I've been trying out a few different builds on Cockatrice (and beginning to in paper as I have most of the pieces now) and Anafenza was okay in the few games I played. It was nice to have another two-drop, but the effect was only really great if I was dropping a bunch of creatures. I'm curious to try a copy or two of Mirror Entity as he can push a ton of damage through if we get to untap with him, and he also opens up some unexpected combat tricks with Vial if 3-4 Mana is open. Also counts as a Spirit which is a bonus.
I'm also curious what others have found to be rough matchups. I've had good success against most decks; aggro was a struggle initially and I was trying to use 1-2 copies of Settle The Wreckage in the board for them, until I saw mention of Nebelgast Herald. That card is absolutely insane. I tapped down 5 creatures against Affinity in one combat step, it felt unreal. Control feels good as the tempo strategy seems to fare well against them and I've pretty readily been able to whittle down their life total before they can stabilize. Big Mana decks seem really hard to beat though. Tron is tough, but I've managed to get a win here and there on occasion, but Titanshift feels absolutely unwinnable for me. I played 3 or 4 matches back to back against a Titanshift player and it was heartbreaking. Anyone else with similar experience or suggestions for lines of play in these matchups or good sideboard options?
And thanks to everyone for putting me onto this deck/archetype, I haven't had this much fun playing Magic in a long time. The deck is a blast.
This was the list that I was running to test Mirror Entity out. He did win me one game, so I am happy to say I tried it haha. I may give Favorable Winds a try as a 1-2 in the flex slots instead.
I originally had some Remands in the MB, but ended up dropping them to up my creature count, but I think I may go back and try to increase my interaction a bit with counterspells or more Paths/Snags. I do like the flexibility of snagging a Queller in a pinch. The 2 [card]Field of Ruin[/deck]s were added a little while ago to try and help the big mana matchups, but 4 colourless lands can be rough.
The 3 Unified Will in the SB came about after chatting with the Titanshift player and they replaced 2 Ceremonious Dismissal and 1 Celestial Purge. So far they've been fantastic. I may try to get a full play set split amongst the MB and SB if it continues to do as well as it has.
I agree with streexgeist about anafenza, i tried it a long time ago. To me the deciding factor was that in most (if not all) games i played her on curve, she did not increase my clock by a turn. Her boost is too late and she herself doesn't fly, making her bad at the role she plays (boosting damage output). Another 2/2 flyer that can attack would just be as good in terms of clocking the opponent. I would play a two drop that allows me to have lethal one turn earlier when cast on curve, (like goldfishing a consistent turn 4 kill instead of turn 5+ currently) but she failed at doing that.
Okay, glad to hear other people have put the rounds in with Anafenza and Entity as that will save me testing them. I suspected this would be the case since they weren't recent topics in this thread, but always good to check.
I understand the power of Remand, especially in tempo-based strategies, I just found that it was often my first target to side out so I traded it out for other interaction/upping the creature count for Vial. Deprive is an option I often overlook, but so far (and admittedly it is a small sample size) I haven't had any complaints about Unified Will yet. I'll see if that remains true or maybe do a split to see which I prefer. Big targets for it are the big mana decks and potentially combo. I wouldn't be bringing it into a match where I didn't have a high expectation to be fulfilling it's condition. What attrition based decks are you wanting to bring in more counterspells for, Jund and similar?
Curious Obsession has been an all-star. Yes it opens up the possibility for a 2-for-1, but the deck is so good at protecting it's creatures that there are a lot of lines available to keep the attached creature alive and generating advantage. Added benefit of bolt proofing Quellers and turning Wanderers into Spell Pierces. I do side them out against super removal heavy decks that I may not be able to keep up with protection wise. So far it's been uncommon that I don't draw at least 2 cards off of one. Admittedly this mindset may be wrong, but since it's most often landing on Wanderers in the early game if they do end up eating a removal that's one less removal that gets pointed at a Queller or a Captain. I'm hesitant to completely remove it as it has let me run away with many of the games that I draw it.
I do really want to try out Favorable Winds and I think the changes I would make with my list right now (land notwithstanding as I do agree that 4 colourless is not ideal) would be +1 FW, +1 Eidolon of Rhetoric, -1 Mirror Entity, -1 Obsession in the Main and then +1 FW and -1 Mirror Entity in the Side with the intention to swap in FW (and others) for Obsessions against the more attrition and heavy removal strategies.
I previously had 2 more Paths instead of the Snags, but I wanted to give them another go as I like the idea of being valuable both offensively and defensively, but it very well might be too cute. I'm just a sucker for options, haha.
Thank you sharing your insight and experience, I appreciate being able to get feedback and discuss options for this deck as I think it's super sweet. I've been impressed with how well it's held up against a lot of decks in the meta. I am also on the hype train for another sweet 2-Drop or Lord or both, haha.
Has anyone tested Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit or Mirror Entity as pseudo-lords?
I've been trying out a few different builds on Cockatrice (and beginning to in paper as I have most of the pieces now) and Anafenza was okay in the few games I played. It was nice to have another two-drop, but the effect was only really great if I was dropping a bunch of creatures. I'm curious to try a copy or two of Mirror Entity as he can push a ton of damage through if we get to untap with him, and he also opens up some unexpected combat tricks with Vial if 3-4 Mana is open. Also counts as a Spirit which is a bonus.
I'm also curious what others have found to be rough matchups. I've had good success against most decks; aggro was a struggle initially and I was trying to use 1-2 copies of Settle The Wreckage in the board for them, until I saw mention of Nebelgast Herald. That card is absolutely insane. I tapped down 5 creatures against Affinity in one combat step, it felt unreal. Control feels good as the tempo strategy seems to fare well against them and I've pretty readily been able to whittle down their life total before they can stabilize. Big Mana decks seem really hard to beat though. Tron is tough, but I've managed to get a win here and there on occasion, but Titanshift feels absolutely unwinnable for me. I played 3 or 4 matches back to back against a Titanshift player and it was heartbreaking. Anyone else with similar experience or suggestions for lines of play in these matchups or good sideboard options?
And thanks to everyone for putting me onto this deck/archetype, I haven't had this much fun playing Magic in a long time. The deck is a blast.
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Nebelgast Herald
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Mirror Entity
Spells (12)
4 Aether Vial
4 Curious Obsession
2 Vapor Snag
2 Path to Exile
4 Flooded Strand
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
3 Plains
2 Field of Ruin
2 Moorland Haunt
2 Azorius Herald
2 Kataki, War’s Wage
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest In Peace
2 Blessed Alliance
3 Unified Will
1 Echoing Truth
1 Mirror Entity
This was the list that I was running to test Mirror Entity out. He did win me one game, so I am happy to say I tried it haha. I may give Favorable Winds a try as a 1-2 in the flex slots instead.
I originally had some Remands in the MB, but ended up dropping them to up my creature count, but I think I may go back and try to increase my interaction a bit with counterspells or more Paths/Snags. I do like the flexibility of snagging a Queller in a pinch. The 2 [card]Field of Ruin[/deck]s were added a little while ago to try and help the big mana matchups, but 4 colourless lands can be rough.
The 3 Unified Will in the SB came about after chatting with the Titanshift player and they replaced 2 Ceremonious Dismissal and 1 Celestial Purge. So far they've been fantastic. I may try to get a full play set split amongst the MB and SB if it continues to do as well as it has.
I understand the power of Remand, especially in tempo-based strategies, I just found that it was often my first target to side out so I traded it out for other interaction/upping the creature count for Vial. Deprive is an option I often overlook, but so far (and admittedly it is a small sample size) I haven't had any complaints about Unified Will yet. I'll see if that remains true or maybe do a split to see which I prefer. Big targets for it are the big mana decks and potentially combo. I wouldn't be bringing it into a match where I didn't have a high expectation to be fulfilling it's condition. What attrition based decks are you wanting to bring in more counterspells for, Jund and similar?
Curious Obsession has been an all-star. Yes it opens up the possibility for a 2-for-1, but the deck is so good at protecting it's creatures that there are a lot of lines available to keep the attached creature alive and generating advantage. Added benefit of bolt proofing Quellers and turning Wanderers into Spell Pierces. I do side them out against super removal heavy decks that I may not be able to keep up with protection wise. So far it's been uncommon that I don't draw at least 2 cards off of one. Admittedly this mindset may be wrong, but since it's most often landing on Wanderers in the early game if they do end up eating a removal that's one less removal that gets pointed at a Queller or a Captain. I'm hesitant to completely remove it as it has let me run away with many of the games that I draw it.
I do really want to try out Favorable Winds and I think the changes I would make with my list right now (land notwithstanding as I do agree that 4 colourless is not ideal) would be +1 FW, +1 Eidolon of Rhetoric, -1 Mirror Entity, -1 Obsession in the Main and then +1 FW and -1 Mirror Entity in the Side with the intention to swap in FW (and others) for Obsessions against the more attrition and heavy removal strategies.
I previously had 2 more Paths instead of the Snags, but I wanted to give them another go as I like the idea of being valuable both offensively and defensively, but it very well might be too cute. I'm just a sucker for options, haha.
Thank you sharing your insight and experience, I appreciate being able to get feedback and discuss options for this deck as I think it's super sweet. I've been impressed with how well it's held up against a lot of decks in the meta. I am also on the hype train for another sweet 2-Drop or Lord or both, haha.