I was reading BBD's protour report and, when he's talking about testing with Humans for the PT with the team, at one point he had a build that took off the Freebooters for Mayors. He says that looked promising for the testing he'd done with it and I'm willing to try it out sometimes.
I know there are those times that Freebooter snaps the only removal from the opponent's hand, but most of the time when playing interactive decks he just takes one removal to eat another. Mayor will usually do that (eat a removal) but he also pumps your team if they don't have the mana right away for it and, if unchecked, can win games by itself.
It will probably be very meta dependant, but who knows... Maybe there's something there.
Removing Freebooter seems to me like a really bad idea. Humans works because it's got the Stompy element of disruption+clock. If you go for pure clock giving up your disruption it will just wind up being a worse version of Affinity.
I'm going to finish humans here in a week or two and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks they could share? I looked at the primer but it seems out of date.
I'm going to finish humans here in a week or two and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks they could share? I looked at the primer but it seems out of date.
The best non obvious trick I can think of is your sequencing with Thalia's Lieutenant. If you play the Lieutenant, and then in response to the trigger vial in a creature, it will then trigger the Lieutenant and both it plus your other creature become bigger.
I went 6-1 in the Swiss of a 101-player PPTQ last week, but lost to the mirror in the first round of top 8. I play three Thalias, three Buglers, three Images, and four Reflectors. I dig Gaddock Teeg a lot, and run one. I don't think I saw it mentioned here yet that it shuts down both KCI and EE, in addition to its obvious merits against Tron and its unbelievable utility vs. UW Control. Teeg also hits Gifts, PiF, and Empty, from Storm. I also play, and seem in practice to be able to cast without trouble, two copies of Qasali Pridemage. I prefer it to Rec Sage.
Thanks to patbou for posting relevant content links, helped me feel like I could get caught up, after being off the grid for a week.
In terms of tips and tricks for new players, like Aazadan I would also suggest focusing on learning how to use Vial correctly. Using Vial well can be kind of non-obvious, at least to me.
Make a habit of NOT playing out a creature until you've asked the opponent for a response to the Vial activation. (This is most important with Vial on 2, but it's just a good habit all-round.) Several of our creatures (Meddling, Thalia, sometimes Image, Teeg if you play it) have powerful un-triggered static effects that can potentially lead to a blowout.
False tap at opportune moments to keep opponents on their toes--playing a creature is a "may" ability.
If like me you run the card, plan ahead to play Dire Fleet Daredevil on a key turn of the game, whether in response to a Snapcaster target or on the opponent's draw step to nab a sorcery-speed threat.
In general, pay attention to how your "leave at two" vs. "go to three" decisions play out--for me this can be a tough call, but I get better with practice. It's a very context-dependent call.
I play 5c humans for a short time, I was on jeskai control before.
I'll sleeve up humans for the MKM event in Paris and I'll test a list with rest in peace and Stony silence in SB. For this purpose, I think that we need a little more of white mana source.
This is my current list, what do you think about it ?
The 20th land help stabilize the starting hands and allow you to have more white mana source for rest in peace and stony silence. Do you think this is viable ? Maybe need I an additionnal multicolour land like city of brass instead of ziggurat ?
I also will try to play qasali pridemage instead of rec sage. It's better against blood moon and it can have a direct impact on the game with exalted.
Any reason why no one seems to Play "Anafenza, the Foremost"? This Card Looks preety good against all the GY strategys. An at worst, it might be a nice semi comeback Card when no synergie is available. A 4/4 is not that bad
It's not that bad, but I think it is just another 3-drop and we must not overload the curve on 3-drops.
Reflector Mage is one of the only soft counters to creatures, so cutting them creates a hole in the deck.
Bugler is a good 2-for-1, excellent against removals. Anafenza, the Foremost will deal about as much damage as Mantis Rider if unchecked, but if it takes a removal, it will just deal nothing whereas Mantis Rider can usually sneak 3 damage, and this is very valuable. Flying ability is valuable as well.
Anafenza has a decent GY hate ability, but since Hollow One and Vengevine decks are vey active on turns 1-2 it may be sometimes too late. But it's not irrelevant either so I'm not sure if it's playable, perhapas in a particular meta it is.
In regards to your comments about waiting for the response to Vial activation, did your opponents ever do anything? I understand the importance of it, but I’ve not had anyone do anything and therefore wondering what you experienced.
Similarly, do you find the “fake” activations of Vial Useful, or more just an annoyance. What examples is it a benefit? Maybe this is a bit of a noobie question, but again, just wanted to hear your experiences.
I think gaddock teeg is awesome! Very very useful card for us.
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I'm going to finish humans here in a week or two and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks they could share? I looked at the primer but it seems out of date.
Sorry for this, I've been away from MTG for a while. I'm going to be catching back up on latest developments over the next week or so and will update the primer accordingly.
One benefit of activating Aether vial even if you do not plan to put anything in to play is that your opponent might use a removal spell on something you do not really care about, because they are afraid you will put a meddling mage in play and name that card (which can not be responded to). Usually that will signify that your opponent only had the removal spell he used in hand, and the coast is now clear for you to play your more important threats.
Question:
I faced a dredge deck yesterday for maybe the second or third time and I was wondering, what should the gameplan be and how do you play meddling mage vs them?
I managed to navigate it to a victory, but I did not feel convinced about my plays (I had meddling mage each game basically). Naming conflagrate on turn 2 seems like a good play in game 1 if you see it in the graveyard, but if there is only a dredge card in there, what to do? Their only other removals that I saw was darkblast and lightning axe. Their creatures aren't cast so naming them does nothing. I ended up sideboarding out 2-3 meddling mages depending on being on the play/draw, and just going for a "grow my creatures to block their's and hope to draw some reflector mages" plan.
Cards I found important in the matchup were: Dire Fleet Daredevil (to exile conflagrate/darkblast/life from the loam), Champion of the parish, thalia's lieutenant, Izzet staticaster and reflector mage to deal with their creatures.
Would you guys say I identified the right key cards?
Ahhh yes. Dredge. It's an awesome deck my friend plays for a long time so i have quite a bit of experience playing against it. He recently resleeved it after the printing of Stitcher's Supplier. It's also a bit of a hit or miss deck, but the fast starts are busted.
What's key to their strategy, are the enablers. From best (fastest) to worst: Insolent Neonate, Cathartic Reunion, Faithless Looting and maybe slightly ahead on Stitcher's Supplier.
If you can put those out of order, you are golden. Nabbing Reunion with Freebooter, following with Mage on conflagrate get's you places.
When they start drawing cards you're winning.
Though that seldom happens. Most of the time it's a race, and their finisher is the big burn spell. So naming Conflagrate is definitely the right choice when they have their engine online.
Another thing they really don't like is their payoff cards in hand. So be sure to use Reflector Mage to bounce their Priced Amalgam
Grafdigger's Cage is a multifunctional card and was a sideboard staple in many Humans lists. It was just cut out of mosts lists because of the meta shift. It's too narrow for Hollow One (stops only the Phoenix) and Bridgevine (stops only vengevine), those decks attack from different angles.
Rest in Peace is the best, as it hoses most strategies while also having applications versus GBx decks. reliably casting it can be difficult though.
I guess in our current shell, Remorseful Cleric is our best bet since it can be reliably cast and can be found with Militia Bugler. If not vialed in immediately at turn 3, it might be too late though.
Grafdigger's Cage is a multifunctional card and was a sideboard staple in many Humans lists. It was just cut out of mosts lists because of the meta shift. It's too narrow for Hollow One (stops only the Phoenix) and Bridgevine (stops only vengevine), those decks attack from different angles.
Rest in Peace is the best, as it hoses most strategies while also having applications versus GBx decks. reliably casting it can be difficult though.
I guess in our current shell, Remorseful Cleric is our best bet since it can be reliably cast and can be found with Militia Bugler. If not vialed in immediately at turn 3, it might be too late though.
I think our best GY hate card is Faerie Macabre or Tormod's Crypt because it requires zero mana, playing it doesn't require any deviation from building our board state and it can be used as early as turn 1.
Things I noticed:
With my move to black, Phantasmal Image has gotten a lot harder to cast. I think I need to cut it. I'm considering Mayor of Avabruck for the slot.
4 Militia Bugler is too many here. I would like to be lowering my decks hard CMC, which I started by turning a Reflector Mage into a Dragonslayer, giving me another 2 at times (though it's better to morph obviously when the curve allows). I'm looking hard at turning Bugler #4, and perhaps Bugler #3 into some lower CMC card advantage. One thought I had was Loyal Cathar as it's aggressive, follows human tribal, and opens up some 2 mana 2 for 1's which is a fantastic rate. It also has Vigilance so helps to preserve that other advantage of Bugler.
Only drew Wingcrafter once, but it was really strong when I did, it gave a Champion of the Parish flying and was instantly lethal.
Prowler never came up, I was in a spot to use it once, but the opponent didn't play into it so I didn't get to use it as a combat trick, and their draw wasn't friendly to a Gut Shot (which is what came out for it)
Teeg is too hard to cast, same with the Sanctuary
I haven't been a fan of the Reclamation Sage either. I'm thinking it should be replaced with a Vithian Renegades and a War Priest of Thune. The sideboard can support turning the one card into two as they would be much easier to cast.
So is Aether Vial almost always the correct 1-drop choice on opening hand? I'm thinking this is true except in certain cases such as really needing to race.
Question:
A "new" deck is on the rise: Hardened scales Affinity. It seems like a rough matchup, worse than normal affinity. What should our gameplan be game 1, and how do we sideboard? Blind meddling mage (and what is priority to name)?
If you're on the play, name Arcbound Ravager as that's their engine card even more so than Hardened Scales.
It's trickier on the draw, it's either Hangarback Walker or Walking Ballista, Ballista will probably kill you faster so I would say that.
There's little in current sideboards to bring in for them, so you'll have to adjust a bit. Maybe take out Vial and bring in Stony Silence. Rest in Peace is also fantastic against them.
I know there are those times that Freebooter snaps the only removal from the opponent's hand, but most of the time when playing interactive decks he just takes one removal to eat another. Mayor will usually do that (eat a removal) but he also pumps your team if they don't have the mana right away for it and, if unchecked, can win games by itself.
It will probably be very meta dependant, but who knows... Maybe there's something there.
WGUBR 5c Humans
GWR Naya Zoo
Legacy:
GW GW Maverick
R Goblins
I'm going to finish humans here in a week or two and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks they could share? I looked at the primer but it seems out of date.
GUInfect UMerfolk RW Burn GRWBU Humans GWUBant Eldrazi GR RG EldraziC Serum Powder EldraziC Eldrazi TronGB GB Rock
Legacy:
GUInfect
RGLands
The best non obvious trick I can think of is your sequencing with Thalia's Lieutenant. If you play the Lieutenant, and then in response to the trigger vial in a creature, it will then trigger the Lieutenant and both it plus your other creature become bigger.
Thanks to patbou for posting relevant content links, helped me feel like I could get caught up, after being off the grid for a week.
In terms of tips and tricks for new players, like Aazadan I would also suggest focusing on learning how to use Vial correctly. Using Vial well can be kind of non-obvious, at least to me.
Make a habit of NOT playing out a creature until you've asked the opponent for a response to the Vial activation. (This is most important with Vial on 2, but it's just a good habit all-round.) Several of our creatures (Meddling, Thalia, sometimes Image, Teeg if you play it) have powerful un-triggered static effects that can potentially lead to a blowout.
False tap at opportune moments to keep opponents on their toes--playing a creature is a "may" ability.
If like me you run the card, plan ahead to play Dire Fleet Daredevil on a key turn of the game, whether in response to a Snapcaster target or on the opponent's draw step to nab a sorcery-speed threat.
In general, pay attention to how your "leave at two" vs. "go to three" decisions play out--for me this can be a tough call, but I get better with practice. It's a very context-dependent call.
I play 5c humans for a short time, I was on jeskai control before.
I'll sleeve up humans for the MKM event in Paris and I'll test a list with rest in peace and Stony silence in SB. For this purpose, I think that we need a little more of white mana source.
This is my current list, what do you think about it ?
3 Phantasmal Image
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Kitesail Freebooter
4 Meddling Mage
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Reflector Mage
3 Militia Bugler
4 Mantis Rider
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Ancient Ziggurat
2 Seachrome Coast
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Unclaimed Territory
2 Plains
Artifact
4 Aether Vial
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Auriok Champion
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Sin Collector
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Gut Shot
1 Dismember
The 20th land help stabilize the starting hands and allow you to have more white mana source for rest in peace and stony silence. Do you think this is viable ? Maybe need I an additionnal multicolour land like city of brass instead of ziggurat ?
I also will try to play qasali pridemage instead of rec sage. It's better against blood moon and it can have a direct impact on the game with exalted.
Reflector Mage is one of the only soft counters to creatures, so cutting them creates a hole in the deck.
Bugler is a good 2-for-1, excellent against removals.
Anafenza, the Foremost will deal about as much damage as Mantis Rider if unchecked, but if it takes a removal, it will just deal nothing whereas Mantis Rider can usually sneak 3 damage, and this is very valuable. Flying ability is valuable as well.
Anafenza has a decent GY hate ability, but since Hollow One and Vengevine decks are vey active on turns 1-2 it may be sometimes too late. But it's not irrelevant either so I'm not sure if it's playable, perhapas in a particular meta it is.
In regards to your comments about waiting for the response to Vial activation, did your opponents ever do anything? I understand the importance of it, but I’ve not had anyone do anything and therefore wondering what you experienced.
Similarly, do you find the “fake” activations of Vial Useful, or more just an annoyance. What examples is it a benefit? Maybe this is a bit of a noobie question, but again, just wanted to hear your experiences.
I think gaddock teeg is awesome! Very very useful card for us.
Everyone loves an angry mob RWG
Why so Bloo? RU
Sorry for this, I've been away from MTG for a while. I'm going to be catching back up on latest developments over the next week or so and will update the primer accordingly.
Ahhh yes. Dredge. It's an awesome deck my friend plays for a long time so i have quite a bit of experience playing against it. He recently resleeved it after the printing of Stitcher's Supplier. It's also a bit of a hit or miss deck, but the fast starts are busted.
What's key to their strategy, are the enablers. From best (fastest) to worst: Insolent Neonate, Cathartic Reunion, Faithless Looting and maybe slightly ahead on Stitcher's Supplier.
If you can put those out of order, you are golden. Nabbing Reunion with Freebooter, following with Mage on conflagrate get's you places.
When they start drawing cards you're winning.
Though that seldom happens. Most of the time it's a race, and their finisher is the big burn spell. So naming Conflagrate is definitely the right choice when they have their engine online.
Another thing they really don't like is their payoff cards in hand. So be sure to use Reflector Mage to bounce their Priced Amalgam
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
Grafdigger's Cage is a multifunctional card and was a sideboard staple in many Humans lists. It was just cut out of mosts lists because of the meta shift. It's too narrow for Hollow One (stops only the Phoenix) and Bridgevine (stops only vengevine), those decks attack from different angles.
Rest in Peace is the best, as it hoses most strategies while also having applications versus GBx decks. reliably casting it can be difficult though.
I guess in our current shell, Remorseful Cleric is our best bet since it can be reliably cast and can be found with Militia Bugler. If not vialed in immediately at turn 3, it might be too late though.
Another great, but possibly to slow card is Anafenza, the Foremost.
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
I think our best GY hate card is Faerie Macabre or Tormod's Crypt because it requires zero mana, playing it doesn't require any deviation from building our board state and it can be used as early as turn 1.
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Ziggaurat
4 Unclaimed Territory
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Concealed Courtyard
1 Mana Confluence
2 Plains
Creatures 37
1 Wingcrafter
1 Hidden Dragonslayer
3 Meddling Mage
4 Militia Bugler
4 Mantis Rider
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Dark Confidant
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Reflector Mage
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Kitesail Freebooter
1 Phantasmal Image
4 Aether Vial
2 Fourth Bridge Prowler
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Kambal, Counsul of Allocation
1 Shapers' Sanctuary
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Xathrid Necromancer
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Damping Sphere
Things I noticed:
With my move to black, Phantasmal Image has gotten a lot harder to cast. I think I need to cut it. I'm considering Mayor of Avabruck for the slot.
4 Militia Bugler is too many here. I would like to be lowering my decks hard CMC, which I started by turning a Reflector Mage into a Dragonslayer, giving me another 2 at times (though it's better to morph obviously when the curve allows). I'm looking hard at turning Bugler #4, and perhaps Bugler #3 into some lower CMC card advantage. One thought I had was Loyal Cathar as it's aggressive, follows human tribal, and opens up some 2 mana 2 for 1's which is a fantastic rate. It also has Vigilance so helps to preserve that other advantage of Bugler.
Only drew Wingcrafter once, but it was really strong when I did, it gave a Champion of the Parish flying and was instantly lethal.
Prowler never came up, I was in a spot to use it once, but the opponent didn't play into it so I didn't get to use it as a combat trick, and their draw wasn't friendly to a Gut Shot (which is what came out for it)
Teeg is too hard to cast, same with the Sanctuary
I haven't been a fan of the Reclamation Sage either. I'm thinking it should be replaced with a Vithian Renegades and a War Priest of Thune. The sideboard can support turning the one card into two as they would be much easier to cast.
If you're on the play, name Arcbound Ravager as that's their engine card even more so than Hardened Scales.
It's trickier on the draw, it's either Hangarback Walker or Walking Ballista, Ballista will probably kill you faster so I would say that.
There's little in current sideboards to bring in for them, so you'll have to adjust a bit. Maybe take out Vial and bring in Stony Silence. Rest in Peace is also fantastic against them.