Would you think Kiki-Jiki or GriselBrand would be good in the list?
Kiki-Jiki is out because he is useless without a combo piece. You could win straight out with a successful X=2, but the combo would be just as disruptible as the traditional kiki resto, you would be better off simply playing a kiki resto deck which fields creatures that work with both of them, such as wall of omens or snapcaster.
Griselbrand might help you stabilize against aggro decks, but that's not good enough to field as a main. The creature in question should be able to protect itself first and foremost, and then also be able to close the game in as little time as possible. Iona and Emrakul both fulfill these requirements, hence their position in the main.
Given the current meta it probably isn't crazy to field Griselbrand in the 75. If you expect tonnes of mono red then its plausible to even main him.
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Would you think Kiki-Jiki or GriselBrand would be good in the list?
Kiki-Jiki is out because he is useless without a combo piece. You could win straight out with a successful X=2, but the combo would be just as disruptible as the traditional kiki resto, you would be better off simply playing a kiki resto deck which fields creatures that work with both of them, such as wall of omens or snapcaster.
Griselbrand might help you stabilize against aggro decks, but that's not good enough to field as a main. The creature in question should be able to protect itself first and foremost, and then also be able to close the game in as little time as possible. Iona and Emrakul both fulfill these requirements, hence their position in the main.
Given the current meta it probably isn't crazy to field Griselbrand in the 75. If you expect tonnes of mono red then its plausible to even main him.
Makes sense and I know kiki is probably a little fragile. The griselbrand is interesting because of the life gain and card draw. You could potentially set up your next turn very easily depending how your deck is built.
Match 2: Mono Red Prison LOSS 1-2
I took game 1 handily with an iona on red despite his chalice on 1 and blood moon. Not being able to make extra tokens beyond my bitterblossom was depressing, but fortunately I drew the creativity I needed to go for 1.
In: Wear // Tear x 2, Lightning Helix x 2, Out: Fatal Push x3, Path x1
Game 2 went smoothly at first with my wear//tear hitting his moon and chalices, but I get overrun by Rabblemasters.
Game 3 went almost exactly the same, except I was held back from winning by a pesky ratchet bomb. I made a huge mistake picking Chalice over Ratchet.
Match 3: Grixis Shadow WIN 2-0
Shadow wants to win with 1-2 big fatties, while I'm playing tokens. It's quite an easy match up here. A couple of my spells get snagged by stubborn denials, but overall he doesn't have the mana to disrupt me and look out for my combo while staying alive. Iona comes out both games on turn 4, blocking black, and both games he has no outs.
No cards were sideboarded.
Match 4: Bant Nexus
Game 1 I mull to 4 and he eventually gets teferi and jace on the board while I have no real traction. Intangible gets cryptic'ed and one of my 2 soldier tokens get bounced. Then teferi and friend make their appearance. I'm not fond of what happens at this point so I just scoop.
In: Lightning Helix x 2, Alpine Moon x 2 ; Out: Fatal Push x 3, Path to Exile x 1
Game 2 I move like clockwork, going disruption into bitterblossom into lingering souls and then just more token makers. He's not drawing enough mana and apart from tapping out my team a couple of times, doesn't do enough to stabilize. After the second tap-out with cryptic I go for 1 and get Iona, and name white. He takes 1 more draw step then scoops.
Game 3 The opponent is stuck on 2 lands for too long while I get ahead with my tokens and go for 2 on turn 4 forgetting I have an iona in my hand. Nonetheless he has no outs for Emrakul and I'm now at 9 points, seeded 6th.
Match 5: U Tron ID
We've got enough points to ID into top 8 so off we go!
The top 8 players decide to split prizes, so that's the end of the report. not as much exposure or playtime as I'd have liked, but I think the current iteration has the early disruption that it needed. This list takes more traditional decisions in terms of cards, only straying from the BW Tokens list in terms of the combo at the top of the curve.
ATTACHMENTS
326CDB58-F297-4475-B152-0AD567674A4E
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BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Match 1 Breach Valakut WIN 2-0
I lose the die roll, but my hand has THE naughty: Legion's Landing, Raise the Alarm, Indomitable Creativity, Bolt and 3 lands. Opponent goes looting T1 into Tribe elder T2 into Farseek T3. I go Landing T1 into Raise the Alarm T2 into Creativity T3 and hit Emrakul. GG
In: 3x Alpine Moon (duh); Out: 3x Fatal Push (duh)
My hand is pretty juicy again. I have Inquisition, Raise, Creativity, Moon, 3 lands. My inquisition reveals Anger and Path and not much else - he's clearly planning to drag things out instead of executing his plan A before me. I strip the path and leave anger, since I have little to fear from a sorcery speed sweeper. Not much else happens for him - 1 or 2 more ramp spells before I EOT drop 2 soldier tokens, then creativity into Iona, name green. He needs both breach and titan in his hand to stand a chance, but it doesn't happen. Iona ends the game 2 turns later with help from a lightning bolt.
Match 2 Boros Burn WIN 2-0
I lose the die roll again. Fortunately for me has no creatures, and leans on spells. So my turn 1 vampire token keeps me alive long enough to creativity on turn 4 and hit Emrakul. I'm at 4 life but he doesn't have double spells to end it, so he scoops.
In: 2x Lightning Helix, 1x Timely Reinforcements; Out: 1 Bitterblossom, 2x Thoughtseize
This time he starts with a swiftspear, and I drop to 7 life pretty fast. However, his deck floods him out. Well, sometimes burn does that. I creativity on turn 4 again and get Iona on red.
Match 3 Whir Control
This match up is horrific, I hadn't met this deck in my meta yet so I have wear//tear where shatterstorms could be. G1 is basically, Emrakul on turn 4, opponent responds by whirring for bridge. I could wait for a creativity but then he plops one welding jar down, then another. Chalice blocks off lootings and bolts, and I just give up.
The second round is no better, my wear//tear just cannot keep up with the tutoring and locks and welding jars.
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BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Match 1 Hollowvine WIN 2-0
G1 starting hand is high risk high reward - Nahiri, Landing, Raise, bolt, push, 2 lands. I'm on the play. I take the risk and it doesn't pay off, but my opponent has an even worse hand and I win with 2 lands + flipped landing for a total of 3 mana throughout the round. Nothing of particular interest happens, basically I screw while the opponent floods. When he's dropping lands and neonates in the GY I know I've got time, despite my own bitterblossom bringing me as low as 3 life. I eventually take the game with tokens.
SB: In - 3x Wheel of Sun and Moon, 2x Lightning Helix, 1x Elesh Norn Out - 2x Thoughtseize, 2x Bitterblossom, 1x Nahiri, 1x Iona.
G2 My deck goes full-on control mode and hands me quite a bunch of removals. One combat went like this - opponent goes Burning Tree x 2 (trigger Vengevine), Reckless Bushwhacker. Attack for 13 against my board of 1 spirit token. None of it goes through. I fetch, use my Revolted Push to take out the vine, bolt a BTE, push the other BTE, and block the whacker. Empty boards on both sides. The following turn sees a looting into land drop (returning 2 x ghast) into whacker, and I respond with a push and raise the alarm, nothing going thru again. Opponent's hand is running dry at this point and I end the game with Creativity into Iona blocking red.
Match 2 BG Elves WIN 2-1
G1 On the draw. I slow him down by bolting the dork, which is enough to buy me enough time to win, a little bit awkwardly, with bitterblossom tokens. A shaman in the midgame brings me eerily close to suicide by blossom, but I manage lethal in time.
In: Elesh norn, 2x Helix - Out: Iona, 1x Bitterblossom, 1x Nahiri
G2 I make a mistake with my inquisition, taking a dork when there were 2. I should have just taken one of the officers, be it the clancaller or archdruid. I pay for my mistake in the midgame as I'm overrun by large pointy eared brutes. Pfft.
G3 my deck does largely what is expect of it - spot removal takes out the significant threats, buying enough time for me to end step Raise into Indomitable. I hit Elesh norn and the oppo scoops.
Match 3 G Tron WIN 2-0
I know, I can hardly believe it myself. The best of my hands against the worst of tron's will still let me win, apparently. G1 is the turn 3 Iona from me blocking green. Oppo's stuck on mine, plant, plant.
In: 3x Alpine Moon, 3x Stony Silence - Out: 3 x Inquisition, 3 x fatal push
I go from looting into t2 Stony Silence, which isn't in time to stop his turn 1 map from bringing him the tower he needed. This is where my luck shows up stupid good. He draws 3 O-stones and no Karns or Wurmcoils. I go for 1 and hit Iona and block green, and win over 2 combat steps plus a bolt.
I feel good about this list. I think I'm pretty close to optimal for the 75 as of now.
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BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Looks like this is the thread I've been looking for since I saw the new Saheeli. What do you think? Her static is basically +1 token every time you cast literally anything in your deck, and if you have a servo that isn't summoning sick, she copies Emrakul for pseudo haste.
Also clearly this deck should be named Mardu Polymorph
Hey, MarcWizard, your reports on FNMs really made me go out of my way to test this deck, and unsurprisingly it performed just like I thought it would: Extremely F*****ing good.
Having both the option to delay the game to spread your threats with multiples Creativity targets is awesome. Lingering souls really makes Faithless Looting the best draw spell in the format. Iona not only protects you if you are well informed but she CRUSHES linear strategies.
I'm inclined to agree with the post above mine. Saheeli, seems like an amazing inclusion in the 75. she does trigger off from every single spell in the deck (noncreature clause), she does not interfere with the combo whatsoever. She turns her own tokens into hasty threats after you cast the combo and honestly she's not at all costly. 3 mana for 5 loyalty with the only upside on 3 is as broken as a token-oriented walker can get. Her Hybrid costing doesn't even make us splash any colors. I Will be adjusting the build to include her, 2 to 3 copies and I'll get back to you guys as soon as possible. cheers.
Looks like this is the thread I've been looking for since I saw the new Saheeli. What do you think? Her static is basically +1 token every time you cast literally anything in your deck, and if you have a servo that isn't summoning sick, she copies Emrakul for pseudo haste.
Also clearly this deck should be named Mardu Polymorph
You'll be surprised at the number of people who just stare blankly when I explain my deck as "well its basically mardu polymorph". Then i have to explain what polymorph is. I guess polymorph never got that kind of attention plus its not really in the meta now so the newer peeps wouldnt have heard of it.
RE: Saheeli - I've already bought 2 foil copies of her. There is nearly no question she will be good here. The only questions are - what does she replace, and how many do we want?
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BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
So I dropped 60 tix on this deck tonight, for budgetary concerns -2 Bitterblossom -2 Thoughtseize +2 Saheeli, +1 IoK +1 Path.
Went 2-0 vs Storm for my first match. First game kept an odd hand of 2 IoK and my first draw was another IoK. Obviously that worked out lovely vs storm. Game 2 I kept a hand of Emrakul, 1 IoK and oodles of removal, and bolted/pushed 3 Barals. He fizzled when Spirit beats forced him to try and go off without. Didn't actually see the combo but the disruption/removal was obviously great. Will keep updating.
I actually have an older list that is U/R and used reweave to turn tokens into emrakul and through the breach if it's in your hand (running multiple emrakuls). Lots of blue counter spells and spawning breath/abstruse interference to make tokens. Indomitable creativity is just an upgreade to reweave. There's a couple ways you can go with the deck.
So I dropped 60 tix on this deck tonight, for budgetary concerns -2 Bitterblossom -2 Thoughtseize +2 Saheeli, +1 IoK +1 Path.
Went 2-0 vs Storm for my first match. First game kept an odd hand of 2 IoK and my first draw was another IoK. Obviously that worked out lovely vs storm. Game 2 I kept a hand of Emrakul, 1 IoK and oodles of removal, and bolted/pushed 3 Barals. He fizzled when Spirit beats forced him to try and go off without. Didn't actually see the combo but the disruption/removal was obviously great. Will keep updating.
Losing the blossoms for saheeli is not a horrible idea. Sometimes blossom becomes liability, in fact the faster the meta the worse it gets. Blossom is also useless against Tron.
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In an attempt to reduce the damage from my mana I've made the following changes to the deck. I also swapped 1 inquisition for 1 extra intangible virtue, since I was seeing less of the plan B materializing than I'd like, and I felt like bitterblossom often felt bad because it was so hard to convert my life loss into a winning race.
The modified manabase walks in the roots of the old Jeskai Kiki decks. Similar to this deck, it has to deal with 3 colors, often requiring a painful mix and yet needing to be able to cast kiki jiki for triple red. By including 3 checklands, I made it "safer" to fetch basics in the beginning turns, instead of giving aggro decks an edge. So if I've got a fetch and check + another dual land in my starter, I can fetch a mountain turn 1 for looting or bolt and save myself 2 damage easy.
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Went 0-2 against Nexus, seemed like a miserable matchup although Spirit beats almost came through game 1. I did resolve Saheeli and her making tokens on cast triggers felt significant vs counterspells.
Also played Naya CoCo Aristocrats (wat?), lost game 1 to beats/drain, easy win game 2 turn 4 creativity into Elesh Norn. He conceded game 3 after drawing his hand :S
EDIT
Had a tense match vs Burn. Game 1 I rushed out an early Emrakul, copied with Saheeli and wiped his board. Game 2 he stuck an Ensnaring Bridge and burned me out. Game 3 I completely forgot to board in Wear//Tear for the Bridge and he sticks it again. He's flooding out and I just durdle for a couple of turns behind a wide board of 2/2s (with anthem) before I figure out that Creativity can kill bridge. I Creativity for 2 killing Bridge and fetching Emrakul, copy him with Saheeli for an instant win and only after saccing the original I realize that he hit a second Bridge off Creativity. We durdle some more, I eventually go below 10 life cracking stockpiled fetches so I can hardcast Iona on red, and then we durdle some more until I draw enough burn to kill him with seconds left on my clock. It's a testament to the deck that I ran out my clock, misplayed like crazy, wasted whole turns, killed my own Emrakul and still won in the end.
EDIT 2
RG Ponza brew with Trinisphere and Glorybringers. Lost game 1 to the dragon. Game 2 combo'd into Iona on red, game 2 combo'd into Iona on red while also blowing up Grafdigger's Cage. Then dude got salty about jank brews in the tournament practice lobby.
I am always sad when I don't have Saheeli on board. Getting free tokens with every removal / hand disruption cast is amazing. Intangible Virtue is also nice, probably deserves a 2nd copy. And I never ever thought "I wish I had a Bitterblossom right now".
If you're already casting Creativity, you can ignore Grafdiggr's Cage and just go for 2. Cage doesn't stop creativity because your creatures are entering from exile, not from the library, so if they board in cage they are stopping only your flashback spells looting and souls, and Nahiri ultimate.
Against Burn, it's unlucky they hit another bridge instead of some random creature. But if you have Iona on red their hand will grow letting your tokens across for the kill. don't forget to swing once their hand grows.
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Nice catch on the Cage. So many little upsides to Creativity vs Polymorph.
I have since defeated Goblins (lords, no Whack). They had the one who can sac himself to kill Emrakul, so bolts were handy for keeping those of the board. Finished game 1 with Emrakul and game 2 with Elesh Norn. I am wondering if there are any other silver bullets like her and Iona worth keeping in the side.
Nice catch on the Cage. So many little upsides to Creativity vs Polymorph.
I have since defeated Goblins (lords, no Whack). They had the one who can sac himself to kill Emrakul, so bolts were handy for keeping those of the board. Finished game 1 with Emrakul and game 2 with Elesh Norn. I am wondering if there are any other silver bullets like her and Iona worth keeping in the side.
Platinum emperion is a trap; in the games where you board it in, the opponent typically brought in artifact/enchantment destruction. For example i boarded it against dredge, which seemed like a good idea until they drew their nature's claim which was intended for any RIP. Against burn, they may bring in path to exile or wear//tear to deal with Iona or Worship. Against the other premier aggro decks, Phoenix and Spirits, they have ways to bounce the emperion back to your hand before dealing lethal. Against creature based decks Elesh Norn is still the best answer; at the very least she wipes the board even if bounced.
Blazing Archon was passed because of mostly the same reasons. Nix, humans and spirits will bounce it. Burn will ignore it with their reach.
The aether vial decks (humans and spirits) are consistently the hardest decks to deal with; they're fast enough that emrakul might not deal with them, have ETB effects to deal with Emrakul even if she comes down, and they ignore Iona. Our best bet is to suppress them and swing with tokens, but this is easier said than done. Sometimes you can land Elesh Norn and win; but the ETB effects are still a valid answer, or they may have stacked enough lords.
Something cute might be Ensnaring bridge, which reduces their answers to artifact removal only. You could then use your hand size to control the game; assuming your tokens can get through for damage. I have also considered other artifacts like Immortal Sun and Bolas's Citadel, but they don't stand out all that much.
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BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Not trying to overextend on The Saheeli subject...BUT, she plays Very nicely with out of The board artifacts. One might think artifacts on The board are Nonbos, but as stated above, Bridge might be a tutorable way to Deal with pesky aethervial matchups. With Saheeli Maindeck those artifacts combined with her -2 ability and your wincon replaces The artifact text, transforming Bridge into emrakul and allowint you to attack at The same time. Still subjected tô being bounced. But still much less punishing than ACTUAL emrakul.
Minusing away the Bridge effect would indeed by awesome, but how do we avoid hitting another Bridge instead of Emrakul when we fire off Creativity? I mean, you could also run the new Karn and pull Bridge from the sideboard, but that's probably a different deck, some sort of prison where Saheeli can shut down symmetrical hosers during your turn.
Minusing away the Bridge effect would indeed by awesome, but how do we avoid hitting another Bridge instead of Emrakul when we fire off Creativity? I mean, you could also run the new Karn and pull Bridge from the sideboard, but that's probably a different deck, some sort of prison where Saheeli can shut down symmetrical hosers during your turn.
You would only run 1 bridge and 1 emrakul. so if you creativity for 1, its 50-50 between getting a lock or a wincon. Then if you go for 2 you know you're getting both, and potentially a hasty emrakul that will return to being a bridge at end of turn, in case the 15 flying power doesnt end the game there. Bridge+Iona would be a pretty solid lock, but I'd rather finish the game then sit around and see if the opponent can break out.
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I've had a bit of a losing streak since. Went 0-2 vs Storm, 0-2 vs U Tron (new Karn + Mycosynth lock is real) then had a weird game where I got hit by Restore Balance turn 2, reduced to 1 land on the field and no cards in hand, still got the opponent down to 4 life, then modo bugged out (it reset game 1, mulliganed both our hands a few times, deleted cards from the stack, put tapped lands in the revelaed cards zone, etc...)
Today I went 1-2 vs 8-Whack, winning only game 2 where he didn't play anything until T3 Blood Moon and I answered with Creativity for Iona on red. Then 0-2 vs G Tron where game 2 I mulled a starting hand with no hate, then 3 completely nonfunctional hands down to 3 (fetch, IoK and Alpine Moon) and he had natural tron and O-stone.
Finished with 2-0 against Grixis Control, game 1 went super long until I could bluff out his counters and Creativity for Emrakul, then he kept tapping it down until I hardcast Iona on blue. He scooped a bit early - he had enough permanents that could have won by keeping a red source and topdecking a Bolt. Game 2 I shredded his hand and powered out a few early tokens and beat him down before he had mana to Snapcaster for Anger of the Gods.
G tron is horrible. If you alpine moon U tron though, they are going to have a tough time coming back. Overall i just hate playing against Tron.
Storm is supposed to be an easy MU since we sport so many discard and should be able to keep their bears off the field too, I suppose sometimes we just draw the wrong half of our deck and they get their free win.
Can you explain why Alpine Moon affects U-tron more? Cause no Ancient Stirrings to just dig for more lands?
I just had 2 successful matches against G tron, actually.
Match 1, game 1 dude mulls to 1, drops a forest and scoops. I assume he is on that new allosaurus combo travesty so I don't sideboard. Game 2 he has turn 4 Ugin, I endstep Raise the Alarm and Creativity into Emrakul.
Match 2, game 1 I have everything I need, somehow misclick and yield through my turn 4 and it costs me the game. Game 2 I Alpine Moon him and beat down with anthemed tokens. Game 3 I punt and bolt new Karn in response to his -2, so he knows Karn is dead before he picks his sideboard artifact, and goes Spyglass instead of Lattice. He shuts down Saheeli with it and drops a Wurmcoil. After his first attack I topdeck Nahiri while Wurmcoil is tapped. He topdecks another Wurmcoil but I Creativity into Emrakul.
Looks like all the tron players are testing out new Karn in favor of old Karn which is fine with me since old Karn beats both Emrakul and Iona. I do expect them to learn to plus Karn before minusing him so he doesn't die to bolt.
Looks like all the tron players are testing out new Karn in favor of old Karn which is fine with me since old Karn beats both Emrakul and Iona. I do expect them to learn to plus Karn before minusing him so he doesn't die to bolt.
I'll need to warn you that all the Mono-G Tron decks with results and Karn, the Great Creator--and the Mono-G Tron build I prefer--also still pack the full 4 Karn Liberated. Expect some booted Emrakuls and Ionas.
Also, if they're anything like me, I don't think the Tron players will learn to +1 Karn so he can wish without leaving himself open to Bolt--there are just so many juicy ways to slow your deck down that they will open Karn GC to Bolt for them. Ensnaring Bridge forces Indomitable Creativity to go up 1 mana hitting it and can stop your creatures from attacking, Spellskite forces IC to go up 1 mana and can redirect future Bolts away from Karn GC, Walking Ballista steamrolls your tokens and prevents you from cheating out fatties with IC, Oblivion Stone blows up your tokens and other nonlands and can even be flipped into by your IC...Also, they and I may figure that you don't always have the 4-of Bolt and go for Mycosynth Lattice anyway.
Well, this is modern after ALL. We are bound to have a few miserable matchups. What I have found so Far is that Tron is and always Will be The boogeyman of The Format. No matter How much hate we pack they have The best answers to our Lock and Wincon. I keep relying on early discard and fast linear combo. Board out Iona. Board in Terastodon Alpine Moon and Stony Silence.
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Kiki-Jiki is out because he is useless without a combo piece. You could win straight out with a successful X=2, but the combo would be just as disruptible as the traditional kiki resto, you would be better off simply playing a kiki resto deck which fields creatures that work with both of them, such as wall of omens or snapcaster.
Griselbrand might help you stabilize against aggro decks, but that's not good enough to field as a main. The creature in question should be able to protect itself first and foremost, and then also be able to close the game in as little time as possible. Iona and Emrakul both fulfill these requirements, hence their position in the main.
Given the current meta it probably isn't crazy to field Griselbrand in the 75. If you expect tonnes of mono red then its plausible to even main him.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Makes sense and I know kiki is probably a little fragile. The griselbrand is interesting because of the life gain and card draw. You could potentially set up your next turn very easily depending how your deck is built.
Here's the list I registered:
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Tokens (12)
2 Legion's Landing
2 Bitterblossom
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
Interaction (13)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Fatal Push
1 Path to Exile
4 Faithless Looting
1 Intangible Virtue
Real Estate (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Sacred Foundry
2 Blood Crypt
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Inspiring Vantage
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Stony Silence
3 Alpine Moon
3 Wheel of Sun and Moon
2 Lightning Helix
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Wear // Tear
1 Timely Reinforcements
Match 1: BYE
Match 2: Mono Red Prison LOSS 1-2
I took game 1 handily with an iona on red despite his chalice on 1 and blood moon. Not being able to make extra tokens beyond my bitterblossom was depressing, but fortunately I drew the creativity I needed to go for 1.
In: Wear // Tear x 2, Lightning Helix x 2, Out: Fatal Push x3, Path x1
Game 2 went smoothly at first with my wear//tear hitting his moon and chalices, but I get overrun by Rabblemasters.
Game 3 went almost exactly the same, except I was held back from winning by a pesky ratchet bomb. I made a huge mistake picking Chalice over Ratchet.
Match 3: Grixis Shadow WIN 2-0
Shadow wants to win with 1-2 big fatties, while I'm playing tokens. It's quite an easy match up here. A couple of my spells get snagged by stubborn denials, but overall he doesn't have the mana to disrupt me and look out for my combo while staying alive. Iona comes out both games on turn 4, blocking black, and both games he has no outs.
No cards were sideboarded.
Match 4: Bant Nexus
Game 1 I mull to 4 and he eventually gets teferi and jace on the board while I have no real traction. Intangible gets cryptic'ed and one of my 2 soldier tokens get bounced. Then teferi and friend make their appearance. I'm not fond of what happens at this point so I just scoop.
In: Lightning Helix x 2, Alpine Moon x 2 ; Out: Fatal Push x 3, Path to Exile x 1
Game 2 I move like clockwork, going disruption into bitterblossom into lingering souls and then just more token makers. He's not drawing enough mana and apart from tapping out my team a couple of times, doesn't do enough to stabilize. After the second tap-out with cryptic I go for 1 and get Iona, and name white. He takes 1 more draw step then scoops.
Game 3 The opponent is stuck on 2 lands for too long while I get ahead with my tokens and go for 2 on turn 4 forgetting I have an iona in my hand. Nonetheless he has no outs for Emrakul and I'm now at 9 points, seeded 6th.
Match 5: U Tron ID
We've got enough points to ID into top 8 so off we go!
The top 8 players decide to split prizes, so that's the end of the report. not as much exposure or playtime as I'd have liked, but I think the current iteration has the early disruption that it needed. This list takes more traditional decisions in terms of cards, only straying from the BW Tokens list in terms of the combo at the top of the curve.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Deck list same as above
Match 1 Breach Valakut WIN 2-0
I lose the die roll, but my hand has THE naughty: Legion's Landing, Raise the Alarm, Indomitable Creativity, Bolt and 3 lands. Opponent goes looting T1 into Tribe elder T2 into Farseek T3. I go Landing T1 into Raise the Alarm T2 into Creativity T3 and hit Emrakul. GG
In: 3x Alpine Moon (duh); Out: 3x Fatal Push (duh)
My hand is pretty juicy again. I have Inquisition, Raise, Creativity, Moon, 3 lands. My inquisition reveals Anger and Path and not much else - he's clearly planning to drag things out instead of executing his plan A before me. I strip the path and leave anger, since I have little to fear from a sorcery speed sweeper. Not much else happens for him - 1 or 2 more ramp spells before I EOT drop 2 soldier tokens, then creativity into Iona, name green. He needs both breach and titan in his hand to stand a chance, but it doesn't happen. Iona ends the game 2 turns later with help from a lightning bolt.
Match 2 Boros Burn WIN 2-0
I lose the die roll again. Fortunately for me has no creatures, and leans on spells. So my turn 1 vampire token keeps me alive long enough to creativity on turn 4 and hit Emrakul. I'm at 4 life but he doesn't have double spells to end it, so he scoops.
In: 2x Lightning Helix, 1x Timely Reinforcements; Out: 1 Bitterblossom, 2x Thoughtseize
This time he starts with a swiftspear, and I drop to 7 life pretty fast. However, his deck floods him out. Well, sometimes burn does that. I creativity on turn 4 again and get Iona on red.
Match 3 Whir Control
This match up is horrific, I hadn't met this deck in my meta yet so I have wear//tear where shatterstorms could be. G1 is basically, Emrakul on turn 4, opponent responds by whirring for bridge. I could wait for a creativity but then he plops one welding jar down, then another. Chalice blocks off lootings and bolts, and I just give up.
The second round is no better, my wear//tear just cannot keep up with the tutoring and locks and welding jars.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Same decklist as above
Match 1 Hollowvine WIN 2-0
G1 starting hand is high risk high reward - Nahiri, Landing, Raise, bolt, push, 2 lands. I'm on the play. I take the risk and it doesn't pay off, but my opponent has an even worse hand and I win with 2 lands + flipped landing for a total of 3 mana throughout the round. Nothing of particular interest happens, basically I screw while the opponent floods. When he's dropping lands and neonates in the GY I know I've got time, despite my own bitterblossom bringing me as low as 3 life. I eventually take the game with tokens.
SB: In - 3x Wheel of Sun and Moon, 2x Lightning Helix, 1x Elesh Norn Out - 2x Thoughtseize, 2x Bitterblossom, 1x Nahiri, 1x Iona.
G2 My deck goes full-on control mode and hands me quite a bunch of removals. One combat went like this - opponent goes Burning Tree x 2 (trigger Vengevine), Reckless Bushwhacker. Attack for 13 against my board of 1 spirit token. None of it goes through. I fetch, use my Revolted Push to take out the vine, bolt a BTE, push the other BTE, and block the whacker. Empty boards on both sides. The following turn sees a looting into land drop (returning 2 x ghast) into whacker, and I respond with a push and raise the alarm, nothing going thru again. Opponent's hand is running dry at this point and I end the game with Creativity into Iona blocking red.
Match 2 BG Elves WIN 2-1
G1 On the draw. I slow him down by bolting the dork, which is enough to buy me enough time to win, a little bit awkwardly, with bitterblossom tokens. A shaman in the midgame brings me eerily close to suicide by blossom, but I manage lethal in time.
In: Elesh norn, 2x Helix - Out: Iona, 1x Bitterblossom, 1x Nahiri
G2 I make a mistake with my inquisition, taking a dork when there were 2. I should have just taken one of the officers, be it the clancaller or archdruid. I pay for my mistake in the midgame as I'm overrun by large pointy eared brutes. Pfft.
G3 my deck does largely what is expect of it - spot removal takes out the significant threats, buying enough time for me to end step Raise into Indomitable. I hit Elesh norn and the oppo scoops.
Match 3 G Tron WIN 2-0
I know, I can hardly believe it myself. The best of my hands against the worst of tron's will still let me win, apparently. G1 is the turn 3 Iona from me blocking green. Oppo's stuck on mine, plant, plant.
In: 3x Alpine Moon, 3x Stony Silence - Out: 3 x Inquisition, 3 x fatal push
I go from looting into t2 Stony Silence, which isn't in time to stop his turn 1 map from bringing him the tower he needed. This is where my luck shows up stupid good. He draws 3 O-stones and no Karns or Wurmcoils. I go for 1 and hit Iona and block green, and win over 2 combat steps plus a bolt.
I feel good about this list. I think I'm pretty close to optimal for the 75 as of now.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Also clearly this deck should be named Mardu Polymorph
Having both the option to delay the game to spread your threats with multiples Creativity targets is awesome. Lingering souls really makes Faithless Looting the best draw spell in the format. Iona not only protects you if you are well informed but she CRUSHES linear strategies.
I'm inclined to agree with the post above mine. Saheeli, seems like an amazing inclusion in the 75. she does trigger off from every single spell in the deck (noncreature clause), she does not interfere with the combo whatsoever. She turns her own tokens into hasty threats after you cast the combo and honestly she's not at all costly. 3 mana for 5 loyalty with the only upside on 3 is as broken as a token-oriented walker can get. Her Hybrid costing doesn't even make us splash any colors. I Will be adjusting the build to include her, 2 to 3 copies and I'll get back to you guys as soon as possible. cheers.
You'll be surprised at the number of people who just stare blankly when I explain my deck as "well its basically mardu polymorph". Then i have to explain what polymorph is. I guess polymorph never got that kind of attention plus its not really in the meta now so the newer peeps wouldnt have heard of it.
RE: Saheeli - I've already bought 2 foil copies of her. There is nearly no question she will be good here. The only questions are - what does she replace, and how many do we want?
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Went 2-0 vs Storm for my first match. First game kept an odd hand of 2 IoK and my first draw was another IoK. Obviously that worked out lovely vs storm. Game 2 I kept a hand of Emrakul, 1 IoK and oodles of removal, and bolted/pushed 3 Barals. He fizzled when Spirit beats forced him to try and go off without. Didn't actually see the combo but the disruption/removal was obviously great. Will keep updating.
edit: dumb idea.
Losing the blossoms for saheeli is not a horrible idea. Sometimes blossom becomes liability, in fact the faster the meta the worse it gets. Blossom is also useless against Tron.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Disruption (12)
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Fatal Push
1 Path to Exile
2 Legion's landing
2 Bitterblossom
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
Utility (6)
2 Intangible Virtue
4 Faithless Looting
Real Estate (23)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Inspiring Vantage
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Graven Cairns
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
The modified manabase walks in the roots of the old Jeskai Kiki decks. Similar to this deck, it has to deal with 3 colors, often requiring a painful mix and yet needing to be able to cast kiki jiki for triple red. By including 3 checklands, I made it "safer" to fetch basics in the beginning turns, instead of giving aggro decks an edge. So if I've got a fetch and check + another dual land in my starter, I can fetch a mountain turn 1 for looting or bolt and save myself 2 damage easy.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Also played Naya CoCo Aristocrats (wat?), lost game 1 to beats/drain, easy win game 2 turn 4 creativity into Elesh Norn. He conceded game 3 after drawing his hand :S
EDIT
Had a tense match vs Burn. Game 1 I rushed out an early Emrakul, copied with Saheeli and wiped his board. Game 2 he stuck an Ensnaring Bridge and burned me out. Game 3 I completely forgot to board in Wear//Tear for the Bridge and he sticks it again. He's flooding out and I just durdle for a couple of turns behind a wide board of 2/2s (with anthem) before I figure out that Creativity can kill bridge. I Creativity for 2 killing Bridge and fetching Emrakul, copy him with Saheeli for an instant win and only after saccing the original I realize that he hit a second Bridge off Creativity. We durdle some more, I eventually go below 10 life cracking stockpiled fetches so I can hardcast Iona on red, and then we durdle some more until I draw enough burn to kill him with seconds left on my clock. It's a testament to the deck that I ran out my clock, misplayed like crazy, wasted whole turns, killed my own Emrakul and still won in the end.
EDIT 2
RG Ponza brew with Trinisphere and Glorybringers. Lost game 1 to the dragon. Game 2 combo'd into Iona on red, game 2 combo'd into Iona on red while also blowing up Grafdigger's Cage. Then dude got salty about jank brews in the tournament practice lobby.
I am always sad when I don't have Saheeli on board. Getting free tokens with every removal / hand disruption cast is amazing. Intangible Virtue is also nice, probably deserves a 2nd copy. And I never ever thought "I wish I had a Bitterblossom right now".
Against Burn, it's unlucky they hit another bridge instead of some random creature. But if you have Iona on red their hand will grow letting your tokens across for the kill. don't forget to swing once their hand grows.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I have since defeated Goblins (lords, no Whack). They had the one who can sac himself to kill Emrakul, so bolts were handy for keeping those of the board. Finished game 1 with Emrakul and game 2 with Elesh Norn. I am wondering if there are any other silver bullets like her and Iona worth keeping in the side.
Platinum emperion is a trap; in the games where you board it in, the opponent typically brought in artifact/enchantment destruction. For example i boarded it against dredge, which seemed like a good idea until they drew their nature's claim which was intended for any RIP. Against burn, they may bring in path to exile or wear//tear to deal with Iona or Worship. Against the other premier aggro decks, Phoenix and Spirits, they have ways to bounce the emperion back to your hand before dealing lethal. Against creature based decks Elesh Norn is still the best answer; at the very least she wipes the board even if bounced.
Blazing Archon was passed because of mostly the same reasons. Nix, humans and spirits will bounce it. Burn will ignore it with their reach.
The aether vial decks (humans and spirits) are consistently the hardest decks to deal with; they're fast enough that emrakul might not deal with them, have ETB effects to deal with Emrakul even if she comes down, and they ignore Iona. Our best bet is to suppress them and swing with tokens, but this is easier said than done. Sometimes you can land Elesh Norn and win; but the ETB effects are still a valid answer, or they may have stacked enough lords.
Something cute might be Ensnaring bridge, which reduces their answers to artifact removal only. You could then use your hand size to control the game; assuming your tokens can get through for damage. I have also considered other artifacts like Immortal Sun and Bolas's Citadel, but they don't stand out all that much.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
You would only run 1 bridge and 1 emrakul. so if you creativity for 1, its 50-50 between getting a lock or a wincon. Then if you go for 2 you know you're getting both, and potentially a hasty emrakul that will return to being a bridge at end of turn, in case the 15 flying power doesnt end the game there. Bridge+Iona would be a pretty solid lock, but I'd rather finish the game then sit around and see if the opponent can break out.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
Today I went 1-2 vs 8-Whack, winning only game 2 where he didn't play anything until T3 Blood Moon and I answered with Creativity for Iona on red. Then 0-2 vs G Tron where game 2 I mulled a starting hand with no hate, then 3 completely nonfunctional hands down to 3 (fetch, IoK and Alpine Moon) and he had natural tron and O-stone.
Finished with 2-0 against Grixis Control, game 1 went super long until I could bluff out his counters and Creativity for Emrakul, then he kept tapping it down until I hardcast Iona on blue. He scooped a bit early - he had enough permanents that could have won by keeping a red source and topdecking a Bolt. Game 2 I shredded his hand and powered out a few early tokens and beat him down before he had mana to Snapcaster for Anger of the Gods.
Storm is supposed to be an easy MU since we sport so many discard and should be able to keep their bears off the field too, I suppose sometimes we just draw the wrong half of our deck and they get their free win.
Can you post your list?
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
I just had 2 successful matches against G tron, actually.
Match 1, game 1 dude mulls to 1, drops a forest and scoops. I assume he is on that new allosaurus combo travesty so I don't sideboard. Game 2 he has turn 4 Ugin, I endstep Raise the Alarm and Creativity into Emrakul.
Match 2, game 1 I have everything I need, somehow misclick and yield through my turn 4 and it costs me the game. Game 2 I Alpine Moon him and beat down with anthemed tokens. Game 3 I punt and bolt new Karn in response to his -2, so he knows Karn is dead before he picks his sideboard artifact, and goes Spyglass instead of Lattice. He shuts down Saheeli with it and drops a Wurmcoil. After his first attack I topdeck Nahiri while Wurmcoil is tapped. He topdecks another Wurmcoil but I Creativity into Emrakul.
Looks like all the tron players are testing out new Karn in favor of old Karn which is fine with me since old Karn beats both Emrakul and Iona. I do expect them to learn to plus Karn before minusing him so he doesn't die to bolt.
I'll need to warn you that all the Mono-G Tron decks with results and Karn, the Great Creator--and the Mono-G Tron build I prefer--also still pack the full 4 Karn Liberated. Expect some booted Emrakuls and Ionas.
Also, if they're anything like me, I don't think the Tron players will learn to +1 Karn so he can wish without leaving himself open to Bolt--there are just so many juicy ways to slow your deck down that they will open Karn GC to Bolt for them. Ensnaring Bridge forces Indomitable Creativity to go up 1 mana hitting it and can stop your creatures from attacking, Spellskite forces IC to go up 1 mana and can redirect future Bolts away from Karn GC, Walking Ballista steamrolls your tokens and prevents you from cheating out fatties with IC, Oblivion Stone blows up your tokens and other nonlands and can even be flipped into by your IC...Also, they and I may figure that you don't always have the 4-of Bolt and go for Mycosynth Lattice anyway.