This is the matchup I practice at home a couple games a day. I'm usually the storm player. The match was basically a foregone conclusion, as I wasn't going to make any glaring pilot errors and I knew how to mulligan. I put in the RIPs and Cleric, as well as the Pontiffs and the Kambal. 3-mana Thalia and some mix of Wisp, Strangler, and Displacer are what I take out, depending on my mood. I don't remember the exact 6-card mix I took out for that match.
We finished with 35 minutes on the clock, so the storm player and I played the mirror match for fun, which I won 2-1.
WBR Pyromancer, 1-2
I don't remember who won games 1 and 2, but I remember I boarded in my 3 anti-fair-deck cards, Gideon, Brimaz, and Crusader. I even got to have all 3 of them on board at the same time in game 2. I also boarded in Forge-Tender (for Anger of the Gods), Pontiffs, and RIPs, taking out 8 cards: Flickerwisps, 1 Strangler, and 2 small Thalias. I think this arrangement was a mistake, but I didn't know what better to do.
Game 3 my opponent got stuck on 2 lands, letting me clock him slowly with a Shambling Vent and Forge-Tender slowly while I removed his Young Pyromancers with Path to Exile. I got him to 5 life, then stuck a Tidehollow Sculler - Eldrazi Displacer combo, which allowed me to exile 2 cards from his hand, 1 permanently, the other until Sculler was removed. I skipped thinking about it and exiled his (uncastable on 2 lands) Lingering Souls permanently, putting Lightning Bolt under Sculler, leaving Terminate in his hand. Thoroughly unforgivable. He ended up winning with 3 life and me on 9 lands, many turns later.
Mono-R Affinity, 2-1
I got Blood Mooned for an auto-loss in game 2, and I've been wondering what to do about future Blood Moons ever since. I don't even run a single Wastes for my Thought-Knot Seers, so clearly some kind of plan is needed. Aura of Silence? Fragmentize?
I boarded +Leonin Relic-Warder, -Thalia, Guardian. In game 3, I stole a Steel Overseer with Relic-Warder, then used it with Strangler to kill an Etched Champion. I noticed I can't put in Stony Silence without taking out Aether Vial, so I'm inclined to play even more copies of Relic-Warder going forward.
WRG Zoo, 0-2
Lost die roll, got turn-3 killed with Burning-Tree Emissaries and a Reckless Bushwhacker.
In game 2, I lost an Aether Vial to an evoked Ingot Chewer that double-pumped Pelt Collector. The deck looked sweet, and I wasn't sure there was anything I could do about it. I boarded -Thalia, Guardian, +Mirran Crusader, +Burrenton Forge-Tender, and +Brimaz, but I didn't get to see any of them.
Conclusion
Stony Silence looks bad, and Leonin Relic-Warder looks less bad. Should I make that change? Fiend Hunter is 1 mana too many for meaningless stats, and I never put it in, even against decks that had creatures I could have removed with it and then blocked with it. I replaced it with Shriekmaw when I got home, and I hope this is better for next time. The mana was fine every game except the Blood Moon game, the one flood vs Pyromancer (which I should have won before I got the flood, so I can't complain), and the game my Vial was Ingot-Chewed. Is it safe to turn my 1 Godless Shrine into a 3rd Shambling Vent, or will that have immediate and nasty consequences for my curve?
Also
Regarding the post above mine, I think RIP is a sideboard card because of the straight nothing that it does in the wrong matchup. Maybe a maindeck Remorseful Cleric will help, because it can hit in the air in its blank matchups. Maybe I am simply naive.
I don't think Kitesail Freebooter is good, it's just more and worse Tidehollow Scullers, but with Thought-Knot Seer, do we really need copies 9-12 of the same effect?
I might grab Thraben Inspectors one of these days, just so I have something to do with my Vials on one. Am I correct in assuming that that's a large part of their power, that they replace themselves in your hand and give you a play on an otherwise boring turn?
VickVega, the quickest fix to your lack of resiliency against BGx's combination of relentless hand attack and Scavenging Ooze is to double up on Past in Flames, so you get more than one shot at the kill if something goes wrong. I would cut the third Remand to make this room, as it's widely agreed that you should play 3 interactive cards, and I consider Noxious Revival to be interactive.
Additionally, it's widely agreed that you should turn two of your Island into Snow-Covered Island just in case you want to put both of them in a Gifts Ungiven pile.
Lastly, I would cut the third Lightning Bolt from the sideboard, as you have two Abrade and five three-damage effects is too many. I play one Dismember because it deals with extra toughness and becomes free with Goblin Electromancer.
My fiancée played E&T at FNM last night and finished 3-1-1. She didn't give a particularly detailed match report, but complained that 4 Path to Exile was not enough to deal with Wurmcoil Engine, Primeval Titan, and other creatures that beat her creatures in combat.
After FNM, we changed the sideboard: -1 Remorseful Cleric, +1 Rest in Peace, -1 Orzhov Pontiff, +1 Fiend Hunter, -2 Selfless Spirit, +1 Stony Silence, +1 Tocatli Honor Guard. We're also looking to -1 Kor Firewalker, +1 Blessed Alliance, just as soon as we come across one in a trade binder.
She says the Fiend Hunter and Honor Guard should solve her problems with Felidar Guardian and Primeval Titan, and she thinks +1 Leonin Relic-Warder, -1 Stony Silence should help with Wurmcoil Engine.
I noticed while putting the new sideboard together that it was very heavy on double white mana bears, and was wondering what I can do to the manabase to make it friendlier for these cards. A white Urborg-equivalent would be amazing, but I'm not convinced anything so useful exists. Any suggestions?
I've been playing this for three months. I stopped calling it Taxes altogether and pet-named it Fishless Fish, and while the match results have been consistently poor, I still enjoy it. My favorite interaction is with Spirit of the Labyrinth and Vendilion Clique. Reflector Mage has game against Death's Shadow, and Renegade Rallier helps beat Liliana of the Veil. The biggest loss compared to Orzhov lists is Wasteland Strangler, which is sorely missed whenever I'm reminded that Spell Queller is only a tempo card without the processing effect.
I think the next place I'm going to look is Esper colors, taking the Orzhov lists and removing Wisp for Clique and Reflector - this may prove to be too all-in on Eldrazi Displacer to create value, but we will see.
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Caves of Koilos
1 Godless Shrine
2 Shambling Vent
2 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Eldrazi Temple
Noncreatures
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Dark Confidant
Big creatures
4 Flickerwisp
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Fiend Hunter
2 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Remorseful Cleric
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Blessed Alliance
UR Storm, 2-0
This is the matchup I practice at home a couple games a day. I'm usually the storm player. The match was basically a foregone conclusion, as I wasn't going to make any glaring pilot errors and I knew how to mulligan. I put in the RIPs and Cleric, as well as the Pontiffs and the Kambal. 3-mana Thalia and some mix of Wisp, Strangler, and Displacer are what I take out, depending on my mood. I don't remember the exact 6-card mix I took out for that match.
We finished with 35 minutes on the clock, so the storm player and I played the mirror match for fun, which I won 2-1.
WBR Pyromancer, 1-2
I don't remember who won games 1 and 2, but I remember I boarded in my 3 anti-fair-deck cards, Gideon, Brimaz, and Crusader. I even got to have all 3 of them on board at the same time in game 2. I also boarded in Forge-Tender (for Anger of the Gods), Pontiffs, and RIPs, taking out 8 cards: Flickerwisps, 1 Strangler, and 2 small Thalias. I think this arrangement was a mistake, but I didn't know what better to do.
Game 3 my opponent got stuck on 2 lands, letting me clock him slowly with a Shambling Vent and Forge-Tender slowly while I removed his Young Pyromancers with Path to Exile. I got him to 5 life, then stuck a Tidehollow Sculler - Eldrazi Displacer combo, which allowed me to exile 2 cards from his hand, 1 permanently, the other until Sculler was removed. I skipped thinking about it and exiled his (uncastable on 2 lands) Lingering Souls permanently, putting Lightning Bolt under Sculler, leaving Terminate in his hand. Thoroughly unforgivable. He ended up winning with 3 life and me on 9 lands, many turns later.
Mono-R Affinity, 2-1
I got Blood Mooned for an auto-loss in game 2, and I've been wondering what to do about future Blood Moons ever since. I don't even run a single Wastes for my Thought-Knot Seers, so clearly some kind of plan is needed. Aura of Silence? Fragmentize?
I boarded +Leonin Relic-Warder, -Thalia, Guardian. In game 3, I stole a Steel Overseer with Relic-Warder, then used it with Strangler to kill an Etched Champion. I noticed I can't put in Stony Silence without taking out Aether Vial, so I'm inclined to play even more copies of Relic-Warder going forward.
WRG Zoo, 0-2
Lost die roll, got turn-3 killed with Burning-Tree Emissaries and a Reckless Bushwhacker.
In game 2, I lost an Aether Vial to an evoked Ingot Chewer that double-pumped Pelt Collector. The deck looked sweet, and I wasn't sure there was anything I could do about it. I boarded -Thalia, Guardian, +Mirran Crusader, +Burrenton Forge-Tender, and +Brimaz, but I didn't get to see any of them.
Conclusion
Stony Silence looks bad, and Leonin Relic-Warder looks less bad. Should I make that change? Fiend Hunter is 1 mana too many for meaningless stats, and I never put it in, even against decks that had creatures I could have removed with it and then blocked with it. I replaced it with Shriekmaw when I got home, and I hope this is better for next time. The mana was fine every game except the Blood Moon game, the one flood vs Pyromancer (which I should have won before I got the flood, so I can't complain), and the game my Vial was Ingot-Chewed. Is it safe to turn my 1 Godless Shrine into a 3rd Shambling Vent, or will that have immediate and nasty consequences for my curve?
Also
Regarding the post above mine, I think RIP is a sideboard card because of the straight nothing that it does in the wrong matchup. Maybe a maindeck Remorseful Cleric will help, because it can hit in the air in its blank matchups. Maybe I am simply naive.
I don't think Kitesail Freebooter is good, it's just more and worse Tidehollow Scullers, but with Thought-Knot Seer, do we really need copies 9-12 of the same effect?
I might grab Thraben Inspectors one of these days, just so I have something to do with my Vials on one. Am I correct in assuming that that's a large part of their power, that they replace themselves in your hand and give you a play on an otherwise boring turn?
Additionally, it's widely agreed that you should turn two of your Island into Snow-Covered Island just in case you want to put both of them in a Gifts Ungiven pile.
Lastly, I would cut the third Lightning Bolt from the sideboard, as you have two Abrade and five three-damage effects is too many. I play one Dismember because it deals with extra toughness and becomes free with Goblin Electromancer.
She played this 75:
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Caves of Koilos
1 Godless Shrine
2 Shambling Vent
2 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Eldrazi Temple
Noncreatures
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Dark Confidant
Big creatures
4 Flickerwisp
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Remorseful Cleric
1 Rest in Peace
1 Stony Silence
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
2 Selfless Spirit
1 Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Kor Firewalker
After FNM, we changed the sideboard: -1 Remorseful Cleric, +1 Rest in Peace, -1 Orzhov Pontiff, +1 Fiend Hunter, -2 Selfless Spirit, +1 Stony Silence, +1 Tocatli Honor Guard. We're also looking to -1 Kor Firewalker, +1 Blessed Alliance, just as soon as we come across one in a trade binder.
She says the Fiend Hunter and Honor Guard should solve her problems with Felidar Guardian and Primeval Titan, and she thinks +1 Leonin Relic-Warder, -1 Stony Silence should help with Wurmcoil Engine.
I noticed while putting the new sideboard together that it was very heavy on double white mana bears, and was wondering what I can do to the manabase to make it friendlier for these cards. A white Urborg-equivalent would be amazing, but I'm not convinced anything so useful exists. Any suggestions?
4 Aether Vial
// 30 Creature
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Flickerwisp
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Spell Queller
2 Renegade Rallier
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Reflector Mage
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Spirit of the Labyrinth
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Oath of Nissa
// 4 Instant
4 Path to Exile
// 20 Land
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Plains
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
3 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Spellskite
1 Kor Firewalker
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Rest in Peace
I've been playing this for three months. I stopped calling it Taxes altogether and pet-named it Fishless Fish, and while the match results have been consistently poor, I still enjoy it. My favorite interaction is with Spirit of the Labyrinth and Vendilion Clique. Reflector Mage has game against Death's Shadow, and Renegade Rallier helps beat Liliana of the Veil. The biggest loss compared to Orzhov lists is Wasteland Strangler, which is sorely missed whenever I'm reminded that Spell Queller is only a tempo card without the processing effect.
I think the next place I'm going to look is Esper colors, taking the Orzhov lists and removing Wisp for Clique and Reflector - this may prove to be too all-in on Eldrazi Displacer to create value, but we will see.