The matchup vs fish seems unfavorable in my testing. We either give them Islandwalk with Hallowed Fountain or they Spreading Seas us (which also mana screws us by not giving us a colorless source and slows us down). Then they can dump their hand and outrace us pretty easily. Game 1 key cards are Path, Drowner, and Displacer. Sideboard you bring in Dismembers and Explosives. Timely Reinforcements doesn't do enough since they almost always are unblockable - it mostly just reads "(2)(W) gain 6 life put three 1/1 soldiers on the battlefield that cannot block and must attack every turn". EE on 2 vs their non Reejery draws is pretty back breaking for them typically - clears their Spreading Seas and Lords.
Per forum rules, we cannot discuss new unreleased cards in this thread.
Goyf still are an incredibly efficient 2-drop that grows throughout the game, even if this build doesn't really lend itself to helping it much. It relies heavily on your opponent putting some stuff in their grave. What options does this deck really have for 2 drops?
Thalia : minor nombo if you're playing Stubborn Denials in the main and so on, also is legendary and only a 2/1 that never grows.
Goyf : relies very heavily on the opponent growing him for you. Also is extremely expensive, though that should not matter for the pure spikes.
Spellskite : does nothing offensively, but avoids a lot of damage based removal, protects our other creatures, and shores up some weak Game 1s.
Scooze : can grow or hate out graveyard based synergies at least. Seems decent.
Sylvan Advocate : quickly grows to become a Goyf with vigilance after a few land drops. A budget goyf.
Wall of Omens : card-draw that can be flickered for more as well, and a solid early body to stop some aggro. Does nothing offensively again.
Leonin Arbiter : slows down a lot of other decks and gives us a better Game 1 vs Scapeshift / Valukut related decks.
Sigiled Starfish : just kidding, though a pet-card of mine in limited
Or perhaps it might be best to give up the 2 drop slot and just jump to 3 drops like Kitchen Finks in the main instead.
In my testing with Thalia so far, she has felt good playing on T2. Still need more games in with her to get a better feel of her taking the place of Spellskite. She is only good in the early game, so a terrible topdeck. When someone is at 4+ mana her ability text and her P/T doesn't matter anymore at that point. Spellskite I liked because I could still protect my other creatures at worst when I top decked him. He also blocks a lot better and dodges more removal. Still undecided...
I like Finks a lot and he could be interchangeable with Timely. Against some decks I like him more, but vs most decks I like Timely more. For instance if you're playing against Zoo or 8 whack where they go wide as well as fast aggro, the immediate 6 life and 3 chump blockers can be a huge swing rather than 1 chump blocker and 2 or 4 life over a couple turns. Thragtusk I find very versatile - vs removal heavy or controlling decks you don't care as much about the life gain part as you do that he is 2 bodies in one, vs midrange he's great at swinging the race in your favor, vs aggro decks he gives life gain and 2 effective blockers (not just chumpers). Also, Displacer + Tusk is ridiculously strong in a variety of grindier matchups and a great trump in the mirror. Gain 5 life, get a 3/3 token, and get another new Thragtusk + 5 life and repeat!
Also, always keep in mind Stirrings can be useful for not just getting creatures and lands - it can get our sideboard hate like Cage and Explosives for us. I never cut Stirrings in any matchup.
Within the past few pages I posted my sideboarding thoughts/guide vs the most represented decks in the meta. You can also watch the Frank Lapore playlist posted a little earlier to see how he sideboards in his matches with Bant Eldrazi.
I agree Thalia applies to more matchups. Spellskite and Skyspawner shore up some of the most commonly played matchups very well though - Affinity and Infect. Plus, Spellskite is fetchable by Stirrings which often is the correct colorless to grab from Stirrings vs Infect. Thalia you need to naturally draw. Thalia also dies to any removal - Bolt, Forked Bolt, Electrolyze, etc that Spellskite dodges.
I'll test with her this coming week and see how I like her. I just know my local meta tends to have a lot of Infect players. We'll see how well she does to pick up the role.
edit: lol ... so first game testing her and I totally did not realize she is legendary. I had a hand against control of Thalia x2, Eldrazi Temple, Plains, Cage, Drowner of Hope, Displacer. I was like oh sweet, T1 cage, T2 Thalia, T3 another Thalia to double the tax! Then I had to sac one due to legendary rule. RTFC -_-
I found his sideboarding decisions very interesting in particular. I occasionally would cut a Bird against some decks, but he does that and cutting Hierarchs fairly often against decks packing removal like Jund and Grixis. Against UR Delver he even ended up cutting ALL the Hierarchs and Birds. It slows down the deck, but the Bird/Hierarch often would die early anyways. Frank is undoubtably a much better player than I am, though he did seem to have no experience playing the deck before. I'll have to reconsider some of my sideboarding choices in some matchups.
Played the Sunday event to much better results: 3-1 overall.
Round 1: Infect (budget) (2-0)
I don't really remember the details here that much but this was a budget version of infect. She mulled pretty hard both games and was playing suboptimal cards like Ichorclaw Myr.
Round 2: Infect (non-budget) (2-0)
G1: Had T2 Spellskite into T3 double Skyspawner. He had an Elf, Hierarch, and 2 Inkmoth out. I survived the onslaught and he never drew an answer to Spellskite.
G2: He played Elf on T1 and I Gut Shot it on his end step. Had T1 Hierarch, T2 Skyspawner, T3 Spellskite. Then just some other random eldrazi and a 2nd Spellskite (after he killed the first) to close out the game.
Round 3: Grixis Control w/GDD-Boom/Bust/AV (2-1)
G1: Did the usual Eldrazi stuff against him and he couldn't kill or counter enough to win.
G2: Had 2 Reshapers out early on, he Anger of the Gods cleared them. He also did Bust on my Cavern and then a couple turns later went GDD into Boom Bust and just kept swinging with GDD for the win.
G3: Similar to game 1, except he also got stuck on lands. I Worldbreaker'd him, he kills it with Terminate, I recur it later on and exile another land keeping him down to 3 lands. I attack with World Breaker and Displacer when he's at 3 and he flashes in Snapcaster to flashback bolt on the Displacer, which I Stubborn Denial to close out the game.
Round 4: 8-whack Goblins (0-2)
Holy hell is this deck fast! That's all there is to say. I don't know if he could have had a better hand in game 1 - he just kept dumping his hand and lord on T3, double whacker on T4 was just unreal. Game 2 I had to mull to 5 (1-lander, 0-lander, then meh keep). Again he didn't stumble at all. EE and Timely/Tusk or bust here.
Overall.... (3-1)
There's at least 3 regular infect players in my meta so Skyspawner has been doing work, as has Spellskite. In the last 2 rounds I would have preferred the more traditional builds. Tough to say which one I like better. Skyspawner being 2 bodies for 1 and mana fixing (say vs Blood Moon or when have no colorless sources) or ramping has been useful in countless games. Reshaper is better in a straight up aggro game where you can block on the ground, or just against a non-path removal heavy deck like Jund, which we already are favored against anyways. Spellskite is good in the mirror, Infect, Tron, Boggles, and Scapeshift. Sometimes worth keeping in against removal heavy decks just to protect your other threats. I haven't seen much results with Thalia.
My list is basically this: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/430006#paper
Took 3rd at a SCG Modern IQ so I also disagree with whoever said we need to stick with non-Skyspawner builds absolutely. There still is room for minor changes in the build.
-- editted out portion, Matter Reshaper in fact is nonbo with RIP --
One of the best parts about Cage when compared to RIP is it is fetchable by Stirrings making fewer copies required to play. It also is colorless and can be played as early as turn 1. Finally, it stops Chord, Coco, and Nahiri ultimate which I think are more troublesome for this deck.
I've had similar experiences against Scapeshift/Valukut variants. As I wrote in my abridged guide to that matchup, it's a nightmare. One of the worst for our decks. We aren't quite fast enough and don't have enough disruption. We usually need all of these for it to work:
1) Fast Acceleration (Bird/Hierarch + Temple)
2) Cavern of Souls
3) Thought-Knot Seer
4) Reality Smasher
They can also just delay the game with Cryptic tapping the team and drawing a card. It's just a miserable matchup. Hope to outrace and outdraw them.
I also had a frustrating Thursday modern, still went 2-2 overall though.
Round 1 vs Jeskai Nahiri (2-1)
G1: I mulled to 5 and had a lousy opener of Hierarch, Hierarch, Land, Land, Spellskite but I wasn't going down to 4 and I had plenty of early plays and it could develop to better with all the acceleration I had, and then Spellskite can protect whatever threat I get. Of course he just had Cryptic by the time I was able to draw and play a threat though so it didn't matter.
G2: I kept a good 7 and he just didn't draw the answers he needed for my threats. I also had a Cage out so when he cast Snapcaster I just pointed at the cage and he had to re-read it. Ambush Viper Snapcaster is fine vs my Smasher and crew.
G3: I mulled to an okay 6. Started off pretty plain - Matter Reshaper getting bolted and getting a land. Play a Smasher that resolves, but he paths it. I later on went Stirrings to grab a Worldbreaker and played it that same turn (had 3 temples in play + some other lands and a mana dork) exiling a Hallowed Fountain. Next turn he brings out a Colonnade. I had a Stubborn Denial in hand and he attacked with Colonnade that next turn, I blocked knowing he just wants me to block and kill my World Breaker somehow, which I would then deny. Thinking about it afterwards, I could have just let it happen - he bolted my Worldbreaker which would be fine since I would just recur it anyways. Stubborn Denial could have been saved for something better. Either way I got to cleanly kill the Colonnade and the game was massively in my favor at this point. Shortly after he Wrathed my Breaker, and I recurred it at the end step to then exile his Colonnade. World Breaker beatdowns sealed the deal here.
Round 2 vs Small Zoo (1-2)
G1: I mulled to a lousy 5 with Hierarch, Spellskite, Spellskite, land, land. He had a pretty busted started so chump blocking and redirecting some burn to Spellskite wasn't enough.
G2: He mulls to 5 and I keep a great 7 with something like EE, Timely, 2 lands, Hierarch, Reshaper in hand. Couldn't ask for better really. I ended up never even using the EE since his start was much slower and I won with Reality Smasher beatdowns.
G3: We both keep our 7s and I already had a Timely in hand and drew into EE early on. His start was about as busted as they come though - something like T1 Cat, T2 Experiment One, Guide, T3 Emissary, Atarka's Command, Bolt. I could have played the EE a turn earlier than I did, but I greedily held onto it and resolved a Timely Reinforcements first. I did get like a 5 for 1 with EE still. He continued to draw gas and also had a Torpor Orb out to blank a few of my cards. Like I ended up going Stirrings into Drowner, which then didn't give me enough blockers to stabilize while I was at 2 life as he drew into another haste threat / burn spell. I think I could have won this had I just done EE for a 3 for 1, then Timely the following turn (though 5 for 1 felt really good I must say).
Round 3 vs Lantern Control (1-2)
G1: I made a bad keep here of my 7: 5 lands (including a Cavern), Bird, and TKS. I was thinking I'll very likely get a T3 TKS. Of course I didn't as he Inquisitioned me T1 discarding my bird. Within a few turns he had Bridge in play and I knew my only outs was Displacer + TKS or Hierarch exalted triggers for attacking through the bridge, so I conceeded for the sake of time. Plus he already had Lantern + Shredder out so it would be very difficult to get what I needed anyways.
G2: I TKS a Bridge away while having a Fracturing Gust in hand. I just beat him down and he never gets a Bridge out.
G3: I keep a great hand with a Stony Silence in hand - again he Inquisitions it away. He quickly gets Shredder + Lantern online and mills my other Stony Silence. He also mills my Fracturing Gust. And right when I have Worldbreaker at the top of my deck, I was thinking "I don't care if he mills that one!" (to recur it) he plays Pyxis of Pandemonium and exiles it. Well, I'm pretty dead here. Other noteable sick points of this game was me drawing both my Engineered Explosives, him having a Bridge out, but he had Academy Ruins and I would not be able to swing for lethal (I would kill a Reshaper and a Displacer in the process). So I waited until I had lethal on board, but right at that point he plays a Welding Jar, which he could also recur as needed. Disgusting game. I ended up with a Displacer and TKS on board, but he had Spellskite out to redirect anyways so it didn't matter. Very frustrating - but that's Lantern for you. He did draw insanely well this game too.
Round 4: 8 rack (2-0)
G1: He plays a Rack T1 and Inquisition takes a Skyspawner away soon after. I TKS away a Victim of Night (he was tapped out then so couldn't cast it). TKS plus Hierarch exalted trigger beatdowns get there. I path some weird creature of his (7/7 creature that gets -1-1 for each card in my hand or something).
G2: Plays out very similarly. Nothing noteworthy to mention. Quick beatdowns and he doesn't disrupt me or deal with my threats well enough. He's on some budget version of the deck anyways so made some concessions there.
Overall... (2-2)
Though I lost to Zoo I feel like it was a pretty even matchup. We can get enough blockers out to stabilize and then slowly beat them down while leaving a few back usually. EE and Timely are total all-stars here for sure. And Lantern... well... **** Lantern what can I say. No one likes playing against it. That stupid Bridge...
I've been considering adding another World Breaker to the 75 - 1 in the main and the 2nd in the side. He has been great in a lot of matchups and any deck that isn't saving a Path for him he ends up being an all star in.
A guy at my LGS tried a version with some Training Grounds in the main. I didn't get to talk to him after the matches. From what I saw with him against a control deck (I think Grixis Control), it didn't really matter - his board state when he lost a game was 2 Training Grounds. In games vs decks with little removal and counters it seems like a decent sideboard card I would say.
I haven't liked Mimic. I've put an Oath of Nissa in it's place as a 5th Stirrings basically. I know it's blasphemy, but I've liked the feel of Oath of Nissa so much I even trimmed a Drowner down to 3-of, to make room for a 2nd Oath. Drowner, though still excellent, sometimes just isn't what I need and having so many 6-drops can lead to some awkward draws. Oaths help smooth that out a lot.
I'll start with my thoughts on some of the matchups (in rough order of Tier representation)
vs Jund (favored)
They constantly disrupt then have a lot of 1 for 1 removal, which is not great against us. With them emptying their hand often, it makes Reality Smasher even more difficult to deal with. Bolt / Seal of Fire / Abrupt Decay misses a lot of our targets. Our creatures that come into play with a scion like Skyspawner / Drowner make saccing to Lilianna easy as well.
Sideboarding:
IN - 1 Thragtusk, 1 Celestial Purge, 1 World Breaker
OUT - 1 Bird, 1 Skyspawner, 1 Spellskite
GR Tron (slightly unfavored)
Our combination of disruption with pressure is how we win here. Displacer and Drowner can keep their big resolved creatures at bay while you swing in with a singleton Smasher/Drowner for victory sometimes. Ugin does nothing against us so we can ignore him as long as he isn't near ultimating. However, if we draw the wrong side of our deck or are too slow, we can quickly get outclassed and Ulamog will wreck our day.
Sideboarding:
IN - 2 Stony Silence, 1 World Breaker, 1 Stubborn Denial
OUT - 2 Drowner, 1-2 Spellskite, 1 Bird
Infect (fairly even, slightly favored post-board)
We have a few main-deck answers to Infect so it's a matter of drawing them or not game 1. Displacer, Drowner, Spellskite, Skyspawner, and Path as you would expect are excellent here. Smasher provides a quick clock - especially considering they generally play very aggressively with their life total with fetch/shock, and phyrexian spells.
Sideboarding:
IN - 1 Gutshot, 1 Dismember, 1 Stubborn Denial
OUT - 2-3 Matter Reshaper, 1 Drowner/TKS/Bird
---
Interested to hear others thoughts on those matchups - this is how I've been sideboarding at the moment.
I think we are pretty favored against tron. On paper it really feels like we shouldn't be advantaged but I can't stop beating them. I've faced four different pilots and the games weren't all that close. Karn and ulamog are the only real threats. And ulamog only for his cast trigger. I bring in silences and counterspells. The idea being we counter their karns and sylvan scryings and keep a displacer or drowner around to handle any creatures.
I'm wouldn't say "pretty favored". At best "slightly favored", but probably closer to even. I have won more often than not against Tron, but with only about 5 matches against them with this deck I wouldn't conclude too much from it. Theoretically we should not be favored - we are a slightly faster than usual midrange deck that goes bigger than other ones. We don't race quick enough or provide enough early disruption with our pressure to make it that favorable a matchup.
More like Selesnya Eldrazi! No blue at all! I've really been liking Skyspawner lately for Affinity/Infect and Drowner though a great card I've trimmed down to 3. Interesting to consider this version but not sure about it. Allows for a more consistent mana base and ability to go up to 2 or more Ghost Quarters. Tarmogoyf is typically pretty small in this shell. I would probably just go -4 Goyf for 2 Spellskite, 1 Bird, 1 Oath of Nissa (been liking this lately as my 5th Stirring). Thalia is another consideration for the 2 drop slot that Pascal Maynard (I believe?) tried out a while back. Oblivion Sower has a huge butt and an okay on-cast trigger - can only really be abused possibly by getting more lands for more mana to flicker the opponents stuff in this build really (other than flickering TKS to mill them out / strip cards). So Displacer isn't as good here in my opinion. Also the sideboard loses out on any form of counter magic which can make combo matchups even more of a nightmare. Not sure, but worth trying out.
Per forum rules, we cannot discuss new unreleased cards in this thread.
Or perhaps it might be best to give up the 2 drop slot and just jump to 3 drops like Kitchen Finks in the main instead.
In my testing with Thalia so far, she has felt good playing on T2. Still need more games in with her to get a better feel of her taking the place of Spellskite. She is only good in the early game, so a terrible topdeck. When someone is at 4+ mana her ability text and her P/T doesn't matter anymore at that point. Spellskite I liked because I could still protect my other creatures at worst when I top decked him. He also blocks a lot better and dodges more removal. Still undecided...
Also, always keep in mind Stirrings can be useful for not just getting creatures and lands - it can get our sideboard hate like Cage and Explosives for us. I never cut Stirrings in any matchup.
I'll test with her this coming week and see how I like her. I just know my local meta tends to have a lot of Infect players. We'll see how well she does to pick up the role.
edit: lol ... so first game testing her and I totally did not realize she is legendary. I had a hand against control of Thalia x2, Eldrazi Temple, Plains, Cage, Drowner of Hope, Displacer. I was like oh sweet, T1 cage, T2 Thalia, T3 another Thalia to double the tax! Then I had to sac one due to legendary rule. RTFC -_-
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg6xT6v31c2-O-RHI2N8qZHRpbD3GVdDK
I found his sideboarding decisions very interesting in particular. I occasionally would cut a Bird against some decks, but he does that and cutting Hierarchs fairly often against decks packing removal like Jund and Grixis. Against UR Delver he even ended up cutting ALL the Hierarchs and Birds. It slows down the deck, but the Bird/Hierarch often would die early anyways. Frank is undoubtably a much better player than I am, though he did seem to have no experience playing the deck before. I'll have to reconsider some of my sideboarding choices in some matchups.
Round 1: Infect (budget) (2-0)
I don't really remember the details here that much but this was a budget version of infect. She mulled pretty hard both games and was playing suboptimal cards like Ichorclaw Myr.
Round 2: Infect (non-budget) (2-0)
G1: Had T2 Spellskite into T3 double Skyspawner. He had an Elf, Hierarch, and 2 Inkmoth out. I survived the onslaught and he never drew an answer to Spellskite.
G2: He played Elf on T1 and I Gut Shot it on his end step. Had T1 Hierarch, T2 Skyspawner, T3 Spellskite. Then just some other random eldrazi and a 2nd Spellskite (after he killed the first) to close out the game.
Round 3: Grixis Control w/GDD-Boom/Bust/AV (2-1)
G1: Did the usual Eldrazi stuff against him and he couldn't kill or counter enough to win.
G2: Had 2 Reshapers out early on, he Anger of the Gods cleared them. He also did Bust on my Cavern and then a couple turns later went GDD into Boom Bust and just kept swinging with GDD for the win.
G3: Similar to game 1, except he also got stuck on lands. I Worldbreaker'd him, he kills it with Terminate, I recur it later on and exile another land keeping him down to 3 lands. I attack with World Breaker and Displacer when he's at 3 and he flashes in Snapcaster to flashback bolt on the Displacer, which I Stubborn Denial to close out the game.
Round 4: 8-whack Goblins (0-2)
Holy hell is this deck fast! That's all there is to say. I don't know if he could have had a better hand in game 1 - he just kept dumping his hand and lord on T3, double whacker on T4 was just unreal. Game 2 I had to mull to 5 (1-lander, 0-lander, then meh keep). Again he didn't stumble at all. EE and Timely/Tusk or bust here.
Overall.... (3-1)
There's at least 3 regular infect players in my meta so Skyspawner has been doing work, as has Spellskite. In the last 2 rounds I would have preferred the more traditional builds. Tough to say which one I like better. Skyspawner being 2 bodies for 1 and mana fixing (say vs Blood Moon or when have no colorless sources) or ramping has been useful in countless games. Reshaper is better in a straight up aggro game where you can block on the ground, or just against a non-path removal heavy deck like Jund, which we already are favored against anyways. Spellskite is good in the mirror, Infect, Tron, Boggles, and Scapeshift. Sometimes worth keeping in against removal heavy decks just to protect your other threats. I haven't seen much results with Thalia.
My list is basically this:
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/430006#paper
Took 3rd at a SCG Modern IQ so I also disagree with whoever said we need to stick with non-Skyspawner builds absolutely. There still is room for minor changes in the build.
One of the best parts about Cage when compared to RIP is it is fetchable by Stirrings making fewer copies required to play. It also is colorless and can be played as early as turn 1. Finally, it stops Chord, Coco, and Nahiri ultimate which I think are more troublesome for this deck.
1) Fast Acceleration (Bird/Hierarch + Temple)
2) Cavern of Souls
3) Thought-Knot Seer
4) Reality Smasher
They can also just delay the game with Cryptic tapping the team and drawing a card. It's just a miserable matchup. Hope to outrace and outdraw them.
Round 1 vs Jeskai Nahiri (2-1)
G1: I mulled to 5 and had a lousy opener of Hierarch, Hierarch, Land, Land, Spellskite but I wasn't going down to 4 and I had plenty of early plays and it could develop to better with all the acceleration I had, and then Spellskite can protect whatever threat I get. Of course he just had Cryptic by the time I was able to draw and play a threat though so it didn't matter.
G2: I kept a good 7 and he just didn't draw the answers he needed for my threats. I also had a Cage out so when he cast Snapcaster I just pointed at the cage and he had to re-read it. Ambush Viper Snapcaster is fine vs my Smasher and crew.
G3: I mulled to an okay 6. Started off pretty plain - Matter Reshaper getting bolted and getting a land. Play a Smasher that resolves, but he paths it. I later on went Stirrings to grab a Worldbreaker and played it that same turn (had 3 temples in play + some other lands and a mana dork) exiling a Hallowed Fountain. Next turn he brings out a Colonnade. I had a Stubborn Denial in hand and he attacked with Colonnade that next turn, I blocked knowing he just wants me to block and kill my World Breaker somehow, which I would then deny. Thinking about it afterwards, I could have just let it happen - he bolted my Worldbreaker which would be fine since I would just recur it anyways. Stubborn Denial could have been saved for something better. Either way I got to cleanly kill the Colonnade and the game was massively in my favor at this point. Shortly after he Wrathed my Breaker, and I recurred it at the end step to then exile his Colonnade. World Breaker beatdowns sealed the deal here.
Round 2 vs Small Zoo (1-2)
G1: I mulled to a lousy 5 with Hierarch, Spellskite, Spellskite, land, land. He had a pretty busted started so chump blocking and redirecting some burn to Spellskite wasn't enough.
G2: He mulls to 5 and I keep a great 7 with something like EE, Timely, 2 lands, Hierarch, Reshaper in hand. Couldn't ask for better really. I ended up never even using the EE since his start was much slower and I won with Reality Smasher beatdowns.
G3: We both keep our 7s and I already had a Timely in hand and drew into EE early on. His start was about as busted as they come though - something like T1 Cat, T2 Experiment One, Guide, T3 Emissary, Atarka's Command, Bolt. I could have played the EE a turn earlier than I did, but I greedily held onto it and resolved a Timely Reinforcements first. I did get like a 5 for 1 with EE still. He continued to draw gas and also had a Torpor Orb out to blank a few of my cards. Like I ended up going Stirrings into Drowner, which then didn't give me enough blockers to stabilize while I was at 2 life as he drew into another haste threat / burn spell. I think I could have won this had I just done EE for a 3 for 1, then Timely the following turn (though 5 for 1 felt really good I must say).
Round 3 vs Lantern Control (1-2)
G1: I made a bad keep here of my 7: 5 lands (including a Cavern), Bird, and TKS. I was thinking I'll very likely get a T3 TKS. Of course I didn't as he Inquisitioned me T1 discarding my bird. Within a few turns he had Bridge in play and I knew my only outs was Displacer + TKS or Hierarch exalted triggers for attacking through the bridge, so I conceeded for the sake of time. Plus he already had Lantern + Shredder out so it would be very difficult to get what I needed anyways.
G2: I TKS a Bridge away while having a Fracturing Gust in hand. I just beat him down and he never gets a Bridge out.
G3: I keep a great hand with a Stony Silence in hand - again he Inquisitions it away. He quickly gets Shredder + Lantern online and mills my other Stony Silence. He also mills my Fracturing Gust. And right when I have Worldbreaker at the top of my deck, I was thinking "I don't care if he mills that one!" (to recur it) he plays Pyxis of Pandemonium and exiles it. Well, I'm pretty dead here. Other noteable sick points of this game was me drawing both my Engineered Explosives, him having a Bridge out, but he had Academy Ruins and I would not be able to swing for lethal (I would kill a Reshaper and a Displacer in the process). So I waited until I had lethal on board, but right at that point he plays a Welding Jar, which he could also recur as needed. Disgusting game. I ended up with a Displacer and TKS on board, but he had Spellskite out to redirect anyways so it didn't matter. Very frustrating - but that's Lantern for you. He did draw insanely well this game too.
Round 4: 8 rack (2-0)
G1: He plays a Rack T1 and Inquisition takes a Skyspawner away soon after. I TKS away a Victim of Night (he was tapped out then so couldn't cast it). TKS plus Hierarch exalted trigger beatdowns get there. I path some weird creature of his (7/7 creature that gets -1-1 for each card in my hand or something).
G2: Plays out very similarly. Nothing noteworthy to mention. Quick beatdowns and he doesn't disrupt me or deal with my threats well enough. He's on some budget version of the deck anyways so made some concessions there.
Overall... (2-2)
Though I lost to Zoo I feel like it was a pretty even matchup. We can get enough blockers out to stabilize and then slowly beat them down while leaving a few back usually. EE and Timely are total all-stars here for sure. And Lantern... well... **** Lantern what can I say. No one likes playing against it. That stupid Bridge...
I've been considering adding another World Breaker to the 75 - 1 in the main and the 2nd in the side. He has been great in a lot of matchups and any deck that isn't saving a Path for him he ends up being an all star in.
I'm wouldn't say "pretty favored". At best "slightly favored", but probably closer to even. I have won more often than not against Tron, but with only about 5 matches against them with this deck I wouldn't conclude too much from it. Theoretically we should not be favored - we are a slightly faster than usual midrange deck that goes bigger than other ones. We don't race quick enough or provide enough early disruption with our pressure to make it that favorable a matchup.
More like Selesnya Eldrazi! No blue at all! I've really been liking Skyspawner lately for Affinity/Infect and Drowner though a great card I've trimmed down to 3. Interesting to consider this version but not sure about it. Allows for a more consistent mana base and ability to go up to 2 or more Ghost Quarters. Tarmogoyf is typically pretty small in this shell. I would probably just go -4 Goyf for 2 Spellskite, 1 Bird, 1 Oath of Nissa (been liking this lately as my 5th Stirring). Thalia is another consideration for the 2 drop slot that Pascal Maynard (I believe?) tried out a while back. Oblivion Sower has a huge butt and an okay on-cast trigger - can only really be abused possibly by getting more lands for more mana to flicker the opponents stuff in this build really (other than flickering TKS to mill them out / strip cards). So Displacer isn't as good here in my opinion. Also the sideboard loses out on any form of counter magic which can make combo matchups even more of a nightmare. Not sure, but worth trying out.