I'm not as worried about the mono black matchup to be honest. I'm focusing on the Burn decks and new super aggro decks. Main reason why I'm playing 4 Saruli Gatekeepers main now, but those could become Courser of Kruphix.
*raises hand* Yep! He was also very upset that he boarded out all his Abrupt Decays for game 2 when I played Detention Sphere and Crackling Perimeter. I'm playing in the SCG Open in Milwaukee this weekend and either playing Maze's End or a BUG Midrange list. Not sure yet.
I played in a GP Trial today and went 4-1 during the Swiss rounds but lost in the semi-finals. Everyone was scared to play against me!! I did make some changes to the deck I posted before (page 38) and will post the deck and full matches later since I'm tired.
Good point and it was just a thought. When I played this last week, I loved having 3 Merciless Eviction main so I may go back to that. I found a Standard tournament near me tonight so I'm gonna try the creatureless version. I definitely see why running no creatures is good for the deck.
I like that list!! After looking at it, I'm now thinking about taking out 1 more Druid's Deliverance (14 fogs still) and adding 1 Urban Evolution. 14 fogs + 3 Saruli Gatekeepers + 2 Kiora, the Crashing Wave should be fine.
I honestly think you're better off with more Riot Controls and less Saruli Gatekeepers. I think they're just a terrible top deck when you don't need to gain life, or when the life gain won't save you. I'd rather see another fog, or a draw spell, or one of 5 wrath effects. Its also an almost entirely dead card against control, which comprises a lot of my meta.
I'm running 4 Riot Control already, but with the deck being inherently good against control, I think 3 Gatekeeper is fine. It's definitely on the watch list though. Yea, it is dead against control but it makes the aggro matchups better and gets us out of Grey Merchant range. I'm open to trying something else though. I do want to keep 2 Gatecreeper Vine. I guess I could go -3 Gatekeeper and +1 Quicken, +1 Urban Evolution, +1 Druid's Deliverance.
I like that list!! After looking at it, I'm now thinking about taking out 1 more Druid's Deliverance (14 fogs still) and adding 1 Urban Evolution. 14 fogs + 3 Saruli Gatekeepers + 2 Kiora, the Crashing Wave should be fine.
Heroes' Reunion doesn't affect the board state, just keeping you from dying. I'm not a fan of it. I re-read the article on limitedmagic.com and I can understand why he doesn't play Saruli Gatekeepers. I don't see how this beats Mono Red. What do you think about Slaughter Games in the board? Use it against MBD naming Grey Merchant and they cannot win.
Yea, I'm starting to jump on the Quicken bandwagon, but I think I'm just gonna try 1 tonight. I want to fit the Saruli Gatekeepers in my sideboard but I have too many other cards I want to play.
I'm starting to look at Swan Song myself, but I'm not sure. Unravel is a good answer and thanks for pointing that out! Ben, how are 3 Quicken working for you? I'm only playing 1 because of how situational it is but I can see 2, just not 3.
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Was playing in multiple pre-release tournaments and my classes whooped me this week. So I played this deck last Friday and went 2-3. Beat G/B Aggro 2-0, lost to G/W Populate Aggro 1-2, lost to MBD 1-2, beat Junk Midrange 2-0, lost to MBD 1-2. I used the deck that SenorClean ran at GP except using 3 Turn/Burn in the main instead of Negate. I loved that change but I'm willing to try something new. I picked up a few Kiora this past week and gonna try her out tomorrow night. Here's my current iteration:
I'm wanting to try a few creatures just to see what happens. I'm a big fan of the Saruli Gatekeepers because it keeps the deck out of Gray Merchant range. And against MBD, they can just use that kill spell for a Pack Rat if they don't kill SG. It's just a thought. The Gatecreeper Vines are good as a 2 of since it tutors and gives us more chances to end the game a turn quicker. As much as I like SG, I'm willing to change them into like 1 Quicken, 1 Urban Evolution, and 1 Druid's Deliverance. Yes, I took one "fog" out because of the lifegain from SG. The sideboard is a mess right now and I'm not sure which way to go. Definitely gonna run at least 3 Perimeter but I'm not sure on everything else. Do we want to keep Negate or have Gainsay? Revoke Existence or Wear/Tear? I'm open to thoughts and I'll have a more detailed FNM report after tomorrow night. Thanks!
I read that article on LegitMTG.com and I understand where he's going concerning the Bow and 3 Negates in the main. I'm planning on keeping the Bow and replacing the Negates with 2 Cyclonic Rift and 1 Quicken or just 3 Cyclonic Rift. For the board, are Wear/Tear absolutely needed? My board right now is 4 Saruli Gatekeeper, 4 Crackling Perimeter, 3 Turn/Burn, 2 Gainsay, 2 Slaughter Games. I've thought about making Gainsay into Negate along with replacing one Perimeter with the 4th Merciless Eviction. Thoughts?
Hi guys! I found this deck through here (and congrats to BeanWarrior for your run at GP Vancouver!) and decided to get back into Standard because of it. I'm playing in an FNM tournament in a few days so I will report back with results. I'm kinda curious about sideboard tech. Is Gainsay in there just to help the MUD matchup? Is the only way to make the RDW matchup better is Saruli Gatekeepers? I love the Crackling Perimeter plan, but I'm just wanting to use that as a surprise win con.
I put the Eye of Ugin in as a way to give some late-game reach. It hasn't hurt me at all. While you may bash it, I really don't think it's a bad card to include in a deck like mine. One of's don't really hurt any deck and it makes a good topdeck.
I think Ezuri's Brigade is very good for that kind of deck. An 8/8 with trample for 4 mana, sign me up!! I would play 4 Archangel and 4 Brigade in there simply because a 4/4 for 4 isn't bad to begin with and the fact that it gets better is just gravy (mmmm.... gravy....) Oh, and it seems like Etched Champion is screaming for a spot in that deck.
Thanks for the input!! I know that some of the decks I played weren't necessarily top decks, but it was my first time at that store and I just wanted to have fun. I literally did no playtesting with it. The Ulamog in the sideboard was, I guess, for control matchups and against random mill decks. It was just an idea (probably a bad one) and I didn't bring it in. I didn't mind the mana myrs too much as they are decent with a Tempered Steel in play. I wanted some type of acceleration in the deck, which is why I went with 4 myr and only 3 Chalice. Concerning the Etched Champion... that card is a BEAST!! It is so good once you get online with it. You get an all-day chump blocker early and a finisher late game. I wanted to try the Eye of Ugin and I didn't see it at all, so I can't say much about it, it just sounded like a good idea at the time. I did make some changes to it, as I said in my last post, so I will post one later.
This deck, obviously, isn't the fastest deck out there. It can get some explosive draws, but it usually doesn't. I want to drop a myr or a chalice on turn 2 so i can play more stuff on turn 3 like Molten-Tail Masticore or Indomitable Archangel. Kuldotha Phoenix is great to hardcast, but even better with the Masticore since it gets me around the RRR in the mana cost. This has, in my opinion, a very good midgame with 12 awesome 4/4 creatures. Precursor Golem was not that bad, but I think that 4 may be too many, even though it blanks a lot of removal when a Tempered Steel is in play. (15 power for 5 mana is good!)
I know that I could have done better against the WW Quest deck. Game 1 he gets nuts hand and I can't stop it. Game 2 I board in the Pyroclasms and the 2 Condemn. My opening hand was 5 land, a Phoenix and a Pyroclasm, so I keep it. He gets a slow start, only playing one creature, so I do play the clasm. He then drops a Stoneforge Mystic while I draw nothing but land for the rest of the game. I do believe that I can beat the deck, but it's pretty hard to beat the nuts.
I hope this answers your questions and clears up some of my card choices. Even though this may not be a Tier 1 deck, I do believe that it can become a good deck to play at FNM, and who knows, actually may be very good deck down the road. Keep the questions and suggestions coming! And I apologize for the long post...
@buckjunt Love the Cyclonic Rift tech!
I'm running 4 Riot Control already, but with the deck being inherently good against control, I think 3 Gatekeeper is fine. It's definitely on the watch list though. Yea, it is dead against control but it makes the aggro matchups better and gets us out of Grey Merchant range. I'm open to trying something else though. I do want to keep 2 Gatecreeper Vine. I guess I could go -3 Gatekeeper and +1 Quicken, +1 Urban Evolution, +1 Druid's Deliverance.
2 Azorius Guildgate
2 Izzet Guildgate
2 Dimir Guildgate
2 Rakdos Guildgate
2 Golgari Guildgate
2 Gruul Guildgate
2 Boros Guildgate
2 Simic Guildgate
2 Selesnya Guildgate
4 Maze's End
1 Breeding Pool
1 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
4 Defend the Hearth
4 Riot Control
3 Druid's Deliverance
4 Detention Sphere
4 Supreme Verdict
2 Merciless Eviction
2 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
1 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Saruli Gatekeepers
2 Gatecreeper Vine
3 Crackling Perimeter
3 Negate
2 Slaughter Games
2 Revoke Existence
2 Bow of Nylea
1 Merciless Eviction
1 Saruli Gatekeepers
1 Assemble the Legion
I'm wanting to try a few creatures just to see what happens. I'm a big fan of the Saruli Gatekeepers because it keeps the deck out of Gray Merchant range. And against MBD, they can just use that kill spell for a Pack Rat if they don't kill SG. It's just a thought. The Gatecreeper Vines are good as a 2 of since it tutors and gives us more chances to end the game a turn quicker. As much as I like SG, I'm willing to change them into like 1 Quicken, 1 Urban Evolution, and 1 Druid's Deliverance. Yes, I took one "fog" out because of the lifegain from SG. The sideboard is a mess right now and I'm not sure which way to go. Definitely gonna run at least 3 Perimeter but I'm not sure on everything else. Do we want to keep Negate or have Gainsay? Revoke Existence or Wear/Tear? I'm open to thoughts and I'll have a more detailed FNM report after tomorrow night. Thanks!
-Pennydude
This deck, obviously, isn't the fastest deck out there. It can get some explosive draws, but it usually doesn't. I want to drop a myr or a chalice on turn 2 so i can play more stuff on turn 3 like Molten-Tail Masticore or Indomitable Archangel. Kuldotha Phoenix is great to hardcast, but even better with the Masticore since it gets me around the RRR in the mana cost. This has, in my opinion, a very good midgame with 12 awesome 4/4 creatures. Precursor Golem was not that bad, but I think that 4 may be too many, even though it blanks a lot of removal when a Tempered Steel is in play. (15 power for 5 mana is good!)
I know that I could have done better against the WW Quest deck. Game 1 he gets nuts hand and I can't stop it. Game 2 I board in the Pyroclasms and the 2 Condemn. My opening hand was 5 land, a Phoenix and a Pyroclasm, so I keep it. He gets a slow start, only playing one creature, so I do play the clasm. He then drops a Stoneforge Mystic while I draw nothing but land for the rest of the game. I do believe that I can beat the deck, but it's pretty hard to beat the nuts.
I hope this answers your questions and clears up some of my card choices. Even though this may not be a Tier 1 deck, I do believe that it can become a good deck to play at FNM, and who knows, actually may be very good deck down the road. Keep the questions and suggestions coming! And I apologize for the long post...
-Pennydude