The acceleration is valuable and the exalted trigger is extremely powerful. It is often the factor that gets us the 10th poison after +4/+4 spells and a single attacker.
That said, before I got my hierarchs I had success using Birds of Paradise instead. The deck requires a bit of tuning to make up for the lost bonus, but on the bright side it makes running BUG very easy. With BoP you can play the old BUG lists with 4 Plague Stinger in them. He's really not bad. I always liked having some maindeck discard (IoK or Thoughtseize) too.
Hi all. Just wanted to throw my thoughts into the pot. At its best, Leonin Arbiter can be the bane of enemy Stoneforge decks, disrupt fetchlands, and make Elves cry. But at its worst, he's a 2/2 for 1W. One could say the same for SotL or Containment Priest, except for the fact that these can exist as lone silver bullets, whereas Arbiter necessitates the inclusion of a mana denial "suite" in order to even have the potential to be effective.
While it is not a direct comparison, I played GW Death and Taxes exclusively last modern season (not to be confused with hatebear) and found 4x Arbiter to be effective generally only when he was part of a combo. Meaning, for example, Arbiter off Noble Hierarch on turn 2 followed by Ghost Quarter was a huge play. But he is awful in multiples, and without any mana acceleration from G, he becomes slow and neuters our own ability to Stoneforge. His relevance decreases with every opposing land drop and, while the potential to maximize the utility of Wasteland and Port is great, he is simply a flop against opposing creature decks (delver, bug, junk), burn, and not as effective as Canonist or SotL vs storm and S&T.
A 296 player tourney is a hefty achievement, but still only about the size of a PTQ in my area (well, the PTQs of old). I would guess this built is maybe more meta sensitive than most. I will say however, that I am interested in how he bested that Merfolk player. Anyway, I'm not saying this build doesn't have merit, but I don't plan to trade my Flickerwisps and Mangaras for Arbiters just yet.
Also finished x-3 drop. I had a rough start--I lost the die roll on my first four matches. Round 1 I lost to dredge on T2 of game 1, then game two he cast cabal therapy naming RIP t1 and I didn't draw any more hate.
round 2 I got thrashed by omni-tell. even with 2 sotl, 2 canonist, tutor, and o-ring, it wasn't enough. I seem to have the most trouble against combo. How do you guys get ahead of the turn 2/3 clock? I had one good game where I revoked lotus petal and ported some lands, but he just waited me out. I couldnt establish a lock long enough to win. Maybe mull more aggressively for hate?
I beat UWR Delver, Affinity Stoneblade (is that a thing?) and UR Delver, and then lost to UR Delver. There was a lot of UR delver and burn around that I saw. Looking forward to seeing your guys' reports.
For the record, my list was nearly the same as the GP Trial list barook posted above, except I ran crusaders main (dont have brimaz) and cut the firewalkers/canonist to 2 each in the board to include a few silver bullets and E tutor.
I could use some input on the Elves matchup. How do you sideboard? Specifically, I want to know what you take out of the maindeck and *why*. I've heard all sorts of arguments and I'm not sure what the most optimal post-board configuration is.
In the past I have sided out 1-2 Thalia, 2-3 flickerwisp, and Batterskull to put in 1-2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1-2 Spirit of the Labyrinth, a Sunlance and a ratchet bomb.
Revoker shuts off heritage druid and wirewood symbiote and quirion ranger, but you could go down 1-2 there too. Thalia isnt super effective since elves makes mana like woah, although it can push their glimpse of nature a turn later. Id rather have SotL or Canonist though. Bskull comes out because jitte is really the nuts here. SofI can back up jitte if necessary.
Gave this list a go at an scg IQ yesterday and came in 10th. The biggest challenge was having so many x/1 creatures. I need to get some lieges. Anyway heres a full report if anyone is interested.
Game 1 - Win
I cast Leonin Arbiter turn 2 stopping his fetches and Birthing Pod. I Ghost Quarter'ed his only black source (Overgrown Tomb) and he scooped turn 4 with just two lands (one an uncracked Misty) and Viscera Seer on the board.
Game 3 - Loss
Game 3 looked like it was going in my favor, but he played some creature who gives my creatures -1/-1 when it enters the battlefield, then again when the creature it "haunts" leaves the battlefield. It killed my Noble Hierarchs, Blade Splicers, and Flickerwisps. It sucked and for the record I the "haunt" mechanic is too convoluted.
Match: Loss
0-1
Round 2 vs BUG Infect
My opponent was nice but admitted he was generally new to modern. Interestingly, he mentioned he was friends with the person who placed 5th playing BUG Infect at GP Boston, and that he was in fact playing the very deck played at the GP.
Game 1 - Win
I won game 1 by Ghost Quartering his lands with Leonin Arbiter out. His only Glistener Elf died to Thalia with first strike when he failed to realize she makes pump spells cost extra. He ran out of gas and I laid the beats.
Game 2 - Loss
He dropped double hierarch and Plague Stinger. I didn't last long without fliers or Path.
Game 3 - Win
I opened with Aether Vial and proceeded to tax his mana some more. He dropped two Glistener Elf and attacked, which is where the experience playing Infect myself came in handy. I suspected he had a protection spell, either Vines of Vastwood or Apostle's Blessing, so I waited for the lethal pumps before casting Path to Exile. He didn't have it, so I just ate the 6 poison and Pathed his Elf EoT to get Vines out of his hand. He let it resolve, so I untapped, ticked vial to 3 and passed. He cast Rancor on Glistener Elf and attacked, so I vialed in Blade Splicer and double blocked with Thalia and the Golem token. He cast Apostle's Blessing naming white but I explained that the token was colorless first strike and he conceded.
Match: Win
1-1
Round 3 vs Storm
Game 1 - Loss
I lost game 1 after he managed to Storm out making mana and drawing cards. Double Grapeshot for lethal.
Game 2 - Win
Our geographical area has been combo heavy for as long as I can remember, so I included some extra juice against Twin and Storm in anticipation of facing one iteration or another. I ended up siding in 7 cards for this matchup: a fourth Thalia, 2 Choke, 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Spellskite, and a Rest in Peace. I took out Path to Exiles, Linvala, Qasali Pridemage, and I think a Resto Angel, figuring I wouldn't get the chance to cast many four CMC spells vs Storm.
I ended up casting Turn 2 Thalia, which negated his Goblin Electromancer. He couldn't combo out and turn 3 I dropped Spellskite. He drew for the turn after Spellskite and scooped.
Game 3 - Win
I landed Choke early this game, got Arbiter and Thalia online and Ghost Quartered Shivan Reef. With no blue sources he couldn't piece together the combo or cast much of anything with Thalia in play.
Match: Win
2-1
Round 4 vs Merfolk
Game 1 - Loss
Game 1 he opened with Vial, dropped Cursecatcher and some other fish. Starts vialing in fish faster than I can grill them and he swings for a lot.
Game 2 - Win
I sided in Choke and got one in my opener. Dropped it turn 3 and he couldn't recover.
Game 3 - Loss
He opens with Vial again, and even though I landed t2 Choke he had mutavault producing colorless mana and vial sneaking fish into play. He also kept drawing islands off the top to cast [/card]Spreading Seas[/card] on my forest to eventually swing for 15 islandwalk, and I just happened to control and island. If I had flickerwisp or Ghost Quarter I may have been able to unenchant my land, but it didn't happen.
Match: Loss
2-2
Round 5 - no show
He didnt show
Match: Win
3-2
Round 6 vs Melira Pod
Game 1 - Win
I start ticking up vial early and get more critters on board than he can handle. I Ghost Quartered some of his lands With Leonin Arbiter and Thalia both in play, so he couldn't do much. His fetches were offline and he had no pod, and despite a lonely kitchen finks and viscera seer with Murderous Redcap, it wasn't enough
Game 2 - Draw
This game was long and intense. I don't remember exactly what went down, but basically I search hated him while building a board state of Blade Splicer tokens. He ended up recovering with that same stupid haunt guy I saw in Round 1, but I had a hand full of gas (three splicers, two flickerwisps and a vial on 3 in play) so once we went to time I just kept building an army until we ran out of turns.
Match: Win
4-2
Overall it was fun if a little tiring. My last opponent kept coaxing me to play faster and it kind of rattled me. I did a few dumb things preceding our draw in game 2 for this reason, but luckily it wasn't enough for him to recover and win. I also have no idea what to board against pod. I didn't think anything in my board would be better than the search hate in the main. Maybe take out linvala for a pithing needle or something.
Thanks, that actually makes a great deal of sense. I'll start with some baby steps and test out -1 Mindcensor, -1 Mangara for a +2 Mirran Crusader against some BUG decks. I realized that my sideboard choices were much weaker than what you suggested, as I didn't even bother putting in Rest in Peace, foolishly thinking that Revokers and the singleton Pithing Needle alone could handle Planeswalkers and DRS. Therefore, I never even sided out Revokers, but they were fodder many times to -x/-x effects, Disfigure, Abrupt Decay, etc.
Would you bother siding in the singleton Enlightened Tutor at all, or is +2 Wilt-Leaf, +2 RIP, +1 Spellskite enough? Would you also bother with +1 Spirit of the Labyrinth at all, or is the anti-brainstorm effect not worth the /1 toughness and susceptibility to removal?
Lastly, is Linvala worth it in this matchup (cannot be disfigured/decayed, shuts down DRS, flies over TNN, etc)?
I'm going to throw in my support for Spirit of the Labyrinth, if only because she is a real nut buster against Elves as well as any deck with Islands. Elves is not only rough for us, but has had strong showings in many recent events. I'm keeping both SotL and Canonist in the side for now.
Not to stray the topic too far, but since this is the general "infect" thread (not just G/x), what are your opinions of the incredibly strong Phyrexian Crusader? That is to say--is it worth finding a shell into which he fits, seeing how he not only dodges Path to Exile and red removal, but also first strikes his way to victory against creatures bigger than he? I am surprised he is not seeing more play. I ran him in the side when I played BUG, but BB was too hard to reliably generate.
What about a U/B list to take advantage of Blighted Agent as well? It harkens back to the older iteration from Standard of yore, but the elements to strengthen that control shell for Modern are available.
You're right that Thalia doesn't affect CMC. Zo-zu is there to synergize with the mana punishment package, but I can see how he might be slow for what he offers. He would go well with Flickerwisp, forcing my opponent to take two damage. But that is a pretty niche scenario to keep him for (particularly since I am not running flickerwisp yet, ha).
I have liked Reckoner as both a Vial speed blocker and a general beater. He offers a lot for the cost. Then again, Mirran Crusader might offer just as much.
Vexing Devil is only there because I feel I need another 1 drop besides vial and I haven't found anything I like better yet.
After playing Death and Taxes in Legacy and finding that the Modern version didn't quite pack the same punch, I have attempted to create a deck that takes advantage of Aether Vial by deploying creatures of a high enough power level to clinch the harder matchups.
I am not convinced this route is necessarily better than the GW version, but I think it has potential and I intend to realize that potential. One of the things lacking in RW compared to GW is a utility manabase. Gavony Township, Stirring Wildwood, and Horizon Canopy are all gone. But in return, we get Eidolon of the Great Revel, Boros Reckoner, and Lightning Bolt.
This is my list at current. I tested Goblin Guide and had poor results. I found the deck is not fast enough to mitigate the card advantage he provides the opponent. I am now testing both Figure of Destiny and Vexing Devil instead.
I am considering substituting Mirran Crusader for the Resto Angels. I can't really take advantage of the flicker mechanic. Right now she's just a 3/4 flier with flash. To that end, a few cards under consideration for main deck and/or sideboard
Congrats to Jason Smith for piloting DnT through 3 different Delver decks! Back to back SCG Open Legacy wins now for DnT. Hope this doesn't paint a bigger target on the deck.
I literally winced when that Tarmagoyf swung into that surprise Batterskull.
I have a feeling that's exactly what is about to happen. I'm afraid Dread of Night et al may start making appearances.
Still, it is a good feeling to know D&T is a contender among the swath of Delver and other SFM decks.
@Frenadol I am a big fan of Resto Angel. I may stick her in the side and see how that affects the mirror. Speaking of cards with flicker effects, I was amazed at just how much utility I got out of flickerwisp. Compared to how often I was happy to see any of my other three drops, I may add the fourth.
Not to be a contrarian, but I nearly never wanted to see Mindcensor. Maybe I am blind to it's excellence (or repulsed by it's ugliness), but I only ever got a stone rain effect off when it was basically irrelevant. Another hundred matches of testing and I may eat my words. Are you running them main still?
I played SCG Legacy Open NJ today. This was my first big event since a masques block PTQ in 2000. I have mostly been playing at home and at my LGS since returning to the game in 2012.
I ended up 3-3 but figured I would write up a report for anyone interested. Here is my list.
R1 vs RUG Delver
G1
I mulled to 5 looking for a white source. Found plains vial vial sfm revoker. He opens with Delver and proceeds to drop goblin guide x3. I mistakenly get sofi instead of bskull with sfm and he bolts anyone I try to equip. Poor play.
G2
I kept a 4 lander I probably shouldn't have. Proceed to draw plains plains. Got batterskull out before double delvers flip and he snapcasters a bolt into chain lightning and lava spike for 9 to my head.
0-1
R2 vs Elves
G1
I revoke Heritage Druid but he drops Cradle #2 on turn 4 after I wasted the first one and he combos out.
G2
I draw SotL which bought me a few turns. I opted to get batterskull online before casting ratchet bomb--big mistake. I said go and he drew Natural Order with my ratchet still at 0.
0-2
R3 vs UWR Delver
G1
He floods out and scoops.
G2
He flips two delvers early and I can't recover.
G3
He floods out again. Not much to report.
1-2
R4 vs Fish
G1
I durdle around trying to answer an increasing number of lords. Overall I saw 5 that game and I only had one StP. Ended up taking lethal.
G2
I open with vial and draw into SFM after prepping the board with ports and Thalia. I eventually get SoFI on avenger. He casts TNN but can't catch up.
G3
I equip sofi to a bskull germ and hit him for a butt load. We went to time and he conceded since I was going to win next turn. A true bro.
2-2
R5 vs Tez control
This matchup was hard to read at first, primarily because I wasn't expecting it and had never played against Tez before. Game 1 he didn't show much besides island, Dimir Signet and ancient tomb. He fished to play spells around Thalia while I piddled him down. He cast engineered explosives on 1 to take out mom and vial which I then flickerwisped down to 0. I filled the board and he eventually scooped.
G2
I make a poor choice and board for combo. He drops Tezzeret and turns a Baleful Strix into a 5/5 while I sit on my thumbs.
G3
I redo my board plan. I revoke dimir signet and waste his Ancient Tomb. He loses city of traitors to a fetchland looking for blue mana. Thalia and revoker lock him out. Mystic hits and he scoops.
3-2
R6 vs D&T
The mirror. I mull to 5 looking for a hand containing both lands and spells. He opens with vial, I open with mom. He casts revoker on mom. I play Thalia. He drops Karakas. Starting at 5 made it hard to recover once he got an equip online.
Game 2
Mull to 6 for a white source. I revoke his moms, waste a land, start porting, and go to work with Thalia and revoker. I get him pretty low when he lands sfm into batterskull. I vial in crusader and block bskull germ. He bounces bskull, returns it to play with sfm, casts manriki gusari and equips it to mom. I vial wisp to flicker the germ token and he casts StP on my revoker (revoking mom) and protects the germ. His EOT I double vial, resolving wisp targeting his manriki and sfm fetching SoLaS. SFM gets solas in play on my upkeep and I topdeck a 4th land to equip it to crusader. I swing and get revoker back with solas trigger. I vial it in naming manriki gusari. He equips bskull to sfm and casts jitte equipping to flickerwisp. He uses mom to send attackers through, uses jitte to kill revoker and activates manriki targeting solas, game.
3-3
At that point it was 5:30 so I dropped and went home for dinner.
Many valuable lessons learned. I didn't like having to mull so much, though I know very well that at least two game losses were due to errors on my part. Definitely glad I had solas for the mirror--there was a ton of D&T on the field.
Interestingly, I never had to play the same matchup twice, including the trial the night before when I faced Sneak Show, BUG Midrange, Esper Stoneblade, and Enchantress. Overall it was a fun if tiring experience. Definitely feel more prepared for future events should I find myself at any.
I have been playing DnT in a local meta for almost a year now. I have done relatively well, but am now preparing for an SCG open and would like to solicit some advice.
I've noticed that the lists here have all but ostracized Mangara. He has served me well in many matchups. I can't really see cutting him, unless someone can explain to me the greater wisdom here. Especially since he is such a help against Miracles.
That said, before I got my hierarchs I had success using Birds of Paradise instead. The deck requires a bit of tuning to make up for the lost bonus, but on the bright side it makes running BUG very easy. With BoP you can play the old BUG lists with 4 Plague Stinger in them. He's really not bad. I always liked having some maindeck discard (IoK or Thoughtseize) too.
While it is not a direct comparison, I played GW Death and Taxes exclusively last modern season (not to be confused with hatebear) and found 4x Arbiter to be effective generally only when he was part of a combo. Meaning, for example, Arbiter off Noble Hierarch on turn 2 followed by Ghost Quarter was a huge play. But he is awful in multiples, and without any mana acceleration from G, he becomes slow and neuters our own ability to Stoneforge. His relevance decreases with every opposing land drop and, while the potential to maximize the utility of Wasteland and Port is great, he is simply a flop against opposing creature decks (delver, bug, junk), burn, and not as effective as Canonist or SotL vs storm and S&T.
A 296 player tourney is a hefty achievement, but still only about the size of a PTQ in my area (well, the PTQs of old). I would guess this built is maybe more meta sensitive than most. I will say however, that I am interested in how he bested that Merfolk player. Anyway, I'm not saying this build doesn't have merit, but I don't plan to trade my Flickerwisps and Mangaras for Arbiters just yet.
round 2 I got thrashed by omni-tell. even with 2 sotl, 2 canonist, tutor, and o-ring, it wasn't enough. I seem to have the most trouble against combo. How do you guys get ahead of the turn 2/3 clock? I had one good game where I revoked lotus petal and ported some lands, but he just waited me out. I couldnt establish a lock long enough to win. Maybe mull more aggressively for hate?
I beat UWR Delver, Affinity Stoneblade (is that a thing?) and UR Delver, and then lost to UR Delver. There was a lot of UR delver and burn around that I saw. Looking forward to seeing your guys' reports.
For the record, my list was nearly the same as the GP Trial list barook posted above, except I ran crusaders main (dont have brimaz) and cut the firewalkers/canonist to 2 each in the board to include a few silver bullets and E tutor.
In the past I have sided out 1-2 Thalia, 2-3 flickerwisp, and Batterskull to put in 1-2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1-2 Spirit of the Labyrinth, a Sunlance and a ratchet bomb.
Revoker shuts off heritage druid and wirewood symbiote and quirion ranger, but you could go down 1-2 there too. Thalia isnt super effective since elves makes mana like woah, although it can push their glimpse of nature a turn later. Id rather have SotL or Canonist though. Bskull comes out because jitte is really the nuts here. SofI can back up jitte if necessary.
4 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
4 Restoration Angel
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Plains
1 Gavony Township
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Brushland
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Forest
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Mark of Asylum
2 Choke
2 Stony Silence
2 Creeping Corrosion
1 Spellskite
1 Rest in Peace
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
Round 1 vs Melira Pod
Game 1 - Win
I cast Leonin Arbiter turn 2 stopping his fetches and Birthing Pod. I Ghost Quarter'ed his only black source (Overgrown Tomb) and he scooped turn 4 with just two lands (one an uncracked Misty) and Viscera Seer on the board.
Game 2 - Loss
He lands both Kitchen Finks and Murderous Redcap. I Path to Exile Melira, but he drew Restoration Angel, flickered Redcap and basically wiped my board.
Game 3 - Loss
Game 3 looked like it was going in my favor, but he played some creature who gives my creatures -1/-1 when it enters the battlefield, then again when the creature it "haunts" leaves the battlefield. It killed my Noble Hierarchs, Blade Splicers, and Flickerwisps. It sucked and for the record I the "haunt" mechanic is too convoluted.
Match: Loss
0-1
Round 2 vs BUG Infect
My opponent was nice but admitted he was generally new to modern. Interestingly, he mentioned he was friends with the person who placed 5th playing BUG Infect at GP Boston, and that he was in fact playing the very deck played at the GP.
Game 1 - Win
I won game 1 by Ghost Quartering his lands with Leonin Arbiter out. His only Glistener Elf died to Thalia with first strike when he failed to realize she makes pump spells cost extra. He ran out of gas and I laid the beats.
Game 2 - Loss
He dropped double hierarch and Plague Stinger. I didn't last long without fliers or Path.
Game 3 - Win
I opened with Aether Vial and proceeded to tax his mana some more. He dropped two Glistener Elf and attacked, which is where the experience playing Infect myself came in handy. I suspected he had a protection spell, either Vines of Vastwood or Apostle's Blessing, so I waited for the lethal pumps before casting Path to Exile. He didn't have it, so I just ate the 6 poison and Pathed his Elf EoT to get Vines out of his hand. He let it resolve, so I untapped, ticked vial to 3 and passed. He cast Rancor on Glistener Elf and attacked, so I vialed in Blade Splicer and double blocked with Thalia and the Golem token. He cast Apostle's Blessing naming white but I explained that the token was colorless first strike and he conceded.
Match: Win
1-1
Round 3 vs Storm
Game 1 - Loss
I lost game 1 after he managed to Storm out making mana and drawing cards. Double Grapeshot for lethal.
Game 2 - Win
Our geographical area has been combo heavy for as long as I can remember, so I included some extra juice against Twin and Storm in anticipation of facing one iteration or another. I ended up siding in 7 cards for this matchup: a fourth Thalia, 2 Choke, 2 Ethersworn Canonist, 1 Spellskite, and a Rest in Peace. I took out Path to Exiles, Linvala, Qasali Pridemage, and I think a Resto Angel, figuring I wouldn't get the chance to cast many four CMC spells vs Storm.
I ended up casting Turn 2 Thalia, which negated his Goblin Electromancer. He couldn't combo out and turn 3 I dropped Spellskite. He drew for the turn after Spellskite and scooped.
Game 3 - Win
I landed Choke early this game, got Arbiter and Thalia online and Ghost Quartered Shivan Reef. With no blue sources he couldn't piece together the combo or cast much of anything with Thalia in play.
Match: Win
2-1
Round 4 vs Merfolk
Game 1 - Loss
Game 1 he opened with Vial, dropped Cursecatcher and some other fish. Starts vialing in fish faster than I can grill them and he swings for a lot.
Game 2 - Win
I sided in Choke and got one in my opener. Dropped it turn 3 and he couldn't recover.
Game 3 - Loss
He opens with Vial again, and even though I landed t2 Choke he had mutavault producing colorless mana and vial sneaking fish into play. He also kept drawing islands off the top to cast [/card]Spreading Seas[/card] on my forest to eventually swing for 15 islandwalk, and I just happened to control and island. If I had flickerwisp or Ghost Quarter I may have been able to unenchant my land, but it didn't happen.
Match: Loss
2-2
Round 5 - no show
He didnt show
Match: Win
3-2
Round 6 vs Melira Pod
Game 1 - Win
I start ticking up vial early and get more critters on board than he can handle. I Ghost Quartered some of his lands With Leonin Arbiter and Thalia both in play, so he couldn't do much. His fetches were offline and he had no pod, and despite a lonely kitchen finks and viscera seer with Murderous Redcap, it wasn't enough
Game 2 - Draw
This game was long and intense. I don't remember exactly what went down, but basically I search hated him while building a board state of Blade Splicer tokens. He ended up recovering with that same stupid haunt guy I saw in Round 1, but I had a hand full of gas (three splicers, two flickerwisps and a vial on 3 in play) so once we went to time I just kept building an army until we ran out of turns.
Match: Win
4-2
Overall it was fun if a little tiring. My last opponent kept coaxing me to play faster and it kind of rattled me. I did a few dumb things preceding our draw in game 2 for this reason, but luckily it wasn't enough for him to recover and win. I also have no idea what to board against pod. I didn't think anything in my board would be better than the search hate in the main. Maybe take out linvala for a pithing needle or something.
I'm going to throw in my support for Spirit of the Labyrinth, if only because she is a real nut buster against Elves as well as any deck with Islands. Elves is not only rough for us, but has had strong showings in many recent events. I'm keeping both SotL and Canonist in the side for now.
Not to stray the topic too far, but since this is the general "infect" thread (not just G/x), what are your opinions of the incredibly strong Phyrexian Crusader? That is to say--is it worth finding a shell into which he fits, seeing how he not only dodges Path to Exile and red removal, but also first strikes his way to victory against creatures bigger than he? I am surprised he is not seeing more play. I ran him in the side when I played BUG, but BB was too hard to reliably generate.
What about a U/B list to take advantage of Blighted Agent as well? It harkens back to the older iteration from Standard of yore, but the elements to strengthen that control shell for Modern are available.
I have liked Reckoner as both a Vial speed blocker and a general beater. He offers a lot for the cost. Then again, Mirran Crusader might offer just as much.
Vexing Devil is only there because I feel I need another 1 drop besides vial and I haven't found anything I like better yet.
I am not convinced this route is necessarily better than the GW version, but I think it has potential and I intend to realize that potential. One of the things lacking in RW compared to GW is a utility manabase. Gavony Township, Stirring Wildwood, and Horizon Canopy are all gone. But in return, we get Eidolon of the Great Revel, Boros Reckoner, and Lightning Bolt.
This is my list at current. I tested Goblin Guide and had poor results. I found the deck is not fast enough to mitigate the card advantage he provides the opponent. I am now testing both Figure of Destiny and Vexing Devil instead.
Please share any ideas, thoughts, or insights!
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Aven Mindcensor
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
4 Vexing Devil
3 Zo-Zu the Punisher
2 Restoration Angel
3 Path to Exile
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sacred Foundry
6 Mountain
5 Plains
I am considering substituting Mirran Crusader for the Resto Angels. I can't really take advantage of the flicker mechanic. Right now she's just a 3/4 flier with flash. To that end, a few cards under consideration for main deck and/or sideboard
Possibly a flicker package using any combination of:
As well as the usual R+W sideboard material. Let me know what you think!
I have a feeling that's exactly what is about to happen. I'm afraid Dread of Night et al may start making appearances.
Still, it is a good feeling to know D&T is a contender among the swath of Delver and other SFM decks.
Not to be a contrarian, but I nearly never wanted to see Mindcensor. Maybe I am blind to it's excellence (or repulsed by it's ugliness), but I only ever got a stone rain effect off when it was basically irrelevant. Another hundred matches of testing and I may eat my words. Are you running them main still?
I ended up 3-3 but figured I would write up a report for anyone interested. Here is my list.
4x Mother of Runes
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Stoneforge Mystic
4x Phyrexian Revoker
2x Serra Avenger
2x Mangara of Corondor
3x Flickerwisp
1x Aven Mindcensor
2x Mirran Crusader
Spells (11)
4x Swords to Plowshares
4x Aether Vial
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x Sword of Fire and Ice
1x Batterskull
10x Plains
4x Rishadan Port
4x Wasteland
3x Karakas
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Enlightened Tutor
2x Ethersworn Canonist
2x Rest in Peace
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Spirit of the Labyrinth
1x Sunlance
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Pithing Needle
1x Ratchet Bomb
1x Disenchant
1x Aven Mindcensor
R1 vs RUG Delver
G1
I mulled to 5 looking for a white source. Found plains vial vial sfm revoker. He opens with Delver and proceeds to drop goblin guide x3. I mistakenly get sofi instead of bskull with sfm and he bolts anyone I try to equip. Poor play.
G2
I kept a 4 lander I probably shouldn't have. Proceed to draw plains plains. Got batterskull out before double delvers flip and he snapcasters a bolt into chain lightning and lava spike for 9 to my head.
0-1
R2 vs Elves
G1
I revoke Heritage Druid but he drops Cradle #2 on turn 4 after I wasted the first one and he combos out.
G2
I draw SotL which bought me a few turns. I opted to get batterskull online before casting ratchet bomb--big mistake. I said go and he drew Natural Order with my ratchet still at 0.
0-2
R3 vs UWR Delver
G1
He floods out and scoops.
G2
He flips two delvers early and I can't recover.
G3
He floods out again. Not much to report.
1-2
R4 vs Fish
G1
I durdle around trying to answer an increasing number of lords. Overall I saw 5 that game and I only had one StP. Ended up taking lethal.
G2
I open with vial and draw into SFM after prepping the board with ports and Thalia. I eventually get SoFI on avenger. He casts TNN but can't catch up.
G3
I equip sofi to a bskull germ and hit him for a butt load. We went to time and he conceded since I was going to win next turn. A true bro.
2-2
R5 vs Tez control
This matchup was hard to read at first, primarily because I wasn't expecting it and had never played against Tez before. Game 1 he didn't show much besides island, Dimir Signet and ancient tomb. He fished to play spells around Thalia while I piddled him down. He cast engineered explosives on 1 to take out mom and vial which I then flickerwisped down to 0. I filled the board and he eventually scooped.
G2
I make a poor choice and board for combo. He drops Tezzeret and turns a Baleful Strix into a 5/5 while I sit on my thumbs.
G3
I redo my board plan. I revoke dimir signet and waste his Ancient Tomb. He loses city of traitors to a fetchland looking for blue mana. Thalia and revoker lock him out. Mystic hits and he scoops.
3-2
R6 vs D&T
The mirror. I mull to 5 looking for a hand containing both lands and spells. He opens with vial, I open with mom. He casts revoker on mom. I play Thalia. He drops Karakas. Starting at 5 made it hard to recover once he got an equip online.
Game 2
Mull to 6 for a white source. I revoke his moms, waste a land, start porting, and go to work with Thalia and revoker. I get him pretty low when he lands sfm into batterskull. I vial in crusader and block bskull germ. He bounces bskull, returns it to play with sfm, casts manriki gusari and equips it to mom. I vial wisp to flicker the germ token and he casts StP on my revoker (revoking mom) and protects the germ. His EOT I double vial, resolving wisp targeting his manriki and sfm fetching SoLaS. SFM gets solas in play on my upkeep and I topdeck a 4th land to equip it to crusader. I swing and get revoker back with solas trigger. I vial it in naming manriki gusari. He equips bskull to sfm and casts jitte equipping to flickerwisp. He uses mom to send attackers through, uses jitte to kill revoker and activates manriki targeting solas, game.
3-3
At that point it was 5:30 so I dropped and went home for dinner.
Many valuable lessons learned. I didn't like having to mull so much, though I know very well that at least two game losses were due to errors on my part. Definitely glad I had solas for the mirror--there was a ton of D&T on the field.
Interestingly, I never had to play the same matchup twice, including the trial the night before when I faced Sneak Show, BUG Midrange, Esper Stoneblade, and Enchantress. Overall it was a fun if tiring experience. Definitely feel more prepared for future events should I find myself at any.
I have been playing DnT in a local meta for almost a year now. I have done relatively well, but am now preparing for an SCG open and would like to solicit some advice.
I've noticed that the lists here have all but ostracized Mangara. He has served me well in many matchups. I can't really see cutting him, unless someone can explain to me the greater wisdom here. Especially since he is such a help against Miracles.
Right now my flex slots are
3x Flickerwisp
3x Serra Avenger
2x Mangara of Corondor
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Mirran Crusader
Why the stray from his usefulness? Thanks!
How do you feel about Vexing Devil? Could make for interesting plays in conjunction with Flickerwisp.