Has anyone seen anything about Vizier Knightfall lately, or has it fallen out of favor entirely? I enjoy playing it, but if it's been demonstrated to be a sub-par option, I might consider changing my deck up.
This deck felt really like a rough diamont, prepared for teh upcoming tasks the format is asking for.
It has some sort of disruption, Beaters and Value.
Especially Geist of Saint Traft felt great. It dodges a lot of removal, represents a fast clock and can come down as early as turn 2.
On the downside the matchup against Aggro-Decks decreases significantly.
Was a very pleasant surprise to read through the new batch of 5-0 Competitive League decks and see an almost identical maindeck list to the one I posted earlier (-1 Qasali -2 VoR, +2 Selfless Spirit +1 Scooze)
Was a very pleasant surprise to read through the new batch of 5-0 Competitive League decks and see an almost identical maindeck list to the one I posted earlier (-1 Qasali -2 VoR, +2 Selfless Spirit +1 Scooze)
I unfortunately have to miss FNM this week, hope to hear more about success with BBE Knightfall, I've been having a huge amount of fun with it.
Your list and this one above have officially peaked my interest. How many games have you been able to run through with it? How do you find its matchups vs top tier decks such as Affinity, Burn, Jund, Tron, Non-interactive combo such as storm or ad naus, go wide strategies like elves or merfolk?
A couple questions in addition, I have no testing or experience so feel free to tear them apart:
Path vs Helix... any merits to running more great BBE hits in Helix?
Some number of tracker/Courser and Ooze/voice/spirit vs aggressive threats like Mantis Rider in the 3 spot or goyf or some other aggresive 2 drop in the 2cmc spots?
I don't really know a number to put on it but I've spent roughly 2-6 hours playing it every day for the last week.
BGx: Favorable, and a good reason to play the deck. We outpace them, but Jund god draws can cause us to sputter out.
Jace decks: Favorable for similar reasons to BGx. BBE is still the king Jace killer. Miracles can be a real pain in the ass since this deck can't really beat a good Entreat The Angels and Terminus can be really rough.
Affinity: Favorable, and a really good reason to run red. Having access to seven one-mana removal spells does a really good job of stopping them in their tracks, and then we side in Stony Silence and Izzet Staticaster and they don't have a chance of winning a post-board game.
Burn: Even. Burn can put us low enough to the combo is often not an option because of the self-inflicted damage. Scooze and Courser are maindeck all-stars, I run Dromoka's Command out the side in part to blow out burn.
Go-wide: Slight edge. Seven cheap mainboard removal spells and threats that outsize them is enough to win games, but sometimes things don't line up and we get swarmed out.
Tron: Unfavorable, but not unwinnable. Tron is still Tron. If we lose the dice roll we probably lose to match unless they draw poorly, but if you win the roll then it's not so bad. Turn two Knight to keep them off Tron and BBE to smack down a Karn that down-ticked can keep us in the game.
Non-interactive: Unfavorable to even, depending on your sideboard strategy. If you want to hate out non-interactive combo decks through solid sideboard strategies then it's fine. I'd like to highlight Gaddock Teeg--not running CoCo or Jace means we can run this ******** who can singlehandedly shut down entire decks.
In general: The fact that we can win through a combo as early as turn three means we can win pretty much any game. The deck is versatile enough that there are no auto-scoop matchups.
Path vs Helix: I don't really like Helix maindeck. Path is a very relevant removal spell because we need clean answers to creatures with toughness greater than three, and as a curve-out deck the difference between one mana and two mana is very relevant.
Aggressive threats vs value creatures: I feel like our value creatures is what makes the deck tick, personally. I think running Goyf is fine but will often need help from the opponent to get it big. The deck is trying to jump the 2cmc spot with all the mana dorks, and having a 1/2 Goyf as your turn two play feels bad. I've been trying out Loxodon Smiter as a throwback to my GW Hatebear days as discard and counterspell hate. I've been avoiding cards like Mantis Rider and Geist to not strain the mana too much, but it might not be a bad idea.
My plan for next week is to go buck wild and play domain coralhelm zoo with bloodbraid elf. Might need to go up to 5 dorks and throw in a bird, but initial testing is promising. Manabase needs tweaking but this is a base level read on it. The deck hits hard, has tons of reach, and bloodbraid elf supports the coralhelm combo really well.
I don't think I can stomach the Steam Vents in the mana. It looks like a real stinker. I'm not sure why'd you want it since Strand can just get Foundry and your other fetches can grab Stomping Ground.
Looking to try this out tonight at my LGS, ill let you all know how it goes but in the meantime would love some feedback. Its basically an aggressively slanted 4C Knightfall.
As for the choices, its meant to get out of the gate pretty fast while abusing a lot of synergy here with geopede/rallier, rallier/seal of fire, bloodbraid/retreat, and as always the combo. Rallier also provides a way to get back important oozes or to a lesser extent geopedes vs removal heavy shells. The seal of fire is good re-playable removal that can also trigger revolt in a pinch. The manabase is basically a copy of some old Eli 4c retreat lists and the sideboard is in constant flux.
It sacrifices value and grind for a more explosive start all while maintaining the combo.
Looking to try this out tonight at my LGS, ill let you all know how it goes but in the meantime would love some feedback. Its basically an aggressively slanted 4C Knightfall.
As for the choices, its meant to get out of the gate pretty fast while abusing a lot of synergy here with geopede/rallier, rallier/seal of fire, bloodbraid/retreat, and as always the combo. Rallier also provides a way to get back important oozes or to a lesser extent geopedes vs removal heavy shells. The seal of fire is good re-playable removal that can also trigger revolt in a pinch. The manabase is basically a copy of some old Eli 4c retreat lists and the sideboard is in constant flux.
It sacrifices value and grind for a more explosive start all while maintaining the combo.
So had 16 players and I had a rough time....
Rd 1: RUG Scapeshift. He was the owner of the store and a dedicated scapeshift player for a long time. Plays with 3 maindeck sweltering suns, and notably a bunch of repeals MD. G1 I had to mull to 5 and even then had no play till t3. This was lost before I started. G2 I was able to apply some pressure with Plated Geopede but ultimately Steve Blocks and Repeals keeping me untapped with KOTR stalled long enough. Quick 0-2
Rd 2: Mono Red Prison. G1 he gets out T1 Bloodmoon but I had 2 plated Geopede in hand and a bunch of lands... I applied some pressure until he finally found a bridge, but I found a couple basic lands and just bloodbraided into enough burn to finish him off. G2 he had a much slower start and tried to do a bit more interacting killing off my dorks but I closed the game quickly with 2 8/8 KOTR vs his Hazoret as he did not find a bridge. Quick 2-0
Rd 3: Boros Burn. G1 he had an insane hand and finished me off T4 with Boros Charm, Bolt, Bolt.... G2 I stalled him for a long time as he wasted some burn on dorks while I played Eidolon and also got to ghost quarter, renegade rallier, ghost quarter him out of white mana. This however, was all fun and cute except I was applying little to no pressure. Quick 0-2
Rd 4: Mardu Pyromancer. These games are a bit of a blur but very good games. Izzet staticaster and Flame job made winning post SB very difficult for him. I went 2-1 and both games were won through large KOTR. I did get to cast Keranos 1 game but it was a turn to late and still died to a bunch of souls.
Overall thoughts:
Plated Geopede was cute... It should almost certainly be voice of resurgence as I need something to punish others for playing on my turn and provide a consistent large body through removal(token).
Without Geopede I dont think the rallier, seal of fire package is worthwhile. I cascaded into Rallier once and had no way to activate revolt and that felt bad. With voices as a way to fight through removal heavy decks I think I can turn the Ralliers into something a bit more interactive. I want to try out Reflector Mage here to act as Psuedo Removal in place of the seals with a body for pressure attached.
The seals then leave anything open and I have considered a lot here but there is really only 1 card that really hedges vs tron and scapeshift varients. I'm going to try 2 Geist of Saint Traft here and see if I cant get good use out of it with 4 bolt, 3 path, 3 reflector mage.
Lastly, my SB was a mess. I felt hopeless to burn and sweepers. The forge Tenders are often a perfect swap for 3 BOP. New version of the deck should be even to favorable vs most of the field except where I think I am still going to be facing an uphill battle vs tron and scapeshift.
Rallier has always been a trap card in decks like these imo. It makes sense in decks that play Viscera Seer and Eldritch Evolution so you have engines that can bin something like a Voice and retain value. Whenever I played with Rallier it rarely got more value than sometimes I got a fetch.
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Modern: GW GW Hatebears |GWB Counters Company | GWU Bant Knightfall GW Value Town
Legacy: GWB Maverick
EDH: GWR Mayael | Rhys | Sisay | Ezuri | Titania
GWIf it doesn't have a toolbox I don't want anything to do with itGW
My next experiment will be to see how Elspeth, KE works out. There were a lot of stalled boards she'd have ended swiftly. Geist in the side is more cards for the control matchups or where we need to race. It also happens to have great synergy with Elspeth.
My experience with Knight-Errant has been incredibly positive. I haven't played Knightfall since the JTMS unbanning, but in testing I found she synergizes much better with our gameplan than Jace. (Qualification: I've been running her as a 2-of sideboard, never maindeck.)
I've found that Bant Company/Knightfall decks run best when they're just slamming too many powerful dudes too quickly for the opponent to deal with, and then curving out at instant speed with Company. While Jace's abilities are good, they don't really further that gameplan. In fact, they run directly counter to it. The Brainstorm is good, especially if you can protect him, but spending 4 mana on it at sorcery speed lets a ton of pressure off of your opponent. Whereas holding up your mana and representing removal, Queller, post-board counters, and Company is just going straight for the jugular.
For the games where that plan (and the Retreat combo, if you run it) don't work, the value off of Jace is undeniably strong. Maybe even strong enough to put up with the warping your mana base and the major loss of velocity from paying 4 mana for an Unsummon or a strong cantrip. But the question I'm always left with is... could we be doing the same thing, but with deck synergy?
That's where Elspeth, Knight-Errant comes in. Eating lots of removal? She rebuilds your board. Need reach? She throws your enormous Knight at their face. Stalled board? That Ult isn't far off, and both of her abilities roll her closer to it while helping you break the stalemate. And she immediately rolls herself up to 5 loyalty and never looks back.
I'm not claiming Elspeth is stronger than Jace. She's not, by a long shot. But she just seems to work better in Bant Company in my experience.
That said, if we start tooling further away from the high-velocity beatdown plan and move more strongly into the midrange grindy side of things, Jace becomes a much better card. But at the moment I think that the midrange grind side of things is better as a backup plan than as the main thrust of the deck.
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
Going a bit further, I also think that Elspeth, Knight-Errant is great, but she's only good in matchups where Knightfall is already typically strong. What if Elspeth can come out on turn 2 (with dork) and also scry 2? That's why I'm running 3 Nissa, Steward of Elements in my mainboard. In grind matchups, she can potentially get you a creature or a land (synergizes with Courser of Kruphix). The most important part though is how relevant her other two abilities are. If the game plan in non-interactive matchups is to Retreat combo, Scry 2 is great at finding the combo piece. If she comes down on turn 2 (with dork) and scryes each turn, she can Ult on turn 5 for 10 damage.
Don't forget about Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. He's very similar to Elspeth, but does create a bit more "value" while still pressuring the opponent. Elspeth is probably better with her jump ability in some situations, and Gideon in others.
This weekend, I went to GP Memphis just to play in the modern side events. I played 15 rounds (5, 3-round semi-casual tournaments) and went 13-1-1 with Kevin Chew's recent MTGO list almost card for card (I was short one SB Jace and, at first refused to run two worships). My loss came from 5-C Humans and it convinced me that Kevin Chew was right about running two worships.
Noteworthy points: I've been reading through the comments and it seems that there is a disagreement on if we will be running Jace (especially when compared to other walkers). The answer is yes (albeit, your budget might convince you to play Gideon). Knightfall has, traditionally, been a deck that has an answer to pretty much every other deck in the format. However, the problem is that it doesn't always draw it. The biggest reason to play Jace is because he greatly helps fix that problem. This, combined with the fact that we play so many good-at-keeping-Jace-alive creatures means our Jace is quite possibly better than most other Jaces. As a bonus, Vendilion Clique is a pretty powerful card and it feels great to play it main.
Of course, playing Jace comes with three major drawbacks, no Kessig Wolf Run, no Retreat to coralhelm, and a different manabase (10 fetches plus 7 fetchable lands makes Knight less likely to activate his ability and more likely to just attack). That said, I wouldn't dream of switching back as the inclusion of Jace trumps these points.
Anybody interested in learning from the master Kelvin Chew playing this deck can watch it. The event is a team modern format and the video show the finals of the playoffs at our LGS.
Anybody interested in learning from the master Kelvin Chew playing this deck can watch it. The event is a team modern format and the video show the finals of the playoffs at our LGS.
Do you know if Kelvin was on the 4 Coco/2 Jace/4 Path list for this event?
As I unfortunately did not get to attend this event, I was unable to ask or speak to him about his deck, and therefore cant comment on his list. If I get the chance to go to his shop, I will ask him about his input and share his insights here.
Anybody interested in learning from the master Kelvin Chew playing this deck can watch it. The event is a team modern format and the video show the finals of the playoffs at our LGS.
Do you know if Kelvin was on the 4 Coco/2 Jace/4 Path list for this event?
As I unfortunately did not get to attend this event, I was unable to ask or speak to him about his deck, and therefore cant comment on his list. If I get the chance to go to his shop, I will ask him about his input and share his insights here.
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GP Lyon didn't line up too well whereas i got either outvalued badly, or out-comboed super-fast.
Today i've taken the following list to my local FNM:
2 flooded strand
4 misty rainforest
2 forest
1 plains
1 island
1 temple garden
1 breeding pool
1 hallowed fountain
1 botanical sanctum
1 horizon canopy
1 ghost quarter
1 sejiri steppe
1 gavony township
4 noble hierarch
3 voice of resurgence
3 scavenging ooze
2 qasali pridemage
2 meddling mage
3 reflector mage
2 geist of saint traft
4 knight of the reliquary
2 tireless tracker
4 path to exile
1 elspeth, knight-errant
This deck felt really like a rough diamont, prepared for teh upcoming tasks the format is asking for.
It has some sort of disruption, Beaters and Value.
Especially Geist of Saint Traft felt great. It dodges a lot of removal, represents a fast clock and can come down as early as turn 2.
On the downside the matchup against Aggro-Decks decreases significantly.
The one-of elspeth, knight-errant is for racing-situations, but can become a jace, the mind sculptor, with a second copy in the sideboard.
Green @ it's best
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Scavenging Ooze
2 Selfless Spirit
2 Voice of Resurgence
3 Courser of Kruphix
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Tireless Tracker
4 Bloodbraid Elf
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Domri Rade
Spells (7)
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Path to Exile
Enchantments (3)
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
1 Breeding Pool
2 Flooded Strand
3 Forest
1 Gavony Township
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Stony Silence
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Izzet Staticaster
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Settle the Wreckage
I unfortunately have to miss FNM this week, hope to hear more about success with BBE Knightfall, I've been having a huge amount of fun with it.
GW GW Hatebears |GWB Counters Company | GWU Bant Knightfall GW Value Town
Legacy:
GWB Maverick
EDH:
GWR Mayael | Rhys | Sisay | Ezuri | Titania
GWIf it doesn't have a toolbox I don't want anything to do with itGW
Your list and this one above have officially peaked my interest. How many games have you been able to run through with it? How do you find its matchups vs top tier decks such as Affinity, Burn, Jund, Tron, Non-interactive combo such as storm or ad naus, go wide strategies like elves or merfolk?
A couple questions in addition, I have no testing or experience so feel free to tear them apart:
Path vs Helix... any merits to running more great BBE hits in Helix?
Some number of tracker/Courser and Ooze/voice/spirit vs aggressive threats like Mantis Rider in the 3 spot or goyf or some other aggresive 2 drop in the 2cmc spots?
BGx: Favorable, and a good reason to play the deck. We outpace them, but Jund god draws can cause us to sputter out.
Jace decks: Favorable for similar reasons to BGx. BBE is still the king Jace killer. Miracles can be a real pain in the ass since this deck can't really beat a good Entreat The Angels and Terminus can be really rough.
Affinity: Favorable, and a really good reason to run red. Having access to seven one-mana removal spells does a really good job of stopping them in their tracks, and then we side in Stony Silence and Izzet Staticaster and they don't have a chance of winning a post-board game.
Burn: Even. Burn can put us low enough to the combo is often not an option because of the self-inflicted damage. Scooze and Courser are maindeck all-stars, I run Dromoka's Command out the side in part to blow out burn.
Go-wide: Slight edge. Seven cheap mainboard removal spells and threats that outsize them is enough to win games, but sometimes things don't line up and we get swarmed out.
Tron: Unfavorable, but not unwinnable. Tron is still Tron. If we lose the dice roll we probably lose to match unless they draw poorly, but if you win the roll then it's not so bad. Turn two Knight to keep them off Tron and BBE to smack down a Karn that down-ticked can keep us in the game.
Non-interactive: Unfavorable to even, depending on your sideboard strategy. If you want to hate out non-interactive combo decks through solid sideboard strategies then it's fine. I'd like to highlight Gaddock Teeg--not running CoCo or Jace means we can run this ******** who can singlehandedly shut down entire decks.
In general: The fact that we can win through a combo as early as turn three means we can win pretty much any game. The deck is versatile enough that there are no auto-scoop matchups.
Path vs Helix: I don't really like Helix maindeck. Path is a very relevant removal spell because we need clean answers to creatures with toughness greater than three, and as a curve-out deck the difference between one mana and two mana is very relevant.
Aggressive threats vs value creatures: I feel like our value creatures is what makes the deck tick, personally. I think running Goyf is fine but will often need help from the opponent to get it big. The deck is trying to jump the 2cmc spot with all the mana dorks, and having a 1/2 Goyf as your turn two play feels bad. I've been trying out Loxodon Smiter as a throwback to my GW Hatebear days as discard and counterspell hate. I've been avoiding cards like Mantis Rider and Geist to not strain the mana too much, but it might not be a bad idea.
GW GW Hatebears |GWB Counters Company | GWU Bant Knightfall GW Value Town
Legacy:
GWB Maverick
EDH:
GWR Mayael | Rhys | Sisay | Ezuri | Titania
GWIf it doesn't have a toolbox I don't want anything to do with itGW
My plan for next week is to go buck wild and play domain coralhelm zoo with bloodbraid elf. Might need to go up to 5 dorks and throw in a bird, but initial testing is promising. Manabase needs tweaking but this is a base level read on it. The deck hits hard, has tons of reach, and bloodbraid elf supports the coralhelm combo really well.
~Modern~
BGURWhiteless Death's ShadowRUGB
GWRUSaheeli BlinkURWG
RGBUGood Ole' DredgeUBGR
~Commander~
URWNarset, Enlightened Time-TravelerWRU
UBRWBreya, Etherium ArchitectWRBU
A Prolific Loser To Blood Moon
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Renegade Rallier
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Seal of Fire
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
3 Path to Exile
4 Plated Geopede
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Gavony Township
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Izzet Staticaster
2 Stony Silence
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Flame Jab
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
As for the choices, its meant to get out of the gate pretty fast while abusing a lot of synergy here with geopede/rallier, rallier/seal of fire, bloodbraid/retreat, and as always the combo. Rallier also provides a way to get back important oozes or to a lesser extent geopedes vs removal heavy shells. The seal of fire is good re-playable removal that can also trigger revolt in a pinch. The manabase is basically a copy of some old Eli 4c retreat lists and the sideboard is in constant flux.
It sacrifices value and grind for a more explosive start all while maintaining the combo.
So had 16 players and I had a rough time....
Rd 1: RUG Scapeshift. He was the owner of the store and a dedicated scapeshift player for a long time. Plays with 3 maindeck sweltering suns, and notably a bunch of repeals MD. G1 I had to mull to 5 and even then had no play till t3. This was lost before I started. G2 I was able to apply some pressure with Plated Geopede but ultimately Steve Blocks and Repeals keeping me untapped with KOTR stalled long enough. Quick 0-2
Rd 2: Mono Red Prison. G1 he gets out T1 Bloodmoon but I had 2 plated Geopede in hand and a bunch of lands... I applied some pressure until he finally found a bridge, but I found a couple basic lands and just bloodbraided into enough burn to finish him off. G2 he had a much slower start and tried to do a bit more interacting killing off my dorks but I closed the game quickly with 2 8/8 KOTR vs his Hazoret as he did not find a bridge. Quick 2-0
Rd 3: Boros Burn. G1 he had an insane hand and finished me off T4 with Boros Charm, Bolt, Bolt.... G2 I stalled him for a long time as he wasted some burn on dorks while I played Eidolon and also got to ghost quarter, renegade rallier, ghost quarter him out of white mana. This however, was all fun and cute except I was applying little to no pressure. Quick 0-2
Rd 4: Mardu Pyromancer. These games are a bit of a blur but very good games. Izzet staticaster and Flame job made winning post SB very difficult for him. I went 2-1 and both games were won through large KOTR. I did get to cast Keranos 1 game but it was a turn to late and still died to a bunch of souls.
Overall thoughts:
Plated Geopede was cute... It should almost certainly be voice of resurgence as I need something to punish others for playing on my turn and provide a consistent large body through removal(token).
Without Geopede I dont think the rallier, seal of fire package is worthwhile. I cascaded into Rallier once and had no way to activate revolt and that felt bad. With voices as a way to fight through removal heavy decks I think I can turn the Ralliers into something a bit more interactive. I want to try out Reflector Mage here to act as Psuedo Removal in place of the seals with a body for pressure attached.
The seals then leave anything open and I have considered a lot here but there is really only 1 card that really hedges vs tron and scapeshift varients. I'm going to try 2 Geist of Saint Traft here and see if I cant get good use out of it with 4 bolt, 3 path, 3 reflector mage.
Lastly, my SB was a mess. I felt hopeless to burn and sweepers. The forge Tenders are often a perfect swap for 3 BOP. New version of the deck should be even to favorable vs most of the field except where I think I am still going to be facing an uphill battle vs tron and scapeshift.
Suggestions welcome!
Updated list:
4 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Reflector Mage
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
3 Path to Exile
4 Voice of Resurgence
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Gavony Township
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Izzet Staticaster
3 Tireless Tracker
2 Stony Silence
1 Flame Jab
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Dromoka's Command
GW GW Hatebears |GWB Counters Company | GWU Bant Knightfall GW Value Town
Legacy:
GWB Maverick
EDH:
GWR Mayael | Rhys | Sisay | Ezuri | Titania
GWIf it doesn't have a toolbox I don't want anything to do with itGW
My experience with Knight-Errant has been incredibly positive. I haven't played Knightfall since the JTMS unbanning, but in testing I found she synergizes much better with our gameplan than Jace. (Qualification: I've been running her as a 2-of sideboard, never maindeck.)
I've found that Bant Company/Knightfall decks run best when they're just slamming too many powerful dudes too quickly for the opponent to deal with, and then curving out at instant speed with Company. While Jace's abilities are good, they don't really further that gameplan. In fact, they run directly counter to it. The Brainstorm is good, especially if you can protect him, but spending 4 mana on it at sorcery speed lets a ton of pressure off of your opponent. Whereas holding up your mana and representing removal, Queller, post-board counters, and Company is just going straight for the jugular.
For the games where that plan (and the Retreat combo, if you run it) don't work, the value off of Jace is undeniably strong. Maybe even strong enough to put up with the warping your mana base and the major loss of velocity from paying 4 mana for an Unsummon or a strong cantrip. But the question I'm always left with is... could we be doing the same thing, but with deck synergy?
That's where Elspeth, Knight-Errant comes in. Eating lots of removal? She rebuilds your board. Need reach? She throws your enormous Knight at their face. Stalled board? That Ult isn't far off, and both of her abilities roll her closer to it while helping you break the stalemate. And she immediately rolls herself up to 5 loyalty and never looks back.
I'm not claiming Elspeth is stronger than Jace. She's not, by a long shot. But she just seems to work better in Bant Company in my experience.
That said, if we start tooling further away from the high-velocity beatdown plan and move more strongly into the midrange grindy side of things, Jace becomes a much better card. But at the moment I think that the midrange grind side of things is better as a backup plan than as the main thrust of the deck.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
Noteworthy points: I've been reading through the comments and it seems that there is a disagreement on if we will be running Jace (especially when compared to other walkers). The answer is yes (albeit, your budget might convince you to play Gideon). Knightfall has, traditionally, been a deck that has an answer to pretty much every other deck in the format. However, the problem is that it doesn't always draw it. The biggest reason to play Jace is because he greatly helps fix that problem. This, combined with the fact that we play so many good-at-keeping-Jace-alive creatures means our Jace is quite possibly better than most other Jaces. As a bonus, Vendilion Clique is a pretty powerful card and it feels great to play it main.
Of course, playing Jace comes with three major drawbacks, no Kessig Wolf Run, no Retreat to coralhelm, and a different manabase (10 fetches plus 7 fetchable lands makes Knight less likely to activate his ability and more likely to just attack). That said, I wouldn't dream of switching back as the inclusion of Jace trumps these points.
Anywho, if you've got questions, AMA.
Anybody interested in learning from the master Kelvin Chew playing this deck can watch it. The event is a team modern format and the video show the finals of the playoffs at our LGS.
Do you know if Kelvin was on the 4 Coco/2 Jace/4 Path list for this event?
As I unfortunately did not get to attend this event, I was unable to ask or speak to him about his deck, and therefore cant comment on his list. If I get the chance to go to his shop, I will ask him about his input and share his insights here.