2-1-2 tonight for 17th place, which is an annoying record to have. Turns out I placed 4th back on Monday though, so I got that goin' for me.
2-0 vs. Mono-U Tron: A new player got owned by my lucky Extraction on his Expedition Maps in G1; all he was able to draw were islands. Then in G2 I extracted his Tower on T1 after Ghost Quartering it, holding 4 more lands to make my drops. He couldn't come back.
0-2 vs. Affinity: Didn't see enough removal in G1 and got his Overseer but lost to a Ravager backing up all four Inkmoths and some other attackers: I was not able to block enough of his dudes to prevent the sac and reassign counters for lethal. In G2 I mulled to 5, kept a one-lander with Stony in it, and drew no other lands.
1-1-1 vs. Infect: Game 1 I took riding many Spirit tokens. Game 2 I was one turn too slow and couldn't deal with his Rancor. Game three went very log and we ran out of time.
2-0 vs. Jeskai Control: HE flooded G1 and starved G2. I was able to hold removal all through both games though and was not worried at any time about the combo. In fact I somehow ended G1 sitting on, I kid you not, all 4 Paths, my one Go for the Throat, AND my one maindeck Anguished Unmaking. I got all four Thought-Knot Seers in both games in this match. Not fair for the poor guy.
1-1-1 vs. WB Death and Taxes: His Aether Vial consistently made things difficult for me, and I was hard pressed to keep up with his creature swarm. Timely Reinforcements was a big player here post-board. His Kytheon/Gideon was very annoying and seemed the strongest part of his deck, though Flickerwisp was also very good for him. I was not able to shut down his Vials with Needle or Stony and barely scraped out a draw at 1 life in game three. He was pretty upset he couldn't close the deal, but them's the breaks.
Thoughts: Batterskull was a big deal tonight and single-handedly won me G2 in the last match. Smasher was not so much of a player. Shambling Vent continues to be a crucial part of my deck's strategy.
Tonight the deck felt strong but maybe too grindy; I went to time, or almost, in three matches. This would not be great for late performance in a long-day's tournament. Hopefully I will get a chance to report on a hifgher-level event in a couple of weeks when the TCG States comes to town, There is a local game shop hosting a $1000 Modern event in the next month or so as well. As always I will post up with a report after events.
What do you think about Eldrazi Displacer? Could lower the curve and has synergy with wasteland stranger/thought knot seer. Also a great mana sink for the late game. It's just a good card in general.
With Thopter Sword running around, could MD Rest in Peace be a thing? The only downside is that it can't be popped for a draw late game, but it isn't hated out as easily by Stony Silence or other artifact/activated ability hate. Maybe it just earns a SB spot though.
Displacer is good. The 3 CMC slot is already pretty full, though. On the other hand it is good without setup, unlike Strangler. It also kills 2/1s like YP, Bob, and Dryad Militant without dying, and it survives sweepers like Pyroclasm (which would be good in the Tron match) and Flaying Tendrils as well. It wrecks Arcbound Ravager in Affinity. Not sure if I'll run it or not. I tried it earlier once, and was underwhelmed, but maybe it needs another look.
I'm not sure how others on this build are avoiding having dead Processors at times. I definitely find that, now and then, my Stranglers and more often my Herders aren't getting extra value. Added to this is the fact that sometimes the card I originally exiled needs to stay in exile, because it could cause trouble for me if it ends up back in the graveyard. I run 4 Relics, 4 Path, 4 Seer, one Unmaking, and one Extraction, in my main.
My perspective is that Rest in Peace is just bad in this build. It nerfs Lingering Souls, which is a terrible idea. Not cantripping is also a major downside, not a minor blip. Nobody running Thopter Sword is going to bring in Stony Silence against us in the first place, and anyone who does bring Stony in against Processors is probably just making a mistake.
Looks like I may get a chance to play in as many as three major tourneys in the next few weeks: two TCG States and one LGS $1000 Modern Open. Looking forward to it.
RIP is not good in this deck, it nerfs our own souls and more importantly is a dead draw later in the game that (unlike relic) you can't cycle away. Don't ge me wrong I think it's a great card for the sb in other decks. But as someone who did a lot of testing w/ it I feel I can say that relic is strictly better. The only time I can see RIP being good is in the SB if your meta is infested w/ gy decks that can all run stony silence.
Displacer is worth a slot, but probably just one, worst case scenario he's an early body that blocks aggro and pressures control and tron, and then every now and then he drops late game alongside a strangler, TKS, or sculler and just ruins the opponent's life.
@Deaddrift, I only rarely find myself w/ a processor in hand and nothing to process but I am playing A LOT of exile effects. I can post my decklist when I get home. Even w/ all the exile outlets I run I still sometimes draw a dead herder, and when that happens I think the right play is usually just to cast it anyway. It depends on the matchup though.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Kruphix7 I would appreciate seeing your list, as well as your thinking behind your SB choices and anything non-standard you might be running. Thanks mate!
Some notes:
My meta is a lot of aggro and combo w/ some control. There aren't a lot of other midrange decks and there is only one burn player (though there are a couple skred decks). This means that sculler is really really good in my meta but I know it hasn't been as good for others so i think it's a meta call. I'm running 17 md exile effects and 5 more in the sb so having process fodder is rarely a problem. I've found this deck is already pretty good against infect but the spellskites help seal the deal. Against tron board in the 4th GQ and the other two surgicals and hope that between your discard and your extractions you can keep them off it. I have never really liked the expedition map/land toolbox decklist but that's a playstyle preference more than me thinking one way is better than the other. Anyway this is what I've been playing since the ban and it's been really solid for me, but since I only play paper I can't say how it would do in a larger meta. Always grateful for feedback and let's keep on making this deck the best it can be!
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
I like it. You have a lot more creatures and less control/lifegain than me. Have you been paying attention to how often Sculler comes out T2-3? I haven't tried it because of the mana demands as well as all the Bolt floating around my preferred LGS. I would be curious to hear your thoughts about how often it comes out T2 on-curve.
I've started thinking about Leonin Arbiter in the side for Tron, Scapeshift, Abzan Company, Elves, KikiChord, and maybe some other decks I'm forgetting. I'm not really too interested in the Eldrazi and Taxes build, but I can see why it runs the cards it does.
Very frequently, there are 14 sources of each color in the deck, w/ 12 of those sources being able to tap for either of your two colors. t2 sculler into turn three strangler is a very common play for me against zoo or infect. I'm a big fan of sculler but I do think it's playability is proportional to the amount of burn and midrange in your meta. It is good in scenarios where your opponent either a) doesn't have removal or b) has only one removal spell which the sculler can take. Against decks that tend to a whole grip of removal spells it's usefulness plummets drastically. I should also mention about my sb that it normally contains at least two copies of celestial purge, but w/ the two skred players not showing up as frequently there are less blood moons and I've been taking it out.
I've actually been looking at Arbiter for a while too (it would likely replace sculler as the two drop) with 4 PTE and no trouble moving up to 4 GQ it seems like a powerful option w/out affecting our own gameplan too much. My only concern would be that it nerfs our own surgical extractions which have been essential for me against tron, although arbiter and GQ seems good against tron too.
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My Decks:
UG Merfolk RG 8-Whack BWG Abzan midrange GRB Living End UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin" RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!" BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
Man why can't I get your opponents. I am testing out the BW Eldrazi & Taxes list for the next few weeks since I have the parts and I've run into 5/7 Jund matches. Whenever I play BW Processors I get a ton of Scapeshift and such. Congrats on the 4-0! This deck does still have a lot of firepower and while I do firmly believe it will never be tier 1 without even more value drazi cards, I do think it will be a strong deck for a midrange/control meta.
You can try Sculler but my bet is that you'll be mulling a lot more openers. Run a Fetid Heath or maybe two, but not more than that.
Here is a typical slow opening sequence (game 1) for me. I have faster starts too, but this is common enough that it might be helpful for others to compare their own experience and see what their early game looks like.
T1: Shambling Vent (maybe Godless Shrine but Vent is the best no-spell T1 play).
T2: Thoughtseize/IoK, Relic, or both.
T3: Lingering Souls or Wasteland Strangler (Strangler sometimes gets played on T2/3 for no processing value, depending on the match).
T4: Lingering Souls or Thought-Knot Seer, or maybe swing with Shambling Vent (very common for me in some matches as a T4 play).
T5+: Anything in the deck as available and appropriate.
Obviously sometimes I open differently, with removal or what have you, and often times I can move faster, as in T3 TKS and T4 Smasher. If I miss a land drop, T4-5 can get pushed back. This is why Lingering Souls is such a big deal for the deck, because it stalls so amazingly well. The point is that I don't need to rely on a fast start T1-3. My plan is to dominate the mid and late game.
This works fine against other midrange and control decks. Graveyard-dependent decks also get slowed down by Relic. I rely on G2/3 for fast aggro (sweepers), Tron/Scapeshift (GQ + Extraction), combo (disruption plus Extraction) and Burn (lifegain options).
My view of this deck is that it has a soft game 1 to some of the field, but that it can come back strong against almost all decks once we have a chance to side. I'd be interested to hear other's thoughts and experience.
I'm already running a Fetid Heath, so I shouldn't have too much trouble in terms of getting BW on turn 2. Another reason I wanted to include Tidehollow Sculler a bit is because, like the others have previously mentioned, I sometimes get a Herder or Strangler on my draw, while there isn't anything to process. Sure I can cast to have a body on the field, but its definitely less value for me which sometimes bug me. I'll of course test it out and see how it goes as I'm adding 2 to my mainboard.
Kalitas sounds like an awesome tech to try out, and I'm incredibly tempted to do so as I think he is great value!
I'm also tempted to take out my 2x expeditions maps. Reason being sometimes spending two turns (if its early game) to fetch a land sometimes lets my opponent time to set up/react, and ive had that issue in my meta where its mainly aggro and midrange. Sure it fetches utility lands (and game finisher Westvale), but I feel it's a little slow and it's left a bad taste in my mouth. Anyone else have the same feeling?
Have been on the D&T side of the fence for a couple of weeks already. The variance on that deck kind of blows. I wonder why this deck does not play Lilianna.
I'm already running a Fetid Heath, so I shouldn't have too much trouble in terms of getting BW on turn 2. Another reason I wanted to include Tidehollow Sculler a bit is because, like the others have previously mentioned, I sometimes get a Herder or Strangler on my draw, while there isn't anything to process. Sure I can cast to have a body on the field, but its definitely less value for me which sometimes bug me. I'll of course test it out and see how it goes as I'm adding 2 to my mainboard.
Kalitas sounds like an awesome tech to try out, and I'm incredibly tempted to do so as I think he is great value!
I'm also tempted to take out my 2x expeditions maps. Reason being sometimes spending two turns (if its early game) to fetch a land sometimes lets my opponent time to set up/react, and ive had that issue in my meta where its mainly aggro and midrange. Sure it fetches utility lands (and game finisher Westvale), but I feel it's a little slow and it's left a bad taste in my mouth. Anyone else have the same feeling?
I agree that dropping Herder as a vanilla 4/5 isn't the worst thing in the world, though it sure does feel like a lost opportunity. I am at 3 on both Processors because of the variance. Kalitas is a great card but I am not sure it works too well in this shell without a lot of black removal. Maps don't work for my play style and feel like I'm slowing down an already grindy deck that goes to time more often than I'd like.
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On Monday I got stomped, going 1-2-1. Decklist as always is in my sig.
1-1-1 vs. Eldrazi and Taxes: This deck is very Aether Vial dependent. Stony Silence and/or Pithing Needle (which can also target Eldrazi Displacer) are probably both good ideas from the side. Because it runs Path and Ghost Quarter on top of Leonin Arbiter, you should consider Arbiter to be a serious threat. He is a great Strangler target, and while he is out we can use our own Paths and GQs to disadvantage our opponent. (I GQ'ed my opponent's tapped GQ while his own Arbiter locked him out, which was satisfying.) Sculler and Flickerwisp set up Strangler processing for them, so hand disruption is key. Torpor Orb would be very good in this matchup, and would also be very good against many other decks, like some of the current aggro/combo decks. This guy runs a one-of Chittering Rats to flicker with Displacer or Flickerwisp to lock opponents out of their draw step. If you see this card deal with it pronto. We went to time in grindy matches.
0-2 vs. RG Tron: In G1 I had him, until he drew into a natural T3 Tron and Karn'ed my Thought-Knot Seer. I was a little salty about this, having already envisioned myself beating him with my T4 Smasher and T5 Smasher, but his Karn into Wurmcoil into another Karn was too much. In G2 I Stony Silenced his hand full of colorless lands, Stirrings/Scryings, and eggs; he ceded T4 after I dropped a Smasher. In G3 I was able to Extract a Tower, but too late: It was after he'd already dropped Karn. He plussed Karn up to 14, getting a Smasher, and I ceded with two lands on the table, having never gotten off the ground on this game.
A lot of things have to go right to win the RG Tron match. I hate playing against that deck.
0-2 vs. Kiki/Chord: In G1 I got out valued by a huge army of all kinds of creatures clogging up the ground while his Resto beat me in the air because I had no Souls tokens available. I flooded to something like 9-10 lands in this game. In G2 I made the mistake of Pathing his Resto's instead of his Eternal Witness after he Chorded. Twice. In my head I was preventing a repeat of the last game, but in reality all I was doing was setting him up to cast the same Chord of Calling five times. That is a mistake I will not repeat. I did not have Relics during this interlude, to my chagrin. I also did not get land #4 until turn #9 in G2.
2-0 vs. BG Budget Pox/Deathcloud: This guy's deck was not competitive, though it had a couple of tricks, and I easily cleaned him up. Yay me.
Thoughts: Tonight I had a couple of times when mana screw doomed my game. This happens at times with all decks, of course, and I don't yet think it means my curve is too high, though that is a possibility I will be examining through the next weeks.
Lingering Souls was key again, but I side it out vs. Tron as too slow; do others agree with this? It might be good if a couple landed before Karn starts nuking the mana base, as long as we have Path or Scions to stop the Wurmcoil lifegain. Kiki Chord feels winnable with less bad luck. Eldrazi and Taxes is a good deck, though if they can't land (or can't use) an Aether Vial it is much weaker.
Have been on the D&T side of the fence for a couple of weeks already. The variance on that deck kind of blows. I wonder why this deck does not play Lilianna.
Liliana is great but would mean losing a beat stick. Souls is a good discard to her, but nothing else really is, since Relic is a consumable that you often want after cracking the first one. In many matches 2x Relic on the field is back breaking; and lands are always at a premium, at least in my build. She would be good with Kalitas, though.
I haven't tried her and don't know right now how I would build around such a change, but I think it would push the deck away from its current position pretty strongly.
Have been on the D&T side of the fence for a couple of weeks already. The variance on that deck kind of blows. I wonder why this deck does not play Lilianna.
Liliana is great but would mean losing a beat stick. Souls is a good discard to her, but nothing else really is, since Relic is a consumable that you often want after cracking the first one. In many matches 2x Relic on the field is back breaking; and lands are always at a premium, at least in my build. She would be good with Kalitas, though.
I haven't tried her and don't know right now how I would build around such a change, but I think it would push the deck away from its current position pretty strongly.
I've been testing out D&T over the last week or so and really like it. It does fine without Vial but Vial hands are really really powerful which is why the deck seems vial dependant. The thing with that deck is that it sacrifices the extra points this deck gets from being able to grind into the late game and instead has a better matchup against aggro and combo. I think we will be seeing lots of both this list and the Eldrazi and Taxes list going forward as they are both very strong (at least strong enough IMO to be Tier 2 - 1.5).
It's been quite some time since I've played this deck at all, and awhile since I've even played the game. Yesterday was my first time taking this deck for a spin since the ban of Eye, so I came back to see how the deck has changed.
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I was curious what people have thought about the new Sorin, Grim Nemesis? A couple people at the event I played this deck at were talking about him. While on one hand I can imagine using his +1 to flip an eldrazi and beam an opponent for 4+ life out of nowhere would be great, and his -X is lifegain + removal, but I also already know that the current Sorin we run has consistent lifegain and costs less, so we obviously keep him... Has anyone tried out the new one at all?
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I was curious what people have thought about the new Sorin, Grim Nemesis? Has anyone tried out the new one at all?
Sorin IV seems slooooow to me.
It's cool hearing people's ideas and experiences as we try to dial this in. It seems possible to me that maybe Wizards is intentionally pushing BW in Standard/Eternal formats, with Vent, Sorins, Unmaking, Strangler, Displacer, etc. making recent appearances. Looking forward to seeing Eldritch Moon and possibly a new Lili (or other Innistrad-flavored Orzhov goodies) to try out.
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I was curious what people have thought about the new Sorin, Grim Nemesis? Has anyone tried out the new one at all?
Sorin IV seems slooooow to me.
It's cool hearing people's ideas and experiences as we try to dial this in. It seems possible to me that maybe Wizards is intentionally pushing BW in Standard/Eternal formats, with Vent, Sorins, Unmaking, Strangler, Displacer, etc. making recent appearances. Looking forward to seeing Eldritch Moon and possibly a new Lili (or other Innistrad-flavored Orzhov goodies) to try out.
I think part of it is that they are trying to make White better overall. Aside from SFM, there hasn't been a card that makes you want to run white over other colors (Lingering Souls and Path are about as close as you get and those are often splashed). They are definitely trying to encourage WBx type decks because it opens up Junk, Esper and Mardu. The later two of which are severely underrepresented overall.
Just came back from my LGS after a FNM. Got first place today, and played another tourn on Wednesday, getting 2nd.
Wednesday I played against RG Titan Scapeshift (0-2, so hard to win without an early GQ-Surgical), and won against Allys (2-1, last game he took me to 1 life and milled my deck to 1 card with a blue ally.... won thanks to Worship and his topdeck land), Affinity(2-0, affinity has always been a goodmatch... at least to me) and Grixis Control(2-1, also easy but on G2 I flooded lands).
Today I played against Mardu Control(2-1, game 1 was so quick I didn't know what deck I was playing against, so I didn't sb anything... then lost G2, and G3 sided in only 3 Leyline I think, was enough), Jeskai Nahiri (2-0, easy match, more fragile than the other versions), Griselshoal(2-0), and splitted with a Jund on last round.
Made some changes in decklist: as deaddrift suggested, reduced land count to 24 cutting 1 Marsh Flats and added a second Doom Blade. Also, switch to 4 Strangelrs and 3 Herders as suggested before. The list is doing great, but I'll probably change the 2nd Doom Blade to AU or something...
A deck that I'm having a bad time playing against is D&T. There's absolutely no way I can defeat it. Does anyone has a suggestion?
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2-0 vs. Mono-U Tron: A new player got owned by my lucky Extraction on his Expedition Maps in G1; all he was able to draw were islands. Then in G2 I extracted his Tower on T1 after Ghost Quartering it, holding 4 more lands to make my drops. He couldn't come back.
0-2 vs. Affinity: Didn't see enough removal in G1 and got his Overseer but lost to a Ravager backing up all four Inkmoths and some other attackers: I was not able to block enough of his dudes to prevent the sac and reassign counters for lethal. In G2 I mulled to 5, kept a one-lander with Stony in it, and drew no other lands.
1-1-1 vs. Infect: Game 1 I took riding many Spirit tokens. Game 2 I was one turn too slow and couldn't deal with his Rancor. Game three went very log and we ran out of time.
2-0 vs. Jeskai Control: HE flooded G1 and starved G2. I was able to hold removal all through both games though and was not worried at any time about the combo. In fact I somehow ended G1 sitting on, I kid you not, all 4 Paths, my one Go for the Throat, AND my one maindeck Anguished Unmaking. I got all four Thought-Knot Seers in both games in this match. Not fair for the poor guy.
1-1-1 vs. WB Death and Taxes: His Aether Vial consistently made things difficult for me, and I was hard pressed to keep up with his creature swarm. Timely Reinforcements was a big player here post-board. His Kytheon/Gideon was very annoying and seemed the strongest part of his deck, though Flickerwisp was also very good for him. I was not able to shut down his Vials with Needle or Stony and barely scraped out a draw at 1 life in game three. He was pretty upset he couldn't close the deal, but them's the breaks.
Thoughts: Batterskull was a big deal tonight and single-handedly won me G2 in the last match. Smasher was not so much of a player. Shambling Vent continues to be a crucial part of my deck's strategy.
Tonight the deck felt strong but maybe too grindy; I went to time, or almost, in three matches. This would not be great for late performance in a long-day's tournament. Hopefully I will get a chance to report on a hifgher-level event in a couple of weeks when the TCG States comes to town, There is a local game shop hosting a $1000 Modern event in the next month or so as well. As always I will post up with a report after events.
I'm not sure how others on this build are avoiding having dead Processors at times. I definitely find that, now and then, my Stranglers and more often my Herders aren't getting extra value. Added to this is the fact that sometimes the card I originally exiled needs to stay in exile, because it could cause trouble for me if it ends up back in the graveyard. I run 4 Relics, 4 Path, 4 Seer, one Unmaking, and one Extraction, in my main.
My perspective is that Rest in Peace is just bad in this build. It nerfs Lingering Souls, which is a terrible idea. Not cantripping is also a major downside, not a minor blip. Nobody running Thopter Sword is going to bring in Stony Silence against us in the first place, and anyone who does bring Stony in against Processors is probably just making a mistake.
Looks like I may get a chance to play in as many as three major tourneys in the next few weeks: two TCG States and one LGS $1000 Modern Open. Looking forward to it.
RIP is not good in this deck, it nerfs our own souls and more importantly is a dead draw later in the game that (unlike relic) you can't cycle away. Don't ge me wrong I think it's a great card for the sb in other decks. But as someone who did a lot of testing w/ it I feel I can say that relic is strictly better. The only time I can see RIP being good is in the SB if your meta is infested w/ gy decks that can all run stony silence.
Displacer is worth a slot, but probably just one, worst case scenario he's an early body that blocks aggro and pressures control and tron, and then every now and then he drops late game alongside a strangler, TKS, or sculler and just ruins the opponent's life.
@Deaddrift, I only rarely find myself w/ a processor in hand and nothing to process but I am playing A LOT of exile effects. I can post my decklist when I get home. Even w/ all the exile outlets I run I still sometimes draw a dead herder, and when that happens I think the right play is usually just to cast it anyway. It depends on the matchup though.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
4x Wasteland Strangler
4x Thought-knot Seer
3x Blight Herder
3x Reality Smasher
1x Eldrazi Displacer
3x Tidehollow Sculler
2x Sugical Extraction
4x Path to exile
4x Relic of Progenitus
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtsieze
4x Lingering Souls
4x Eldrazi Temple
4x Caves of Koilos
3x Ghost Quarter
2x Godless Shrine
2x Shambling Vent
1x Vault of the Archangel
2x Plains
2x Swamp
3x Stony Silence
2x Rest for the Weary
3x Spellskite
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Anguished Unmaking
2x Flaying Tendrils
1x Languish
1x Ghost Quarter
Some notes:
My meta is a lot of aggro and combo w/ some control. There aren't a lot of other midrange decks and there is only one burn player (though there are a couple skred decks). This means that sculler is really really good in my meta but I know it hasn't been as good for others so i think it's a meta call. I'm running 17 md exile effects and 5 more in the sb so having process fodder is rarely a problem. I've found this deck is already pretty good against infect but the spellskites help seal the deal. Against tron board in the 4th GQ and the other two surgicals and hope that between your discard and your extractions you can keep them off it. I have never really liked the expedition map/land toolbox decklist but that's a playstyle preference more than me thinking one way is better than the other. Anyway this is what I've been playing since the ban and it's been really solid for me, but since I only play paper I can't say how it would do in a larger meta. Always grateful for feedback and let's keep on making this deck the best it can be!
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
I've started thinking about Leonin Arbiter in the side for Tron, Scapeshift, Abzan Company, Elves, KikiChord, and maybe some other decks I'm forgetting. I'm not really too interested in the Eldrazi and Taxes build, but I can see why it runs the cards it does.
I've actually been looking at Arbiter for a while too (it would likely replace sculler as the two drop) with 4 PTE and no trouble moving up to 4 GQ it seems like a powerful option w/out affecting our own gameplan too much. My only concern would be that it nerfs our own surgical extractions which have been essential for me against tron, although arbiter and GQ seems good against tron too.
RG 8-Whack
BWG Abzan midrange
GRB Living End
UWB Spirit Control
GU Kruphix's "Hug Assassin"
RW Kalemne's "Play Fatties and Hope for the Best!"
BUGW Atraxa's "All counters, all the time"
I'm already running a Fetid Heath, so I shouldn't have too much trouble in terms of getting BW on turn 2. Another reason I wanted to include Tidehollow Sculler a bit is because, like the others have previously mentioned, I sometimes get a Herder or Strangler on my draw, while there isn't anything to process. Sure I can cast to have a body on the field, but its definitely less value for me which sometimes bug me. I'll of course test it out and see how it goes as I'm adding 2 to my mainboard.
Kalitas sounds like an awesome tech to try out, and I'm incredibly tempted to do so as I think he is great value!
I'm also tempted to take out my 2x expeditions maps. Reason being sometimes spending two turns (if its early game) to fetch a land sometimes lets my opponent time to set up/react, and ive had that issue in my meta where its mainly aggro and midrange. Sure it fetches utility lands (and game finisher Westvale), but I feel it's a little slow and it's left a bad taste in my mouth. Anyone else have the same feeling?
http://www.wizardryfoundry.com
Current Deck:
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On Monday I got stomped, going 1-2-1. Decklist as always is in my sig.
1-1-1 vs. Eldrazi and Taxes: This deck is very Aether Vial dependent. Stony Silence and/or Pithing Needle (which can also target Eldrazi Displacer) are probably both good ideas from the side. Because it runs Path and Ghost Quarter on top of Leonin Arbiter, you should consider Arbiter to be a serious threat. He is a great Strangler target, and while he is out we can use our own Paths and GQs to disadvantage our opponent. (I GQ'ed my opponent's tapped GQ while his own Arbiter locked him out, which was satisfying.) Sculler and Flickerwisp set up Strangler processing for them, so hand disruption is key. Torpor Orb would be very good in this matchup, and would also be very good against many other decks, like some of the current aggro/combo decks. This guy runs a one-of Chittering Rats to flicker with Displacer or Flickerwisp to lock opponents out of their draw step. If you see this card deal with it pronto. We went to time in grindy matches.
0-2 vs. RG Tron: In G1 I had him, until he drew into a natural T3 Tron and Karn'ed my Thought-Knot Seer. I was a little salty about this, having already envisioned myself beating him with my T4 Smasher and T5 Smasher, but his Karn into Wurmcoil into another Karn was too much. In G2 I Stony Silenced his hand full of colorless lands, Stirrings/Scryings, and eggs; he ceded T4 after I dropped a Smasher. In G3 I was able to Extract a Tower, but too late: It was after he'd already dropped Karn. He plussed Karn up to 14, getting a Smasher, and I ceded with two lands on the table, having never gotten off the ground on this game.
A lot of things have to go right to win the RG Tron match. I hate playing against that deck.
0-2 vs. Kiki/Chord: In G1 I got out valued by a huge army of all kinds of creatures clogging up the ground while his Resto beat me in the air because I had no Souls tokens available. I flooded to something like 9-10 lands in this game. In G2 I made the mistake of Pathing his Resto's instead of his Eternal Witness after he Chorded. Twice. In my head I was preventing a repeat of the last game, but in reality all I was doing was setting him up to cast the same Chord of Calling five times. That is a mistake I will not repeat. I did not have Relics during this interlude, to my chagrin. I also did not get land #4 until turn #9 in G2.
2-0 vs. BG Budget Pox/Deathcloud: This guy's deck was not competitive, though it had a couple of tricks, and I easily cleaned him up. Yay me.
Thoughts: Tonight I had a couple of times when mana screw doomed my game. This happens at times with all decks, of course, and I don't yet think it means my curve is too high, though that is a possibility I will be examining through the next weeks.
Lingering Souls was key again, but I side it out vs. Tron as too slow; do others agree with this? It might be good if a couple landed before Karn starts nuking the mana base, as long as we have Path or Scions to stop the Wurmcoil lifegain. Kiki Chord feels winnable with less bad luck. Eldrazi and Taxes is a good deck, though if they can't land (or can't use) an Aether Vial it is much weaker.
I haven't tried her and don't know right now how I would build around such a change, but I think it would push the deck away from its current position pretty strongly.
I've been testing out D&T over the last week or so and really like it. It does fine without Vial but Vial hands are really really powerful which is why the deck seems vial dependant. The thing with that deck is that it sacrifices the extra points this deck gets from being able to grind into the late game and instead has a better matchup against aggro and combo. I think we will be seeing lots of both this list and the Eldrazi and Taxes list going forward as they are both very strong (at least strong enough IMO to be Tier 2 - 1.5).
It's been quite some time since I've played this deck at all, and awhile since I've even played the game. Yesterday was my first time taking this deck for a spin since the ban of Eye, so I came back to see how the deck has changed.
Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I was curious what people have thought about the new Sorin, Grim Nemesis? A couple people at the event I played this deck at were talking about him. While on one hand I can imagine using his +1 to flip an eldrazi and beam an opponent for 4+ life out of nowhere would be great, and his -X is lifegain + removal, but I also already know that the current Sorin we run has consistent lifegain and costs less, so we obviously keep him... Has anyone tried out the new one at all?
WB Eldrazi Processors BW
Legacy:
WUBRGLandless DredgeGRBUW
EDH:
BGMeren of Clan Nel TothGB
WUBrago, King Eternal (Budget!)UW
It's cool hearing people's ideas and experiences as we try to dial this in. It seems possible to me that maybe Wizards is intentionally pushing BW in Standard/Eternal formats, with Vent, Sorins, Unmaking, Strangler, Displacer, etc. making recent appearances. Looking forward to seeing Eldritch Moon and possibly a new Lili (or other Innistrad-flavored Orzhov goodies) to try out.
I think part of it is that they are trying to make White better overall. Aside from SFM, there hasn't been a card that makes you want to run white over other colors (Lingering Souls and Path are about as close as you get and those are often splashed). They are definitely trying to encourage WBx type decks because it opens up Junk, Esper and Mardu. The later two of which are severely underrepresented overall.
Just came back from my LGS after a FNM. Got first place today, and played another tourn on Wednesday, getting 2nd.
Wednesday I played against RG Titan Scapeshift (0-2, so hard to win without an early GQ-Surgical), and won against Allys (2-1, last game he took me to 1 life and milled my deck to 1 card with a blue ally.... won thanks to Worship and his topdeck land), Affinity(2-0, affinity has always been a goodmatch... at least to me) and Grixis Control(2-1, also easy but on G2 I flooded lands).
Today I played against Mardu Control(2-1, game 1 was so quick I didn't know what deck I was playing against, so I didn't sb anything... then lost G2, and G3 sided in only 3 Leyline I think, was enough), Jeskai Nahiri (2-0, easy match, more fragile than the other versions), Griselshoal(2-0), and splitted with a Jund on last round.
Made some changes in decklist: as deaddrift suggested, reduced land count to 24 cutting 1 Marsh Flats and added a second Doom Blade. Also, switch to 4 Strangelrs and 3 Herders as suggested before. The list is doing great, but I'll probably change the 2nd Doom Blade to AU or something...
A deck that I'm having a bad time playing against is D&T. There's absolutely no way I can defeat it. Does anyone has a suggestion?