OK so all my posts are deleted because I live in retarded region. Whatever.
Problem is I still don't see any good stuff to swap them for right now. Hero of Bladehold was suggested by the Jeskai player but he doesn't impact the board immediatly and that sucks. Ranger of Eos is my idea but there aren't any crucial 1 drops to make it relevant. Thought about going Gideon package as Kytheon is already in the deck and they are decent beaters that have some nice utility and relevant abilities, mostly about Gideon of the Trials - he's strong against combo decks and shuts down a relevant beater. Gideon, Ally of Zendikar is very flexible being either an anthem or token maker but he's more questionable.
I'll try 1 Gideon of the Trials in spot of 1 WLL next friday. Leonin Relic-Warder has to stay for now.
In case you didn't know you have to make a post with your name in a dedicated topic about account migration.
As for the 4 drop on the deck, I also tested Hero of bladehold and while it is very powerful if you get to untap and by that point of the game it is hard for them to get rid of (bolt doesn't kill it and they probably already used some removal) it is still a whole turn to come "online".
The options I am testing and playing in that slot are: Elspeth, Knight-errant and Gideon, Ally of zendikar, and I am liking elspeth more, both can impact the board immediately, both pumping your creatures or creating a creature, but if I want to get through with the last points of damage Elspeth is better because of the evasion and it tick up, gideon dies in that moment if you ulti,
MU 1 vs GDS 0-2, I play this guy for the last 3 weeks and for the frist time I lost, I kept a hand with one land and 4 1 drops, but well I must learn not to try it ever again.
Second game I lost to the spell that gives DS trample.
MU 2 vs The rock (GB control) 2-0, both games I drew Mirran crusader and it was fast.
Mu 3 vs Grixis )without DS) 2-0, a more traditional U control deck, lots of counters and damnation, but I eventually played elspeth in game 1 after his lotV made me sacrifice an Auriok Champion and the token soldiers just were too many for him to respond.
Game 2 went quite fast, with a very agroo hand with me.
MU 4 vs Reanimator 2-0 (goryos vengance, emrakul, griselband) both games little thalia anooyed him a lot, in the frist game he killed one and I frew a second one, and in the second game it was protected twice with brave the elements.
So, while my meta is heavy on black decks and II ran Auriok champion Main it didn't had a great impact, I think it is best when it comes out of the sideboard since it just slows me in game one, I am going to replace it for the time being with Gather the townsfolk. BUt I will also try getting one kytheon and one student of warfare.
Mutavault underperformed also, and a couple of games it got in the way of white mana for benalish marshal, I am removing it.
Benalish marshal is great, and while testing I was using 3 and 1 honor of the pure I soon realized that sometime I need HotP because of the cost, so it is now 3-2 split.
I tried militia bugler, not bad, but it is one more than Smuggler copter and I feel creatures costing 3 have to have a big impact on the board, maybe I am biased bow but the copter is an annoying creature that is not that easy to interact with.
I want to try Legion's landing here, the lack of synergy is a concern but getting it to flip becoming the 4th mana would make the deck so consistent (like the mono W decks I am playing in Arena). Love the card and is one very cheap way to get a token producing land without almost any drawback.
Given how heavy my meta is on black I am even considering including Nephalia Academy instead of ghost quarter, would really mess with the LotV and the rest of the discard spells. But maybe I am just desperate for a Land that brings some value instead of just being a land, shame that Westvale Abbey is so expensive to activate, the human tokens could come handy.
Anyway, control isn't very popular in my meta and I normally beat UW control even after a terminus (i am careful not to overcommit), the more common board wipe is engineered explosives in the MU vs tron, I already sideboard damping matrix or suppression field vs them but it is still my worst MU, because of how fast explosives is Proclamation of rebirth looks like a very good card to play immediately after EE.
@Magic geek, thanks for the analysis and suggestions.
I for sure try dropping honor of the pure and bringing Benalish marshal.
Reciprocate is there because I don't have the 4th path currently, might even cut it now and add another creature.
Definitely looking into tweaking the one drops, more Kytheons does seem the way to go.
Other cards I just started testing yesterday: Hero of bladehold, but I just don't like that as a 4 drop doesn't have an instant impact on the board, unlike Elspeth, Knight-errant which gives evasion and buffs to a creature, continues to apply pressure and create a new thing to respond to. But after some testing Hero of bladehold is very impressive if I get to attack with it.
Also, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, seems quite versatile to create more board presence or just getting an anthem right away for lethal.
My version is more WW, sorry if I am out of place but since the decklist is very similar and this is one of the most active topics around WW in the forum I still think it is the best place to discuss about it.
So, I agree the 2 CMC drop is one of the hardest spots, Thalia and Thalia lieutenants are the best, recently dropped Paladin en-vec from the main list to bring Auriok Champion, smoothing the mana curve and making the match vs grixis, jund and burn more favorable. (these are the most popular decks in my LGS FNM).
The main thing I have been trying to concentrate is playing creatures with protection, normally this kind of deck hits the opponent hard for the first 3 turns but then blockers and removal allow them to stabilize, protection allow for the last damage to come through, either mirran cursader, auriok champion or Brave the Elements which is one hell of a finisher most of the time.
Another card that I have liked a lot is Smuggler's copter, allows for some land filtering and the evasion is nice.
1Magic geek, from your list I took the idea of including Benalish marshal and so far it has been excelent.
My last FNM 3-1
2-1 vs Grixis
1st game 0-1, he opens with thoughtsize, then another one and death shadow next turn, the board gets kind of stale with some bloackers on my side but he ultimately counters my Elspeth and a mirran crusader and gives trample to his Death shadow.
2nd Game, 1-1, Auriok Champion comes in to play earlier and makes the game very hard for him, he scoops.
3rd Game, he opens up with grim lavamancer, since it can kill all my early threats I had to Path it, later another auriok champion closes the game
2-0 vs some green/white combo deck, I don't know the name of this deck but it makes some combo around sun titan creating lots of tokens.
In both games my deck is much faster and I drew mirran crusader to finish it.
0-2 vs Mono white death and taxes
In both games the combination of Eldrazi displacer and big thalia is just too much, I made some errors not taking his eldrazi temple sooner with my ghost quarter and in the 2nd game I brought Auriok champion to exploit displacer effect, it was working well but I missed around 5 triggers and lost the race, lessons learned about paying more attention to Auriok champion triggers.
2-0 vs Jund Soldier of the pantheon shines in this matchup since a few of their spells are multicolored, along mirran crusader he couldn't contest the board in both games.
Since tribal decks are popular on my meta (not only eldrazi but also humans, spirits and even vampires) I am including riders of gavony to close out games with stale board states, hope to be able to test them this FNM.
Also considering bringing wither WLL or hero of bladehold for Elspeth as the finisher.
Also considering going green for Gaddock since Tron has been my worst matchup, or maybe blue for meddling mage and the new BW legend.
Finally, what do you think of aether vial for this deck?
Regarding the original question, it is important to asses that it can have two answers, considering magic in isolation or compared to other games. Because if we take some of the data discussed here it might appear that 40$ or 25% isn't that bad, but compared to lots of other games Magic is quite big on Luck, I think it is one of the aspects many players are not that conscious that keeps the adrenaline running and our interest in the game: the big serotonin rush when you topdeck an answer when you draw that missing land, it is all luck.
What is even funnier is how the price of the cards gives us some false sense of security over the possible outcome.
I am currently running a Mono white humans version, and just got the benalish Marshalls to substitute field marshal (which effect is more limited and easier to kill) but haven't played with the deck these two last weeks.
I have found protection is one of the most powerful effects on creatures currently, so I am running Mirran crusader and Paladin en veces on the main board, the MU vs grixis and jund is quite good.
Missing Stillmoon cavalier too and surely the next piece to add but now I don't know what to cut.
The new tax human seems good too, specially for the 2 mana cost spot.
Alright, so I gave a try to the mono W version of this deck, had modern FNM 2 days ago, whole 6 ppl arrived thx to the Christmas-New Year's Eve time. My list:
Double Isamaru and Selfless Spirit because I don't have 3rd cleric, definately would add another one.
1st match vs Izzet Drakes, won 2:1
Game 1 - turn 2 Thalia screwed him up, didn't really do much after that.
Game 2 - he flipped TiT and got 2 Phoenixes from GY on turn 3... Very unfair.
Game 3 - long one, turn 2 Thalia got Gut Shoted in response, he got full suite of removal early game but no threats for first half of his deck. After some time I flipped Kytheon and +1'ed Thalia for the rest of game. Every TiT got Pathed and he was sad. Finally I've pushed through.
2nd match vs Jeskai Control, lost 1:2
Game 1 - stomped him, he wasn't fast enough to do anything. Benalish Marshal from Windbrisk Heights on turn 4 sealed the deal.
Game 2 - defended hard, he got most of his sideboard cards in here. Izzet Staticaster chumped my Kytheon and killed little Thalia on turn 3rd with me sitting with Benalish Marshal in hand... Should've played him before combat I guess. After some time he resolved JtMS and after some time when he started to Fateseal me I conceded.
Game 3 - pretty much the same story as above.
3rd match vs Ad Nauseam, won 2:0
Game 1 - he couldn't find his Ad Nauseam so he Spoils of the Vaulted for it and milled over half of his deck, including his win conditions. After some time I've managed to beat him.
Game 2 - mulled to 5 cards, 3 lands, Kytheon and little Thalia. Scried for Stony Silence and I was fine. He got Phyrexian Unlife but I got Hokori from Windbrisk Heights and put him into play on turn 4. That shut him down from going off next turn and bought me enough time to do the beats. Again he Spoiled, this time for Solemnity and locked me with Phyrexian Unlife. He milled his both Spirit Guides though and had no red mana to cast his win con. After that I just waited for Sundering Growth to destroy his Unlife.
Overall deck packs a punch, is fast and actually is really resilient and consistent. I had no mana problems with 4x Flagstones and GQ so I reccomend these as the deck doesn't really have much game vs Tron neither in main nor in side. It did the same job consistently in every game. It all dependent on what opponent did if I lost or won pretty much.
There are 2 things I dislike in this deck though. 1st is Wilt-Leaf Liege. For 4 mana he wasn't impactful enough really. Thinking Hero of Bladehold or Ranger of Eos would be better choice, prolly as 3-of as well. 2nd thing is lack of responces to locks - Phyrexian Unlife and Solemnity would be game if I didn't have my Sundering Growth in play. Same would be true with Ensnaring Bridge. I think this deck really needs artifact and enchantment point-removal. Sundering Growth should be decent enough, maybe Leonin Relic-Warder could be better fit though, gotta try him. Vs Jeskai I didn't have much game neither after sideboard, I think SB part could be improved.
Overall I'm really happy with this deck and I'll totally play and test it more.
How do you feel benalish marshal, does it survives easily?
Do you had many chances to play horoki? did it feel impactful?
I am returning player, 14 years out of the game, just returned in Core19, playing a lot of Arena and making a couple of decks for modern. In my teens/young adult days, I played from Urza's Saga to Kamigawa block.
The first things I noticed coming back:
1.- Cards are much more expensive, I remember when rishadan port 12 USD was a very expensive card. Now You have 50 USD cards in standard. My Tinker deck costed me 400 and that was top of the line deck for Extended. This is a problem WotC could fix if they printed the masters set even more aggressively, specially to bring down the price of fetchlands which are representing about 50% of the price of a deck.
2.- WotC has made the conscious decision to make the game more focused on the battlefield, more permanent's that matter (PW), better creatures (the jump has been absolutely enormous, old creatures are a joke), blue has been toned down a lot, combos are kept in check harder, drawing is more expensive.
As a result of the second, I find the game for me much more enjoyable, and I do like to play blue control from time to time, creature combat is more rewarding (nevertheless they are printing less combat trick instants), developing the board is now the focus.
So I really welcome their new design choices and how they Push design but also print answers in many cards. Teferi is okay, and I suspect it even wasn't printed for standard but for giving control a chance in modern (where black is dominant it seems) where blue is the weak color, unlike the other eternal formats where it is the best color without question.
Manabase is still a long way obviously (can get fastlands and cave of kolios in the meantime), thoughtseize I will get next year too and in the meantime I can put in some duress.
My main questions to start experimenting and testing,
1.- From the token generator which is your favorite?
2.- Old lists had 3-4 Auriok Champion, I have a set so I could try them, are they worth? or just too slow? maybe only as SB vs Jund/Grixis and burn?
Hi, I am interested into playing this archetype, is it worth to start with ht modern event deck from 2014? it goes for 109 on amazon and will save me chasing some cards around and it seems good value too
The Event deck doesn't really have any of the more expensive cards the deck usually runs; therefore, I doubt it's worth buying but it would take some analysis to be certain. It might be worth it to get started sooner and to allow time for the upgrades, but the Event deck is probably not worth anywhere near the retail price in the long run.
Raise the Alarm is fine but some people prefer Bitterblossom. Three Zealous Persecution is perhaps too many but some number usually find their way into most decks either main-deck or side-board. A single copy of Windbrisk Heights might be okay, four is just nuts.
Don't rush out and buy everything in my list. It's only a place to start a discussion. Bitterblossom or Raise the Alarm is the first big question you must decide upon. The rest is tuning. My side-board is rather a pile of crap right now, it needs some grave-hate and probably a sweeper or two.
Thanks a lot for the detailed breakdown.
Right now seems like the moment to buy Bitterblossom because it is sitting at 30 with the release of UMA, if going this route are the 4 the optimal, or 3 can do the job?
I won't get fetches until next year and I will go for the shocklands as soon as the new set is released and grab them as cheap as possible. In the meantime, what do you think is better for this deck: fastlands or check lands?
In case you didn't know you have to make a post with your name in a dedicated topic about account migration.
As for the 4 drop on the deck, I also tested Hero of bladehold and while it is very powerful if you get to untap and by that point of the game it is hard for them to get rid of (bolt doesn't kill it and they probably already used some removal) it is still a whole turn to come "online".
The options I am testing and playing in that slot are: Elspeth, Knight-errant and Gideon, Ally of zendikar, and I am liking elspeth more, both can impact the board immediately, both pumping your creatures or creating a creature, but if I want to get through with the last points of damage Elspeth is better because of the evasion and it tick up, gideon dies in that moment if you ulti,
As for my FNM, I played this deck:
1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1 Student of Warfare
4 Champion of the Parish
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
2 Auriok Champion
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Benalish Marshal
1 Militia Bugler
2 Honor of the Pure
Artifact
1 Smuggler's Copter
Instant
3 Path to Exile
4 Brave the Elements
Planeswalker
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Land
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Shefet Dunes
1 Mutavault
15 Plains
2 Auriok Champion
1 Stillmoon Cavalier
3 Riders of Gavony
2 Rest in Peace
1 Damping Matrix
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
3 Damping Sphere
I went 3-1.
MU 1 vs GDS 0-2, I play this guy for the last 3 weeks and for the frist time I lost, I kept a hand with one land and 4 1 drops, but well I must learn not to try it ever again.
Second game I lost to the spell that gives DS trample.
MU 2 vs The rock (GB control) 2-0, both games I drew Mirran crusader and it was fast.
Mu 3 vs Grixis )without DS) 2-0, a more traditional U control deck, lots of counters and damnation, but I eventually played elspeth in game 1 after his lotV made me sacrifice an Auriok Champion and the token soldiers just were too many for him to respond.
Game 2 went quite fast, with a very agroo hand with me.
MU 4 vs Reanimator 2-0 (goryos vengance, emrakul, griselband) both games little thalia anooyed him a lot, in the frist game he killed one and I frew a second one, and in the second game it was protected twice with brave the elements.
So, while my meta is heavy on black decks and II ran Auriok champion Main it didn't had a great impact, I think it is best when it comes out of the sideboard since it just slows me in game one, I am going to replace it for the time being with Gather the townsfolk. BUt I will also try getting one kytheon and one student of warfare.
Mutavault underperformed also, and a couple of games it got in the way of white mana for benalish marshal, I am removing it.
Benalish marshal is great, and while testing I was using 3 and 1 honor of the pure I soon realized that sometime I need HotP because of the cost, so it is now 3-2 split.
I tried militia bugler, not bad, but it is one more than Smuggler copter and I feel creatures costing 3 have to have a big impact on the board, maybe I am biased bow but the copter is an annoying creature that is not that easy to interact with.
I want to try Legion's landing here, the lack of synergy is a concern but getting it to flip becoming the 4th mana would make the deck so consistent (like the mono W decks I am playing in Arena). Love the card and is one very cheap way to get a token producing land without almost any drawback.
Given how heavy my meta is on black I am even considering including Nephalia Academy instead of ghost quarter, would really mess with the LotV and the rest of the discard spells. But maybe I am just desperate for a Land that brings some value instead of just being a land, shame that Westvale Abbey is so expensive to activate, the human tokens could come handy.
yes I have been considering some tech vs board wipes, eerie interlude(I already have it) because it is effective vs terminus and settle the wreckage, or immortal servitude. Hadn't had the chance to test them.
Anyway, control isn't very popular in my meta and I normally beat UW control even after a terminus (i am careful not to overcommit), the more common board wipe is engineered explosives in the MU vs tron, I already sideboard damping matrix or suppression field vs them but it is still my worst MU, because of how fast explosives is Proclamation of rebirth looks like a very good card to play immediately after EE.
To trigger Champion of the Parish
I for sure try dropping honor of the pure and bringing Benalish marshal.
Reciprocate is there because I don't have the 4th path currently, might even cut it now and add another creature.
Definitely looking into tweaking the one drops, more Kytheons does seem the way to go.
Other cards I just started testing yesterday: Hero of bladehold, but I just don't like that as a 4 drop doesn't have an instant impact on the board, unlike Elspeth, Knight-errant which gives evasion and buffs to a creature, continues to apply pressure and create a new thing to respond to. But after some testing Hero of bladehold is very impressive if I get to attack with it.
Also, Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, seems quite versatile to create more board presence or just getting an anthem right away for lethal.
This is the version I am running:
1 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
1 Student of Warfare
4 Champion of the Parish
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Soldier of the Pantheon
4 Thalia's Lieutenant
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Auriok Champion
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Benalish Marshal
2 Honor of the Pure
Artifact
2 Smuggler's Copter
Instant
1 Reciprocate
3 Path to Exile
4 Brave the Elements
Land
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Shefet Dunes
1 Mutavault
15 Plains
Planeswalker
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Auriok Champion
1 Stillmoon Cavalier
3 Riders of Gavony
2 Rest in Peace
1 Damping Matrix
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
3 Damping Sphere
So, I agree the 2 CMC drop is one of the hardest spots, Thalia and Thalia lieutenants are the best, recently dropped Paladin en-vec from the main list to bring Auriok Champion, smoothing the mana curve and making the match vs grixis, jund and burn more favorable. (these are the most popular decks in my LGS FNM).
The main thing I have been trying to concentrate is playing creatures with protection, normally this kind of deck hits the opponent hard for the first 3 turns but then blockers and removal allow them to stabilize, protection allow for the last damage to come through, either mirran cursader, auriok champion or Brave the Elements which is one hell of a finisher most of the time.
Another card that I have liked a lot is Smuggler's copter, allows for some land filtering and the evasion is nice.
1Magic geek, from your list I took the idea of including Benalish marshal and so far it has been excelent.
My last FNM 3-1
2-1 vs Grixis
1st game 0-1, he opens with thoughtsize, then another one and death shadow next turn, the board gets kind of stale with some bloackers on my side but he ultimately counters my Elspeth and a mirran crusader and gives trample to his Death shadow.
2nd Game, 1-1, Auriok Champion comes in to play earlier and makes the game very hard for him, he scoops.
3rd Game, he opens up with grim lavamancer, since it can kill all my early threats I had to Path it, later another auriok champion closes the game
2-0 vs some green/white combo deck, I don't know the name of this deck but it makes some combo around sun titan creating lots of tokens.
In both games my deck is much faster and I drew mirran crusader to finish it.
0-2 vs Mono white death and taxes
In both games the combination of Eldrazi displacer and big thalia is just too much, I made some errors not taking his eldrazi temple sooner with my ghost quarter and in the 2nd game I brought Auriok champion to exploit displacer effect, it was working well but I missed around 5 triggers and lost the race, lessons learned about paying more attention to Auriok champion triggers.
2-0 vs Jund
Soldier of the pantheon shines in this matchup since a few of their spells are multicolored, along mirran crusader he couldn't contest the board in both games.
Since tribal decks are popular on my meta (not only eldrazi but also humans, spirits and even vampires) I am including riders of gavony to close out games with stale board states, hope to be able to test them this FNM.
Also considering bringing wither WLL or hero of bladehold for Elspeth as the finisher.
Also considering going green for Gaddock since Tron has been my worst matchup, or maybe blue for meddling mage and the new BW legend.
Finally, what do you think of aether vial for this deck?
What is even funnier is how the price of the cards gives us some false sense of security over the possible outcome.
COuld see any play?
I am currently running a Mono white humans version, and just got the benalish Marshalls to substitute field marshal (which effect is more limited and easier to kill) but haven't played with the deck these two last weeks.
I have found protection is one of the most powerful effects on creatures currently, so I am running Mirran crusader and Paladin en veces on the main board, the MU vs grixis and jund is quite good.
Missing Stillmoon cavalier too and surely the next piece to add but now I don't know what to cut.
The new tax human seems good too, specially for the 2 mana cost spot.
How do you feel benalish marshal, does it survives easily?
Do you had many chances to play horoki? did it feel impactful?
Also: Unmask
The first things I noticed coming back:
1.- Cards are much more expensive, I remember when rishadan port 12 USD was a very expensive card. Now You have 50 USD cards in standard. My Tinker deck costed me 400 and that was top of the line deck for Extended. This is a problem WotC could fix if they printed the masters set even more aggressively, specially to bring down the price of fetchlands which are representing about 50% of the price of a deck.
2.- WotC has made the conscious decision to make the game more focused on the battlefield, more permanent's that matter (PW), better creatures (the jump has been absolutely enormous, old creatures are a joke), blue has been toned down a lot, combos are kept in check harder, drawing is more expensive.
As a result of the second, I find the game for me much more enjoyable, and I do like to play blue control from time to time, creature combat is more rewarding (nevertheless they are printing less combat trick instants), developing the board is now the focus.
In the old extended days of Necropotence, Yawgmonths Bargain, Replenish, Oath of druids, magic was way less interactive and less accesible to new players.
So I really welcome their new design choices and how they Push design but also print answers in many cards. Teferi is okay, and I suspect it even wasn't printed for standard but for giving control a chance in modern (where black is dominant it seems) where blue is the weak color, unlike the other eternal formats where it is the best color without question.
3 Raise the Alarm
4 Spectral Procession
4 Lingering Souls
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Start // Finish
//Disruption
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Path to exile
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Fatal Push
2 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
//Enchantments
2 Bitterblossom
2 Legion's Landing
4 Intangible Virtue
//Lands
2 Concealed Courtyard
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Shambling Vent
15 Plains
5 Swamp
Manabase is still a long way obviously (can get fastlands and cave of kolios in the meantime), thoughtseize I will get next year too and in the meantime I can put in some duress.
My main questions to start experimenting and testing,
1.- From the token generator which is your favorite?
2.- Old lists had 3-4 Auriok Champion, I have a set so I could try them, are they worth? or just too slow? maybe only as SB vs Jund/Grixis and burn?
3.- Which other planeswalkers should I try first along sorin, elspeth, knight errand or Gideon, Ally of zendikar?
4.- How good is Windbrisk Heights? worth including 1-2?
5.- Anthems, are the 4 intangible virtue enough? I have honor of the pure and spear of heliod at hand so I could try them.
Thanks a lot again
Thanks a lot for the detailed breakdown.
Right now seems like the moment to buy Bitterblossom because it is sitting at 30 with the release of UMA, if going this route are the 4 the optimal, or 3 can do the job?
I won't get fetches until next year and I will go for the shocklands as soon as the new set is released and grab them as cheap as possible. In the meantime, what do you think is better for this deck: fastlands or check lands?