I'm already running the Archangel of Thune and Spike Feeder combo, yeah I figured it would be just sometimes I find myself with stalled looking for a late game answer there is so much UWR control online at least that I've been paired against recently.
The problem with UWr is that the later the game goes the better shape they're going to be in. If you're up against the control version, once they Sphinx's Rev and refill, it's probably all over. I find it's more effective to use tools like Spellskite, Thalia, Sin Collector, Cartel Aristocrat to keep them on their toes and off your combo. Blood Baron is an interesting answer though, they need 2 bolts or a board wipe to kill it, so against UWr it has great staying power.
Has Blood Baron of Vizkopa been discusses before, I was thinking of replacing the metamorph with him maindeck to have another lifelink beatdown option, thinking I could pod him in off of a redcap or ranger.
You might as well just run Archangel of Thune and Spike Feeder. Both of them have more synergy with the deck than Blood baron does, and Archangel flies. It would also be a miracle if you had over 30 life and hadn't comboed.
Resto will never leave my build. Ever. In a deck that has a plethora ETB triggers, how can she not be good? We lost a lot of grind potential when DRS went out the window, so having the ability to reset persist and blink Finks/Redcap/EWit/Lark/Pontiff contributes back to the grind. She also protects your combo if you happen to have her in hand which is great.
It's been said before: Ranger is still very worth playing. Sure you're not fetching up DRS, but that was always a backup plan anyway. His primary target was always the Seer so you could get your 1 cmc combo piece from a 3->4cmc Pod.
Archangel combo I also feel is worth having in as well. I was skeptical at first, but I watched a few games and Spike Feeder is a surprisingly good card. He interacts favorably with your persist creatures and 'blanks' beneficial removal like Lightning Helix, Electrolyze. And not only does Archangel act as a pseduo-Melira with Finks, sometimes it's just nice to have a flying beater that gets stronger over time.
I would advise against replacing Razorverge Thickets for Sunpetal Groves. Early game, this deck MUST have the right colors of untapped mana. You can't risk having your white mana on turn two tapped so you can't play Voice. You can't have your turn 2 land tapped so you can't play Pod off a dork. The fast lands are the best for this, you don't care about mana screw late game because that is rarely going to happen anyway. Take these hands for example:
These are all hands that are somewhat common. All of them could be keepers if you had Thicket over Sunpetal, but they're auto mulligans. Your one-landers hands get incredibly worse with 4 check lands in the deck. This leads to more mulligans, which leads to more one-landers, which leads to more mulligans because that lands would be tapped. I know that a full hand with just one land is bad anyway, it was just an example.
Of course, this is just what I've learned playing the deck and It's entirely my opinion. Maybe your reasons for playing Groves are better than my reasons for not playing them.
In my experience, there have been just too many times when I need exact mana to pull off some crazy pod chain + a chord for the win. I did actually run a Thicket as a 1-of before, and it screwed me time and time again. Needed one more mana to activate Gavony, one more mana for a chord, one more mana to flash resto to protect my combo piece so I go off the following turn and there's old-reliable Thicket, laughing at me as it sits useless and tapped while my Melira dies. My point is that there are enough lands in the deck to provide exceptional odds for a T1 dork or correct colors on turns 2 and 3; that's why we run fetches and shocks. I just don't see the need to potentially kneecap yourself when you need your deck to make tight plays to win games.
I suppose I forgot to mention that I would not play 3 Sunpetals, it would be 2 at most for the exact reason you described. Too many otherwise good hands that result in mulligans.
I realize specific examples can be created to illustrate both our points and that's good; it's important both to maximize the number of good/playable openers as possible, and to ensure reliable access to mana in the mid game when the deck expects to win.
Hey all. I played this list to the final of a GPT last weekend, and I was very pleased. (Scooped to my opponent in the final because he is going to the GP and I am not)
I played against Zoo three times, and I won them all. Kitchen Finks is an absolute all star in that match up. I didn't see any Bitterblossom decks, so that will still have to be tested. Tokens seems like it could be tough, but I feel pretty good about Faeries. All in all, I think Pod is very well positioned for the new meta, and I look forward to grinding it for the upcoming Modern PTQ season. I'm actually a little worried that Pod will dominate the new meta, and end up being banned at the next announcement, but I guess that remains to be seen.
I think you should play Sunpetal Grove in place of those Razorverge Thickets. You play 8 fetches, and shocks that all share either Forest or Plains; there's no reason why you should risk punishing yourself by drawing a thicket mid-late game. I would also consider running a Cartel Aristocrat, it's really nice to have a sac outlet at the 2 cmc spot for even more chance of those "Oops, I have my combo" moments. Plus, it does work against UWR decks and other lists with heavy removal. I would also considering running that third Chord because A) you're running Wall of Roots and B) it's just so crucial to be able to complete your combo at unexpected times. Other than that, great list, glad to hear you did so well against Zoo!
Should drop a mana dork and up the Archdruid count to 4. I play Legacy elves and while Modern lacks much of the utility found there, there's nothing quite like Summoner's Pact-ing for Craterhoof and hardcasting him off Archdruid, and that line of play doesn't even need Beck/Glimpse. Also, 4 lords gives you the option to go beats should your combo fail.
I wish Scryb Ranger was better, it's a worse version of Quirion Ranger, but can still provide great synergy with Archdruid. I realllly need to get around to building a list and testing, cause elves are my favorite tribe ever...
Interesting. I've always found Electrolyze to be a really powerful card in most situations. At worst it's 2 damage to the face and it replaces itself; at best, it's 2-for-1-ing your opponent in some way. I think it's a very efficient spell that fits well with the efficient theme of UWR. So I guess then, what does your Scion-less build look like? Might be useful to have an idea of the direction the fae decks are moving in.
Just thought I would pop in and give my take on the matchup, from the side of a Faeries player.
As a straight UB player, I think the matchup is honestly tough for Fae to lose, and by far their best matchup in the format. The biggest issue stems from the fact that t1 discard into t2 BB is pretty much the game. I played the matchup twice this weekend at a GPT. I mulled to 4 against my opponents 7 and beat him without much effort. That should speak to how powerful the whole deck is v Control.
The biggest thing I can recommend is looking at a more catch-all removal spell. I think now is actually a great time for UWR lists to start looking at Detention Sphere and Izzet Staticaster. Faeries really can't deal with enchantments well, and if you drop it on a Blossom turn 3 Mistbind can't protect it. I think we'll start turning away from Scion builds (for now at least) and that opens up additional lines of play. It's also excellent against Zoo, Tron, and tokens. Staticaster forces me to leave in remmoval I might otherwise side out, or waste it on it instead of Colennade. The other big thing I can't stress enough is that a deck with a good amount of burn should adapt their playstyle when playing against Faeries, especially if they land the t2 BB. If that happens, you should have two major goals: keep the board clean enough that I can't just beat you down with tokens, and let my BB do the work for you. If I'm taking 5-8 damage off of my own BB in a game, it significantly cuts down the work your burn package needs to do.
I'm happy to answer any questions you guys have for the matchup, just use reply so it flags me a notification and I'll answer as best I can.
That's some great insight, thanks very much. In my previous post I had forgotten to consider the implications of Thoughtseize/Inquisition because I derped hard and forgot you ran them. I guess I made some assumptions too, and would like to clarify; do you find cards like Spell Snare and Electrolyze troublesome for Fae? Killing tokens and your x/1's seems pretty powerful, as long as the UWR plays around the plethora of counterspells you'll have, and stopping the turn 2 BB with Snare also seems quite powerful. Just thought I'd ask to see if I was really off base here.
...
Here's the issue, and I don't know if many of you have played against it much, but the new faerie deck is extremely punishing to us. I've practiced against it in about 3 matches online and it's really tough to gain traction against them. Sure if you're able to land a turn 3 geist it's going to be really tough to keep the pressure up if they've got a T2 BB. I'm trying to figure out how to play this archetype, but not get out-countered to spellstutter x4, mana leak x 3, cryptic x4...I feel like part of their counter package is just another creature to provide pressure for them.
I don't feel defeated just yet, and I just happened upon these forums today so I was catching up after the B&R updates and figured I would comment/ask some questions, I didn't realize there was another thread for the control side of this deck. I like where this conversation is going, and look forward to more updates once things in the pro scene form a foundation. I do remember Ari Lax saying that BB would be a horrible unban and "Give me a month, and I'll show you why it's banned" in one of his articles a few months back. I am a bit worried about this matchup - every other matchup I feel is winnable with the right draw and SB plan. I beat a tron/karn/ulamog/emrakul deck earlier tonight and kept them off of everything. Along with burn, red haste gobo's, and jund. It is possible - but then again, variance is a thing.
This is why I'm even a bigger fan of mainboarding Spell Snare for this new meta. If you didn't get lucky and are on the draw, now you have a defense against that turn 2 Bitterblossom. Against fae, it's hitting BB, Mana Leak, AND Spellstutter Sprite (I thought she was 3 cmc hahah), and maybe Snapcaster too if they run him, so think about how devastating denying them a Turn 2 BB is. Without it, they can only counter your 1 cmc spells with Sprite, up to 2 if they have a Mutavault and the mana to activate it. Running Snare also increases the chances you win counter wars. And it's not limited to Fae either; countering that turn 2 Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Voice of Resurgence, Burning-Tree Emissary helps you slow down Zoo and Jund/Junk and transition into midgame so much more effectively.
I'm not so sure I would rush out Geist on turn 3, especially if Bitterblossom resolved and you know you'll be fighting through tokens, and various flash creatures. That's the situation where you hold up Geist until you can weaken their boardstate or until they tap out enough to play Geist through their counters. That does make sense right? By the time you could attack with Geist, they have 2 tokens down, which means Geist is dead, or no damage is getting through at all. I like that you're running Thundermaw, because that will just destroy Fae, as long as you've kept them off of 2 Scion of Oona's. Granted, you'll have to play around their counters, so you might not be able to slam him turn 5. Going up to 4 electrolyze for that matchup is probably another good idea. Playing Izzet Staticaster in the side (if you expect to see multiple Fae decks in the same event) is also not a bad idea.
Question to you vets, I recently got into modern and built this style deck. My friend has an affinity/infect deck and besides sideboarding in stony silence and engineered explosives what else can I do? I seem to keep getting crushed by him.(doesn't help I don't know how to maximize playing the deck.)
You should have a decent matchup against Affinity preboard actually. It isn't easy, but with the amount of removal we run, they should be stretched thin. First question I guess are you running the playset of Bolt and Helix? How many Electrolyze, cause that card is a house against both their man lands and Vault Skirge, Signal Pest, Steel Overseer...etc. Saving Path for Master of Etherium, and making sure you play around Arcbound Ravager is important. Try and save your counterspells for big things like Thoughtcast or creatures that are out of bolt range, like Master of Etherium would most likely be.
Taking the correct starting hand is important too. I can't say exactly what you should or shouldn't keep, but if its a slow hand send it back. You can't afford to take your time in this matchup. One of the best hands might be Bolt, Helix, Geist, land land land, mana leak. Bolt their first threat eot, helix the second one, drop Geist and start swinging. He will close the game quickly if you can keep him attacking every turn.
It's worth nothing that post sideboarding, Remand is the first thing you should take out. They dump their hand so fast, Remand is quite useless.
anyone have any advice for running a straight stock (updated) UW midrange list? what are some pros/cons to the UWr lists? considering jumping in, thanks!
With UWR, you obviously get access to red now, but that opens up a whole new toolbox. Suddenly, you have the most efficient removal in the format in the form of Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Electrolyze. You have the option of topping out with Thundermaw Hellkite and annihilating those Lingering Souls and Bitterblossom tokens or going down a more controlly route with Ajani Vengeant. You basically trade some amount of counterspells and a board presence with staying power for more removal and a more efficient board presence (Geist, Thundermaw).
I personally think UWR is the better choice for your average meta, as it keeps the board clear of most enemy threats. And it's not like you won't run counters either, so you can still hold one up for their game winning threat. But, there are metas where UW will probably outperform UWR, I just haven't played it so I don't know what those would be; I'm sure someone else here can answer that.
What are people's thoughts of running spell pierce main board. For me I have run 2 and have loved it. Granted its a dead draw late game, but early its a beast. Playing a turn 4 geist with pierce backup is just devastating vs control. I also feel like its more of a legacy staple so people don't play around it nearly as much as they do snare,remand/leak, and cryptic. Granted it often gets boarded out for sweepers in ago match-ups but ive overall been pretty pleasantly surprised by it.
I think the question is Spell Pierce vs. Spell Snare vs. Mana Leak, and right now I'm still leaning towards mana leak main and spell snare side. Leak just hits more early, and the main scenario where pierce shines is ONLY that play of turn 4 geist with 1 blue open, and that isn't enough for it not to hit creatures for me.
The other time I feel that spell snare/spell pierce shine over leak is when you are on the draw as your draw on opponent's turn 2 play, but the main thing you want to hit there is a 2 drop (Bob, Goyf, BB, Melira, which means snare works better and MAY have relevance late game. The only matchup I really like spell pierce in is splinter twin, as it allows for you to play your geist on the play on turn 4 and hopefully trick them into dropping twin turn 4...
I have found Pierce useful specifically against GBx where you can interrupt their turn 2 Liliana when you are on the draw game 2, and also for Birthing Pod against Melira in the same scenario. But now that DRS is gone, I'd be very surprised if I saw Liliana on turn 2. Spell Snare, while always having been excellent, may be even better now that the 2cmc danger cards like goyf and Bitterblossom will be coming down predictably on turn 2, and the 3 cmc on turn 3. This means you can use Mana Leak (instead of Pierce) to get the Liliana when on the draw now that their mana accelerator is gone.
The biggest changes I've made were to my sideboard. I really expect GY decks to make a come back, so I probably want two Relic of Progenitus' but for now this is what I'm testing and it's working out fine.
A few things I'm testing: Stormbreath instead of Thundermaw. Pro white might be an issue for Naya, and it's a 4/4 with haste. Double win. On the other hand, Thundermaw is the same CMC, haste, 5/5, and his ETB effect might end up being pretty powerful. Undecided on this one.
Timely Reinforcements vs Relic of Progenitus. One of these is likely getting dropped to make the other a 2 of.
I've been having pretty good time testing against Zoo on Cockatrice, but as always the skill level on that game is lower than average.
How are the threads working for you?
i kinda have a soft spot for the card, so im interested in seeing if its a good inclusion as it was before decay.
Also, with the meta taking the shape it is right now, i think thundermaw might be the better of the two, but im not really sure.
I'm really leaning toward Thundermaw here, although I suppose it would depend on the frequency of seeing Zoo as opposed to Fae. Stormbreath definitely has more staying power against Zoo, but who knows, after seeing Geist, they might board out some number of Paths because honestly, if they Path your Snapcaster(him and Colonnade would be their only targets) , that's hardly the worst thing for you. And then against Fae, it's pretty obvious how brutal Thundermaw is. Even if they have Scion out, down it goes, and then down all the BB tokens go. In addition, the frequency of seeing Lingering Souls can only go up as more GY shenanigans come back into the meta, another compelling argument for running Thundermaw.
I should've gotten around to picking up a pair of Threads, especially since I see GBx in my meta a lot. And like someone mentioned earlier, if they see Geists game 1, most likely they are boarding out most Decays, unless they anticipate the Threads coming in. Haven't tested them but in theory, they seem great.
Brewed this list up for fun. It's more spell based than a traditional zoo list, but it is Tribal Flames/Domain so I figured I'd post here to get some feedback. KoTR is in there as budget goyf...but only partially; she has a great interaction with all the fetches, obviously. Any advice is appreciated.
Well, to be honest, you also have to take into account what the ban and unbans means to the meta has a whole, not just uwr and fae/zoo.
The ban of shaman will create a hole in GY combo, and decks that abuse such strategies will surely increase in number, for example 4c gifts or assault loam.
I dont think we have such a good game vs those decks, at least not without heavy Sb hate.
Still, i do believe this deck will be tier 1.
I absolutely wrecked an Assault Loam deck over the summer. If they get Raven's Crime online you'll definitely be in a tight spot, but Rest in Peace just hoses them hard. I won game 1 as well, Ajani ticked up to 7 and down came the ult, gg. Gifts on the other hand...now that's a matchup. There really isn't a profitable way to attack the deck, at least as far as I can tell. Even if you deal with the grave, that's not their only way to win. They also do a better job of control than you do, so you'll have a tougher time beating them in the long game.
I just hope that with the freed up spots from DRS, people will run more Scavenging Ooze to keep those GY strategies in check. Also, Rest in Peace is going back in my board for sure, as a 2-of. I honestly would not be surprised to see people tinkering with Dredgevine, Assault Loam, Gifts, Zombies (maybe?), just to see what fits well in the new meta. As UWR, we expect things to die and stay dead; graveyard shenanigans are one of the best ways to attack this deck I think...as long as they're not easily counterable with Remand like Living End, haha.
The problem with UWr is that the later the game goes the better shape they're going to be in. If you're up against the control version, once they Sphinx's Rev and refill, it's probably all over. I find it's more effective to use tools like Spellskite, Thalia, Sin Collector, Cartel Aristocrat to keep them on their toes and off your combo. Blood Baron is an interesting answer though, they need 2 bolts or a board wipe to kill it, so against UWr it has great staying power.
You might as well just run Archangel of Thune and Spike Feeder. Both of them have more synergy with the deck than Blood baron does, and Archangel flies. It would also be a miracle if you had over 30 life and hadn't comboed.
It's been said before: Ranger is still very worth playing. Sure you're not fetching up DRS, but that was always a backup plan anyway. His primary target was always the Seer so you could get your 1 cmc combo piece from a 3->4cmc Pod.
Archangel combo I also feel is worth having in as well. I was skeptical at first, but I watched a few games and Spike Feeder is a surprisingly good card. He interacts favorably with your persist creatures and 'blanks' beneficial removal like Lightning Helix, Electrolyze. And not only does Archangel act as a pseduo-Melira with Finks, sometimes it's just nice to have a flying beater that gets stronger over time.
In my experience, there have been just too many times when I need exact mana to pull off some crazy pod chain + a chord for the win. I did actually run a Thicket as a 1-of before, and it screwed me time and time again. Needed one more mana to activate Gavony, one more mana for a chord, one more mana to flash resto to protect my combo piece so I go off the following turn and there's old-reliable Thicket, laughing at me as it sits useless and tapped while my Melira dies. My point is that there are enough lands in the deck to provide exceptional odds for a T1 dork or correct colors on turns 2 and 3; that's why we run fetches and shocks. I just don't see the need to potentially kneecap yourself when you need your deck to make tight plays to win games.
I suppose I forgot to mention that I would not play 3 Sunpetals, it would be 2 at most for the exact reason you described. Too many otherwise good hands that result in mulligans.
I realize specific examples can be created to illustrate both our points and that's good; it's important both to maximize the number of good/playable openers as possible, and to ensure reliable access to mana in the mid game when the deck expects to win.
I think you should play Sunpetal Grove in place of those Razorverge Thickets. You play 8 fetches, and shocks that all share either Forest or Plains; there's no reason why you should risk punishing yourself by drawing a thicket mid-late game. I would also consider running a Cartel Aristocrat, it's really nice to have a sac outlet at the 2 cmc spot for even more chance of those "Oops, I have my combo" moments. Plus, it does work against UWR decks and other lists with heavy removal. I would also considering running that third Chord because A) you're running Wall of Roots and B) it's just so crucial to be able to complete your combo at unexpected times. Other than that, great list, glad to hear you did so well against Zoo!
Should drop a mana dork and up the Archdruid count to 4. I play Legacy elves and while Modern lacks much of the utility found there, there's nothing quite like Summoner's Pact-ing for Craterhoof and hardcasting him off Archdruid, and that line of play doesn't even need Beck/Glimpse. Also, 4 lords gives you the option to go beats should your combo fail.
I wish Scryb Ranger was better, it's a worse version of Quirion Ranger, but can still provide great synergy with Archdruid. I realllly need to get around to building a list and testing, cause elves are my favorite tribe ever...
That's some great insight, thanks very much. In my previous post I had forgotten to consider the implications of Thoughtseize/Inquisition because I derped hard and forgot you ran them. I guess I made some assumptions too, and would like to clarify; do you find cards like Spell Snare and Electrolyze troublesome for Fae? Killing tokens and your x/1's seems pretty powerful, as long as the UWR plays around the plethora of counterspells you'll have, and stopping the turn 2 BB with Snare also seems quite powerful. Just thought I'd ask to see if I was really off base here.
This is why I'm even a bigger fan of mainboarding Spell Snare for this new meta. If you didn't get lucky and are on the draw, now you have a defense against that turn 2 Bitterblossom. Against fae, it's hitting BB, Mana Leak, AND Spellstutter Sprite (I thought she was 3 cmc hahah), and maybe Snapcaster too if they run him, so think about how devastating denying them a Turn 2 BB is. Without it, they can only counter your 1 cmc spells with Sprite, up to 2 if they have a Mutavault and the mana to activate it. Running Snare also increases the chances you win counter wars. And it's not limited to Fae either; countering that turn 2 Tarmogoyf, Dark Confidant, Voice of Resurgence, Burning-Tree Emissary helps you slow down Zoo and Jund/Junk and transition into midgame so much more effectively.
I'm not so sure I would rush out Geist on turn 3, especially if Bitterblossom resolved and you know you'll be fighting through tokens, and various flash creatures. That's the situation where you hold up Geist until you can weaken their boardstate or until they tap out enough to play Geist through their counters. That does make sense right? By the time you could attack with Geist, they have 2 tokens down, which means Geist is dead, or no damage is getting through at all. I like that you're running Thundermaw, because that will just destroy Fae, as long as you've kept them off of 2 Scion of Oona's. Granted, you'll have to play around their counters, so you might not be able to slam him turn 5. Going up to 4 electrolyze for that matchup is probably another good idea. Playing Izzet Staticaster in the side (if you expect to see multiple Fae decks in the same event) is also not a bad idea.
You should have a decent matchup against Affinity preboard actually. It isn't easy, but with the amount of removal we run, they should be stretched thin. First question I guess are you running the playset of Bolt and Helix? How many Electrolyze, cause that card is a house against both their man lands and Vault Skirge, Signal Pest, Steel Overseer...etc. Saving Path for Master of Etherium, and making sure you play around Arcbound Ravager is important. Try and save your counterspells for big things like Thoughtcast or creatures that are out of bolt range, like Master of Etherium would most likely be.
Taking the correct starting hand is important too. I can't say exactly what you should or shouldn't keep, but if its a slow hand send it back. You can't afford to take your time in this matchup. One of the best hands might be Bolt, Helix, Geist, land land land, mana leak. Bolt their first threat eot, helix the second one, drop Geist and start swinging. He will close the game quickly if you can keep him attacking every turn.
It's worth nothing that post sideboarding, Remand is the first thing you should take out. They dump their hand so fast, Remand is quite useless.
With UW, you get to go deeper into those colors. Things like Blade Splicer, Wall of Omens, Restoration Angel, (sometimes) Kitchen Finks suddenly become relevant. You'll probably play Sphinx's Revelation too cause the card is bonkers. UW tends to be proactive with its removal, running the full suite of Mana Leak and Cryptic Command, rather than reactive, like UWR. It also has a more stable mana base allowing you to run more Tectonic Edges.
With UWR, you obviously get access to red now, but that opens up a whole new toolbox. Suddenly, you have the most efficient removal in the format in the form of Lightning Bolt, Lightning Helix, and Electrolyze. You have the option of topping out with Thundermaw Hellkite and annihilating those Lingering Souls and Bitterblossom tokens or going down a more controlly route with Ajani Vengeant. You basically trade some amount of counterspells and a board presence with staying power for more removal and a more efficient board presence (Geist, Thundermaw).
I personally think UWR is the better choice for your average meta, as it keeps the board clear of most enemy threats. And it's not like you won't run counters either, so you can still hold one up for their game winning threat. But, there are metas where UW will probably outperform UWR, I just haven't played it so I don't know what those would be; I'm sure someone else here can answer that.
I have found Pierce useful specifically against GBx where you can interrupt their turn 2 Liliana when you are on the draw game 2, and also for Birthing Pod against Melira in the same scenario. But now that DRS is gone, I'd be very surprised if I saw Liliana on turn 2. Spell Snare, while always having been excellent, may be even better now that the 2cmc danger cards like goyf and Bitterblossom will be coming down predictably on turn 2, and the 3 cmc on turn 3. This means you can use Mana Leak (instead of Pierce) to get the Liliana when on the draw now that their mana accelerator is gone.
I'm really leaning toward Thundermaw here, although I suppose it would depend on the frequency of seeing Zoo as opposed to Fae. Stormbreath definitely has more staying power against Zoo, but who knows, after seeing Geist, they might board out some number of Paths because honestly, if they Path your Snapcaster(him and Colonnade would be their only targets) , that's hardly the worst thing for you. And then against Fae, it's pretty obvious how brutal Thundermaw is. Even if they have Scion out, down it goes, and then down all the BB tokens go. In addition, the frequency of seeing Lingering Souls can only go up as more GY shenanigans come back into the meta, another compelling argument for running Thundermaw.
I should've gotten around to picking up a pair of Threads, especially since I see GBx in my meta a lot. And like someone mentioned earlier, if they see Geists game 1, most likely they are boarding out most Decays, unless they anticipate the Threads coming in. Haven't tested them but in theory, they seem great.
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Geist of Saint Traft
Spells: 20
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Tribal Flames
3 electrolyze
3 Lingering Souls
2 Path to exile
2 Ajani vengeant
1 Batterskull
Lands:
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
1 Watergy Grave
1 Temple Garden
1 Blood Crypt
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Forest
1 Plains
I absolutely wrecked an Assault Loam deck over the summer. If they get Raven's Crime online you'll definitely be in a tight spot, but Rest in Peace just hoses them hard. I won game 1 as well, Ajani ticked up to 7 and down came the ult, gg. Gifts on the other hand...now that's a matchup. There really isn't a profitable way to attack the deck, at least as far as I can tell. Even if you deal with the grave, that's not their only way to win. They also do a better job of control than you do, so you'll have a tougher time beating them in the long game.
I just hope that with the freed up spots from DRS, people will run more Scavenging Ooze to keep those GY strategies in check. Also, Rest in Peace is going back in my board for sure, as a 2-of. I honestly would not be surprised to see people tinkering with Dredgevine, Assault Loam, Gifts, Zombies (maybe?), just to see what fits well in the new meta. As UWR, we expect things to die and stay dead; graveyard shenanigans are one of the best ways to attack this deck I think...as long as they're not easily counterable with Remand like Living End, haha.