Gideon of the Trials and extra slots towards Damping Sphere help some of the combo matches in Mono White, a little but you are definitely even more of a dog against Storm. The good news is that if Storm is definitely in your local meta you now get to play Amulet of Safekeeping which nullifies both Empty the Warrens and Grapeshot. It pretty terrible outside of Storm though, I guess you can bring it in against BW Tokens, Lantern Control and maybe Burn. The benefit to playing mono white is a painless manabase, more land destruction with both Field of Ruin and Ghost Quarter and a faster Emeria and clock. You also get to play Eldrazi Displacer which is actually ridiculous in our deck.
If you're looking for other good cards to hit off of Collected Company I would suggest Eternal Witness. I also recommend you diversify your Wrath selection for opposing Meddling Mages, as Humans generally names Path to Exile or Supreme Verdict first. I would personally also suggest a Evolutionary Leap somewhere in the 75 to consistantly trigger revolt and feed Renegade Rallier, Sun Titan, and Emeria, the Sky Ruin. Lastly, Dragonlord Dromoka is a card a lot of the GW decks play, it may also be worth testing. Anyway hope you have fun with your list!
All valid points, I'm looking forward to the new videos! While I'm not surprised you had some trouble with Humans, that is not the norm. We are usually overwhelming favored vs Humans but you're right, draw quality and play or draw does matter. Also, thanks for your gameplay breakdown :).
@Semorah
On Gideon of the Trials, my personal opinion is that he is irreplaceable for any UW control deck. However restoration angel is good clock with a relivent etb. As someone who has played both, I believe they preform different roles but I would suggest testing with each, in turn, and coming to your own conclusions.
PS. Sorry if I've been a little less active lately. I've been brewing with cards from m19.
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 just finished watching all of your matches with Emeria Control. Your microphone quality was very good, the sound came out smoothly and the commentary was great. As far as gameplay, I think you piloted Emeria very well. I noticed a few minor misplays, in your Soul Sisters and Death & Taxes matchups, nothing too major but I can list them if you'd like me to. No one is going to play perfectly every game, especially considering you recently picked the deck up again. That and you were also recording and providing commentary, which can cause distraction too. Overall I really admired your tenacity, especially in the face of your game one match against Tron. Those matches were closer than they appeared, and you had outs until the very end even in the third game when your opponent cast two Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hungers.
A few more pieces of advice just in case you play Emeria again
- try to lead with a blue source on turn one because of the chance you draw into Spreading Seas (this is largely irrelevant but may save 2 life from needing to shock)
- when playing control variants try to keep Emeria, the Sky Ruin obscured in your hand until you've hit seven plains to minimize the risk of opposing land destruction (which you can deal with using your own land destruction)
Finally a last minute comment, I definitely agree with your assessment of needing more than two disenchant type effects. That is the primary reason why I run three Detention Sphere in the main, because I don't want to commit them to sideboard slots. I think a Disenchant could be a fine replacement for one Celestial Purge but I'll leave that up to you. Again thank you for the quality content, I really did enjoy it, as I'm sure that others on this forum did too.
I'm flattered that you liked my list and am really glad that you had a lot of fun. I think you were correct to up the shuffle effects i.e. Field of Ruin, if you were adding a Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I'd love to know how he works out for you. Celestial Purge is always a good choice, as you can snag a lot of good things with it. A turn two Dark Confidant or a Liliana of the Veil on the draw are troublesome. I don't think that you have to worry to much about the Grixis Death Shadow matchup though, we're pretty favored in that one. I'll be looking forward to your YouTube gameplay, I always enjoy seeing how people pilot Emeria Control. Is it alright if you post the link for them, when your ready?
A couple pieces of last minute advice I'll offer;
- always use your cantrips before you play your land for turn
- when casting Court Hussar evaluate if he has a higher impact in play or in the graveyard. This will affect what mana you spend to cast him.
- as for Irrigated Farmland, it looks tempting to always cycle but unless you have seven plains in play already, a Crucible of Worlds on the board, or are looking for a specific card, it is often better to just have the land in play.
- finally know that you can use Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter to blow up an opponents land you enchanted with Spreading Seas putting it your graveyard to recur with Sun Titan if there is nothing else to target.
Unfortunately, Elvish Rejuvenator only allows you to look at the top five cards of your deck, and put a land from among them onto the battlefield. It does not actually allow you to search your library. However, the good news is that if you do have a non-basic in the top five cards, say Emeria, the Sky Ruin, or Field of Ruin you can put that into play. That said, I believe a Wood Elves may be better in most situations because it will always allow you to search. Abiet for a Forest card, which can also be a non-basic dual, like Temple Garden or Scattered Groves but not an Emeria, the Sky Ruin, or land destruction.
So I ended up 24th and I do have a little feedback regarding my performance. First, that Ghost Quarter is much better than Field of Ruin specifically when playing against Tron. Being able to Flickerwisp your Ghost Quarter to both pressure and disrupt your opponent can be crucial. It is also less mana intensive when trying to set up a Crucible of Worlds lock backed up by pressure in the early turns. That said, Field of Ruin was better than Ghost Quarter in every other matchup I played. Maybe a 3 Field of Ruin - 2 Ghost Quarter split, I'll have to deliberate because I really like the setup for my manabase as it is right now. Secondly Tormod's Crypt, this card was originally a nod to Hollow One, Dredge, and Mardu Pyromancer but I never even boarded it in. I found Dredge underrepresented at the open, and against Mardu Pyromancer, even if you dodge the discard you really want to draw high impact cards instead of what is essentially air. I'm thinking another counterspell, perhaps a third Negate or second Disdainful Stroke may be better. Lastly
Gideon Jura was largely hit or miss, I tended to board him out a lot but when playing against Merfolk, and I imagine against most aggressive decks, he was MVP. Especially being able to lure my opponents board and then pick off lord was especially relevant game one. Plus his high loyalty synergizes really well with a GotT Emblem. That said, I'm wondering if it's just better to replace him with Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. I'm a little leary of Teferi partly because, what makes him so good is allowing you to tap out while still holding up instant speed interaction. Which we have in exactly 4 Path to Exile preboard. However he is more versatile and does provide card advantage while still being a catch all, hitting relevant pieces of hate like, Blood Moon, Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void etc...
Has anyone tested Teferi, yet? I'd love to hear your opinion on him.
Hey everybody! So I just got back from an eight round, swiss, modern open yesterday. I think I did well, I went 6 - 2 and had a very realistic chance of doing better. That said, I'm not sure if Emeria is as viable in my current meta as it seemed like every fifth deck was a Tron variant. So anyway, I played against Tron, Jeskai Control, Tron, BtL Scapeshift, Counters Company, Mardu Pyromancer, Merfolk, and Ponza.
Match 1
Mono Green Tron 2 - 0
Game one my opponent was new to the deck and did not mulligan aggressively enough for Tron. I established a clock and locked them with Crucible of Worlds and Spreading Seas. On a sidenote, that's really hard to do when your opponent is playing five forests. Game two I was lucky and drew both Damping Spheres which slowed my opponent enough for me to kill them with Flickerwisp and Gideon of the Trials
Match 2
Jeskai Control 2 - 0
Game 1
My opponent had never played against Emeria before and they didn't realize how crucial our land was, I was able to Field of Ruin their own Field of Ruin which prompted them to tap down to Field me in response and I was able to resolve a Sun Titan and then play Emeria, the Sky Ruin for the win. Game 2 we traded resources until Emeria came online and took over the game with a Court Hussar. The turning point was when my opponent tapped their mana on their main phase after countering a Sun Titan, so while I was tapped down, and cast a Sphinx's Revelation for four. I was able to Spreading Seas their Field while it was tapped and rode Emeria to victory five turns later. I did leave in one Supreme Verdict, this is because Jeskai sometimes boards into Geist of Saint Traft and my I knew my opponent had Secure the Wastes.
Match 3
Mono Green Tron 1 - 2
So game one I was on the draw, didn't have Spreading Seas and got dumpstered by natural Tron into Karn Liberated and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Game two I drew Stony Silence and Negate backed it up by pressure and tempo'd my opponent out. Game three was the match were I'm a little salty for losing. This is the situation, my opponent can finally establish Tron by cracking an O-Stone. However, they're at 8 life and they don't want to crack it until my EoT for fear of me playing another piece of hate, i.e. Damping Sphere or Stoney Silence. I activate Gideon put them to four, force them to crack Oblivion Stone with a Detention Sphere. Gideon of the Trials survives because he's indestructible. Then I play my Field of Ruin I had saved until my opponent cracked Expedition Map last turn. On draw step I activated Field of Ruin on their Urza's Tower leaving them with five lands plus a landdrop for turn. They are dead on board, I know their hand because of an early Sorcerous Spyglass naming Karn Liberated. They draw the Tower and play Ugin, the Spirit Dragon.
Match 4
BtL Scapeshift 0 - 2
Game 1
My opponent casts a Search for Tomorrow into Jace the Mindsculpter into Tefferi, Hero of DominariaBring to Light for Scapeshift. For the first few turns I was really confused, my instinct was RUG scapeshift and then a four color control variant and then finally BtL Scapeshift. Game two didn't go any better, I mulled for counter magic but went from a unkeepable 6 into a questionable 5 and died.
i.e. removal out, anything that provides pressure in, all cantrips to increase the likelyhood of drawing countermagic
Match 5
Counters Company 2 - 0
So I actually got super lucky, my opponent got deck checked and got a game loss. We didn't sideboard but I won game two through the skin of my teeth. Then we played sideboarded games for fun and I lost three times in a row.
Match 7
Mardu Pyromancer 2 - 0
So my opponent mulligan-ed to five and was on the play, I kept and okay hand with four lands Path to Exile, a Lone Missionary and that was leaning on Spreading Seas to draw me a card. My opponent takes my Seas and I draw two more Lone Missionary, a Flickerwisp and SIX more lands, all in a row. I won but only because I finally cantriped into a Detetion Sphere to deal with his spirits and had an active Emeria to recur Lone Missionary and chump his Pyromancer tokens and Bedlam Reveler. My opponent for some reason boarded into Ensnaring Bridge and kept in their mediocre removal like Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push. So my opponent rips apart my hand, removes my creatures, we have a little back and forth and then I draw a Sun Titan. I to get Flickerwisp while it's safe to do so, he only has Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push in hand, which I know from Sorcerous Spyglass which is naming Fulminator Mage. Get back Detention Sphere which he took with discard, I remove his Ensnaring Bridge and then attack and get back Gideon of the Trials. My opponent died shortly after.
So yeah, those were my matches. I had a lot of fun, made some interesting decisions, met cool people, and got an awesome promo Flooded Strand. I also prized in the top 32 and a buddy of mine came fourth! Overall a lot of fun.
I can understand your position on Militia Bugler and I agree with you, he does seem like a watered down version of Court Hussar in the UW emeria varients. However outside of UW I think that this card could really shine as he provides much needed card advantage. As for Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants, I'll wait until I do some play testing but there are things I like about him and thing that I dislike. For instance the + 1 distributing counters has little synergy with our gameplan, and may largely be irrelevant unless your combining with Kitchen Finks. I'm also underwhelmed with the - 2, as of now there are only 5 - 9 targets in Phantasmal Image, Lone Missionary and Wall of Omens. I really wish it was restricted by power and not converted mana cost. However, you can add more lower cmc creatures like Thraben Inspector, Kami of False Hope or even the new Remorseful Cleric to increase the synergy. In a correct build - 2 is card advantage and the ultimate can be game winning, so I don't think we should count Ajani out yet.
On an unrelated topic, if Stoneforge Mystic actually becomes unbanned on Monday do you think it's a automatic swap with Lone Missionary. Also what equipment would be best utilized in our current modern format, and finally, what are everyone's thoughts on the new Remorseful Cleric? Is it better or worse than current graveyard hate? Should it be in our maindeck or sideboard?
So there was a new card spoiled for the M19 set, Militia Bugler. I think it has potential to be very good, especially in the non blue emeria vaients. I can just imagine Sun Titan into Flickerwisp into this for all the value.
Militia Bugler
3 cmc - 1 white 2 generic
Vigilance
When Militia Bugler Enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal a creature card with power 2 or less from amoung them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
2/3
Hey, thanks for the constructive feedback, I really do appreciate it!
Anyway my thoughts on treetop village, are that it's a good card but can be very awkward when drawn in multiples within the first few turns. Would you recommend keeping the 21 land count or upping it to 22 with the extra treetop? So far in my games I've noted multiple occasions where I've drawn Rhonas the Indomitable alongside Leatherback Baloth. What is the consensus on Rhonas currently, is he to be prioritized as a game ending threat, worth the loss in devotion, creature clause, and potential for a redundant and dead draw in multiples? I could see testing Blossoming Defense to come to my own opinions, it is more mana efficient and gets around Spellskite. I am a little leery of the loss of damage and practical application of Vines of Vastwood, I recall more than a few games where the four damage from Vines was exactly lethal and won me games where I would not have before. What is your opinion on Defense, does the mana saved allow you to commit more to the board earlier and therefore allow the establishment a bigger board presence?
My sideboard is definitely in a work in progress, so I appreciate your input with that too. The Natural State is for Affinity first and foremost, since I'm not playing Pithing Needle I felt the need for addition removal towards their man-lands. I also bring it in against decks I suspect play Spellskite or Ensnaring Bridge. Going down to just two copies and utilizing the slot for something else, is definitely something that I had considered. Unravel the Aether is there for decks playing Welding Jar or Wurmcoil Engine, as for Reclamation Sage, I wanted a creature so as not dilute my deck when sideboarding. I had tested Manglehorn and Thrashing Brontodon, but rec sage seemed to preform the best out of those three. I do have a single Phyrexian Revoker to name critical things like Ezuri, Renigade Leader and Aether Vial but maybe I need more than one.
I haven't tested Damping Sphere in Stompy but I had thought our matchups against both Tron and Storm were reasonable. That said, my matchup experience against Tron was when I was playing three copies of Dungrove Elder in my first iteration of Stompy a few years ago. I found that Karn was just an expensive sorcery speed removal, and only really cared about Wurmcoil Engine, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, or an early Oblivion Stone. I was usually able to goldfish my opponent by turn four because of the lack of interaction, and race the ugin or o-stone. Though now that Walking Balista and splash colors for removal like Fatal Push and Collective Brutality have been added this has probably heavily effected this matchup. What is your experience on this? Storm hate I'm not convinced we need though, isn't Drydad Militant and to a lesser extent Scavenging Ooze coupled with our aggression enough? I'm curious to see if something has changed here too.
Bow of Nylea is primarily a hedge for creature based matchups were board stalls generally occur, like merfolk or goyf decks. The text 'attacking creatures you control have deathtouch' is crucial and combines especially nicely with our creatures that have trample. If I was to remove it, is there perhaps a different card you could suggest to provide a similar role? Perhaps an additional Ghalta, Primal Hunger or Scavenging Ooze?
I have not tried fight spells, excluding Ulvenwald Tracker in stompy yet. I should test Nature's Way instead of the third Dismember because your right sometimes the life loss can be very relevant if you draw it in multiples. Are you ever impacted by loss of instant speed removal? Or blown out by removal in matchups were you need this effect? Finally are those risks worth the four life you would normally pay for Dismember? I was under the impression that Dismember was the premier removal, then if you maxed four copies, you would add additional spells like Nature's Way.
I've bought and sold Kitchen Finks in the past but don't currently have access to them, Pulse of Murasa, however, is an attractive option. I have always wanted to play a singleton as it is more versatile and would improve mathups against more midrange builds. I'll test it out, do you believe I should remove a Life Goes On or Feed the Clan for this?
Personally, I will have to disagree with you on the utility Birds of Paradise. I remember reading an article on the optimal use of mana dorks, from what I recall to draw a dork in your opener you need to devote a minimum of five slots to them. You also want to lean heavier towards three and four mana spells to facilitate your mana acceleration. I'm guessing somewhere between seven to ten, three cmc spells. I looked up a Bant Knightfall list on mtg goldfish, they had listed eight mana dorks, nineteen cards of three cmc and four coco's. I think if I was to add mana dorks it would change the layout of classic stompy and I would devote more slots towards powerfull three drops and add Collected Company. My knowledge is rusty at best though, is there anyone that knows more about the statistics behind this, if so what is your opinion or take on this?
Sure, no problem. My original build from before had three copies of Dungrove Elder with only the two Scavenging Ooze main. I was also playing Blossoming Defense in leau of Aspect of Hydra because my lgs meta was predominantly Jund and Jeskia control at the time. When I picked up Stompy again I was playing twenty lands with two Kalonian Tusker, and Ghalta, Primal Hunger instead Scavenging Ooze which was one main and two of in my sideboard at the time. However Ghalta seemed very hit of miss, it was either the best or worst card in my deck. So I consigned it to the sideboard, meanwhile I was boarding into Scavenging Ooze in a lot of my matchups. So I just decided to remove Tusker and board Ghalta. I haven't had the chance to really test Heroic Intervention yet but I may also change that to a Thrun, the Last Troll. I'm not sure how much, if any of this is correct, especially in the sideboard, I have considered the need for Pithing Needle but I like being able to hit mana sources and the two cmc is relivent when playing against Chalice of the Void decks, like Eldrazi-Tron.
Hey everyone, I've started playing stompy again after a few years hiatus. I've been playing a lot online recently and have changed from my original configuration quite a lot. Mainly, I've removed every Dungrove Elder and all but one Leatherback Baloth. Since then I've been flip flopping between 2 Kalonian Tusker vs 2 Scavenging Ooze in the maindeck. The three toughness on Kalonian Tusker has been relevant in a lot of my matchups, particularly against Burn. It is also the more aggressive card while playing on curve and synergizes better with Aspect of Hydra. That said Scavenging Ooze has the potential to take over the game while providing a good mana sink for the mid to late game. Scavenging Ooze while usually being a much better topdeck is also a good hoser against a lot of different strategies in modern.
I've also been trying out Ghalta, Primal Hunger as a singleton in the main but have since switched it to the sideboard. From my previous experience stompys weakness were decks that either had excessive removal and wrath effects or creatures that could clog up the ground and profitably trade with ours. That said, I've been grinding against a lot of midrange and control variants in the ques on magic online and have been doing fairly well. My main question is what are the difficult matchups for stompy now that we have access to tools like Steel Leaf Champion, and Rhonas the Indomitable. Also What are your thoughts on Shapers' Sanctuary? Personally this card has won me games in against said control and midrange builds, on average drawing 3 - 4 cards before the game ends.
@Semorah
On Gideon of the Trials, my personal opinion is that he is irreplaceable for any UW control deck. However restoration angel is good clock with a relivent etb. As someone who has played both, I believe they preform different roles but I would suggest testing with each, in turn, and coming to your own conclusions.
PS. Sorry if I've been a little less active lately. I've been brewing with cards from m19.
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.
A few more pieces of advice just in case you play Emeria again
- try to lead with a blue source on turn one because of the chance you draw into Spreading Seas (this is largely irrelevant but may save 2 life from needing to shock)
- when playing control variants try to keep Emeria, the Sky Ruin obscured in your hand until you've hit seven plains to minimize the risk of opposing land destruction (which you can deal with using your own land destruction)
Finally a last minute comment, I definitely agree with your assessment of needing more than two disenchant type effects. That is the primary reason why I run three Detention Sphere in the main, because I don't want to commit them to sideboard slots. I think a Disenchant could be a fine replacement for one Celestial Purge but I'll leave that up to you. Again thank you for the quality content, I really did enjoy it, as I'm sure that others on this forum did too.
A couple pieces of last minute advice I'll offer;
- always use your cantrips before you play your land for turn
- when casting Court Hussar evaluate if he has a higher impact in play or in the graveyard. This will affect what mana you spend to cast him.
- as for Irrigated Farmland, it looks tempting to always cycle but unless you have seven plains in play already, a Crucible of Worlds on the board, or are looking for a specific card, it is often better to just have the land in play.
- finally know that you can use Field of Ruin or Ghost Quarter to blow up an opponents land you enchanted with Spreading Seas putting it your graveyard to recur with Sun Titan if there is nothing else to target.
Maindeck 60
Creature: 18
3 Lone Missionary
4 Wall of Omens
1 Phantasmal Image
4 Flickerwisp
3 Court Hussar
3 Sun Titan
Instant // Sorcery: 7
4 Path to Exile
1 Wrath of God
2 Supreme Verdict
Enchantment: 7
4 Spreading Seas
3 Detention Sphere
Artifact: 1
1 Crucible of Worlds
Planeswalker: 3
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Gideon Jura
Manabase: 24
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
3 Field of Ruin
4 Flooded Strand
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Irrigated Farmland
1 Island
6 Plains
1 Prairie Stream
1 Windswept Heath
Sideboard 15
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Relic of Projenitus
1 Lone Missionary
2 Stony Silence
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Negate
2 Damping Sphere
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Gideon of the Trials
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Ojutai's Command
So I ended up 24th and I do have a little feedback regarding my performance. First, that Ghost Quarter is much better than Field of Ruin specifically when playing against Tron. Being able to Flickerwisp your Ghost Quarter to both pressure and disrupt your opponent can be crucial. It is also less mana intensive when trying to set up a Crucible of Worlds lock backed up by pressure in the early turns. That said, Field of Ruin was better than Ghost Quarter in every other matchup I played. Maybe a 3 Field of Ruin - 2 Ghost Quarter split, I'll have to deliberate because I really like the setup for my manabase as it is right now. Secondly Tormod's Crypt, this card was originally a nod to Hollow One, Dredge, and Mardu Pyromancer but I never even boarded it in. I found Dredge underrepresented at the open, and against Mardu Pyromancer, even if you dodge the discard you really want to draw high impact cards instead of what is essentially air. I'm thinking another counterspell, perhaps a third Negate or second Disdainful Stroke may be better. Lastly
Gideon Jura was largely hit or miss, I tended to board him out a lot but when playing against Merfolk, and I imagine against most aggressive decks, he was MVP. Especially being able to lure my opponents board and then pick off lord was especially relevant game one. Plus his high loyalty synergizes really well with a GotT Emblem. That said, I'm wondering if it's just better to replace him with Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. I'm a little leary of Teferi partly because, what makes him so good is allowing you to tap out while still holding up instant speed interaction. Which we have in exactly 4 Path to Exile preboard. However he is more versatile and does provide card advantage while still being a catch all, hitting relevant pieces of hate like, Blood Moon, Rest in Peace, Leyline of the Void etc...
Has anyone tested Teferi, yet? I'd love to hear your opinion on him.
Match 1
Mono Green Tron 2 - 0
Game one my opponent was new to the deck and did not mulligan aggressively enough for Tron. I established a clock and locked them with Crucible of Worlds and Spreading Seas. On a sidenote, that's really hard to do when your opponent is playing five forests. Game two I was lucky and drew both Damping Spheres which slowed my opponent enough for me to kill them with Flickerwisp and Gideon of the Trials
Sideboard
Into 9
2 Damping Sphere
2 Stony Silence
2 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Lone Missionary
1 Gideon of the Trials
Out: 9
2 Path to Exile
1 Wrath of God
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Gideon Jura
2 Wall of Omens
1 Phantasmal Image
Match 2
Jeskai Control 2 - 0
Game 1
My opponent had never played against Emeria before and they didn't realize how crucial our land was, I was able to Field of Ruin their own Field of Ruin which prompted them to tap down to Field me in response and I was able to resolve a Sun Titan and then play Emeria, the Sky Ruin for the win. Game 2 we traded resources until Emeria came online and took over the game with a Court Hussar. The turning point was when my opponent tapped their mana on their main phase after countering a Sun Titan, so while I was tapped down, and cast a Sphinx's Revelation for four. I was able to Spreading Seas their Field while it was tapped and rode Emeria to victory five turns later. I did leave in one Supreme Verdict, this is because Jeskai sometimes boards into Geist of Saint Traft and my I knew my opponent had Secure the Wastes.
Sideboard Into 7
2 Relic of Projenitus
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Negate
1 Gideon of the Trials
1 Ojutai's Command
Out 7
4 Path to Exile
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
1 Gideon Jura
Match 3
Mono Green Tron 1 - 2
So game one I was on the draw, didn't have Spreading Seas and got dumpstered by natural Tron into Karn Liberated and Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. Game two I drew Stony Silence and Negate backed it up by pressure and tempo'd my opponent out. Game three was the match were I'm a little salty for losing. This is the situation, my opponent can finally establish Tron by cracking an O-Stone. However, they're at 8 life and they don't want to crack it until my EoT for fear of me playing another piece of hate, i.e. Damping Sphere or Stoney Silence. I activate Gideon put them to four, force them to crack Oblivion Stone with a Detention Sphere. Gideon of the Trials survives because he's indestructible. Then I play my Field of Ruin I had saved until my opponent cracked Expedition Map last turn. On draw step I activated Field of Ruin on their Urza's Tower leaving them with five lands plus a landdrop for turn. They are dead on board, I know their hand because of an early Sorcerous Spyglass naming Karn Liberated. They draw the Tower and play Ugin, the Spirit Dragon.
Sideboard
Into 9
2 Damping Sphere
2 Stony Silence
2 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Lone Missionary
1 Gideon of the Trials
Out: 9
2 Path to Exile
1 Wrath of God
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Gideon Jura
2 Wall of Omens
1 Phantasmal Image
i.e. I swap Phantasmal Image for Lone Missionary depending on play draw
Match 4
BtL Scapeshift 0 - 2
Game 1
My opponent casts a Search for Tomorrow into Jace the Mindsculpter into Tefferi, Hero of Dominaria Bring to Light for Scapeshift. For the first few turns I was really confused, my instinct was RUG scapeshift and then a four color control variant and then finally BtL Scapeshift. Game two didn't go any better, I mulled for counter magic but went from a unkeepable 6 into a questionable 5 and died.
Sideboard
Into 9
2 Relic of Projenitus
1 Lone Missionary
1 Distainful Stroke
2 Negate
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Gideon of the Trials
1 Ojutai's Command
Out 9
4 Path to Exile
1 Phantasmal Image
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Wrath of God
2 Supreme Verdict
i.e. removal out, anything that provides pressure in, all cantrips to increase the likelyhood of drawing countermagic
Match 5
Counters Company 2 - 0
So I actually got super lucky, my opponent got deck checked and got a game loss. We didn't sideboard but I won game two through the skin of my teeth. Then we played sideboarded games for fun and I lost three times in a row.
Match 6
Merfolk 2 - 1
So you know your games are going well against Merfolk when they spend the first two turns casting Spreading Seas. Two Path to Exile into a Wrath of God and Gideon Jura locked up game one. Game two it came down to does my opponent have a hard counter for my Settle the Wreckage, I was able to play around a Spell Pierce but they had a Deprive. Game three I was the beatdown... Lone Missionary into Flickerwisp into Phantasmal Image to copy Flickerwisp to return to Missionary plus a nifty Path to Exile.
Sideboard
Into 5
1 Lone Missionary
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Gideon of the Trials
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Ojutai's Command
Out 5
4 Spreading Seas
1 Crucible of Worlds
Match 7
Mardu Pyromancer 2 - 0
So my opponent mulligan-ed to five and was on the play, I kept and okay hand with four lands Path to Exile, a Lone Missionary and that was leaning on Spreading Seas to draw me a card. My opponent takes my Seas and I draw two more Lone Missionary, a Flickerwisp and SIX more lands, all in a row. I won but only because I finally cantriped into a Detetion Sphere to deal with his spirits and had an active Emeria to recur Lone Missionary and chump his Pyromancer tokens and Bedlam Reveler. My opponent for some reason boarded into Ensnaring Bridge and kept in their mediocre removal like Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push. So my opponent rips apart my hand, removes my creatures, we have a little back and forth and then I draw a Sun Titan. I to get Flickerwisp while it's safe to do so, he only has Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push in hand, which I know from Sorcerous Spyglass which is naming Fulminator Mage. Get back Detention Sphere which he took with discard, I remove his Ensnaring Bridge and then attack and get back Gideon of the Trials. My opponent died shortly after.
Sideboard
Into 3
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
1 Gideon of the Trials
1 Ojutai's Command
Out 3
2 Flickerwisp
1 Phantasmal Image
Match 8
RG Ponza 2 - 0
Game 1 My opponent mulligans to five and is leaning on one land, 2 Arbor Elf and a Utopia Sprawl. I Spreading Seas their forest, the sprawl falls off, and then Detention Sphere both Arbor Elfs. This buys me enough time to ramp into Sun Titan by using Path to Exile on a Lone Missionary so by the time they start the land destruction, i.e Stone Rain, Mwonvuli Acid-Moss etc.. I have a threat to recur my mana and just kill them. Game two my opponent is on the play and has an arguably amazing hand, turn two Thrun, the Last Troll, turn three Inferno Titan. I path the Titan, weather the land destruction with Crucible of Worlds, chump their thrun, counter thier Blood Moon, wrath thier Stormbreath Dragon, and climb to Emeria, which takes over the game.
Sideboard
Into 3
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Negate
Out 3
1 Lone Missionary
1 Flickerwisp
1 Gideon Jura
So yeah, those were my matches. I had a lot of fun, made some interesting decisions, met cool people, and got an awesome promo Flooded Strand. I also prized in the top 32 and a buddy of mine came fourth! Overall a lot of fun.
On an unrelated topic, if Stoneforge Mystic actually becomes unbanned on Monday do you think it's a automatic swap with Lone Missionary. Also what equipment would be best utilized in our current modern format, and finally, what are everyone's thoughts on the new Remorseful Cleric? Is it better or worse than current graveyard hate? Should it be in our maindeck or sideboard?
Militia Bugler
3 cmc - 1 white 2 generic
Vigilance
When Militia Bugler Enters the battlefield, look at the top four cards of your library. You may reveal a creature card with power 2 or less from amoung them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
2/3
What do you guys think?
Anyway my thoughts on treetop village, are that it's a good card but can be very awkward when drawn in multiples within the first few turns. Would you recommend keeping the 21 land count or upping it to 22 with the extra treetop? So far in my games I've noted multiple occasions where I've drawn Rhonas the Indomitable alongside Leatherback Baloth. What is the consensus on Rhonas currently, is he to be prioritized as a game ending threat, worth the loss in devotion, creature clause, and potential for a redundant and dead draw in multiples? I could see testing Blossoming Defense to come to my own opinions, it is more mana efficient and gets around Spellskite. I am a little leery of the loss of damage and practical application of Vines of Vastwood, I recall more than a few games where the four damage from Vines was exactly lethal and won me games where I would not have before. What is your opinion on Defense, does the mana saved allow you to commit more to the board earlier and therefore allow the establishment a bigger board presence?
My sideboard is definitely in a work in progress, so I appreciate your input with that too. The Natural State is for Affinity first and foremost, since I'm not playing Pithing Needle I felt the need for addition removal towards their man-lands. I also bring it in against decks I suspect play Spellskite or Ensnaring Bridge. Going down to just two copies and utilizing the slot for something else, is definitely something that I had considered. Unravel the Aether is there for decks playing Welding Jar or Wurmcoil Engine, as for Reclamation Sage, I wanted a creature so as not dilute my deck when sideboarding. I had tested Manglehorn and Thrashing Brontodon, but rec sage seemed to preform the best out of those three. I do have a single Phyrexian Revoker to name critical things like Ezuri, Renigade Leader and Aether Vial but maybe I need more than one.
I haven't tested Damping Sphere in Stompy but I had thought our matchups against both Tron and Storm were reasonable. That said, my matchup experience against Tron was when I was playing three copies of Dungrove Elder in my first iteration of Stompy a few years ago. I found that Karn was just an expensive sorcery speed removal, and only really cared about Wurmcoil Engine, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, or an early Oblivion Stone. I was usually able to goldfish my opponent by turn four because of the lack of interaction, and race the ugin or o-stone. Though now that Walking Balista and splash colors for removal like Fatal Push and Collective Brutality have been added this has probably heavily effected this matchup. What is your experience on this? Storm hate I'm not convinced we need though, isn't Drydad Militant and to a lesser extent Scavenging Ooze coupled with our aggression enough? I'm curious to see if something has changed here too.
Bow of Nylea is primarily a hedge for creature based matchups were board stalls generally occur, like merfolk or goyf decks. The text 'attacking creatures you control have deathtouch' is crucial and combines especially nicely with our creatures that have trample. If I was to remove it, is there perhaps a different card you could suggest to provide a similar role? Perhaps an additional Ghalta, Primal Hunger or Scavenging Ooze?
I have not tried fight spells, excluding Ulvenwald Tracker in stompy yet. I should test Nature's Way instead of the third Dismember because your right sometimes the life loss can be very relevant if you draw it in multiples. Are you ever impacted by loss of instant speed removal? Or blown out by removal in matchups were you need this effect? Finally are those risks worth the four life you would normally pay for Dismember? I was under the impression that Dismember was the premier removal, then if you maxed four copies, you would add additional spells like Nature's Way.
I've bought and sold Kitchen Finks in the past but don't currently have access to them, Pulse of Murasa, however, is an attractive option. I have always wanted to play a singleton as it is more versatile and would improve mathups against more midrange builds. I'll test it out, do you believe I should remove a Life Goes On or Feed the Clan for this?
Personally, I will have to disagree with you on the utility Birds of Paradise. I remember reading an article on the optimal use of mana dorks, from what I recall to draw a dork in your opener you need to devote a minimum of five slots to them. You also want to lean heavier towards three and four mana spells to facilitate your mana acceleration. I'm guessing somewhere between seven to ten, three cmc spells. I looked up a Bant Knightfall list on mtg goldfish, they had listed eight mana dorks, nineteen cards of three cmc and four coco's. I think if I was to add mana dorks it would change the layout of classic stompy and I would devote more slots towards powerfull three drops and add Collected Company. My knowledge is rusty at best though, is there anyone that knows more about the statistics behind this, if so what is your opinion or take on this?
Maindeck 60
Creature: 26
4 Experiment One
1 Kessig Prowler
4 Dryad Militant
4 Avatar of the Resolute
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Strangleroot Geist
1 Leatherback Baloth
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
4 Steel Leaf Champion
Instant // Sorcery 9
3 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Dismember
Enchantment 4
4 Rancor
Manabase 21
1 Treetop Village
2 Hashep Oasis
18 Forest
Sideboard:
2 Life Goes On
3 Natural State
2 Shapers' Sanctuary
1 Feed the Clan
1 Heroic Intervention
1 Unravel the Aether
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Dismember
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Bow of Nylea
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
I've also been trying out Ghalta, Primal Hunger as a singleton in the main but have since switched it to the sideboard. From my previous experience stompys weakness were decks that either had excessive removal and wrath effects or creatures that could clog up the ground and profitably trade with ours. That said, I've been grinding against a lot of midrange and control variants in the ques on magic online and have been doing fairly well. My main question is what are the difficult matchups for stompy now that we have access to tools like Steel Leaf Champion, and Rhonas the Indomitable. Also What are your thoughts on Shapers' Sanctuary? Personally this card has won me games in against said control and midrange builds, on average drawing 3 - 4 cards before the game ends.