The basic plan is to swarm them under with hater creatures until I can resolve a Knight of the Reliquary. I'm playing a very low curve so that I can use Tectonic Edge to keep midrange and control decks off mana.
Knight of the Reliquary serves several functions. It pumps Steppe Lynx and makes Emeria Angel tokens. It fetches up as many Tectonic Edges as I need - tap, sac a land to destroy target nonbasic land. Fetching a Sejiri Steppe saves a key creature or pushes one through blockers. Fetching a Stirring Wildwood gives me another attacker. And the Knight can of course get huge relatively quickly.
I'm only running 2 cards over 4 mana for a reason. In many matchups, I never go over 4 land, and don't hit 4 land for a while, because I'm blowing up my own land and heavily thinning my deck with the Knight of the Reliquary. The Angels are so powerful with the Knight that I included them for some mid-game reach, but other than that I want to keep the 4+ mana cards to a minimum. I considered Ranger of Eos, but fetching 1 drops in this particular deck doesn't seem worth it; Loam Lion won't be online more often than not, Elite Vanguard is nice on turn 1 and not so great later, Steppe Lynx is nice if I have a Knight online and not so much otherwise (and if the midgame is a concern, I don't have a Knight online), and Hada Freeblade/Kazandu Blademaster took too many deck slots to adequately support.
A quick note on the manabase - I need at least 3 Tectonic Edges (4 seems to play better), 2 Sejiri Steppes and 1-2 Stirring Wildwoods. I also need to consistently hit WW on turn 2 and G on turn 3, and being able to hit WWW on turn 3 or 4 is a very useful thing for the Devout Lightcasters. I also want to run as much fetching as possible, but right now I think that number is quite low if I want a stable landbase, unfortunately. And a final note: Knight of the Reliquary requires forests/plains around, so I can't cut the numbers of cards that end up on a forest or plains too far. Suggestions would be very much appreciated; I feel like this is the weakest part of the deck right now.
Testing/Results so far (WARNING: SMALL SAMPLE SIZE AND DUBIOUS OPPONENT SKILL AHEAD):
I played this deck in 8 MTGO tournament matches yesterday. In 4 1v1 tournaments, I won all four, but I don't remember details - I went 2-0 vs Cruel Control and 2-0 vs Jund in those matches, though.
I played to a 3-1 record in a Daily Event:
Vs. Jund:
This was my one match loss - actually, my two game losses so far. Game 1 I couldn't answer two Vampire Nighthawks. Game 2 Knight of the Reliquary pushed a Behemoth Sledge'd up White Knight through blockers for the win. Game 3 I couldn't answer three Vampire Nighthawks.
Vs. Jund:
Hater creatures swarmed him under game 1. In game 2 he never got off the ground due to repeated Tectonic Edges keeping him off mana. Particularly effective was Path to Exile getting him up to 4 mana on my turn, and then Tectonic Edge to kill a key land, preventing him from dropping Bloodbraid Elf with his fourth land on his turn. My life never dropped below 15 in either game. Jund seems to be one of my easier matchups; the only creature I've struggled with has been the Nighthawk when I don't draw enough removal for it, and I've only taken game losses vs Nighthawks.
Vs. Red Deck Wins:
I don't know how this matchup actually plays. I just know that both games I dropped a Kor Firewalker on turn 2 and watched him ineffectually struggle to deal with it. Turn 2 Kor Firewalker seems to be pretty much good game in this matchup. I have honestly no idea how this will play out without the turn 2 Firewalker, because I haven't encountered RDW anywhere else so far.
Vs. Grixis Control:
Game 1 I kept him off mana with a Knight of the Reliquary (I drew multiple Brave the Elements to protect it) and swarmed him under with a couple of creatures. Game 2 a resolved turn 2 Luminarch Ascension that he couldn't deal with ended it rather quickly. He did drop a Malakir Bloodwitch, but I had an aggressive enough curve that swinging with it was suicidal (I had him to 8 before he got to 5 mana/before I got my Luminarch Ascension online), putting him rather firmly between a rock and a hard place, and then swarmed him under with angel tokens. Convertible Turtle seemed really strong, but this match was never in doubt.
I also did some non-tournament testing, with one notable match. Vs. White Weenie/Tokens, I got swarmed under so fast that I honestly don't even know where to start against that matchup. A lot of the deck's power comes from aggressively dropping powerful hate creatures, and white doesn't exactly hate vs itself. I don't know what I could possibly sideboard that would handle it - they have a comparable early game and better mid/late games, with few/no lands I can target to keep them off of their mid/late game with the tectonic edge. Suggestions would be welcome.
Unfortunately Naya doesn't need consistency the same way this deck does, because Naya is looking to dominate turns 3 or 4-on, not turns 1 and 2 (they love their turn 2 thoctar, but realistically that deck has to be able to function without their turn 2 thoctar), whereas this deck has to win in the early game or not win at all.
By the way, a point I realized I probably misrepresented: I haven't yet tested (or even acquired) the Stoneforge Mystics. I was running 4 Kor Skyfishers in place of them and 1 of the Firewalkers, with no Devout Lightcasters and both extra Firewalkers in the sideboard.
To be honest you have to state what you will like to hate out. Because frankly your deck's neither here nor there. Lynx's good in mono-white decks where you can fetch the heck out of it. Not here in my opinion. And Basilisk Collar you definitely need to make your creatures become Nighthawks.
I say look at the Naya list that LSV ran simply because it shows how your concept can work.
EDIT: And seeing that you mention Thoctar made me realise that you didn't even bother to find LSV's list.
Current decklist:
4x Elite Vanguard
4x Steppe Lynx
3x Stoneforge Mystic
4x Knight of the White Orchid
3x Kor Firewalker
2x White Knight
4x Knight of the Reliquary
2x Emeria Angel
[CARDS]
Spells:
4x Brave the Elements
4x Path to Exile
2x Behemoth Sledge[/CARDS]
Lands:
2x Forest
4x Marsh Flats
5x Plains
2x Sejiri Steppe
3x Stirring Wildwood
4x Sunpetal Grove
4x Tectonic Edge
2x Captured Sunlight
3x Celestial Purge
3x Devout Lightcaster
1x Kor Firewalker
3x Luminarch Ascension
3x Oblivion Ring[/CARDS]
The basic plan is to swarm them under with hater creatures until I can resolve a Knight of the Reliquary. I'm playing a very low curve so that I can use Tectonic Edge to keep midrange and control decks off mana.
Knight of the Reliquary serves several functions. It pumps Steppe Lynx and makes Emeria Angel tokens. It fetches up as many Tectonic Edges as I need - tap, sac a land to destroy target nonbasic land. Fetching a Sejiri Steppe saves a key creature or pushes one through blockers. Fetching a Stirring Wildwood gives me another attacker. And the Knight can of course get huge relatively quickly.
I'm only running 2 cards over 4 mana for a reason. In many matchups, I never go over 4 land, and don't hit 4 land for a while, because I'm blowing up my own land and heavily thinning my deck with the Knight of the Reliquary. The Angels are so powerful with the Knight that I included them for some mid-game reach, but other than that I want to keep the 4+ mana cards to a minimum. I considered Ranger of Eos, but fetching 1 drops in this particular deck doesn't seem worth it; Loam Lion won't be online more often than not, Elite Vanguard is nice on turn 1 and not so great later, Steppe Lynx is nice if I have a Knight online and not so much otherwise (and if the midgame is a concern, I don't have a Knight online), and Hada Freeblade/Kazandu Blademaster took too many deck slots to adequately support.
A quick note on the manabase - I need at least 3 Tectonic Edges (4 seems to play better), 2 Sejiri Steppes and 1-2 Stirring Wildwoods. I also need to consistently hit WW on turn 2 and G on turn 3, and being able to hit WWW on turn 3 or 4 is a very useful thing for the Devout Lightcasters. I also want to run as much fetching as possible, but right now I think that number is quite low if I want a stable landbase, unfortunately. And a final note: Knight of the Reliquary requires forests/plains around, so I can't cut the numbers of cards that end up on a forest or plains too far. Suggestions would be very much appreciated; I feel like this is the weakest part of the deck right now.
Testing/Results so far (WARNING: SMALL SAMPLE SIZE AND DUBIOUS OPPONENT SKILL AHEAD):
I played this deck in 8 MTGO tournament matches yesterday. In 4 1v1 tournaments, I won all four, but I don't remember details - I went 2-0 vs Cruel Control and 2-0 vs Jund in those matches, though.
I played to a 3-1 record in a Daily Event:
Vs. Jund:
This was my one match loss - actually, my two game losses so far. Game 1 I couldn't answer two Vampire Nighthawks. Game 2 Knight of the Reliquary pushed a Behemoth Sledge'd up White Knight through blockers for the win. Game 3 I couldn't answer three Vampire Nighthawks.
Vs. Jund:
Hater creatures swarmed him under game 1. In game 2 he never got off the ground due to repeated Tectonic Edges keeping him off mana. Particularly effective was Path to Exile getting him up to 4 mana on my turn, and then Tectonic Edge to kill a key land, preventing him from dropping Bloodbraid Elf with his fourth land on his turn. My life never dropped below 15 in either game. Jund seems to be one of my easier matchups; the only creature I've struggled with has been the Nighthawk when I don't draw enough removal for it, and I've only taken game losses vs Nighthawks.
Vs. Red Deck Wins:
I don't know how this matchup actually plays. I just know that both games I dropped a Kor Firewalker on turn 2 and watched him ineffectually struggle to deal with it. Turn 2 Kor Firewalker seems to be pretty much good game in this matchup. I have honestly no idea how this will play out without the turn 2 Firewalker, because I haven't encountered RDW anywhere else so far.
Vs. Grixis Control:
Game 1 I kept him off mana with a Knight of the Reliquary (I drew multiple Brave the Elements to protect it) and swarmed him under with a couple of creatures. Game 2 a resolved turn 2 Luminarch Ascension that he couldn't deal with ended it rather quickly. He did drop a Malakir Bloodwitch, but I had an aggressive enough curve that swinging with it was suicidal (I had him to 8 before he got to 5 mana/before I got my Luminarch Ascension online), putting him rather firmly between a rock and a hard place, and then swarmed him under with angel tokens. Convertible Turtle seemed really strong, but this match was never in doubt.
I also did some non-tournament testing, with one notable match. Vs. White Weenie/Tokens, I got swarmed under so fast that I honestly don't even know where to start against that matchup. A lot of the deck's power comes from aggressively dropping powerful hate creatures, and white doesn't exactly hate vs itself. I don't know what I could possibly sideboard that would handle it - they have a comparable early game and better mid/late games, with few/no lands I can target to keep them off of their mid/late game with the tectonic edge. Suggestions would be welcome.
Currently playing:
T2
BW Aggro-Midrange BW
By the way, a point I realized I probably misrepresented: I haven't yet tested (or even acquired) the Stoneforge Mystics. I was running 4 Kor Skyfishers in place of them and 1 of the Firewalkers, with no Devout Lightcasters and both extra Firewalkers in the sideboard.
I say look at the Naya list that LSV ran simply because it shows how your concept can work.
EDIT: And seeing that you mention Thoctar made me realise that you didn't even bother to find LSV's list.
Currently playing:
T2
BW Aggro-Midrange BW
Life gain could help the WW matchup. Consider Reast for the Weary and Sunspring Expedition instead of Captured Sunlight.
Hope that helps.
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Emeria Angel
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Admonition Angel
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
4 Path to Exile
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Behemoth Sledge
2 Marshal's Anthem
4 Arid Mesa
3 Stirring Wildwood
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Sejiri Steppe
2 Sunpetal Grove
5 Plains
4 Forest
4 Kor Firewalker
2 Pithing Needle
3 Brave the Elements
2 Day of Judgment
3 Wall of Reverance
1 Tectonic Edge
That looks like Junk without black.
I will cut Marshal's Anthem and add in 1 more copy of Admonition Angel and 1 more copy of Elspeth.
Currently playing:
T2
BW Aggro-Midrange BW