MTG Salvation

Thanks for your response. I have always felt this deck plays pretty awful off the top, which is why I like the Voids so much. Best of luck in your future efforts.

I'm surprised you don't play any Zhalfirin Void in your list. I run a playset, and would probably not run fewer than three of them. I don't use Cavern of Souls, in part because the counterspell decks tend to struggle against a Scourge or two backed up by a Relic. At that point their only real out is Terminus, but Extraction can often get all the Scourges back into exile as needed.

Just my $.02. I've played this deck off and on since late 2016, and to me Zhalfirin Void seems like an irreplaceable component of the deck.

Hierarch is better than CoCo is.

I dunno, because this is FNM level magic, casual REL?

I played this deck for several months a couple years ago, and recently decided it looked very well positioned again; for example, Chalice is amazing against Phoenix decks, and the recent resurgence of Burn looks good for us, too.

I play twice a week on paper at a competitive LGS with a large turnout of 40+ players on Mondays and 60+ on Fridays. Over the past three events I am 11-2-1, going 4-0-1, 3-1, 4-1. Here is my list:

Winds is dead by itself but Bolt-proofs Supreme and Queller, and speeds UW's clock. It might be worth trying as a 1- or 2-of, maybe.

I'm beginning to think UW near just loses against Bant when both are piloted by skilled players. And it's not the highly vulnerable CoCo that's the problem, it's Hierarch. The T! ramp is very good for Bant, but the exalted triggers make it a huge problem for UW. Exalted forces a choice between allowing chip shot damage, often for several turns, or unfavorable trades or chump blocks.

UW players, how do you deal with this dynamic? If you're like me then you run into Bant a lot, and this always makes the matchup feel very bad on my side of the table.

Deprive has been real, real bad for me in UW Spirits. Frank Karsten would argue that UU is a real stretch for most of the usual UW mana bases. I guess it gets more playable with more draw and filtering, though. My counterspell package looks like this: 1x Remand main; in the side, 1x Dispel, 1x Negate, 1x Unified Will, 1x Disdainful Stroke. It seems like the right mix to me--whenever I want counterspells, I have at least two or three relevant ones to side in, no matter the match up. I'd like a sixth 2 drop counter but don't have room. I've considered Serum Visions for all the reasons Streex points out, but haven't tried it.

I wonder if a deck that plays Curious Obsession and Serum Visions might actually be able to make some hay out of Topplegeist.

Quote from dcovino »

Get in the habit of activating the vial and giving your opponent the chance to respond to the activation on the stack before putting the creature in play.

I want to second this comment, not revealing your Vial creature before the trigger resolves is extremely important.

It can also be fun to occasionally dummy-activate Vial, without intending to play a creature, just to keep opponents on their toes, if you have the breathing room to do this or want to force a play before you untap.

SpookyGoose, thanks for stopping by the forum! I took some of your ideas and have been tweaking my own UW build, and to me the deck seems like a pretty good call right now. Seeing your list inspired me to finally try the Curious Obsessions and ditch the Phantasmal Images--I also like the Horizon Canopy tech. Finally, you convinced me that I'd be OK at 20 lands. However, like StreexGeist, your Auriok Champion looks a little greedy to me, and I also wonder how well you like it--WW and UU spells have been very hard to cast with my land package. I did not like Deprive, for instance (although of course you can't Vial in a Deprive).

Here is the build I went 4-0-1 with today. I could easily have won the draw, if I hadn't punted hard in G1. The event was a "Golden Ticket for the Portland GP" tourney:

I play twice a week (nine rounds) on paper at a busy and competitive LGS. I put UW together after not liking the Bant/Vial list, and my current record across my changing builds is 14-3-2.

Here is my thinking about my choices:

• The Remand is a pet card, and until today I had two in the main, with three Echoing Truth in the side, but I moved one Truth to the main today, and it felt right. I have to admit that Remand doesn't really feel very relevant most of the time.
• I really dig Nebelgast Herald a lot. Playing with its ability at flash speed is very good against a lot of creature decks (ahem *Humans*). It and Rattlechains are a dynamite pairing in many game states. I kind of want a second copy in the side, actually.
• Echoing Truth is an absolute all-star for me. It bounces opponent's stuff (Hi, Bedlam Reveler...Bye!), often getting two-for-one (from a tempo perspective). It's explicitly important against graveyard decks, but also hits so many other troublesome permanents. It also saves our own stuff, whether creatures against Terminus, or a RiP against Dredge. I'm not considering fewer than three in the 75.
• Last night and today were the first rounds I played with Curious Obsession, and I am completely sold on it. I am probably going to take out the Remand for the third copy.
• I side out Geist a lot. The lack of evasion really matters.
• I absolutely do not want to run Worship or Settle the Wreckage in my 20 land list.
• I'm loaded for bear against graveyard and artifact decks right now, which feels correct for the current meta, the way I see it. But I've beaten Dredge 2-0 in the last couple days, including once on a mull to five (on the draw), and also two post-board games where I drew zero hate, so maybe I'm over-prepared. Again, Truth helps a LOT against these decks.
• I waffle back and forth on the Mutavault/Moorland Haunt split.

I am thinking about some minor changes: -1 Remand for +1 Obsession in the main, and -1 Stony, -1 RiP for +1 Hurkyl's Recall, +1 Nebelgast Herald in the side. The list feels great to play right now.

Myr Retriever's text reads "return another artifact card to hand...."

Like Ernenwein, I do not like the Vial/CoCo build. Trying to do too many things, IMO. I will also never consider a 4 CMC card correct, in a 21 land build with no dorks or card selection/draw--and though I'd like one or two Curious Obsession, I still have a couple of Remand in my main deck.

Since I prefer the UW take on Spirits, I'm considering a full playset of Echoing Truth in the 75, because of its broad utility against all kinds of permanents, and its double utility against Terminus/Settle the Wreckage.

Pretty sure Tajic can't mentor himself, right? The text says "target attacking creature with lesser power."

Thoughts on a playset of Surgical Extraction in the side, in place of the Relics? Gets under Bridgevine on the draw, leaves mana for our own game plan.

Qasali Pridemage is no harder to cast than Teeg, comes down the turn before Blood Moon, can wall 1/1s, and pumps attackers. You can name "Wizard" with Cavern or Territory if you need to hard cast it off a tribal land, enabling Meddling and Reflector. It even deals with the rare Torpor Orb where nothing else would. IMO it is very nearly strictly better than Reclamation Sage in Vial Humans. I made the switch a long time ago, and have never regretted it.

Knight of Autumn is probably the go-to from now on, though.