MTG Salvation

Quote from Shelldell »

Welcome, SmauG.

1. Maulfist Revolutionary isn't a bad card, it's just competing against a lot of other good cards for the 3 CMC slot. The trample is nice, though Maulfist is dependent upon having another card with a counter on it already to gain value from its ETB and on-death abilities. This is not unusual in a Humans deck, but it's not guaranteed, either. Mirran Crusader and Knight of the Reliquary can also have evasion (Crusader via protection, Knight via Kessig Wolf Run), a degree of resiliency, and the ability to punch for damage that exceeds their CMC.

2. Both Thalias and Avacyn's Pilgrim are all loosely part of a package. The Thalias together are effective against a huge swath of the format, though they both miss against hand-spewing creature-based aggro decks like Affinity. Running the Pilgrims is important to cast Big Thalia earlier, which is strongest T2 on the play, and it also helps you ease the tension between Thalia GoT & CoCo by hitting 5 mana if necessary. Because you have more dorks you can then shave some weaker 2 CMC humans and load on a few more good 3 CMC ones. If you aren't running 3+ Pilgrims you can get away with 2-3 Thalia GoT but I wouldn't bother with Big Thalia. Running CoCo, Path, and Reflector Mage already gives you some decent game against midrange decks. Rallier's value depends upon how many 2 CMC creatures you keep. If you move to the Pilgrim + 3-drop plan you'll end up shaving some 2-drops which weakens Rallier and makes Eternal Witness more attractive. Overall I'm not pushing you to adopt this package, I just want you make sure that you understand the downstream build decisions that come from it.

3. Mantis Rider is an excellent card, and perhaps equally important is Izzet Staticaster in the board. However, Avacyn's Pilgrim does not play well with Mantis Rider. Trading black for red and cutting Pilgrim (which admittedly is a weak card in and of itself) means cutting down 3 drops to 9-10, cutting Big Thalia / Kambal / Sin Collector, and adding more 2-drops. These 2-drops could be Meddling Mage (see Headminerve's lists), Metallic Mimic, Mayor, Baby Jace, etc.. the community hasn't really aligned on an optimal 2-drop yet. Most are usually OK, and even situationally decent, but none have been consistently incredible. I cut Mimic once I realized that it doesn't do anything off of CoCo.

The overall choice of red vs black is largely a meta call IMO. I personally think black usually does a bit better against control and unfair decks while red does better against affinity / infect and a few other small aggro decks, but you can build both lists to try to minimize their respective weaknesses. For instance, I'm running 2x Ceremonious Rejection to try to shore up WGUB's matchup against Affinity (and help with E-Tron). Conversely you can build WGUR lists with more Mana leaks in the side to help against unfair matchups. Finally, you have some lists that try to stick as closely to WG(u) as possible (see EpicEmpiricism's list above) -- this gives you the most consistent and painless experience, which can be just as valuable as either Red or Black.

4. Don't worry about Solemnity for now. In terms of enchantments be prepared with a plan against Blood Moon. I prefer Reclamation Sage or Qasali Pridemage to War Priest as the ability to hit artifacts and do double duty against Affinity etc is more important than being a human.

Quote from NeoSin »

I've been experimenting with this list ever since Shadows spoiled TL, but I never made an account until recently. As of recent, with the advent of GY strategies taking over the format, I've been running MB Anafenza, the Foremost. She can easily single handily win you the game against Dredge, and really pulls you ahead in the race against Death's Shadow or any sort of value Delirium strategy. She also has some neat little tricks with Mana dorks and dodges pain in the butts such as Anger of the Gods and Sweltering Suns.

A card I've run in the past is Grand Abolisher. What are thoughts and opinions on that in the metagame as it stands?

1. Why isn't Maulfist Revolutionary being mentioned in this topic?
I play this as a three of, curving nicely from a T2 Metallic Mimic for a massive house on turn 3. With Champion of the Parish and Thalia's Lieutenant in the deck it's almost never a dead card. Mana costs can be a little awkward at times without Cavern of Souls in a >3 colour list.

2. Since i'm already splashing black, I have the option to Maindeck Anafenza, the foremost which could take the place of said Maulfist Revolutionary.
Dropping the semi lord Metallic Mimic and Renegade Rallier for some main deck hate Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Thalia, Heretic Cathar. I have a feeling this will improve on early disruption of fast creature/spell/combo/GY decks, but taking away some of the midrange prowess I need vs. big eldrazi decks. Add a pair of Avacyn's Pilgrim to gain back some ramp. What do you think?

3. From your experience, does the red splash for Mantis Rider bring more in terms of other deck options over the black splash for Anafenza, the foremost?
4. Will Solemnity be a thing in modern? If so, what decks would run them and would you pack a good amount of Enchantment Hate in the board? Like Golgari Charm and War Priest of Thune. They do take important slots, but i have a feeling the card will mess with our gameplan pretty badly.