I like it. I personally don't play a silver bullet style build, but for those that do, I think this is like chord without the possibility of having your 5-6 mana spell get countered by a 1 to 2 mana spell possibly resulting in a blowout. If they counter this it is an even trade and the fact you can cast this at 2 mana at the end of turn to set up your next turn gives it more versatility then chord. With a vivien I think this is a safer chord. I'd like to try this in a bant counters company build with devoted druid combo.
Another thing to note is that it will cost 1 less mana then chord with the downside being no convoke. Also there are a lot of counter spells in modern targeting non creature spells. In this case if they counter the calling then they payed 1 or 2 to counter your 2 mana spell, or they let it resolve and often can't cast their counter spell anymore.
@kozent Kirin and conjurant seems like a cool combo, but I have no idea how this deck would play. Once kirin is out spell queller is killing all our best creatures which seems brutal. Blowing up lands when we still have mana dorks might be pretty useful to shut down certain decks, but I'm stuck on the queller thing and the fact that we don't have company. It does seem interesting though and I'd like to see someone do a write up or something.
@mds688 Tracker is almost always killed on site at my LGS before even my knights so I never get to grow it much. Most of my wins come from a large board followed by exalted quellers or huge KOTR. I also think excavator is great and was running 1 in the board before my post. It is excellent against tron, any blast zone matchup, and can be a value engine. I took it out though because I needed some more help at my LGS to beat amulet in the form of aven mindcensor. I also agree that voice can be very meh at times but at minimum its 2 bodies for 1 which is relevant in aggro matchups where you need to chump, control players need it gone asap(I have no problems with it getting pathed instead of my knight), and its value in the midrange matchup. It rarely wins me games on its own, but I'd like to think it is the reason we are able to grind out matches against aggro decks like humans. I think scryb ranger is a great knightfall card that doesn't get enough love. I don't run it cause I don't have enough relevant landfall triggers where I think it is worth it now that tracker and retreat are out. I have a pet deck I'll post here where scryb ranger is an allstar. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/29-05-19-bant-landfall/?cb=1559178501
Also Horizons cards that have sparked my interest are obviously the UG Horizon land as well as collector ouphe(stony silence on a stick). The 2 drop spot in this deck has always been unimpressive for me and I'm excited to have a very useful option in ouphe.
@kozent Kirin and conjurant seems like a cool combo, but I have no idea how this deck would play. Once kirin is out spell queller is killing all our best creatures which seems brutal. Blowing up lands when we still have mana dorks might be pretty useful to shut down certain decks, but I'm stuck on the queller thing and the fact that we don't have company. It does seem interesting though and I'd like to see someone do a write up or something.
@mds688 Tracker is almost always killed on site at my LGS before even my knights so I never get to grow it much. Most of my wins come from a large board followed by exalted quellers or huge KOTR. I also think excavator is great and was running 1 in the board before my post. It is excellent against tron, any blast zone matchup, and can be a value engine. I took it out though because I needed some more help at my LGS to beat amulet in the form of aven mindcensor. I also agree that voice can be very meh at times but at minimum its 2 bodies for 1 which is relevant in aggro matchups where you need to chump, control players need it gone asap(I have no problems with it getting pathed instead of my knight), and its value in the midrange matchup. It rarely wins me games on its own, but I'd like to think it is the reason we are able to grind out matches against aggro decks like humans. I think scryb ranger is a great knightfall card that doesn't get enough love. I don't run it cause I don't have enough relevant landfall triggers where I think it is worth it now that tracker and retreat are out. I have a pet deck I'll post here where scryb ranger is an allstar. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/29-05-19-bant-landfall/?cb=1559178501
Also Horizons cards that have sparked my interest are obviously the UG Horizon land as well as collector ouphe(stony silence on a stick). The 2 drop spot in this deck has always been unimpressive for me and I'm excited to have a very useful option in ouphe.
Been playing 2 of the new vivien in my list at my LGS with some success going 6-2 in my last 8. My losses were to amulet, and humans where I got mana screwed(I usually like this matchup). The interaction with knight is huge because KOTR can attack, block(flyers too!) and tap for mana making it significantly better then it was. I took out the 2 tireless trackers I was running for her, which makes my cocos worse as I'm down to 28 creatures. Not that our control matchup was bad at all, but this makes it even better along with any resource driven matchup like BGx. Getting a card out of vivien no matter what is big as I often have my trackers killed on site by good players.
I still want to keep running coco though since it basically gives our other creatures flash pairing with vivien and my side board strategies. I decided game 1 I would rather run quellers, and adjust accordingly with my SB to help with the deputy/mage vs queller conflict. My logic being queller is dead less than deputy/mage, and the quellers are worse games 2 and 3 once there is removal and your opponent knows about them. I still have a single deputy, pridemage, and knight of autumn as sort of a catch all in game 1 to stay well rounded.
Another card that gets even better with vivien is eidolon of rhetoric. It helps out in a lot more matchups then I expected. It makes queller a hard counter because they can't bolt it and cast the spell for free, it means amulet can't cast titan after pact, it slows down pheonix from flipping thing and getting pheonix back, and can slow down the burn matchup. I'm adding an aven mindcensor to the SB to help with the amulet matchup which I can't avoid at my LGS and it is good against tron. Flash pairs nicely with eidolon as well.
Oh, and blast zone is nuts. Just whether it should be main board or not. I prefer to keep it sideboard as I'd rather have the tron hate game 1.
Curious to know how everyone else is doing with their lists!
Anyone else think the new Vivien might have a spot in our deck? She gives a creature vigilance and reach which would be huge for knight so it could attack, block, and grow/ramp. She gives creatures flash which makes deputy and reflector mage significantly better. Also gives card advantage in grindy matchups. I'm thinking I might replace the 2 trackers with her and see how it goes once the new set is out
Humans 2-0
I was on the play game 1 with turn 1 dorks. Both games I had 1 or more KOTR get very large and had paths, deputy, and reflector to deal with the larger threats. Game 2 I grab his vial with deputy and hit his ziggurat with field of ruin taking him off black and red with 2 freebooters in hand(wouldn't have mattered much anyway as I had no instant/sorceries). I feel like this matchup is great unless they turn 2 reflector mage our dork or successfully disrupt our hand with freebooter and meddling mage.
Tron 0-2
On the draw I kept no mana dork but interactive hand with deputy, Autumn, voice, and path. I get turn 3 karned and go to game 2. I have to mull to 5, opponent kept, and ended up with tracker, path, ghost quarter and canopy. I draw into field of ruin and I'm able to grind the game out. It comes down to casting a company in response to a sylvan scrying for the last tron piece. I needed 1 of my 4 spell quellers left in my deck and I miss and get hit with ugin immediately after. After sideboard I don't hate this matchup but the mull to 5 was really disappointing and I was unable to force a 3rd game.
Izzet Pheonix 2-0
Game 1 my opponent is on the play and they bolt my bird and get a quick pheonix out. I'm able to get a turn 2 scooze that they can't deal with. My opponent isn't able to hit another pheonix for a bit and I draw paths and cocos to deal with their pheonix and thing in the ice. I'm able to win thanks to a large scooze and the interactions off the 2 cocos I get to cast. Game 2 they sideboard out 2 of their pheonixs and bring in blood moon to try and play a control game against me. They tap out early for a crackling drake which I path and go on to have answers to everything including a deputy to exile both thing in the ice so I can swing in for lethal. Game 1 was where pheonix just doesn't get there and the sideboard plan to move to a more control strategy is just wrong against our deck.
Dredge 0-2
I'm on the draw with a pretty typical hand with a dork, coco, deputy, KOTR, and lands. Unfortunately I have no graveyard hate, and my opponent is able to get the dredge engine going immidiately. I get over run quickly and have my deputy and mana dorks conflagrated. Game 2 I make a horrible mistake playing 3 mana dorks into a conflagrate. I end up stuck with a forest and botanical and a bunch of white cards in my hand and lose. I only have a little experience with dredge, but the mistake was pretty obvious as I allowed my opponent to kill 3 of my dorks all while discarding dredgers. If I don't totally blow this match I have deputy, reflectors, remorseful clerics, and scoozes in my deck to win this matchup. I don't think this is a terrible matchup, but it can be difficult to navigate and is reliant upon hitting the right interaction.
GB The Rock 2-0
This game went exactly how I want it to as I get trackers and coco in both games and out value my opponent. Opponent has a difficult time with flyers and I'm able to path his confidants. Deputy steals 2 of his goyfs for a turn and once he gets them back with summoning sickness I'm able to reflector mage 1 of them and at this point my flyers are swinging lethal. Jund has always been a close matchup, but without the red I feel like this matchup swings into our favor. I really don't mind getting hit with assassin's trophy.
Izzet Pheonix 0-2
I barely even get to play here. Both games my opponent has turn 2 double pheonix. First game he bolts my bird and I'm stuck on 2 lands for a few turns while he swings with his pheonixes. Game 2 I have a turn 1 dork and on turn 2 I have to decide whether to hold up negate or cast remorseful cleric. I decide to go with cleric because if he casts thing in the ice I would lose a crucial turn. He goes on to double gut shot my hierarch and cleric and casts faithless looting dropping to pheonixes and I attempt to recover, but can't as he gets another pheonix into play and a thing in the ice.
Game 7 my opponent decides to drop, but out of curiousity I ask him what he is playing and it UR pheonix again!
I went with 2 vendilion cliques in the sideboard over jace the mindsculptor because they pair better with eidolon and adding an extra tracker is enough for the few grindy decks in the meta. Eidolon is a great tempo card that slows down burn and pheonix as well as prevents opponent from casting the exiled spell from spell queller if they use removal. For this reason I added a 4th queller to the sideboard and a lavinia that is provides the same queller interaction while being able to help in a few other matchups. I might move lavinia to mainboard and sideboard one of the voices. I did see some hardened scales affinity, but without KCI I think 2 stony silence is a little much since there is 3 autumns, and 3 deputy to interact with artifacts.
3-3 isn't great, but I felt like I had game in all my matches besides the last pheonix match. I think without surgical or rest in piece those nuts pheonix hands are always going to be too aggressive for us. A write up like this is something new for me so I apologize if it is written poorly. I didn't write down what I boarded in/out in all my matchups and some of the details are a little blurry after a long day, but I hope you all find some use in this. Also I still haven't figured out how to properly add a decklist so if anyone cant point me in the right direction on that it would be appreciated.
@fatkiddestroyers There is definitely the tension you spoke of game 1. Casting collected is no longer a given on a cast trigger because if you pull 2 creatures that target permanents instead of queller you are wasting your company. I believe it becomes matchup and board state specific and after game 1 it isn't really an issue because I commit to a side post board with the sideboard cards. In matchups where I'm bringing in counter spells or eidolon I try to play at instant speed as well as cast company on cast trigger to queller their spell.
I saw this list https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1729244#paper 5-0 and it plays 2 cliques in the sideboard. Outside of worship which I think is not very well positioned I really like this sideboard plan. It is a shame to see no jace, but the cliques can be played at instant speed(around eidolon) and the extra tracker in the sideboard gives the card advantage that jace does so that might be the right move.
I'm going to an IQ this weekend and I'll be sure to post how it goes once I settle on my list.
Went 3-1 losing to a budget ponza list and beating dredge, BG elves, and enduring ideal.
The ponza loss felt like a fluke where I got hit with blood moon early and 2 anger of the gods game 2. The last game my first land got stone rained on his 2nd turn and I didn't see my third until turn 5.
I had a dominant 2-0 victory against dredge thanks to a nuts game 1 hand with all of my mainboard disruption for dredge coming up and game 2 I had a turn 2 knight and was able to fetch up an early bojuka bog followed by the mainboard gy hate. Deputy of detention was amazing here. Game 2 the opponent had 2 narcomebas, 2 amalgrams and a bloodghast on turn 2 and I was able to deputy away the amalgrams and later on the 2 narcomebas while clearing the graveyard. I don't have a ton of experience with this matchup, but it felt great with remorseful cleric and deputy.
Game 3 I beat GB elves 2-1 winning a grindy game 1 and 3 and getting. As an elves player myself, I'm pretty familiar with the deck. I was able to queller and deputy away the good elves while having blockers up. It came down to an exalted spell queller flying in for the win in both game 1 and 3.
Game 4 was 2-1 against an enduring ideal prison deck. First game I have 2 spell quellers and opponent casts 2 prison enchantments into them and can't come back. Game 2 I kept a slower hand with great interaction, but it was too slow and I couldn't stop the lock. Game 3 was crazy close with my opponent casting enduring and playing form of the dragon only to see me flash in a spell queller and fetch a Gavony with KOTR at the end of his turn. was able to swing for lethal the following turn with an exalted spell queller that was just big enough thanks to gavony. Jace was huge here allowing me to dig for the card I needed at crucial times.
Overall all the games I played I felt favored in and deputy of detention seems amazing so far. I did not expect it to be as impactful as it has been for me and I have even dropped to 2 reflector mages because of it. It resets counters on permanents like thing in the ice or planeswalkers, destroys tokens, and does so much more.
Spell queller is still one of my favorite card and the reason I play this deck, but 3 feels better then the 4 I used to run, because I found it was often just getting bolted.
I replaced 1 path with incubation because it has more use in matchups where path is bad and late game it is a much better draw.
Eidolon is what I have decided to add to the SB for burn, storm, and phoenix. Slowing them down is huge and they usually have a hard time dealing with it because it survives bolt. We also have instant speed spells to play on their turn so this doesn't hurt us that badly.
The 2 Jaces I run are for any midrange or non interactive matchups where I will have time to brainstorm. Jace has been great in those situations and I can usually fetch a land to shuffle cards away.
I'm thinking about adding 1 lavinia to the main board and moving a voice down to the SB in place of settle the wreckage. I'm down on settle in the current meta and I agree with above that lavinia could be pretty great in some matchups.
No way I can fit 3 damping spheres I my company version though:( I feel ok against Tron and storm with Lavinia though.
I'm hoping that going up to 2 reflector mages in main and having 1 in the side with a deputy will be enough bouncing to get to path. I'm not terrified of Phoenix cause ideally I'll be swinging back with a large knight. When I played it I had 0 mages main and 2 side.
Graveyard hate seems too slow and hurts Coco with the exception of remorseful cleric imo.
My thoughts exactly. It also gets summoner's pact in titan decks to add to the list.
I also think voice is pretty weak right now but a 2 for 1 is still useful in a lot of the aggro creature matchups as well as the grindy matchups like jund. Its 2 blockers for 2 mana, or its eating up their removal. I could see going to 2 but would most likely never take them out of my bant list unless people stopped playing instants.
As far as matchups go what are people thinking about arclight pheonix? I won a game 1 against it and then proceeded to drop 2 at my last IQ. My opponent had 3 thing in the ice game 2 and 2 in a game 3 where the only removal I had was 1 reflector mage.
I think Lavinia is gonna be worth trying as it pairs nicely with queller at worst and it slows down some some tough matchups game 1 and is easily sided out for all the great sideboard cards we have. Curious as to what you guys think?
Another thing to note is that it will cost 1 less mana then chord with the downside being no convoke. Also there are a lot of counter spells in modern targeting non creature spells. In this case if they counter the calling then they payed 1 or 2 to counter your 2 mana spell, or they let it resolve and often can't cast their counter spell anymore.
@mds688 Tracker is almost always killed on site at my LGS before even my knights so I never get to grow it much. Most of my wins come from a large board followed by exalted quellers or huge KOTR. I also think excavator is great and was running 1 in the board before my post. It is excellent against tron, any blast zone matchup, and can be a value engine. I took it out though because I needed some more help at my LGS to beat amulet in the form of aven mindcensor. I also agree that voice can be very meh at times but at minimum its 2 bodies for 1 which is relevant in aggro matchups where you need to chump, control players need it gone asap(I have no problems with it getting pathed instead of my knight), and its value in the midrange matchup. It rarely wins me games on its own, but I'd like to think it is the reason we are able to grind out matches against aggro decks like humans. I think scryb ranger is a great knightfall card that doesn't get enough love. I don't run it cause I don't have enough relevant landfall triggers where I think it is worth it now that tracker and retreat are out. I have a pet deck I'll post here where scryb ranger is an allstar. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/29-05-19-bant-landfall/?cb=1559178501
Also Horizons cards that have sparked my interest are obviously the UG Horizon land as well as collector ouphe(stony silence on a stick). The 2 drop spot in this deck has always been unimpressive for me and I'm excited to have a very useful option in ouphe.
@mds688 Tracker is almost always killed on site at my LGS before even my knights so I never get to grow it much. Most of my wins come from a large board followed by exalted quellers or huge KOTR. I also think excavator is great and was running 1 in the board before my post. It is excellent against tron, any blast zone matchup, and can be a value engine. I took it out though because I needed some more help at my LGS to beat amulet in the form of aven mindcensor. I also agree that voice can be very meh at times but at minimum its 2 bodies for 1 which is relevant in aggro matchups where you need to chump, control players need it gone asap(I have no problems with it getting pathed instead of my knight), and its value in the midrange matchup. It rarely wins me games on its own, but I'd like to think it is the reason we are able to grind out matches against aggro decks like humans. I think scryb ranger is a great knightfall card that doesn't get enough love. I don't run it cause I don't have enough relevant landfall triggers where I think it is worth it now that tracker and retreat are out. I have a pet deck I'll post here where scryb ranger is an allstar. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/29-05-19-bant-landfall/?cb=1559178501
Also Horizons cards that have sparked my interest are obviously the UG Horizon land as well as collector ouphe(stony silence on a stick). The 2 drop spot in this deck has always been unimpressive for me and I'm excited to have a very useful option in ouphe.
I still want to keep running coco though since it basically gives our other creatures flash pairing with vivien and my side board strategies. I decided game 1 I would rather run quellers, and adjust accordingly with my SB to help with the deputy/mage vs queller conflict. My logic being queller is dead less than deputy/mage, and the quellers are worse games 2 and 3 once there is removal and your opponent knows about them. I still have a single deputy, pridemage, and knight of autumn as sort of a catch all in game 1 to stay well rounded.
Another card that gets even better with vivien is eidolon of rhetoric. It helps out in a lot more matchups then I expected. It makes queller a hard counter because they can't bolt it and cast the spell for free, it means amulet can't cast titan after pact, it slows down pheonix from flipping thing and getting pheonix back, and can slow down the burn matchup. I'm adding an aven mindcensor to the SB to help with the amulet matchup which I can't avoid at my LGS and it is good against tron. Flash pairs nicely with eidolon as well.
Oh, and blast zone is nuts. Just whether it should be main board or not. I prefer to keep it sideboard as I'd rather have the tron hate game 1.
Curious to know how everyone else is doing with their lists!
Here is my list as of now:
1x Botanical Sanctum
1x Breeding Pool
4x Collected Company
2x Courser of Kruphix
1x Deputy of Detention
2x Eternal Witness
1x Field of Ruin
3x Flooded Strand
3x Forest
1x Gavony Township
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Island
1x Knight of Autumn
4x Knight of the Reliquary
2x Misty Rainforest
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Path to Exile
1x Plains
1x Qasali Pridemage
3x Scavenging Ooze
4x Spell Queller
1x Temple Garden
2x Vivien, Champion of the Wilds
3x Voice of Resurgence
4x Windswept Heath
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Blast Zone
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Deputy of Detention
3x Eidolon of Rhetoric
1x Knight of Autumn
2x Negate
2x Reflector Mage
2x Unified Will
1x Vendilion Clique
Link to deck @ TappedOut.net
Humans 2-0
I was on the play game 1 with turn 1 dorks. Both games I had 1 or more KOTR get very large and had paths, deputy, and reflector to deal with the larger threats. Game 2 I grab his vial with deputy and hit his ziggurat with field of ruin taking him off black and red with 2 freebooters in hand(wouldn't have mattered much anyway as I had no instant/sorceries). I feel like this matchup is great unless they turn 2 reflector mage our dork or successfully disrupt our hand with freebooter and meddling mage.
Tron 0-2
On the draw I kept no mana dork but interactive hand with deputy, Autumn, voice, and path. I get turn 3 karned and go to game 2. I have to mull to 5, opponent kept, and ended up with tracker, path, ghost quarter and canopy. I draw into field of ruin and I'm able to grind the game out. It comes down to casting a company in response to a sylvan scrying for the last tron piece. I needed 1 of my 4 spell quellers left in my deck and I miss and get hit with ugin immediately after. After sideboard I don't hate this matchup but the mull to 5 was really disappointing and I was unable to force a 3rd game.
Izzet Pheonix 2-0
Game 1 my opponent is on the play and they bolt my bird and get a quick pheonix out. I'm able to get a turn 2 scooze that they can't deal with. My opponent isn't able to hit another pheonix for a bit and I draw paths and cocos to deal with their pheonix and thing in the ice. I'm able to win thanks to a large scooze and the interactions off the 2 cocos I get to cast. Game 2 they sideboard out 2 of their pheonixs and bring in blood moon to try and play a control game against me. They tap out early for a crackling drake which I path and go on to have answers to everything including a deputy to exile both thing in the ice so I can swing in for lethal. Game 1 was where pheonix just doesn't get there and the sideboard plan to move to a more control strategy is just wrong against our deck.
Dredge 0-2
I'm on the draw with a pretty typical hand with a dork, coco, deputy, KOTR, and lands. Unfortunately I have no graveyard hate, and my opponent is able to get the dredge engine going immidiately. I get over run quickly and have my deputy and mana dorks conflagrated. Game 2 I make a horrible mistake playing 3 mana dorks into a conflagrate. I end up stuck with a forest and botanical and a bunch of white cards in my hand and lose. I only have a little experience with dredge, but the mistake was pretty obvious as I allowed my opponent to kill 3 of my dorks all while discarding dredgers. If I don't totally blow this match I have deputy, reflectors, remorseful clerics, and scoozes in my deck to win this matchup. I don't think this is a terrible matchup, but it can be difficult to navigate and is reliant upon hitting the right interaction.
GB The Rock 2-0
This game went exactly how I want it to as I get trackers and coco in both games and out value my opponent. Opponent has a difficult time with flyers and I'm able to path his confidants. Deputy steals 2 of his goyfs for a turn and once he gets them back with summoning sickness I'm able to reflector mage 1 of them and at this point my flyers are swinging lethal. Jund has always been a close matchup, but without the red I feel like this matchup swings into our favor. I really don't mind getting hit with assassin's trophy.
Izzet Pheonix 0-2
I barely even get to play here. Both games my opponent has turn 2 double pheonix. First game he bolts my bird and I'm stuck on 2 lands for a few turns while he swings with his pheonixes. Game 2 I have a turn 1 dork and on turn 2 I have to decide whether to hold up negate or cast remorseful cleric. I decide to go with cleric because if he casts thing in the ice I would lose a crucial turn. He goes on to double gut shot my hierarch and cleric and casts faithless looting dropping to pheonixes and I attempt to recover, but can't as he gets another pheonix into play and a thing in the ice.
Game 7 my opponent decides to drop, but out of curiousity I ask him what he is playing and it UR pheonix again!
I went with 2 vendilion cliques in the sideboard over jace the mindsculptor because they pair better with eidolon and adding an extra tracker is enough for the few grindy decks in the meta. Eidolon is a great tempo card that slows down burn and pheonix as well as prevents opponent from casting the exiled spell from spell queller if they use removal. For this reason I added a 4th queller to the sideboard and a lavinia that is provides the same queller interaction while being able to help in a few other matchups. I might move lavinia to mainboard and sideboard one of the voices. I did see some hardened scales affinity, but without KCI I think 2 stony silence is a little much since there is 3 autumns, and 3 deputy to interact with artifacts.
3-3 isn't great, but I felt like I had game in all my matches besides the last pheonix match. I think without surgical or rest in piece those nuts pheonix hands are always going to be too aggressive for us. A write up like this is something new for me so I apologize if it is written poorly. I didn't write down what I boarded in/out in all my matchups and some of the details are a little blurry after a long day, but I hope you all find some use in this. Also I still haven't figured out how to properly add a decklist so if anyone cant point me in the right direction on that it would be appreciated.
I saw this list https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1729244#paper 5-0 and it plays 2 cliques in the sideboard. Outside of worship which I think is not very well positioned I really like this sideboard plan. It is a shame to see no jace, but the cliques can be played at instant speed(around eidolon) and the extra tracker in the sideboard gives the card advantage that jace does so that might be the right move.
I'm going to an IQ this weekend and I'll be sure to post how it goes once I settle on my list.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Deputy of Detention
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Reflector Mage
3 Spell Queller
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Remorseful Cleric
1 Knight of Autumn
2 Tireless Tracker
Land
4 Forest
1 Island
1 Plains
2 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Gavony Township
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Breeding Pool
4 Flooded Strand
4 Windswept Heath
1 Botanical Sanctum
1 Field of Ruin
3 Path to Exile
4 Collected Company
Sorcery
1 Incubation // Incongruity
2 Knight of Autumn
1 Worship
2 Stony Silence
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Negate
2 Unified Will
1 Settle the Wreckage
Went 3-1 losing to a budget ponza list and beating dredge, BG elves, and enduring ideal.
The ponza loss felt like a fluke where I got hit with blood moon early and 2 anger of the gods game 2. The last game my first land got stone rained on his 2nd turn and I didn't see my third until turn 5.
I had a dominant 2-0 victory against dredge thanks to a nuts game 1 hand with all of my mainboard disruption for dredge coming up and game 2 I had a turn 2 knight and was able to fetch up an early bojuka bog followed by the mainboard gy hate. Deputy of detention was amazing here. Game 2 the opponent had 2 narcomebas, 2 amalgrams and a bloodghast on turn 2 and I was able to deputy away the amalgrams and later on the 2 narcomebas while clearing the graveyard. I don't have a ton of experience with this matchup, but it felt great with remorseful cleric and deputy.
Game 3 I beat GB elves 2-1 winning a grindy game 1 and 3 and getting. As an elves player myself, I'm pretty familiar with the deck. I was able to queller and deputy away the good elves while having blockers up. It came down to an exalted spell queller flying in for the win in both game 1 and 3.
Game 4 was 2-1 against an enduring ideal prison deck. First game I have 2 spell quellers and opponent casts 2 prison enchantments into them and can't come back. Game 2 I kept a slower hand with great interaction, but it was too slow and I couldn't stop the lock. Game 3 was crazy close with my opponent casting enduring and playing form of the dragon only to see me flash in a spell queller and fetch a Gavony with KOTR at the end of his turn. was able to swing for lethal the following turn with an exalted spell queller that was just big enough thanks to gavony. Jace was huge here allowing me to dig for the card I needed at crucial times.
Overall all the games I played I felt favored in and deputy of detention seems amazing so far. I did not expect it to be as impactful as it has been for me and I have even dropped to 2 reflector mages because of it. It resets counters on permanents like thing in the ice or planeswalkers, destroys tokens, and does so much more.
Spell queller is still one of my favorite card and the reason I play this deck, but 3 feels better then the 4 I used to run, because I found it was often just getting bolted.
I replaced 1 path with incubation because it has more use in matchups where path is bad and late game it is a much better draw.
Eidolon is what I have decided to add to the SB for burn, storm, and phoenix. Slowing them down is huge and they usually have a hard time dealing with it because it survives bolt. We also have instant speed spells to play on their turn so this doesn't hurt us that badly.
The 2 Jaces I run are for any midrange or non interactive matchups where I will have time to brainstorm. Jace has been great in those situations and I can usually fetch a land to shuffle cards away.
I'm thinking about adding 1 lavinia to the main board and moving a voice down to the SB in place of settle the wreckage. I'm down on settle in the current meta and I agree with above that lavinia could be pretty great in some matchups.
I'm hoping that going up to 2 reflector mages in main and having 1 in the side with a deputy will be enough bouncing to get to path. I'm not terrified of Phoenix cause ideally I'll be swinging back with a large knight. When I played it I had 0 mages main and 2 side.
Graveyard hate seems too slow and hurts Coco with the exception of remorseful cleric imo.
I also think voice is pretty weak right now but a 2 for 1 is still useful in a lot of the aggro creature matchups as well as the grindy matchups like jund. Its 2 blockers for 2 mana, or its eating up their removal. I could see going to 2 but would most likely never take them out of my bant list unless people stopped playing instants.
As far as matchups go what are people thinking about arclight pheonix? I won a game 1 against it and then proceeded to drop 2 at my last IQ. My opponent had 3 thing in the ice game 2 and 2 in a game 3 where the only removal I had was 1 reflector mage.
I've been playing both retreat and non retreat for about a year and I love the non retreat version. This is the list I plan on running once RNA is out:
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bant-company-good-stuff-1/
I think Lavinia is gonna be worth trying as it pairs nicely with queller at worst and it slows down some some tough matchups game 1 and is easily sided out for all the great sideboard cards we have. Curious as to what you guys think?