- Riley
- Registered User
-
Member for 17 years, 10 months, and 28 days
Last active Sun, Feb, 4 2018 07:51:16
- 0 Followers
- 865 Total Posts
- 27 Thanks
-
Jan 8, 2016Riley posted a message on Word of Command - The Rise of Duel CommanderThis is the format I play exclusively at this point. The sheer potential for creative deckbuilding AND having a shot at being competitive is staggeringly awesome. The Rules Committee has done a tremendous job over the years of balancing this format. Much love. <3Posted in: Articles
- To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Yeah, I gave up again. I posted in the major NYC Facebook groups, and there was one halfhearted "maybe I'll try that" but otherwise the same as usual: "there are other competitive formats and we like our Sol Rings too much."
(I'd be more into trying to get things started, but my entire day job is spent trying to incessantly persuade people to do things that are better for them and I'm tired.)
So, I've finally been ACTUALLY playing again and not just, uh, theory crafting.
The said, the meta has changed drastically and yet certain things are still very familiar. Without getting too into it, I just had to accept that Sisay is no longer the most explosive and consistent Big Mana deck out there. That dream died when Gaea's Cradle was banned, and pretending otherwise has lead to some very desperate choices that have had a net negative effect on the competitiveness of the deck. First, the curve was totally borked around the idea of dumping the hand and exploiting Cradle, so both of those things have proven (to me, anyway) to be not ideal ways to compete against the best decks out there today. You can have the "perfect" hand and get utterly blown out by a single spell, worse than ever before.
So I've reverted the deck back to a state where it's more disruptive again, less "all-in," and actually curving in a manner that makes sense. These changes were all very much needed.
You'll notice that pretty much everything in the deck now has been in the deck before, but their use has been tested to work well in the current meta and with the current Cradle-less sate of Sisay, while also being vetted for competitiveness looking at up-to-date tournament data and leaning very heavily on card picks from more active, more clever players than myself (hello, Spastika!). So much has changed, but the deck remains the same, in spirit. Also, of significant note is just how ridiculously good Recruiter of the Guard and Eldritch Evolution are for this toolbox deck. I feel like both of those cards factor into a huge percentage of my wins.
Here and in the OP, find the updated decklist, a revised explainer on "How to Win," and this Tapped Out sorting with custom categories: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/captain-sisay-french-1v1-duel-commander/?cat=custom
1x Captain Sisay
Creatures (10) - Legendary
1x Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1x Gaddock Teeg
1x Saffi Eriksdotter
1x Gisela, the Broken Blade
1x Hokori, Dust Drinker
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Titania, Protector of Argoth
1x Dragonlord Dromoka
1x Bruna, the Fading Light
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Creatures (30)
1CMC
1x Arbor Elf
1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
1x Birds of Paradise
1x Boreal Druid
1x Elvish Mystic
1x Llanowar Elves
1x Mother of Runes
1x Quirion Ranger
1x Sylvan Safekeeper
1x Weathered Wayfarer
2CMC
1x Devoted Druid
1x Fyndhorn Elves
1x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Grand Abolisher
1x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Priest of Titania
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Scryb Ranger
1x Stoneforge Mystic
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Banisher Priest
1x Eternal Witness
1x Fierce Empath
1x Reclamation Sage
1x Recruiter of the Guard
1x Sanctum Prelate
5CMC
1x Karmic Guide
1x Reveillark
6CMC
1x Sun Titan
Artifact (1) - Legendary
1x Umezawa's Jitte
Artifact (6)
1x Mox Diamond
1x Chrome Mox
1x Skullclamp
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Crucible of Worlds
1x Birthing Pod
Instant (6)
1x Crop Rotation
1x Mana Tithe
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Worldly Tutor
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Chord of Calling
Enchantment (4)
1x Exploration
1x Wild Growth
1x Survival of the Fittest
1x Sylvan Library
Sorcery (3)
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Council's Judgment
1x Eldritch Evolution
Planeswalker (1)
1x Garruk Wildspeaker
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Eiganjo Castle
1x Yavimaya Hollow
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Dark Depths
Land (33)
4x Snow-Covered Forest
3x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Canopy Vista
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Brushland
1x Fortified Village
1x Mana Confluence
1x Razorverge Thicket
1x Savannah
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Temple Garden
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Marsh Flats
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Arid Mesa
1x Flooded Strand
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Cavern of Souls
1x Dryad Arbor
1x City of Traitors
1x Crystal Vein
1x Homeward Path
1x Thespian's Stage
1x Wasteland
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
Thoughts? Anyone else been trying anything different of late? I've been playing this on Cockatrice for several hours daily this week, and I'm very satisfied with the performance against a diverse range of decks.
Am I wrong?? AM I ALL ALONE HERE?!?? ;_;
Feeling jealous of LA,
Matt
If anyone's down to revisit the metagame and history of the format through the lens of an upper B-tier, sometimes lower A-tier commander, read the History section in my Captain Sisay primer: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/forum-1-vs-1-duel-commander/206248-captain-sisay-the-legendary-competitive-edh-primer
To be brief about it: Elves have ebbed and flowed in dominance and viability over the years as a result of particularly oppressive Commanders, and decks that seemed dominant and format-warping at various times were either adapted to or experienced bans if they were presenting problems in tournaments and/or discouraging newcomers from returning. There were even times where I had to scale back the dorks almost entirely because playing them was suicide in the meta. This might all be dismissed as anecdotal and limited, but in fairness, nearly 100% of my experience is playing on Cockatrice with a more diverse, global meta and my obsession with breaking apart and understanding top 8 decks. Speaking of...
I would argue that this format is brilliantly diverse right now and elves have not hindered that diversity, and we have global tournament data to back that up: http://mtgtop8.com/format?f=EDH
At present, 56% of top 8 decks from tournaments around the world don't have access to Green and/or don't use Elves in their more popular builds. Arguably, at least 1/3 of the top non-green decks aren't even what I'd describe as "Extinction" builds (they're not designed with murdering all creatures at all times in mind); rather, they're employing other strategies to achieve victory that don't require mass-elf genocide, like High Tide or Mono-White Aggro. I've watched Elf decks absolutely crumble against decks with even a tiny bit of tuning for mass creature removal or just crumble in on themselves from running out of gas and never getting their bomb in hand—or if I'm watching from the other end of the table, I've watched Elf players concede the moment I cast Linvala. ;P
Again, sorry, I'm trying to keep personal anecdotes to a minimum. Let's talk about "slowing down the format." From a purely practical standpoint, slowing down the format by removing all fast mana options would likely make paper tournaments impossible. Whether dork-based decks are winning the tournaments or not, their very existence steers deckbuilders towards faster, more efficient strategies and options. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe matchups like, say, Grand Arbiter mirror matches are a huge headache for tournament organizers and these games regularly have to be called for time. Getting in up to 3 matches within an hour (or 50 to 55 minutes) requires a certain speed of the format, one that is arguably made possible by dorks. It's for that same reason, as I understand it, that sideboards can never become a part of Duel Commander.
BIG-TIME EDIT:
I STAND VERY CORRECTED. Ban the hell out of new Selvela. Hi, Spas. ;P
Though I'm conflicted on whether or not consistent turn 3 or consistent turn 4 hard-casting Emrakul is really a big difference. Which is to say, I'm still for banning really problematic Commanders over banning mana dorks (and seriously, wtf is with giving them all THREE toughness??). Not even Rofellos had that kind of raw power... #ptsd
Yep! I was curious as well and went poking around, and here's Mark Rosewater officially confirming legality in Commander: http://markrosewater.tumblr.com/post/148987568628/hey-mark-im-really-curious-about-the-new
I'm loving that! I think that brings the total Human could to only 9, but any kind of consistency that supports Cavern of Souls is awesome, and more Humans means great things for "key" cards like Sanctum Prelate, Mother of Runes, Grand Abolisher, and of course Captain Sisay herself. Speaking of...
The irony of this is that I've actually cut Wirewood Symbiote from the deck! The elf package was slightly scaled back in recent versions and I found it difficult to consistently activate, making it a fairly useless 1 drop a lot of the time. RiP sweet insect prince.
I've not tested it, but it's one of those cards that I know I don't like and it looks like a really bad fit for my more elfball-ish build. The way I play Sisay, by the time Selvela is useful both in drawing or mana power, I should be winning the game at that point anyway; only a tiny handful of my creatures would trigger the draw (I can see a lot of other opponent's deck benefiting more from this than me), and my 3-drops can't really be conditional but should rather be either very disrupt-ful or setting me up for a sure win in a few turns. I think, like other Selvela (and Yisan, for that matter), new Selvela is AWESOME but has to be built around. I'm sure spastika could make another really great deck with her. http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/commander-edh/forum-1-vs-1-duel-commander/563354-selvala-combo-wombo
Anyway, here's the update to my deck:
1 Captain Sisay
Legends (11)
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Dosan the Falling Leaf
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Gisela, the Broken Blade
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Bruna, the Fading Light
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Creatures (29)
1 Arbor Elf
1 Boreal Druid
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Mother of Runes
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Devoted Druid
1 Priest of Titania
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Voice of Resurgence
1 Fierce Empath
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Eternal Witness
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Karmic Guide
1 Sun Titan
Artifact (7)
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mox Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Skullclamp
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Birthing Pod
Enchantments (5)
1 Exploration
1 Wild Growth
1 Utopia Sprawl
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
Instants (5)
1 Mana Tithe
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Chord of Calling
Sorceries (3)
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Council's Judgment
1 Eldritch Evolution
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
Legendary Lands (6)
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Pendelhaven
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Gemstone Caverns
4 Snow-Covered Forest
4 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Command Tower
1 Savannah
1 Temple Garden
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Brushland
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Fortified Village
1 City of Brass
1 Mana Confluence
1 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Wasteland
1 City of Traitors
1 Homeward Path
1 Dust Bowl
1 Cavern of Souls
Nothing hugely remarkable to note, just some clean-up and newer cards added (which are arriving in the mail for me tomorrow, yaaaay!).
EDIT: Once again taking inspiration from Spastika, a much better deckbuilder than myself; I've re-added Wild Growth and Utopia Sprawl. Some recent sets have been PAINFUL in that I wasn't getting 1-drop ramp cards in my opener. That's win-or-lose kind of stuff with this deck especially with New Selvela in the meta. I took out Sylvan Ranger (eh) and, shockingly, Craterhoof Behemoth; this has really diminished from the metagame ever since the Cradle ban (I did an MTGTop8 search). I always ever thought of it as a backup to Norn, but he's much harder to cast now and I've got Garruk as backup. Also, per Dan Pyre's feedback on his paper tests, I swapped a forest for Pendlehaven for another tutorable colorful land.
This can tutor the following creatures in my build:
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
Creatures (31)
1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Arbor Elf
1 Boreal Druid
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Mother of Runes
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Devoted Druid
1 Priest of Titania
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Voice of Resurgence
1 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Fierce Empath
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Karmic Guide
Need to lock out your opponent? Tutor Hokori. Need to revive that really important creature? Tutor Karmic Guide. Need to get Jitte on the board asap? Tutor Stoneforge Mystic. Need one extra mana to cast that bomb? Tutor Elvish Spirit Guide. Need graveyard hate? Tutor Scavenging Ooze.
SO MUCH VALUE! The last Conspiracy set gave us Council's Judgment, so I'm thrilled with even one new auto-include.
EDIT: HOLY ***** I LOVE THIS SET. Check out another new best friend to Sisay, Sanctum Prelate.
I can think of countless games where my opponent's only out was Toxic Deluge (and, occasionally, Fire Covenant), and this card.. wow. Just wow. Pair this with Gaddock Teeg to be truly Wrath-proof. This card is an auto-include imo. Geez, even naming it for 1 can stop Combo decks dead in their tracks (decks relying on, say, High Tide or Skullclamp). I'm so hyped for this card!
Hmm, I'm really ambivalent about 1-time effects in prison tutor targets (and Thalia's minor pestery abilities in particular. I like the persistent permanents far more. I never did think that Loxodon Gatekeeper would be worth including, and she does even less, sadly.
Hi, StarlightWizard! Welcome. If I had only single bit of feedback for your deck, I would say "more enchantments!" I believe the amount should be roughly equal to the amount of creatures an old Gaea's Cradle deck would run, so at least 1/3 of the deck.
I don't think I ever even made mention of it, but immediately after Gaea's Cradle was banned, I collaborated with kwiznek (THE Enchantress master) to take only the very best from his Marath build. There are QUITE a lot of differences between the two, to be sure, chief among which is that kwiznek's primary win condition is Sneak Attack, a card he's built the entire deck around that we don't have access to. That said, yes! Indeed, we have Nylea and Mindslaver (and some other nasty tricks I've played in the past) as a primary win condition—and, of course, tutorability on our side. So, I whipped together a deck earlier in the year and didn't touch it after that. That's a very Matt thing to do. That said, I revised and updated it just this afternoon! It's completely untested, but damned if it doesn't look amazing. See for yourself:
1x Captain Sisay
Creatures (11)
1x Academy Rector
1x Argothian Enchantress
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Dosan the Falling Leaf
1x Dragonlord Dromoka
1x Eidolon of Blossoms
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Emrakul, the Promised End
1x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1x Sylvan Safekeeper
1x Titania, Protector of Argoth
Enchantments (32)
1x Aura Shards
1x Banishing Light
1x Burgeoning
1x Carpet of Flowers
1x City of Solitude
1x Darksteel Mutation
1x Earthcraft
1x Eladamri's Vineyard
1x Enchantress's Presence
1x Evolutionary Leap
1x Exploration
1x Ghostly Prison
1x Journey to Nowhere
1x Land Tax
1x Lignify
1x Living Plane
1x Mana Bloom
1x Mirari's Wake
1x Nevermore
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Parallax Wave
1x Pattern of Rebirth
1x Seal of Cleansing
1x Seal of Primordium
1x Song of the Dryads
1x Sphere of Safety
1x Squirrel Nest
1x Sterling Grove
1x Sylvan Library
1x Utopia Sprawl
1x Wheel of Sun and Moon
1x Wild Growth
1x Bow of Nylea
1x Defense Grid
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mindslaver
1x Umezawa's Jitte
Instants (5)
1x Eladamri's Call
1x Enlightened Tutor
1x Swords to Plowshares
1x Tithe
1x Worldly Tutor
Sorcery (7)
1x Day of Judgment
1x Green Sun's Zenith
1x Idyllic Tutor
1x Nature's Lore
1x Sylvan Scrying
1x Three Visits
1x Wrath of God
Planeswalkers (2)
1x Garruk Wildspeaker
1x Karn Liberated
Lands (37)
1x Arid Mesa
1x Brushland
1x Cavern of Souls
1x City of Brass
1x City of Traitors
1x Command Tower
1x Dust Bowl
1x Eiganjo Castle
1x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Flooded Strand
1x Fortified Village
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Mana Confluence
1x Marsh Flats
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Razorverge Thicket
1x Savannah
1x Serra's Sanctum
5x Snow-Covered Forest
4x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Sunpetal Grove
1x Temple Garden
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Wasteland
1x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Bastion
1x Wooded Foothills
1x Yavimaya Hollow
So yeah, primarily, this deck wants to go for the Nylea/Slaver lock. Living Plane + Norn/Linvala/an active Jitte is also GG. Randomly going off with beatdown wins with Titania is a pretty big Sisay staple now. Earthcraft and Squirrel Nest too, sure why not? Emrakul with all that building mana seems feasible, too. The only "unvetted" enchantment is Wheel of Sun and Moon (but it totally makes sense for this build). The only other noteworthy thing is it would definitely be a lot slower without mana dorks, so there are Wraths and Ghostly Prison for aggro/midrange. Similarly, there's a lot less threat density for control decks, so there's Defense Grid as well as well as Carpet of Flowers and City of Solitude.
Anyway, something to try out!
Edit: TappedOut link (http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/captain-sisay-1v1-duel-commander-enchantress/) and budget. Also $1500 lol I hate this game.
Hi, hoserabi! Thank you so much for your kind words and for chiming in. I'm so happy to know that you've stuck with Sisay for so long. It's extremely gratifying to go onto Cockatrice from time to time and watch the banter about certain decks being played being "top tier" and knowing that Sisay has positive matchups against them. She's got so much fight left in her yet.
How'd your weekly event go?
New changes confirmed, having acquired the cards this weekend:
Bruna, the Fading Light is in for Cataclysm
Gisela, the Broken Blade is in for Primeval Titan
Eldritch Evolution is in for Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
Dosan the Falling Leaf is in for Mangara of Corondor
So, I recognize that I was overjoyed to know that Sisay would be the deck that could continue to make Yisan busted after its banning, but it's been a really weird fit for the deck. Even though the overlap in the two decks is quite high with the untap effects and basically the same ramp-to-win conditions, I've almost always found myself with better options than playing Yisan or better options than activating him when I do play him the majority of the time. Eldrtich Evoltion seems too good to pass up, so Yisan is getting the axe for now.
Haven't played yet, though! I'm excited to see how the angels perform for me. You know I've been skeptical of combo's place in this deck for a long while (though I could probably be easily convinced that Depths combo is worth putting back in, alas); thankfully, both of these cards appear to be great on their own particularly as the deck welcomes a bit more good stuff that can win the game pretty well on their own if they go unchecked.
Also, I know I go back and forth on Dosan and Mangara forever. As of the latest version, I wouldn't mind having another anti-blue card given the increase in fatties.
My DC activity has waned substantially following the Cradle banning (sigh), but I've continued off and on to fine-tune the deck in a way that it's still as explosive (and thus, competitive) as it once was. The verdict is that she's still got life in her yet. Brennan (aka DanPyre) recently built a version of the deck in paper form and has been doing great at his local events, so that gives me hope, certainly.
Do you know what else gives me hope? CRAZY GOOD ANGELS COMING SOON. When Bruna, the Fading Light and Gisela, the Broken Blade will replace Primeval Titan and Cataclysm in my build. If any deck can consistently pull off the fusion lock (hi Gaddock Teeg) and have the mana very early game to make it happen, it's Sisay. Hype hype hype.
Here's my note in the deck history covering the most recent happenings (and below this, you can see my most up-to-date list, also updated in the OP):
June 2016: The Aftermath of the Elfball Nerf
Shortly after participating in a global Cockatrice-hosted tournament with over 50 combatants and placing in the top 8, one of the most impactful rounds of bannings ever took place. Yisan and Titania were quickly becoming the unbeatable go-to deck, made all the more explosive by Gaea's Cradle. Yisan was banned as a commander and Gaea's Cradle also got the axe. This violently shook the very core of Sisay (whose optimal line of play would almost always have a turn 4 Cradle into a turn 5-to-6 win), so the deck itself had to shift in a major way. Though the risk of being blown out increased, the deck hesitantly embraced "fast mana" options such as Mox Diamond and even Gemstone Caverns to counter-balance the loss of Cradle. There was also a huge shift away from running any ETBT lands and tweaking the creature package once again to be (slightly) less elfball-centric. Weakened but not defeated, Sisay soldiered on.
1 Captain Sisay
Legends (11)
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Creatures (31)
1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Arbor Elf
1 Boreal Druid
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Mother of Runes
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Devoted Druid
1 Priest of Titania
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Voice of Resurgence
1 Elvish Spirit Guide
1 Fierce Empath
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Karmic Guide
1 Sun Titan
1 Primeval Titan
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mox Diamond
1 Lotus Petal
1 Skullclamp
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Birthing Pod
Enchantments (3)
1 Exploration
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
Instants (5)
1 Mana Tithe
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Chord of Calling
Sorceries (3)
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Council's Judgment
1 Cataclysm
Planeswalkers (1)
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
Legendary Lands (4)
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Lands (34)
5 Snow-Covered Forest
4 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Command Tower
1 Savannah
1 Temple Garden
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Brushland
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Fortified Village
1 City of Brass
1 Mana Confluence
1 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Wasteland
1 City of Traitors
1 Homeward Path
1 Dust Bowl
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Gemstone Caverns
<3
::raises hand:: Fellow upper B-tier deck pilot here who loved that Cradle allowed me any hope whatsoever against heavy control decks (that could otherwise stabilize past turn 5 and wipe/counter/CA you into oblivion) but it never launched my deck into oppressive or meta-warping territory. As someone who's been investing in Sisay for 5 years and used Cradle as an important (albeit frequently vulnerable!) combo piece to even have a remote chance at top 8, I'm extremely disappointed to see Cradle banned to address an alleged Yisan problem while Yisan was simultaneously banned. It's just bad science to test both things at once, and I'm extremely wary of local meta data factoring so heavily into these decisions (again I mention that 4 Yisan decks entered into the global Cockatrice tourney and not one of them placed); the more globally integrated meta game of Cockatrice has often ever been a contradiction in many ways to what the RC has perceived as being broken. So much of this has to do with all of the cards being free and many of the world's most talented deck pilots making very meta-conscious and competitive decks from a wide range of commanders, and it's aggravating to see that experience ignored.
I'm happy to see Tasigur go, at least, but I ultimately agree with a lot of others at the shock of seeing mana dork decks get so much scrutiny when they're barely top 8 worthy as is (and blue coming out even more on top). If aggro decks DO show up in greater numbers: welcome, everyone, back to the Age of Extinction Builds 2.0. Aggro was never meant to flourish in a format that has 30 life and with control decks that can just play 99 spells and always have access to a beater.
Bleh sorry, ranting. I look forward to the RC's inevitable change of the life total to 25 in the coming announcement.
Again though, I think it's too soon to declare the death of the deck. Not without seeing how the rest of the meta game is affected and slotting in more fast mana options. It's a direction that I don't believe has ever been thoroughly tested on Cockatrice before and I'm optimistic.
EDIT: I think that Depths/Stage is still viable and very strong in Sisay, potentially giving us the turn 4-5 unbeatable board states that we still want. Again, riskier and more exposed without the quicker disruption, but the strongest combo we can lean into for top 8 fighting power.
And yet...
This might be a perfect opportunity to transition towards the more "all-in" mana build, to pump the gas and embrace artifact mana and even consider Magus of the Vineyard and Exploration and friends. If the biggest blow to the deck is delaying Norn's arrival by a turn or 2, then we absolutely have the tools available to us to counteract that with other fast mana options and still play a turn 4/5 Norn.
This does of course mean more vulnerability and losing overall card advantage, but I don't think there's a better option.
I'm on vacation right now (posting from my phone) but I'll post an updated list as soon as I get back, my take on a post-Cradle Sisay that uses fast mana options. We may find that the deck has lost too much steam and is too vulnerable after we playtest it some, but I'm not abandoning hope just yet.
TBH, I'm on the fence about what to enter into the next Cockatrice tourney; whether to stick with Sisay or lean into the Kytheon deck I've been playing for the past several months... Does anyone here plan to enter with Sisay or are you similarly hesitant?
EDIT: I still vividly remember when Loyal Retainers was banned, a time during which the deck was geared hard towards tutoring up Survival and landing a turn 3-4 Iona, and feeling like the deck lost out on its chance of being a top 8 contender. We survived that, after all.
Anyway, it was great to randomly have that matchup; I was definitely feeling some kind of guilt (and curiosity) about getting a free pass against Wydwen in the tournament.
I tend to defer most of my deckbuilding decisions to those players who are way better than me. Truly, my latest round of edits was inspired by watching Spastika absolutely wreck face with Selvela, particularly with the above-mentioned combo. You're right, it's shocking easy to assemble and Sisay already runs pretty much all of the necessary pieces. Truly, I tried to find space for Mirror as well as some of Spas's other mana ramp options that I wasn't running, but ultimately couldn't find space for Mirror—though I'd like to! I think. Maybe. I've really been having a lot of success lately relative to old versions of the deck by not playing any combos (err, if you don't consider "elfball into Norn" a combo). That may have more to do with me getting slightly better at magic over time than it does with the strength/viability of the combos, but I'm not sure. I'll post my latest list below and maybe we can make a consensus on which card should come out to give Mirror a shot. At the very least: yeah, he's like a back-up win condition for Norn beats, so I certainly enjoy what he brings to the deck. I run Mirror in Kytheon, for example, and that's a harder case to make there, haha.
Deeeefinitely, and I think I ran pretty much every low-cost land tutor option available for that reason for a long long time. It was only when I went combo-less in 2016 that I stopped playing the Dark Depths / Stage combo and thus one fewer land tutor. But it may well have been a mistake to remove Sylvan Scrying in thinking of it as more combo-enabling. The thing I'm wary about is leaning too much on Souls in matchups like this, as my creature pool is pretty diverse and I tend to lose more to Toxic Deluge than I do to counterspells. In the Tasigur match, it was definitely board wipes/removal one game and then counterspells the next but I tend to think of the former as the bigger problem. Hmm. I don't know for sure, but it's something to think about.
(LFTL and the Moxen I haven't played in a long long time but they're tempting me more than ever after goldfishing the Fast Sisay deck a bit more..)
My latest:
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Arbor Elf
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Joraga Treespeaker
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Mother of Runes
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Karmic Guide
1 Sun Titan
1 Expedition Map
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Wild Growth
1 Sylvan Library
1 Crop Rotation
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Eladamri's Call
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Gaea's Cradle
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Yavimaya Hollow
1 Hall of the Bandit Lord
6 Snow-Covered Forest
5 Snow-Covered Plains
1 Command Tower
1 Savannah
1 Temple Garden
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Wasteland
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Scryb Ranger
1 Quirion Ranger
1 Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary
1 Birthing Pod
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Mana Confluence
1 Brushland
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Lotus Cobra
1 Saffi Eriksdotter
1 Titania, Protector of Argoth
1 Wirewood Symbiote
1 Priest of Titania
1 Yisan, the Wanderer Bard
1 Dragonlord Dromoka
1 Boreal Druid
1 City of Brass
1 Sylvan Ranger
1 Elvish Visionary
1 Skullclamp
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Devoted Druid
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Chord of Calling
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Fierce Empath
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Wood Elves
1 Pendelhaven
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Homeward Path
1 Selvala, Explorer Returned
1 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
1 Beastcaller Savant
1 Survival of the Fittest
Edit: Eh, maybe I could part with Wood Elves or Shaman of Forgotten Ways for Mirror Entity?