post your results and good luck, I'm interested for the hiperfast aggro decks, like blitz, and rakdos, because planeswalkers seem slow vs that.
4-0-1 (Drew for 1st/2nd to split prizes.)
2-0
He was a newer player. He was playing a cheap version of Reanimator. Not many dual lands, etc etc. He ran Angels, Unburials, Acidics, Sin Collector. But it was a budget version.
2-0 vs Jund Midrange
Wasn't even a close match, I just had answers to anything he played. Verdicted his board everytime, had Appetite for Brains and Liliana to destroy his hand.
1-0-1 vs Reanimator
First game took 43 of the 50 minute round, so we just called the 2nd round a draw. I topdecked a Supreme Verdict when he had lethal and followed it up by milling him out with Nephalia. I hit a Crypt Incursion for 30 life as well.
2-1 vs Junk Immortal Servitude (Holy Sh*t!)
This deck was a *****. He run Voice, Bloodthrone, Blood Artist, Cartel Aristocrat, and Strangleroot Geist. He won 1st place last week, game day, and was undefeated until tonight with his deck. 1st game he had 3 Blood Artist and destroyed me. 2nd Game I won swinging with Tokens. 3rd game I won with Linger Souls / 2x Sorin / Vampire Tokens / Obzedat. I was down to 3 life at one point, and he had 2 damage next turn but couldnt finish me off. He had to topdeck a Immortal Servitude within 3 turns and couldn't do it.
The best card of the night was Obzedat, Ghost Council. Once he hit I felt in control of the match.
I'm curious as to why most of you guys are still solely on the mill plan. I see no reason with the meta the way it is to not be running Aetherling MD. It's the much better plan against aggro as it doesn't give them a million turns to draw what they need. The mill plan is still great for the Control/Midrange matchups but we really need to consider the meta right now, and it's definitely aggro dominated. I also don't think planeswalkers are at all well positioned, so I think 0-2 is the correct number MD. Jaces in the board against midrange/control is great, and Drownyards can still stay in the main as another win condition against them at little cost.
I just think the deck needs to speed up game 1.
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Winner of the MTGSalvation Standard Championships III & IV.
I'm curious as to why most of you guys are still solely on the mill plan. I see no reason with the meta the way it is to not be running Aetherling MD. It's the much better plan against aggro as it doesn't give them a million turns to draw what they need. The mill plan is still great for the Control/Midrange matchups but we really need to consider the meta right now, and it's definitely aggro dominated. I also don't think planeswalkers are at all well positioned, so I think 0-2 is the correct number MD. Jaces in the board against midrange/control is great, and Drownyards can still stay in the main as another win condition against them at little cost.
I just think the deck needs to speed up game 1.
I'm running 7 Planeswalkers Mainboard, no memory adepts, and 3 drownyards. It works fine against aggro. I also don't run Aetherling. He can actually be really slow to kill them sometimes and it uses a lot of your mana up making him unblockable and then trying to make him an 8-1 or a 5-4, etc. Because if you swing with an 8-1 and they spear or something then you lose an entire turn of damage and use a decent amount of your mana for nothing but a spear.
I think Aetherling is amazing, but you can win without running him.
I'm running 7 Planeswalkers Mainboard, no memory adepts, and 3 drownyards. It works fine against aggro. I also don't run Aetherling. He can actually be really slow to kill them sometimes and it uses a lot of your mana up making him unblockable and then trying to make him an 8-1 or a 5-4, etc. Because if you swing with an 8-1 and they spear or something then you lose an entire turn of damage and use a decent amount of your mana for nothing but a spear.
I think Aetherling is amazing, but you can win without running him.
If they spear your Aetherling and not you, you're in good shape most likely. Just because you can pump it to 8 doesn't mean you always should. Nothing wrong with a 4-5 turn clock.
I also get that the deck can still win, but that doesn't mean it's optimal. U/W/r is doing pretty well and I think a large part of it is to do with Aetherling. Other than pillar we have the better removal options, the same draw engine, and the better game-plan against control and midrange. This deck should be at the top tables, but it isn't, and I'm pretty sure the reasons why are what I outlined. The mill plan needs to become secondary now, put it in the board, time to win with damage. I'll be testing this deck for a PTQ and that will be first avenue of testing.
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Winner of the MTGSalvation Standard Championships III & IV.
If they spear your Aetherling and not you, you're in good shape most likely. Just because you can pump it to 8 doesn't mean you always should. Nothing wrong with a 4-5 turn clock.
I also get that the deck can still win, but that doesn't mean it's optimal. U/W/r is doing pretty well and I think a large part of it is to do with Aetherling. Other than pillar we have the better removal options, the same draw engine, and the better game-plan against control and midrange. This deck should be at the top tables, but it isn't, and I'm pretty sure the reasons why are what I outlined. The mill plan needs to become secondary now, put it in the board, time to win with damage. I'll be testing this deck for a PTQ and that will be first avenue of testing.
The removal in is worse than :symr:. UWR is a much better Ætherling deck. Don't waste your time running Esper if you just want to slam Ætherling.
The whole focus of Esper is Sphinx's Revelation, that's why Drownyard is a better card. Anything that's not removal or card drawing just gets in the way. I'm interested in trying out UWR, but it's a different deck, and I ended up cutting the maindeck Ætherlings from my list.
If they spear your Aetherling and not you, you're in good shape most likely. Just because you can pump it to 8 doesn't mean you always should. Nothing wrong with a 4-5 turn clock.
I also get that the deck can still win, but that doesn't mean it's optimal. U/W/r is doing pretty well and I think a large part of it is to do with Aetherling. Other than pillar we have the better removal options, the same draw engine, and the better game-plan against control and midrange. This deck should be at the top tables, but it isn't, and I'm pretty sure the reasons why are what I outlined. The mill plan needs to become secondary now, put it in the board, time to win with damage. I'll be testing this deck for a PTQ and that will be first avenue of testing.
I bring AEtherling out of the side every time in game 2 (just to ignore the Pithing Needle'd Drownyards and Psychic Sprials) and it honestly doesnt give any faster of a clock than Drownyard. You can't drop AEtherling on a clogged board (unless your at a safe life total) so regardless you have to deal with that first. A big mistake I see in a lot of control mirrors aginst me is running AEtherling out way too soon. A lot of times I'll see AEtherling cast with only 2 open mana and it gets nuked because I have 3 removal spells. I like to play it with 4-5 open mana, and by that time you could already be well on your way to winning with Drownyards.
Yes Aetherling wins the game faster after it is cast, but Drownyard can act as a mana sink earlier in the game. Ultimately, this balances out and usually presents the same clock. After playing many games with AEtherling (literally hundreds), I never feel like it wins more quickly than Drownyards.
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Current standard decks:
Gruul Aggro
EDH General:
Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Modern
Jeskai Control
Jeskai Midrange
Affinity
Esper Teachings
Tribal Zoo
If they spear your Aetherling and not you, you're in good shape most likely. Just because you can pump it to 8 doesn't mean you always should. Nothing wrong with a 4-5 turn clock.
I also get that the deck can still win, but that doesn't mean it's optimal. U/W/r is doing pretty well and I think a large part of it is to do with Aetherling. Other than pillar we have the better removal options, the same draw engine, and the better game-plan against control and midrange. This deck should be at the top tables, but it isn't, and I'm pretty sure the reasons why are what I outlined. The mill plan needs to become secondary now, put it in the board, time to win with damage. I'll be testing this deck for a PTQ and that will be first avenue of testing.
The problem is a lot of the time you and up using so many of your resources to make aethering pumped, unblockable, and blinking him that you end up tapped out, or afraid to use your last mana because you have an Aetherling in play that they can just slam a bomb down or something. I think Aetherling is an amazing card, but not for esper.
The removal in is worse than :symr:. UWR is a much better Ætherling deck. Don't waste your time running Esper if you just want to slam Ætherling.
The whole focus of Esper is Sphinx's Revelation, that's why Drownyard is a better card. Anything that's not removal or card drawing just gets in the way. I'm interested in trying out UWR, but it's a different deck, and I ended up cutting the maindeck Ætherlings from my list.
I ran UWR Midrange, Flash, and Control before switching to Esper. I feel like Esper has a lot more control over the game, but UWR typically wins faster. A lot of the time with UWR I was digging for answers and just trying to prevent as much damage until I could Sphinx. With Esper I feel like I'm in the driver seat once I get 5 mana regardless of my health, or wether I sphinx or not. I feel like I never have any dead cards with Esper, where a lot of the times I would have 1-3 cards that were useless in UWR. I may just be a bad UWR player, but I did a lot of research into it and top 8'd both times at FNM - but just barely. I just felt like the meta was to aggro heavy for UWr to stabalize.
I will probably end up trying UWR out again, but am sticking to Esper for now, because I love playing it and I'm winning so it's a win-win. (Got 1st tonight in a 26man tourny.) Hadn't playtested the deck a single time and still managed to do extremely well with it. Picked the last 6-7 cards up today and then just threw it together and went into the tourny.
The problem is a lot of the time you and up using so many of your resources to make aethering pumped, unblockable, and blinking him that you end up tapped out, or afraid to use your last mana because you have an Aetherling in play that they can just slam a bomb down or something. I think Aetherling is an amazing card, but not for esper.
I ran UWR Midrange, Flash, and Control before switching to Esper. I feel like Esper has a lot more control over the game, but UWR typically wins faster. A lot of the time with UWR I was digging for answers and just trying to prevent as much damage until I could Sphinx. With Esper I feel like I'm in the driver seat once I get 5 mana regardless of my health, or wether I sphinx or not. I feel like I never have any dead cards with Esper, where a lot of the times I would have 1-3 cards that were useless in UWR. I may just be a bad UWR player, but I did a lot of research into it and top 8'd both times at FNM - but just barely. I just felt like the meta was to aggro heavy for UWr to stabalize.
I will probably end up trying UWR out again, but am sticking to Esper for now, because I love playing it and I'm winning so it's a win-win. (Got 1st tonight in a 26man tourny.) Hadn't playtested the deck a single time and still managed to do extremely well with it. Picked the last 6-7 cards up today and then just threw it together and went into the tourny.
I run more removal than any Esper deck I have ever seen and I still rarely feel in the drivers seat unless I am playing against aggro (I count Naya Midrange as aggro lol) or Jund. On a LGS level, I top 4 every week, and usually place 1st, but that doesnt make the deck good on a GP, Invitational, SCG Open, or TCGPlayer 5k level. Ultimately, that is the only place where Competitive forum discussion matters.
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Current standard decks:
Gruul Aggro
EDH General:
Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Modern
Jeskai Control
Jeskai Midrange
Affinity
Esper Teachings
Tribal Zoo
A traditional Main deck for myself with forbidden alchemy instead of think twice.(to help the transformational sideboard) The sideboard is Solar flare.
With LofV, drownyard and alchemy... I can get an angel or Obzedat typically on turn four and or Aetherling turn 6-7... Vault gets me lifelink... Im not sure if Souls should be main deck. The MD is built to shut out aggro. So here it is. Ill report results tomorrow.
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4-0-1 (Drew for 1st/2nd to split prizes.)
2-0
He was a newer player. He was playing a cheap version of Reanimator. Not many dual lands, etc etc. He ran Angels, Unburials, Acidics, Sin Collector. But it was a budget version.
2-0 vs Jund Midrange
Wasn't even a close match, I just had answers to anything he played. Verdicted his board everytime, had Appetite for Brains and Liliana to destroy his hand.
1-0-1 vs Reanimator
First game took 43 of the 50 minute round, so we just called the 2nd round a draw. I topdecked a Supreme Verdict when he had lethal and followed it up by milling him out with Nephalia. I hit a Crypt Incursion for 30 life as well.
2-1 vs Junk Immortal Servitude (Holy Sh*t!)
This deck was a *****. He run Voice, Bloodthrone, Blood Artist, Cartel Aristocrat, and Strangleroot Geist. He won 1st place last week, game day, and was undefeated until tonight with his deck. 1st game he had 3 Blood Artist and destroyed me. 2nd Game I won swinging with Tokens. 3rd game I won with Linger Souls / 2x Sorin / Vampire Tokens / Obzedat. I was down to 3 life at one point, and he had 2 damage next turn but couldnt finish me off. He had to topdeck a Immortal Servitude within 3 turns and couldn't do it.
The best card of the night was Obzedat, Ghost Council. Once he hit I felt in control of the match.
Modern
UWGB 4c Snow Control BGWU
I just think the deck needs to speed up game 1.
My DCI ELO Ratings - May they rest in peace :'(
I'm running 7 Planeswalkers Mainboard, no memory adepts, and 3 drownyards. It works fine against aggro. I also don't run Aetherling. He can actually be really slow to kill them sometimes and it uses a lot of your mana up making him unblockable and then trying to make him an 8-1 or a 5-4, etc. Because if you swing with an 8-1 and they spear or something then you lose an entire turn of damage and use a decent amount of your mana for nothing but a spear.
I think Aetherling is amazing, but you can win without running him.
Modern
UWGB 4c Snow Control BGWU
If they spear your Aetherling and not you, you're in good shape most likely. Just because you can pump it to 8 doesn't mean you always should. Nothing wrong with a 4-5 turn clock.
I also get that the deck can still win, but that doesn't mean it's optimal. U/W/r is doing pretty well and I think a large part of it is to do with Aetherling. Other than pillar we have the better removal options, the same draw engine, and the better game-plan against control and midrange. This deck should be at the top tables, but it isn't, and I'm pretty sure the reasons why are what I outlined. The mill plan needs to become secondary now, put it in the board, time to win with damage. I'll be testing this deck for a PTQ and that will be first avenue of testing.
My DCI ELO Ratings - May they rest in peace :'(
The removal in is worse than :symr:. UWR is a much better Ætherling deck. Don't waste your time running Esper if you just want to slam Ætherling.
The whole focus of Esper is Sphinx's Revelation, that's why Drownyard is a better card. Anything that's not removal or card drawing just gets in the way. I'm interested in trying out UWR, but it's a different deck, and I ended up cutting the maindeck Ætherlings from my list.
I bring AEtherling out of the side every time in game 2 (just to ignore the Pithing Needle'd Drownyards and Psychic Sprials) and it honestly doesnt give any faster of a clock than Drownyard. You can't drop AEtherling on a clogged board (unless your at a safe life total) so regardless you have to deal with that first. A big mistake I see in a lot of control mirrors aginst me is running AEtherling out way too soon. A lot of times I'll see AEtherling cast with only 2 open mana and it gets nuked because I have 3 removal spells. I like to play it with 4-5 open mana, and by that time you could already be well on your way to winning with Drownyards.
Yes Aetherling wins the game faster after it is cast, but Drownyard can act as a mana sink earlier in the game. Ultimately, this balances out and usually presents the same clock. After playing many games with AEtherling (literally hundreds), I never feel like it wins more quickly than Drownyards.
Gruul Aggro
EDH General:
Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Modern
Jeskai Control
Jeskai Midrange
Affinity
Esper Teachings
Tribal Zoo
The problem is a lot of the time you and up using so many of your resources to make aethering pumped, unblockable, and blinking him that you end up tapped out, or afraid to use your last mana because you have an Aetherling in play that they can just slam a bomb down or something. I think Aetherling is an amazing card, but not for esper.
I ran UWR Midrange, Flash, and Control before switching to Esper. I feel like Esper has a lot more control over the game, but UWR typically wins faster. A lot of the time with UWR I was digging for answers and just trying to prevent as much damage until I could Sphinx. With Esper I feel like I'm in the driver seat once I get 5 mana regardless of my health, or wether I sphinx or not. I feel like I never have any dead cards with Esper, where a lot of the times I would have 1-3 cards that were useless in UWR. I may just be a bad UWR player, but I did a lot of research into it and top 8'd both times at FNM - but just barely. I just felt like the meta was to aggro heavy for UWr to stabalize.
I will probably end up trying UWR out again, but am sticking to Esper for now, because I love playing it and I'm winning so it's a win-win. (Got 1st tonight in a 26man tourny.) Hadn't playtested the deck a single time and still managed to do extremely well with it. Picked the last 6-7 cards up today and then just threw it together and went into the tourny.
Modern
UWGB 4c Snow Control BGWU
I run more removal than any Esper deck I have ever seen and I still rarely feel in the drivers seat unless I am playing against aggro (I count Naya Midrange as aggro lol) or Jund. On a LGS level, I top 4 every week, and usually place 1st, but that doesnt make the deck good on a GP, Invitational, SCG Open, or TCGPlayer 5k level. Ultimately, that is the only place where Competitive forum discussion matters.
Gruul Aggro
EDH General:
Sydri, Galvanic Genius
Modern
Jeskai Control
Jeskai Midrange
Affinity
Esper Teachings
Tribal Zoo
3 Snapcaster Mage
PLANESWALKERS (2)
2 Jace, memory adept
SPELLS (29)
1 Crypt incursion
3 Azorius Charm
2 Feeling of dread
2 Ultimate price
2 Far // Away
2 devour flesh
4 Forbidden Alchemy
4 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Terminus
1 Planar cleansing
2 Renounce the guilds
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Godless Shrine
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Isolated Chapel
4 Nephalia Drownyard
3 Watery Grave
2 Obzedat
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 unburial Rites
3 Aetherling
3 Angel of serenity
With LofV, drownyard and alchemy... I can get an angel or Obzedat typically on turn four and or Aetherling turn 6-7... Vault gets me lifelink... Im not sure if Souls should be main deck. The MD is built to shut out aggro. So here it is. Ill report results tomorrow.