually have to cast it manually, it is just a bad anthem. And the creature it boosts get killed by 'Path, Push, etc'
When you have 1 card on the table, I do not want it to be Force of Virtue.
I do not want to help them kill my creatures by discarding them.
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RC is just NOT aggressive. He does nothing the turn he comes down. He has a 1 for 1 natural power ratio. He has no combat abilities
Against TiTi or Burn, sure, RC getting a Martyr seems neat.
Getting a Militant on turn 4 is going to be ordinary, A bodyguard is going to be ordinary, A giver of runes is going to be ordinary, A Kytheon might be OK, Mikie might be OK on turn 5. I do not want to go into Top deck mode, ever. I want to kill them instead. RC is just looking worse and worse.
Against Terminus, yeah, sure. Your 3 mana creature went zero for 1, if you predicted it.
Big Thalia still seems slightly better for me, and I have stopped playing her.
I have stopped playing the 3rd Little Thalia because of Legend problems. I am at the point where smoothing out that level of wrinkle matters to me.
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Bridge from Below was completely not a problem for me. Selfless Spirit made it just go away. Pity really.
For a brief moment Dauntless bodyguard had a reason to exist, but, no, he is back to being a bad card.
I've seen this version and I think that with some tweaking it can be pretty decent.
Some cards I didn't really like there were:
Eldrazi Displacer - seemed too slow (without E.Temple) and not realiable enough.
Tithe Taker - too low impact, like a weaker Grand Abolisher that is better against removal.
Mangara - cute effect but slow so probably a SB card at best.
Kor Skyfisher - a bad filler card (as a sorcery Resto).
Field of Ruin - too slow for an aggressive deck, I'd rather have Tectonic Edge or Scavenger Grounds (for GY-hate) instead.
Instead of these cards I've added the following:
4x Smuggler's Copter - much needed card filtering and evasion for the deck, also helps attack after a wrath if you topdeck/sandbag creatures.
4x Remorseful Cleric - an evasive threat and nuking GY's is relevant against most decks now that this is a maindeck card for me rather than a SB option.
3x Benalish Marshal - a bit questionable as a vulnerable anthem but it pumps the small fliers into legit threats and also gets Copter out of bolt range (though it'll probably get bolt'ed itself).
Here is the deck:
4x Judge's Familiar
4x Thraben Inspector
2x Dryad Militant
4x Remorseful Cleric
4x Leonin Arbiter
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3x Benalish Marshal
4x Venerated Loxodon
4x Smuggler's Copter
Instant (4)
4x Path to Exile
Land (23)
4x Ghost Quarter
3x Tectonic Edge
16x Plains
2x Selfless Spirit
2x Leonin Relic-Warder
2x Mangara of Corondor
2x Vryn Wingmare
2x Kitchen Finks
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
2x Damping Sphere
2x Declaration in Stone
Other cards I considered:
# Brave the Elements - as protection against damage based wraths and a potential alpha-strike option through blockers.
# Gideon of the Trials - another SB option against wraths, big threats and also burn.
# Disenchant/Fragmentize - possibly over Mangara as faster option to kill artifacts/enchantments as 2x Leonin Relic-Warder might not be enough.
Last time I played more of a Hatebearish decklist I went 0/4 losing to everything I've faced (not saying that I played perfectly, because I did not, but a lot of the times deck felt inferior).
My main idea was to play Hatebears style deck but instead of playing Eldrazi I decided to end the curve with anthems.
I don't think pure White Weenie style is fast enough for the meta right now. No matter what I would build into, other aggro decks seem to be faster or have more reliable kill potential.
Another problem of modern Weenies is that they have no reach so if board wipe happens it's hard to recover.
The lack of speed is fixed by taxing. The vunerability to board wipes is fixed by resilence.
Selfless Spirit provides this resilience. As well as Ranger-Captain of Eos.
The thing is UW Spirits look like strictly better version of what I'm trying to play right now.
They are more resilient, more distruptive and more evasive.
Yup, definately looks like worse Spirits.
I might try Mono W Humans sometime soon. Champion of the Parish is bonkers and Thalia's Lieutenant is great 2 mana "lord". Earlier on this was the deck with typical White Weenie problems I've mentioned above. Lately it got strong end-curve toppers in Ranger-Captain of Eos and Gideon Blackblade that might be the remedy.
I can easly go 20 lands and 36 Humans. And get lower curve, more power, speed and card advantage (definately would play Thraben Inspector) than before.
I didn't want to limit myself to one creature type though. Cards like Dryad Militant, Selfless Spirit or Spectral Procession proved themselves to be very strong. Also the only real payoffs from staying Humans are Parish and Lieutenant and that's 8 cards. And if I don't get any of these 2 then it plays like normal, underwhelming White Weenie. (Actually most of the best Humans are Soldiers as well so there might be some additional advantage in playing Field Marshal)
Still I might try that in near future. Dunno.
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Ghost Quarter
7x Plains
4x Silent Clearing
1-Drops (17)
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Dauntless Bodyguard
3x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
2x Soldier of the Pantheon
4x Thraben Inspector
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
3-Drops (10)
4x Benalish Marshal
2x Gideon Blackblade
4x Ranger-Captain of Eos
Spells (6)
2x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
2x Damping Sphere
2x Ethersworn Canonist
3x Rest in Peace
3x Selfless Spirit
3x Stony Silence
2x Mirran Crusader
Deck was strong and fast. Turn 1 Parish, t2 Bodyguard + Kytheon, t3 Blackblade, swing all, flip Kytheon and concede happened.
There are 12 cards that replace themselves, quite a lot for an aggro deck. That gives quite a lot of gas for longer games.
Mardu made a lot of 1 for 1 trades with its removal and after some time it got upper hand. Knowing when to sac Ranger-Captain is hard - I lost a game because he resolved Anger of the Gods later in the game. I had Kytheon on board and no mana open to make him indestructible. If I'd sac R-C Kytheon would live and he'd probably end the job.
Brave the Elements proved to be very strong as a finisher and was the only card that could win that last game vs Pyro, but I didn't draw it. Card overperformed and I can see it being played as 3 or even 4-of.
Auriok Champion would've been amazing vs Pyromancer. Increasing Brave the Elements count to 4 would make me drop Selfless Spirits from SB and throw in Aurioks.
Benalish Marshal wasn't as good here as in earlier iteration of the deck. This deck is dependent on early Parish or Lieutenant going big and didn't seem to go as wide. I think reducing the amount of Marshals to 2 is good enough. Also thought about changing the last remaining 2 for Field Marshals, even though he doesn't pump whole team (but that touches only Bodyguards and sideboard creatures so I think it's worth it). That first strike for the whole team actually might be very handy in creature matchups.
I don't know if Quarters are worth keeping as I really need all W sources with so many 1-drops. I think that sacrificing some Tron hate and land filtering for more consistant mana base is worth the trade. Maybe I could possibly go with 1-2 Sunbaked Canyon while throwing away Quarters for more card advantage. With new Horizon Lands being printed I'm not sure how many of them I really want.
Or maybe adding in some [card]Smuggler's Copter[card]s would be better/safer for card filtering while keeping smaller/more important creatures in base (Marshals, Bodyguards, Inspectors).
It felt like this deck trades some resiliency and hate for raw power and speed compared to the old one. It should be able to close games 1 turn sooner on average. I have more big haymakers in sideboard rather than couple of different options to counter opposing gameplans and I think it's better approach for White aggro decks. Gideon Blackblade gives me mainboard options vs Burn or Ensnaring Bridge decks and resiliency vs Control.
I'm not sure I like this iteration more, as limiting myself to Humans only is quite crippling, but I think the deck is better than the last one.
2 Boros Elite
2 Dauntless Bodyguard
2 Dryad Militant
4 Judge's Familiar
1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
4 Signal Pest
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Countless Gears Renegade
2 Selfless Spirit
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Benalish Marshal
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Venerated Loxodon
3 Arid Mesa
4 Flooded Strand
4 Marsh Flats
5 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Declaration in Stone
4 Leonin Relic-Warder
4 Rest in Peace
2 Selfless Spirit
19 1-drops (+3 Paths) is wild and very agressive. Lot of cards I've played/considered playing are here, the numbers are somehow weird to me though (1 Kytheon, 2 Dryads etc.). Signal Pest is something I never really considered in this deck (which is kind of retarded as I thought a bit about Accorder Paladin after all) but could be potentially quite strong and cheap anthem effect. Boros Elite is easly 1 mana 3/3 swinger in this type of deck.
15 White fetchlands is a lot of gas for Steppe Lynx and Revolt enabler for Countless Gears Renegade which is some sweet 2 mana 3/3 spread in 2 bodies, great value in a deck with so many ways to pump a body. Makes me want to buy some more fetches but...
Also, Venerated Loxodon appears here as a high-end threat. He does wonders in standard right now but I don't know if he's strong enough to see modern play. Convoking does cost quite a lot of damage but sometimes it can't be pushed anyways in creature matchups (Humans and Spirits mainly) so it might be worthwhile to sacrifice the turn for huge amount of extra power.
Very straightforward SB. A lot of 4-ofs to distrupt enemy gameplan + some fillers from mainboard. Simple and efficient, just like the SB should be done for aggro decks.
Not really sure how the deck would work without fetches, Lynxes and Renegades. It's awesome that this archetype has some potential to steal games and make perfect record in a league during meta full of wicked, unfair stuff.
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flagstones of Trokair
4x Ghost Quarter
5x Plains
4x Silent Clearing
2x Sunbaked Canyon
1-Drops (14)
4x Dryad Militant
1x Isamaru, Hound of Konda
3x Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1x Legion's Landing
4x Soldier of the Pantheon
1x Student of Warfare
2x Leonin Relic-Warder
4x Selfless Spirit
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3-Drops (8)
4x Benalish Marshal
4x Spectral Procession
Spells (10)
4x Brave the Elements
2x Path to Exile
4x Honor of the Pure
1x Damping Sphere
2x Kor Firewalker
2x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Leonin Relic-Warder
2x Path to Exile
2x Stony Silence
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3x Tocatli Honor Guard
The biggest change is dropping 2x Widbrisk Heights and 2x Wilt-Leaf Liege for 4x Honor of the Pure. I'm pretty confident that this is the right move because:
1) 2 mana anthem/lord is just too good to pass - lesson learned from Thalia's Lieutenant vs Benalish Marshal clash from my Mono W Humans deck tests. In a lot of games HotP felt much better than Marshal due to its cost and being Enchantment = harder to remove.
2) Windbrisk Heights means too much tempo loss, Horizon lands mean no tempo loss and still they provide much needed card draw during floods. Right now I'm playing 6 Horizons - I think it might be 1 too many. No Windbrisk means WLL is worse so it was easy cut.
1-drop suite is almost unchanged, 4x Dryads, 4x Soldiers and 3x Kytheons being strongest all around Lions and 1x Isamaru doing his job decent enough. Student of Warfare was something I included in the spot of Thalia, Heretic Cathar because he is also 3 mana 3 power first striker, but I also found out that Thalias ability isn't that relevant most of the times (at least not for a 3-drop, if she'd be dropped on T2 it would be much better) while another 1-drop is always welcome. I like that guy, him going 3/3 + getting another +1/+1 from HotP/Marshal makes him great creature vs Batterskull which is quite popular lately. I think I'll try 2nd one in spot of Legion's Landing - he's better standalone card and there are Field of Ruin running around pretty much everywhere lately.
I might need to find another good 1-drop... Any ideas?
Sideboard is mostly for my LGS but I think it's the best SB for this deck right now overall. Grafdigger's Cage over Rest in Peace purely because of Collected Company decks. I think that right now it's stronger GY hating card anyways as these aren't that popular anymore.
Tocatli Honor Guard because there is a lot of creature ETB triggers flying around. I'm 100% positive that I will replace them with Hushbringer in a week.
My results with this deck are still a little bit above average, going 4/0, 2/2 and 2/2 during last three FNMs. Deck struggles a bit with its curve, I'm mulliganing more than I'd want to because I'm getting hand like 2 lands, 2 Spectrals, 1 Marshal, 1 Path and Brave. Or I have no-lander (which happened twice in a row last Friday). Situations like this make me want to increase the amount of 1-drops but it seems like there isn't any more good standalone 1-drop creatures.
Not sure if 4 Benalish Marshals aren't a bit too much - might cut 1 or 2 for more 1-drops.
Also thought about playing Leonin Arbiters because of all SFM, Urza, Scapeshift and Amulet decks running around lately but it's hard to find any free spot for them. I feel like Leonin Relic-Warder stopped being maindeckable material so maybe here and 2 Marshals...