Thanks for the reply! Canopies are on the need list, just working towards getting them. Until then, would you suggest Tracker remain a 1x in the side? Maybe replace with 1x BOP in the main? Also considering swapping Voice with Thune Feeder combo SB to MB, but possibly too cute.
So, I've been on and off of this deck since it was referred to as "Look, Ma, no Pod!" on here, though my time away from it has led to me finding a lot of changes and I'm feeling pretty inexperienced with the deck now. Picked it up again recently and have been getting slammed by most of my opponents (which I do chalk up to my own misplays and rustiness), but I'm wondering if my list can't be tweaked for better results, too. Seems fairly stock to me per recent tourney results, but after some games last night I've got a few doubts in some of my choices.
My current thoughts are that I need to go back up to a full 4x Birds, move Qasali to the side, and that Voice of Resurgence seems to be underperforming compared to my experience with him in earlier iterations (though I expected otherwise after seeing him make a comeback in recent lists). My sideboard seems like it could use work, too, and try as I might I find that I cannot beat Kind -- the matchup destroys me. I tried boarding out dorks per sideboard guide and it ended up even worse for me, got 1 for 1'd at every turn and never stabilized. Any help or suggestions overall would be great! Want to get competitive with this deck again. Thanks!
Started with Shoota's list and have been tweaking since AER came out. Ended up on this, trying to put more win-cons in the deck than Gearhulks (thus the PWs). Thoughts? I feel like it needs a bit of focus, for sure.
Thank you for these comments! I think they make a lot of sense and I'll move the 4th Geist into my list and put Remand back -- I will definitely say that I found myself missing the 4th Remand while it was gone, so that point also makes sense.
Ajani has been on the way out, but I was unsure of what to replace him with. 4th Helix sounds like a good point and I'm still really iffy on the 4th Geist from previous experience. My initial plan was to try the Serum Visions route -- I haven't been a fan of it in this shell in theory, but other players do seem to see success with it. Maybe dropping 1x CC, 1x Ajani, 1x Remand, 1x Ghost Quarter (it's severely underperformed in my local meta) for 3x Serum Visions and 1x Lightning Helix? The note on the playstyle of the deck is important, though, for my mindset. I think I've been too set on leaving mana up for counters than I have for tempoing my opponent out and laying down beats with Geist.
So, I'm officially stumped and frustrated. I love this deck, I've enjoyed playing it very much, and maybe I'm making some very serious misplays, but I'm having trouble closing games. I've ended more games in ties with this deck than I ever have in my life, to the point that it's almost embarrassing tying a match at FNM now. My list is below and I definitely need some help. I play in a varied, competitive modern meta -- most prevalent decks being Jund, Angel Chord, Merfolk, Junk, Elves, Burn, and some control builds (Emeria, Temur, etc). Ajani has been less than stellar and I've swapped him back and forth with Pia and Kiran Nalaar, with neither feeling really incredible in the slot. Eiganjo Castle has also underwhelmed and I've wanted to put a Desolate Lighthouse there, but also not stoked on another colorless source (unless I replace the Ghost Quarter instead). Any help on better closing games would be a huge help.
Just put this together after seeing a few similar lists putting up solid results and for some reason buying into blue in a post-Twin meta seemed like a good idea (I've primarily played aggro/combo prior to this). I love Geist and have tried to fit him into a number of decks in the past, but overall I'm enjoying the solid control feel of the deck thus far. Planning on taking it to a Modern event next weekend if I can grind some games with it first, as my FNM experience this past week was pretty rough, though it was my first time piloting the deck. Any thoughts on the list? Anything you feel will help bring it up to par in the Eldrazi matchup? Affinity feels pretty rough, too, so I want to try and get better against that, too. Thanks!
I'm completely new to Abzan, especially in standard, but I want to give it a go for Game Day. I used to play mono red in Standard, as well as brief stints with Jeskai Tokens, Jeskai Combo, Sultai Whip, and Mardu Aggro. With my local meta being overtaken by red, I feel Abzan is a good option to stay competitive. With ProTour and Origins in mind, what do you feel is/will be the most competitive flavor of the Abzan build and why? Aggro, midrange, morph, Rally, etc. I've been looking at decklists and I find something appealing in each, but I want to build into something that can really hold up against stuff like RDW and the RUbots deck.
I've been trying to find ways to deal with more direct post board games. If I get a clock going early in game one, I do very well, but game 2 has led to some issues. I've had opponents bring in Blood Moon and Blood Baron of Vizkopa, two cards that totally hose me (the latter especially.) Thoughts?
Thoughts on siding against the mirror/other CoCo decks? Unified Will is good, but have we considered Remand against something like CoCo Elves to slow their clock and get card advantage? I'd say the same for the mirror, but Voice in Bant/Abzan CoCo makes that problematic. Any ideas?
Thanks for the recommendations! I think Blade Splicer does probably provide a bit more value here than KotR. In the two drop spot I've also looked at Phantasmal Image and Wall of Omens, since the former seems to grant a lot with the value-based creature plan and the latter certainly doesn't hurt in granting card advantage. Think either should be in a spot? Thanks.
Interesting take on it - the sideboard transformational plan might not work too well without playing more chord of calling. I can't recommend playing less than 4 path to exile. It is too important to break up combo and other synergies to skimp on in my opinion. Also, with only 3 2 drops, you'll have to mull aggressively to a mana dork which is a cost.
Great point. Knight of the Reliquary and Blade Splicer are my flex spots -- I like both, but uncertain as to what is better here. Thoughts on what to drop for maybe one more Voice of Resurgence, one more Qasali Pridemage, and a 4th Path to Exile?
So, I took the deck (list not unlike most of those listed; I don't have a full list available) to FNM this past Friday and had less than satisfactory results. Granted, I'm a bit out of practice and made some last minute edits that may have been less than ideal without testing, but I finished 0-2-2. This is the first deck that I've played that has almost consistently gone to time on numerous occasions. Sure, I may not be playing fast enough, but has anyone else encountered this? I feel like I'm losing matchups that I just shouldn't be.
3 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Viscera Seer
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Wall of Roots
2 Eternal Witness
1 Fiend Hunter
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Renegade Rallier
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Murderous Redcap
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
Lands
2 Forest
2 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Swamp
2 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Spike Feeder
1 Tireless Tracker
1 Archangel of Thune
2 Path to Exile
2 Abrupt Decay
My current thoughts are that I need to go back up to a full 4x Birds, move Qasali to the side, and that Voice of Resurgence seems to be underperforming compared to my experience with him in earlier iterations (though I expected otherwise after seeing him make a comeback in recent lists). My sideboard seems like it could use work, too, and try as I might I find that I cannot beat Kind -- the matchup destroys me. I tried boarding out dorks per sideboard guide and it ended up even worse for me, got 1 for 1'd at every turn and never stabilized. Any help or suggestions overall would be great! Want to get competitive with this deck again. Thanks!
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Spells
3 Shock
4 Anticipate
4 Harnessed Lightning
1 Horribly Awry
2 Negate
1 Disallow
2 Dynavolt Tower
1 Radiant Flames
3 Unlicensed Disintegration
2 Void Shatter
4 Glimmer of Genius
1 Confirm Suspicions
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
Lands
4 Aether Hub
5 Island
2 Mountain
3 Smoldering Marsh
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Sunken Hollow
2 Swamp
2 Wandering Fumarole
2 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 Thing in the Ice
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Fatal Push
1 Negate
2 To the Slaughter
1 Summary Dismissal
1x Bloodstained Mire
3x Celestial Colonnade
1x Eiganjo Castle
4x Flooded Strand
1x Ghost Quarter
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Island
1x Mountain
1x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
1x Sacred Foundry
2x Steam Vents
2x Sulfur Falls
2x Electrolyze
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Lightning Helix
2x Mana Leak
4x Path to Exile
4x Remand
2x Spell Snare
3x Geist of Saint Traft
3x Restoration Angel
4x Snapcaster Mage
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Ajani Vengeant
1x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1x Batterskull
1x Celestial Purge
1x Dispel
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Keranos, God of Storms
1x Kor Firewalker
1x Spellskite
1x Stony Silence
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Thing in the Ice
1x Timely Reinforcements
1x Wear / Tear
Thank you!
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Restoration Angel
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Planeswalkers
1 Ajani Vengeant
Spells
3 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
2 Electrolyze
2 Spell Snare
4 Flooded Strand
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Rugged Prairie
3 Celestial Colonnade
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Stony Silence
1 Spreading Seas
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wear//Tear
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Batterskull
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Flashfreeze
1 Celestial Purge
1 Kor Firewalker
1 Spellskite
4x Courser of Kruphix
2x Nissa, Vastwood Seer
3x Den Protector
1x Dragonlord Dromoka
1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
3x Hero's Downfall
3x Ultimate Price
4x Abzan Charm
4x Thoughtseize
2x Languish
4x Temple of Silence
4x Temple of Malady
4x Windswept Heath
2x Llanowar Wastes
2x Caves of Koilos
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Forest
1x Plains
2x Pharika’s Cure
2x Drown in Sorrow
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Ultimate Price
1x Duress
3x Fleecemane Lion
1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x End Hostilities
2x Dromoka’s Command
Great point. Knight of the Reliquary and Blade Splicer are my flex spots -- I like both, but uncertain as to what is better here. Thoughts on what to drop for maybe one more Voice of Resurgence, one more Qasali Pridemage, and a 4th Path to Exile?
3x Geist of St. Traft
3x Kitchen Finks
3x Loxodon Smiter
2x Blade Splicer
3x Eternal Witness
2x Knight of the Reliquary
2x Voice of Resurgence
3x Flickerwisp
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Noble Hierarch
1x Qasali Pridemage
Non-Creature Spells
4x Collected Company
3x Path to Exile
1x Dromoka's Command
4x Razorverge Thicket
2x Temple GardenGarden
1x Eiganjo Castle
1x Breeding Pool
4x Windswept Heath
2x Flooded Strand
2x Wooded Foothills
2x Gavony Township
1x Island
1x Plains
1x Forest
1x Hallowed Fountain
2x Meddling Mage
3x Unified Will
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Viscera Seer
1x Chord of Calling
1x Spellskite
1x Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Stony Silence
2x Burrenton Forge-Tender