@borterthecleric Almost always, Ayli is only as good as a 2/3 deathtouch for 2 is good. Right now with humans and eldrazi it seems like a decent wall, but against anything else it will usually be too slow and/or fragile to ever use her abilities, especially her last one. As far a multicolored cards, I don't think anybody has gone beyond a light splash for Lingering Souls, Anguished Unmaking, and maybe some number of Zealous Persecutions.
Martyr can still be decent depending on what you're playing against, but I would just stick with Serra Ascendant.
@toroks The pro of Martyr/Serra lists is, of course, the potential for a 6/6 lifelink creature on turn 2 to steal unfavorable matchups. However, the popularity of Fatal Push has decreased the power of Serra in general, especially when you are trying to activate it in later turns. Also, the combo is never guaranteed and drawing a serra or martyr by themselves in later turns is usually lackluster.
The pro for lists like Lepore's is the ability to add specific hate cards/add additional copies of powerful cards like Archangel and Auriok Champion, and in the linked list, Mirran Crusader and Worship. As a result, these types of decks are usually more streamlined and consistent since they don't have to deal with often dead cards later in the game. While you don't have the potential to to steal games with the combo, only a few decks right now are weak to it, like Eldrazi Tron, Counters Company, and maybe Scapeshift (Just skimming through the most popular decks). Depending on your meta, a more consistent main deck with more access to hate cards may be more appealing.
I think going into 3 colors could be fine, but I'd be wary if your reasons to do so are "just to do it" rather than to adapt to a very specific meta. I think any 2 color splash versions are sufficient enough to combat most niche environments. Besides Abrupt Decay, I can't think of many cards that warrant the hassle of going 3 colors.
Essence Warden: Unless you were going really heavy into green, I wouldn't play it. Also, I don't see myself ever needing more than 8 1-drop sisters.
Orzhov Charm and Dromoka's Command: Both very good cards and worth at least a 1-of in 2 color lists, but going three color and including them both seems a little much.
I think in an Abzan version, I would replace the Procession with Lingering Souls since they are pretty equal in power level (especially in a slower list) and is easier on the mana.
I am a strong advocate for the 1-of martyr. The times the 1-of is useful (and game changing) is against control and sometimes midrange, both matches where you are not dumping your hand, whereas 3-4 martyrs are often dead against control but are very useful against combo and tron.
Also, Flagstones allows to to run 4 Ghost Quarters with confidence. I can't count how many times I Ghost Quartered my Flagstones to play Spectral Procession on turn 3. Also, it makes splashing slightly easier and can consistently get your Mistveil Plains (which is used mostly to infinitely recur Squadron Hawk).
My immediate reaction was to say it was bad, but after looking at it more, I'd say it is a good example of altering the list to an expected metagame (although the top 8 probably didn't reflect the Anger of the Gods/Valakut meta he probably tuned towards).
A 2 mana 4/4 with those abilities is great. But it's not that. It's a 2 mana 1/1 that already needs to combo with 3 sisters, multiple creatures, or needs a clear path to attack to get in the last lifegain triggers. We are already relying on lifegain synergy to make our main wincons (Ajani's Pridemate and Serra Ascendant) work, we don't need to make it even easier for control or midrange decks to break up our game plan. They will not allow the critical mass of creatures needed to make him flip, nor is it a good idea to overextend just to get a 4/4. Lastly, we already 'destroy' dredge and burn.
By all means test it and show its worth. I would love another good creature in the deck, but I'm not optimistic.
Lone Rider was talked about awhile ago. General consensus was that it is pretty bad. I would rather add in more token generators, Auriok Champions, Gideons, etc. than another lifegain synergy creature (a pretty mediocre one at that) that already requires we have a board state.
Has anyone considered Jace, Vryn's Prodigy? While we may not have a critical mass of relevant spells to flashback, I think his main utility is filtering (Fringe case you can put permanents in the grave to bring back with a Titan). Also the spell issue could be solved by adding things like Ojutai's Command, a 1-of Gifts Ungiven, Etc. (Maybe even Serum Visions?) which already are fringe playable in the deck.
In case you haven't noticed, there is a budget deck at the bottom of the primer that is a nice starting point. If you wanted to keep it mono white or just include some of those cards, then they seem like fine includes; just make sure you are not diluting the deck too much. For that list, I would include all 4 of Honor of the Pure and maybe include some extra token cards such as Midnight Haunting, replacing the Not Forgotten, as well as some number of Martyr of Sands and/or Suture Priest to help turn on Lone Rider. (Those would replace the Brave the Elements, you definitely don't need all 4 maindeck).
Paladin of Prahv
Yes, lifelink on a giant pridemate does seem strong, except if you don't have that, you are left with a useless 3/4 for 6 mana. Even at it's best (giving ajani lifelink) it doesn't take much to see that the paladin is terrible.
I've seen people running an Elspeth, Sun's Champion in the sideboard of E&T. This is probably for Bant Eldrazi, while also serving a similar role as Gideon in midrange/Control matches. Would this be feasible, or is it too expensive? I haven't had a chance to test her yet.
Martyr can still be decent depending on what you're playing against, but I would just stick with Serra Ascendant.
The pro for lists like Lepore's is the ability to add specific hate cards/add additional copies of powerful cards like Archangel and Auriok Champion, and in the linked list, Mirran Crusader and Worship. As a result, these types of decks are usually more streamlined and consistent since they don't have to deal with often dead cards later in the game. While you don't have the potential to to steal games with the combo, only a few decks right now are weak to it, like Eldrazi Tron, Counters Company, and maybe Scapeshift (Just skimming through the most popular decks). Depending on your meta, a more consistent main deck with more access to hate cards may be more appealing.
Essence Warden: Unless you were going really heavy into green, I wouldn't play it. Also, I don't see myself ever needing more than 8 1-drop sisters.
Orzhov Charm and Dromoka's Command: Both very good cards and worth at least a 1-of in 2 color lists, but going three color and including them both seems a little much.
I think in an Abzan version, I would replace the Procession with Lingering Souls since they are pretty equal in power level (especially in a slower list) and is easier on the mana.
www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/515708#paper
My immediate reaction was to say it was bad, but after looking at it more, I'd say it is a good example of altering the list to an expected metagame (although the top 8 probably didn't reflect the Anger of the Gods/Valakut meta he probably tuned towards).
By all means test it and show its worth. I would love another good creature in the deck, but I'm not optimistic.
Yes, lifelink on a giant pridemate does seem strong, except if you don't have that, you are left with a useless 3/4 for 6 mana. Even at it's best (giving ajani lifelink) it doesn't take much to see that the paladin is terrible.
I've seen people running an Elspeth, Sun's Champion in the sideboard of E&T. This is probably for Bant Eldrazi, while also serving a similar role as Gideon in midrange/Control matches. Would this be feasible, or is it too expensive? I haven't had a chance to test her yet.