Quote from Timba »I dont see Veil of Summer as great card in theory. Whats its ceiling? You 2-for-1 them, saving one of your janky creatures. Im not sure such card advantage is even good vs decks that want to grind, grinding is their game, they will outplay you if you give them time. Not to mention you have hexproof, pumps, undying and regeneration, so another hexproof can be superfluous. Its floor being a blank card you cant use, because blue and black decks dont pack much removal and counterspells these days. Overall I think thats a weak sideboard card. If I want to grind Id be happier with Kitchen Finks, aside from 2-1 it can deal damage and kill planeswalkers, more synergic with our pumps and gains life. Also not only applicable vs blue and black.Quote from BbearZ »My initial interpretations of Hexdrinker and Barkhide Troll were incorrect. We should definitely test them out. We have to either cut lands or Steel Leaf Champion or a mixture of both for them though.
Also Veil of Summer is an auto include as a 2-3 of in the sideboard- maybe 4 of. The only reason not to is your specific meta doesn't have blue or black.
Well considering you don't want to use Vines on their turn, Veil is really friggin good if it saves your pressure/creature and replaces itself. There are so many applications where you can sequence them to misuse their removal/spells/abilities. Have you guys literally read, you and your permanents gain hexproof until the end of turn from u and b and spells can't be countered too? It also stops Cryptic and possibly draws you a card. Like what more do you want...
I don't know about you but Kitchen Finks is kind of not good right now. Especially when Burn decks don't swing as much now with the inclusion of Light up the Stage and Skewer the Critics. It simply doesn't do enough of anything. It also doesn't block Phoenix and swings for 3 for a 3 drop. You seem like a fan but honestly... its not even a jack of all trades because it doesn't do anything decent in this meta.
If you are asking to side in more threats like Kitchen Finks over Vei- sorry but please stop disappointing me.
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4 Barkhide Troll
4 Dryad Militant
4 Experiment One
4 Hexdrinker
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Rancor
4 Savage Swipe
4 Vines Of Vastwood
20 Forest
2 Treetop Village
1 Collector Ouphe
2 Force Of Vigor
4 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Gut Shot
2 Life Goes On
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Unravel The Aether
2 Veil Of Summer
I beat out Eldrazi Tron, Hollow One with Hoagaak, Arisen Necropolis, Infect, Burn, Amulet Titan, Humans, Goblins, and Neoform combo.
Barkhide Troll has been awesome, but I may sub 1 out for another spell. Drawing 2 can be awkward.
Savage Swipe has pulled A LOT of weight.
Blossoming Defense is the worst card in the main deck, but is still pretty good. This is the current flex slot. I'm going to try Hunger Of The Howlpack in it's stead, while I still have all 4 troll in. It's in the same power realm as Aspect Of Hydra or Rancor, but I think the ceiling is a bit higher. Obvious first worry is the floor being a lot lower. I have also considered Spider Umbra in this space, for resilience. It's pretty embarrassing against exile and sacrifice abilities, but great in combat and against Red removal.
The sideboard has been plenty fine. Unravel The Aether and the 3rd and 4th Grafdigger's Cage are the worst cards, but feel necessary. I haven't seen a Wurmcoil Engine in a while.
Veil Of Summer wasn't used in any of the match ups, so I can't really comment on it's importance. I think I'll definitely want to keep it if I remove the Blossoming Defense from the MD.
I don't miss having a big 3 CMC creature. Leaves a lot of room for mana efficient interaction.
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Can cheat out a Chancellor Of The Dross that was in your opening hand if a "pitch" black deck ever comes about. Name has a nice ring to it.
Can also sneak in a Mephidross Vampire to combo with a turn 2 or follow-up Walking Ballista but that deck sounds like a stretch.
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It fits in any tribe, and taxes removal. Humans comes to mind, but that list is pretty tight. Spirits, perhaps.
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It's either these, or the 1 mana Onslaught cycling lands. Both fit the crunch. The cyclers seem more likely to me, due to Astral Drift and being more generally interesting. The downshift to common for Pauper/Limited's sake is a real possibility, though. I forgot the black mana cycler's name offhand.
Forgotten Cave
Lonely Sandbar
Secluded Steppe
Tranquil Thicket
EDIT: BARREN MOOR!
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I think the agenda is to produce enough hate/safety cards that it warps the meta, rather than having to use bannings.
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Saw this spoiler on EternalCentral / SeriousVintage.
Seems great.
https://www.eternalcentral.com/serious-vintage-episode-40-introducing-collector-ouphe/
Please link to the source when posting a preview