Madcap skills is hands down the best aura in the deck first off. Even better than ethereal honestly. It provides the early damage that is so necessary. I will say that madcap gets a TAD more awkward against certain matchups when its equipped to anything other than gladecover. With gladecover you can be sure you will swing in for 4 on turn 2, past that they may have two creatures that they would GLADLY trade.
Godsend is awful, absolute trash IMO. Never consider running it. It costs 6 mana for a +3/+3. There is no situation where I would ever want to invest that much mana into a card for a deck that is supposedly fast.
In standard, you have to be able to deal with mono black and control. For control, the big question is, "how do I deal with verdict?" For this deck, it is either kill them fast enough it doesn't matter, or have boros charm. For mono black, there are two questions, "how do I deal with removal?" and "how do I deal with pack rat?" For us, we get around everything but sacrifice, which is why we have voice and skylasher. As far as pack rat is concerned, We just outrace them. I do think that a turn 2 pack rat can be extremely problematic for our deck if we don't run off as fast as possible. Once they get to 5 rats, we lost essentially.
You will first notice this list if missing 2 cards. I have gone back and forth between:
2 more Witchstalker to complete the hexproof creature suite...
2 more Ghor-Clan Rampager to become even burstier...
2 Gift of Orzhova since lifelink is even better due to confluence...
2 Trollhide which I think is underrated...
Between those, I think I'm leaning towards more auras. This deck is already sort of low on auras for a hexproof deck in my opinion. Gift and trollhide are COMPLETELY different. Against control, if you land trollhide and they can't get rid of the enchantment itself, I really don't know how they win. If you have a hexproof regenerate creature up, there is nothing anybody can do. That being said, this deck with the 4 confluences now is heavily dependent on lifelink against aggro matchups, so I could see the value of gift.
As far as other explanations:
-I think voice is still a 4 of. He is the only card that helps with sacrifice effects, and also provides a potential game winning swing after verdict. When you have gotten them down to below 10 and they verdict, if you follow up with ethereal armor + madcap skills on the token, you are pretty set.
-I REALLY don't understand the lists that don't run ghor-clan at all. Most of the time, he will equate to an un-counterable boros charm that can also lead to bad blocks by the opponent.
-Fleecemane to me is just horrible. He is a pretty worthless creature all things considered until you monstrous him, and I really want to win before I hit 5 mana, because if I hit 5 mana on turn 5 I didn't draw enough auras.
Overall, this deck is more consistent in the creature base, the mana base (aside from pure # of lands), and only loses a tad of burst. I'm loving it so far.
While that is true, Brimaz does die to removal while Keranos does not. I think Brimaz could definitely make a case, but I don't think you need that great of a pool in red/blue to play keranos. Red creatures tend to trade on the ground effectively, and blue creatures tend to fly. Additionally, any burn in red and creature return in blue makes stalling to that point quite easy. The guy who won our prerelease played absolute CRAP besides Keranos, he just clogged the board until he dropped Keranos and then either killed your creatures or bolted the face and had blockers up to live.
To take it a step further, if I were to do a top 5 it would be:
1. Keranos, God of Storms: Perfect for what his colors due, and absolute bonkers levels of card advantage.
2. Brimaz, King of Oreskos: Dodges quite a bit of removal and if he hits turn 3, very hard to beat.
3. Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Bonkers on turn 6, ridiculous before. Wipes board, makes guys, and you actually get to ultimate her in a good many games if they don't scoop.
4. Iroas, God of Victory: Just what red/white aggro needs. Probably the best first pick in draft, but a tad harder to make work in sealed since you have to open aggro.
5. Thassa, God of the Sea: Significantly weaker due to blue in BNG and JIN, but still makes dudes unblockable and gives card quality. If you turn her on, its gg.
I wanted to consider Ashiok, but she can just whiff. Kiora is also strong, but most games I find I want to -1 her, and she only gets bonkers when she ultimates.
Just wanted to ask what people think is the best card in Theros/Bord of the Gods/Journey Into Nyx for SEALED.
After enough answers come out, I think we should start a poll.
Personally, after playing against it twice, I don't think there is a better card than Keranos, God of Storms for sealed. Normally, I would say blue/red is one of the worst color combos PERIOD, but if you crack this guy and land him, he is a very hard to answer card that either draws 2 or gives you a free bolt. Add in scry, and it just get bonkers.
In draft, I think Keranos gets significantly worse since aggro is more of a viable option, but in sealed since most people aren't killing by turn 5, 6, or even 7 he just gets absolutely bonkers.
For limited, Keranos...final two decks at my shop both were red blue solely because of keranos. He is just ridiculous in limited. who doesn't want a free bolt or draw 2 each turn.
I guess I'm using the term loosely. I fully understand what the "draw-go" deck type is, meaning instants/flash so you play everything on your opponent's turn. It is traditionally mono-blue.
What I am saying is that the deck type "draw-go" comes from the action of drawing your card and then saying go. That action takes place in legacy MOST turns for MOST competitive decks. In modern, it is much more common to tap out on your own turn or at least play a spell on your own turn. Essentially, what this equates to is more interaction in legacy than modern. You will take the ACTION of "draw-go" much, much, much more in legacy than you will in modern.
For people who are a fan of interaction on your opponent's turn, they should probably play more legacy than modern.
Again, I think you are missing the point of the draw-go deal...the entire format of legacy is draw-go most of the time. That is not true in the slightest with modern. UWR control, is at beat, BARELY more draw-go as a deck then say UW miracles, but every deck in legacy is more draw-go than 90% of modern. The FORMAT of legacy is draw-go centered...
Pure draw-go control is nonexistent in Legacy. Name me 1 pure draw-go control deck in Legacy (Miracles doesn't count as it is a lockdown deck that has to tap out for cards like Jace)
By your strict definition of Draw-go, draw-go has never existed in the history of the game. Of COURSE you sometimes have to tap on your turn for cards, but if you are saying draw-go 80-90% of the game, that is draw go. When the only cards you tap for are counterbalance, top, and jace, you ARE draw-go...
Draw-go isn't as much of a deck archetype as a play style. Legacy is a draw-go format because you NEVER over-extend, you just lay 1 threat and then say draw-go until the game is over.
Now, as far as modern is concerned, there are a handful of cards that could be safely removed off the banlist in reality. The reason they aren't is because Wizards is TERRIFIED of breaking a format that is just starting to develop some popularity. They did the same thing with legacy, and when the format has some solid years under its belt and a devoted player base, they will let out some leash so to speak.
Here is the issue I have with people complaining about Jund not getting BBE back...
Right now, of the three color slices, Jund is still the second most powerful...the only tri-color that is more powerful is UWR...
If we are going to complain about cards, why don't we try to get Stoneforge back on the table for Esper, or unban some blue to allow BUG/RUG to come to the forefront. I love Jund, I still have my deck in its case for when they unban DRS in approximately 2 years, but lets stop complaining about Jund getting weakened when there are so many other colors out there that would use some love.
May sound crazy...but if I were to advocate for anything, I'd say unban preordain/ponder and punishing fire...that way RUG/BUG/Jund all get stronger and so do other decks to keep them from getting too strong.
After play testing this card a good deal, maindeck in any version whatsoever of black/white it is VERY underwhelming. The only way it starts to get any real benefit is abusing sac effects with Cartel Aristocrat and Maw of Obzedat + Tokens/creatures.
The one version of this deck that started to get truly interesting is Dega (RWB). To make this guy bonkers, creatures really need haste. If you are going to get a creature back to your hand, you really don't want to lose tempo. This is the shell that I was running that started to do some work with this guy. Problem with the deck is mana, but it really doesn't mind shocking itself or taking 1 from Mana Confluence.
Wait, did you seriously just say draw-go is non-existent in legacy? Me thinks you are confused...
Now, I'm going to commence waffling on the whole BBE deal.
On one hand, what reason is there to keep BBE banned? It was originally banned for only one reason...to weaken JUND which was DOMINATING the meta. While Jund may still be good, it is CLEARLY not dominating in the slightest anymore, and is arguably no longer tier 1. In addition, BBE would help zoo which didn't quite resurge from Nacatl alone. The best play for BBE was to cascade into lili...and cascading into lili on turn 4 is hardly as degenerate as a turn 2 lili.
On the OTHER hand, what reason is there to unban BBE? While Jund is not great anymore, it is still a completely viable deck. For the first time, in the past few years Jund is not the best deck in modern, why the sudden rush to risk returning it to the top of the hill?
Now, looking at both of those arguments, I think the BBE comes down to which camp you fall in. Do you want the banlist to be as small as possible, or do you want modern as controlled as possible? I personally want the banlist to be tiny because that allows you the most cards to play with in the format, but that is just me. I can see the point of wanting BBE banned, but I think I keep seeing more and more complaining about pod and splinter twin. BBE is an AMAZING card against these two decks to keep them in control.
For Pod: Cascading into any form of removal is probably going to yield serious results. In certain situations, hitting a goyf may mean lethal.
For Twin: Again, cascading into the card that gets rid of Deceiver Exarch is amazing.
The other top tier decks won't be losing because of BBE...
But, again, I don't think this is the biggest issue facing the list. I think the idea of banning powerful cards is dangerous in its own right, however.
I'm really confused. Why all this talk of banning pod? Banning the namesake of the deck is silly to me. Chord of Calling, on the other hand, is a much different story. That card could be safely banned, would basically only hit pod, and wouldn't kill the deck.
Also, while ancestral visions would help twin, it would also help plenty of other decks as well. That card isn't broken in the slightest unless you are cascading into it. It is a great turn 1 play, yes, but a turn 1 play that goes off on turn 5 in a deck that can combo off on turn 4 doesn't seem broken in that deck to me. It would be a much bigger deal in UWR control and storm to me.
Godsend is awful, absolute trash IMO. Never consider running it. It costs 6 mana for a +3/+3. There is no situation where I would ever want to invest that much mana into a card for a deck that is supposedly fast.
In standard, you have to be able to deal with mono black and control. For control, the big question is, "how do I deal with verdict?" For this deck, it is either kill them fast enough it doesn't matter, or have boros charm. For mono black, there are two questions, "how do I deal with removal?" and "how do I deal with pack rat?" For us, we get around everything but sacrifice, which is why we have voice and skylasher. As far as pack rat is concerned, We just outrace them. I do think that a turn 2 pack rat can be extremely problematic for our deck if we don't run off as fast as possible. Once they get to 5 rats, we lost essentially.
I think it is time to start thinking of this deck as a 20 lander with confluence. Also, this is what I've been brewing with that in mind.
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Bassara Tower Archer
4 Voice of Resurgence
2 Witchstalker
2 Ghor-Clan Rampager
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Unflinching Courage
4 Madcap Skills
Removal
4 Chained to the Rocks
Instants
4 Boros Charm
2 Selesnya Charm
4 Mana Confluence
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Forest
1 Plains
You will first notice this list if missing 2 cards. I have gone back and forth between:
2 more Witchstalker to complete the hexproof creature suite...
2 more Ghor-Clan Rampager to become even burstier...
2 Gift of Orzhova since lifelink is even better due to confluence...
2 Trollhide which I think is underrated...
Between those, I think I'm leaning towards more auras. This deck is already sort of low on auras for a hexproof deck in my opinion. Gift and trollhide are COMPLETELY different. Against control, if you land trollhide and they can't get rid of the enchantment itself, I really don't know how they win. If you have a hexproof regenerate creature up, there is nothing anybody can do. That being said, this deck with the 4 confluences now is heavily dependent on lifelink against aggro matchups, so I could see the value of gift.
As far as other explanations:
-I think voice is still a 4 of. He is the only card that helps with sacrifice effects, and also provides a potential game winning swing after verdict. When you have gotten them down to below 10 and they verdict, if you follow up with ethereal armor + madcap skills on the token, you are pretty set.
-I REALLY don't understand the lists that don't run ghor-clan at all. Most of the time, he will equate to an un-counterable boros charm that can also lead to bad blocks by the opponent.
-Fleecemane to me is just horrible. He is a pretty worthless creature all things considered until you monstrous him, and I really want to win before I hit 5 mana, because if I hit 5 mana on turn 5 I didn't draw enough auras.
Overall, this deck is more consistent in the creature base, the mana base (aside from pure # of lands), and only loses a tad of burst. I'm loving it so far.
To take it a step further, if I were to do a top 5 it would be:
1. Keranos, God of Storms: Perfect for what his colors due, and absolute bonkers levels of card advantage.
2. Brimaz, King of Oreskos: Dodges quite a bit of removal and if he hits turn 3, very hard to beat.
3. Elspeth, Sun's Champion: Bonkers on turn 6, ridiculous before. Wipes board, makes guys, and you actually get to ultimate her in a good many games if they don't scoop.
4. Iroas, God of Victory: Just what red/white aggro needs. Probably the best first pick in draft, but a tad harder to make work in sealed since you have to open aggro.
5. Thassa, God of the Sea: Significantly weaker due to blue in BNG and JIN, but still makes dudes unblockable and gives card quality. If you turn her on, its gg.
I wanted to consider Ashiok, but she can just whiff. Kiora is also strong, but most games I find I want to -1 her, and she only gets bonkers when she ultimates.
After enough answers come out, I think we should start a poll.
Personally, after playing against it twice, I don't think there is a better card than Keranos, God of Storms for sealed. Normally, I would say blue/red is one of the worst color combos PERIOD, but if you crack this guy and land him, he is a very hard to answer card that either draws 2 or gives you a free bolt. Add in scry, and it just get bonkers.
In draft, I think Keranos gets significantly worse since aggro is more of a viable option, but in sealed since most people aren't killing by turn 5, 6, or even 7 he just gets absolutely bonkers.
I didn't have him, but unless you do nothing turn 1-4, its hard to lose when he lands.
What I am saying is that the deck type "draw-go" comes from the action of drawing your card and then saying go. That action takes place in legacy MOST turns for MOST competitive decks. In modern, it is much more common to tap out on your own turn or at least play a spell on your own turn. Essentially, what this equates to is more interaction in legacy than modern. You will take the ACTION of "draw-go" much, much, much more in legacy than you will in modern.
For people who are a fan of interaction on your opponent's turn, they should probably play more legacy than modern.
I hope that clears up any confusion.
By your strict definition of Draw-go, draw-go has never existed in the history of the game. Of COURSE you sometimes have to tap on your turn for cards, but if you are saying draw-go 80-90% of the game, that is draw go. When the only cards you tap for are counterbalance, top, and jace, you ARE draw-go...
Draw-go isn't as much of a deck archetype as a play style. Legacy is a draw-go format because you NEVER over-extend, you just lay 1 threat and then say draw-go until the game is over.
Now, as far as modern is concerned, there are a handful of cards that could be safely removed off the banlist in reality. The reason they aren't is because Wizards is TERRIFIED of breaking a format that is just starting to develop some popularity. They did the same thing with legacy, and when the format has some solid years under its belt and a devoted player base, they will let out some leash so to speak.
Right now, of the three color slices, Jund is still the second most powerful...the only tri-color that is more powerful is UWR...
If we are going to complain about cards, why don't we try to get Stoneforge back on the table for Esper, or unban some blue to allow BUG/RUG to come to the forefront. I love Jund, I still have my deck in its case for when they unban DRS in approximately 2 years, but lets stop complaining about Jund getting weakened when there are so many other colors out there that would use some love.
May sound crazy...but if I were to advocate for anything, I'd say unban preordain/ponder and punishing fire...that way RUG/BUG/Jund all get stronger and so do other decks to keep them from getting too strong.
The one version of this deck that started to get truly interesting is Dega (RWB). To make this guy bonkers, creatures really need haste. If you are going to get a creature back to your hand, you really don't want to lose tempo. This is the shell that I was running that started to do some work with this guy. Problem with the deck is mana, but it really doesn't mind shocking itself or taking 1 from Mana Confluence.
4 Blood Crypt
4 Mana Confluence
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Godless Shrine
4 Mountain
2 Swamp
2 Plains
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Spike Jester
4 Ash Zealot
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Athreos, God of Passage
2 Mogis, God of Slaughter
2 Spark Trooper
4 Lightning Strike
4 Searing Blood
4 Boros Charm
Clearly it needs tweaking, but I don't really see what this offers over just rakdos or boros, but it could be interesting.
Now, I'm going to commence waffling on the whole BBE deal.
On one hand, what reason is there to keep BBE banned? It was originally banned for only one reason...to weaken JUND which was DOMINATING the meta. While Jund may still be good, it is CLEARLY not dominating in the slightest anymore, and is arguably no longer tier 1. In addition, BBE would help zoo which didn't quite resurge from Nacatl alone. The best play for BBE was to cascade into lili...and cascading into lili on turn 4 is hardly as degenerate as a turn 2 lili.
On the OTHER hand, what reason is there to unban BBE? While Jund is not great anymore, it is still a completely viable deck. For the first time, in the past few years Jund is not the best deck in modern, why the sudden rush to risk returning it to the top of the hill?
Now, looking at both of those arguments, I think the BBE comes down to which camp you fall in. Do you want the banlist to be as small as possible, or do you want modern as controlled as possible? I personally want the banlist to be tiny because that allows you the most cards to play with in the format, but that is just me. I can see the point of wanting BBE banned, but I think I keep seeing more and more complaining about pod and splinter twin. BBE is an AMAZING card against these two decks to keep them in control.
For Pod: Cascading into any form of removal is probably going to yield serious results. In certain situations, hitting a goyf may mean lethal.
For Twin: Again, cascading into the card that gets rid of Deceiver Exarch is amazing.
The other top tier decks won't be losing because of BBE...
But, again, I don't think this is the biggest issue facing the list. I think the idea of banning powerful cards is dangerous in its own right, however.
Also, while ancestral visions would help twin, it would also help plenty of other decks as well. That card isn't broken in the slightest unless you are cascading into it. It is a great turn 1 play, yes, but a turn 1 play that goes off on turn 5 in a deck that can combo off on turn 4 doesn't seem broken in that deck to me. It would be a much bigger deal in UWR control and storm to me.