O right, I didn't noticed the buyback. It's interesting. The only caveat is that you need 5 mana and more than 1 dork to start going infinite. The abundant growth /helix also goes infinite, but are 1 cmc spells that also work if you don't have ascendancy yet (helix at the end of opponent turn can bounce hate cards, like meddling mage or damping sphere, allowing you to combo on your turn, and abundant growth at least gives you a draw, while staying in the field until you have the rest of the combo). I guess the sprout swarm must be better if your meta is low on removal.
I'm very new to the deck, having playing it on mtgo for 2 weeks and now just finishing to build it in paper. How often do you need a go-wide plan (by the way, if you're generating lots of mana and want to make tokens, something like secure the wastes seems better)? My experience is that if I start to go off (which means I have ascendancy, a dork, and at least 2 cantrips and something to discard) I will be able to execute the plan A. Hate cards can be dealt with glittering wish or reflecting helix (i play 1 MD along 3 abundant growth) or engineered explosives if you play it (i don't). Blockers can be tap with fatestitcher. My only plan B is a Sigarda on the side, to be fetched in case I only draw lands,bu I didn't have to use it yet. I'll post my list later.
Ghostly prison is really useful, but match dependent. It's specially well suited against mardu pyromancer and hollow one, but it perform better than expected against a variety of decks, like eldrazi (don't need to fear a turn 3 smasher on your face) and such. There are times when you simply don't have martyr on turn 2.
The mana base looks ok, but I'm wondering if there are enough plains to consistently trigger Emeria. What has been your experience ? Because if we ditch the Emeria plan we could add a basic Island and a few Stirring Wildwoods like in Lear's list.
Yes there are, when shocks and mistveils are accounted. The only non plains on the battlefield is usually the single forest (only fetched if there might be a blood moon on the way) and the emeria's themselves. That said, the few times I got emeria online the game was already won. Proclamation does the same job without compromising the manabase and having the earlier mode. If I'm using the deck again, it will be without emeria.
Played my second league with the deck in my LGS last week, and can confirm to it being slow to close out games. I finished 2-1-drop (couldn't start round 4), winning jund and affinity, losing to eldrazi tron thanks to some bad decisions and allowing it to retain an Endbringer on board for way too long. That last match took almost 40 min for game 1 to end, and since I didn't found glittering wish, didn't have anything to finish the game, despite the 3/2's and 1/1's on board.
In my previous league I tried something close the Lear's bant lists that did well in a challenge last year, but the mana was a little rough to allow supreme verdict on the main, and it didn't perform well in a meta full of blood moon decks. It was last year so I don't remember my matches, except that it won against jeskai control and lost to burn (!!!) -- he had all the skullcracks.
In this second atempt I tried an GW version, with a blue splash for bullets on the side. With 2-color manabase we can run a playset of field of ruin and lots of basics. Against infect got to field of ruin inkmoth#1, renegade rallier taking field of ruin and killing inkmoth#2. block the non flying wielder of cranial plating, and next turn fracturing gust all that was left. feels good.
List in question:
Keep in mind that said list is focused in my LGS metagame, hence no wheel of sun and moon. Sundering growth is specifically for chalice of the void and leyline for discards. The variety of card advantage engines is great, and it felt great to play a nonblue control deck (I was playing blue moon in the previous weeks, and will try faeries in the following ones).
PS: I think Lear's wishlists have too many wincons... I opted for 3 win cons only: Geist against combo, Sky Hussar against control (win by card advantage), and Sigarda against midrange.
Hi everyone, just started playing the deck (see below), and I don't know if the jace unban is really that bad for us. UWx matchups will be worse (but we do run catch all answer like oblivion ring and serra ascendant can present a real pressure), but the meta will move towards fast aggro decks, which are our best matches. Tron will also fall out of flavor, which is good for us. Some tweaks will have to be made with jace in mind, but maybe the overall effect will be positive.
This is the list I was planing to take to fnm's (before Jace unban). Didn't put it to the test yet, have only played a bant version once some months ago and had problems closing games on time (lack of experience, most likely, but decided to wait for serra ascendant before trying again anyways):
Yes there are, when shocks and mistveils are accounted. The only non plains on the battlefield is usually the single forest (only fetched if there might be a blood moon on the way) and the emeria's themselves. That said, the few times I got emeria online the game was already won. Proclamation does the same job without compromising the manabase and having the earlier mode. If I'm using the deck again, it will be without emeria.
In my previous league I tried something close the Lear's bant lists that did well in a challenge last year, but the mana was a little rough to allow supreme verdict on the main, and it didn't perform well in a meta full of blood moon decks. It was last year so I don't remember my matches, except that it won against jeskai control and lost to burn (!!!) -- he had all the skullcracks.
In this second atempt I tried an GW version, with a blue splash for bullets on the side. With 2-color manabase we can run a playset of field of ruin and lots of basics. Against infect got to field of ruin inkmoth#1, renegade rallier taking field of ruin and killing inkmoth#2. block the non flying wielder of cranial plating, and next turn fracturing gust all that was left. feels good.
List in question:
2 Gideon of the Trials
Creature (18):
2 Thraben Inspector
2 Serra Ascendant
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Ranger of Eos
3 Renegade Rallier
Sorcery (8):
4 Glittering Wish
2 Proclamation of Rebirth
2 Wrath of God
Instant (5):
4 Path to Exile
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Banishing Light
2 Ghostly Prison
Lands (24):
4 Field of Ruin
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
2 Temple Garden
1 Scattered Grove
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Mistveil PLains
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
4 Plains
1 Forest
1 Celestial Purge
2 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Runed Halo
1 Stony Silence
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Detention Sphere
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Sundering Growth
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sky Hussar
Keep in mind that said list is focused in my LGS metagame, hence no wheel of sun and moon. Sundering growth is specifically for chalice of the void and leyline for discards. The variety of card advantage engines is great, and it felt great to play a nonblue control deck (I was playing blue moon in the previous weeks, and will try faeries in the following ones).
PS: I think Lear's wishlists have too many wincons... I opted for 3 win cons only: Geist against combo, Sky Hussar against control (win by card advantage), and Sigarda against midrange.
This is the list I was planing to take to fnm's (before Jace unban). Didn't put it to the test yet, have only played a bant version once some months ago and had problems closing games on time (lack of experience, most likely, but decided to wait for serra ascendant before trying again anyways):
4 Windswept Heath
2 Flooded Strand
2 Temple Garden
1 Scattered Grove
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Field of Ruin
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Misveil Plains
4 Plains
1 Forest
Creatures (19)
4 Martyr of Sands
2 Serra Ascendant
2 Thraben Inspector
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Renegade Rallier
3 Ranger of Eos
4 Path to Exile
2 Wrath of God
1 Settle the Wreckage
2 Ghostly Prison
1 Banishing Light
2 Proclamation of Rebirth
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
4 Glittering Wish
1 Sundering Growth
1 Detention Sphere
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Teferi's Moat
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sky Hussar
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Runed Halo