Everything seems to be in order, thank you for dedicating your time for this. I'm not sure how lively this thread will be in the future but at the very least it'll help people looking to adopt the deck. Good work!
So, I did some playtesting with Teferi, Hero of Dominaria in leu of Gideon Jura a while ago. I am a little conflicted in my assessment of this walker. The best thing about Teferi was that combined with Field of Ruin he can permanently tuck a troublesome permanent, or he could also continuously draw cards for you to bury your opponent if left unchecked. However, before sideboard we don't have access to a critical mass of instants or creatures with flash to really take full advantage of his + 1 untap lands ability. We also lack Search for Azcanta, which can combo very nicely with him because of this. For us Teferi is + 1 draw a card or - 3 removal, not terrible but also not generally impactful enough in most matches I played. I would encourage you to test him yourself and see how it goes. Hope this helps!
Hey there! I hope you enjoy your stay, if you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask!
To answer your questions, yes and no, Lavinia will counter the spell an opponent attempts to cast through cascade. Lavinia will not counter the multiple copies of Grapeshot or Empty the Warrens. This is because those copies placed on the stack through the storm mechanic are not actually cast, so Lavinia has nothing to counter.
That said, Lavinia still makes Storm play a much more fair gameplan, they'll have to wait until four lands to cast a Gifts Ungiven and five lands to cast Past in Flames. Seventeen lands is not a lot, so even with cantrips trying to reach that will take time. This should allow us to get under them or at least establish a board presence. It is much more likely that the opponent will just Lightning Bolt or Grapeshot to deal with our hatebear. Lavinia in essence, will hopefully buy you at least one extra turn against storm.
The changes to the manabase were made because drawing non-plains with Emeria, the Sky Ruin always felt terrible. This deck is still base UW splashing G Glittering Wish. I don't think it's worth it to lower consistency trying playing around Blood Moon with basic forest. To note my sequencing with this deck is usually Hallowed Fountain, two basics, Canopy Vista, it's nice having an untapped green source that doesn't hurt you when you decide to cast a Glittering Wish in the mid to late game.
The changes to the maindeck were made because I realized that I was almost never upset to have multiple Glittering Wish in hand because they were so impactful and versatile. I also think that maximizing the chances of drawing the card I am quite literally splashing an additional color for is probably wise.
The changes to the sideboard were made because I found Dispel to be a little narrow. I also wanted lean into Rest in Peace as graveyard hate because Glittering Wish gives us a good alternate win condition. I also found myself wanting more cards to combat Tron and resolved planewalkers. The Gaddock Teeg was swapped for Meddling Mage because it's what I own irl and WWUG is much more atainable than WWGG, especially against Tron where you need to prioritize blue mana for Spreading Seas and countermagic.
Advantages
- able to play with and through powerful graveyard hate with ease
- draws are on average more impactful
- able to tailor a wishbaord plan and adjust it to meta
- redundancy
- a quicker clock
Disadvantages
- takes more damage on average through lands
- Blood Moon?
- less non wish sideboard slots available
- less utility lands i.e. Field of Ruin
Basically this deck plays very similarly to uw emeria but with a twist. I think this kind of build would preform best in a local metagame where you know which decks you will be playing against, as this will also impact how you construct your wish package. However one of the really big draws of the deck for me personally is that on average you draws are more redundant, much more powerful, and less reliant upon the graveyard to the point where you can afford to play Rest in Peace.
The Storm matchup went sideways because of my draws. I had the tools to deal with what they were doing but just couldn't draw the lands cast them. In that matchup Gaddock Teeg is comparable to Meddling Mage because it essentially names three relevant cards (i.e. Past in Flames, Gifts Ungiven, Empty the Warrens. That said, unless you optimize your deck to beat Storm then it's going to be rough for most control archetypes.
On a side note Rest in Peace goes a very long way in that matchup.
I mentioned that Meddling Mage and Gaddock Teeg feel comparable. I think that they take the same slot in your wishboard and are interchangeable depending on your meta. I wouldn't play both for the same reason I wouldn't play a Dragonlord Ojutai with Sigarda, Host of Herons, they're redundant and any future Glittering Wish will not be likely to grab it.
I mentioned before how I feel about Wheel of Sun and Moon. Turn three is too slow to start interacting with dedicated graveyard decks. It's a trap and doesn't actually help in the matchups we want it too. If I was to devote a slot to it, I'd rather play a third Rest in Peace.
Dragonlord Dromoka, so I have mixed feelings on this card. I initially played it in leu of Sigarda, and can see a world where you play both. However, I found that against control, I would stick it, and then it would just eat removal. Whereas Sigarda will strait up win the game once resolved. That said, against most aggro to midrange this card is insurmountable once cast. So I can see playing it again.
Update!
This build is confirmed good, I'm up 19 wins in a row now. I'm kinda actually scared to play another match because I'm afraid of breaking the chain by losing. I have made changes, I swapped out Breeding Pool for a second Temple Garden. I'm still thinking of switching a Stony Silence for a third Rest in Peace too. Anyway, for the mana, the instances where you need UG in a single land are few and far between and I think it's better to have the plains for the emeria count. Also, if anyone has experience playing Engineered Explosives in this archetype I'd love to hear your thoughts before I splurge.
For those of you who have actively been following this thread, you'll know that I originally started playing with a mono white version of emeria and have been flitting back and forth for some time. That in mind, with the release of m19 I've began testing with a mono white build of Emeria Control. Off and on, for about the past week. Right now I'm logged in a friendly league and I have played two matches. One was against Mardu Pyromancer and the other against Humans, both 2 - 0.
A blue white shell was originally constructed to give emeria access to counter magic, card draw, and higher card quality via Supreme Verdict and Detention Sphere. This gave us game against the unfair combo matches, big mana decks and opposing graveyard strategies. What mono white has struggled with in the past has been always been opposing graveyard based synergy decks, most combo decks, and big mana decks, and fringe tokens decks. We also struggled with the lack of card advantage, however I believe most of these issues have been remedied. Between Gideon of the Trials and Remorseful Cleric in the maindeck and Stony Silence, Damping Sphere, and Sorcerous Spyglass in the sideboard you have an actual chance against most combo based decks in the format. Remorseful Cleric and Settle the Wreckage also give you an arguably better match up against graveyard based strategies. Thraben Inspector, Wall of Omens, and Militia Bugler provide the much needed card advantage, allowing mono white access to twelve sources of card draw, which is actually one more than typical azorious builds. Lastly, you gain a few percentage points against Mono Green Tron, because while only having access to 7 - 8 pieces of disruption between Field of Ruin and Ghost Quarter is generally lower than our counterparts 7 - 9 with Spreading Seas. The upside is that Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin don't get hit by Oblivion Stone, and mono white is generally more aggressive and therefore able to apply more pressure in conjunction to its disruption, i.e. tempo, this tempo, is what normally allows Emeria of any versions, to close games against Mono Green Tron.
Like I said, I have been playing this build for about a week now and feel like I can draw some conclusions based on my experiences. I feel like this build gains percentage points mostly against aggro and graveyard based strategies, importantly of which include the evasive creature based aggro decks i.e. Spirits, Merfolk, and Dredge. The Mono Green Tron matchup is slightly better, and combo, mainly Storm and KCI are not noticeably different in results but differs slightly in play style. We lose percentage point against opposing control based strategies, not being able to force a Sun Titan or Crucible of Worlds through with counter magic or being able to answer a planeswalker with Detention Sphere hurts. Our Ensnaring Bridge match ups go from incredibly favored to slightly favored, a good emeria player will still usually win by holding up or reanimating Flickerwisp to exile their bridge and deal lethal but we no longer have access Detetion Sphere and I dislike playing Mortarpod. We also go from about 20% - 40% to 5% against Scapeshift and lose percentage points against both Titanshift and Eldrazi Tron as Spreading Sea's and counter magic are no longer available to us.
Cards that I've been impressed with include, Cleansing Nova having access to six total sweepers when needed, post board increases our consistency of drawing one in our opening 7 and mitigates the loss in consistency from not being able to hit one with Court Hussar. Plus the five cmc is oddly relevant when playing against Spell Queller. Kami of False Hope, establishing emeria is much easier to do with this version, usually coming online about a turn to a turn and a half sooner than our azorious counterpart. Because of this Kami of False Hope becomes a hard lock against any all in aggro deck, and you see it much more consistently with Militia Bugler in the deck. Militia Bugler this card while not a Court Hussar, has very relevant stats along with Vigilance, which is a nice defensive keyword. Lastly the pain free manabase, I can not overstate how good it is to not take damage from your lands, it can be extremely relevant in almost any matchup. Not losing to having a basic Island or needing a plains but being unable to fetch is nice too.
Cards that I miss include, Court Hussar, Spreading Sea's, and Detention Sphere what I miss most about these effects is that you were generally able to play through 2 - 3 instances of single instance graveyard hate very easily and still have good targets for Sun Titan. By casting with all blue / colorless mana, or using a Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter on the land enchanted with Spreading Sea's. By comparison, the mono white build is much more vulnerable to graveyard hate but also has much more velocity. Chaining your 1/2 Thraben Inspector into a 2/3 Mitia Bugler into yet another threat a very good way to close a top deck war in the late game. Detention Sphere was also a nice catch all but at least Cleansing Nova does a nice impression from the sideboard.
Closing comments,
I feel like the benefits out way our disadvantages in a lot of situations. I like having a deck that with a pain free manabase that activly works toward emeria with every land drop. Randomly hating out any aggressive or graveyard based strategy while now still having game against most combo decks feels good too. In specific I like having a better Spirits, Tron, and KCI match up is more relevant now than ever before and the trade off isn't as backbreaking as it once was. Overall I'd say this build ranks just slightly below UW in terms of power level, but that the gap is definitely closing fast.
Also, on a sidenote, I think maybe swapping one Militia Bugler for a Restoration Angel could be good. Bugler is amazing but post sideboard I tend to board down to 2 - 3 based on how many creatures I board out. I feel like Restoration Angel would act similarly to Phantasmal Image, while providing a clock and taxing counter magic. The downside of this is that you decrease your total number of potential hits off Bugler from 24 to 23.
Honestly I'm glad you made changes, after all, innovation breed creativity. A lot of players, myself included, are guilty of complacency and getting stuck in one line of thinking. You brought a fresh perspective and a lot of your ideas have merit. I particularly like the additional Settle the Wreckage over Tormods Crypt and Relic of Projenitus in the sideboard. Mainly because the decks we need graveyard hate for, i.e. Dredge, Hollow One, Living End, fold to settle as well, which will in turn grant us more sideboard slots for things like Disenchant. Plus the additional wrath is sorely needed in aggressive mathcups too. As for the main, I feel like 25 lands is probably correct, considering we want to get to eight consistently (seven plains + Emeria, the Sky Ruin. That and having five land destruction spells between Field or Ruin and Ghost Quarter is important when playing against Tron. As for misplays, I probably shouldn't have called them that, because you didn't punt you just made slightly different decisions than I would have in that situation.
For instance, against D&T, what I would have done differently is, while anticipating with Court Hussar, grab Lone Missionary instead of the second Supreme Verdict. Lone Missionary is essentially a removal spell as it blocks and trades with the majority of your opponents deck. It also allows you to be proactive with all your mana by wrathing on six and playing it in the same turn. It can be recurred by Sun Titan which would lend you a kind of toolbox effect between recurring Court Hussar for card draw or Lone Missionary for life gain depending on the situation. I also remember you grabbing a Wall of Omens instead of Detention Sphere too, and I believe that may be considered a mistake, while Wall of Omens did improve your board state, you were already ahead. Detention Sphere is a catch all, and important because there was only two in your deck. When you have turned the corner, it's good to ask yourself how do I lose from this position, in that case with a Sun Titan and any Emeria, the Sky Ruin you draw being active the way you lose that game is to graveyard hate followed by bad draws.
I also think that in your last game of your Soul Sisters matchup you got a little hasty. Because they didn't scoop you have to assume they have instant speed interaction. Likely have either Path to Exile, Ghostway or Restoration Angel based on what you had seen. If you Detention Sphere the Rest in Peace and attack with Lone Missionary it will likely die in combat and you will be able to grind your opponent by reanimating it with Emeria, the Sky Ruin and presenting lethal every turn following, this line also improves any future creatures that you draw into. Of course this didn't actually matter because you had a Settle the Wreckage but remember that you can be patient with this deck, we will win the long game.
Those three examples are very nitpicky and hindsight is 20/20 but like I said before, you piloted the deck extremely well! One last piece of advice I want to give you is that when playing against Flagstones of Trokir if you Spreading Seas it and then destroy it with Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter the LtB ability will not trigger. Much like in the Ponza matchup when they have a Blood Moon and Flagstone of Trokir either legend rules itself or is Stone Rain'd they don't search.
So, I made day 2 of Grand Prix Toronto, some of you may have heard of the feature match of Emeria Control vs Burn. For those of you have not https://www.twitch.tv/videos/227979044, That was me against Jon Stern. Some plays looked questionable but were actually thought out. Abeit, I was operating on less than three hours of sleep the night before day two. Anyway...
(G2) - Why not block, and trade, Goblin Guide with Lone Missionary?
I was playing around a second land into Lightning Bolt the second Lone Missionary with Phantasmal Image on the stack
(G2) - Why not shock and cast Gideon of the Trials?
The game was over, my opponent was fishing for information, they had not seen GotT yet, so I concealed it
(G3) - Why Gideon and then why emblem instead of ticking up to prevent Goblin Guide?
I was at five life, I played around Searing Blaze by playing Gideon and Skullcrack by not preventing damage, this line guaranteed that I untapped as long as my opponent did not draw into Lightning Bolt or Lava Spike
(G3) - Why Ghost Quarter end of turn, this line is largely seen as punt. Reviewing the footage, I have to say, that I agree. It was sloppy play and a greedy line, but I did it intentionally. I'll walk you through my thought process. I only saw two sequences. Line 1) I untap hit my fifth land drop and cast a [/c]Court Hussar and hope for one of my five outs in 2 Lone Missionary, 2 Negate or 1 Dispel
Line 2) I Ghost Quarter EoT, hope that my opponent has nothing, I untap hit my fourth land drop, Wall of Omens and Spreading Sea's his other Sacred Foundry hoping to fade a draw step so that I can set up.
In hindsight, the line I took was incorrect, and therefore a punt. I'm punished by Boros Charm, Skullcrack, and Lightning Helix. It was a gamble that I felt that based on the information I was given at the time, was justified. My opponent had a greater probability of hitting a land, a Searing Blaze, a Destructive Revelry, or an Eidolon of the Great Revel then Skull Crack, Boros Charm, or Lightning Helix, especially considering they had just burned a helix to deal with GotT.
This was my thinking, however, looking back at the video, it was still a punt. Instead of GotT on turn four, I should have played Wall, Spreading Sea's. Then cast the Gideon and played another Wall of Omens on turn five. I'm trying to analyse my decisions. I think that, at the time I was unnecessarily playing around Searing Blaze and afraid of a Lightning Bolt in response to the Spreading Sea's on his Sacred Foundry. Doing the math though, I was still dead with that line anyway. If I assumed Lightning Bolt, then Gideon was already useless, I'd have lost an additional two more life from Goblin Guide, putting me to three and dead from any burn spell, should he draw it.
Hey all, I've managed to get in some testing with Azor, the Lawbringer and have come to a conclusion; he is too expensive and situational for modern. I felt like I needed to jump through hoops when I played him, and the threat of instant speed removal or even counter-magic is all too real. Granted Azor did win me a game against Jeskai control but I was already heavily favored to win. I'd rather have Elspeth, Sun's Champion or even Kami of False Hope. On that note, I did do some minor play-testing with Weathered Wayfarer and found it was still too match-up dependent for the main.
One thing I really want to try is a one of Runed Halo in the main, has anyone else done this to any success? I feel it would help shore up some of our bad match-ups, being; Titan-shift and Storm. A couple more things to note, I have played a few friendly leagues on modo and came to a lackluster 3 - 2 finish each time. The situations where I lost were weird though, I'm all about variance in magic but I lost to the exact same lines in each league. I lost in three when playing against Eldrazi Tron. So I've turned the corner, my opponent is empty handed, they need a top-deck of exactly Walking Ballista that turn before I climb out of reach via Lone Missionary and lock up the game. Well, they've drawn it, each time, it can be very frustrating. One more thing, I'll also be attending Grand-Prix Toronto soon, I'll make sure to share my results! As always any feedback or criticism is appreciated!
I can't speak for everyone but personally an article and shout out sounds amazing. To answer your other questions, yes, I believe Emeria is a strong contender foranyone entering the modern format. Primarily because you can start out with a mono colored budget version and slowly upgrade your deck by purchasing shocklands and fetches. UW Emeria can also segway and be transitioned into traditional U/W control with further upgrades.
Also while your list seems very practical. Recently lists that played 3 - 4 Supreme Verdict, 3 D-Sphere and 1 - 2 Crucible of Worlds have been doing well in the meta. Personally I would trim Pilgrims Eye to 1 copy if not cut it completely. Also Gideon of the Trials has proven to be good in Emeria.
@Asic - U/W would be my go to, most likely the overall changes would be based on what decks I expect in the meta.
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To answer your questions, yes and no, Lavinia will counter the spell an opponent attempts to cast through cascade. Lavinia will not counter the multiple copies of Grapeshot or Empty the Warrens. This is because those copies placed on the stack through the storm mechanic are not actually cast, so Lavinia has nothing to counter.
That said, Lavinia still makes Storm play a much more fair gameplan, they'll have to wait until four lands to cast a Gifts Ungiven and five lands to cast Past in Flames. Seventeen lands is not a lot, so even with cantrips trying to reach that will take time. This should allow us to get under them or at least establish a board presence. It is much more likely that the opponent will just Lightning Bolt or Grapeshot to deal with our hatebear. Lavinia in essence, will hopefully buy you at least one extra turn against storm.
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Maindeck 60
Creature:
1 Lone Missionary
4 Wall of Omens
1 Phantasmal Image
2 Flickerwisp
3 Court Hussar
2 Kitchen Finks
3 Sun Titan
Instant // Sorcery: 11
4 Path to Exile
4 Glittering Wish
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Wrath of God
1 Supreme Verdict
Enchantment: 5
4 Spreading Seas
1 Detention Sphere
Artifact: 1
1 Crucible of Worlds
Planeswalker: 3
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Gideon Jura
Manabase: 24
1 Canopy Vista
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
6 Plains
1 Temple Garden
3 Windswept Heath
Sideboard 15
3 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Negate
1 Meddling Mage
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Detention Sphere
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Sigarda, Host of Heron's
A more comprehensive list of the changes I made;
Manabase
- 1 Forest
- 1 Field of Ruin
- 1 Temple Garden
- 1 Breading Pool
+ 2 Windswept Heath
+ 1 Plains
+ 1 Canopy Vista
Maindeck
- 1 Knight of Autumn
+ 1 Glittering Wish
Sideboard
- 2 Dispel
- 1 Gaddock Teeg
+ 1 Meddling Mage
+ 1 Socerious Spyglass
+ 1 Rest in Peace
The changes to the manabase were made because drawing non-plains with Emeria, the Sky Ruin always felt terrible. This deck is still base UW splashing G Glittering Wish. I don't think it's worth it to lower consistency trying playing around Blood Moon with basic forest. To note my sequencing with this deck is usually Hallowed Fountain, two basics, Canopy Vista, it's nice having an untapped green source that doesn't hurt you when you decide to cast a Glittering Wish in the mid to late game.
The changes to the maindeck were made because I realized that I was almost never upset to have multiple Glittering Wish in hand because they were so impactful and versatile. I also think that maximizing the chances of drawing the card I am quite literally splashing an additional color for is probably wise.
The changes to the sideboard were made because I found Dispel to be a little narrow. I also wanted lean into Rest in Peace as graveyard hate because Glittering Wish gives us a good alternate win condition. I also found myself wanting more cards to combat Tron and resolved planewalkers. The Gaddock Teeg was swapped for Meddling Mage because it's what I own irl and WWUG is much more atainable than WWGG, especially against Tron where you need to prioritize blue mana for Spreading Seas and countermagic.
Advantages
- able to play with and through powerful graveyard hate with ease
- draws are on average more impactful
- able to tailor a wishbaord plan and adjust it to meta
- redundancy
- a quicker clock
Disadvantages
- takes more damage on average through lands
- Blood Moon?
- less non wish sideboard slots available
- less utility lands i.e. Field of Ruin
Basically this deck plays very similarly to uw emeria but with a twist. I think this kind of build would preform best in a local metagame where you know which decks you will be playing against, as this will also impact how you construct your wish package. However one of the really big draws of the deck for me personally is that on average you draws are more redundant, much more powerful, and less reliant upon the graveyard to the point where you can afford to play Rest in Peace.
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On a side note Rest in Peace goes a very long way in that matchup.
I mentioned that Meddling Mage and Gaddock Teeg feel comparable. I think that they take the same slot in your wishboard and are interchangeable depending on your meta. I wouldn't play both for the same reason I wouldn't play a Dragonlord Ojutai with Sigarda, Host of Herons, they're redundant and any future Glittering Wish will not be likely to grab it.
I mentioned before how I feel about Wheel of Sun and Moon. Turn three is too slow to start interacting with dedicated graveyard decks. It's a trap and doesn't actually help in the matchups we want it too. If I was to devote a slot to it, I'd rather play a third Rest in Peace.
Dragonlord Dromoka, so I have mixed feelings on this card. I initially played it in leu of Sigarda, and can see a world where you play both. However, I found that against control, I would stick it, and then it would just eat removal. Whereas Sigarda will strait up win the game once resolved. That said, against most aggro to midrange this card is insurmountable once cast. So I can see playing it again.
Update!
This build is confirmed good, I'm up 19 wins in a row now. I'm kinda actually scared to play another match because I'm afraid of breaking the chain by losing. I have made changes, I swapped out Breeding Pool for a second Temple Garden. I'm still thinking of switching a Stony Silence for a third Rest in Peace too. Anyway, for the mana, the instances where you need UG in a single land are few and far between and I think it's better to have the plains for the emeria count. Also, if anyone has experience playing Engineered Explosives in this archetype I'd love to hear your thoughts before I splurge.
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A blue white shell was originally constructed to give emeria access to counter magic, card draw, and higher card quality via Supreme Verdict and Detention Sphere. This gave us game against the unfair combo matches, big mana decks and opposing graveyard strategies. What mono white has struggled with in the past has been always been opposing graveyard based synergy decks, most combo decks, and big mana decks, and fringe tokens decks. We also struggled with the lack of card advantage, however I believe most of these issues have been remedied. Between Gideon of the Trials and Remorseful Cleric in the maindeck and Stony Silence, Damping Sphere, and Sorcerous Spyglass in the sideboard you have an actual chance against most combo based decks in the format. Remorseful Cleric and Settle the Wreckage also give you an arguably better match up against graveyard based strategies. Thraben Inspector, Wall of Omens, and Militia Bugler provide the much needed card advantage, allowing mono white access to twelve sources of card draw, which is actually one more than typical azorious builds. Lastly, you gain a few percentage points against Mono Green Tron, because while only having access to 7 - 8 pieces of disruption between Field of Ruin and Ghost Quarter is generally lower than our counterparts 7 - 9 with Spreading Seas. The upside is that Ghost Quarter and Field of Ruin don't get hit by Oblivion Stone, and mono white is generally more aggressive and therefore able to apply more pressure in conjunction to its disruption, i.e. tempo, this tempo, is what normally allows Emeria of any versions, to close games against Mono Green Tron.
My list currently
Maindeck: 60
Creature: 27
1 Kami of False Hope
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Lone Missionary
3 Remorseful Cleric
4 Wall of Omens
4 Flickerwisp
4 Militia Bugler
3 Sun Titan
Instant // Sorcery: 6
4 Path to Exile
2 Wrath of God
Planeswalker: 3
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Gideon Jura
Manabase: 24
4 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
3 Field of Ruin
4 [c]Flagstones of Trokair
4 Ghost Quarter
9 Plains
Sideboard: 15
1 Kami of False Hope
1 Remorseful Cleric
2 Stony Silence
4 Damping Sphere
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Gideon of the Trials
2 Settle the Wreckage
2 Cleansing Nova
Like I said, I have been playing this build for about a week now and feel like I can draw some conclusions based on my experiences. I feel like this build gains percentage points mostly against aggro and graveyard based strategies, importantly of which include the evasive creature based aggro decks i.e. Spirits, Merfolk, and Dredge. The Mono Green Tron matchup is slightly better, and combo, mainly Storm and KCI are not noticeably different in results but differs slightly in play style. We lose percentage point against opposing control based strategies, not being able to force a Sun Titan or Crucible of Worlds through with counter magic or being able to answer a planeswalker with Detention Sphere hurts. Our Ensnaring Bridge match ups go from incredibly favored to slightly favored, a good emeria player will still usually win by holding up or reanimating Flickerwisp to exile their bridge and deal lethal but we no longer have access Detetion Sphere and I dislike playing Mortarpod. We also go from about 20% - 40% to 5% against Scapeshift and lose percentage points against both Titanshift and Eldrazi Tron as Spreading Sea's and counter magic are no longer available to us.
Cards that I've been impressed with include, Cleansing Nova having access to six total sweepers when needed, post board increases our consistency of drawing one in our opening 7 and mitigates the loss in consistency from not being able to hit one with Court Hussar. Plus the five cmc is oddly relevant when playing against Spell Queller. Kami of False Hope, establishing emeria is much easier to do with this version, usually coming online about a turn to a turn and a half sooner than our azorious counterpart. Because of this Kami of False Hope becomes a hard lock against any all in aggro deck, and you see it much more consistently with Militia Bugler in the deck. Militia Bugler this card while not a Court Hussar, has very relevant stats along with Vigilance, which is a nice defensive keyword. Lastly the pain free manabase, I can not overstate how good it is to not take damage from your lands, it can be extremely relevant in almost any matchup. Not losing to having a basic Island or needing a plains but being unable to fetch is nice too.
Cards that I miss include, Court Hussar, Spreading Sea's, and Detention Sphere what I miss most about these effects is that you were generally able to play through 2 - 3 instances of single instance graveyard hate very easily and still have good targets for Sun Titan. By casting with all blue / colorless mana, or using a Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter on the land enchanted with Spreading Sea's. By comparison, the mono white build is much more vulnerable to graveyard hate but also has much more velocity. Chaining your 1/2 Thraben Inspector into a 2/3 Mitia Bugler into yet another threat a very good way to close a top deck war in the late game. Detention Sphere was also a nice catch all but at least Cleansing Nova does a nice impression from the sideboard.
Closing comments,
I feel like the benefits out way our disadvantages in a lot of situations. I like having a deck that with a pain free manabase that activly works toward emeria with every land drop. Randomly hating out any aggressive or graveyard based strategy while now still having game against most combo decks feels good too. In specific I like having a better Spirits, Tron, and KCI match up is more relevant now than ever before and the trade off isn't as backbreaking as it once was. Overall I'd say this build ranks just slightly below UW in terms of power level, but that the gap is definitely closing fast.
Also, on a sidenote, I think maybe swapping one Militia Bugler for a Restoration Angel could be good. Bugler is amazing but post sideboard I tend to board down to 2 - 3 based on how many creatures I board out. I feel like Restoration Angel would act similarly to Phantasmal Image, while providing a clock and taxing counter magic. The downside of this is that you decrease your total number of potential hits off Bugler from 24 to 23.
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For instance, against D&T, what I would have done differently is, while anticipating with Court Hussar, grab Lone Missionary instead of the second Supreme Verdict. Lone Missionary is essentially a removal spell as it blocks and trades with the majority of your opponents deck. It also allows you to be proactive with all your mana by wrathing on six and playing it in the same turn. It can be recurred by Sun Titan which would lend you a kind of toolbox effect between recurring Court Hussar for card draw or Lone Missionary for life gain depending on the situation. I also remember you grabbing a Wall of Omens instead of Detention Sphere too, and I believe that may be considered a mistake, while Wall of Omens did improve your board state, you were already ahead. Detention Sphere is a catch all, and important because there was only two in your deck. When you have turned the corner, it's good to ask yourself how do I lose from this position, in that case with a Sun Titan and any Emeria, the Sky Ruin you draw being active the way you lose that game is to graveyard hate followed by bad draws.
I also think that in your last game of your Soul Sisters matchup you got a little hasty. Because they didn't scoop you have to assume they have instant speed interaction. Likely have either Path to Exile, Ghostway or Restoration Angel based on what you had seen. If you Detention Sphere the Rest in Peace and attack with Lone Missionary it will likely die in combat and you will be able to grind your opponent by reanimating it with Emeria, the Sky Ruin and presenting lethal every turn following, this line also improves any future creatures that you draw into. Of course this didn't actually matter because you had a Settle the Wreckage but remember that you can be patient with this deck, we will win the long game.
Those three examples are very nitpicky and hindsight is 20/20 but like I said before, you piloted the deck extremely well! One last piece of advice I want to give you is that when playing against Flagstones of Trokir if you Spreading Seas it and then destroy it with Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter the LtB ability will not trigger. Much like in the Ponza matchup when they have a Blood Moon and Flagstone of Trokir either legend rules itself or is Stone Rain'd they don't search.
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(G2) - Why not block, and trade, Goblin Guide with Lone Missionary?
I was playing around a second land into Lightning Bolt the second Lone Missionary with Phantasmal Image on the stack
(G2) - Why not shock and cast Gideon of the Trials?
The game was over, my opponent was fishing for information, they had not seen GotT yet, so I concealed it
(G3) - Why Gideon and then why emblem instead of ticking up to prevent Goblin Guide?
I was at five life, I played around Searing Blaze by playing Gideon and Skullcrack by not preventing damage, this line guaranteed that I untapped as long as my opponent did not draw into Lightning Bolt or Lava Spike
(G3) - Why Ghost Quarter end of turn, this line is largely seen as punt. Reviewing the footage, I have to say, that I agree. It was sloppy play and a greedy line, but I did it intentionally. I'll walk you through my thought process. I only saw two sequences. Line 1) I untap hit my fifth land drop and cast a [/c]Court Hussar and hope for one of my five outs in 2 Lone Missionary, 2 Negate or 1 Dispel
Line 2) I Ghost Quarter EoT, hope that my opponent has nothing, I untap hit my fourth land drop, Wall of Omens and Spreading Sea's his other Sacred Foundry hoping to fade a draw step so that I can set up.
In hindsight, the line I took was incorrect, and therefore a punt. I'm punished by Boros Charm, Skullcrack, and Lightning Helix. It was a gamble that I felt that based on the information I was given at the time, was justified. My opponent had a greater probability of hitting a land, a Searing Blaze, a Destructive Revelry, or an Eidolon of the Great Revel then Skull Crack, Boros Charm, or Lightning Helix, especially considering they had just burned a helix to deal with GotT.
This was my thinking, however, looking back at the video, it was still a punt. Instead of GotT on turn four, I should have played Wall, Spreading Sea's. Then cast the Gideon and played another Wall of Omens on turn five. I'm trying to analyse my decisions. I think that, at the time I was unnecessarily playing around Searing Blaze and afraid of a Lightning Bolt in response to the Spreading Sea's on his Sacred Foundry. Doing the math though, I was still dead with that line anyway. If I assumed Lightning Bolt, then Gideon was already useless, I'd have lost an additional two more life from Goblin Guide, putting me to three and dead from any burn spell, should he draw it.
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One thing I really want to try is a one of Runed Halo in the main, has anyone else done this to any success? I feel it would help shore up some of our bad match-ups, being; Titan-shift and Storm. A couple more things to note, I have played a few friendly leagues on modo and came to a lackluster 3 - 2 finish each time. The situations where I lost were weird though, I'm all about variance in magic but I lost to the exact same lines in each league. I lost in three when playing against Eldrazi Tron. So I've turned the corner, my opponent is empty handed, they need a top-deck of exactly Walking Ballista that turn before I climb out of reach via Lone Missionary and lock up the game. Well, they've drawn it, each time, it can be very frustrating. One more thing, I'll also be attending Grand-Prix Toronto soon, I'll make sure to share my results! As always any feedback or criticism is appreciated!
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Also while your list seems very practical. Recently lists that played 3 - 4 Supreme Verdict, 3 D-Sphere and 1 - 2 Crucible of Worlds have been doing well in the meta. Personally I would trim Pilgrims Eye to 1 copy if not cut it completely. Also Gideon of the Trials has proven to be good in Emeria.
@Asic - U/W would be my go to, most likely the overall changes would be based on what decks I expect in the meta.