Sure, killing them fast is our ideal plan, but often you have to grind through a Karn or O-stone in order to win (not to mention post sb Tusks etc).
Thrun is definately not a very good card here, but we have to work with what we have. I find him to be better than some other cards, and I would lean towards a 1/1 Rhino/Thrun split than a 2 Rhino if that's the case. It's debatable though, the 3 damage might be more relevant, and its a fringe advantage in any case, but I prefer having Thrun in rather than out.
Same reasoning goes for the other cards I mentioned, they are not good anti tron cards, but they might be better than some alternatives (souls may seem pretty bad for example, but its the only card apart from Thrun that can single handedly pressure through a Karn).
I mostly second what Brightmist said, but I also add Thrun post sb and I also keep LtLH.
Thrun is pretty good at evading Karn, and it also regenerates which is great against Oblivion Stone. You can take 1 rhino out if you need the slot.
Liliana the last hope is pretty situational, but it is better than other cards since you can -2 to get a fulminator back and that can be game winning, that's her main role.
You can leave collective brutality and/or 1-2 souls post sb depending on your configuration, they're not good but have some limited use (brutality can take tutors and All is dust for example).
Take scavenging ooze out, he's just a 2/2 here.
Maybe Golgari charm regeneration deserves a spot post sb? We do have some pretty bad cards for this matchup so you probably could fit it in.
Played a fair bit today. Golgari Charm now firmly in my 75, it solves a lot of the deck's needs (removed a damnation).
4th souls not really necessary, had thought about using Doran, the siege tower in that spot to have a nice threat that doesn't require the grave, but Anafenza prolly better since it hates on some archetypes and cards?
Also removed a blooming marsh for one more swamp
Manglehorn over kataki? Maybe, but kataki is still brutal against affinity, and probably a lot better against KCI too. Ill stick to kataki for now
Also, feel like 1 nihil spellbomb is really necessary, not using kambal on my list, feel like Eidolon is enough.
The Mardu matchup is good because of trample. You have 6 big tramplers, and their removal isen't the best against them. Shouldn't be hard to find 2-3 tramplers with traverse etc, and its hard to lose from there. You can get overrun by flying tokens or screwed by blood moon, but it was one of my most favorable matchups during testing.
Hollow one is probably the easiest of all matchups. Burning inquiry actually favors you a lot of times. Once you get a 4/5 or 5/6 goyf on the battlefield (which shouldn't be hard) you get to block the most important threats. Rhino also very good here.
Just play the control game on this one. Kill those flameblade adepts (they can get out of control very quickly) and put a blocker to control the game. Post sb bring in bojuka bog (go to 20 lands), spellbomb, 1-2 surgical, 2 damnation, reclamation sage and a maelstrom pulse. Play the control game. Leyline of the Void is their best tool against you (and really the best card against this deck), it really hurts but you can still win (goyfs, rhinos, rec sage, pulse etc).
Humans is similar to hollow one, you have plenty of removal and 2 damnations post sb. Mostly I lost to a combination of freebooters and sin collectors taking my spot removal/damnations. Good MU in any case
Control is slightly unfavored. UW depends mostly on Liliana, otherwise it will be tough. It's hard to set delirium against them since you have few targets for your instants, and your creatures get exiled. Liliana does a LOT of work though, so it's your main card in this matchup. Gaddock teeg is amazing post sb.
Jeskai is less dependent on Lilianas, your threats can evade most of their removal, its still a tough grindy game, but you can come out favored (I beat 2 Jeskais on the GP pretty convincingly, but they weren't great players)
In any case, one of the things I like about this archetype is that every match is winnable, even if unfavorable
MU's during GP were: 2 Eldra Tron, 2 G Tron, 3 scapeshift, 2 jeskai, 2 hollow one, 2 humans, 1 As foretold/living end, 1 Jund, 1 affinity, 2 pyromancer
Hello everyone, Im the one who made it to the finals on GP Sao Paulo.
Guitar90x contacted me, 15th card is indeed nihil spellbomb.
I quite like the deck as it is, unfortunately lost in the finals to Mardu which is a good matchup. I figured one of the few ways Mardu can beat me is through a blood moon and was maybe overly careful of it? Good game nonetheless.
Feel free to ask me any question and good luck everyone with this archetype, I think its really solid right now as it has very good hollow one, mardu, humans and affinity matchups. Grave hate does hurt, but the deck has many ways around it.
I think this build's strength is that its not full commitment to the traverse aspect. Usually delririum is a very unreliable mechanic and it really can get bad for you if you don't have delirium while your deck is centered around it. This build though basically operates like a normal GBx deck, with the option to have powerful impactful silverbullets for certain matchups. But the main thing in my mind is that it can still operate without having delirium (with Goyf, Souls, LoTVs, discard and removal).
2
I cannot say much about traditional Abzan because I never played it much. I used to play BG rock and I find the traverse build far superior.
In any case, go with a deck you know well and are comfortable with, Im sure Abzan or BG can still pull results.
1
Thrun is definately not a very good card here, but we have to work with what we have. I find him to be better than some other cards, and I would lean towards a 1/1 Rhino/Thrun split than a 2 Rhino if that's the case. It's debatable though, the 3 damage might be more relevant, and its a fringe advantage in any case, but I prefer having Thrun in rather than out.
Same reasoning goes for the other cards I mentioned, they are not good anti tron cards, but they might be better than some alternatives (souls may seem pretty bad for example, but its the only card apart from Thrun that can single handedly pressure through a Karn).
1
Thrun is pretty good at evading Karn, and it also regenerates which is great against Oblivion Stone. You can take 1 rhino out if you need the slot.
Liliana the last hope is pretty situational, but it is better than other cards since you can -2 to get a fulminator back and that can be game winning, that's her main role.
You can leave collective brutality and/or 1-2 souls post sb depending on your configuration, they're not good but have some limited use (brutality can take tutors and All is dust for example).
Take scavenging ooze out, he's just a 2/2 here.
Maybe Golgari charm regeneration deserves a spot post sb? We do have some pretty bad cards for this matchup so you probably could fit it in.
1
4th souls not really necessary, had thought about using Doran, the siege tower in that spot to have a nice threat that doesn't require the grave, but Anafenza prolly better since it hates on some archetypes and cards?
Also removed a blooming marsh for one more swamp
Manglehorn over kataki? Maybe, but kataki is still brutal against affinity, and probably a lot better against KCI too. Ill stick to kataki for now
Also, feel like 1 nihil spellbomb is really necessary, not using kambal on my list, feel like Eidolon is enough.
Cheers
1
Hollow one is probably the easiest of all matchups. Burning inquiry actually favors you a lot of times. Once you get a 4/5 or 5/6 goyf on the battlefield (which shouldn't be hard) you get to block the most important threats. Rhino also very good here.
Just play the control game on this one. Kill those flameblade adepts (they can get out of control very quickly) and put a blocker to control the game. Post sb bring in bojuka bog (go to 20 lands), spellbomb, 1-2 surgical, 2 damnation, reclamation sage and a maelstrom pulse. Play the control game. Leyline of the Void is their best tool against you (and really the best card against this deck), it really hurts but you can still win (goyfs, rhinos, rec sage, pulse etc).
Humans is similar to hollow one, you have plenty of removal and 2 damnations post sb. Mostly I lost to a combination of freebooters and sin collectors taking my spot removal/damnations. Good MU in any case
Control is slightly unfavored. UW depends mostly on Liliana, otherwise it will be tough. It's hard to set delirium against them since you have few targets for your instants, and your creatures get exiled. Liliana does a LOT of work though, so it's your main card in this matchup. Gaddock teeg is amazing post sb.
Jeskai is less dependent on Lilianas, your threats can evade most of their removal, its still a tough grindy game, but you can come out favored (I beat 2 Jeskais on the GP pretty convincingly, but they weren't great players)
In any case, one of the things I like about this archetype is that every match is winnable, even if unfavorable
MU's during GP were: 2 Eldra Tron, 2 G Tron, 3 scapeshift, 2 jeskai, 2 hollow one, 2 humans, 1 As foretold/living end, 1 Jund, 1 affinity, 2 pyromancer
3
Guitar90x contacted me, 15th card is indeed nihil spellbomb.
I quite like the deck as it is, unfortunately lost in the finals to Mardu which is a good matchup. I figured one of the few ways Mardu can beat me is through a blood moon and was maybe overly careful of it? Good game nonetheless.
Feel free to ask me any question and good luck everyone with this archetype, I think its really solid right now as it has very good hollow one, mardu, humans and affinity matchups. Grave hate does hurt, but the deck has many ways around it.
Cheers