I haven't tested it yet; I've been fooling with the list.Quote from DDS5I like the idea I would consider sleeving this 75. How much testing have you done with it
Let me know if you do. I'd love to see some results.
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- Tapped_Out
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3 Ashcloud Phoenix
4 Boon Satyr
3 Elvish Mystic
2 Fanatic of Xenagos
4 Heir of the Wilds
3 Polukranos, World Eater
4 Rattleclaw Mystic
4 Savage Knuckleblade
Planeswalkers (1):
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
Instants & Sorceries (9):
4 Crater's Claws
3 Lightning Strike
2 Temur Charm
3 Forest
2 Mountain
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Frontier Bivouac
4 Yavimaya Coast
1 Shivan Reef
3 Mana Confluence
2 Temple of Epiphany
2 Arc Lightning
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Hunt the Hunter
1 Lightning Strike
3 Magma Spray
1 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
3 Stubborn Denial
Round 1: Abzan Heroic (?) (won 2-0)
Couldn't really tell what plan he was on, as he had some very random cards and what appeared to me to be a very incoherent heroic configuration. Complete with like...Hardened Scales and some random green guys from Theros block that I can't even remember now but got multiple counters on them if you targeted them or something. Game 2 I brought in Magma Spray and my first play was to 2-for-1 him when he went to cast something on a Favored Hoplite. Pretty much was a blowout.
Round 2: Abzan Midrange (lost 1-2)
This deck was pretty much the Ari Lax version except I also saw Reaper of the Wilds. I wrecked him game one as he was just too slow. Ashcloud Phoenix did massive work. Game 2 he won a close one after parity was maintained for 6 or 7 turns, Game three I took a hand I shouldn't have.
Round 3: Sidisi Whip (won 2-0)
Between Lightning Strike and Crater's Claws, there wasn't anything going to stop me from steamrolling this guy. Game 2 I kept up mana for Stubborn Denial in case he tried to play whip. He never did. The final turn he had just tapped out for Sagu Mauler and I had an Ashcloud Phoenix with juuuust enough land and juuuust enough morphed Rattleclaw Mystics to Crater's Claws him to zero. That card is the read deal in this deck, by the way.
Round 4: Mardu Tokens (won 2-0)
I don't remember anything about this deck other than his Hordeling Outbursts and Goblin Rabblemasters. It was just too slow to handle me. Brought in Arc Lightning and cleared a path for beats. He was a younger player and instead of holding back his Butcher of the Horde to block with, he sacrificed two guys to give it haste and lifelink. A Lightning Strike EOT from me cleared his last token out of the way and I swung for lethal.
Round 5: Abzan Midrange (won 2-1) (again! I swear, the people playing this deck are all just Bad Spikes)
Ashcloud Phoenix was a huge problem for him unless he had Utter End, which he did sometimes. Elspeth never survived long enough to matter, thanks to my burn. We went to game three and I kept forgetting my Ferocious triggers on my Crater's Claws. I Disdainful Stroke'd his final card in hand, which was a Wingmate Roc. Then burned out his Rhino and in two turns he scooped.
All-stars:
Ashcloud Phoenix, Crater's Claws, Savage Knuckleblade, Boon Satyr
Underwhelming:
Fanatic of Xenagos, Polukranos, Temur Charm
Impressions
Overall, I love the deck, but I think it needs tuning. I realized while playing that I would almost always rather have the fourth Lightning Strike than either Temur Charm. Heir of the Wilds is very solid and I punched through with him for 4-9 damage on several occasions. Boon Satyr is very strong with his flash ability helps with the possibility of a blowout in some situations. Savage Knuckleblade is just the beast you would expect. More games were won off of burn spells in the final turns than anything else. I never really got to use Sarkhan but I imagine there are situations where you'd really want him. I found myself sometimes wishing that I had Stormbreath Dragon.
Strong deck. 10/10 would play again.
If it's that good, does it make sense to have the full four somewhere in our 75?
I have three in my sideboard, currently.
Hushwing Gryff will also assist you in the event that they do resolve a Whip. They won't get their constellation triggers and Hornet Queen becomes a Shock.
End Hostilities is indeed very good against Abzan. They dump their hands so quickly that you will often get 3- and 4-for-1's.
That said, you have to be careful. If they have resolved a planeswalker you have to do something about it first, or they will just re-stabilize.
For the folks on the 25-land version, Fated Retribution is also a thing. It is the best "reset" button we have in our colors though it is pretty expensive.
God, Dictate of Karametra is a ballsy play in a meta that has a fair number of devotion decks. I do really like these lists, though. Pearl Lake Ancient and Villainous Wealth are some intriguing wincons.
Interesting to note the lack of Prognostic Sphinx.
Silence the Believers becomes very good in a deck like this.
I would also include 1-2 copies of Embodiment of Spring. Helps the aggro matchup and converts to a land later in the game.
Also, the lack of mainboard disruption in the form of Thoughtseize makes me scratch my head. Counterspells are great but the deck seems like it would be weak to cards like Goblin Rabblemaster and Brimaz, King of Oreskos.
3 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Hushwing Gryff
4 Mantis Rider
4 Seeker of the Way
Artifacts & Enchantments (2):
2 Banishing Light
Instants & Sorceries (20):
2 Dig Through Time
1 Gods Willing
4 Jeskai Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Island
2 Mountain
3 Plains
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Shivan Reef
2 Flooded Strand
4 Mystic Monastery
2 Temple of Epiphany
4 Temple of Triumph
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
2 Deflecting Palm
3 Disdainful Stroke
2 Erase
2 Hushwing Gryff
2 Negate
2 Singing Bell Strike
I went down to 23 land for the obvious reason that I also cut the maindeck walkers. I want to be slick and smooth and aggro the living sh*t out of them.
The two Chandra are in the sideboard to bring in against Abzan, ostensibly to dilute their blocking plan.
Has anyone considered Ride Down in this deck? It seems pretty powerful, and in many cases is better than Gods Willing.
Also, I really, really love Hushwing Gryff. He nerfs a lot of stuff.
It gets to be absolutely insane with Ferocious enabled, I might add.
I don't run it anymore, but that does make a lot ot sense.
Against Temur, burn their dorks, run Magma Spray for this. It also kills Ashcloud Phoenix DEAD. You can also use Harness by Force to wreck them once they think they've stabilized and start going for your throat.
In both matchups, Dissolve and Nullify will be useful. You're right, Savage Knuckleblade is a difficult card for us to beat.
In game one you have to take the beatdown role and run with it. If you sit back at all, you will not win. You have to kill them quickly before they get a bunch of mobs on board. Rabblemaster, while normally good in our deck, is very bad against them. If you want to use him, you should also use 1-2 Gods Willing mainboard to protect him. Most players will block a 6/2 Goblin Rabblemaster with something. Gods Willing then basically becomes a removal spell. KEEP THEM OFF THEIR DORKS!
Game two you can board in all your Nullify, Disdainful Stroke (huge here), and Magma Sprays and sit back a little bit. You don't have to kill them right away, you need to prevent them from attaining board presence. They don't have any kind of draw power so it becomes a war of attrition where you must maintain parity until you can safely play a mob with mana up to do something. They have Crater's Claws and Lightning Strike as well—don't forget that.
It is highly winnable but you have to play very tight.
As for the Sidisi deck, use Erase and your counterspells. They are slower than we are and it is very important that they not stick a whip. Kill Sidisi as soon as you can. If you really fear this matchup, Tormod's Crypt will help immensely and it is not shameful to stock up on 2-3 in your sideboard..
If I were to play either one, however, I'd probably play Sylvan Library. The ability to actually draw the cards will come in handy.
Guile doesn't affect anything other than you get to (sort of) Ponder on each of your upkeeps. Past turn 3, you're looking at the cards you were going to draw anyway.
Suspension Field is very good against Abzan and IMO it's probably the only extra thing you need to punch through. If you max on Suspension Field and still need removal, Singing Bell Strike is another option.
Disdainful Stroke mainboard is probably fine even in a metagame that is short on Abzan. Another card for consideration is probably Nullify.
Yeah, Temur Monsters is a huge problem for us. Their matchup against us is so good that they don't even need to bring in Arbor Colossus, which stops us dead in our tracks.
The Whip decks can be combated against with Erase in the sideboard. You really just need to keep them off Whip and burn out their guys.
Nice! Congratulations.
Do you miss Seeker of the Way at all?
I'm not going to tell you that you'rr foolish for playing Mirri's Guile, but to say that it's ideal or better than Sylvan Library is a huge stretch.
As you stated, it's probably about which one you prefer. I prefer Sylvan Library, and apparently so does WeaponX. You prefer Guile. Play Guile, and we'll play library.
The guy is running some singletons, though. Maybe it'll work for him!