Last night went 2/2 for the night
2-0 against a newer Ponza player- nothing to see here.
2-1 against Esper Control, sandbagging images and reflector mages won those games. He starts pushing damage with a Colonnade and a Snapcaster after *** my board, I was at 6 life but was able to Vial in an image copying the Colonnade and block the snapcaster and crackback for lethal. There was a question on if Image would become a land at EOT like my opp's Colonnade, Judge said no, it stays a 4/4 vigilant flyer that taps for mana. TMYK
0-2 against UB Thopter Sword Watch out for this variant of prison deck. It's like playing against Lantern except you think you have hope and outs.. Whir of Invention gets played so much faster than felt reasonable and puts the artifact directly into play so bridge on turn 3 from anywhere in their deck through a MMage... even if they can't connect with Thopters for a turn, Tezzeret ults and kills you. I brought in 2 Kataki, 1 Vithian, 2 Sin Col. In game two I got two Freebooters (holding bridge and Sword) a MMage naming Whir, and a Kataki on the board and he casts Damnation.. Pretty much over there.
1-2 against Fish, won g1 on a mull to 5 on the draw.. games 2 it was neck and neck until he got me with a vialed in Tidebinder mage, used an on board Reejery to tap down two blockers and then lorded up. Game three I might have had a win that I punted, he used another Tidebinder off vial to catch a Mantis Rider before it could get in. I had a Dismember in hand. He attacked with two lords with Islandwalk for 6 (putting me to 8) I contemplated dimembering a Lord and decided it wasn't worth it... he passed and I realized as I untapped I was supposed to kill the Tidebinder on his endstep to untap my Mantis Rider.. I would have had lethal crack back. :'(
I think I may try a single mirran crusader, but want to try the new addition (pontiff) first. My FNMs have a very wide range of decks, but with regulars running; Affinity, Elves, Goblins, Mardu Pyromancer, Vizier Company, mono-white allies and Merfolk I’m hoping that it will prove useful. Also found that everyone knows what the deck does, so attacking with a Vial on 3 means the opponent won’t be expecting a board pump. Whereas a Vial on 2 will lead most opponents to think that an Image or Thalia is available.
Will let you know what the results are once I’ve tested next week.
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Naban, Dean of Iteration is playable, and good, in this deck, correct? Anytime a Wizard, including himself, etb, both the counter dorks get double triggers. Anytime Reflector Mage comes in, double bounce. Meddling Mage names 2 cards... This seems a little wacky and crazy good to me, especially if you are running Bobs for a higher amount of wizards to trigger the dorks.
I thought it would be useful to revisit all the good cards that we're not playing (yet). Kessig Malcontents was a new addition last year that impressed the crowd, and maybe the Gatherer has some hidden gems for us...
Magus of the Scroll can be a reliable mana sink in the late game, because we empty our hand quite fast. It can hit the dome, planeswalkers or creatures (little combo there with Thalia's first strike).
Trusted Advisor is a cheap way to trigger Lieutenant and Champion multiple times, chain Reflector Mage, or reset Meddling Mage (name removal in early game, then Through the Breach or Scapeshift when appropriate, for example).
Archetype of Courage can really screw combat math vs creatures decks (Humans, Affinity, Zoo, Hollow One, Jund, etc.). Surprise block and wipe the board, or just attack without trading.
Champion of Lambholt can make our team near unblockable after 2–3 triggers. Awesome vs creatures heavy decks.
Fatespinner is probably not good against Control, but it can be good against almost anything else. Many decks rely on both main and combat phases to do their job, so either they skip draw step or lose tempo. In all cases, we're probably getting 1 or 2 extra turns to win, and remember that skipping main phase means no land drop (with all this entails, including landfall).
Mangara of Corondor can be our main deck Swiss Knife. If it doesn't die to a removal right away (1 for 1), it will trade with a permanent when you untap : Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, any Planeswalker, an important land, Detention Sphere, an Aura, an Affinity's creature on steroids, etc. Note that Mangara is not sacrificed as part of the ability, so if the permanent becomes an illegal target, she gets to stay on the battlefield for later use. But if opponent tries to play smart and remove her with her ability on the stack, the target will still be exiled. And exile means an effective way of removing Wurmcoil Engine, Kitchen Finks, Phoenix, etc.
Silumgar Sorcerer can be good to counter Bloodbraid Elf and Snapcaster Mage, and big creatures like Wurmcoil Engine or Eldrazis. At worst, it's a 2/1 with Flying if opponent plays little or no creatures. The real problem with this card is it can be removed while Exploit is on the stack.
Stoneshaker Shaman : We don't need mana during opponent’s turn for anything, period (except Staticaster and Dismember post SB). Cracking a Canopy can be done during our turn. Otherwise, play this and tap yourself out before end step. Opponent will have to play their whole deck at sorcery speed, or sacrifice a land every turn!
Thraben Doomsayer will either help turn the corner on games we're about to lose (+2/+2 does that), or raise an army if the game is getting long (triggering Champion and Lieutenant in the process). Also, if opponent can't get you from 6 to zero life in one turn, you either get the +2/+2 anthem or they'll delay their attack while you continue adding tokens. It's hard to see when playing this is bad. At worst, it trades with a removal.
And these are Humans not currently in our sideboard that at least deserve our attention (if only to confirm the status quo):
True Believer has a slightly better body than Aegis of the God, which is relevant against 1/1 Elemental Tokens and Liliana's +1. It can't be removed by Searing Blaze because one target has Shroud (us), and it can counter burn spells and Searing Blaze when played with Vial. Incidently, it can protect us from discard spells...
I think there's a whole bunch of good cards we haven’t tested yet. Of the above, I think Archetype of Courage and Champion of Lambholt are the most fragile / least exciting options.
The most likely to be a satisfying main deck option is probablyMangara of Corondor.
She's a bit slow, but will trade with a removal at worst.
At best, the threat of destroying a permanent will warp opponent's play so much that Tempo will be lost.
By not activating her ability right away, we can play an amazing mind game with opponent.
If opponent gets fed up and try to remove her later, we can 2 for 1 by exiling a permanent (a land, at worst) and the removal will fizzle.
She can even give us a small life cushion by blocking a creature before activating her ability to destroy something else.
In between all that, we can *EXILE* a key land or a planeswalker, a big creature, an annoying enchantment or artifact, and make things just go our way.
Note that Mangara can be copied with Image (from Vial) while her ability is on the stack. The original will be sacrificed because of the legendary rule, but this won't prevent the ability from resolving.
Mangara is not an exciting card to play, but it has very good chances of being universally good. I wonder why she didn't made the cut already...
Thraben Doomsayer is the most synergistic card in the above, and I will be very disappointed if I never get to play it in a Humans deck. It may not be universally good, like Mangara could be, but it certainly is a very exciting card to play. Trusted Advisor also seems like a fun card to play. Wacky, but certainly very fun, à la Norin the Wary.
True Believer is a seriously good option for the SB. Better than what we have already? I don't know...
What card in the above list has got your attention?
Naban, Dean of Iteration is playable, and good, in this deck, correct? Anytime a Wizard, including himself, etb, both the counter dorks get double triggers. Anytime Reflector Mage comes in, double bounce. Meddling Mage names 2 cards... This seems a little wacky and crazy good to me, especially if you are running Bobs for a higher amount of wizards to trigger the dorks.
Naban won't cause Meddling to double trigger. He will cause Lieutenant and Champion to double trigger when he or another Wizard enters the battlefield, and will also double trigger Reflector Mage. All this is exciting but quite conditional, so he may not make the cut to the deck. But is synergy with 12 other cards (more with Image) considered conditional, or not?
I keep thinking that Deft Duelist might actually be a thing. I never really did give her a shot, but I might try a couple next FNM just to see how she feels. An Image copying her loses the sac trigger, which seems not terrible.
I don't think War Priest of Thune is really going to stop Bogles. They have a lot of cheap Auras taking out one of them is not going to slow them down all that much. Unless you have a way to flicker him, I don't forsee him slowing Bogles down much at all.
I don't think War Priest of Thune is really going to stop Bogles. They have a lot of cheap Auras taking out one of them is not going to slow them down all that much. Unless you have a way to flicker him, I don't forsee him slowing Bogles down much at all.
Speaking of this list, here are some more cards I forgot to post yesterday :
Wingcrafter : Just to make attacking somewhat possible for some of our creatures.
Cavalry Pegasus : Not a Human, but easy to cast for us. Grants evasion to all the team.
Deputy of Acquittals : We're all excited about Dauntless Bodyguard, and Saffi Eriksdotter has been proposed as a replacement, but we've never considered that Deputy could be better than any of them. Is a 2/2 Flash that effectively counters a removal without costing a card what we're looking for? Fact is, it can also reset Lieutenant and Reflector Mage, or a Freebooter that somehow hit nothing when it first ETB, or Malcontents if we play that card. Post SB, it can bounce creatures for extra ETB triggers (Dire Fleet Daredevil, Sin Collector, Vithian Renegades, Hostage Taker, and the new SB candidate War Priest of Thune). Unlike Image, it can't copy a Mantis Rider... but it can save one from going to the graveyard.
Court Street Denizen : I wish it could trigger itself... At least we have Vial to get a trigger at instant speed before opponent's combat phase. Follow with Mantis Rider on your turn, and that's 2 blockers removed from the equation.
Tandem Lookout : I can see it paired with Freebooter or Rider, most of the time. It's not a guaranteed draw every time, but I guess it will at worst trade with a removal, or at best draw us a 2+ cards.
IMHO, Deputy of Acquittals is the most serious candidate on that list. I can see it being better than Image #4. Tandem Lookout costs more mana than Dark Confidant, but it can give us a card right away without costing life and is budget friendly. Let's face it : if opponent has a removal, this or Bob will die right away. But having a possible trigger before opponent untaps is not negligible.
Do you think one of these can make it to the main deck? Cast your votes!
Yes but the timing is tough. Say you draw your single Priest, there's more chances your opponent casts an aura you need to destroy than you have an Image in your hand.
All the Humans that don't do a 2 for 1 are bad, unless their effect is game winning. It means Silumgar Sorcerer and War Priest won't make the cut, like ever. Mangara can see play. You can already have one in your main or SB.
I personally tested these 3 specific cards, and they were underwhelming everytime. Tron, Affi, Bogles... those decks are strong enough to get over a single removal spell.
Magus of the Scroll is a card I lost to a year or two ago, I don't remember what deck played it (maybe a pet card in Burn). I'm certainly intrigued by its efficiency in the early game, more than in the late game. Trusted Advisor is a card I didn't even know ! Better than Deputy of Acquittals ? Because that card sees no play. Fatespinner and Stoneshaker Shaman give your opponent a choice (besides the fact I didn't know these cards either !). Their effect is narrow and conditional, looks like garbage to me. Their effect may be good when we're ahead, but underwhelming otherwise, no ?
Thraben Doomsayer will either help turn the corner on games we're about to lose (+2/+2 does that), or raise an army if the game is getting long (triggering Champion and Lieutenant in the process).
On the paper yes. Now it appears that when we're about to lose, well... we lose on the spot. Ad Naus, Storm, Elves, Vizier, Infect, Affi, Tron, Bogles... It's actually rather hard to find a MU where Doomsayer turns the corner in time. Is it better than Hanweir Garrison ? Because that card sees no play.
Fiendslayer Paladin : Can this be better than Auriok Champion vs Burn, Jund, Zoo and Hollow One?
I can confirm you Auriok is way better in the MUs you mention. It's less obvious VS Jund but there, it dodges Kommand, Bolt, Lavamancer, Lili LH, Olivia, and stops Raging Ravine and BBE.
Grand Abolisher and True Believer are interesting.
Abolisher is redundant along with Cavern and Vial against counterspells, but it forces your opponent to kill it not to take Mantis in the face. Very situational though.
Believer can't block creatures profitably, which sucks. It can still die to removal and doesn't gain you life, which is I believe the prime reason why it's dismissed. The best plan against Burn is to combine lifegain and pressure. I tested it in the past and was disappointed.
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
Has anyone here beaten Jeskai Control lately or is this now an autoscoop for us? A great aspect of Humans is that almost all matchups are winnable but between bolts, paths, sweepers, electrolyze (images), and card adv. I'm not seeing a route to the W.
Ahhh jeskai, my friends deck and he thinks the matchup is favorable for humans. I don't think so. It's more 50/50 at best. You win if you draw the right cards. Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls are your best friends and I board in two copies of Chalice of the Void. You usually blank the countermagic part of the deck G1 and G2 if you manage T1 Vial, T2 Chalice and it resolves, it's usually game over.
It's good VS Merfolk, which has a favorable MU against Humans (and with their new Merfolk Trickster, it's prolly not that good). It's bad vs Infect, Affi, Elves, Bogles and so on. I don't think it fits the deck unfortunately.
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Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
How do people feel about Xathrid Necromancer vs. Selfless Spirit? I've been running one of each but if people are seriously running Necromancer main deck it makes me think maybe I should commit to multiple copies in the board.
Has anyone here beaten Jeskai Control lately or is this now an autoscoop for us? A great aspect of Humans is that almost all matchups are winnable but between bolts, paths, sweepers, electrolyze (images), and card adv. I'm not seeing a route to the W.
I think the matchup can be improved with Deputy of Acquittals. I've tested the card a bit, and it seems quite good. It's a 2 for 1 most of time, as it fizzles a removal while adding a 2/2 body on the battlefield at instant speed. Opponent loses a card, while we don't lose any. Bouncing a Human is not as great as granting it Hexproof or Indestructible (that would be crazy good), but having the opportunity to cast it again means extra ETB triggers. And with Vial, the bounced creature can be played right away. Getting a replay on Lieutenant, Freebooter and Reflector Mage is super good.
A single Deputy will trigger twice Champion and Lieutenant (once for itself, and another time when the bounced Human is played again). These tricks are beyond shenigans : with just one card in hand, we can screw math dramatically in our favor. This help outgrowing Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix and Electrolyze. Against Jeskai, it's not just a matter of saving a card while losing none. It's also that, by doing this, you're making many of their other cards way worse against you.
The 4th Phantasmal Image is often awkward, and Deputy of Acquittals doesn’t team up with the Illusion really well. It makes sense to cut one Image to add a Deputy to the main deck.
I don't think there's any coincidence that I've found out about Mangara of Corondor at about the same time than Deputy. On both posts, I said each of these cards were the best in their respective list. Guess what? The two work really well together! Deputy can bounce Mangara while her ability is on the stack. The ability won't fizzle and will resolve, because Mangara is not sacrificed as part of the ability's cost, and because she doesn’t target herself with her ability.
I may be wrong about Mangara, because she's indeed slow and will usually 1 for 1 (discounting the mind game she creates, and the tempo opponent may lose). She's only 2 for 1 when opponent gets fed up of the threat she represents for the cards not played yet, and try to remove her after we've untapped with her (activate her, exile a permanent and fizzle the removal). But I'm really, really high on Deputy. I'm sure it's a card that was overlooked, because it's a common. Deputy would definitely be an asset vs Jeskai, and in most other matchups as well.
Myself, I will play 2 Deputy in the main deck the next time I go at my LGS. They'll take the place of one Image and one Thalia. And I'll try Mangara in the flex spot that is usually given to Malcontents.
How do people feel about Xathrid Necromancer vs. Selfless Spirit? I've been running one of each but if people are seriously running Necromancer main deck it makes me think maybe I should commit to multiple copies in the board.
This is also something that interests me. I've been running a 1/1 split but lately I've been trying out 2 Selfless Spirits. Clearly in some spots Necromancer is better (Attrition wars against Jund, Death Shadow, Jeskai) and in some spots I prefer Selfless Spirits (Against Tron -> Oblivion Stone, against UW Control's Boardwipes) Selfless Spirits can also really screw combat by flashing it in with a vial. It is also a much better card against Anger of the Gods, where Necromancer does nothing.
I think with all the Jund running around at the moment I will go back to a 1/1 split or even try out more Necromancers, I wouldn't run them maindeck though.
Yes but the timing is tough. Say you draw your single Priest, there's more chances your opponent casts an aura you need to destroy than you have an Image in your hand.
I agree, almost. But how does War Priest of Thune compare to Vithian Renegades? Of course, there's more Auras to hate than there are Ensnaring Bridge. But against a lot of artifacts (Affinity), Kataki is better. Is there something similar that Humans can play against Boggles? Chalice of the Void at 1 would do the job, I guess. Anything else?
All the Humans that don't do a 2 for 1 are bad, unless their effect is game winning. It means Silumgar Sorcerer and War Priest won't make the cut, like ever. Mangara can see play. You can already have one in your main or SB.
Forget about Trusted Advisor. I didn’t know about Deputy of Acquittals when I mentioned Advisor. Deputy is always a 2 for 1, FYI. So it should pass the test and be featured as 2+ in the main deck, no?
Say you pass the turn with 2 lands and Vial at 2, and you have Lieutenant and Deputy in hand. If opponent doesn't play a removal on one of your Humans already in play (in which case Deputy is awesome), you can play Lieutenant with Vial and flash in Deputy with Lieutenant's trigger on the stack. Deputy will get a counter (3/3) and Lieutenant can either get a counter too (2/2) or be bounced in your hand for extra counters next turn (depends if you have a lot of other creatures). That way, Deputy can grow to 4/4 and be out of range of Anger, Bolt, Helix, etc.
Thraben Doomsayer will either help turn the corner on games we're about to lose (+2/+2 does that), or raise an army if the game is getting long (triggering Champion and Lieutenant in the process).
On the paper yes. Now it appears that when we're about to lose, well... we lose on the spot. Ad Naus, Storm, Elves, Vizier, Infect, Affi, Tron, Bogles... It's actually rather hard to find a MU where Doomsayer turns the corner in time. Is it better than Hanweir Garrison ? Because that card sees no play.
I'm not ready to play test Thraben Doomsayer yet (I want to test Deputy and Mangara first). But my guess is that Doomsayer is strictly better than Hanweir Garrison. Garrison is forced to attack to get the tokens, and this can be bad for it *and* the tokens. Doomsayer can build a board by itself, as long as you can untap with it. Fateful Hour won't happen every games, but my guess is that it will happen more often than you think. Last time, I pretty sure it happened at least 3 different times on 3 different games where opponent dropped me to very low life total before I could stabilized. I don't recall if I won these games or not, only that I used my life as a ressource to buy time to get things online. Doomsayer would have been an instant win in these games.
Fiendslayer Paladin : Can this be better than Auriok Champion vs Burn, Jund, Zoo and Hollow One?
I can confirm you Auriok is way better in the MUs you mention. It's less obvious VS Jund but there, it dodges Kommand, Bolt, Lavamancer, Lili LH, Olivia, and stops Raging Ravine and BBE.
I'll have to give Auriok Champion a chance next time. I still want Heron's Grace Champion and Kambal to be the life gain solution, but that's just me too excited about the bomb effect.
2-0 against a newer Ponza player- nothing to see here.
2-1 against Esper Control, sandbagging images and reflector mages won those games. He starts pushing damage with a Colonnade and a Snapcaster after *** my board, I was at 6 life but was able to Vial in an image copying the Colonnade and block the snapcaster and crackback for lethal. There was a question on if Image would become a land at EOT like my opp's Colonnade, Judge said no, it stays a 4/4 vigilant flyer that taps for mana. TMYK
0-2 against UB Thopter Sword Watch out for this variant of prison deck. It's like playing against Lantern except you think you have hope and outs.. Whir of Invention gets played so much faster than felt reasonable and puts the artifact directly into play so bridge on turn 3 from anywhere in their deck through a MMage... even if they can't connect with Thopters for a turn, Tezzeret ults and kills you. I brought in 2 Kataki, 1 Vithian, 2 Sin Col. In game two I got two Freebooters (holding bridge and Sword) a MMage naming Whir, and a Kataki on the board and he casts Damnation.. Pretty much over there.
1-2 against Fish, won g1 on a mull to 5 on the draw.. games 2 it was neck and neck until he got me with a vialed in Tidebinder mage, used an on board Reejery to tap down two blockers and then lorded up. Game three I might have had a win that I punted, he used another Tidebinder off vial to catch a Mantis Rider before it could get in. I had a Dismember in hand. He attacked with two lords with Islandwalk for 6 (putting me to 8) I contemplated dimembering a Lord and decided it wasn't worth it... he passed and I realized as I untapped I was supposed to kill the Tidebinder on his endstep to untap my Mantis Rider.. I would have had lethal crack back. :'(
I think I may try a single mirran crusader, but want to try the new addition (pontiff) first. My FNMs have a very wide range of decks, but with regulars running; Affinity, Elves, Goblins, Mardu Pyromancer, Vizier Company, mono-white allies and Merfolk I’m hoping that it will prove useful. Also found that everyone knows what the deck does, so attacking with a Vial on 3 means the opponent won’t be expecting a board pump. Whereas a Vial on 2 will lead most opponents to think that an Image or Thalia is available.
Will let you know what the results are once I’ve tested next week.
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WWUGeist of Saint TraftUWW
UUBBLazav, Dimir MastermindBBUU
BRMalfegorRB
RGThromok the InsatiableGR
GGWWTrostani, Selesnya's VoiceWWGG
WBTeysa, Orzhov ScionBW
BGGGlissa, the TraitorGGB
GGUUPrime Speaker ZeganaUUGG
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RRWWAurelia, the WarleaderWWRR
UBRJeleva, Nephalias ScourgeRBU
Dauntless Bodyguard´s art!
The most likely to be a satisfying main deck option is probably Mangara of Corondor.
Thraben Doomsayer is the most synergistic card in the above, and I will be very disappointed if I never get to play it in a Humans deck. It may not be universally good, like Mangara could be, but it certainly is a very exciting card to play. Trusted Advisor also seems like a fun card to play. Wacky, but certainly very fun, à la Norin the Wary.
True Believer is a seriously good option for the SB. Better than what we have already? I don't know...
What card in the above list has got your attention?
Naban won't cause Meddling to double trigger. He will cause Lieutenant and Champion to double trigger when he or another Wizard enters the battlefield, and will also double trigger Reflector Mage. All this is exciting but quite conditional, so he may not make the cut to the deck. But is synergy with 12 other cards (more with Image) considered conditional, or not?
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
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About the list I posted yesterday, am I the only one that thinks Mangara of Conrodor and Thraben Doomsayer are main deckable?
Speaking of this list, here are some more cards I forgot to post yesterday :
Do you think one of these can make it to the main deck? Cast your votes!
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
All the Humans that don't do a 2 for 1 are bad, unless their effect is game winning. It means Silumgar Sorcerer and War Priest won't make the cut, like ever. Mangara can see play. You can already have one in your main or SB.
I personally tested these 3 specific cards, and they were underwhelming everytime. Tron, Affi, Bogles... those decks are strong enough to get over a single removal spell.
Magus of the Scroll is a card I lost to a year or two ago, I don't remember what deck played it (maybe a pet card in Burn). I'm certainly intrigued by its efficiency in the early game, more than in the late game.
Trusted Advisor is a card I didn't even know ! Better than Deputy of Acquittals ? Because that card sees no play.
Fatespinner and Stoneshaker Shaman give your opponent a choice (besides the fact I didn't know these cards either !). Their effect is narrow and conditional, looks like garbage to me. Their effect may be good when we're ahead, but underwhelming otherwise, no ?
On the paper yes. Now it appears that when we're about to lose, well... we lose on the spot. Ad Naus, Storm, Elves, Vizier, Infect, Affi, Tron, Bogles... It's actually rather hard to find a MU where Doomsayer turns the corner in time. Is it better than Hanweir Garrison ? Because that card sees no play.
I can confirm you Auriok is way better in the MUs you mention. It's less obvious VS Jund but there, it dodges Kommand, Bolt, Lavamancer, Lili LH, Olivia, and stops Raging Ravine and BBE.
Grand Abolisher and True Believer are interesting.
Abolisher is redundant along with Cavern and Vial against counterspells, but it forces your opponent to kill it not to take Mantis in the face. Very situational though.
Believer can't block creatures profitably, which sucks. It can still die to removal and doesn't gain you life, which is I believe the prime reason why it's dismissed. The best plan against Burn is to combine lifegain and pressure. I tested it in the past and was disappointed.
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
WGUBR 5c Humans
GWR Naya Zoo
Legacy:
GW GW Maverick
R Goblins
WGUBR 5c Humans
GWR Naya Zoo
Legacy:
GW GW Maverick
R Goblins
I think the matchup can be improved with Deputy of Acquittals. I've tested the card a bit, and it seems quite good. It's a 2 for 1 most of time, as it fizzles a removal while adding a 2/2 body on the battlefield at instant speed. Opponent loses a card, while we don't lose any. Bouncing a Human is not as great as granting it Hexproof or Indestructible (that would be crazy good), but having the opportunity to cast it again means extra ETB triggers. And with Vial, the bounced creature can be played right away. Getting a replay on Lieutenant, Freebooter and Reflector Mage is super good.
A single Deputy will trigger twice Champion and Lieutenant (once for itself, and another time when the bounced Human is played again). These tricks are beyond shenigans : with just one card in hand, we can screw math dramatically in our favor. This help outgrowing Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix and Electrolyze. Against Jeskai, it's not just a matter of saving a card while losing none. It's also that, by doing this, you're making many of their other cards way worse against you.
The 4th Phantasmal Image is often awkward, and Deputy of Acquittals doesn’t team up with the Illusion really well. It makes sense to cut one Image to add a Deputy to the main deck.
I don't think there's any coincidence that I've found out about Mangara of Corondor at about the same time than Deputy. On both posts, I said each of these cards were the best in their respective list. Guess what? The two work really well together! Deputy can bounce Mangara while her ability is on the stack. The ability won't fizzle and will resolve, because Mangara is not sacrificed as part of the ability's cost, and because she doesn’t target herself with her ability.
I may be wrong about Mangara, because she's indeed slow and will usually 1 for 1 (discounting the mind game she creates, and the tempo opponent may lose). She's only 2 for 1 when opponent gets fed up of the threat she represents for the cards not played yet, and try to remove her after we've untapped with her (activate her, exile a permanent and fizzle the removal). But I'm really, really high on Deputy. I'm sure it's a card that was overlooked, because it's a common. Deputy would definitely be an asset vs Jeskai, and in most other matchups as well.
Myself, I will play 2 Deputy in the main deck the next time I go at my LGS. They'll take the place of one Image and one Thalia. And I'll try Mangara in the flex spot that is usually given to Malcontents.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
This is also something that interests me. I've been running a 1/1 split but lately I've been trying out 2 Selfless Spirits. Clearly in some spots Necromancer is better (Attrition wars against Jund, Death Shadow, Jeskai) and in some spots I prefer Selfless Spirits (Against Tron -> Oblivion Stone, against UW Control's Boardwipes) Selfless Spirits can also really screw combat by flashing it in with a vial. It is also a much better card against Anger of the Gods, where Necromancer does nothing.
I think with all the Jund running around at the moment I will go back to a 1/1 split or even try out more Necromancers, I wouldn't run them maindeck though.
Forget about Trusted Advisor. I didn’t know about Deputy of Acquittals when I mentioned Advisor. Deputy is always a 2 for 1, FYI. So it should pass the test and be featured as 2+ in the main deck, no?
Say you pass the turn with 2 lands and Vial at 2, and you have Lieutenant and Deputy in hand. If opponent doesn't play a removal on one of your Humans already in play (in which case Deputy is awesome), you can play Lieutenant with Vial and flash in Deputy with Lieutenant's trigger on the stack. Deputy will get a counter (3/3) and Lieutenant can either get a counter too (2/2) or be bounced in your hand for extra counters next turn (depends if you have a lot of other creatures). That way, Deputy can grow to 4/4 and be out of range of Anger, Bolt, Helix, etc.
I'm not ready to play test Thraben Doomsayer yet (I want to test Deputy and Mangara first). But my guess is that Doomsayer is strictly better than Hanweir Garrison. Garrison is forced to attack to get the tokens, and this can be bad for it *and* the tokens. Doomsayer can build a board by itself, as long as you can untap with it. Fateful Hour won't happen every games, but my guess is that it will happen more often than you think. Last time, I pretty sure it happened at least 3 different times on 3 different games where opponent dropped me to very low life total before I could stabilized. I don't recall if I won these games or not, only that I used my life as a ressource to buy time to get things online. Doomsayer would have been an instant win in these games.
I'll have to give Auriok Champion a chance next time. I still want Heron's Grace Champion and Kambal to be the life gain solution, but that's just me too excited about the bomb effect.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.