I just realized that Commune with Nature takes up your maindeck silver bullet slots. Does anyone regret that tradeoff?
Also, how is Tracker doing in people's sideboards? It seems awkward in a 20 land deck with no land shenanigans.
What silver bullets are you missing?
Silver bullets are fun, but I greatly value Commune/Incubation more for its ability to go T1 Commune, find Druid T2 play Druid. Besides, there are still at least 2 flex slots if you are a fan of Steven Riecken's main, more if you want to go to 3 Lunge or 3 Commune. For example, I personally do not like the second Sahali and play a Rallier instead, and the Witness isn't required.
I think you'll find Tracker works well in the sideboard. The deck plays twelve mana creatures and upwards of ten fetches. Common play pattern is to try and force an early combo then play or Evo for tracker, play and crack fetch. It's does everything you want in a value creature really, clocks quick and draws cards.
On the note of grindy sideboard options, fans of the red splash can try testing the new Domri. Might be better than cards like Company or Gideon. Granting Druid haste and digging for combo pieces is great.
Silver bullets are fun, but I greatly value Commune/Incubation more for its ability to go T1 Commune, find Druid T2 play Druid. Besides, there are still at least 2 flex slots if you are a fan of Steven Riecken's main, more if you want to go to 3 Lunge or 3 Commune. For example, I personally do not like the second Sahali and play a Rallier instead, and the Witness isn't required.
I think you'll find Tracker works well in the sideboard. The deck plays twelve mana creatures and upwards of ten fetches. Common play pattern is to try and force an early combo then play or Evo for tracker, play and crack fetch. It's does everything you want in a value creature really, clocks quick and draws cards.
I think a MD Scavenging Ooze has a lot of value right now. Huge against the top decks plus it can eat the target of an opponent's Surgical Extraction. Maybe my deckbuilding choices are just being influenced by my expected meta.
Also, I'm not sure that Commune will perform as hoped. My Company shell had 30 creatures and dug 6 cards deep yet whiffed on one or both targets with high frequency. This deck has 24-26 hits and Commune digs 5 deep... does anyone feel like their Commune whiffs often?
Silver bullets are fun, but I greatly value Commune/Incubation more for its ability to go T1 Commune, find Druid T2 play Druid. Besides, there are still at least 2 flex slots if you are a fan of Steven Riecken's main, more if you want to go to 3 Lunge or 3 Commune. For example, I personally do not like the second Sahali and play a Rallier instead, and the Witness isn't required.
I think you'll find Tracker works well in the sideboard. The deck plays twelve mana creatures and upwards of ten fetches. Common play pattern is to try and force an early combo then play or Evo for tracker, play and crack fetch. It's does everything you want in a value creature really, clocks quick and draws cards.
I think a MD Scavenging Ooze has a lot of value right now. Huge against the top decks plus it can eat the target of an opponent's Surgical Extraction. Maybe my deckbuilding choices are just being influenced by my expected meta.
Also, I'm not sure that Commune will perform as hoped. My Company shell had 30 creatures and dug 6 cards deep yet whiffed on one or both targets with high frequency. This deck has 24-26 hits and Commune digs 5 deep... does anyone feel like their Commune whiffs often?
Sure I can see a Scooze being valuable. I think you find you can still definitely find room for one with 4 Commune.
As for whiffs, it's about as common as hitting one creature on a Company.
Say you cast Company with 50 cards in deck (turn 3 or 4) having drawn 3 creatures already in your 30 card deck. Plug that into a hypergeometric calculator and you're 99.4% to hit 1 creature and 93.6% to hit 2 creatures. Looking at Commune here, if you cast it turn 1 after keeping 7 with 2 creatures in hand already, your population is 53 cards, with 22 creatures left, your sample is the 5 deep on Commune, and you're looking to see at least 1 creature. You're 94.1% to see 1 or more.
Sure I can see a Scooze being valuable. I think you find you can still definitely find room for one with 4 Commune.
As for whiffs, it's about as common as hitting one creature on a Company.
Say you cast Company with 50 cards in deck (turn 3 or 4) having drawn 3 creatures already in your 30 card deck. Plug that into a hypergeometric calculator and you're 99.4% to hit 1 creature and 93.6% to hit 2 creatures. Looking at Commune here, if you cast it turn 1 after keeping 7 with 2 creatures in hand already, your population is 53 cards, with 22 creatures left, your sample is the 5 deep on Commune, and you're looking to see at least 1 creature. You're 94.1% to see 1 or more.
Those are impressive numbers! If the Communes come in the mail, I'll definitely try them. With those, this is my list. Feedback appreciated:
What do you think about Revival // Revenge for the Postmortem Lunge slot in this deck ? Is the WW cost too prohibitive ?
It probably isn't as good for comboing off but is a better card for the value plan.
Also, why isn't this deck playing a copy of Rhonas as a Chord'able finisher ?
What do you think about Revival // Revenge for the Postmortem Lunge slot in this deck ? Is the WW cost too prohibitive ?
It probably isn't as good for comboing off but is a better card for the value plan.
Also, why isn't this deck playing a copy of Rhonas as a Chord'able finisher ?
Revival might be viable, but it is unlikely. The most important part of Postmortem Lunge is the Haste for Devoted Druid.
I'd say above all else, Duskwatch is already a Chordable finisher. A mana sink that works as a good beatdown plan B that also beats white Leyline is important, so Rhonas used to be played in this deck to fulfill that slot, but it has been replaced by Shalai.
By the way, does anyone have a sideboard guide? Cards to bring in are easy to chose. What to cut is driving me nuts!
The decklist for Druid Evolution isn't as tight as something like KCI, so building a sideboard guide isn't that simple currently. I can give a few guidelines I use though.
- A mana sink can be cut if Shalai or Ballista performs poorly.
- Flex slots like Witness can be cut.
- Sometimes I would cut Dryad Arbor but I tend to not do this anymore given fetch, Evo it happens frequently for me in postboard games because lots of bullets are at two.
- Against removal light decks I trim on Lunge, but never go below 2 since every deck is going to have more removal postboard.
Sideboarding against Control and Midrange is where you'll be swapping the most cards. Against unfair and removal light decks we just try to cut a few cards and bring in bullets, some removal/utility like Selfless Spirit and Spellskite to have more protection, but fair opponents have too much interaction to hinge on only comboing. So, we shave on the combo and bring in two-for-ones like Voice, Tracker, Company or difficult to answer permanents like Mystic Enforcer and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. I generally look to cut some number of Chords, Evolutions, mana dorks, and Viziers.
Vizier is the worst combo piece — especially in Finks-less versions — because the card is not all that threatening. To compare, Druid untapping can lead to them getting combo'd and Duskwatch draws card.
You'll side a little different for Control and Midrange. Control's secondary interaction in countermagic makes Chords better and Evolution worse. I often try and "Infect them" against Control where I assemble a hand and board state that bottlenecks the opponent's mana and removal all in one turn. EoT Chord is a big part of that.
As for Midrange, Chords are worse because combo'ing against countermagic is easier than discard, but Evolutions are better given we don't have to worry about getting them countered. While two-for-one'ing ourselves with Evolution isn't really what we want to do against Midrange, I tend to get a sideboard card with the Evolution or mitigate flood a bit by Evolving a Dryad Arbor. Midrange is truly the most difficult matchup in my experience because they usually also present a fast clock on top of being the most disruptive. So you may need to bring in Paths as well, but the Commune to Incubation upgrade helps with this a bit. With the combo plan being at its worst here, trimming on Lunge is a good idea too.
I'd say above all else, Duskwatch is already a Chordable finisher. A mana sink that works as a good beatdown plan B that also beats white Leyline is important, so Rhonas used to be played in this deck to fulfill that slot, but it has been replaced by Shalai.
Rhonas is strictly superior to Shalai in the specific case we're talking about, due to trample. I was under the impression that Shalai was selected for the protection she provides and the alternate wincon was just a bonus.
I'd say above all else, Duskwatch is already a Chordable finisher. A mana sink that works as a good beatdown plan B that also beats white Leyline is important, so Rhonas used to be played in this deck to fulfill that slot, but it has been replaced by Shalai.
Rhonas is strictly superior to Shalai in the specific case we're talking about, due to trample. I was under the impression that Shalai was selected for the protection she provides and the alternate wincon was just a bonus.
Thank you for the sideboarding advice!
Shalai is on average just a better card than Rhonas is in this deck. Rhonas`s big upside in the normal Devoted Druid builds for me always was that, once you have infinite mana, you could hit it off of a CoCo while Ballista was a big whiff. That issue doesn`t present itself in this deck since we don`t run any CoCo and once you have infinite mana you can Chord/Eldritch Evo it up as a wincon anyways if the situation arises where Ballista isn`t enough (ex: op has hexproof). That being said, my current list is only playing a single Shalai, I moved the Spellskite to the main freeing up a precious SB slot. Skite is currently pretty solid in the meta with Bolt being as highly represented as it is.
This deck is more competitive than Cragganwick Cremator and just as fun imo, I`d be curious to know which choice you ended up going with
I went 5-3 with 2 Byes at the GP with Cragganwick and 2-4 with no Byes with Druid Evolution. As for the MCQ with Druid Evolution, the only way to explain it was the Combo was often hard to find or Grafdigger's Cage into Meddling Mage *****canned me. There was literally 1 opponent that didn't draw the card(s) that I expected them to each and every single turn. I shouldn't be able to call Grafdigger's Cage into Meddling Mage on Vizier of Remedies out of Humans multiple times in a tournament.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
This deck is more competitive than Cragganwick Cremator and just as fun imo, I`d be curious to know which choice you ended up going with
I went 5-3 with 2 Byes at the GP with Cragganwick and 2-4 with no Byes with Druid Evolution. As for the MCQ with Druid Evolution, the only way to explain it was the Combo was often hard to find or Grafdigger's Cage into Meddling Mage *****canned me. There was literally 1 opponent that didn't draw the card(s) that I expected them to each and every single turn. I shouldn't be able to call Grafdigger's Cage into Meddling Mage on Vizier of Remedies out of Humans multiple times in a tournament.
Yeah Grafdiggers can be a huge pain, I try to leave all the Communes in over some Chords/Lunges/Eldritch Evo when I expect it. Thankfully Deputy of Detention will be an additional out to it soon and Incogruinity will be great to force the combo through Humans/Spirits. I also faced a decent amount of Grafdiggers recently and it often happened that I just had the natural or got there with a Knight of Autumn/Commune, it sounds like you faced some bad variance with them drawing what they needed and you drawing exactly what matched up poorly against their hate.
Yeah, I kept in all the Communes. I don't think I sided that card out once in 6 rounds. I did side out Chord a lot just because it cost a lot. Against Humans, I did side out some Lunges and Evos - I think 1 of each because I was kind of undecided. I put in 1 or 2 Knight of Autumn in the first match against Humans, but I figured that my only way of finding him, outside of Commune, is the actual spells that Cage shuts down, so I eventually decided to not run Knight at all. I don't really want to be busting an Aether Vial when a 6/6 Champ is smashing my face in.
Chord is a very strong card that is just affected by Thalia and in addition to our low mana count, it can be costly. I think I settled on siding out 3 Chord of Calling vs. Humans.
*I really hate to blame variance, but the only mistakes that I noticed were possibly not mulliganing more often. I just feel that in this type of deck (I have played tons of Combo), we have to keep hands that are missing only 1 piece of the combo and try to draw Evolution, Chord, the actual combo piece, or Commune into the other piece. I had Communes that literally only hit mana dorks. Yes, it is wonderful to dig deep past such cards, but only if I find the necessary cards in time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
So since I`m currently sitting in a bus on my way to Prague I thought I`d do a brief write up of my thoughts about the deck, my current configuration and my exclusions/considerations.
For reference, this is my current list, I decided to cut black completely for the time being and go straight GW. Once Ravnica Allegiance is released I`ll include a singleton Breeding Pool and at least add a Deputy of Detention over one of the PtE in the SB.
I cut the second Shalai for a similar effect in Spellskite. It means one less pay off but with 4 Chord/Eldritch/Duskwatcher + 1 Ballista/Shalai the pay off is always the easiest to find. Although I do like Shalai, four mana is alot in modern and the hexproof it provides often ends up being relevant too late. Spellskite allows us to play it on turn 2, turn 3 Druid and go for the combo on turn 4 with protection. With Bolt being as highly played as it currently is I opted for the Skite over a Scavenging Ooze which would have been my other consideration for the slot. Skite also has the usual applications v Bogles/Infect and does not get bounced by TiTi which is pretty useful.
1/2 Renegade Rallier is another card I considered playing over 1 Commune/Lunge. It adds needed value to the deck, sinergizes well with certain bullets and provides another body for Eldritch Evo. Even though the probabillity of whiffing on Commune is low as shown by AcademyRuins (about 1/20 times you cast it), it has happened to me more than once, and this would add 1/2 additional creatures to the deck. I reckon this inclusion makes sense depending on the meta you are playing against, the grindier the better they get.
Bullets I considered -
Kataki - Even though it has the potential to be an incredibly high impact bullet, in my opinion it just doesn`t do enough against the currently most prevalent artifact based decks in the meta. KCI does not mind saccing one or two artifacts to redraw and hit their land drops while Hardened Scales, a MU where we`re already favored except when he has a Walking B out, runs alot more non-artifact mana sources in comparison to the older Affinity lists. Their namesake card is also not an artifact and both Walking B/Ravager are enough to make Kataki almost obsolete. It can still be a high impact card against HS Affinity but the draws we fear out of them are exactly the ones which fair well against a Kataki. The other artifact based decks to semi consider were both Lantern Control/UR Whir/standard Affinity but ultimately their metagame share is currently too low to take into consideration.
Remorseful Cleric - Gets alot better with Renegade Ralliers, nuking the GY multiple times against Dredge is just what we need to win that MU.
Aven Mindcensor - Has alot of applications but is often not high impact enough. If the metagame share of big mana decks picks up it`ll be worth a slot.
Phyrexian Revoker - Like Mindcensor has alot of applications, from Vial to Walking B to Tron.dec. It`s the typical card which can easily be sideboarded in too often though.
Chameleon Colossus/Mirran Crusader/Devout Lightcaster - My go to against GDS and Rock/Jund decks. I haven`t faced enough of these decks recently to include them.
Mistcaller - Keeping up a Chord for 1 against UR Phoenix can result in an unexpected blowout. Also solid against other toolbox variants and Dredge (except v Bloodghast). Chordable targets for 1 are definitely my favorite.
Kor Firewalker - Burn is running rampant in both my LGS and on MTGO, I sometimes add him over the third Path/Gaddock.
There are definitely some more I considered but I unfortunately don`t have access to my deckbox with all the 1 ofs at the moment.
I`ve had swingy results with the deck, but ultimately have managed a positive winrate and it`s definitely a fun deck to play. The deck consistently finds the combo but can also have some awkward opening hands with multiple Lunges, hence my consideration to cut 1 for a Rallier for example. It feels like this version, more so than the CoCo variant, has alot of free wins and favourable MUs but everything very grindy from Jeskai to Mardu is extremely hard to beat. Funnily enough I think that once Inubation/Incogruity is available this will get better for two reasons. For one we will have a bit more SB space dropping to at least 2 PtE and we can also target our dorks for when an instant speed 3/3 surprise beater/blocker is all we need.
*I really hate to blame variance, but the only mistakes that I noticed were possibly not mulliganing more often. I just feel that in this type of deck (I have played tons of Combo), we have to keep hands that are missing only 1 piece of the combo and try to draw Evolution, Chord, the actual combo piece, or Commune into the other piece. I had Communes that literally only hit mana dorks. Yes, it is wonderful to dig deep past such cards, but only if I find the necessary cards in time.
It`s something I avoid as well but if you got wrecked multiple times by a 1 or, at most, a 2 of Grafdigger`s Cage in a 6 Round tournament then it`s definitely bad beats :p. Mulliganing is certainly hard with this deck since you have to either decide to mulligan for the turn 2 Druid if you believe the game will be a race, or stick with a 7 card hand which doesn`t straight up present the combo turn 3 if you believe the game will be a tad grindier. Once you know what you are facing this decision gets easier, but I mostly mull to 6 if I can`t at least Commune/Eldritch Evo for a Druid on turn 2.
Thanks for sharing your list Shwivle. I've been debating with my sideboard a lot recently too. Here's my current list I'm testing for post-RNA Modern. I've been having a lot of difficult deciding what to play as my anti-combo bullet. I've been unhappy with the disynergy that Eildon and Teeg have been giving me. While they are great at bringing opposing combo decks to a halt, too often I'm in the same slot where I then can't combo either while the opponent is floundering.
Right now I'm playing Meddling Mage since I'm pretty convinced the Breeding Pool is worth it. Mage comes in all the matchups I want the slot (KCI, Storm, Ad Naus) and it's a nice to have against things like Amulet and Goroyo's.
@Shwivel, @AcademyRuins: You're both on Tireless Tracker in the SB for midrange matches. After testing them last night, I've been very unhappy. They get shot all the time and the constant discard means you can't hold a Tracker until you have a land to play after. Have Trackers really been good for you vs decks chock full of removal? I'm seriously considering switching my 3x Tracker for 3x Gideon, Ally (or 2x Gideon and 1x Mystic Enforcer).
@Shwivel, @AcademyRuins: You're both on Tireless Tracker in the SB for midrange matches. After testing them last night, I've been very unhappy. They get shot all the time and the constant discard means you can't hold a Tracker until you have a land to play after. Have Trackers really been good for you vs decks chock full of removal? I'm seriously considering switching my 3x Tracker for 3x Gideon, Ally (or 2x Gideon and 1x Mystic Enforcer).
The issue with our grindy sideboard plan is that we can either play value creatures that are found consistently but are easily answered, or we can play non-creatures like Gideon that we have to naturally draw that are more likely to stick.
Some of the drawback with Tracker can be mitigated by waiting to play Tracker late after you've exhausted their removal. It's tough because this plan doesn't really work if the opponent keeps an interaction heavy hand where they simply one-for-one everything. I do wait to play Tracker until I have a land up, but often you'll be forced to play it into open mana and just get it killed with a fetch activation on the stack.
I'd say it's worth trying Gideons out. I don't view Tracker as better than Gideon, it just has different strengths.
Hey guys. I'm a recent fan of this deck. Took it to GP Oakland going 5-3. More specifically I went undefeated 5-0, lost 1-2 to Sam Black who turn 2 comboed me on KCI, and I lost every game 3 after that. It being my 2nd time ever playing with the deck, mistakes were definitely made and yet I felt very satisfied at the end. Every match up I played felt close. The deck is well constructed and very tight in space imo. It will get even better with the new g/u commune.
Edit: after some more play testing, I was wrong about some thoughts I deleted from this post.
Hey guys. I'm a recent fan of this deck. Took it to GP Oakland going 5-3. More specifically I went undefeated 5-0, lost 1-2 to Sam Black who turn 2 comboed me on KCI, and I lost every game 3 after that. It being my 2nd time ever playing with the deck, mistakes were definitely made and yet I felt very satisfied at the end. Every match up I played felt close. The deck is well constructed and very tight in space imo. It will get even better with the new g/u commune.
Some thoughts post-gp:
1) I think it's wrong not to play 3-4 ewit. She gives us that edge against BGx and enables more lines. Ex. With druid and a dork on the board you eldritch dork for vizier, ewit eldritch, eldritch ewit for wincon.
2) Definitely going up to 4 paths for UR Phoenix and GDS
3) -1 Overgrown tomb for basic. An extra shock for 1 sin collector is not what I need against burn and ur Phoenix. Also I never used black mana to pay for lunge
4) Considering increasing knight of Autunm in sb from 2 to 3 or 4. Maybe qasali makes more sense given the lack of viable 2cmc creatures, sac'ing when lunged so that it won't get exiled, and exalted triggers for a better plan b.
5) we are so freaking soft to Grafdiggers. Mb knight or qasali is probably correct but again, space is so tonight.
Can't EWit back Eldritch Evolution. Gotta read the cards all the way through. However, you are right about Witness and Chord goodness. I miss extra Witnesses too, but the increased consistency of turn 3 kill is very nice.
Qasali Pridemage is the answer for Cage. Because you can Chord for it with Cage on the stack, then activate after Cage resolves. Knight of Autumn can't do that.
Hey guys. I'm a recent fan of this deck. Took it to GP Oakland going 5-3. More specifically I went undefeated 5-0, lost 1-2 to Sam Black who turn 2 comboed me on KCI, and I lost every game 3 after that. It being my 2nd time ever playing with the deck, mistakes were definitely made and yet I felt very satisfied at the end. Every match up I played felt close. The deck is well constructed and very tight in space imo. It will get even better with the new g/u commune.
Some thoughts post-gp:
1) I think it's wrong not to play 3-4 ewit. She gives us that edge against BGx and enables more lines. Ex. With druid and a dork on the board you eldritch dork for vizier, ewit eldritch, eldritch ewit for wincon.
2) Definitely going up to 4 paths for UR Phoenix and GDS
3) -1 Overgrown tomb for basic. An extra shock for 1 sin collector is not what I need against burn and ur Phoenix. Also I never used black mana to pay for lunge
4) Considering increasing knight of Autunm in sb from 2 to 3 or 4. Maybe qasali makes more sense given the lack of viable 2cmc creatures, sac'ing when lunged so that it won't get exiled, and exalted triggers for a better plan b.
5) we are so freaking soft to Grafdiggers. Mb knight or qasali is probably correct but again, space is so tonight.
Can't EWit back Eldritch Evolution. Gotta read the cards all the way through. However, you are right about Witness and Chord goodness. I miss extra Witnesses too, but the increased consistency of turn 3 kill is very nice.
Qasali Pridemage is the answer for Cage. Because you can Chord for it with Cage on the stack, then activate after Cage resolves. Knight of Autumn can't do that.
Glad you cleared that up about eldritch. Thankfully I didn't make that mistake in Oakland or I'd feel real bad.
-1 birds, -1 shalai, -1 duskwatch are the cuts I made post-oakland from the GP Portland list I played with. T3 consistency is still great by keeping the spell package. On the topic of ewit, being able to bring back paths against ur Phoenix and gds is fantastic.
Been playing both versions for months with a recent full switch to the Evolution build on Steven's recommendations. As a Vancouver Local it was pretty gas to watch him crush his way to top 8. Moving forward I'm voting to play the Commune with 1 Eternal Witness Build and I'll continue to tech that deck specifically. All we really want is more 1 mana interaction, specfically a more flexible Burrenton Forge-Tender. I think it's one of the best cards for our deck and any less than two is incorrect. In future with blue being the go to splash I'll test with Dispel/Spell Pierce and feel them out. I also think that we need to stop playing bullets, and focus on consistency as our forte. We're already very good at presenting the combo and win condition so we don't want to spend our cards finding non combo tutor targets ESPECIALLY when most of the time the card you're tutoring is 2-3 mana. At that CMC you need to Eldritch Evolution it for it to arrive on time IE: Eidolon of Rhetoric vs MOST combo decks. Chord has been ultimately one of my worst cards, and typically only does it's job if my opponent is spinning their wheels or have allowed me a ton of resources. Chord also happens to be the only line that doesn't put a druid into play on turn 2, and with our lack of Collected Company we're much less likely to be able to stick creatures to chord for 2. My theory for the future is that the Devoted build will cut Chord and end up playing 8 Commune effects to maximize our ability to play a druid on turn 2. This means you'll keep hands with Druid, Evolution + Bird, and Bird + Communes; Giving you a wide variety of hands to keep and multiple options to sculpt your plan with the Communes. This also lends itself better to a sideboard built to play 2 ofs. Rhetoric, Deputy, Autumn, Burrenton, and Tracker would be my first 10 cards I'd submit. 3 Path and 2 meta dependent cards to follow. I'll be playing at the Face to Face Vancouver open on January 26th. I managed to get 2nd place last year (on Knightfall) and I'm hoping to have similar success this time around too. Considering the set release is the day before I'll be doing serious testing with this build and the blue splash in general. I'll also look into the Company build with Domri over Chord but I'm much more likely to play this linear style at a large event. Anyways I'll keep this thread posted if anything in particular comes up in testing. Attached is my recent list, I placed 5-8th at a 1k open today with my only match loss being to a B/R Burn Opponent.
Congratulations on the top 8! Your list is super similar to mine. I played it today at a Store IQ with 51 players for 6 rounds.
Round 1 vs. Hardened Scales. I keep a hand with 2 lands, Devoted Druid, Vizier of Remedies, and 2 Commune with Nature. I only find another Druid and a dork from the Commune, so I remain a combo piece short of comboing. I keep the Vizier in hand to not give more away. I lost to an Inkmoth Nexus doing 5 infect, then 5 more. Not a good way to start a tournament! In the next game, I mulligan to 5. She gets a Walking Ballista for 2 on turn 2, killing my Devoted Druid. I do Postmortem Lunge, play Vizier, and play Walking Ballista. It's nice to have it all. She realizes what's going on now. In the final game, her hand is a bit slow. She does Metallic Mimic into a 0/0 Hangarback Walker, so I use Path to Exile on it to make the Walker come into play as a 0/0. She goes for 7 infect, but makes a mistake sacrificing Darksteel Citadel. On her final turn, she played Spellskite, which would have prevented my 2nd Path to Exile that I had in my hand, but she didn't have the extra 1 mana to activate Inkmoth Nexus. I play a 2nd Druid, Evolution it for Vizier, and then Chord for Duskwatch Recruiter to find Ballista for game. Whew! 2-1.
Round 2 vs. GB Midrange. There was some pairing mistakes, as they had me losing the first round. We looked at the slip and it clearly said I won. So I am playing a different guy, who Thoughtseizes me, then kills a Devoted Druid. I wait a turn to draw another combo piece and then use Postmortem Lunge to get Druid, Evolution a Dryad Arbor, and then go infinite with Duskwatch Recruiter, all right after Liliana the Last Hope killed a Birds of Paradise. In the next game, we stall out, but 2 Treetop Villages eventually kill my Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. But I draw multiple Duskwatch Recruiters, who get value before they die. I had held 3 lands in hand and found Tireless Tracker. Got a million clues over the next few turns while he drew ... nothing. This seems like a rough matchup, but I drew GAS. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Humans. In game 1, he shut down Vizier of Remedies with Meddling Mage and I drew another one. Lucky for me I had dork into Druid into Evolution for Vizier of Remedies and played Walking Ballista to end it. In the next game, he puts some pressure, but after 2 Path to Exile, my deck just won't quit and I get another chance at comboing when he has 1 card in hand. Could it be another Path to Exile. I doubt it. For what it's worth, he was playing a modified version of Humans that runs Path, Stony Silence, and RIP in the SB. He doesn't play Ancient Ziggurat. Really strong player who won the last 2 PPTQs he's played in. First time playing him myself. Got lucky. He made the top 8 today too. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Burn. There's not much to say, outside of my deck slightly failed me while his didn't. I comboed him on turn 3 with a 5 card mulligan in game 1 after he tapped out for Eidolon of the Great Revel. In the next 2 games, I did get some Knight of Autumn and Shalai, but his pressure was too much. No Worship to be seen. This guy made the finals. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. Burn. In the first game, he got stuck on 1 mana and tapped out for a 3rd 1 drop. I combo off safely. In the next game, he barely gets there when I draw 6 mana dorks against his deck. I kept with 2 in hand, but still... The final game can be watched here at 4:50 - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/363521599 . I felt like I literally needed to draw a single land to win, but it didn't happen until my final turn when I was at 3 life, facing 2 Monastery Swiftspears and a Grim Lavamancer. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. Mono Red Prison. He did Pyretic Ritual into Blood Moon on turn 2, but I did mana dude into Eldritch Evolution, using mana from a Devoted Druid to get Vizier of Remedies and played Duskwatch Recruiter. Must be nice, Obama. In the next game, he mulled to 4. I drew a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and with some mana dudes, it was enough. I started drawing gas late, but I just left what was on board since he didn't seem to have many outs. 2-0.
I finish 4-2 for 11th place. It was tough losing to Burn twice in heartbreaking game 3s, including needing to draw a single land to win in Round 5. Magic.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Congratulations on the top 8! Your list is super similar to mine. I played it today at a Store IQ with 51 players for 6 rounds.
Round 1 vs. Hardened Scales. I keep a hand with 2 lands, Devoted Druid, Vizier of Remedies, and 2 Commune with Nature. I only find another Druid and a dork from the Commune, so I remain a combo piece short of comboing. I keep the Vizier in hand to not give more away. I lost to an Inkmoth Nexus doing 5 infect, then 5 more. Not a good way to start a tournament! In the next game, I mulligan to 5. She gets a Walking Ballista for 2 on turn 2, killing my Devoted Druid. I do Postmortem Lunge, play Vizier, and play Walking Ballista. It's nice to have it all. She realizes what's going on now. In the final game, her hand is a bit slow. She does Metallic Mimic into a 0/0 Hangarback Walker, so I use Path to Exile on it to make the Walker come into play as a 0/0. She goes for 7 infect, but makes a mistake sacrificing Darksteel Citadel. On her final turn, she played Spellskite, which would have prevented my 2nd Path to Exile that I had in my hand, but she didn't have the extra 1 mana to activate Inkmoth Nexus. I play a 2nd Druid, Evolution it for Vizier, and then Chord for Duskwatch Recruiter to find Ballista for game. Whew! 2-1.
Round 2 vs. GB Midrange. There was some pairing mistakes, as they had me losing the first round. We looked at the slip and it clearly said I won. So I am playing a different guy, who Thoughtseizes me, then kills a Devoted Druid. I wait a turn to draw another combo piece and then use Postmortem Lunge to get Druid, Evolution a Dryad Arbor, and then go infinite with Duskwatch Recruiter, all right after Liliana the Last Hope killed a Birds of Paradise. In the next game, we stall out, but 2 Treetop Villages eventually kill my Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. But I draw multiple Duskwatch Recruiters, who get value before they die. I had held 3 lands in hand and found Tireless Tracker. Got a million clues over the next few turns while he drew ... nothing. This seems like a rough matchup, but I drew GAS. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Humans. In game 1, he shut down Vizier of Remedies with Meddling Mage and I drew another one. Lucky for me I had dork into Druid into Evolution for Vizier of Remedies and played Walking Ballista to end it. In the next game, he puts some pressure, but after 2 Path to Exile, my deck just won't quit and I get another chance at comboing when he has 1 card in hand. Could it be another Path to Exile. I doubt it. For what it's worth, he was playing a modified version of Humans that runs Path, Stony Silence, and RIP in the SB. He doesn't play Ancient Ziggurat. Really strong player who won the last 2 PPTQs he's played in. First time playing him myself. Got lucky. He made the top 8 today too. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Burn. There's not much to say, outside of my deck slightly failed me while his didn't. I comboed him on turn 3 with a 5 card mulligan in game 1 after he tapped out for Eidolon of the Great Revel. In the next 2 games, I did get some Knight of Autumn and Shalai, but his pressure was too much. No Worship to be seen. This guy made the finals. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. Burn. In the first game, he got stuck on 1 mana and tapped out for a 3rd 1 drop. I combo off safely. In the next game, he barely gets there when I draw 6 mana dorks against his deck. I kept with 2 in hand, but still... The final game can be watched here at 4:50 - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/363521599 . I felt like I literally needed to draw a single land to win, but it didn't happen until my final turn when I was at 3 life, facing 2 Monastery Swiftspears and a Grim Lavamancer. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. Mono Red Prison. He did Pyretic Ritual into Blood Moon on turn 2, but I did mana dude into Eldritch Evolution, using mana from a Devoted Druid to get Vizier of Remedies and played Duskwatch Recruiter. Must be nice, Obama. In the next game, he mulled to 4. I drew a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and with some mana dudes, it was enough. I started drawing gas late, but I just left what was on board since he didn't seem to have many outs. 2-0.
I finish 4-2 for 11th place. It was tough losing to Burn twice in heartbreaking game 3s, including needing to draw a single land to win in Round 5. Magic.
Thanks for sharing the detailed match report. I only kept my W/L and Mulligans otherwise I'd of written a better report. I think you did everything you could in the Burn Matchup(s) It's always unfortunate to lose inches from a win, but that's magic sometimes. Our board is already pretty good at fighting them with 2 Burrenton and 2 Knight. I even think Shalai proves to be very solid vs them. Your summary of the GB matchup is basically why I believe we'll end up playing 2 ofs and 8 communes. We want consistency and the ability to identify and utilize sideboard cards as necessary. It appears most of the time you used Eldritch to find piece # 2 which further proves my suggestion that we're not interested in using our tutor effects for sideboard pieces. You also mulligan appropriately it sounds like, we're a deck designed to win out game one with the combo and need to mulligan to support it. I actually had an opponent suggest my deck mulligans like Tron, we're looking for 3 pieces or cards that find those pieces and trying to put them on the table. It's definitely not wrong, but absolutely not right. Moving on though, was there anything you'd change about the list moving forward? Personally I think Gideon isn't what we want for the deck, and doesn't actually beat BGX as you'd think. WE'd want Elspeth Sun's Champion to do that, but that card is too expensive for our build.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Also, how is Tracker doing in people's sideboards? It seems awkward in a 20 land deck with no land shenanigans.
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
Silver bullets are fun, but I greatly value Commune/Incubation more for its ability to go T1 Commune, find Druid T2 play Druid. Besides, there are still at least 2 flex slots if you are a fan of Steven Riecken's main, more if you want to go to 3 Lunge or 3 Commune. For example, I personally do not like the second Sahali and play a Rallier instead, and the Witness isn't required.
I think you'll find Tracker works well in the sideboard. The deck plays twelve mana creatures and upwards of ten fetches. Common play pattern is to try and force an early combo then play or Evo for tracker, play and crack fetch. It's does everything you want in a value creature really, clocks quick and draws cards.
On the note of grindy sideboard options, fans of the red splash can try testing the new Domri. Might be better than cards like Company or Gideon. Granting Druid haste and digging for combo pieces is great.
Also, I'm not sure that Commune will perform as hoped. My Company shell had 30 creatures and dug 6 cards deep yet whiffed on one or both targets with high frequency. This deck has 24-26 hits and Commune digs 5 deep... does anyone feel like their Commune whiffs often?
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
As for whiffs, it's about as common as hitting one creature on a Company.
Say you cast Company with 50 cards in deck (turn 3 or 4) having drawn 3 creatures already in your 30 card deck. Plug that into a hypergeometric calculator and you're 99.4% to hit 1 creature and 93.6% to hit 2 creatures. Looking at Commune here, if you cast it turn 1 after keeping 7 with 2 creatures in hand already, your population is 53 cards, with 22 creatures left, your sample is the 5 deep on Commune, and you're looking to see at least 1 creature. You're 94.1% to see 1 or more.
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Eternal Witness
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
4 Commune with Nature
4 Chord of Calling
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Wooded Foothills
5 Forest
1 Plains
2 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Razorverge Thicket
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Burrenton Forge-tender
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Riftsweeper
2 Path to Exile
1 Assassin's Trophy
3 Tireless Tracker
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
It probably isn't as good for comboing off but is a better card for the value plan.
Also, why isn't this deck playing a copy of Rhonas as a Chord'able finisher ?
Revival might be viable, but it is unlikely. The most important part of Postmortem Lunge is the Haste for Devoted Druid.
This shell of Devoted Druid combo is super tight on slots. It cannot spare one for Rhonas. I have played Rhonas in the less linear version of Druid combo and it was viable. You can find that deck here: https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/established-modern/combo/605889-gwx-vizier-company
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
- A mana sink can be cut if Shalai or Ballista performs poorly.
- Flex slots like Witness can be cut.
- Sometimes I would cut Dryad Arbor but I tend to not do this anymore given fetch, Evo it happens frequently for me in postboard games because lots of bullets are at two.
- Against removal light decks I trim on Lunge, but never go below 2 since every deck is going to have more removal postboard.
Sideboarding against Control and Midrange is where you'll be swapping the most cards. Against unfair and removal light decks we just try to cut a few cards and bring in bullets, some removal/utility like Selfless Spirit and Spellskite to have more protection, but fair opponents have too much interaction to hinge on only comboing. So, we shave on the combo and bring in two-for-ones like Voice, Tracker, Company or difficult to answer permanents like Mystic Enforcer and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. I generally look to cut some number of Chords, Evolutions, mana dorks, and Viziers.
Vizier is the worst combo piece — especially in Finks-less versions — because the card is not all that threatening. To compare, Druid untapping can lead to them getting combo'd and Duskwatch draws card.
You'll side a little different for Control and Midrange. Control's secondary interaction in countermagic makes Chords better and Evolution worse. I often try and "Infect them" against Control where I assemble a hand and board state that bottlenecks the opponent's mana and removal all in one turn. EoT Chord is a big part of that.
As for Midrange, Chords are worse because combo'ing against countermagic is easier than discard, but Evolutions are better given we don't have to worry about getting them countered. While two-for-one'ing ourselves with Evolution isn't really what we want to do against Midrange, I tend to get a sideboard card with the Evolution or mitigate flood a bit by Evolving a Dryad Arbor. Midrange is truly the most difficult matchup in my experience because they usually also present a fast clock on top of being the most disruptive. So you may need to bring in Paths as well, but the Commune to Incubation upgrade helps with this a bit. With the combo plan being at its worst here, trimming on Lunge is a good idea too.
Rhonas is strictly superior to Shalai in the specific case we're talking about, due to trample. I was under the impression that Shalai was selected for the protection she provides and the alternate wincon was just a bonus.
Thank you for the sideboarding advice!
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
Shalai is on average just a better card than Rhonas is in this deck. Rhonas`s big upside in the normal Devoted Druid builds for me always was that, once you have infinite mana, you could hit it off of a CoCo while Ballista was a big whiff. That issue doesn`t present itself in this deck since we don`t run any CoCo and once you have infinite mana you can Chord/Eldritch Evo it up as a wincon anyways if the situation arises where Ballista isn`t enough (ex: op has hexproof). That being said, my current list is only playing a single Shalai, I moved the Spellskite to the main freeing up a precious SB slot. Skite is currently pretty solid in the meta with Bolt being as highly represented as it is.
I went 5-3 with 2 Byes at the GP with Cragganwick and 2-4 with no Byes with Druid Evolution. As for the MCQ with Druid Evolution, the only way to explain it was the Combo was often hard to find or Grafdigger's Cage into Meddling Mage *****canned me. There was literally 1 opponent that didn't draw the card(s) that I expected them to each and every single turn. I shouldn't be able to call Grafdigger's Cage into Meddling Mage on Vizier of Remedies out of Humans multiple times in a tournament.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Yeah Grafdiggers can be a huge pain, I try to leave all the Communes in over some Chords/Lunges/Eldritch Evo when I expect it. Thankfully Deputy of Detention will be an additional out to it soon and Incogruinity will be great to force the combo through Humans/Spirits. I also faced a decent amount of Grafdiggers recently and it often happened that I just had the natural or got there with a Knight of Autumn/Commune, it sounds like you faced some bad variance with them drawing what they needed and you drawing exactly what matched up poorly against their hate.
Chord is a very strong card that is just affected by Thalia and in addition to our low mana count, it can be costly. I think I settled on siding out 3 Chord of Calling vs. Humans.
*I really hate to blame variance, but the only mistakes that I noticed were possibly not mulliganing more often. I just feel that in this type of deck (I have played tons of Combo), we have to keep hands that are missing only 1 piece of the combo and try to draw Evolution, Chord, the actual combo piece, or Commune into the other piece. I had Communes that literally only hit mana dorks. Yes, it is wonderful to dig deep past such cards, but only if I find the necessary cards in time.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)For reference, this is my current list, I decided to cut black completely for the time being and go straight GW. Once Ravnica Allegiance is released I`ll include a singleton Breeding Pool and at least add a Deputy of Detention over one of the PtE in the SB.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
4 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Eternal Witness
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
1 Spellskite
4 Commune with Nature
4 Chord of Calling
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Forest
1 Plains
2 Temple Garden
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Burrenton Forge-tender
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Path to Exile
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Tireless Tracker
I cut the second Shalai for a similar effect in Spellskite. It means one less pay off but with 4 Chord/Eldritch/Duskwatcher + 1 Ballista/Shalai the pay off is always the easiest to find. Although I do like Shalai, four mana is alot in modern and the hexproof it provides often ends up being relevant too late. Spellskite allows us to play it on turn 2, turn 3 Druid and go for the combo on turn 4 with protection. With Bolt being as highly played as it currently is I opted for the Skite over a Scavenging Ooze which would have been my other consideration for the slot. Skite also has the usual applications v Bogles/Infect and does not get bounced by TiTi which is pretty useful.
1/2 Renegade Rallier is another card I considered playing over 1 Commune/Lunge. It adds needed value to the deck, sinergizes well with certain bullets and provides another body for Eldritch Evo. Even though the probabillity of whiffing on Commune is low as shown by AcademyRuins (about 1/20 times you cast it), it has happened to me more than once, and this would add 1/2 additional creatures to the deck. I reckon this inclusion makes sense depending on the meta you are playing against, the grindier the better they get.
Bullets I considered -
Kataki - Even though it has the potential to be an incredibly high impact bullet, in my opinion it just doesn`t do enough against the currently most prevalent artifact based decks in the meta. KCI does not mind saccing one or two artifacts to redraw and hit their land drops while Hardened Scales, a MU where we`re already favored except when he has a Walking B out, runs alot more non-artifact mana sources in comparison to the older Affinity lists. Their namesake card is also not an artifact and both Walking B/Ravager are enough to make Kataki almost obsolete. It can still be a high impact card against HS Affinity but the draws we fear out of them are exactly the ones which fair well against a Kataki. The other artifact based decks to semi consider were both Lantern Control/UR Whir/standard Affinity but ultimately their metagame share is currently too low to take into consideration.
Remorseful Cleric - Gets alot better with Renegade Ralliers, nuking the GY multiple times against Dredge is just what we need to win that MU.
Aven Mindcensor - Has alot of applications but is often not high impact enough. If the metagame share of big mana decks picks up it`ll be worth a slot.
Phyrexian Revoker - Like Mindcensor has alot of applications, from Vial to Walking B to Tron.dec. It`s the typical card which can easily be sideboarded in too often though.
Chameleon Colossus/Mirran Crusader/Devout Lightcaster - My go to against GDS and Rock/Jund decks. I haven`t faced enough of these decks recently to include them.
Mistcaller - Keeping up a Chord for 1 against UR Phoenix can result in an unexpected blowout. Also solid against other toolbox variants and Dredge (except v Bloodghast). Chordable targets for 1 are definitely my favorite.
Kor Firewalker - Burn is running rampant in both my LGS and on MTGO, I sometimes add him over the third Path/Gaddock.
There are definitely some more I considered but I unfortunately don`t have access to my deckbox with all the 1 ofs at the moment.
I`ve had swingy results with the deck, but ultimately have managed a positive winrate and it`s definitely a fun deck to play. The deck consistently finds the combo but can also have some awkward opening hands with multiple Lunges, hence my consideration to cut 1 for a Rallier for example. It feels like this version, more so than the CoCo variant, has alot of free wins and favourable MUs but everything very grindy from Jeskai to Mardu is extremely hard to beat. Funnily enough I think that once Inubation/Incogruity is available this will get better for two reasons. For one we will have a bit more SB space dropping to at least 2 PtE and we can also target our dorks for when an instant speed 3/3 surprise beater/blocker is all we need.
It`s something I avoid as well but if you got wrecked multiple times by a 1 or, at most, a 2 of Grafdigger`s Cage in a 6 Round tournament then it`s definitely bad beats :p. Mulliganing is certainly hard with this deck since you have to either decide to mulligan for the turn 2 Druid if you believe the game will be a race, or stick with a 7 card hand which doesn`t straight up present the combo turn 3 if you believe the game will be a tad grindier. Once you know what you are facing this decision gets easier, but I mostly mull to 6 if I can`t at least Commune/Eldritch Evo for a Druid on turn 2.
Right now I'm playing Meddling Mage since I'm pretty convinced the Breeding Pool is worth it. Mage comes in all the matchups I want the slot (KCI, Storm, Ad Naus) and it's a nice to have against things like Amulet and Goroyo's.
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Vizier of Remedies
4 Devoted Druid
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Eternal Witness
1 Renegade Rallier
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
Spells (16)
4 Incubation // Incongruity
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Chord of Calling
4 Postmortem Lunge
4 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
1 Plains
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Path to Exile
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Spellskite
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Remorseful Cleric
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Meddling Mage
1 Deputy of Detention
1 Knight of Autumn
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Mystic Enforcer
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
Some of the drawback with Tracker can be mitigated by waiting to play Tracker late after you've exhausted their removal. It's tough because this plan doesn't really work if the opponent keeps an interaction heavy hand where they simply one-for-one everything. I do wait to play Tracker until I have a land up, but often you'll be forced to play it into open mana and just get it killed with a fetch activation on the stack.
I'd say it's worth trying Gideons out. I don't view Tracker as better than Gideon, it just has different strengths.
Edit: after some more play testing, I was wrong about some thoughts I deleted from this post.
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth
Can't EWit back Eldritch Evolution. Gotta read the cards all the way through. However, you are right about Witness and Chord goodness. I miss extra Witnesses too, but the increased consistency of turn 3 kill is very nice.
Qasali Pridemage is the answer for Cage. Because you can Chord for it with Cage on the stack, then activate after Cage resolves. Knight of Autumn can't do that.
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
Glad you cleared that up about eldritch. Thankfully I didn't make that mistake in Oakland or I'd feel real bad.
-1 birds, -1 shalai, -1 duskwatch are the cuts I made post-oakland from the GP Portland list I played with. T3 consistency is still great by keeping the spell package. On the topic of ewit, being able to bring back paths against ur Phoenix and gds is fantastic.
Yes, good point on qasali.
GBRJund Elves
GWDevoted Elves
WDeath & Taxes
GWUBRHumans
EDH:
GTitania, Protector of Argoth
Round 1 vs. Hardened Scales. I keep a hand with 2 lands, Devoted Druid, Vizier of Remedies, and 2 Commune with Nature. I only find another Druid and a dork from the Commune, so I remain a combo piece short of comboing. I keep the Vizier in hand to not give more away. I lost to an Inkmoth Nexus doing 5 infect, then 5 more. Not a good way to start a tournament! In the next game, I mulligan to 5. She gets a Walking Ballista for 2 on turn 2, killing my Devoted Druid. I do Postmortem Lunge, play Vizier, and play Walking Ballista. It's nice to have it all. She realizes what's going on now. In the final game, her hand is a bit slow. She does Metallic Mimic into a 0/0 Hangarback Walker, so I use Path to Exile on it to make the Walker come into play as a 0/0. She goes for 7 infect, but makes a mistake sacrificing Darksteel Citadel. On her final turn, she played Spellskite, which would have prevented my 2nd Path to Exile that I had in my hand, but she didn't have the extra 1 mana to activate Inkmoth Nexus. I play a 2nd Druid, Evolution it for Vizier, and then Chord for Duskwatch Recruiter to find Ballista for game. Whew! 2-1.
Round 2 vs. GB Midrange. There was some pairing mistakes, as they had me losing the first round. We looked at the slip and it clearly said I won. So I am playing a different guy, who Thoughtseizes me, then kills a Devoted Druid. I wait a turn to draw another combo piece and then use Postmortem Lunge to get Druid, Evolution a Dryad Arbor, and then go infinite with Duskwatch Recruiter, all right after Liliana the Last Hope killed a Birds of Paradise. In the next game, we stall out, but 2 Treetop Villages eventually kill my Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. But I draw multiple Duskwatch Recruiters, who get value before they die. I had held 3 lands in hand and found Tireless Tracker. Got a million clues over the next few turns while he drew ... nothing. This seems like a rough matchup, but I drew GAS. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Humans. In game 1, he shut down Vizier of Remedies with Meddling Mage and I drew another one. Lucky for me I had dork into Druid into Evolution for Vizier of Remedies and played Walking Ballista to end it. In the next game, he puts some pressure, but after 2 Path to Exile, my deck just won't quit and I get another chance at comboing when he has 1 card in hand. Could it be another Path to Exile. I doubt it. For what it's worth, he was playing a modified version of Humans that runs Path, Stony Silence, and RIP in the SB. He doesn't play Ancient Ziggurat. Really strong player who won the last 2 PPTQs he's played in. First time playing him myself. Got lucky. He made the top 8 today too. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Burn. There's not much to say, outside of my deck slightly failed me while his didn't. I comboed him on turn 3 with a 5 card mulligan in game 1 after he tapped out for Eidolon of the Great Revel. In the next 2 games, I did get some Knight of Autumn and Shalai, but his pressure was too much. No Worship to be seen. This guy made the finals. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. Burn. In the first game, he got stuck on 1 mana and tapped out for a 3rd 1 drop. I combo off safely. In the next game, he barely gets there when I draw 6 mana dorks against his deck. I kept with 2 in hand, but still... The final game can be watched here at 4:50 - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/363521599 . I felt like I literally needed to draw a single land to win, but it didn't happen until my final turn when I was at 3 life, facing 2 Monastery Swiftspears and a Grim Lavamancer. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. Mono Red Prison. He did Pyretic Ritual into Blood Moon on turn 2, but I did mana dude into Eldritch Evolution, using mana from a Devoted Druid to get Vizier of Remedies and played Duskwatch Recruiter. Must be nice, Obama. In the next game, he mulled to 4. I drew a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and with some mana dudes, it was enough. I started drawing gas late, but I just left what was on board since he didn't seem to have many outs. 2-0.
I finish 4-2 for 11th place. It was tough losing to Burn twice in heartbreaking game 3s, including needing to draw a single land to win in Round 5. Magic.
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Razorverge Thicket
3 Horizon Canopy
2 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Dryad Arbor
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Eternal Witness
2 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Walking Ballista
4 Eldritch Evolution
4 Chord of Calling
4 Commune with Nature
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Worship
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Tireless Tracker
2 Knight of Autumn
3 Path to Exile
1 Sin Collector
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Thanks for sharing the detailed match report. I only kept my W/L and Mulligans otherwise I'd of written a better report. I think you did everything you could in the Burn Matchup(s) It's always unfortunate to lose inches from a win, but that's magic sometimes. Our board is already pretty good at fighting them with 2 Burrenton and 2 Knight. I even think Shalai proves to be very solid vs them. Your summary of the GB matchup is basically why I believe we'll end up playing 2 ofs and 8 communes. We want consistency and the ability to identify and utilize sideboard cards as necessary. It appears most of the time you used Eldritch to find piece # 2 which further proves my suggestion that we're not interested in using our tutor effects for sideboard pieces. You also mulligan appropriately it sounds like, we're a deck designed to win out game one with the combo and need to mulligan to support it. I actually had an opponent suggest my deck mulligans like Tron, we're looking for 3 pieces or cards that find those pieces and trying to put them on the table. It's definitely not wrong, but absolutely not right. Moving on though, was there anything you'd change about the list moving forward? Personally I think Gideon isn't what we want for the deck, and doesn't actually beat BGX as you'd think. WE'd want Elspeth Sun's Champion to do that, but that card is too expensive for our build.