Played 3 test matches and went 2-1 but each game was a struggle. Not sure I sideboarded right, either.
-1 liliana of the veil
-3 fatal push
-1 something (can't actually remember)
+1 ghost quarter
+2 surgical extraction
+1 maelstrom pulse
+1 ranger of eos
Didn't bring in souls or fulminator. Considered it too slow or vulnerable to graveyard hate. Wondering if, instead of liliana I should have taken out an inquisition of kozilek
Any advice on what to take out or bring in? Toughest part of the matchup is engineered explosives by far. Everything else I can seem to deal with.
I keep the LotV's in because killing their big stuff is pretty hard in our deck, plus I've been keeping a Big Game Hunter in my sideboard for these decks to someday live the dream of upticking Lili and killing a Drowner/Smasher. (I'm currently on the no white, Jund version though)
Simian Spirit Guide on the other hand is too good in this deck to not run 2/3 copies of.
I think the reason you see chalice being played so much is that card just shuts down so much out of so many decks, and if we're already running SSG, it doesn't take much to slot them in.
I was running the 4/4 of Chalice w/ SSG mainboard, but haven't found chalice to be performing as well (High var. having both pieces in opening hand/ the bad feels when drawing them lategame).
Lately I've retooled it very closely to what you're running. I love 3x SSG even w/o the Chalice, being able to race/ cast any answer card ahead of curve is crazy good (The look on your infect opp. face when you bolt his guy when your tapped out and they go all in is worth it alone). I'd recommend trying out a singleton Scapeshift as well (having another win con has won me many games when your opp. kills/discards your titan followed by a Surgical Extraction), maybe swap it w/ a farseek since that's the worst of the redundant 2cmc ramp spells.
Sideboarding:
Some things to consider,
VS. blood moon decks, board out the farseeks first (not getting the basic forest makes them pretty terrible here)
VS. jund/ heavy discard decks, board out some number of Through the Breach (you can get multiples of them stranded in your hand can w/o anything to do w/ them)
Sometimes I'll take the SSG's out when on the play and board them back in on the draw.
If you're really unsure what to take out, boarding out 2x Farseek is usually the first thing I'll look at since it's the worst of our land ramp.
If you think you're up a deck that has Crumble to Dust in their SB, try to play around it, don't play them out early if you can help it.
Don't forget, we are a combo deck so don't overboard! (except for infect and affinity, usually end up bringing in ~8 cards to shore those up).
Also, if your opp. isn't dead yet and you have valakut close to being active/active don't forget the value of waiting to play your fetchlands/ sitting on them to keep their board clean.
I keep the LotV's in because killing their big stuff is pretty hard in our deck, plus I've been keeping a Big Game Hunter in my sideboard for these decks to someday live the dream of upticking Lili and killing a Drowner/Smasher. (I'm currently on the no white, Jund version though)
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=111651
Simian Spirit Guide on the other hand is too good in this deck to not run 2/3 copies of.
I think the reason you see chalice being played so much is that card just shuts down so much out of so many decks, and if we're already running SSG, it doesn't take much to slot them in.
Lately I've retooled it very closely to what you're running. I love 3x SSG even w/o the Chalice, being able to race/ cast any answer card ahead of curve is crazy good (The look on your infect opp. face when you bolt his guy when your tapped out and they go all in is worth it alone). I'd recommend trying out a singleton Scapeshift as well (having another win con has won me many games when your opp. kills/discards your titan followed by a Surgical Extraction), maybe swap it w/ a farseek since that's the worst of the redundant 2cmc ramp spells.
Sideboarding:
Some things to consider,
VS. blood moon decks, board out the farseeks first (not getting the basic forest makes them pretty terrible here)
VS. jund/ heavy discard decks, board out some number of Through the Breach (you can get multiples of them stranded in your hand can w/o anything to do w/ them)
Sometimes I'll take the SSG's out when on the play and board them back in on the draw.
If you're really unsure what to take out, boarding out 2x Farseek is usually the first thing I'll look at since it's the worst of our land ramp.
If you think you're up a deck that has Crumble to Dust in their SB, try to play around it, don't play them out early if you can help it.
Don't forget, we are a combo deck so don't overboard! (except for infect and affinity, usually end up bringing in ~8 cards to shore those up).
Also, if your opp. isn't dead yet and you have valakut close to being active/active don't forget the value of waiting to play your fetchlands/ sitting on them to keep their board clean.