What does everyone think about playing leyline of the void in place of surgical extraction to deal with the death's shadow meta? It keeps them fair and turns off snappy, and they basically have no way to deal with it just like sanctity. Playing multiples of both also just about guarantees that you can mulligan into one or the other, either of which gives you a fighting chance. Also causes splash damage to vines, living end etc. Losing the information is unfortunate, but I think the tradeoff might be worth it?
I actually have been thinking about running Leyline of the Void in the sideboard, but I wouldn't have it in the place of surgical extraction because that allows for you to also see their hand and library
Nevermind - I realized I have a 1 month premium subscription from an event a couple years ago I've been holding on to.
Merriam basically summarized the deck and explained his card choices. He gave a nod to the BG variants with Shaman + Thoughtsize SB (which I prefer), but said W has the edge with the combo and SB cards.
Said he would tweak his deck to the following. Personally I prefer Westvale Abbey over Nykthos, but then again I'm not playing in the semi finals of major events.
I watched the coverage of him playing that deck but I was so confused by only running one Vizier of Remedies if you are attempting to run the infinite mana combo in the deck... With such easy removal in the format right now, you would want a second at least, right?
I think I still want the ETernal Witness instead of the one off Elvish Visionary. Not sure about Abbey vs. Nykthis. I think when you have enough mana/devotion for nykthos you're already winning ,aren't you? Whil Westvale saves you from each deck with boardwipes/massburn but no PTE. Might be wrong tho^^
In the sideboard he is playing 2 Lead the Stampede which I would have considered 2 Nissa, Vital Force. In which matchups do you want which card? I think the Leads might have the edge due to costing only 3 mana while Nissa at 5 can be hard at some heavy disruptive matchups.
Thank you everyone! I didn't even spot the whole regenerating Devoted Druid as an additional infinite mana source also! That's pretty awesome!
As for the Lead the Stampede, I run them in the mainboard and they are definitely better than Nissa because they save you from Thoughtseize and IoQ which are staples in a lot of the decks that run black. It's a card that allows you to keep tempo even if they are able to wrath.
Nevermind - I realized I have a 1 month premium subscription from an event a couple years ago I've been holding on to.
Merriam basically summarized the deck and explained his card choices. He gave a nod to the BG variants with Shaman + Thoughtsize SB (which I prefer), but said W has the edge with the combo and SB cards.
Said he would tweak his deck to the following. Personally I prefer Westvale Abbey over Nykthos, but then again I'm not playing in the semi finals of major events.
I watched the coverage of him playing that deck but I was so confused by only running one Vizier of Remedies if you are attempting to run the infinite mana combo in the deck... With such easy removal in the format right now, you would want a second at least, right?
I think that my only problem with Shadow of Doubt is that it gets rid of the tempo that Jeskai decks go for now. Instead of efficient one mana removal in the form of path of exile, you are wasting 3 mana in order to prevent them from getting a land in addition. Almost all decks in the format are light on basic lands as is, so after your second path they usually don't have a target anyhow. And with fetches you are in essence wasting your second turn in order to set them back a land.
The same can be said about a lot of the other uses, in which just countering the spell is far more efficient. The only beneficial circumstance would be against Scapeshift as you mentioned because you could potentially have them sacrifice all of their lands. But if you aren't seeing a lot of that in your area then it would be a waste in my opinion.
I think that my only problem with Shadow of Doubt is that it gets rid of the tempo that Jeskai decks go for now. Instead of efficient one mana removal in the form of path of exile, you are wasting 3 mana in order to prevent them from getting a land in addition. Almost all decks in the format are light on basic lands as is, so after your second path they usually don't have a target anyhow. And with fetches you are in essence wasting your second turn in order to set them back a land.
The same can be said about a lot of the other uses, in which just countering the spell is far more efficient. The only beneficial circumstance would be against Scapeshift as you mentioned because you could potentially have them sacrifice all of their lands. But if you aren't seeing a lot of that in your area then it would be a waste in my opinion.
With all of the wins over the past few days for Jeskai Control, I noticed that all the lists are starting to get a lot higher on the mana curve with 80& of spells being three or more mana.. Is the group consensus on here that 4x cryptic commands is the right number to be playing? I just hate the feeling of not having much early game interaction.. It allows for a lot of fast paced decks in the meta to just go unchecked..
Would love to hear feedback!
Hey guys! I played elves at an FNM for the first time last night and went 3-1
It was awesome because one of my matches was a mirror and I have never seen sooo many elves on board and so much power haha
Anyhow, my one loss was against dredge which I was surprised because I figured that our deck would be able to race it. I also didn't run any hate in my sideboard because you don't see it often in my local area. Do you guys have any tips on going up against it?
My recommendations for Dredge:
Step 1: Hide the tears
Step 2: Load up Youtube
Step 3: Search for Gary Jules - Mad World
Step 4: Arsenal
Step 5: Press Play
Step 6: Sign the 0-2 match slip
Step 7: ???
Step 8: Success
Seriously though, the matchup is awful. Regardless of what you put in your sideboard, you generally cannot beat a resolved Conflagrate (and heres the kicker - they "draw 5" cards a turn if not more to find them).
Wow, that is so incredibly accurate haha
I was on the play and couldn't hit a critical mass before he was able to produce enough chump blockers to completely take over.. That and tron were incredibly difficult last night, but I was able to beat tron by just swinging with early Nettle Sentinels
SO I recently switched my Jeskai Control around to be a flash build with spell quellers and whatnot, but I was wondering what the significance of restoration angel is? I get that it presents a threat on board and can lead to some late game snapcaster/vendillion clique shenanigans but it seems irrelevant?
Since it's only a 2 of in most lists that I see, would Geist be a better alternative given that he can be dropped on turn 3 and has protection from 80% of the kill spells in the format as more people are using fatal push and path over actual board wipe effects?
Hey everyone! So I have a local PPTQ coming up in two weeks and I really want to play this deck for it because I have a lot of experience with it now. My only concern is that every time I play it in FNM's people don't see that they are in the lock and have the game play out leaving me at turns. It's a problem because I know the deck well enough that my turns are very quick (like untap and cast whatever I drew, then pass pretty much). The length comes from them staring at their hands with creature kill spells and whatnot and stalling.
How do you guys handle this? Do you offer the suggestion of going to game 2 or? I always feel like it is rude to do so, but at the same time I have surgically extracted your responses and have multiple ensnaring bridges there really isn't much you can do... especially in game one.
Hey guys! I played elves at an FNM for the first time last night and went 3-1
It was awesome because one of my matches was a mirror and I have never seen sooo many elves on board and so much power haha
Anyhow, my one loss was against dredge which I was surprised because I figured that our deck would be able to race it. I also didn't run any hate in my sideboard because you don't see it often in my local area. Do you guys have any tips on going up against it?
I usually take out 1-2 discard spells and a pithing needle and put in 2 gravedigger's cage and just a welding jar.. Since I run leyline in the mainboard I try to mull into an opening hand with one to avoid their heavy discard and the gravedigger's cage helps to shut off snap caster shenanigans.
It's tough because this deck doesn't focus much on threat removal as much as prison effects so there isn't going to usually be a sideboard kill card for the matchup. I will say that Padeem is also really good because it makes their Kolghan commands sort of useless and they don't run many other ways to interact with Lantern soooo.....
@Mikemaz I also run a similar version of Adrian Sullivan's list and have found that running a one of Infernal Tutor in the mainboard is what the deck needed. I had tried Whir of Invention and although it is nice to be able to put it onto the battlefield, the cost of Infernal Tutor is much more manageable.
I really like your ideas on changing the Sideboard. I also didn't like the Metamorph and opted out. I do like most of his other options though. Gaddock is amazing against a lot of other matchups.
Would someone be so kind as to post a cutting edge, successful GB Elves list? Would love to see what's currently the best version of the deck. Thank you!
It's not the best, but I finished 4-0 last tournament. This is actually my deck.
If you have the cards, add 1/2 gilt-leaf palace, 1 canopy (for the draw), 2/3 cavern.
If you are greedy, add another abbey.
In the side you could add 3 thoughtseize, and replace the green leyline for the white one, it's better. But if you want golgari elves don't do this... but good luck vs storm haha
You could play with kataki instead of the sage and push, path or beast within instead of the dismember and the decay.
It seems like you run a lot of spells in this version of the list but don't have lead the stampede? Is this version of the deck different with it's goal in getting out creatures? Also I was wondering with your playing of the deck, do you feel like you brick more off of collected company since the deck runs more spells than other elf variants?
I feel like my strategy against Death Shadow is always to go for redundant hands containing multiple copies of key pieces or ancient stirrings. After side boarding I usually bring in additional collective brutality as a way to keep them off of counters. It definitely is a tough matchup though.
I don't know if it's too much to ask but would everyone who sees this post please respond with what they run as a sideboard? Since the deck is very linear like combo, I have been having a tough time deciding..
I actually have been thinking about running Leyline of the Void in the sideboard, but I wouldn't have it in the place of surgical extraction because that allows for you to also see their hand and library
Thank you everyone! I didn't even spot the whole regenerating Devoted Druid as an additional infinite mana source also! That's pretty awesome!
As for the Lead the Stampede, I run them in the mainboard and they are definitely better than Nissa because they save you from Thoughtseize and IoQ which are staples in a lot of the decks that run black. It's a card that allows you to keep tempo even if they are able to wrath.
I watched the coverage of him playing that deck but I was so confused by only running one Vizier of Remedies if you are attempting to run the infinite mana combo in the deck... With such easy removal in the format right now, you would want a second at least, right?
The same can be said about a lot of the other uses, in which just countering the spell is far more efficient. The only beneficial circumstance would be against Scapeshift as you mentioned because you could potentially have them sacrifice all of their lands. But if you aren't seeing a lot of that in your area then it would be a waste in my opinion.
The same can be said about a lot of the other uses, in which just countering the spell is far more efficient. The only beneficial circumstance would be against Scapeshift as you mentioned because you could potentially have them sacrifice all of their lands. But if you aren't seeing a lot of that in your area then it would be a waste in my opinion.
Would love to hear feedback!
Wow, that is so incredibly accurate haha
I was on the play and couldn't hit a critical mass before he was able to produce enough chump blockers to completely take over.. That and tron were incredibly difficult last night, but I was able to beat tron by just swinging with early Nettle Sentinels
Since it's only a 2 of in most lists that I see, would Geist be a better alternative given that he can be dropped on turn 3 and has protection from 80% of the kill spells in the format as more people are using fatal push and path over actual board wipe effects?
How do you guys handle this? Do you offer the suggestion of going to game 2 or? I always feel like it is rude to do so, but at the same time I have surgically extracted your responses and have multiple ensnaring bridges there really isn't much you can do... especially in game one.
It was awesome because one of my matches was a mirror and I have never seen sooo many elves on board and so much power haha
Anyhow, my one loss was against dredge which I was surprised because I figured that our deck would be able to race it. I also didn't run any hate in my sideboard because you don't see it often in my local area. Do you guys have any tips on going up against it?
It's tough because this deck doesn't focus much on threat removal as much as prison effects so there isn't going to usually be a sideboard kill card for the matchup. I will say that Padeem is also really good because it makes their Kolghan commands sort of useless and they don't run many other ways to interact with Lantern soooo.....
I really like your ideas on changing the Sideboard. I also didn't like the Metamorph and opted out. I do like most of his other options though. Gaddock is amazing against a lot of other matchups.
It seems like you run a lot of spells in this version of the list but don't have lead the stampede? Is this version of the deck different with it's goal in getting out creatures? Also I was wondering with your playing of the deck, do you feel like you brick more off of collected company since the deck runs more spells than other elf variants?
As of currently I am running:
2x Reclamation Sage
1x Chameleon Colossus
2x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Fracturing Gust
1x Elvish Champion
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Beast Within
1x Rhys the Exiled
1x Essence Warden
2x Heroic Intervention
1x Nissa, Vital Force
Thank you everyone in advance!