What is everyone's thoughts about playing Blood Moon in the sideboard as a strategy against Valakut? I'm considering either 3 Disdainful Stroke, 4 Unified Will; or 2 Ghost Quarter (plus 2 in the main), 4 Unified Will; or 3 Blood Moon, 4 Unified Will.
On average, I think it takes my Knightfall deck about 5-7 turns to deal 20 damage. This isn't very fast, especially if the other playing has Lightning Bolts and Sweltering Suns to slow us down.
4 GQs and 4 Unified Wills seem like a good approach, but I'm wondering whether Blood Moon is just much more efficient. It'd just necessitate playing and searching for basics...
Also, I feel Blood Moon is much better against Tron than GQs.
Yeah, you're right, if it's just a choice between those two. But most of the time, in the next turn, if you have 3 mana (w/o dork), you have chance to play your 3-cost creatures. So playing Qasali on turn 3 takes up opportunity cost.
Round 1: Mono-Blue Thing in Ice/Cryptic Serpent
This was a cool deck and I only drew one Path in a game. He flipped his Thing in the Ice consistently and defended with Cryptic Commands. Having Reflector Mages would've been helpful with this deck. 0-2
Round 2: Storm
I've played Storm 2-3 times and won, so I was pretty comfortable. Game 1, I Pathed his Baral and UR guy, then drew Scavenging Ooze while having a clock. Killed him in 5-6 turns. Next game was similar, except I boarded in 3 Unified Will and 1 Negate, and 1 Bojuka Bog which reset his whole graveyard. After the game, he told me he got unlucky and flooded a bit. 2-0
Round 3: BW Eldrazi
Close first game. My opening hand was so *****ty (5 lands, Courser of Kruphix, Path) that his three discard spells he played weren't effective. I got pretty lucky, picking up Collected Company and Tireless Tracker after turn 4. He pressured with Lingering Souls, but I got down a 6/6 Knight of the Reliquary and Voice of Resurgence (from CoCo?), he got out 2 more Spirits, Thoughtknot Seer, Wasteland Strangler (w/o anything to process), and I outraced him. Second game, his hand wasn't great and I got out more creatures, including two big Knights of the Reliquary.
Round 4: UB Control
First game, he didn't draw very well, and I just played creatures and attacked. Second game was a grind, but I knew my deck had tons of value. I boarded in all my counterspells and boarded out Paths. Managed to Negate a Damnation and got out a Scavenging Ooze, which really helped contain the good spells in his graveyard from getting reused by Snapcaster. I had Nissa, Steward of Elements at 9 loyalty, and my endgame was to get him down to 10, then finish with her ultimate, but she was bounced by Cryptic Command, then Remanded twice. He almost turned the game around with Kalitas, getting zombies and gaining life, but I got out enough creatures to just get lethal damage going wide. 2-0
Round 5: N/A
Both decided to draw to guarantee top 8.
Top 8: Valakut
Not much to say. Game 1, I mulliganed and didn't have too fast of a hand. He Scapeshifted turn 4-5, and I died. Game 2, I boarded in counterspells, but didn't draw any. I mulliganed. He played Prismatic Omen and Primeval Titan to get me for lethal for 18.
Thoughts: I was really happy with my results. Playing with 3 Nissas is a bit of an experiment, and I was glad it didn't bite me in the butt. Bant Company, especially with my build which has zero Ghost Quarters, stands little chance versus Valakut. I think I'll insert maybe 2-3 Flashfreezes in the deck. I think that approach is less intrusive than the Ghost Quarter/Ramunap/Surgical Extraction approach. Scavenging Ooze, which I usually don't play many copies of, was an MVP in this tourny where I played 2. Against Storm and UB control, they sealed the deal. I honestly didn't expect to face any Valakut decks in this disruption heavy meta, so I've stopped playing Aven Mindcensors. It's also something I'll consider in the future, but otherwise, I'm happy with my current list.
Further thoughts: The common challenge with this deck, IMO, is sequencing on which creatures to play. I encounter this when I have a Voice and a Qasali. Qasali has exalted and can attack for 3 by himself. Voice protects against counterspells. In game vs Valakut, I wanted a faster clock to I played Qasali. But being unfamiliar with Valakut, he killed it with bolt, then played Prismatic Omen. This allowed him to win game faster. These decisions occur throughout the game since all our creatures are often the same cost.
Play question: Let's say opponent is on UW Control and passing the turn with 4 mana untapped. When is the best time to play non-creature spells like CoCo and planeswalkers? At 4 mana, they have access to Cryptic Command and other counterspells. Are we just waiting for them to tap out?
How do you guys plan to deal with Terminus? It's immune to Spell Queller and Selfless Spirits. Our only defense is Unified Will in the sideboard.
Because CoCo whiffs so much, I've seriously considered dropping it for something more consistent (Vizier of the Menagerie, Uncage the Menagerie, more planeswalkers like Gideon, etc.). So this isn't such an unheard of idea. However, even in your post, you yourself are mentioning the reason why CoCo is so good: it gives creatures Flash. I take it for granted, but playing CoCo to go six-deep in search for the Spell Queller is my go-to move. So, I don't think the deck necessarily gets better without CoCo; it might be worse. In the new era of Jace, you can CoCo in 2 creatures on his turn 4, then swing and kill Jace.
The concept of more Flash creatures in Knightfall is something I've played with a lot as well (I used to like playing with 2 Aven Mindcensors for this reason, so I could hold 3 mana to threaten Spell Queller, but if opponent passes, I can play something like Mindcensor or Clique on their turn). I think Bant Company is well positioned against planeswalkers, honestly. However, it's likely the control player won't play their Jace until they can defend it with Paths, etc.
In a vacuum, of course Jace is great in any deck. He can brainstorm and bounce. However, I'm not sure in a matchup against someone with a Jace who has more instants and sweepers, I don't think our Jace is better utilized. Brainstorming for a Retreat and a Knight is not as good as brainstorming for instants and kill spells. That's my 2 cents.
That's bad luck, man. I think Knightfall is favoured against Burn, with Spell Queller and Scavenging Ooze, and you board in counterspell and Kitchen Finks, too. Congrats on your overall results, though!
I don't think Jace is too scary against our strategy, honestly. And although he isn't a bad addition, I don't think Jace fits great with Knightfall. But that's just my opinion. Time will tell. I'll be playing with maybe more Elspeth Knight-Errants to fly over and snipe Jaces. I'm more worried about Bloodbraid Elf.
Game 1 vs UW Control
My hands were good. But as you can see from my list, I've changed my deck to be more consistent. Less generic lands like Ghost Quarter and Kessig Wolf Run, and instead Sunpetal Grove. This may be a small sample size, but I've had too many games with two lands including a Ghost Quarter. This list is so gold card heavy, that often I can't play cards at all with generic land opening hands (Voice of Resurgence, Qasali Pridemage, etc.). Match 1, I got Courser of Kruphix and Tireless Tracker out fast. I just played more creatures than he could handle, Spell Quellering a Supreme Verdict. Match 2, he bounced my Nissa, Steward of the Elements back to my hand with Cryptic Command, but I played her next turn for her ultimate. Won 2-0.
Game 2 vs BR Demon
This deck played Master of Cruelties and I had a slow opening hand with 2 lands for a while. I didn't read Master of Cruelties closely, and blocked using a 5/5 Knight, but first strike and deathtouch meant the Knight died. I chumped all my creatures, and he had Lightning Bolt in his hand if my life total went below 4. I scooped. Next 2 games, I had much better lands. Also, opponent's deck is very draw dependent. Won 2-1.
Game 3 vs UR Through the Breach
I consider myself fairly inexperienced. I only play paper Magic, and although I've heard of these cards, I've yet to play against a lot of archetypes. I mistakenly identified opponent's deck as UR Control with maybe Pyromancer. He played Bolts, Serums, Snapcaster. I won match 1 with creatures and he had very little. Match 2, he countered and bounced my guys with Remand, etc., while beating me down with a single Snapcaster. Then he Through the Breached an Inferno Titan, which I didn't see coming, and killed me. Match 3, I still didn't identify the main threat of Through the Breach. I think I had a Unified Will in hand, but I didn't board all my counterspells in. While tapped out, he Through the Breached a Emrakul. Lost 1-2.
Game 4 vs UW Control with Azcanta and Field of Ruin
I won first match just because he couldn't draw land. Second match, I felt good getting a Nissa out on turn 3, but she got Detention Sphered. Eventually, opponent Field of Ruined my blue sources and I have no basic Islands in my list. I'm going to include an Island in my deck from now on. I couldn't play Spell Quellers. He killed me with Colonnades while my defences were down. Match 3, I identified how important it was to keep him off Azcanta flip. That card is just such card advantage that I think they pretty much win the game. I managed to slow him down with a Bojuka Bog I sided in. Then the next time, I tried to Qasali Pridemage, but he countered it. This was one mistake. I played a Knight, then a Qasali. I should've identified the importance of Qasali, and played Qasali first, leaving enough mana to avoid the Logic Knot or Mana Leak, etc. Eventually he got Field of Ruined my blue sources, played Gideon Jura, and Big Elspeth, so I conceded. Also, both games, he Miracled a Terminus to really slow me down.
Nissa overperformed. So did Courser of Kruphix. Having Kessig Wolf Run or Ghost Quarter might have given me more outs, but I really like mana consistency in my deck. I have to think about it. I'm experimenting a bit. I brought in Nissa, Vital Force from my sideboard and managed to play her once, but she couldn't really save me at that point. Not sure how good she is. I need something that just stabilizes the board at 5 or 6 cost.
I was having a small conversation with someone at FNM, and he said he'd switched from Knightfall to BGx because he wanted to play midrange, and BGx is a better midrange strategy. Midrange is also my preferred style of play, so I began to analyze my list to see if and how it's a weaker midrange strategy. This led me to write down how I feel about Collected Company strategies in general: most of our creatures are weak by themselves. Voice of Resurgence gives a 1/1 Elemental Token. Knight of Reliquary is slow at turn 3 without acceleration and can't tap for its ability till turn 4. Spell Queller without acceleration is much weaker on turn 3 on draw. We need acceleration in our hand to be good, and often that dork is pushed.
Now, even with a dork in play, if the other creature gets pushed, all we have is a dork on board.
My current solution, which I'll be testing, is thus: play Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. This Nissa is faster than Nissa, Steward of Elements, because Steward needs to activate it's +2 at turn 3 to be useable on turn 4. Voice of Zendikar gives me a blocker immediately, a body to pump up the Elemental Token. More importantly, it pumps up my mana dorks. Bird of Paradise can now block Spirit tokens at 1/2, and attack for some damage.
I know this is an outside the box idea, but I'd like to hear your thoughts before I put this into action. Thanks!
I think at least 2x Reflector Mage in the sideboard is a good alternative to mainboarding Reflector Mages in certain meta. Sometimes the possibility of hitting a Reflector Mage with a CoCo is all the difference in games.
Round 1 (2-1)
Opponent was on Delver/Docent of Perfection/Thing in Ice, 2-1. I thought he was playing some Delver deck with Thing in Ice, so I didn't side in all my removal at first (Blessed Alliance), but he played Docent of Perfection on Game 2 and got to flip it. Such a terrifying card if it sticks on the board. I hadn't figured my sideboard before this night, so I left 2 Reflector Mages that I wanted to eventually take out. These Reflector Mages were so good versus Thing in Ice, and helped me win Game 3. I'm still iffy about Reflector Mages though.
Round 2, (2-1)
Opponent was on Smallpox. I kept a hand on Game 1 with one land and two Noble Hierarchs. He Pushed my dorks, and Smallpoxed to victory. Second game I sided in Elspeth, Knight-Errant, and I managed to play it on turn 4, avoiding Thoughtseizes. I could use my Soldier tokens to protect my other creatures from Smallpox and Liliana of the Veil, and flew over to destroy his planeswalkers (LotV and Gideon, AoZ). One lesson I learned was when he smallpoxed me and I had a hand of one CoCo and one Negate, I discarded Negate, forgetting that I also had to sacrifice a land and would likely never be able to play the CoCo I kept. Should've kept the Negate.
Round 3 (0-2)
Opponent was playing Abzan. Game 1, I mulliganed to 6 with a land and a dork. Scryed a creature to bottom. He killed my dork and I never drew a land. Second game, I had a land heavy hand with Spell Queller and CoCo. He thoughtseized both cards, and I flooded out. I'm just disappointed that I didn't get a chance to play Game 1 due to the no land draw.
Round 4, (2-0)
Opponent was on UG Merfolk. I drew a lot of answers in form of Paths and Spell Quellers and CoCo, and his hands were slow. Silvergill Adept looked good when played.
All in all, I only played against one deck that's in the meta (Abzan Midrange) and I lost against it, so I'm not sure what to feel. The Abzan player did go on to 4-0, beating a Grixis Death Shadow deck. I do have a hard time versus BG Midrange decks though, about 40/60, so I'm thinking of ways of improving. I might add to the sideboard Thrun, the Last Troll, 2 Eternal Witness, and another planeswalker in addition to Elspeth---maybe Nissa, Vital Force, as an experiment.
This is the first time I've played with 3 Phyrexian Revokers, and they felt really good. I like having this answer to Devoted Druids and planeswalkers (Karn, etc) in my deck. Looking at recent Abzan lists, I do want to include more planewalkers in my deck for value. I like Retreat to Coralhem, partly because they are still useful by themselves, but I think this is a mistake in rationalization. They just aren't useful enough. I might try taking them out and slotting in either 2 Eternal Witnesses or 2 Nissa, Steward of Elements in the main deck.
Reflector Mage feels better in more tempo decks likes Human Company. IMO, it's good in Knightfall, too, but classic Knightfall is a little slow at times, and probably can't take advantage of the two turns of bounced defender to kill the opponent. You are usually just buying time to draw a better answer. This is why I think Voice of Resurgence is great especially in Knightfall. It grows bigger with time and takes advantage of those times you draw a Bird of Paradise, which usually does nothing but now can grow the Elemental token.
My other thinking is that Knightfall really only has one beater: Knight of the Reliquary. Occasionally Tireless Tracker. That's why Voice of Resurgence is important, IMO. We need a second/third option for a big body. In midrange matchups, it's been the Elemental that has stabilized the board and won me the game. It's obviously also great versus control.
I like using the Reflector Mage spot for a better stabilization card. One more Tireless Tracker to grow big and dig for answers. More flyers like Aven Mindcensor to break stalled boards or block versus Affinity. I don't have the perfect replacement just yet, though.
As an aside, I've been very inspired by an oldish list that won the GP Sao Paolo last year. I'm trying to figure out what made it successful. I've a feeling that it wins a lot through the combo on game 1, since it has 3 Retreats. Also I love how it has 3 Tireless Trackers. I'm still unsure about the Thalias though. I don't know how they work with the deck. Also the 3 Ceremonious Rejection and 3 Flashfreezes in the sideboard are ingenious. Any thoughts?
Hi, all, what is everyone's thoughts on what to replace Reflector Mage? Maybe Deadeye Harpooner instead of Reflector Mage? It's better against decks that use Vial that can just play the bounced creature again. It's slightly easier to cast at 1 white, 2 colourless. I feel there are enough fetches to activate this card.
The major downside, of course, is that the targeted creature has to be tapped. But it combos well with Retreat to Coralhelm.
I'm just finding Reflector Mage underwhelming in certain matchups, and too much of a win-more against Shadow decks, and only a slight deterrent against similar mirror decks.
Of the top decks (Grixis Shadow, Affinity, Counters Company, Humans, Burn, Tron, Eldrazi Tron, Eldrazi and Taxes), the only matchups I'm worried about playing is Affinity, Counters Company, and Death and Taxes decks. These decks are fast in ways that don't match well with traditional Knightfall lists (correct me, please, if I'm wrong).
So, in my opinion, cards like EWit and Geist don't improve our speed, nor help us stabilize. Clique sounds great versus Affinity and Vizier combo. Also, more Qasali Pridemages sound good too to get rid of Vials and artifacts. I also play 2 Aven Mindcensors to limit CoCo and Chord, and it also helps block fliers in Affinity.
On the flip side, there are also those matches when it's a grind/value matchup. I play 2 Tireless Trackers and 3 Voice of Resurgence in main. And Flip Jace seems really good. If I can, I always try to fit in as many planeswalkers as I can into this deck (Elspeth, Knight-Errant or Nissa, Steward). My 2 cents.
Hi, all. I haven't played in a while, but I'm on regular Bant Knightfall. I like playing crowded-board midgame and late game. I haven't played against the new 5c Humans deck yet, and I was wondering how you guys are finding the matchup. My Bant Knightfall deck already had some trouble against Bant Human Knightfall, so 5c Humans seems faster and scarier.
On average, I think it takes my Knightfall deck about 5-7 turns to deal 20 damage. This isn't very fast, especially if the other playing has Lightning Bolts and Sweltering Suns to slow us down.
4 GQs and 4 Unified Wills seem like a good approach, but I'm wondering whether Blood Moon is just much more efficient. It'd just necessitate playing and searching for basics...
Also, I feel Blood Moon is much better against Tron than GQs.
Round 1: Mono-Blue Thing in Ice/Cryptic Serpent
This was a cool deck and I only drew one Path in a game. He flipped his Thing in the Ice consistently and defended with Cryptic Commands. Having Reflector Mages would've been helpful with this deck. 0-2
Round 2: Storm
I've played Storm 2-3 times and won, so I was pretty comfortable. Game 1, I Pathed his Baral and UR guy, then drew Scavenging Ooze while having a clock. Killed him in 5-6 turns. Next game was similar, except I boarded in 3 Unified Will and 1 Negate, and 1 Bojuka Bog which reset his whole graveyard. After the game, he told me he got unlucky and flooded a bit. 2-0
Round 3: BW Eldrazi
Close first game. My opening hand was so *****ty (5 lands, Courser of Kruphix, Path) that his three discard spells he played weren't effective. I got pretty lucky, picking up Collected Company and Tireless Tracker after turn 4. He pressured with Lingering Souls, but I got down a 6/6 Knight of the Reliquary and Voice of Resurgence (from CoCo?), he got out 2 more Spirits, Thoughtknot Seer, Wasteland Strangler (w/o anything to process), and I outraced him. Second game, his hand wasn't great and I got out more creatures, including two big Knights of the Reliquary.
Round 4: UB Control
First game, he didn't draw very well, and I just played creatures and attacked. Second game was a grind, but I knew my deck had tons of value. I boarded in all my counterspells and boarded out Paths. Managed to Negate a Damnation and got out a Scavenging Ooze, which really helped contain the good spells in his graveyard from getting reused by Snapcaster. I had Nissa, Steward of Elements at 9 loyalty, and my endgame was to get him down to 10, then finish with her ultimate, but she was bounced by Cryptic Command, then Remanded twice. He almost turned the game around with Kalitas, getting zombies and gaining life, but I got out enough creatures to just get lethal damage going wide. 2-0
Round 5: N/A
Both decided to draw to guarantee top 8.
Top 8: Valakut
Not much to say. Game 1, I mulliganed and didn't have too fast of a hand. He Scapeshifted turn 4-5, and I died. Game 2, I boarded in counterspells, but didn't draw any. I mulliganed. He played Prismatic Omen and Primeval Titan to get me for lethal for 18.
Thoughts: I was really happy with my results. Playing with 3 Nissas is a bit of an experiment, and I was glad it didn't bite me in the butt. Bant Company, especially with my build which has zero Ghost Quarters, stands little chance versus Valakut. I think I'll insert maybe 2-3 Flashfreezes in the deck. I think that approach is less intrusive than the Ghost Quarter/Ramunap/Surgical Extraction approach. Scavenging Ooze, which I usually don't play many copies of, was an MVP in this tourny where I played 2. Against Storm and UB control, they sealed the deal. I honestly didn't expect to face any Valakut decks in this disruption heavy meta, so I've stopped playing Aven Mindcensors. It's also something I'll consider in the future, but otherwise, I'm happy with my current list.
Further thoughts: The common challenge with this deck, IMO, is sequencing on which creatures to play. I encounter this when I have a Voice and a Qasali. Qasali has exalted and can attack for 3 by himself. Voice protects against counterspells. In game vs Valakut, I wanted a faster clock to I played Qasali. But being unfamiliar with Valakut, he killed it with bolt, then played Prismatic Omen. This allowed him to win game faster. These decisions occur throughout the game since all our creatures are often the same cost.
How do you guys plan to deal with Terminus? It's immune to Spell Queller and Selfless Spirits. Our only defense is Unified Will in the sideboard.
The concept of more Flash creatures in Knightfall is something I've played with a lot as well (I used to like playing with 2 Aven Mindcensors for this reason, so I could hold 3 mana to threaten Spell Queller, but if opponent passes, I can play something like Mindcensor or Clique on their turn). I think Bant Company is well positioned against planeswalkers, honestly. However, it's likely the control player won't play their Jace until they can defend it with Paths, etc.
In a vacuum, of course Jace is great in any deck. He can brainstorm and bounce. However, I'm not sure in a matchup against someone with a Jace who has more instants and sweepers, I don't think our Jace is better utilized. Brainstorming for a Retreat and a Knight is not as good as brainstorming for instants and kill spells. That's my 2 cents.
I don't think Jace is too scary against our strategy, honestly. And although he isn't a bad addition, I don't think Jace fits great with Knightfall. But that's just my opinion. Time will tell. I'll be playing with maybe more Elspeth Knight-Errants to fly over and snipe Jaces. I'm more worried about Bloodbraid Elf.
Game 1 vs UW Control
My hands were good. But as you can see from my list, I've changed my deck to be more consistent. Less generic lands like Ghost Quarter and Kessig Wolf Run, and instead Sunpetal Grove. This may be a small sample size, but I've had too many games with two lands including a Ghost Quarter. This list is so gold card heavy, that often I can't play cards at all with generic land opening hands (Voice of Resurgence, Qasali Pridemage, etc.). Match 1, I got Courser of Kruphix and Tireless Tracker out fast. I just played more creatures than he could handle, Spell Quellering a Supreme Verdict. Match 2, he bounced my Nissa, Steward of the Elements back to my hand with Cryptic Command, but I played her next turn for her ultimate. Won 2-0.
Game 2 vs BR Demon
This deck played Master of Cruelties and I had a slow opening hand with 2 lands for a while. I didn't read Master of Cruelties closely, and blocked using a 5/5 Knight, but first strike and deathtouch meant the Knight died. I chumped all my creatures, and he had Lightning Bolt in his hand if my life total went below 4. I scooped. Next 2 games, I had much better lands. Also, opponent's deck is very draw dependent. Won 2-1.
Game 3 vs UR Through the Breach
I consider myself fairly inexperienced. I only play paper Magic, and although I've heard of these cards, I've yet to play against a lot of archetypes. I mistakenly identified opponent's deck as UR Control with maybe Pyromancer. He played Bolts, Serums, Snapcaster. I won match 1 with creatures and he had very little. Match 2, he countered and bounced my guys with Remand, etc., while beating me down with a single Snapcaster. Then he Through the Breached an Inferno Titan, which I didn't see coming, and killed me. Match 3, I still didn't identify the main threat of Through the Breach. I think I had a Unified Will in hand, but I didn't board all my counterspells in. While tapped out, he Through the Breached a Emrakul. Lost 1-2.
Game 4 vs UW Control with Azcanta and Field of Ruin
I won first match just because he couldn't draw land. Second match, I felt good getting a Nissa out on turn 3, but she got Detention Sphered. Eventually, opponent Field of Ruined my blue sources and I have no basic Islands in my list. I'm going to include an Island in my deck from now on. I couldn't play Spell Quellers. He killed me with Colonnades while my defences were down. Match 3, I identified how important it was to keep him off Azcanta flip. That card is just such card advantage that I think they pretty much win the game. I managed to slow him down with a Bojuka Bog I sided in. Then the next time, I tried to Qasali Pridemage, but he countered it. This was one mistake. I played a Knight, then a Qasali. I should've identified the importance of Qasali, and played Qasali first, leaving enough mana to avoid the Logic Knot or Mana Leak, etc. Eventually he got Field of Ruined my blue sources, played Gideon Jura, and Big Elspeth, so I conceded. Also, both games, he Miracled a Terminus to really slow me down.
Nissa overperformed. So did Courser of Kruphix. Having Kessig Wolf Run or Ghost Quarter might have given me more outs, but I really like mana consistency in my deck. I have to think about it. I'm experimenting a bit. I brought in Nissa, Vital Force from my sideboard and managed to play her once, but she couldn't really save me at that point. Not sure how good she is. I need something that just stabilizes the board at 5 or 6 cost.
Now, even with a dork in play, if the other creature gets pushed, all we have is a dork on board.
My current solution, which I'll be testing, is thus: play Nissa, Voice of Zendikar. This Nissa is faster than Nissa, Steward of Elements, because Steward needs to activate it's +2 at turn 3 to be useable on turn 4. Voice of Zendikar gives me a blocker immediately, a body to pump up the Elemental Token. More importantly, it pumps up my mana dorks. Bird of Paradise can now block Spirit tokens at 1/2, and attack for some damage.
I know this is an outside the box idea, but I'd like to hear your thoughts before I put this into action. Thanks!
I get why Thalia, GoT is used, but this deck sides Thalia, Heretic Cathar. Can anyone explain how this Thalia can be useful in the sideboard?
Round 1 (2-1)
Opponent was on Delver/Docent of Perfection/Thing in Ice, 2-1. I thought he was playing some Delver deck with Thing in Ice, so I didn't side in all my removal at first (Blessed Alliance), but he played Docent of Perfection on Game 2 and got to flip it. Such a terrifying card if it sticks on the board. I hadn't figured my sideboard before this night, so I left 2 Reflector Mages that I wanted to eventually take out. These Reflector Mages were so good versus Thing in Ice, and helped me win Game 3. I'm still iffy about Reflector Mages though.
Round 2, (2-1)
Opponent was on Smallpox. I kept a hand on Game 1 with one land and two Noble Hierarchs. He Pushed my dorks, and Smallpoxed to victory. Second game I sided in Elspeth, Knight-Errant, and I managed to play it on turn 4, avoiding Thoughtseizes. I could use my Soldier tokens to protect my other creatures from Smallpox and Liliana of the Veil, and flew over to destroy his planeswalkers (LotV and Gideon, AoZ). One lesson I learned was when he smallpoxed me and I had a hand of one CoCo and one Negate, I discarded Negate, forgetting that I also had to sacrifice a land and would likely never be able to play the CoCo I kept. Should've kept the Negate.
Round 3 (0-2)
Opponent was playing Abzan. Game 1, I mulliganed to 6 with a land and a dork. Scryed a creature to bottom. He killed my dork and I never drew a land. Second game, I had a land heavy hand with Spell Queller and CoCo. He thoughtseized both cards, and I flooded out. I'm just disappointed that I didn't get a chance to play Game 1 due to the no land draw.
Round 4, (2-0)
Opponent was on UG Merfolk. I drew a lot of answers in form of Paths and Spell Quellers and CoCo, and his hands were slow. Silvergill Adept looked good when played.
All in all, I only played against one deck that's in the meta (Abzan Midrange) and I lost against it, so I'm not sure what to feel. The Abzan player did go on to 4-0, beating a Grixis Death Shadow deck. I do have a hard time versus BG Midrange decks though, about 40/60, so I'm thinking of ways of improving. I might add to the sideboard Thrun, the Last Troll, 2 Eternal Witness, and another planeswalker in addition to Elspeth---maybe Nissa, Vital Force, as an experiment.
This is the first time I've played with 3 Phyrexian Revokers, and they felt really good. I like having this answer to Devoted Druids and planeswalkers (Karn, etc) in my deck. Looking at recent Abzan lists, I do want to include more planewalkers in my deck for value. I like Retreat to Coralhem, partly because they are still useful by themselves, but I think this is a mistake in rationalization. They just aren't useful enough. I might try taking them out and slotting in either 2 Eternal Witnesses or 2 Nissa, Steward of Elements in the main deck.
I'm contemplating this list for now: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bant-knightfall-12718-modern/
My other thinking is that Knightfall really only has one beater: Knight of the Reliquary. Occasionally Tireless Tracker. That's why Voice of Resurgence is important, IMO. We need a second/third option for a big body. In midrange matchups, it's been the Elemental that has stabilized the board and won me the game. It's obviously also great versus control.
I like using the Reflector Mage spot for a better stabilization card. One more Tireless Tracker to grow big and dig for answers. More flyers like Aven Mindcensor to break stalled boards or block versus Affinity. I don't have the perfect replacement just yet, though.
Here's my current list: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bant-knightfall-11818-modern/?cache=2018-01-25 09:55:10.300771
As an aside, I've been very inspired by an oldish list that won the GP Sao Paolo last year. I'm trying to figure out what made it successful. I've a feeling that it wins a lot through the combo on game 1, since it has 3 Retreats. Also I love how it has 3 Tireless Trackers. I'm still unsure about the Thalias though. I don't know how they work with the deck. Also the 3 Ceremonious Rejection and 3 Flashfreezes in the sideboard are ingenious. Any thoughts?
https://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpsao17/top-8-decklists-2017-08-13
The major downside, of course, is that the targeted creature has to be tapped. But it combos well with Retreat to Coralhelm.
I'm just finding Reflector Mage underwhelming in certain matchups, and too much of a win-more against Shadow decks, and only a slight deterrent against similar mirror decks.
So, in my opinion, cards like EWit and Geist don't improve our speed, nor help us stabilize. Clique sounds great versus Affinity and Vizier combo. Also, more Qasali Pridemages sound good too to get rid of Vials and artifacts. I also play 2 Aven Mindcensors to limit CoCo and Chord, and it also helps block fliers in Affinity.
On the flip side, there are also those matches when it's a grind/value matchup. I play 2 Tireless Trackers and 3 Voice of Resurgence in main. And Flip Jace seems really good. If I can, I always try to fit in as many planeswalkers as I can into this deck (Elspeth, Knight-Errant or Nissa, Steward). My 2 cents.