MTG Salvation

Quote from Aetherbringer »

Quote from AcademyRuins »

Ballista beats Bridge. If you're going to play one win con, I'd advise Ballista for that reason.
here.

Can't you just attack with the 0-powered Druid and then untap it before damage to pump it infinitely large? Or are we more concerned that we are sacrificing Vizier to tutor out Ezuri in the first place?

Whoops, you're right. I suppose there are things like Worship to consider, or the Ad Naus matchup. Remembering that you can attack through bridge, perhaps Ezuri/Rhonas could be okay to play as your only win con.

Quote from mirrislegend »

This should be a permanent link to the Druid discord. There's no channel for this particular version of Druid Combo but we can change that. Let me know if anyone has trouble with it:
https://discord.gg/C7WdRPr

I'd be happy to link to the Discord in the primer.

Quote from Aetherbringer »

Thanks for the great feedback!
A couple more thoughts/questions:
Should we still be playing Walking Ballista or other wincons when Ezuri almost always is just as effective and works far better with the ~11 tutors that put something onto the battlefield? I also don't see how giving Rhonas multiple creatures the ability to attack for infinite is very useful, and the possibility of a backup beatdown plan if your druids are removed seems pretty marginal to me in the context of Modern.
In the same vein, Duskwatch Recruiter also seems pretty useless. Ezuri fills the role of the battlefield-tutorable creature that wins the game now and doesn't require Ballista as an actual kill condition. Not working with Neoform also shouldn't be a big concern as you can just sac the Vizier of Remedies to get it out.
Going back to one of @AcademyRuins' previous lists, is Teferi, Time Raveler really better than having more tutors (likely Eladamri's Calls, which personally I have found a great supplement to the current suite as they allow t3 Druid and also dodge Cage)? I have not tested w/ him and are curious of yall's opinions on him.
In general, I feel like we should basically refine the deck to combo backup pieces (Greaves, Stepmom, Lunge, EWit), tutors (Neoform, Evolution, Finale, Call), obviously the actual combo cards, and a wincon. Other interactive cards and bullets just take away from the t3-t4 potential of this deck, which I feel like with Stepmom is the best place for this deck to be in the Modern environment.

Ballista beats Bridge. If you're going to play one win con, I'd advise Ballista for that reason.

I'd encourage you to explore a decklist that suits your liking. There is endless depth to the Druid Vizier shell, to the point that differences in play style and plan preference can result in wildly different lists. If you think cards like Rhonas, Duskwatch, and Teferi are suboptimal, play with 4 to see them often, or play with 0 to see how much you miss them.

As for thoughts on Teferi, I talk a bit about it here.

Be optimistic about Vannifar everyone Remember that testing out new cards or variants always leaves you at worst with confirmation of a hipfired assessment. At best, you're the one piloting a busted deck weeks before it tops a GP. Here's a few funny quotes to encourage testing before dismissing.

I've been playing [Abzan Company] since before twin got banned, and I'm of the opinion that this [Druid Vizier] combo is garbo. We don't really have the tools to take advantage of infinite green mana, and putting in duskwatch requires yet another slot. With renegade rallier, tireless tracker, Saffi, fiend hunter/pontiff, and the Angel Combo already vying for spots, I don't see this as where the deck wants to be right now. Probably you want some new deck with Genesis Wave and Craterhoof.

[Siege Rhino] is worse than Obstinate Baloth [in Melira Pod]. You don't necessarily care about the extra damage to your opponent, rather you care about the life gained by the ETB. It is also much harder to cast, pods mana base is already under serious strain and replacing a card that's double green (which is relatively easy for pod) to then 3 different colours is not what you want to be doing, you could take a lot of damage off your mana base just to even attempt casting it.

I don't think the trample or the extra point of toughness is worthwhile. I'm struggling to articulate exactly why, so it's really just my opinion at this point.

The biggest point against rhino, what four drop do you remove? Common four drops in pod are Redcap, Resto, Metamorph in the mainboard. Redcap is integral to pods gameplan and is a solid 2-4-1 anyway, it breaks stalled board states and kills random utility creatures.

Resto and Metamorph fall under a similar guise. They both 'reset' kitchen finks, and each can provide a meaningful threat. The most important thing is the amount of synergy the have in the deck, which Rhino doesn't have.

If rhino was in the sideboard, what would it replace there? And what matchup is good in? Melira pod generally runs Entomber Exarch and Thrun as additional four drops in the board. I don't think Rhino can replace either of those, Exarch comes in for matchups like control or Scapeshift where spell quality and quantity will win the match rather than life total. Thrun is just a beating for BGx and Control, he is utterly unique.

[Traverse Shadow] looks spicy, but in all honesty not that potable. The main advantage deaths shadow zoo had against other aggro decks, was being able to just go off and go crazy and beat them even faster than they could. This list kind of dilutes that, leaving it in a weird place where you kind of to kill yourself, but even if you do get low enough to cast a big shadow you're still kind of dead cause you don't have as much otk potential. And yeah, this deck would just get smoked by regular control. Interesting idea, but I don't think it's there yet

Adding additional threats to GDS is something that should be experimented with more. In matchups where GDS is the aggressor, having only 8 real threats is a problem.

That said, Street Wraith is not the card to cut. A huge portion of the deck improves with its addition, there's a reason why people see it as the card to remove if the deck were to become dominant.

By far, the most noticeable loss is that the original threats lose velocity. Tasigur now requires a Thought Scour to be T2'd, and Death's Shadow can only be played on T2 with fetch, fetch, Thoughtseize.

Many people will think that's it, but nearly every facet of the deck owes something to Street Wraith. With Delve threats coming down slower, and DS starting out smaller, Stubborn Denial now is less consistently Negate. Preordain goes back on the ban list when you can't draw into your scry on Serum Visions. Kolaghan's Command and sideboard Liliana, the Last Hope lose out on their hidden cantrip modes. The Turbo Xerox rule tells us the deck loses out on two virtual lands. Snapcaster takes a hit when Delve threats have less graveyard fuel. Free cantrips means more velocity, effectively increasing the virtual numbers on every card, a big advantage in sideboard games.

It's jarring to see Andrea opt for known flex slots in the seventh removal spell and third Stubborn Denial over a staple four-of in Street Wraith. Even of the slots set in stone, it's crazy to cut Wraith over sacred cows like the fourth Snapcaster or second K Command, especially when on 18 land.

There's definitely an argument for finding room for additional threats in a fifth Delve creature or Young Pyromancers, but Street Wraith is not a flex slot.

I was goldfishing that All In Devoted Remedies deck earlier this week when I had a stupid idea. I can't tell if pile this is horrible or great. It's tested well, but that could just be low expectations. Let me know if you're brave enough to give it a whirl.

Something I haven't seen many, if any, Gifts Storm pilots playing is a Snow-Covered Island. It's better than the second Island and beyond as it lets you create Gifts piles with both Island and Snow-Covered Island in them.

After playing DSJ for a few months, I've found some of the more complex cards to sequences are this deck's cantrips. Hopefully someday we'll have a nice primer detailing some of this information, but I wanted to take a little time to share my thoughts on how to best utilize Bauble, Street Wraith, and Delirium-less Traverse in this deck. While they aren't the flashiest cards, I think we all have had openers that need a bit of time to figure out how to navigate them.

You can find my Guide to Using Death's Shadow's Cantrips here. If you have any question or if I missed something, be sure to let me know!

Quote from purklefluff »

Quote from ShuckCreations »

Also, for Bauble drawing triggers you could always place a die or coin on top of your deck to remind you to draw an extra card.

While this is a brilliant way to avoid missing your own upkeep triggers (before you draw) It's not great in your opponent's upkeep because you never normally interact with your own deck in their upkeep. I tried the counter on my library trick last night, and while I was tired and had low blood sugar (which was probably the main reason for missing triggers) the counter was zero help whatsoever. I might start placing the baubles at a jaunty angle and on top of my graveyard if I still have a trigger waiting. Something similar to the way people mark creatures in dredge that have delayed triggers.

Would also like to reiterate how great varolz was for me last night in testing, giving me what few wins I could scrape together in my tired state all by himself. Very good with battle rage as well (as you'd imagine).

That's why you put a die on top of your opponent's library

Through the Breach + Emrakul, the Aeons Torn is one I haven't seen yet. Very good in Blue mirrors as you can cast it on their end of turn and still get Emrakul on your turn, allowing you to "double your mana" in a way.

I'm on the Stoneforge package now. It's definitely interesting. I'm not sure how good it is yet. I'm not crazy enough to play 4 colors, but I am on the light blue splash.

One thing I was introduced to, that is meager for the Stoneforge shell but ideal for all-in Druid combo: Vines of Vastwood. More protection is always welcome, but when Druid is online Vines is also a Dark Ritual!

Yes, Duskwatch Recruiter decreases in value as you play more Finale of Devastation, so number vary as appropriate.

I'm glad to hear Giver of Runes is working out for you. I'm excited to try it once my local meta calms down.

Postmortem Lunge is a complex card. Having multiple in hand or topdecking them later can be a major bummer. On the other hand, it often lets you win on turn 3 when your opponent plays removal on your turn 2 Druid. Given that this deck is pretty speed oriented, I'd say it is very worth playing. At least 3 in the maindeck and maybe a 4th in the side. Mix and match with Lightning Greaves according to your meta's tastes.

Beating Izzet Phoenix is hard for almost all Druid decks. For this Druid deck, your primary win plan will be to combo them out before TiTi flips. If it does flip, you likely have 1 out: have your Druid kill itself, lunge it back next turn (without getting Surgical Extraction'd), and win off that. If you find UR Phoenix to be a large portion of your meta, other Druid shells are probably better for you.

Number of tutors is often decided by your strategy. What are you trying to do? This thread is primarily for a super speed game plan with a consistent turn 2 Druid and turn 3 win (hence the Neoforms and Postmortem Lunges). If you have a different plan, you'll play different tutors. Check out the Druid combo Discord to see other varieties.

Every shell of Druid just races Tron. Unless said deck is playing Knight of the Reliquary, in which case it races Tron and plays Ghost Quarter and/or Field of Ruin.

I got 2nd place on a 46 man tournament. This list was amazing.

4 scrap trawler
4 memnite
4 mox opal
3 mishras bauble
4 chromatic star
4 grinding station
4 sword of the meek
4 thopter foundry
4 ancient stirrings
3 whir of invention
4 Sly Requisitioner

4 botanical Sanctum
4 Glimmervoid
4 Spire of industry
3 Darkslick shores
2 island
1 Academy Ruins

Everyone was impressed by it's power level.
My matchups were:
The rock (2-1)
Elves (2-1)
UW control (2-1)
Phoenix (2-0)
Phoenix (1-2)
ID into top 8
Phoenix (2-1)
Burn (2-1)
Eldrazi and taxes (0-2)

The second Phoenix I lose due to a misplay. The finals were a massacre because of RIP maindeck and game 2 a mull to 5.

I really liked how the deck did mill 42 in one turn without going infinite. Could win as early as turn 3, was very resilient against surgical, had so many plans maindeck that all worked together, had a solid aggro plan, did not need bridge to stall a game and rightout felt super powerful.

I had not tested the deck before so I am sure I messed up alot and make alot of semi optimal decisions. Also I kept some hands tjay were not great, in heinsight. Still the deck was super strong and even at 90% capacity blew away most of my opponents.

Love,
Selene

Well, I did terribly. Looking back, it was clear that I had forgotten one of the biggest lessons of this deck: we're playing a very focused combo deck and it needs to be piloted with that constantly in mind. I didn't mulligan aggressively nor did I sequence with a possible quick combo in mind. I played fair far too much. Also, I flooded out MANY games. Incredibly frustrating. I'm considering adding an 8th fetchland or buying into Horizon Canopies 3 and 4 to hopefully mitigate that in the future.

Right before the event I switched the MD Spellskite and the SB Shalai. After some pondering I had realized that the only time I really need the proactive protection of Spellskite are instances where I can expect any removal on Druid to be followed up by graveyard hate before (or in response to) Postmortem Lunge. The primary culprit for that is GBx Midrange, which is drastically over-represented in my FNM meta, thus leading to my MD Spellskite. In a more diverse field, 2 Shalai MD is definitely right.

Quote from Shwivle »

I think the second Eidolon is overkill and the Riftsweeper is too cute, you could free up two precious sideboard slots for either value which you are lacking or another unique and more impactful bullet like Magus. Without KCI in the format Eidolon rarely gets boarded in and often a Shalai/Spellskite represents an additional Eidolon once you have the first one out. V Storm for example a Shalai is even better than Eidolon #2 due to Echoing Truth.

I generally agree with you on Eidolon. I decided to stick with 2 due to Phoenix. Mono-Red Phoenix is forced to Lightning Axe or bust. U/R Phoenix is stuck with TitI, which was already the primary threat to us in that matchup (ie: we save Path for TitI). With Eidolon to slow them down and Path for TitI, you should have enough time to combo off before Pyromancer's Ascendancy or Crackling Drake ruin your day.

Going back to the top of my post: we're a combo deck. Turning creatures sideways does not win the game. Surgical Extraction is GG. I don't want to lose to that. I'll admit that Riftsweeper is cute but I'm pretty firm on it, at least until a really good argument sways me.

What do you suggest for value cards in the SB?

I like your suggestion of Magus (of the Moon, I'm assuming). UWx Control, Jund, and Eldrazi Tron are rough matchups where Magus of the Moon would definitely be worthwhile. Is it worthwhile to cut the Breeding Pool (for casting Incongruity) for a Stomping Grounds to play Magus? Can anyone weigh in on Incongruity? How often have you cast it? How relevant has it been? It has done nothing for me so far.

I played at a small 16 person FNM to rough results.

Round 1 vs. Tron. I play against the guy I drive to FNM each week (that I go). We just got done splitting a 6 game "series" of PreModern before this match. In game 1 after a mull, I turn 3 him. He played a Forest on turn 2 and did Sylvan Scrying, so I knew there was very little that would impede me, if anything. He had Tower, Mine, Forest all tapped on turn 3 to get the Power Plant. I kill him. In the next game, he mulled to 3! My hand durdled a bit too much with 2 more Devoted Druids drawn while he played Tron land, Tron land, pass. I was scared when he got Tron and he missed drawing a 4th land to play Ugin, which he said he had. I needed to hit on my Duskwatch Recruiter, which I did, and the game was over. The sad part was that I attacked first, so only Ballista kills him now instead of Ballista or Shalai. Lol. 2-0.

Round 2 vs. GB Midrange. He gets enough removal to slow me down, but I draw Postmortem Lunge when he needed me to miss for a turn, and kill him. In the next game, he does Inquisition of Kozilek my Devoted Druid, then Surgical Extraction. I am having a tough time with a Liliana of the Veil, but I Path to Exile his only threat. I got Tireless Tracker down and some clues, but it got killed after Field of Ruin, then Fatal Push. I eventually E Witness it back and play it on the same turn. But I end up not finding much down the road with 3 clues and draw steps while he gets the Tracker again and Scooze eats it, then he climbs back into this game. In the final game, I am close to comboing, but he literally draws enough removal each turn with Dismember, 2 Fatal Push, and a Maelstrom Pulse (sad!). I needed to literally draw a single Postmortem Lunge in these sideboarded games, but I sided out 2. Maybe that was wrong? I just didn't want to have "do nothing" cards in certain situations. I played more creature-centric sideboarded games; probably wrong. 1-2.

Round 3 vs. UR Breach? I didn't see anything but burn, Snaps, Remand, and Cryptic Command. In the first game, his turns went EoT Bolt, turn 2 Bolt, turn 3 Snap Bolt, turn 4 Snap Bolt. Then Cryptic Command into Remand and those dudes and a Vendilion Clique swung me for lethal. In the next game, I make a huge mistake by not fetching Temple Garden with my second land, which I had intended to do right up until the last moment when I got Forest instead. This prevented me from casting Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, but Burrenton Forge-Tender into Devoted Druid into Eidolon of Rhetoric and then finally Gideon to provide a clock, got me there pretty easily. I think the Eidolon devastated him, as he seemed pretty surprised as well. Then the Gid put him to the test. In the next game, I go Burrenton Forge-Tender into Devoted Druid again. He didn't find Red until turn 3 and goes for Abrade. I sacrifice the BfT and then combo him on turn 3. 2-1.

Round 4 vs. Bant Spirits. This should be a solid matchup, I would think. In game 1, I fail to cast something on my turn 2 since he had Spell Queller mana up. He cast Spell Queller anyway and got to work with it, a freshly cast Supreme Phantom, and a Noble Hierarch. While he was tapped out, I played Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies on my turn 3. The reason I did this is that he had 2 cards in hand and a draw step and with infinite mana, I can Chord of Calling (already in hand) for 100,000 to play around everything. I felt like his hand was full of Spell Queller and Collected Company as they usually are. Nope, he did Path to Exile on my Devoted Druid next turn and I couldn't put it into the graveyard. I had Postmortem Lunge, but it set me back to much and he added Drogskol Captain and Image to get me dead before I could recoup. I'm not sure if it was a punt or not. I was playing against what Bant Spirits usually has. I'm assuming they still play 3 Path to Exile, along with their 4 Collected Company and 3 Aether Vial, but Path hasn't come up as often recently. But...it happens again in game 2 and I can't recoup again. This time there was nothing I really could do. His clock was too quick and when he had 1 card left and his last draw for the turn, he came through with the second Path to Exile. It figured that my last few matches against Spirits didn't revolve around Path to Exile at all and then I lose to 3 of them. This game started like this, I Commune for Devoted Druid, but take off the turn to Walking Ballista his Noble Hierarch. He goes Vial, Wanderer on turn 2. I do turn 3 Knight of Autumn, busting the Aether Vial, then turn 4 was when the Paths started. Maybe I should have been more aggressive and cast the Devoted Druid earlier? 0-2.

I finish 2-2, which was a win from prizing. I actually haven't done too hot lately. I had prized at 3-1 or better every time my first 3 years here except 1 single time, most with random decks. But nowadays, the variance is just really hitting hard. I'm also not playing as spot on.

Congratulations on the top 8! Your list is super similar to mine. I played it today at a Store IQ with 51 players for 6 rounds.

Round 1 vs. Hardened Scales. I keep a hand with 2 lands, Devoted Druid, Vizier of Remedies, and 2 Commune with Nature. I only find another Druid and a dork from the Commune, so I remain a combo piece short of comboing. I keep the Vizier in hand to not give more away. I lost to an Inkmoth Nexus doing 5 infect, then 5 more. Not a good way to start a tournament! In the next game, I mulligan to 5. She gets a Walking Ballista for 2 on turn 2, killing my Devoted Druid. I do Postmortem Lunge, play Vizier, and play Walking Ballista. It's nice to have it all. She realizes what's going on now. In the final game, her hand is a bit slow. She does Metallic Mimic into a 0/0 Hangarback Walker, so I use Path to Exile on it to make the Walker come into play as a 0/0. She goes for 7 infect, but makes a mistake sacrificing Darksteel Citadel. On her final turn, she played Spellskite, which would have prevented my 2nd Path to Exile that I had in my hand, but she didn't have the extra 1 mana to activate Inkmoth Nexus. I play a 2nd Druid, Evolution it for Vizier, and then Chord for Duskwatch Recruiter to find Ballista for game. Whew! 2-1.

Round 2 vs. GB Midrange. There was some pairing mistakes, as they had me losing the first round. We looked at the slip and it clearly said I won. So I am playing a different guy, who Thoughtseizes me, then kills a Devoted Druid. I wait a turn to draw another combo piece and then use Postmortem Lunge to get Druid, Evolution a Dryad Arbor, and then go infinite with Duskwatch Recruiter, all right after Liliana the Last Hope killed a Birds of Paradise. In the next game, we stall out, but 2 Treetop Villages eventually kill my Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. But I draw multiple Duskwatch Recruiters, who get value before they die. I had held 3 lands in hand and found Tireless Tracker. Got a million clues over the next few turns while he drew ... nothing. This seems like a rough matchup, but I drew GAS. 2-0.

Round 3 vs. Humans. In game 1, he shut down Vizier of Remedies with Meddling Mage and I drew another one. Lucky for me I had dork into Druid into Evolution for Vizier of Remedies and played Walking Ballista to end it. In the next game, he puts some pressure, but after 2 Path to Exile, my deck just won't quit and I get another chance at comboing when he has 1 card in hand. Could it be another Path to Exile. I doubt it. For what it's worth, he was playing a modified version of Humans that runs Path, Stony Silence, and RIP in the SB. He doesn't play Ancient Ziggurat. Really strong player who won the last 2 PPTQs he's played in. First time playing him myself. Got lucky. He made the top 8 today too. 2-0.

Round 4 vs. Burn. There's not much to say, outside of my deck slightly failed me while his didn't. I comboed him on turn 3 with a 5 card mulligan in game 1 after he tapped out for Eidolon of the Great Revel. In the next 2 games, I did get some Knight of Autumn and Shalai, but his pressure was too much. No Worship to be seen. This guy made the finals. 1-2.

Round 5 vs. Burn. In the first game, he got stuck on 1 mana and tapped out for a 3rd 1 drop. I combo off safely. In the next game, he barely gets there when I draw 6 mana dorks against his deck. I kept with 2 in hand, but still... The final game can be watched here at 4:50 - https://www.twitch.tv/videos/363521599 . I felt like I literally needed to draw a single land to win, but it didn't happen until my final turn when I was at 3 life, facing 2 Monastery Swiftspears and a Grim Lavamancer. 1-2.

Round 6 vs. Mono Red Prison. He did Pyretic Ritual into Blood Moon on turn 2, but I did mana dude into Eldritch Evolution, using mana from a Devoted Druid to get Vizier of Remedies and played Duskwatch Recruiter. Must be nice, Obama. In the next game, he mulled to 4. I drew a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and with some mana dudes, it was enough. I started drawing gas late, but I just left what was on board since he didn't seem to have many outs. 2-0.

I finish 4-2 for 11th place. It was tough losing to Burn twice in heartbreaking game 3s, including needing to draw a single land to win in Round 5. Magic.

Been playing both versions for months with a recent full switch to the Evolution build on Steven's recommendations. As a Vancouver Local it was pretty gas to watch him crush his way to top 8. Moving forward I'm voting to play the Commune with 1 Eternal Witness Build and I'll continue to tech that deck specifically. All we really want is more 1 mana interaction, specfically a more flexible Burrenton Forge-Tender. I think it's one of the best cards for our deck and any less than two is incorrect. In future with blue being the go to splash I'll test with Dispel/Spell Pierce and feel them out. I also think that we need to stop playing bullets, and focus on consistency as our forte. We're already very good at presenting the combo and win condition so we don't want to spend our cards finding non combo tutor targets ESPECIALLY when most of the time the card you're tutoring is 2-3 mana. At that CMC you need to Eldritch Evolution it for it to arrive on time IE: Eidolon of Rhetoric vs MOST combo decks. Chord has been ultimately one of my worst cards, and typically only does it's job if my opponent is spinning their wheels or have allowed me a ton of resources. Chord also happens to be the only line that doesn't put a druid into play on turn 2, and with our lack of Collected Company we're much less likely to be able to stick creatures to chord for 2. My theory for the future is that the Devoted build will cut Chord and end up playing 8 Commune effects to maximize our ability to play a druid on turn 2. This means you'll keep hands with Druid, Evolution + Bird, and Bird + Communes; Giving you a wide variety of hands to keep and multiple options to sculpt your plan with the Communes. This also lends itself better to a sideboard built to play 2 ofs. Rhetoric, Deputy, Autumn, Burrenton, and Tracker would be my first 10 cards I'd submit. 3 Path and 2 meta dependent cards to follow. I'll be playing at the Face to Face Vancouver open on January 26th. I managed to get 2nd place last year (on Knightfall) and I'm hoping to have similar success this time around too. Considering the set release is the day before I'll be doing serious testing with this build and the blue splash in general. I'll also look into the Company build with Domri over Chord but I'm much more likely to play this linear style at a large event. Anyways I'll keep this thread posted if anything in particular comes up in testing. Attached is my recent list, I placed 5-8th at a 1k open today with my only match loss being to a B/R Burn Opponent.

Quote from mirrislegend »

Quote from AcademyRuins »

I'd say above all else, Duskwatch is already a Chordable finisher. A mana sink that works as a good beatdown plan B that also beats white Leyline is important, so Rhonas used to be played in this deck to fulfill that slot, but it has been replaced by Shalai.

Rhonas is strictly superior to Shalai in the specific case we're talking about, due to trample. I was under the impression that Shalai was selected for the protection she provides and the alternate wincon was just a bonus.

Thank you for the sideboarding advice!

Shalai is on average just a better card than Rhonas is in this deck. Rhonas`s big upside in the normal Devoted Druid builds for me always was that, once you have infinite mana, you could hit it off of a CoCo while Ballista was a big whiff. That issue doesn`t present itself in this deck since we don`t run any CoCo and once you have infinite mana you can Chord/Eldritch Evo it up as a wincon anyways if the situation arises where Ballista isn`t enough (ex: op has hexproof). That being said, my current list is only playing a single Shalai, I moved the Spellskite to the main freeing up a precious SB slot. Skite is currently pretty solid in the meta with Bolt being as highly represented as it is.

Quote from FoodChainGoblins »

Have you considered trying Little Kid Abzan? I'm not sure which Midrange decks you're referring to, but it would be nice to switch every once in a while on the Midrange dudes and they may not even guess after the first 1 or 2 plays by you. After a Liliana of the Veil drops a Wilt-Leaf Liege into play, it will be on their radar. Outside of that, I would say that you need Trackers...many Trackers and a little luck. I do think that Midrange decks are around 50/50 vs. regular Abzan Company.

It's entirely possible that my losses to midrange are all my fault. I feel like my list SHOULD be good against them:

Anyways, I wonder if the Combo Focused Shell with -Eldritch Evolution, +Collected Company, +Militia Bugler would have enough value to push the combo through midrange's answers. If it works, it would only be worthwhile in a meta like mine. I can't see losing Eldritch Evolution and Commune with Nature and/or silver bullets in any other meta.

Here's the build I am currently testing.

My big problem with Vizier combo at the moment is: Coco is card advantage at the cost of deck building restriction/increased variance. EVO Is a bullet tutor, but self exiles and is card disadvantage. Especially when countered. I also found that I was losing too often to grindy/value decks. This list is my attempt at solving these problems.



Evolutionary leap allows us to draw a creature every time a creature of ours would die. This means our opponent is losing a card and we are neutral on cards. I thought it would be a good start to fixing the problem, but I went a step further and added kitchen finks back to the deck. Kitchen finks gains us life, is two bodies, works well with vizier/shalai/gavony and now also Evolutionary Leap. Finks and leap actually present us with card advantage, especially with any of the other synergy cards mentioned. additionally, Eldritch evo with finks > Restoration angel is an aggro/value line that I wanted access to. Resto might not be worth the slot. I think Kitchen Finks as a value creature and Evolutionary Leap will really help against the grindy decks that are going to 1 for 1 us into the ground.

Let me know what you all think, I've been having some decent results so far.