@Xarnithru Yeah, I didn't mention Plains count because I haven't started putting them in yet. I just noticed that I had way too much in the mainboard that 21-23 lands would not have fit. I'm still in the process of building it, that is to say.
And yeah, it definitely hurts to have to chop them out, especially since I'm not sure where they would fit in my sideboard since that's pretty well-stocked with necessary tools against my local meta. I guess I just don't know what I should prioritize; what kinds of decks Soul Sisters doesn't find quite as threatening to the point that it could handle them without much sideboard presence.
But yeah, you have a point. I suppose I'll have to dump the Abolishers, Crusader, and Mindcensors, as useful as I thought they would be. But if it wrecks the deck's mechanics, I may as well not do so. That leaves me at 19 land; so I wonder what I should drop to fit a few more in?
Also, what are your thoughts on Rune-Tail? I thought he could be useful, but wasn't sure. I'm already concerned enough that I don't have Auriok Champions to boost the Sister count, so the more defensive I can be, the better, right?
Looks decent against Abzan Coco, it can trade with Finks and other creatures that they run. Might try it out since I know there is one Coco dude at my locals.
It's an eternal struggle that the sideboard is only 15 slots. You really have to focus only on the highest impact cards, the "I win" cards like Stony Silence or RiP. I think you could definitely cut those Orbs; they're a great deal less useful than Leylines and not as synergistic as Mindcensors and Abolishers (ie: orbs are not white creatures). But if it were 20 slots, midrange would absolutely stomp everything.
As for tuning those last mainboard slots, there are some solid lists on this primer. If you haven't built and practiced the deck to a significant degree yet, you may find it most useful to just netdeck a "vanilla" list and jam some games. That way, you can figure out which direction you want take the deck from there.
Rune-tail seems a bit shaky, but obviously powerful. I hesitate to play a 3 drop that dies to every 1-2 mana removal spell in modern, but I wouldn't tell you not to test it. Relying on a heuristic like "does it pass the bolt test" is how you miss possible new innovations.
Samurai of the Pale Curtain is interesting, as cards that mirror our best sideboard cards but have a body is always interesting. I think I'd go 2 Rest in Peace, 1 Samurai if I wanted to play with Samurai. Not huge on it, though.
I played with Rune-Tail very briefly. In Martyr builds, it's an amazing curve with turn 1 Serra, turn 2 Martyr, turn 3 this, flip instantly. I like it. However, we all know how hard it is to get to 30 life without Martyr in a lot of cases.
Ideally, I'd want to drop Rune-Tail *after* I have 30 life, so it'd flip right away, right? That would at the very least minimize its odds of being killed off, since I assume it has to resolve before it flips.
But yeah, I see what you mean. I'm just concerned about losing my hexproofing that the orbs would give-- but at the very least Rule of Law and Eidolon of Rhetoric would slow down burn decks, I guess. I just wanted the hexproofing to especially keep myself safe from the rampant Thoughtseizes and the like that are in pretty much every deck ever here. (Does hexproof also keep you safe from Liliana of the Veil too? I'm not sure.)
Still, I suppose I'll just have to experiment with what I've got right now and see how that works out. Will definitely invest in some Leylines eventually.
Yes it is the same effect as RIP, that's exactly what I thought at first. I just read an article on Modern Nexus that the card can help in some way. I mean it is a 3/3 body. Only way Coco can beat it is by Path-ing. Just like RIP, only way to remove is Qasali Pridemage.
I will definitely try it out when I'll get the opportunity.
True, if anything it does lure out a Path that they could have used on something worse. It seems like a trade-off either way-- you get a 3/3 body graveyard hater that dies to Path, or an enchantment that's much tougher to remove that also wrecks graveyards on entry (not that that really matters all that much in Abzan CoCo, right?)
Thoughtseize is hard to play against, and it, Lili, and burn spells all get walled by hexproof. However, all these things come down before turns 4-5, which means the orbs are too slow to combat them. You need turn zero protection in the form of Leyline, if hexproof is something you decide is important. The cards are still around $10 now, and they've previously been as high as 30, so it seems like a safe buy.
Well, I cashed my last two tournaments at 4th place (local size, ~25), so I got that goin' for me. But before that, I did 3-3 or worse at a bunch of tournaments, including states. I chalk it up to me just not knowing the deck and its matchups well enough yet. Thoughtseize is a hard card to play.
Tokens has basically the same good and bad matchups that Sisters does. BGx/Burn good, Tron/Scapeshift bad. It definitely has more play versus the combo decks, because Thoughtseize. I have to think a lot more than I used to, and plan my turns further in advance, because Tokens is mostly a control deck. Sisters I would classify as linear aggro. I have been tempted lately to switch back, in part because I'm winning a lot less, but I'd like to stick with the deck for at least a few months and give it a real shot. Bitterblossom is pretty broken.
I love Bitterblossom. It is "broken" but it can as bad as a Martyr late game though :/
How is it bad? I follow the thread since I've thought about playing it a while ago... But I just prefer Sisters better. I see more discussion happening on BW Tokens thread than our thread!
Ehh, you just get a lot of the same people with the same bad ideas, chiming in with information that's based on shaky concepts. Also the thread is stricter, so people get shut down more. It just feels like a perpetual cycle of "Help me with my budget deck!" "This isn't the place for budget discussions." "Has anyone tried [bad card]? I think it would be a good card! Based on no testing whatsoever!" And I'm peeved that I posted a detailed tournament report and it basically got ignored. I'm not interested in flaming anyone, though. I'm sure productive discussions have taken place over there, just not that I've seen.
Murder Investigation sounds absolutely hilarious if a pumped-up Pridemate gets hit with a kill spell.
Ordeal of Heliod sounds good, but I'm a little leery of how well it would work out overall. Three turns of attacking is a lot to ask of weenie-esque dudes and dudettes. That is, unless you slap that sucker on Ajani's Pridemate and just sac it ASAP for the lifeboost.
Interested in seeing how it turns out, though, because it is a pretty cool idea.
Ordeal has never been very good for me. Removal is too strong for it to ever get the counters it needs unless its Pridemate, and the last thing we need is more reasons for them to kill Pridemate.
Phalanx Leader is neat, but I only count 7 positive spells that target him (not counting your own Paths) and all of them ask your opponent to 2-1 him.
Grixis Control: Close, but no wins. The guy I was playing suggested Burrenton Forge-Tender. Is that adviseable? Also, would Circle of Protection Red/Black work well in this deck? His main threat was Kalitas, who I really had no answer for since Path simply got countered away.
Esper Control: Round 1, I only had 1 land for 10 turns. Gross. Round 2, overwhelmed him and won. Round 3, we played for about 35-40 turns. He kept boardwiping me with Supreme Verdict and Thing in the Ice, as well as using Tasigur and Snapcaster Mage to keep calling back Path of Exile and Go For The Throat on my Pridemates and Ascendants. I DID win in the end, because he used Entreat the Angels while I had four Soul Sisters out and brought in 7 4/4 Angels, gaining me 28 life. I then swung in with 7 creatures, ambushing out Archangel of Thune, and he lost all the angels. Next turn, he attacked with Tasigur, Snapcaster, and 2 Awoken Horrors and then boardwiped both of us with another Supreme Verdict. He then used Ashiok to exile and cast my other Archangel of Thune, which I managed to Path and swing for the kill with Spectral Procession tokens, buffed with 2 Honor of the Pures. It was such a long game, but I loved it. It was a big chase of one-upping each other.
And yeah, it definitely hurts to have to chop them out, especially since I'm not sure where they would fit in my sideboard since that's pretty well-stocked with necessary tools against my local meta. I guess I just don't know what I should prioritize; what kinds of decks Soul Sisters doesn't find quite as threatening to the point that it could handle them without much sideboard presence.
But yeah, you have a point. I suppose I'll have to dump the Abolishers, Crusader, and Mindcensors, as useful as I thought they would be. But if it wrecks the deck's mechanics, I may as well not do so. That leaves me at 19 land; so I wonder what I should drop to fit a few more in?
Also, what are your thoughts on Rune-Tail? I thought he could be useful, but wasn't sure. I'm already concerned enough that I don't have Auriok Champions to boost the Sister count, so the more defensive I can be, the better, right?
WB Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | WBR Queen Marchesa | WUBR Breya, Etherium Shaper
Modern:
/ Death and Taxes | W/ Soul Sisters | Spirits | U Faeries | Tempered Steel Affinity
Looks decent against Abzan Coco, it can trade with Finks and other creatures that they run. Might try it out since I know there is one Coco dude at my locals.
WB Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | WBR Queen Marchesa | WUBR Breya, Etherium Shaper
Modern:
/ Death and Taxes | W/ Soul Sisters | Spirits | U Faeries | Tempered Steel Affinity
As for tuning those last mainboard slots, there are some solid lists on this primer. If you haven't built and practiced the deck to a significant degree yet, you may find it most useful to just netdeck a "vanilla" list and jam some games. That way, you can figure out which direction you want take the deck from there.
Rune-tail seems a bit shaky, but obviously powerful. I hesitate to play a 3 drop that dies to every 1-2 mana removal spell in modern, but I wouldn't tell you not to test it. Relying on a heuristic like "does it pass the bolt test" is how you miss possible new innovations.
I played with Rune-Tail very briefly. In Martyr builds, it's an amazing curve with turn 1 Serra, turn 2 Martyr, turn 3 this, flip instantly. I like it. However, we all know how hard it is to get to 30 life without Martyr in a lot of cases.
But yeah, I see what you mean. I'm just concerned about losing my hexproofing that the orbs would give-- but at the very least Rule of Law and Eidolon of Rhetoric would slow down burn decks, I guess. I just wanted the hexproofing to especially keep myself safe from the rampant Thoughtseizes and the like that are in pretty much every deck ever here. (Does hexproof also keep you safe from Liliana of the Veil too? I'm not sure.)
Still, I suppose I'll just have to experiment with what I've got right now and see how that works out. Will definitely invest in some Leylines eventually.
WB Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | WBR Queen Marchesa | WUBR Breya, Etherium Shaper
Modern:
/ Death and Taxes | W/ Soul Sisters | Spirits | U Faeries | Tempered Steel Affinity
I will definitely try it out when I'll get the opportunity.
I'm interested in what your results are.
WB Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | WBR Queen Marchesa | WUBR Breya, Etherium Shaper
Modern:
/ Death and Taxes | W/ Soul Sisters | Spirits | U Faeries | Tempered Steel Affinity
WB Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | WBR Queen Marchesa | WUBR Breya, Etherium Shaper
Modern:
/ Death and Taxes | W/ Soul Sisters | Spirits | U Faeries | Tempered Steel Affinity
Tokens has basically the same good and bad matchups that Sisters does. BGx/Burn good, Tron/Scapeshift bad. It definitely has more play versus the combo decks, because Thoughtseize. I have to think a lot more than I used to, and plan my turns further in advance, because Tokens is mostly a control deck. Sisters I would classify as linear aggro. I have been tempted lately to switch back, in part because I'm winning a lot less, but I'd like to stick with the deck for at least a few months and give it a real shot. Bitterblossom is pretty broken.
How is it bad? I follow the thread since I've thought about playing it a while ago... But I just prefer Sisters better. I see more discussion happening on BW Tokens thread than our thread!
Ordeal of Heliod sounds good, but I'm a little leery of how well it would work out overall. Three turns of attacking is a lot to ask of weenie-esque dudes and dudettes. That is, unless you slap that sucker on Ajani's Pridemate and just sac it ASAP for the lifeboost.
Interested in seeing how it turns out, though, because it is a pretty cool idea.
WB Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | WBR Queen Marchesa | WUBR Breya, Etherium Shaper
Modern:
/ Death and Taxes | W/ Soul Sisters | Spirits | U Faeries | Tempered Steel Affinity
Phalanx Leader is neat, but I only count 7 positive spells that target him (not counting your own Paths) and all of them ask your opponent to 2-1 him.
Grixis Control: Close, but no wins. The guy I was playing suggested Burrenton Forge-Tender. Is that adviseable? Also, would Circle of Protection Red/Black work well in this deck? His main threat was Kalitas, who I really had no answer for since Path simply got countered away.
Esper Control: Round 1, I only had 1 land for 10 turns. Gross. Round 2, overwhelmed him and won. Round 3, we played for about 35-40 turns. He kept boardwiping me with Supreme Verdict and Thing in the Ice, as well as using Tasigur and Snapcaster Mage to keep calling back Path of Exile and Go For The Throat on my Pridemates and Ascendants. I DID win in the end, because he used Entreat the Angels while I had four Soul Sisters out and brought in 7 4/4 Angels, gaining me 28 life. I then swung in with 7 creatures, ambushing out Archangel of Thune, and he lost all the angels. Next turn, he attacked with Tasigur, Snapcaster, and 2 Awoken Horrors and then boardwiped both of us with another Supreme Verdict. He then used Ashiok to exile and cast my other Archangel of Thune, which I managed to Path and swing for the kill with Spectral Procession tokens, buffed with 2 Honor of the Pures. It was such a long game, but I loved it. It was a big chase of one-upping each other.
WB Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim | WBR Queen Marchesa | WUBR Breya, Etherium Shaper
Modern:
/ Death and Taxes | W/ Soul Sisters | Spirits | U Faeries | Tempered Steel Affinity
YAAAAAAAS!
It's good if you're running a playset of: Martyr of Sands, Proclamation of Rebirth, Squadron Hawk, and Ranger of Eos and a few Mistveil Plains.. But hey that's another deck altogether. Look at the Martyr Proc thread for more info. Burrenton Forge-Tender is worse than Kami of False Hope apparently.