@wpgstevo Thanks for exploring this list.
Kassis's inclusion of Nahiri has mostly left me stumped.
I'm wondering, what matchups do you think Nahiri has helped improve?
How have you been with just 2 Path to Exile?
How do most Mardu list board against Grixis Delve? Is it worth bringing in graveyard like Rest in Peace?
I also like keeping Inqu and lilys in.
I think you treat Grixis like Jund/Abzan in terms of sidebording.
buckle in for a long, drawn-out attrition match.
I would side out all Thoughtseize and Inquisition, bring in Pia and Kirin, SB walkers, wrath and other sweeper effects. Typically you'll be answering each others threats until your both out of removal. and whoever has the best threat left will take the game. Lingering souls, Lili, P&K and our incidental lifegain here should put in a lot of work.
I don't think I'd prioritise the yard too much in this matchup, yes their going to fuel Angler and Tasigur but we have so many answers in paths, terminate/dreadbore that I wouldn't be too worried.
we don't use our graveyard near a much but I think Rakdos charm or Relic of Progenitus are better GY hate effects than RIP.
I'm not sure on what comes out for spell queller? war monk/smiter maybe? Once in play queller serves the beat down plan, He also hopefully pulls removal away from KotR. If not, then you can get in for 2 + exalted until the opponent wants his spell back.
I have trouble with the infect match-up and I can see queller pulling it's weight there. Flying is relevant and stealing a pump spell against a deck with little removal seems fine. The affinity matchup might get a boost too, I can't turn down maindeck answers for plating and champion.
Spell queller seems good in the tron and scapeshift matches too. Blanking early game ramp effects might be a decent enough tempo swing in our favor to delay the inevitable.
Conversely, spell queller seems bad against jund/abzan/grixis and especially burn. jund and abzan you'd take out lily's and their value creatures, grixis it would feel great to snag AV, but all three decks have more than enough removal to bolt/path/terminate/decay our queller and get back their spell. The only target in burn I like is reveler. They maybe don't spend a bolt to take it back, but for almost every other spell, their value play involves searing blaze and us taking at least 6.
I haven't seen much discussion about the new cards on here. I was wondering what the forum thought of Bedlam Reveler. I play the Nahiri version of the deck and am very creature lite. I'm not likely playing Bedlam sooner than t5 on average but the late game card draw, especially after a few Lilliana activations feels like it would be a great way to refuel while also putting some pressure on the board. Thoughts?
I'm quite happy with Geist of St. Traft and a 1 of Westvale Abbey.
2-1 Elves.
G1: After mulling to 6 I keep a Gq, plains and some decent creatures and a path. I didn't draw into a green mana and was quickly swarmed by an army of elves.
-2 advocate, not convinced this was correct, felt it was too slow +2 sunlance white psudo bolts for more removal.
G2: Any opener with a t2 geist is keep-able. we rode are angel maker to victory here. 2 exalted triggers is more than enough to keep geist alive, If they choose to block its basically a 2 or 3 for 1, and you still get 4 in the air.
G3: opening 7 had the turn 4 combo. Elves doesn't run creature removal but a chord into reclamation sage can put an end to the party. t1 treetop, t2 fetch into W/U to sunlance a heritage druid, t3 Knight he spends the turn barfing a bunch of elves into play t4 I drop the retreat. he shows me the rec sage in hand and I count out my lands.
2-0 Naya Burn.
G1: My opponent had the by in R1, he was on the creature heavy version of burn with nacatels and kird ape. much of this game was won off the back of kitchen finks, and voice of resurgence he scooped after I coco'd into Ooze and Geist with 5 life left.
-3 Retreat, combo is painful, and he has too much removal for knight, +2 Sunlance +1 Courser of Kruphix more removal for his little dudes, and a brickwall with incidental life-gain seems good.
G2: This played out much like game 1 except I got in some geist beats and stalled out his attackers with sylvan advocate and a kitchen finks.
Match 3 2:1 Burn
This time, a more traditional burn list.
G1: I drew into most of my fetchlands, and ran out of basics to get. but It did create a big enough knight to crash in a few times, I felt my opponent had this one but fetched more painfully than he needed.
same sb plan as last round.
G2: This was a weird game, he sent a bunch of burn to my dudes this match, and landed a graffdiggers cage turning off coco. I had a 2/2 kotr and a treetop village when he charmed me to 1 life, he was at 7. I miscounted my lands and thought I had enough for treetop + wildwood activation so I fetched for wildwood eot. I untapped and realized that the extra land was a misty not a breeding pool -- should of got a GQ to hit my own misty and grab a basic to grow knight to 4/4 and activate treetop. he had a path anyway, and topped a bolt but that was still a punt.
G3: t2 geist and exalted triggers all aboard the beatdown train! I stole this game and it felt goooood.
Match 4 Abzan coco
G1: on the pay, I had the t3 combo in my opening 7, and got to live the dream. He tapped out on t2 for a voice of resurgence and I counted out 18 lands. My opponent had never seen the combo before and was genuinely surprised. Theres no way he would have tapped out to my knight had he known.
+linvala, +thalia, +Gaddock Teeg, -3 geist, I'm really not sure how to sb here so I decided to hate on Chord and coco's knowing, on average my stuff is bigger. I anticipated the boards to get clogged up, and unlike elves his creatures are bigger than 1/1's so geist felt bad.
G2: mulled to 6, into a t4 combo
t3 I had to try and jam the knight, maybe he didnt have a path? - no dice. I put out retreat and settled into a grindy one. I had thalia, hierarch, sylvan, knight and pridemage out and was beating down with the sylvan + exalted triggers. I played my 6th land for the power up and swing with sylvan. opponent has a bird 2 Vseer and plays out his last card, redcap targeting thalia. I activate knight and grab westvale to scoop up the team and summon the 9/7. I path the bird and crash in for 9. he draws a blank and scoops the next turn.
Personally, I like my 2 Deprive a hard no to a potential threat is nice to have. just pick up a tapped basic and play it back down next turn. we're only running 18-19 land so your going to miss land drops anyway, so having to replay the land isn't going to put you behind. I also run a 1 of rise//fall both halfs have felt good but fall is by far the better half.
what if arbor/twin/retreat could be used as a secondary combo alongside Knight/retreat. something like
2 arbor
22 lands
3 retreat
1 splinter twin
4 wargate
4 path
4 birds
4 heiarch
4 Knight
12 creatures.
run 2 red sources also to power the wolfrun , and fill out the creatures with beaters/value.
Geist, voice, smiter, scooze,
wargate can grab any combo peice x=0,3,4 and can be played as early as t2(arbor) or t4(twin)
Kassis's inclusion of Nahiri has mostly left me stumped.
I'm wondering, what matchups do you think Nahiri has helped improve?
How have you been with just 2 Path to Exile?
I think you treat Grixis like Jund/Abzan in terms of sidebording.
buckle in for a long, drawn-out attrition match.
I would side out all Thoughtseize and Inquisition, bring in Pia and Kirin, SB walkers, wrath and other sweeper effects. Typically you'll be answering each others threats until your both out of removal. and whoever has the best threat left will take the game. Lingering souls, Lili, P&K and our incidental lifegain here should put in a lot of work.
I don't think I'd prioritise the yard too much in this matchup, yes their going to fuel Angler and Tasigur but we have so many answers in paths, terminate/dreadbore that I wouldn't be too worried.
we don't use our graveyard near a much but I think Rakdos charm or Relic of Progenitus are better GY hate effects than RIP.
I have trouble with the infect match-up and I can see queller pulling it's weight there. Flying is relevant and stealing a pump spell against a deck with little removal seems fine. The affinity matchup might get a boost too, I can't turn down maindeck answers for plating and champion.
Spell queller seems good in the tron and scapeshift matches too. Blanking early game ramp effects might be a decent enough tempo swing in our favor to delay the inevitable.
Conversely, spell queller seems bad against jund/abzan/grixis and especially burn. jund and abzan you'd take out lily's and their value creatures, grixis it would feel great to snag AV, but all three decks have more than enough removal to bolt/path/terminate/decay our queller and get back their spell. The only target in burn I like is reveler. They maybe don't spend a bolt to take it back, but for almost every other spell, their value play involves searing blaze and us taking at least 6.
What other matchup would queller help against?
*edits to phone typos and funky punctuation
I'm quite happy with Geist of St. Traft and a 1 of Westvale Abbey.
2-1 Elves.
G1: After mulling to 6 I keep a Gq, plains and some decent creatures and a path. I didn't draw into a green mana and was quickly swarmed by an army of elves.
-2 advocate, not convinced this was correct, felt it was too slow +2 sunlance white psudo bolts for more removal.
G2: Any opener with a t2 geist is keep-able. we rode are angel maker to victory here. 2 exalted triggers is more than enough to keep geist alive, If they choose to block its basically a 2 or 3 for 1, and you still get 4 in the air.
G3: opening 7 had the turn 4 combo. Elves doesn't run creature removal but a chord into reclamation sage can put an end to the party. t1 treetop, t2 fetch into W/U to sunlance a heritage druid, t3 Knight he spends the turn barfing a bunch of elves into play t4 I drop the retreat. he shows me the rec sage in hand and I count out my lands.
2-0 Naya Burn.
G1: My opponent had the by in R1, he was on the creature heavy version of burn with nacatels and kird ape. much of this game was won off the back of kitchen finks, and voice of resurgence he scooped after I coco'd into Ooze and Geist with 5 life left.
-3 Retreat, combo is painful, and he has too much removal for knight, +2 Sunlance +1 Courser of Kruphix more removal for his little dudes, and a brickwall with incidental life-gain seems good.
G2: This played out much like game 1 except I got in some geist beats and stalled out his attackers with sylvan advocate and a kitchen finks.
Match 3 2:1 Burn
This time, a more traditional burn list.
G1: I drew into most of my fetchlands, and ran out of basics to get. but It did create a big enough knight to crash in a few times, I felt my opponent had this one but fetched more painfully than he needed.
same sb plan as last round.
G2: This was a weird game, he sent a bunch of burn to my dudes this match, and landed a graffdiggers cage turning off coco. I had a 2/2 kotr and a treetop village when he charmed me to 1 life, he was at 7. I miscounted my lands and thought I had enough for treetop + wildwood activation so I fetched for wildwood eot. I untapped and realized that the extra land was a misty not a breeding pool -- should of got a GQ to hit my own misty and grab a basic to grow knight to 4/4 and activate treetop. he had a path anyway, and topped a bolt but that was still a punt.
G3: t2 geist and exalted triggers all aboard the beatdown train! I stole this game and it felt goooood.
Match 4 Abzan coco
G1: on the pay, I had the t3 combo in my opening 7, and got to live the dream. He tapped out on t2 for a voice of resurgence and I counted out 18 lands. My opponent had never seen the combo before and was genuinely surprised. Theres no way he would have tapped out to my knight had he known.
+linvala, +thalia, +Gaddock Teeg, -3 geist, I'm really not sure how to sb here so I decided to hate on Chord and coco's knowing, on average my stuff is bigger. I anticipated the boards to get clogged up, and unlike elves his creatures are bigger than 1/1's so geist felt bad.
G2: mulled to 6, into a t4 combo
t3 I had to try and jam the knight, maybe he didnt have a path? - no dice. I put out retreat and settled into a grindy one. I had thalia, hierarch, sylvan, knight and pridemage out and was beating down with the sylvan + exalted triggers. I played my 6th land for the power up and swing with sylvan. opponent has a bird 2 Vseer and plays out his last card, redcap targeting thalia. I activate knight and grab westvale to scoop up the team and summon the 9/7. I path the bird and crash in for 9. he draws a blank and scoops the next turn.
any thoughts?
2 arbor
22 lands
3 retreat
1 splinter twin
4 wargate
4 path
4 birds
4 heiarch
4 Knight
12 creatures.
run 2 red sources also to power the wolfrun , and fill out the creatures with beaters/value.
Geist, voice, smiter, scooze,
wargate can grab any combo peice x=0,3,4 and can be played as early as t2(arbor) or t4(twin)
Why Scalding Tarn over Wooded Foothills
and why Verdant Catacombs over Temple Gardens?
would replacing kird apes with Plated Geopedes be relying on landfall too much?