in his version there is only 2 scryland but temple of silence and triumph produce W. which is not enough to cast Wear. IMO vs DSphere and Assemble the Legion Wear/Tear is a reasonnable spell for BRcontrol but with a bit more W sources (at least 4-6)
I could add 2 temple of silence to help hit W more. I really wish we had a better answer for enchanments though.
As you can see I'm trying to hedge more against black and control variants since they are doing so well and then boarding into more mass removal and one-for-ones against aggro. This has been doing fairly well and I really like pack rat and mutavault because they give the deck a whole agressive angle of attack and can end a game quick with a dragon. Overall the deck is pretty straightforward and should get better one we get our scryland and maybe a good god.
Dreadbores, while nice are too slow for my aggro full meta.
Whips are legendary, plus they always don't pull their weight.
Xenagos, simply isn't Primal Hunter. Primeval Bounty is times better.
Mistcutters are for my Mono Blue devotion decks that may show up. Also not bad against control.
My question for you guys is, I recently tested against a esper control deck and lost all 4 times. I even destroyed his hand with a return and ended up top decking gold which probably helped a lot.
How does this deck combat Esper/UW control decks?
Why the single Cerberus? How about just maxing out on dragons? And the whips don't seem necessary to me. Also you should be running 4 downfalls and 4 decays because they are so efficient.
His card choices were based on alot about the expected meta. In the world of white weenie, mono blue and esper - Abrupt decay is pretty good.
While this list did very well, and pulled off a win, alot of people need to understand why it did well at this particular tournament.
He did expect a lot of blue and black devotion, esper, and red aggro. Those are some of the best decks in the format. This deck should do well if those stay popular.
I've ommited elvish mystic because he's just not good in this deck. He's only good if you play domri after and that's not even game breaking. Sylvan caryatid is just much better for this deck because of the strict mana costs and he is an amazing defender. I mainly test against mythic and esper and it puts up good results. I'm just scared of the devotion decks because this deck is really fair.
After few playtesting, RG Monsters maybe doesn't suit me. It all depends on that first hand and power curve, but the moment your hands start to run out, that's when we start losing tempo. I feel that Gr Devotion is more consistent. As long you have mana dork in hand, Sylvan Caryatid the safest, you're good to go ramping. I feel having more cards in hand definitely have the upper hand. Also, instead of Kalonian Tusker, why not Witchstalker ? Extra 1 at the cost of removal proof.
Tusker is mainly there as an early beater and devotion enabler. I guess it's all about your play style and what you like to play. I like Gr Monsters because I always like having the biggest threat on board, having removal, and incredibly powerful planeswalkers.
I am also switching back the Gr Monsters after having my fun with Red devotion. But I still want to play nykthos because the card is so busted its unfair.
After playing with this deck for a few weeks now I can honestly say its very powerful. I playtest mainly against Mono Black, Esper, Junk, and RDW and my worst match is RDW and that's if I don't draw well. This deck has the tools to adapt so I will be playing it at the next Scg Open in LA.
Gr Devotion isn't really tier one either.
I could add 2 temple of silence to help hit W more. I really wish we had a better answer for enchanments though.
Weapons are pretty good against this deck. That's basically all it's there for.
4x Pack Rat
4x Desecration Demon
4x Stormbreath Dragon
Artifacts/enchantments
3x Rakdos Keyrune
2x Underworld Connections
Spells:
4x Hero's Downfall
4x Thoughtseize
3x Read the Bones
2x Pharika's Cure
2x Mizzium Mortars
2x Rakdos's Return
4x Blood Crypt
4x Rakdos Guildgate
4x Mutavault
8x Swamp
4x Mountain
2x Temple of Triumph
3x Duress
2x Lifebane Zombie
2x Doom Blade
3x Anger of the Gods
2x Wear/Tear
2x Shrivel
1x Rakdos's Return
As you can see I'm trying to hedge more against black and control variants since they are doing so well and then boarding into more mass removal and one-for-ones against aggro. This has been doing fairly well and I really like pack rat and mutavault because they give the deck a whole agressive angle of attack and can end a game quick with a dragon. Overall the deck is pretty straightforward and should get better one we get our scryland and maybe a good god.
Why the single Cerberus? How about just maxing out on dragons? And the whips don't seem necessary to me. Also you should be running 4 downfalls and 4 decays because they are so efficient.
He did expect a lot of blue and black devotion, esper, and red aggro. Those are some of the best decks in the format. This deck should do well if those stay popular.
4x sylvan caryatid
4x voice of resurgence
4x fleecemane lion
4x loxodon smiter
4x boros reckoner
2x polukranos, world eater
4x stormbreath dragon
Planeswalkers:
4x domri rade
Spells:
2x selesnya charm
2x mizzium mortars
2x boros charm
4x stomping ground
4x sacred foundry
4x temple garden
4x temple of abandon
2x temple of triumph
3x forest
3x plains
4x mistcutter hydra
3x unflinching courage
2x mizzium mortars
2x wear/tear
2x assemble the legion
2x chained to the rocks
I've ommited elvish mystic because he's just not good in this deck. He's only good if you play domri after and that's not even game breaking. Sylvan caryatid is just much better for this deck because of the strict mana costs and he is an amazing defender. I mainly test against mythic and esper and it puts up good results. I'm just scared of the devotion decks because this deck is really fair.
Tusker is mainly there as an early beater and devotion enabler. I guess it's all about your play style and what you like to play. I like Gr Monsters because I always like having the biggest threat on board, having removal, and incredibly powerful planeswalkers.
The decks becomes more consistent if you just drop those creatures though. It's basically you need to draw the nuts to even win with it.
Just play Gruul Monsters and play a few nykthos in it. It's just makes it an unfair killing machine.
4x elvish mystic
4x sylvan caryatid
4x Kalonian tusker
4x boon satyr
4x ghor-clan rampager
2x polukranos, world eater
4x stormbreath dragon
Planeswalkers:
4x domri rade
2x Xenagos, the reveler
2x flesh/blood
2x mizzium mortars
Lands:
4x stomping ground
4x temple of abandon
8x forest
6x mountain
2x nykthos, Shrine to nyx
4x mistcutter hydra
3x flames of the firebrand
2x burning earth
2x Garruk, caller of beasts
2x fade into antiquity
2x plummet
As you can see we still have good devotion enablers without having to draw perfectly to win.
4x elvish mystic
4x sylvan caryatid
2x scavenging ooze
4x dreg mangler
3x polukranos, world eater
3x exava, rakdos blood witch
4x stormbreath dragon
Planeswalkers:
4x domri rade
2x Xenagos, the reveler
2x abrupt decay
2x dreadbore
2x putrefy
Lands:
4x blood crypt
4x stomping ground
4x overgrown tomb
4x temple of abandon
4x forest
4x swamp
2x dark betrayal
1x deadbridge chant
4x doom blade
1x golgari charm
1x pithing needle
2x rakdos's return
1x slaughter games
3x thoughtseize
My playtesting has shown me that being more aggressive with removal is the best for this meta. Also haste threats are very good right now.