I think that search for azcanta is just "another" blue card that grinds, but unfortunately isn't effective enough to get a spot in Sultai colors. Maybe a 1 of, but with Tasigur, Cryptic, Snap, ou plainswalkers, we have enough to grind with the best.
Speaking of grinding, I finally tuned my list to a comfortable 75 that is as consistent that I could make it :
I've been getting excellent results for the past month at my weekly events, always landing a >50% win ratio. I based my list of off Gerard's old 2015 Baltimore open list and upgrading with cards that are more useful for the current meta. I'm at the point where I'm looking for suggestions to better my synergies and optimize my card selection. Anyone have some constructive criticism and card suggestions?
This is a hybrid between control (counter magic and card advantage) and midrange (discard and efficient creatures) but it feels absolutely perfect. I have a bad matchup with burn (unless I find a collective or two) and please don't even mention TRON (blue is the worst), but EldraTRON, death's shadow, UR gifts, Company decks, Abzan/Jund are all good matchups since the removal and permission suite is so good right now. Add some T2 Goyfs and T3 Tasigurs ans we have a winning combination. The new Nissa also does some good work with the scry effects and killing easily from a stalled board state.
This a very standard ans reliable GBx list that seems to only splash blue for snapcaster, serum and the new Nissa. Has anyone else been putting in reps with a BUG list recently?
I really like your list! I have to ask; does having Tasigur and Traverse the Ulvenwald ever get awkward? I know delirium can sometimes cause some issues with Delve creatures, so I'd like to hear what your experience has been with these creatures.
Hey, actually I quickly revised the list since as you mentionned, Traverse and Delve just don't work well together. I've updated my more usual list and finally converged to a main 60 cards that I'll lock in for a while. I traded Tragtusk for a Kalitas which is just strictly better. I also added 2 countersqualls instead of 1 mana leak and 1 Logic Knot. Countersquall just hits so many things but most importantly Fatal Push. Keeping a Tarmogoyf on the board just feels great. I'm a little softer on creature counterspells but I feel that baving a Tarmogoyf on board and so much removal in the deck, I rather focus on non-creature spells. Plus the 2 dmg dealt every time it's cast (sometimes twice with snap) feels pretty good.
As for the sideboard, it feels very good right now and will most likely be doing some minor changes, but I'm a big fan of blowout cards in the side since this type of deck has a good game 1 against so many things. TRON will forever be a problem but that will never change.
This is a hybrid between control (counter magic and card advantage) and midrange (discard and efficient creatures) but it feels absolutely perfect. I have a bad matchup with burn (unless I find a collective or two) and please don't even mention TRON (blue is the worst), but EldraTRON, death's shadow, UR gifts, Company decks, Abzan/Jund are all good matchups since the removal and permission suite is so good right now. Add some T2 Goyfs and T3 Tasigurs ans we have a winning combination. The new Nissa also does some good work with the scry effects and killing easily from a stalled board state.
This a very standard ans reliable GBx list that seems to only splash blue for snapcaster, serum and the new Nissa. Has anyone else been putting in reps with a BUG list recently?
Hey, I currently play Jund/Abzan but I feel like Sultai could be a big deal in this current meta. Is there a particular reason why no one is playing this combinasion other than it has no Lingering souls? Anyways, here's the list I'm looking forward to build :
Since there are so many options and ways to build the deck, I've decided that Ancestral vision would be more effective than Opt or Serum vision. As for the mana base, I had no clue where to start, could someone help me out on this please?
I cut the Kitchen Finks because I think at two copies it wouldn't consistently show up enough for what I wanted it to do, which is be an early game lifegainer/blocker and I was struggling to add a third. I essentially split the slots into a third Ooze, and a second Liliana, the Last Hope. I really like having six Lillys for Goyf, and this Liliana can do a great Eternal Witness impression if the game goes long. With the new planeswalker rules coming up, I feel it's safe to do this.
Aside from that, I have a single Engineered Explosives in the board to be a sometimes-third Flaying Tendrils and also an artifact board wipe, because I know my pure artifact destruction is low. I hope the EE and the last Abrupt Decay will make up for it.
I'd cut the twilight mire and 3rd overgrown tomb for a another swamp and a forest to reduce the pain and have less awkward lands (twilight with 3 tap lands and 3 colorless lands is not at its best)
I run a collective brutality main and only 2 decay because I rather have more protection/discard for my creatures that take over the game instead of removal for a random creature. Also, every mod if good vs top decks right now (Discard vs Scapeshift, Drain vs Burn, -2/-2 on aggressive decks like Abzan company to keep the tempo) With 4 push, 2 decay and 2 pulse, you got your back covered.
Scavening ooze is a little too much in my point of view. In decks where he's essential for his lifegain is OK with 3, but this 2 color deck (especially if you have a collective brutality main) doesn't require all that much. Great utility, but bad in numbers so I would cut it to 2.
A very important card that you might have missed is Go for the throat. This is one of the few answers we have to big creatures. You'll have a hard time vs EldraTron without at least 2 copies of this + a 3rd Thoughtseize.
6 Plainswalkers is a lot, but I kinda like it since they are hard to remove for certain decks.
You can add Creeping corrosion to the sideboard for more artifact hate as well.
Hey everyone, with the new infinite mana combo of Devoted Druid and Vizier of remedies, wouldn't it be a great home for Kiki Chord since this deck is very mana hungry and that just Chord of Calling is a 1 card combo? You can insta kill with a chord in hand and the infinite mana combo in play. Since we already use mana dork in our base list, the cost of adding Devoted druid and vizier is not too bad and the upside is adding a lot of speed to the deck which would help greatly agaisnt fast combo decks like storm/affinity and the world famous TRON decks that eat us up T3.
I feel like this would be a nice home to add the combo since we already have a infinite mana sink kill that is naturally in the deck.
I'be been pretty busy recently and haven't gotten to do as much testing as I'd wanted. I highly recommend figuring out how to play Grove of the Burnwillows in whatever you're testing right now if you haven't already.
Your list is awesome and is so fun to play, thanks for keeping us updated!
Just a quick question though, cards with flash are insane with Fauna Shaman, have you ever thought of a Spell Queller? And if you have trouble with Tron and GR Titan, why not maindeck Aven mindcensor?
Thanks! I've tried both in the past.
Spell Queller is great as a generic temporary answer in specific situations and in the right meta it could be correct as an inclusion.. think Spell based combo/removal light MUs. My issue with the card is it doesn't really fix any problem MUs my list can't toolbox through between the main/side. The card really shines where you're fine with temporary answers... Like Knightfall/Bant Company where you're unable to toolbox as efficiently and having just a generic answer to turn to makes sense. The other challenge that comes with running more than 1-2 copies is the additional strain on the mana base.
Aven Mindcensor is probably in the slot that changes the most in my board. It comes in vs. Tron, Titan/Shift decks, Chord decks, KOTR decks and Death Shadow Jund. It's not particularly good against any of them to be honest and I typically switch back and forth between it and a 2nd Magus if the Moon. Just given the number of MUs it's not particularly great in G1 I'd prefer to keep it in the board. Also, there isn't a 3 drop or 2 drop in the main I'd cut for it currently.
I can totally understand your reasoning.
As for Grove, how is it such a great upgrade to perhaps Karplusan Forest or Copperline gorge? The only advantage I see right now is against Death's shadow, but all the other matchups you just get furthur away from the GW beatdown option.
Why did you get rid of Raging Ravine? It's such a beast to close out grindy games where Gavony Township sometimes can't shine?
Do you post videos of you playing the deck somewhere? I've played a couple months with the list and i've be getting a lot better but I feel like there's lots of room for improvement. And also, I'd be curious to see your sideboard notes!
I'be been pretty busy recently and haven't gotten to do as much testing as I'd wanted. I highly recommend figuring out how to play Grove of the Burnwillows in whatever you're testing right now if you haven't already.
Your list is awesome and is so fun to play, thanks for keeping us updated!
Just a quick question though, cards with flash are insane with Fauna Shaman, have you ever thought of a Spell Queller? And if you have trouble with Tron and GR Titan, why not maindeck Aven mindcensor?
The synergy of cheri0us leads to a combo. Little energies is cool and necessary but it seems that your strategy is shifting towards a burn strategy.
Why not play some version of "mardu burn"?
Despite that I think this is a good idea to test. I hope that I'm terrible mistaken about your strategy.
You are right, this build leans a lot on the burn side but it has more tricks up it's sleeve than regular burn. Orzhov charm has 3 relevant modes but lava spike, well, we all know what that card does lol.
That's why we have Orzhov charm, Ranger of eos and Kologhan's command. If he takes 4 to remove it too often and we have Bolt/Boros charm in hand and a Death's shadow in play, we will be constantly threatning lethal damage.
Boros charm can also be very good for the times that the opponent will not pay the 4 life thinking he has an answer.
There's several cards in the deck has a "Burn" plan and a "Grind" plan which gives us our 2 main lines of play depending on what we're facing.
I think that there's more to building a deck than just "This card is bad, let's put a tarmogoyf instead". Synergies is going to be your friend, look at Cheri0s with a bunch of crappy 0 casting cost equipment but still wins games turn 2 or turn 3 consistantly.
Vexing devil would be excellent card in the Mardu suite, since we have also access to Ranger of Eos that could be very relevant late game (much better than Painful truths.
The green package offers a tutor for Trample which is a huge bonus, but since the Mardu variant is so good on the burn plan (Boros Charm, Vexing Devil, Lightning bolt instead of Tarfire) well I think we have a very good upside to having white instead of green.
We also have access to the best sideboard cards in modern!
Here's the decklist I have in mind (based on the cards I own) :
The only problem I keep having is mana issues. It feels like I never manage to get the colors I need to cast all the cards in my hand (first 3-4 turns). Other than trading the 4 Clifftop retreat vs 2 Arid Mesa and 2 Marsh flats, does anyone have a suggestion on how I can improve the consistency of the mana base until these fetches finally get reprinted?
This build is all about slowing down the opponent enough (8 discard + 13 removal) to reach T4+ of the game and then continuously threat a Fatty into play.
I have been playing this deck for the past 3 weeks and it feels great (especially with a Griselbrand in play). The bad matchups are the non-creature based combo decks (Mill, Ad Nauseam, etc.) and of course TRON. On the other hand, every creature-based deck has difficulty getting past all the removal/disruption BR colors have to offer (Abzan company, Kiki-Chord, Infect, Affinity, Death Shadow aggro, Elves, etc). The control decks (URW Nahiri, UR Kiki, UW midrange/control) matchups are fine since you can just repeatedly cast Nahiri, the Harbinger or Unburial Rites over and over and again until something sticks. They have a hard time dealing with a threat that has already resolved except for Path to exile/Supreme verdict which can be hit by a timely discard spell the turn before using Nahiri ultimate or casting Unburial rites.
I'd like to have comments/opinions on the decklist to see if you guys have any good ideas to improve my current list. It has been working out great up to now so I'll keep testing and post an update whenever I come up with any news or changes to the list.
8 removal spells in this deck makes for awkward hands. Why not replace the paths with bolts 1-for-1 if you are convinced that Bolt are better? The consistency of the deck should be relying on the creatures and not on the removal. Also, a Turn 1 Bird is better for our deck than a Turn 1 Bolt, and later in the game, a Path is better than a Bolt considering the plays that we are trying to protect from.
Speaking of grinding, I finally tuned my list to a comfortable 75 that is as consistent that I could make it :
1x Breeding Pool
2x Creeping Tar Pit
2x Darkslick Shores
1x Forest
2x Island
2x Misty Rainforest
1x Overgrown Tomb
4x Polluted Delta
1x Sunken Ruins
2x Swamp
3x Verdant Catacombs
2x Watery Grave
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Abrupt Decay
2x Countersquall
2x Cryptic Command
1x Dismember
3x Fatal Push
2x Mana Leak
3x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Jace, Architect of Thought
2x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x Nissa, Steward of Elements
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Maelstrom Pulse
4x Serum Visions
2x Thoughtseize
2x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Collective Brutality
1x Creeping Corrosion
1x Damnation
1x Disdainful Stroke
1x Flaying Tendrils
3x Fulminator Mage
2x Leyline of the Void
1x Lost Legacy
1x Night of Souls' Betrayal
I've been getting excellent results for the past month at my weekly events, always landing a >50% win ratio. I based my list of off Gerard's old 2015 Baltimore open list and upgrading with cards that are more useful for the current meta. I'm at the point where I'm looking for suggestions to better my synergies and optimize my card selection. Anyone have some constructive criticism and card suggestions?
Hey, actually I quickly revised the list since as you mentionned, Traverse and Delve just don't work well together. I've updated my more usual list and finally converged to a main 60 cards that I'll lock in for a while. I traded Tragtusk for a Kalitas which is just strictly better. I also added 2 countersqualls instead of 1 mana leak and 1 Logic Knot. Countersquall just hits so many things but most importantly Fatal Push. Keeping a Tarmogoyf on the board just feels great. I'm a little softer on creature counterspells but I feel that baving a Tarmogoyf on board and so much removal in the deck, I rather focus on non-creature spells. Plus the 2 dmg dealt every time it's cast (sometimes twice with snap) feels pretty good.
As for the sideboard, it feels very good right now and will most likely be doing some minor changes, but I'm a big fan of blowout cards in the side since this type of deck has a good game 1 against so many things. TRON will forever be a problem but that will never change.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/08-09-17-bug/spoiler/
This is a hybrid between control (counter magic and card advantage) and midrange (discard and efficient creatures) but it feels absolutely perfect. I have a bad matchup with burn (unless I find a collective or two) and please don't even mention TRON (blue is the worst), but EldraTRON, death's shadow, UR gifts, Company decks, Abzan/Jund are all good matchups since the removal and permission suite is so good right now. Add some T2 Goyfs and T3 Tasigurs ans we have a winning combination. The new Nissa also does some good work with the scry effects and killing easily from a stalled board state.
I've also seen this list pop up in a large event from the Facetoface open series in Saskatoon : http://f2fseries.facetofacegames.com/oct-28-saskatoon-open-top-8-decklists/
This a very standard ans reliable GBx list that seems to only splash blue for snapcaster, serum and the new Nissa. Has anyone else been putting in reps with a BUG list recently?
2x Creeping Tar Pit
3x Darkslick Shores
1x Forest
1x Island
3x Misty Rainforest
2x Overgrown Tomb
3x Polluted Delta
2x Swamp
4x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
3x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1x Thragtusk
1x Abrupt Decay
3x Fatal Push
3x Mana Leak
1x Murderous Cut
2x Stubborn Denial
2x Think Twice
1x Collective Brutality
1x Damnation
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Maelstrom Pulse
2x Thoughtseize
3x Liliana of the Veil
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
1x Collective Brutality
2x Countersquall
3x Fulminator Mage
2x Kitchen Finks
1x Night of Souls' Betrayal
1x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Pithing Needle
1x Shadow of Doubt
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
Since there are so many options and ways to build the deck, I've decided that Ancestral vision would be more effective than Opt or Serum vision. As for the mana base, I had no clue where to start, could someone help me out on this please?
Looking forward for your input!
I'd cut the twilight mire and 3rd overgrown tomb for a another swamp and a forest to reduce the pain and have less awkward lands (twilight with 3 tap lands and 3 colorless lands is not at its best)
I run a collective brutality main and only 2 decay because I rather have more protection/discard for my creatures that take over the game instead of removal for a random creature. Also, every mod if good vs top decks right now (Discard vs Scapeshift, Drain vs Burn, -2/-2 on aggressive decks like Abzan company to keep the tempo) With 4 push, 2 decay and 2 pulse, you got your back covered.
Scavening ooze is a little too much in my point of view. In decks where he's essential for his lifegain is OK with 3, but this 2 color deck (especially if you have a collective brutality main) doesn't require all that much. Great utility, but bad in numbers so I would cut it to 2.
A very important card that you might have missed is Go for the throat. This is one of the few answers we have to big creatures. You'll have a hard time vs EldraTron without at least 2 copies of this + a 3rd Thoughtseize.
6 Plainswalkers is a lot, but I kinda like it since they are hard to remove for certain decks.
You can add Creeping corrosion to the sideboard for more artifact hate as well.
I feel like this would be a nice home to add the combo since we already have a infinite mana sink kill that is naturally in the deck.
I can totally understand your reasoning.
As for Grove, how is it such a great upgrade to perhaps Karplusan Forest or Copperline gorge? The only advantage I see right now is against Death's shadow, but all the other matchups you just get furthur away from the GW beatdown option.
Why did you get rid of Raging Ravine? It's such a beast to close out grindy games where Gavony Township sometimes can't shine?
Do you post videos of you playing the deck somewhere? I've played a couple months with the list and i've be getting a lot better but I feel like there's lots of room for improvement. And also, I'd be curious to see your sideboard notes!
Your list is awesome and is so fun to play, thanks for keeping us updated!
Just a quick question though, cards with flash are insane with Fauna Shaman, have you ever thought of a Spell Queller? And if you have trouble with Tron and GR Titan, why not maindeck Aven mindcensor?
How is the best way to deal with the mirror match exactly? I run the Angel Feeder combo as a win con btw.
You are right, this build leans a lot on the burn side but it has more tricks up it's sleeve than regular burn. Orzhov charm has 3 relevant modes but lava spike, well, we all know what that card does lol.
Boros charm can also be very good for the times that the opponent will not pay the 4 life thinking he has an answer.
There's several cards in the deck has a "Burn" plan and a "Grind" plan which gives us our 2 main lines of play depending on what we're facing.
I think that there's more to building a deck than just "This card is bad, let's put a tarmogoyf instead". Synergies is going to be your friend, look at Cheri0s with a bunch of crappy 0 casting cost equipment but still wins games turn 2 or turn 3 consistantly.
I also thought about Pack Rat since it can take over a game by itself, but the synergy of the rest of the deck is not as good as with vexing devil (Orzhov charm + Ranger of Eos).
The green package offers a tutor for Trample which is a huge bonus, but since the Mardu variant is so good on the burn plan (Boros Charm, Vexing Devil, Lightning bolt instead of Tarfire) well I think we have a very good upside to having white instead of green.
We also have access to the best sideboard cards in modern!
Here's the decklist I have in mind (based on the cards I own) :
2x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Godless Shrine
2x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Swamp
4x Verdant Catacombs
3x Fatal Push
2x Kolaghan's Command
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Orzhov Charm
2x Temur Battle Rage
2x Liliana of the Veil
2x Ranger of Eos
4x Street Wraith
4x Vexing Devil
1x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Thoughtseize
Back at it again with my Reanimator brew. Here's my current list :
1x Anger of the Gods
2x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Lingering Souls
2x Thoughtseize
2x Unburial Rites
Creature (7)
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Grave Titan
1x Griselbrand
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
3x Wall of Omens
Planeswalker (7)
2x Liliana of the Veil
4x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Instant (8)
1x Blessed Alliance
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Lightning Helix
2x Path to Exile
2x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Clifftop Retreat
3x Concealed Courtyard
1x Flooded Strand
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
1x Mountain
1x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
3x Shambling Vent
1x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Blessed Alliance
2x Blood Moon
2x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Shatterstorm
2x Slaughter Games
1x Spellskite
2x Stony Silence
1x Timely Reinforcements
2x Wear / Tear
1x Wrath of God
The only problem I keep having is mana issues. It feels like I never manage to get the colors I need to cast all the cards in my hand (first 3-4 turns). Other than trading the 4 Clifftop retreat vs 2 Arid Mesa and 2 Marsh flats, does anyone have a suggestion on how I can improve the consistency of the mana base until these fetches finally get reprinted?
I have been brewing different styles of Mardu for a while now and finally came up with this :
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Grave Titan
1x Griselbrand
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
3x Wall of Omens
Plainswalkers
4x Nahiri, the Harbinger
Sorceries
1x Dreadbore
2x Anger of the Gods
2x Collective Brutality
2x Unburial Rites
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Thoughtseize
4x Lingering Souls
Instants
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Blessed Alliance
2x Lightning Helix
4x Lightning Bolt
1x Flooded Strand
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
1x Mountain
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2x Blood Crypt
2x Clifftop Retreat
2x Plains
2x Swamp
3x Concealed Courtyard
3x Shambling Vent
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Batterskull
1x Blessed Alliance
1x Blood Moon
2x Crumble to Dust
2x Rest in Peace
1x Shatterstorm
2x Slaughter Games
1x Spellskite
2x Stony Silence
2x Wear / Tear
This build is all about slowing down the opponent enough (8 discard + 13 removal) to reach T4+ of the game and then continuously threat a Fatty into play.
I have been playing this deck for the past 3 weeks and it feels great (especially with a Griselbrand in play). The bad matchups are the non-creature based combo decks (Mill, Ad Nauseam, etc.) and of course TRON. On the other hand, every creature-based deck has difficulty getting past all the removal/disruption BR colors have to offer (Abzan company, Kiki-Chord, Infect, Affinity, Death Shadow aggro, Elves, etc). The control decks (URW Nahiri, UR Kiki, UW midrange/control) matchups are fine since you can just repeatedly cast Nahiri, the Harbinger or Unburial Rites over and over and again until something sticks. They have a hard time dealing with a threat that has already resolved except for Path to exile/Supreme verdict which can be hit by a timely discard spell the turn before using Nahiri ultimate or casting Unburial rites.
I'd like to have comments/opinions on the decklist to see if you guys have any good ideas to improve my current list. It has been working out great up to now so I'll keep testing and post an update whenever I come up with any news or changes to the list.
As for the Chord of calling vs Eldritch evolution debate, you need to drastically change your creature toolbox depending on the split. I'd play a Magus of the moon , Courser of kruphix and Kitchen finksin a 4 Evo 2 Chord split, but I would trade those for Orzhov Pontiff, Eternal witness and Wall of roots in a 4 Chord/2 Evo deck.