I think her best play, right now, is when she etb on turn 4 would be to add 2 red mana, then cast her oath. It can at least kill a creature then do the same 2 damage her other plus 1 can. I I think her modes are solid, but her initial impact on the board isn't very powerful.
I'll say that I believe Chandra is really overrated for standard. She's not aggro enough for aggro decks, while Chandra, Flamecaller can actually finish the game.
I'm not saying she wont see play, rather, she's just overhyped right now.
I think Nissa's problem is the green gearhulk costs the same. They'll probably go into different decks, but too often I can see the Gearhulk winning that slot as it can make a much larger impact the turn it's played.
I really like the addition of Heron's Grace Champion to a list like this, and would replace the Seige Rhino's with that. Lavinia of the Tenth is a HOUSE, and can basically time walk your opponent. Mayor of Avenbruck FEELS like it should be great, but is just so weak. I'd rather run Thraben Inspector. Lyev Skyknight is pretty underrated as it can hit artifacts, planeswalkers etc.
I mean, if you T1 Fetch, and cycle Architects of Will you're 1 card away from Delerium though. If you Thought Scour Turn 2, you're there. Delver might not be the way, but Gnarlwood Dryad, like Underused Cards suggested, could definetly be a good replacement for it. I've been high on that card since it was spoiled. I can't afford Goyfs right now, but could definetly score 4 Grim Flayer.
I don't know that this deck wants Ravings, as Finkel's list plays Past in Flames. I don't know that it would be worth the chance of pitching a TiTi.
A card I've been thinking about a bit, especially if Reveler becomes a thing, is Nahiri's Wrath. Multiple Planeswalkers seem difficult for this deck to handle, so maybe a wrath that can hit both creatures and Planeswalkers.
I try this version, is an experiment, for budget reason I don't play tarmo. I try this version with Faeries but I'm not sure if is the best way.
The side is not yet study.
Is so good Index? I don't love him.
Another question. Jace is better then Liliana (the last one and the innistrad one)?
I think is really really strong Whispers of Emrakul
the first test are, for now
4-2-1
jeskai combo 1-0
kiki chord 1-1
scapefish 2-0 (whisper!)
Burn 2-1
white equipment 2-0
bant company 0-2
burn 0-2
Played with this deck, with Visions of Beyond, at a PPTQ yesterday going 1-3. It's definitely not a deck you want to take if you're pretty rusty, like I am, and it really seems to run best on 4 mana.
Played against GW aggro 2-0, Storm 0-2, Burn 0-2, and the Death's Shadow aggro 1-2. I didn't have a great sideboard plan for Storm, or the Death's Shadow deck.
Against the GW aggro deck he was able to land multiple Dryad Militant, and was able to develop a full board, but was stuck on 3 land both games, with CoCo in his hand. A flipped TiTi was able to return his board to his hand both games and I won pretty convincingly.
Against Storm, game 1 on the play, I was able to resolve a TiTi, and got him down to 2 by turn 5, but he was able to go off. I felt if I had sequenced and played my Ascension in my hand down 2 instead of the TiTi then I would've won.
Against Burn, he had the nuts, mine was slow, and I scooped Turn 3 game 1. Game 2 went back and forth, we both got flooded, he landed a Bedlam Reveler, I flipped my Titi to return his... Doh!! I realized too late that his reveler was a horror. I landed my own reveler, killed his, went to attack for the win and got deflecting palmed.
Nothing crazy against the Death's Shadow deck, except the game I won, I landed 2 Ascensions, and was able to kill him with 1 lightning bolt while he was at 8.
This deck is a lot of fun to play, but I feel it needs more interaction. It punishes you if you if your sequencing is off just a little, and I felt like I spent more time just trying to choose my land drops on turn 1 correctly than anything else.
Visions of Beyond seems to be like a "win more" and I always wanted something else in my hand each time I drew it, except when I had 2 Ascensions out. I always wanted to save it for later, and it just isn't really worth it most of the time and is awful when you draw into it in the early game. I could see Think Twice being a better option, or I was thinking about Quicken because I see a lot of value in casting Serum Visions, Gitaxian Probe and Faithless Looting on our opponents end step.
Lastly, I feel like Remand too often just sits in my hand and would like to replace it with Izzet Charm instead. It does all the things I want Remand to do whenever I'm holding remand.
CVM also said he talked to Jacob Baugh, and that he really struggled against Liliana. What do you guys think about replacing the Channeler with Wurmcoil Engine? It can be right on curve if you're able to land O-Sower turn 3 in the Heartless version.
It's so perfect for what this deck wants to do. No durdleing, just straight ramp. Getting Newlamog out turn 4 was fantastic to watch against Twin. Loved it!
So far I've had some mixed results with this deck this week. Jammed several games against Grixis control, and won all but 1, only to lose 3 games in a row to scapeshift.
I believe that Wasteland Strangler is vital to the deck. There aren't many cards in our deck that can get a cheap 2 for 1 except the Strangler. The Sower and Herder both can take some work to get their engines going. It's why I'm a proponent for map because if your opponent isn't fetching or casting on the first 2-3 turns, and we don't have disruption, we need a mana sink to set up our lands right.
We need a K-Command, or some other utility spell that can do just some general work. There are just too many games so far in my testing where I feel like I need to turn the corner, or 1 more turn to gain the advantage to win the game.
A couple cards I'm thinking about trying are Bitterblossom and Monestary Mentor. I also think Mutavault is worth trying, and could be very interesting in this deck.
I'm not saying she wont see play, rather, she's just overhyped right now.
That being said...
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
2 Aether Hub
3 Smuggler's Copter
4 Pia Nalaar - super underrated
5 Toolcraft Exemplar
6 Dovin Baan
7 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
8 Unlicensed Disintegration
9 Fleetwheel Cruiser
10 Blossoming Defense
I think Nissa's problem is the green gearhulk costs the same. They'll probably go into different decks, but too often I can see the Gearhulk winning that slot as it can make a much larger impact the turn it's played.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=12198
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Experiment One
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
3 Lyev Skyknight
4 Mantis Rider
4 Meddling Mage
2 Saffi Eriksdotter
4 Siege Rhino
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Plains (250)
2 Reflecting Pool
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Lavinia of the Tenth
1 Orzhov Pontiff
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Sin Collector
2 Spellskite
1 Vithian Renegades
I really like the addition of Heron's Grace Champion to a list like this, and would replace the Seige Rhino's with that. Lavinia of the Tenth is a HOUSE, and can basically time walk your opponent. Mayor of Avenbruck FEELS like it should be great, but is just so weak. I'd rather run Thraben Inspector. Lyev Skyknight is pretty underrated as it can hit artifacts, planeswalkers etc.
Meddling Mage is a rockstar, especially against Suspend cards like Ancestral Visions, Rift Bolt, Search for Tomorrow
My current list I'm building..
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Experiment one
4 Meddling Mage
4 Thalia's Leitenant
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Mantis Rider
1 Lyev Skyknight
2 Heron's Grace Champion
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Collected Company
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Plains
1 Forest
2 Reflecting Pool
3 Sin Collector
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Aegis of the Gods
1 Vithian Renegades
3 Arashin Cleric
3 Qasali Pridemage
2 Lavinia of the Truth
I do like the Kessig Malcontents a lot, and is a great finisher on a full board. I could see a mono red, or RW list running Hanweir Garrison, Kolaghan Forerunners, Lightning Berserker, magus of the moon Ash Zealot, Scab-Clan Berserker,
I mean, if you T1 Fetch, and cycle Architects of Will you're 1 card away from Delerium though. If you Thought Scour Turn 2, you're there. Delver might not be the way, but Gnarlwood Dryad, like Underused Cards suggested, could definetly be a good replacement for it. I've been high on that card since it was spoiled. I can't afford Goyfs right now, but could definetly score 4 Grim Flayer.
A card I've been thinking about a bit, especially if Reveler becomes a thing, is Nahiri's Wrath. Multiple Planeswalkers seem difficult for this deck to handle, so maybe a wrath that can hit both creatures and Planeswalkers.
I like where you're going here.
What about making this a Delver deck? Maybe replacing the Spellstutter Sprite with delver, and replacing the Bitterblossom with Vessel of Nascency?
Played against GW aggro 2-0, Storm 0-2, Burn 0-2, and the Death's Shadow aggro 1-2. I didn't have a great sideboard plan for Storm, or the Death's Shadow deck.
Against the GW aggro deck he was able to land multiple Dryad Militant, and was able to develop a full board, but was stuck on 3 land both games, with CoCo in his hand. A flipped TiTi was able to return his board to his hand both games and I won pretty convincingly.
Against Storm, game 1 on the play, I was able to resolve a TiTi, and got him down to 2 by turn 5, but he was able to go off. I felt if I had sequenced and played my Ascension in my hand down 2 instead of the TiTi then I would've won.
Against Burn, he had the nuts, mine was slow, and I scooped Turn 3 game 1. Game 2 went back and forth, we both got flooded, he landed a Bedlam Reveler, I flipped my Titi to return his... Doh!! I realized too late that his reveler was a horror. I landed my own reveler, killed his, went to attack for the win and got deflecting palmed.
Nothing crazy against the Death's Shadow deck, except the game I won, I landed 2 Ascensions, and was able to kill him with 1 lightning bolt while he was at 8.
This deck is a lot of fun to play, but I feel it needs more interaction. It punishes you if you if your sequencing is off just a little, and I felt like I spent more time just trying to choose my land drops on turn 1 correctly than anything else.
Visions of Beyond seems to be like a "win more" and I always wanted something else in my hand each time I drew it, except when I had 2 Ascensions out. I always wanted to save it for later, and it just isn't really worth it most of the time and is awful when you draw into it in the early game. I could see Think Twice being a better option, or I was thinking about Quicken because I see a lot of value in casting Serum Visions, Gitaxian Probe and Faithless Looting on our opponents end step.
Bedlam Reveler seems quite nuts in this deck. I could see Soulfire Grand Master being pretty crazy as well, especially when going off with Manamorphose. Ojutai's Command and Wall of Omens could be solid in the sideboard. I just don't know if 8 burn spells are enough.
Lastly, I feel like Remand too often just sits in my hand and would like to replace it with Izzet Charm instead. It does all the things I want Remand to do whenever I'm holding remand.
I'd splash white for Seeker of The Way instead of Jace. Also Defiant Strike, [Valorous Stance[/c], Reflector Mage, Mantis Rider and Ojutai's Command. Defiant Strike's +1/0 ability is relevant as well since the other 1 mana cantrips only trigger prowess, without adding any more damage.
The life gain from Seeker would be pretty important, especially against other aggro decks.
I believe that Wasteland Strangler is vital to the deck. There aren't many cards in our deck that can get a cheap 2 for 1 except the Strangler. The Sower and Herder both can take some work to get their engines going. It's why I'm a proponent for map because if your opponent isn't fetching or casting on the first 2-3 turns, and we don't have disruption, we need a mana sink to set up our lands right.
We need a K-Command, or some other utility spell that can do just some general work. There are just too many games so far in my testing where I feel like I need to turn the corner, or 1 more turn to gain the advantage to win the game.
A couple cards I'm thinking about trying are Bitterblossom and Monestary Mentor. I also think Mutavault is worth trying, and could be very interesting in this deck.