I'm less sold on Collective Brutality currently, though I'm willing to experiment with one copy. The issue is that it doesn't hit any good targets that couldn't be more efficiently dealt with via fatal push, and the other modes aren't always helpful either. I still think Despark could be good, at least in the sideboard, though I'm uncertain of whether I'd rather have it orDisdainful Strokethere.I'm also experimenting with 1x Blast Zone in the main and 1x Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord in the sideboard as an extra toolbox card. Thoughts?
Hey guys, long time no see! I've been fairly busy with school, but now that that's done for the semester, I have some more time for Magic. Anyways, it looks like new Teferi is a card that I'll need to look at trying out in my ester list, but what are peoples' thoughts on Despark? It looks great for the deck as a complement to fatal push, and deals with most of the bothersome/annoying threats out there (arclight phoenix, crackling drake, karn liberated, Jace the mind sculptor, etc...) The only time I think it would be bad would be against dredge and burn, but there are enough tools to be able to deal with those decks already. I'm thinking of trying a 2:1 split of Despark and Path to Exile to alongside my 3x fatal push. Has anyone experimented with this? What are your thoughts?
Edit: I may end up waiting until next week to play in my next tournament. I have some other things that I'll have to take care of, so I may or may not end up wanting to play tomorrow night.
Report time again! I had another model tournament at my LGS, with 21 people attending. I made one new adjustment to my sideboard, swapping Unmoored Ego in my sideboard for Lavinia, Azorius Renegade. Ego was there mainly against Tron anyways, and not only can Lavinia be vialed in, but she has really dumb synergy with Spell Queller.
First round was against Bogles, though they never actually played a bogle either game. G1 I was on the play and fetched out a Watery Grave on my opponent's turn in order to Fatal Push her Dryad Arbor. I then began shoving creatures onto the board and beat her down, and even though she was able to get me to 3 with a buffed Kor Spiritdancer, I was able to outrace her.
G2 saw my opponent mulligan to 6, then realize that she'd kept a bad hand because she missed that it didn't have any creatures. This was a pretty boring game, with my opponent doing nothing but playing lands while I swung in for the win.
Round 2 had me playing against the Esper Faeries deck that I'd missed out on seeing in action the last time (since it just looked like U/W Control the last time I played it). My opponent dropped T2 Bitterblossom and played very reactively, but my hand was largely gas, and I just played a waiting game of making profitable blocks while Bitterblossom drained him down. Spell Queller stopped Vendilion Clique and Ojutai's Command got rid of a Mistbind Clique while also bringing back a selfless spirit that had been countered earlier. He bounced Bitterblossom to his hand when he was at 1 life, via a Snapcastered Cryptic Command, but Creeping Tar Pit was good enough to push through for the win.
Game 2 had me clearly on the offensive, beating down on my opponent and forcing him to play to my speed. Eventually, he tried to survive by playing a pair of Spellstutter Sprites as blockers, but I vialed in Deputy of Detention before blockers were declared, and my opponent conceded.
Unfortunately, the rest of my night didn't go so well. Next round, I ended up paired against Dredge, which had an ungodly turn 1 and turn 2. I couldn't even try to keep up and quickly ended up scooping. Game 2 had my sideboard plan come in clutch, with both copies of Rest in Peace being drawn in order for me to secure a quick concession. However, game 3 went horribly, with my opponent getting another explosive start and using multiple copies of conflagrate to kill my board, then to kill me.
Then, Round 4 I ended up paired against the same Izzet Phoenix player I'd played last time. However, this time I got absolutely wrecked, with a bad mulligan to 6 followed by missing a land drop on turn 2, while my opponent pretty much hit what they needed, between Thing in the Ice and Pteramander. Game 2 was looking better, but even with RiP on the board and dealing with an on curve Thing, 3 resolved Crackling Drakes ended up being too much to handle. So, with a final record of 2-2, I ended up placing 8th.
I'm trying not to react too radically or hastily, but I'm finding that Lingering Souls is just a poor card most of the time. It doesn't really trade well given all the recursive creatures around, and I'm rarely eager to see it off the top. At the same time, I'm finding I would really like mainboard GY hate much of the time. Similarly, people are consistently playing multiples of the same creature onto the board early, and Path to Exile isn't all that great. So, I'm thinking of cutting my number of copies of Lingering Souls to 2, and maybe cutting 1 Selfless Spirit for a pair of Remorseful Clerics to give me some extra graveyard hate. I'm also thinking of replacing Path to Exile with Declaration in Stone. While Path is better in an environment that rewards efficient 1/1 trades, it's not great against many of the threats currently being played. Declaration may be sorcery speed and cost 1 more, but it will permanently exile phoenixes, bloodghasts, Prized Amalgams, Champions of the Parish, etc... along with tokens; as an extra benefit, Declaration's downside of giving clues seems preferable to immediately ramping my opponent. What do you guys think about some of these adjustments?
Ye that's the list I've posted on fryday I think. I've hit another 5-0 on saturday too,and almost did it a third time today losing the final game 2-1 to that dam tron.
I am currently testing Sorin, Lord of Innistrad in replacement of Nebelgast Herald, which is a little underpowered in my version running no Moorland Haunt and he 3x souls which come at sorcery speed.
I like Sorin defening himself while ticking up, something Gideon Ally doesn't do, he defends by staying at 4. I also very much appreciate the emblem (the bonus we only care about is that affecting the power of our creatures, as Osumatthew said) and the possibility to go for it while surviving, I believe it can take over the game against control and midrange if uncontested.
You'll have to let me know how things go with Sorin. I don't fully agree that the power boost is all that's important, because I find that having an additional point of toughness is appreciated too. Having an extra point of toughness means that your board won't die to something like Golgari Charm or Zealous Persecution, and it also keeps your Phantoms and quellers out of range of Lightning Bolt. Plus, Gideon's 2/2s seem much more impactful than Sorin's 1/1s, especially given that Sorin's ult is less than impressive too.
Alright, time for an update after my performance last night! As usual, I fiddled with my deck list a bit beforehand, picking up the one copy of Deputy of Detention that my LGS had in stock, and using it to replace Echoing Truth in my sideboard. I also swapped one copy of Geist of Saint Traft in my sideboard out for Gideon, Ally of Zendikar. With those adjustments made, I sat down and began play.
R 1
I lost the die roll, and thus was on the draw, a running theme for the night. Fortunately, the cards treated me much better than the dice. I ended up against a U/W base deck that played like U/W control, though I found out later that they were also running a fairies package that I never saw (with Bitterblossom and Spellstutter Sprite. I had a blistering opener G1, dropping vial on 1, then curving out into wanderer, followed by Selfless Spirit from the vial and Rattlechains flashed out with my actual mana. I quickly rushed my opponent down by flashing in a Captain, and dropped Spell Queller to stop an attempted settle the wreckage.
G2 was a bit trickier, as I didn't have vial, but I still had a pretty beautiful curve. I played Wanderer on 1 followed by Rattlechains, Selfless Spirit, and Drogskol Captain. My opponent resolved Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and used a combination of Path to Exile and Snapcaster Mage to clear most of my board. I ended up flooding a fair bit, but creeping tar pit showed its value again, pushing a bit of damage, then working to bluff my opponent into essentially tapping out to activate Field of Ruin. In response, I used the pit for mana and flashed out Drogskol captain with a Rattlechains in play and my opponent at 3, allowing me to swing for the win.
WIN, 1-0
R 2
I had gotten to see the tail end of my next opponent's last match, so I knew he was on Izzet Phoenix. This was definitely one of the matchups I'd been looking forward to testing, and my deck didn't disappoint. I was on the draw again and G1 saw my opponent being a bit slow, but still having Thing in the Ice on 2. This was where being in Esper really paid off, as I was able to essentially let my opponent run spells out of their hand to tick up TitI before using fatal push. I then responded by pushing damage of my own now that my opponent's hand was pretty depleted. The ripped an Arclight Phoenix off the top, which they had to hard cast into my Spell Queller, and that was enough to give me the win
G2 was similar to G1, except that my opponent got an Arclight Phoenix going out of the yard. I killed another TitI with fatal push, and my opponent used Surgical Extraction on it to help set up reviving the Phoenix. I had kept a 1 lander with Aether vial, and now my opponent got to look at my hand and see why: I had triple Supreme Phantom, Eidolon of Rhetoric, and a Drogskol Captain just waiting to be dropped in. After exiling my remaining pushes, ended creating a nasty wall, with all 3 phantoms, allowing them to eat his phoenixes, and one of which (after I added the captain) I was happy to trade for a 9/4 Crackling Drake. With Eidolon on the board (and it sitting at 4/7), my opponent had no realistic way to come back, and I ended up smashing him in the face a few turns for the win.
WIN, 2-0
R 3
This time I didn't know what I was playing against and, since I was on the draw again, kept a hand with 5 lands (including 3 fetches), Mausoleum Wanderer, and Fatal Push. My opponent dropped Thoughtseize on 1, and I was amused as he struggled to choose which of my 1 drops to take. He eventually got rid of the wanderer, but since I was able to rip most of the lands out from my deck, my draws turned into straight gas. I discovered that my opponent was on Mardu Pyromancer, and we had a really grindy game. He played several pyromancers, forcing me to kill them, and used a Liliana of the Veil to force me to sacrifice a creature. I top decked Lingering Souls and ended up casting both halves of it, and after adding a Phantom to the board, I was able to start taking over, since my opponent couldn't outrace me. This was also the first game that I actually got to play with Bygone Bishop, and I must say I was pretty happy with it. Sure, it died blocking a Pyromancer once my opponent dropped a Kolaghan's Command, but rather than getting a clean 2/1, my opponent had to settle for card parity due to the clue token the Bishop had generated. I really like Bishop as a 1 of for those matches where finding extra cards is important.
G2 was a disaster for my opponent. I dropped a T1 aether vial, which let me play a Phantom the next turn, and after it was removed, I used Vial to drop Mausoleum wanderer onto the board. My opponent tried to bolt it and Rattlechains came down to stop that. Since he had cast a lingering souls, my opponent used his main phase to deploy one of his sideboard cards, Zealous Persecution. Unfortunately, instead of being a blowout for him, I activated Vial and dropped in another Phantom, making his play substantially worse. I then played a Selfless Spirit the next turn, with Vial being activated to drop Drogskol captain. With his fatal push targeting my selfless spirit still on the stack, my opponent tried to kill the captain, but after I sacrificed the Wanderer to counter it, my opponent scooped, as he couldn't deal with my board state.
WIN, 3-0
For the last round, I was happy to go ahead and agree to a tie with my opponent, and we just played the match for testing purposes. I was on the play for once, and had a 1 land hand with 2 vials. I knew my opponent was playing Blue Moon, and kept the hand; I ended up steamrolling pretty handily as he didn't have a way to deal with my plays.
Games 2-3 weren't so great though, as I couldn't really overcome my opponent's sideboard plan. G2 had me keep relative parity and even put my opponent at 1, but a combination of Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Batterskull out of the sideboard was too much. In game 3, I had to mulligan, and even though I kept a decent hand (land, vial, and creatures), I could not find a second land drop. I ended up seeing most of my creatures removed and I got beaten down by Legion Warboss.
FInal Record: 3-0-1 (or 3-1 going by the results of the testing match). I was extremely pleased with how my deck performed, and I'm realizing just how important the vials are to the list. I think my biggest issue isn't so much the deck itself, or even my play, but just my ability to anticipate sideboard plans and to determine when I need to mulligan, and when a hand is worth keeping. These are skills that I continue to struggle with, but hopefully with more testing and experience I'll be able to improve those skills.
I did test both the gideons Trials and Ally in the past months while I still was on UW Spirits. trials is just not good enough for this deck, Ally of Zendikar is ok, it's a good card against midrange although assassin's trophy now is an issue and it really got worse when you compare it to the days when pulse was their only answer. It's not very well spended against aggro even when you are on the draw and you're likely to hit your 4th land. Against control it's mediocre, he is a threat but path to exile is a clean way to deal with it. Those tokens aren't bad, there's a weird situation where you are trying both to have the emblem and have the gideon on the field, so you want to tick up as you play it to emblem on the next turn, and there you expose it to pte and D shpere as you pass the turn. So you have to either produce a token, but what if they D sphere it ? 4 mana for a token and a card off your opponent's hand? Or you're going straight for the emblem, and this is why I prefer F Winds because it's coming down earlier and it's just as hard to remove, actually it's harder to remove because you can't path or attack it with creatures.
Sorry if this sounds a bit like a brainstorming, but these are the considerations I have made after testing it a while. A friend of mine has played it too in a different deck with the same purpose of grinding against midrange and controls, but we both came to this conclusion.
I'm not planning on maining Gideon, but I'm thinking that I'll put a copy into the sideboard (replacing one of my Geists). It seems really good as a top end threat against control or maybe even a decent midrange tool. Obviously it's bad against aggro decks, but that's why it's in the sideboard. I have another tournament opportunity tonight, so I'll see if it works and report back later.
The other two walkers I was considering were Sorin, Solemn Visitor which seems pretty good, though he can't really be overly powerful on his own, and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad which can plus to make extra creatures, or minus right away like Gideon to create half of the anthem effect (and probably the more important half if you're wanting to push through damage).
Alright, I have another card I've been thinking about, since you've mentioned favorable winds Streex. What do you think about Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? It comes down a few turns later, which might be an issue, but it can continuously generate threats or come down and create a glorious anthem style of effect for the entire team. It seems pretty good, especially since I'm not going to be running Jace, the Mind Sculptor (because I don't have a copy and he's still around $100), but it is a bit slow.
One thing I have been thinking about for a while now is Pestilent Spirit. This seems really good as either an attacker, since it forces a 2 for 1 with the nasty combination of menace and deathtouch (which makes it as good or better than flying for getting damage through), or a solid blocker that can take things like Bogles or huge ground threats out (particularly if you flash it in or drop it with Aether Vial). It also doesn't really tax your mana much, since it only has 1 black symbol in its cost. What do people think about running a copy of this in the sideboard?
The other thing I'm looking for is peoples' thoughts on mulligan decisions for the deck. I've been doing some testing, and I've tried to follow general mulligan advice (though that doesn't help much when I seem to consistently draw no lands or 5 lands and no creatures), but I'd like to know what other people think about specific mulligan considerations for spirits in particular.
So, if you think that Geist isn't suited for the Esper build, what would you suggest replacing it with in the board? Again, I'd prefer something to help against control, since that seems to be the worst matchup for the deck, but I'm open to suggestions.
One thing I can't agree with is Geist in Esper. Geist is all what Esper is not planning to do: This version keeps the control of the early turns, makes land drops, ticks vial up, then races back the opponent. Of course you re still taking the aggro role against controls and big mana, but Geist isn't necessary when we have lingering souls to sustain the beat down.
Geist is not necessary when you properly use your resources, finding the right balance between committing to the board and saving some gas in case of the board being sweeped.
This is the first thing I'd change in a list with black.
I can't really agree with this based on my experiences, including last night. Maybe things will work differently now that I have vials to run, but I could not get a foothold against my control opponent; I even resolved 2 copies of lingering souls, both for their initial costs and their flashback costs, which are supposed to be one of the deck's best tools to grind out control. I still lost horribly (after they tutored for golgari charm, then flashed it back with snapcaster mage. Everything I played out got countered or removed immediately. Geist of Saint Traft doesn't have that issue: your opponent can't kill it once it hits the board, and it gives you that push that you need. I'll admit it's probably not great in most other matchups (though I've heard it's also good against Tron and I wish I'd thought to bring it in there), but it's one of your best weapons against control decks.
Alright, so now that vials are actually a thing for me (I'm planning on picking up the other two copies today), this is what my adjusted list is looking like. For the 4 vials coming in, I shaved down my Remorseful Clerics, 1 copy of Fatal Push, and a land (the second Watery Grave). I also decided to take out the copy of shambling vent and replace it with a fourth flooded strand, not because it wasn't good, but just because I'm tired of getting land flooded, and having 8 fetchlands keeps my land count constant while also giving me the ability to thin my deck of other lands. Hopefully having the playset of vials will make my control matchups a bit more winnable, because those have continued to be a nightmare despite my attempts to alleviate the problem.
I'm also looking to potentially make a few slight sideboard changes. Notably, I think swapping Zealous Persecution for a copy of Settle the Wreckage sounds quite good, as it hits the same major targets while being far more useful against the other go-wide strategies in modern (humans, elves, other spirit decks, etc...). If I can actually find copies, I'll also end up trading out Echoing Truth for a Deputy of Detention. Having the deputy as a 2x seems good, but I'm struggling to really find cards I'd be willing to cut for a second copy. Do people have any additional suggestions/recommendations based on these changes, or have alternative/superior adjustments they'd suggest?
Alright, post tournament report time! I made my last minute adjustments to my list by buying the copy of Darkslick Shores that I'd said I'd include, and also swapped out a copy of Disdainful Stroke from my sideboard for Echoing Truth, so I'd at least have some response to an Ensnaring Bridge. Seeing as today was Valentine's Day, I wasn't sure if we'd have enough people to fire, but I think we had about 10 people show up. I got my first round pairing, and started play.
M 1
I was rather confused as to what I was playing when I started this game. I won the die roll and started on the play. While I didn't have a turn 1 Wanderer, I was able to establish a decent sized board. My opponent played a Relentless Dead which was not something I expected to see. I flashed out a Rattlechains during their end step and, not wanting to let them get value, I pushed the zombie during my main phase while they were tapped out before adding a Supreme Phantom to the board and applying pressure. I dropped a Spell Queller on a Phyrexian Obliterator, which felt amazing, then proceeded to push damage through with my fliers and Creeping Tar Pit, getting a win.
Having some idea of what to expect, I dropped 2 Lingering Souls for my RiPs out of the sideboard and we went to G2. My opponent played a Thoughtseize and took a Queller out of my hand, though my grip was pretty stacked. I proceeded to play out a pair of Rattlechains, while my opponent developed a pair of Relentless Dead. He tried to Inquisition of Kozilek me when I was on 4 cards, but I flashed out a Supreme Phantom and pathed one of his creatures, leaving only a pair of basic lands for him to see. He tried racing me with Bloodghast, but he couldn't match the speed of my deck, and my Shambling Vent would have eaten one of his creatures while gaining life regardless.
Apparently, the deck was Mono B Devotion, and my opponent just never got around to being able to resolve Gray Merchant of Asphodel, since I was applying so much pressure. This felt like a great matchup, and I gladly took a 1-0 start.
M 2
Things went downhill from there, however. The next match saw me paired up against a really strange Sultai control deck stacked full of counter spells and removal, with Wilderness Reclamation and Blue Sun's Zenith to keep digging through his deck and grinding me out. I just could not get anything to stick or resolve in either game and ended up getting absolutely crushed. I wonder if I should have mulliganed harder for Rattlechains, Selfless Spirit, or Mausoleum Wanderer, but I'm not convinced that I could have won even with those cards. I'd really love to hear some feedback on suggestions on how to beat this in the future. I don't think that the deck is too powerful by any means, but I just don't really know how to combat it.
M 3 This one hurt a bit. I was up against a humans deck, and their G1 curve was brilliant, with vial on 1, a Kitesail Freebooter taking my Fatal Push, with Noble Hierarch and Reflector Mage to really smash my game plan. I lost G1, but managed to grind out a win in G2, with double Captain and double Supreme Phantom backed by Selfless Spirit to hold off his creatures, while Tar Pit punched in for damage each turn. On game 3, I thought I had a decent start, by pushing a T1 Champion of the Parish and having a decent curve of creatures, but his double reflector mage, mantis rider and Noble Hierarch really let him push me into a corner. To make things even worse, he had a T3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar that I didn't have a way to deal with, meaning my creatures couldn't even come out to block and trade. I managed to get some value via Blessed Alliance from the Board, but it wasn't enough to stop his curve, and he ended up winning.
M 4 I was feeling a bit disappointed after the previous rounds, and pairings ended up being rather awkward due to drops. I ended up playing against a Tron player (who was either 2-1 or 3-0) after being paired up. Game 1 was a disaster, as despite attempting to apply pressure and curve out, I just could not come back from a T4 Tron into Wurmcoil (which I pathed) into Ulamog into a Walking Ballista. I didn't have much of a shot at winning that one, but I knew exactly which cards I was bringing out of the board here. Game 2 I managed to apply quick pressure, and my Stony Silence and Disdainful Strokes kept her threats off the board so that I could crack through for the win. Game 3 ended up being a nail biter. I landed Stony Silence on T2, but she hit natural Tron on 3; fortunately, she didn't have much to do with the mana, playing a walking ballista for 3 and finding All is Dust off of an Ancient Stirrings. I was slightly annoyed, because I had Unmoored Ego in hand, and if I'd been on the play, I could have kept her off Tron for the whole game. Instead, I had to settle for using it to snag the All is Dust, to keep my Silence on the field, and saw that her hand was World Breaker and Sylvan Scrying, both dead cards without green mana. I played pretty conservatively, slowly building my board state and using Disdainful Stroke to counter Ugin. She ended up ghost quartering herself to find a forest, cast the World Breaker (which ate another Stroke after exiling my stony silence), then cracked a chromatic star/sphere to add more green in order to cast the scrying and replace the Tron land. However, she didn't have mana to pump the Ballista, which had to settle for dropping to 1 counter and shooting down my selfless spirit (which was sacrificed in response). I had a Phantom and Remorseful Cleric left, which really pressured her life total and kept her from really going off; she had Oblivion Stone, but decided to cast a Thragtusk in order to stabilize her health. This was where my adjustments really shone, as Ojutai's Command countered the creature and brought my selfless spirit back to the battlefield. I figured she'd slipped up, and she realized it too before asking if we could go back and let her respond to the stack by cracking the O Stone before the selfless spirit hit the field again. Being 1-2 at this point, I was torn because I was happy to take advantage of a misplay by my opponent, but I decided that, since we hadn't actually advanced the game state, I'd allow her to crack the stone and clear the board. However, I was able to dump my hand, which was another Selfless Spirit and a Supreme Phantom, putting her life total to 6. Next turn, she top decked Karn Liberated and tried exiling one of my spirits, which I sacrificed in response, before scrying for a ghost quarter to stop my potential win with Creeping Tar Pit. However, another Supreme Phantom off the top gave me exact lethal, finally ending the game.
Final Record: 2-2; 3rd place
I can't say I'm exactly thrilled by how the deck performed, but I did better than my record would suggest, since I'm pretty sure the decks I lost to ended up placing first and second. I think that the list is amazing against certain decks, but my tempo was too far behind in dealing with humans, and I couldn't deal with their tempo removal (mainly reflector mage). When I hit my lords and low cost creatures, I could contest the board well, but bad or even mediocre draws are ruinous. I still think control is generally a terrible matchup, but I could very well be playing wrongly against control decks. I also think I need to mulligan a bit harder for certain starts, because I'm reluctant to go below 7 if I have a serviceable hand, which often isn't good enough to deal with the nuts draws that you can encounter.
I'm pretty happy with Ojutai's Command though. I only cast it once, and only drew it one other time (against humans, where I didn't live long enough to get use of out it. Maybe it'll get cut, but the advantage it creates is incredible.
Now that I actually have some comparison, I definitely see why vials are so useful, but I'm not sure how to address the other big issue with the deck: its lack of sustainability. Particularly against control, I find myself being ground out of cards far too quickly, leaving me trying to top deck threats while they continue sitting on a heap of cards. The single copy of Bygone Bishop can help with that, but it ended up countered or immediately killed whenever I cast it. I still like the card, but it needs to have support to protect it (either from Captain, Wanderer, or Selfless Spirit).
As a final point, I might be adding vials quicker than I thought. Another player was looking to build Hardened Scales Affinity, and I ended up trading 3 ballistas, two hangar back walkers, and an Eldrazi Temple for a pair of Vials. I also have a $50 discount with my LGS, so I should be able to add at least a third vial that way. The issue now though is figuring out what to cut: I can safely cut one land, but I'm not sure what other cards to drop in the list. I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on that, as well as any other comments!
4x Drogskol Captain
1x Bygone Bishop
4x Mausoleum Wanderer
4x Rattlechains
3x Selfless Spirit
4x Spell Queller
4x Supreme Phantom
2x Remorseful Cleric
Non creature (13)
4x Aether Vial
3x Path to Exile
1x Declaration in Stone
2x Teferi, Time Raveler
3x Lingering Souls
1x Cavern of Souls
3x Flooded Strand
1x Hallowed Fountain
2x Island
1x Blast Zone
2x Plains
4x Polluted Delta
2x Seachrome Coast
1x Darkslick Shores
1x Swamp
1x Godless Shrine
1x Watery Grave
1x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Blessed Alliance
1x Liliana's Triumph
2x Disdainful Stroke
2x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord
1x Geist of Saint Traft
2x Rest in Peace
1x Settle the Wreckage
2x Stony Silence
2x Deputy of Detention
Edit: I may end up waiting until next week to play in my next tournament. I have some other things that I'll have to take care of, so I may or may not end up wanting to play tomorrow night.
First round was against Bogles, though they never actually played a bogle either game. G1 I was on the play and fetched out a Watery Grave on my opponent's turn in order to Fatal Push her Dryad Arbor. I then began shoving creatures onto the board and beat her down, and even though she was able to get me to 3 with a buffed Kor Spiritdancer, I was able to outrace her.
G2 saw my opponent mulligan to 6, then realize that she'd kept a bad hand because she missed that it didn't have any creatures. This was a pretty boring game, with my opponent doing nothing but playing lands while I swung in for the win.
Round 2 had me playing against the Esper Faeries deck that I'd missed out on seeing in action the last time (since it just looked like U/W Control the last time I played it). My opponent dropped T2 Bitterblossom and played very reactively, but my hand was largely gas, and I just played a waiting game of making profitable blocks while Bitterblossom drained him down. Spell Queller stopped Vendilion Clique and Ojutai's Command got rid of a Mistbind Clique while also bringing back a selfless spirit that had been countered earlier. He bounced Bitterblossom to his hand when he was at 1 life, via a Snapcastered Cryptic Command, but Creeping Tar Pit was good enough to push through for the win.
Game 2 had me clearly on the offensive, beating down on my opponent and forcing him to play to my speed. Eventually, he tried to survive by playing a pair of Spellstutter Sprites as blockers, but I vialed in Deputy of Detention before blockers were declared, and my opponent conceded.
Unfortunately, the rest of my night didn't go so well. Next round, I ended up paired against Dredge, which had an ungodly turn 1 and turn 2. I couldn't even try to keep up and quickly ended up scooping. Game 2 had my sideboard plan come in clutch, with both copies of Rest in Peace being drawn in order for me to secure a quick concession. However, game 3 went horribly, with my opponent getting another explosive start and using multiple copies of conflagrate to kill my board, then to kill me.
Then, Round 4 I ended up paired against the same Izzet Phoenix player I'd played last time. However, this time I got absolutely wrecked, with a bad mulligan to 6 followed by missing a land drop on turn 2, while my opponent pretty much hit what they needed, between Thing in the Ice and Pteramander. Game 2 was looking better, but even with RiP on the board and dealing with an on curve Thing, 3 resolved Crackling Drakes ended up being too much to handle. So, with a final record of 2-2, I ended up placing 8th.
I'm trying not to react too radically or hastily, but I'm finding that Lingering Souls is just a poor card most of the time. It doesn't really trade well given all the recursive creatures around, and I'm rarely eager to see it off the top. At the same time, I'm finding I would really like mainboard GY hate much of the time. Similarly, people are consistently playing multiples of the same creature onto the board early, and Path to Exile isn't all that great. So, I'm thinking of cutting my number of copies of Lingering Souls to 2, and maybe cutting 1 Selfless Spirit for a pair of Remorseful Clerics to give me some extra graveyard hate. I'm also thinking of replacing Path to Exile with Declaration in Stone. While Path is better in an environment that rewards efficient 1/1 trades, it's not great against many of the threats currently being played. Declaration may be sorcery speed and cost 1 more, but it will permanently exile phoenixes, bloodghasts, Prized Amalgams, Champions of the Parish, etc... along with tokens; as an extra benefit, Declaration's downside of giving clues seems preferable to immediately ramping my opponent. What do you guys think about some of these adjustments?
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/modern-mayhem-esperits-modern-magic-online
You'll have to let me know how things go with Sorin. I don't fully agree that the power boost is all that's important, because I find that having an additional point of toughness is appreciated too. Having an extra point of toughness means that your board won't die to something like Golgari Charm or Zealous Persecution, and it also keeps your Phantoms and quellers out of range of Lightning Bolt. Plus, Gideon's 2/2s seem much more impactful than Sorin's 1/1s, especially given that Sorin's ult is less than impressive too.
R 1
I lost the die roll, and thus was on the draw, a running theme for the night. Fortunately, the cards treated me much better than the dice. I ended up against a U/W base deck that played like U/W control, though I found out later that they were also running a fairies package that I never saw (with Bitterblossom and Spellstutter Sprite. I had a blistering opener G1, dropping vial on 1, then curving out into wanderer, followed by Selfless Spirit from the vial and Rattlechains flashed out with my actual mana. I quickly rushed my opponent down by flashing in a Captain, and dropped Spell Queller to stop an attempted settle the wreckage.
G2 was a bit trickier, as I didn't have vial, but I still had a pretty beautiful curve. I played Wanderer on 1 followed by Rattlechains, Selfless Spirit, and Drogskol Captain. My opponent resolved Teferi, Hero of Dominaria and used a combination of Path to Exile and Snapcaster Mage to clear most of my board. I ended up flooding a fair bit, but creeping tar pit showed its value again, pushing a bit of damage, then working to bluff my opponent into essentially tapping out to activate Field of Ruin. In response, I used the pit for mana and flashed out Drogskol captain with a Rattlechains in play and my opponent at 3, allowing me to swing for the win.
WIN, 1-0
R 2
I had gotten to see the tail end of my next opponent's last match, so I knew he was on Izzet Phoenix. This was definitely one of the matchups I'd been looking forward to testing, and my deck didn't disappoint. I was on the draw again and G1 saw my opponent being a bit slow, but still having Thing in the Ice on 2. This was where being in Esper really paid off, as I was able to essentially let my opponent run spells out of their hand to tick up TitI before using fatal push. I then responded by pushing damage of my own now that my opponent's hand was pretty depleted. The ripped an Arclight Phoenix off the top, which they had to hard cast into my Spell Queller, and that was enough to give me the win
G2 was similar to G1, except that my opponent got an Arclight Phoenix going out of the yard. I killed another TitI with fatal push, and my opponent used Surgical Extraction on it to help set up reviving the Phoenix. I had kept a 1 lander with Aether vial, and now my opponent got to look at my hand and see why: I had triple Supreme Phantom, Eidolon of Rhetoric, and a Drogskol Captain just waiting to be dropped in. After exiling my remaining pushes, ended creating a nasty wall, with all 3 phantoms, allowing them to eat his phoenixes, and one of which (after I added the captain) I was happy to trade for a 9/4 Crackling Drake. With Eidolon on the board (and it sitting at 4/7), my opponent had no realistic way to come back, and I ended up smashing him in the face a few turns for the win.
WIN, 2-0
R 3
This time I didn't know what I was playing against and, since I was on the draw again, kept a hand with 5 lands (including 3 fetches), Mausoleum Wanderer, and Fatal Push. My opponent dropped Thoughtseize on 1, and I was amused as he struggled to choose which of my 1 drops to take. He eventually got rid of the wanderer, but since I was able to rip most of the lands out from my deck, my draws turned into straight gas. I discovered that my opponent was on Mardu Pyromancer, and we had a really grindy game. He played several pyromancers, forcing me to kill them, and used a Liliana of the Veil to force me to sacrifice a creature. I top decked Lingering Souls and ended up casting both halves of it, and after adding a Phantom to the board, I was able to start taking over, since my opponent couldn't outrace me. This was also the first game that I actually got to play with Bygone Bishop, and I must say I was pretty happy with it. Sure, it died blocking a Pyromancer once my opponent dropped a Kolaghan's Command, but rather than getting a clean 2/1, my opponent had to settle for card parity due to the clue token the Bishop had generated. I really like Bishop as a 1 of for those matches where finding extra cards is important.
G2 was a disaster for my opponent. I dropped a T1 aether vial, which let me play a Phantom the next turn, and after it was removed, I used Vial to drop Mausoleum wanderer onto the board. My opponent tried to bolt it and Rattlechains came down to stop that. Since he had cast a lingering souls, my opponent used his main phase to deploy one of his sideboard cards, Zealous Persecution. Unfortunately, instead of being a blowout for him, I activated Vial and dropped in another Phantom, making his play substantially worse. I then played a Selfless Spirit the next turn, with Vial being activated to drop Drogskol captain. With his fatal push targeting my selfless spirit still on the stack, my opponent tried to kill the captain, but after I sacrificed the Wanderer to counter it, my opponent scooped, as he couldn't deal with my board state.
WIN, 3-0
For the last round, I was happy to go ahead and agree to a tie with my opponent, and we just played the match for testing purposes. I was on the play for once, and had a 1 land hand with 2 vials. I knew my opponent was playing Blue Moon, and kept the hand; I ended up steamrolling pretty handily as he didn't have a way to deal with my plays.
Games 2-3 weren't so great though, as I couldn't really overcome my opponent's sideboard plan. G2 had me keep relative parity and even put my opponent at 1, but a combination of Niv-Mizzet, Parun and Batterskull out of the sideboard was too much. In game 3, I had to mulligan, and even though I kept a decent hand (land, vial, and creatures), I could not find a second land drop. I ended up seeing most of my creatures removed and I got beaten down by Legion Warboss.
FInal Record: 3-0-1 (or 3-1 going by the results of the testing match). I was extremely pleased with how my deck performed, and I'm realizing just how important the vials are to the list. I think my biggest issue isn't so much the deck itself, or even my play, but just my ability to anticipate sideboard plans and to determine when I need to mulligan, and when a hand is worth keeping. These are skills that I continue to struggle with, but hopefully with more testing and experience I'll be able to improve those skills.
I'm not planning on maining Gideon, but I'm thinking that I'll put a copy into the sideboard (replacing one of my Geists). It seems really good as a top end threat against control or maybe even a decent midrange tool. Obviously it's bad against aggro decks, but that's why it's in the sideboard. I have another tournament opportunity tonight, so I'll see if it works and report back later.
The other two walkers I was considering were Sorin, Solemn Visitor which seems pretty good, though he can't really be overly powerful on his own, and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad which can plus to make extra creatures, or minus right away like Gideon to create half of the anthem effect (and probably the more important half if you're wanting to push through damage).
The other thing I'm looking for is peoples' thoughts on mulligan decisions for the deck. I've been doing some testing, and I've tried to follow general mulligan advice (though that doesn't help much when I seem to consistently draw no lands or 5 lands and no creatures), but I'd like to know what other people think about specific mulligan considerations for spirits in particular.
I can't really agree with this based on my experiences, including last night. Maybe things will work differently now that I have vials to run, but I could not get a foothold against my control opponent; I even resolved 2 copies of lingering souls, both for their initial costs and their flashback costs, which are supposed to be one of the deck's best tools to grind out control. I still lost horribly (after they tutored for golgari charm, then flashed it back with snapcaster mage. Everything I played out got countered or removed immediately. Geist of Saint Traft doesn't have that issue: your opponent can't kill it once it hits the board, and it gives you that push that you need. I'll admit it's probably not great in most other matchups (though I've heard it's also good against Tron and I wish I'd thought to bring it in there), but it's one of your best weapons against control decks.
4 mausoleum wanderer
4 rattlechains
4 selfless spirit
4 supreme phantom
1 bygone bishop
4 spell queller
4 drogskol captain
Spells (14)
4 aether vial
3 fatal push
2 path to exile
3 lingering souls
2 ojutai's command
1 cavern of souls
1 creeping tar pit
1 darkslick shores
4 flooded strand
1 godless shrine
1 hallowed fountain
2 island
2 plains
4 polluted delta
2 seachrome coast
1 swamp
1 watery grave
2 blessed alliance
3 disdainful stroke
2 rest in peace
2 stony silence
1 zealous persecution
2 eidolon of rhetoric
2 geist of saint traft
1 unmoored ego
Alright, so now that vials are actually a thing for me (I'm planning on picking up the other two copies today), this is what my adjusted list is looking like. For the 4 vials coming in, I shaved down my Remorseful Clerics, 1 copy of Fatal Push, and a land (the second Watery Grave). I also decided to take out the copy of shambling vent and replace it with a fourth flooded strand, not because it wasn't good, but just because I'm tired of getting land flooded, and having 8 fetchlands keeps my land count constant while also giving me the ability to thin my deck of other lands. Hopefully having the playset of vials will make my control matchups a bit more winnable, because those have continued to be a nightmare despite my attempts to alleviate the problem.
I'm also looking to potentially make a few slight sideboard changes. Notably, I think swapping Zealous Persecution for a copy of Settle the Wreckage sounds quite good, as it hits the same major targets while being far more useful against the other go-wide strategies in modern (humans, elves, other spirit decks, etc...). If I can actually find copies, I'll also end up trading out Echoing Truth for a Deputy of Detention. Having the deputy as a 2x seems good, but I'm struggling to really find cards I'd be willing to cut for a second copy. Do people have any additional suggestions/recommendations based on these changes, or have alternative/superior adjustments they'd suggest?
M 1
I was rather confused as to what I was playing when I started this game. I won the die roll and started on the play. While I didn't have a turn 1 Wanderer, I was able to establish a decent sized board. My opponent played a Relentless Dead which was not something I expected to see. I flashed out a Rattlechains during their end step and, not wanting to let them get value, I pushed the zombie during my main phase while they were tapped out before adding a Supreme Phantom to the board and applying pressure. I dropped a Spell Queller on a Phyrexian Obliterator, which felt amazing, then proceeded to push damage through with my fliers and Creeping Tar Pit, getting a win.
Having some idea of what to expect, I dropped 2 Lingering Souls for my RiPs out of the sideboard and we went to G2. My opponent played a Thoughtseize and took a Queller out of my hand, though my grip was pretty stacked. I proceeded to play out a pair of Rattlechains, while my opponent developed a pair of Relentless Dead. He tried to Inquisition of Kozilek me when I was on 4 cards, but I flashed out a Supreme Phantom and pathed one of his creatures, leaving only a pair of basic lands for him to see. He tried racing me with Bloodghast, but he couldn't match the speed of my deck, and my Shambling Vent would have eaten one of his creatures while gaining life regardless.
Apparently, the deck was Mono B Devotion, and my opponent just never got around to being able to resolve Gray Merchant of Asphodel, since I was applying so much pressure. This felt like a great matchup, and I gladly took a 1-0 start.
M 2
Things went downhill from there, however. The next match saw me paired up against a really strange Sultai control deck stacked full of counter spells and removal, with Wilderness Reclamation and Blue Sun's Zenith to keep digging through his deck and grinding me out. I just could not get anything to stick or resolve in either game and ended up getting absolutely crushed. I wonder if I should have mulliganed harder for Rattlechains, Selfless Spirit, or Mausoleum Wanderer, but I'm not convinced that I could have won even with those cards. I'd really love to hear some feedback on suggestions on how to beat this in the future. I don't think that the deck is too powerful by any means, but I just don't really know how to combat it.
M 3 This one hurt a bit. I was up against a humans deck, and their G1 curve was brilliant, with vial on 1, a Kitesail Freebooter taking my Fatal Push, with Noble Hierarch and Reflector Mage to really smash my game plan. I lost G1, but managed to grind out a win in G2, with double Captain and double Supreme Phantom backed by Selfless Spirit to hold off his creatures, while Tar Pit punched in for damage each turn. On game 3, I thought I had a decent start, by pushing a T1 Champion of the Parish and having a decent curve of creatures, but his double reflector mage, mantis rider and Noble Hierarch really let him push me into a corner. To make things even worse, he had a T3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar that I didn't have a way to deal with, meaning my creatures couldn't even come out to block and trade. I managed to get some value via Blessed Alliance from the Board, but it wasn't enough to stop his curve, and he ended up winning.
M 4 I was feeling a bit disappointed after the previous rounds, and pairings ended up being rather awkward due to drops. I ended up playing against a Tron player (who was either 2-1 or 3-0) after being paired up. Game 1 was a disaster, as despite attempting to apply pressure and curve out, I just could not come back from a T4 Tron into Wurmcoil (which I pathed) into Ulamog into a Walking Ballista. I didn't have much of a shot at winning that one, but I knew exactly which cards I was bringing out of the board here. Game 2 I managed to apply quick pressure, and my Stony Silence and Disdainful Strokes kept her threats off the board so that I could crack through for the win. Game 3 ended up being a nail biter. I landed Stony Silence on T2, but she hit natural Tron on 3; fortunately, she didn't have much to do with the mana, playing a walking ballista for 3 and finding All is Dust off of an Ancient Stirrings. I was slightly annoyed, because I had Unmoored Ego in hand, and if I'd been on the play, I could have kept her off Tron for the whole game. Instead, I had to settle for using it to snag the All is Dust, to keep my Silence on the field, and saw that her hand was World Breaker and Sylvan Scrying, both dead cards without green mana. I played pretty conservatively, slowly building my board state and using Disdainful Stroke to counter Ugin. She ended up ghost quartering herself to find a forest, cast the World Breaker (which ate another Stroke after exiling my stony silence), then cracked a chromatic star/sphere to add more green in order to cast the scrying and replace the Tron land. However, she didn't have mana to pump the Ballista, which had to settle for dropping to 1 counter and shooting down my selfless spirit (which was sacrificed in response). I had a Phantom and Remorseful Cleric left, which really pressured her life total and kept her from really going off; she had Oblivion Stone, but decided to cast a Thragtusk in order to stabilize her health. This was where my adjustments really shone, as Ojutai's Command countered the creature and brought my selfless spirit back to the battlefield. I figured she'd slipped up, and she realized it too before asking if we could go back and let her respond to the stack by cracking the O Stone before the selfless spirit hit the field again. Being 1-2 at this point, I was torn because I was happy to take advantage of a misplay by my opponent, but I decided that, since we hadn't actually advanced the game state, I'd allow her to crack the stone and clear the board. However, I was able to dump my hand, which was another Selfless Spirit and a Supreme Phantom, putting her life total to 6. Next turn, she top decked Karn Liberated and tried exiling one of my spirits, which I sacrificed in response, before scrying for a ghost quarter to stop my potential win with Creeping Tar Pit. However, another Supreme Phantom off the top gave me exact lethal, finally ending the game.
Final Record: 2-2; 3rd place
I can't say I'm exactly thrilled by how the deck performed, but I did better than my record would suggest, since I'm pretty sure the decks I lost to ended up placing first and second. I think that the list is amazing against certain decks, but my tempo was too far behind in dealing with humans, and I couldn't deal with their tempo removal (mainly reflector mage). When I hit my lords and low cost creatures, I could contest the board well, but bad or even mediocre draws are ruinous. I still think control is generally a terrible matchup, but I could very well be playing wrongly against control decks. I also think I need to mulligan a bit harder for certain starts, because I'm reluctant to go below 7 if I have a serviceable hand, which often isn't good enough to deal with the nuts draws that you can encounter.
I'm pretty happy with Ojutai's Command though. I only cast it once, and only drew it one other time (against humans, where I didn't live long enough to get use of out it. Maybe it'll get cut, but the advantage it creates is incredible.
Now that I actually have some comparison, I definitely see why vials are so useful, but I'm not sure how to address the other big issue with the deck: its lack of sustainability. Particularly against control, I find myself being ground out of cards far too quickly, leaving me trying to top deck threats while they continue sitting on a heap of cards. The single copy of Bygone Bishop can help with that, but it ended up countered or immediately killed whenever I cast it. I still like the card, but it needs to have support to protect it (either from Captain, Wanderer, or Selfless Spirit).
As a final point, I might be adding vials quicker than I thought. Another player was looking to build Hardened Scales Affinity, and I ended up trading 3 ballistas, two hangar back walkers, and an Eldrazi Temple for a pair of Vials. I also have a $50 discount with my LGS, so I should be able to add at least a third vial that way. The issue now though is figuring out what to cut: I can safely cut one land, but I'm not sure what other cards to drop in the list. I'd love to hear peoples' thoughts on that, as well as any other comments!