Does anyone still run the 2016 World's CFB Abzan List anymore? With the 3x Noble Hierarchs and lower land count? The last time I saw the deck put up results was last February by Patrick Tilsen at the SCG Modern Open. Any benefits to running this version of the deck nowadays?
Has anyone tried out Gerard Fabiano's latest list that he top 8'd the Star City Inviational Qualifier (Danbury) with? List is solid. Put it together and was very impressed with the consistency and ability to grind.
I just recently built the revised version, but I haven't gotten to jam a ton of games in with it yet (just a couple against Eldrazi and Taxes, which I've been satisfied with against). I do concur with its ability to grind, though.
The deck revolves around looping Cryptic Commands with by vialing in Eternal Witnesses to tap the opponent's team and bounce the E Witness. Todd went 4-1 with it (sorry, there are no spoiler tags on this subreddit). The deck requires a bit of setup, but I thought it'd be worth sharing/discussing.
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.
Eh, I'm not very high on that card in anything other than an extreme tempo shell. My countermagic suite is very minimal, 2 Negate, 1 Clash of Wills, 2 Ojutai's Command in the main. No sense bouncing things when you can just play a billion sweepers to go with your card draw effects.
I wasn't either, but there are certain situations in which the extra turn is great. In testing, it's been fantastic against Gideon. I know any instant bounce spell works against him, but the versatility certainly makes it a consideration main board and possibly even a slot in the side.
Lots of mixed reactions on the card, but I definitely wouldn't underestimate the power of a CMC walker. I will also be inserting her into my Jund Delirium list.
Not going to post my exact list, but I've been testing a Jeskai Nahiri deck built around Emrakul and it has been absolutely crushing Bant Humans, GW Tokens, and BW/Abzan control thus far. Casting the card for 7 is very very easy to do in a deck that's designed to go long and see a lot of cards in a game, and it's both a source of card advantage and the "I win" button that you want in a finisher. Card is real; don't listen to the skeptics.
Same. Jeskai Nahiri with Emrakul certainly looks like it will be a thing for standard. Unsubstantiate is wonderful in the deck.
On the other hand, I really would love for there to be a Jund Delirium deck with this card as its finisher. Even though it wasn't a tier deck last standard, I really enjoyed using Jund Delirium with Mindwrack Demon. However, it was a bit of a sloppy deck, to say the least. I hope the deck can eventually come together, especially with Grapple in the Past and Whispers of Emrakul.
It doesn't really promote a gameplan post-board unless you're trying to stall and go big. It's good vs. a card like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar or against a deck like BGx CoCo.
Just having a mana dump is sort of what this deck needs. You're not in the spot where there is a glut of good one drops to play Sligh. Go-Wide (ex: Atarka Red) just gets bricked by all the big butts in the format. So you need a variety of threats that offer you lots of options. In this sense, a card like Dragon Whisperer is nutso. It's not super mana efficient in any sense but it offers you evasion before turn 3, a mana dump when you're playing against removal light decks, and a non-spell way to kill a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar.
In this sense, I could see Whisperer as "just a SB card" as it lets you change gameplans and answer walkers but I'm inclined the card gives you so much play at 2cmc that I'd just MD it.
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To toot my own horn here, I've been working on a Rg Arlinn Aggro deck that I feel is well positioned right now. It lets you play very late and is good vs. removal decks.
Arlinn, oddly, is best when you're flipping her vs. aggro decks but then best when you're using her +1 against control decks. Assuming you have a variety of threats, her uptick gives you a ton of hastey damage.
I've played this deck quite a bit so I'll give a good SB overview later.
Hey lugger, this deck looks sweet. Have you done any more testing with it lately? I'm curious to see how you've been liking it lately. I also love the Firebird and Arlinn combination.
Thanks man! Yeah, you bring up a great point! I think 2 Read the bones could definitely find their way into my specific list per the following changes: -1 Kalitas (move to SB) & -1 Tireless Tracker. It appears that there will be times when Tracker shines more brightly than RtB and vice versa, such as in my games vs Naya especially.
Throughout the tournament though, the list was commended for being able to generate so much value through the various recursion cards.
Awesome. I like your list a ton, and I may try it out for FNM this week. Props for beating the B/W matchup because as mentioned before, it's really tough for Jund.
No videos yet (I'll post something next Monday) but so far I went 5-0 in a League so far going: G1 (2-0) BG Control, G2 (2-0) W Humans, G3 (2-1) Bant Coco, G4 (2-1) GR Googles Ramp, G5 (2-1) GR Googles Ramp
Hey magicdownunder, I appreciate you posting these lists. In your second list (MDU's Red Aggro) I notice you have 3 Exquisite Firecrafts mainboard and 2 Sideboard, and the sideboard ends up being 17 cards. Are those two Firecrafts in the side not supposed to be there?
Ok Guys. I've got some games in and made some changes to the deck.
4 Grasp of Darkness is a must. It kills just about everything you care about in the early to mid game and with access to 17 black sources I rarely don't have double black on turn 2 or 3.
Evolving wilds is really good in this deck. As the removal is so cheap and efficient it helps find your 2nd black source turn 1 (which you take off anyhow) and fuels the graveyard for delve which is a must.
Unconditional removal is really useful and between murderous cut and ruinous path there are few problem cards you cannot kill. Those which are harder to remove usually go down to a Bearer of Silence's extra ability on cast or is stripped from their hand by transgress the mind/thought-knot seer.
On that note Mirrorpool can do busted things. Such as on turn 5 delving for murderous cut for 1 and sacking the land to copy it or turn 6 with Grasp of Darkness.
The Tomb of the Spirit Dragon is essentially free and can get some incidental lifegain later in the game when it can be useful.
Game plan for the deck. Early removal and hand disruption into creatures when your opponent is low or out of answers.
(Edit: I can't count). I like this list.
In my testing with several variations of this deck, it's a dog to Reflector Mage. However, I do like your build since it has enough removal to stall. I might even consider putting in some maindeck Languishes for the RB Dragons matchup.
This is the version I've been playing recently with mixed levels of success. It's reasonably competitive with most of the common decks, but even if you get Kalitas out, 4C Rally just has too many ways to dump guys onto the battlefield to really win much. Drana is a card that seems like she makes no sense, but she actually works really well with the 3/2 guys, especially since opponents are so reluctant to block Matter Reshaper. The real secret weapon is Mirrorpool though. It just does so many things. Just don't try and copy your Reality Smasher into open mana because you're gonna have a bad time when you realize that Mirrorpool's trigger needs its target to be alive.
I've fooled around with trying to add a third color to the deck but I was not a fan at all.
My list is very similar to this. I agree that Drana is so much better in practice than on paper.
I'd like to inquire more about your experience with Mirrorpool. It hasn't quite done much for me, and I ended up cutting my copies for the full set of Sea Gate Wreckage. Since the deck has essentially no way to draw cards, I have found that card to be incredibly important. Before, I ran Read the Bones, and I wanted to see if I can cut the card in favor of more removal and creatures. I'll post the list I'm working on once I test it out more.
It looks like a clunky pile, but it does well to have just enough control of the board and hand to stick an eldradi threat.
Also, Despiseing a Siege Rhino only to Nerco it and beat your opponent to death is vastly satisfying. Or Bringing a reality smasher back as a 7/7 the turn after they answered it by eating the 2nd card.
Right now the metas I've been playing in seem to be light on aggro, so having 3 Flaying Tendrils main may be overkill.
I'm a pretty big fan of this list. My meta doesn't have too much aggro either, so I'd maybe consider replacing them with Read the Bones. Otherwise, I would love to hear more about your list.
Which list did you use? The same 75 used to top 8, or the revised version on Twitter?
I just recently built the revised version, but I haven't gotten to jam a ton of games in with it yet (just a couple against Eldrazi and Taxes, which I've been satisfied with against). I do concur with its ability to grind, though.
The deck revolves around looping Cryptic Commands with by vialing in Eternal Witnesses to tap the opponent's team and bounce the E Witness. Todd went 4-1 with it (sorry, there are no spoiler tags on this subreddit). The deck requires a bit of setup, but I thought it'd be worth sharing/discussing.
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.
I wasn't either, but there are certain situations in which the extra turn is great. In testing, it's been fantastic against Gideon. I know any instant bounce spell works against him, but the versatility certainly makes it a consideration main board and possibly even a slot in the side.
Same. Jeskai Nahiri with Emrakul certainly looks like it will be a thing for standard. Unsubstantiate is wonderful in the deck.
On the other hand, I really would love for there to be a Jund Delirium deck with this card as its finisher. Even though it wasn't a tier deck last standard, I really enjoyed using Jund Delirium with Mindwrack Demon. However, it was a bit of a sloppy deck, to say the least. I hope the deck can eventually come together, especially with Grapple in the Past and Whispers of Emrakul.
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/414861#paper
Hey lugger, this deck looks sweet. Have you done any more testing with it lately? I'm curious to see how you've been liking it lately. I also love the Firebird and Arlinn combination.
Awesome. I like your list a ton, and I may try it out for FNM this week. Props for beating the B/W matchup because as mentioned before, it's really tough for Jund.
Congratulations man. I noticed no Read the Bones in the main. Were the recursion cards enough card advantage?
Hey magicdownunder, I appreciate you posting these lists. In your second list (MDU's Red Aggro) I notice you have 3 Exquisite Firecrafts mainboard and 2 Sideboard, and the sideboard ends up being 17 cards. Are those two Firecrafts in the side not supposed to be there?
(Edit: I can't count). I like this list.
In my testing with several variations of this deck, it's a dog to Reflector Mage. However, I do like your build since it has enough removal to stall. I might even consider putting in some maindeck Languishes for the RB Dragons matchup.
My list is very similar to this. I agree that Drana is so much better in practice than on paper.
I'd like to inquire more about your experience with Mirrorpool. It hasn't quite done much for me, and I ended up cutting my copies for the full set of Sea Gate Wreckage. Since the deck has essentially no way to draw cards, I have found that card to be incredibly important. Before, I ran Read the Bones, and I wanted to see if I can cut the card in favor of more removal and creatures. I'll post the list I'm working on once I test it out more.
I'm a pretty big fan of this list. My meta doesn't have too much aggro either, so I'd maybe consider replacing them with Read the Bones. Otherwise, I would love to hear more about your list.