Play only 1 Urborg - the games where you are mana-screwed and draw 2 Urborgs are horrible, and your deck isn't hurting for black mana.
I would say that this deck is too heavily geared towards beating aggro, at the expense of your midrange and control matchups. When both players enter topdeck mode, you're going to be drawing Magma Jets and Despises while your opponents are going to be drawing fat creatures and planeswalkers.
You're not playing enough white or blue sources to consistently cast your cards. You'll want at least 12 sources for each color, especially if you want to cast Jeskai Charm.
I'd recommend maindeck Anger of the Gods over Eidolon of the Great Revel. Eidolon turns on their removal and hurts you more than it hurts them, whereas Anger is essential for aggro matchups and often acts as the same as (or better than) Searing Blood. Exiling cards like Bloodsoaked Champion is an added bonus.
I'd also go up to 4 Chained to the Rock; lots of big creatures to expect in the new Standard. I'd cut 1 Mindswipe, a card that I'd consider to be weak overall and only reasonable after 5+ mana.
As a matter of fact, I'd cut the Mindswipes entirely for Sarkhans if you can afford them. You could also play 1 Harness By Force if you felt like it. 1 Treasure Cruise seems potentially viable as well, but I'd test it first.
Generally speaking, Butcher of the Horde deals damage faster than Purphoros and Ankle Shanker.
I would also consider replacing Deflecting Palm with Lightning Strike; you're rarely going to get more than 4 damage off of Deflecting Palm, and it's way more conditional. People are unlikely to attack you when they're on the defensive.
To replace the Hornet Nests against creatureless/creature-light decks like UWR control. Although you could just run more countermagic instead; that could easily be better, I haven't tried it yet.
In fact, maybe they should be Highland Game or Dragon's Eye Savants, which can help the aggro matchups.
I was having a lot of trouble dealing with planeswalkers while brewing, so I started looking for all the creatures with flying in new standard. Surprisingly, there's enough for a pretty scary tempo deck.
Other cards that I've considered:
Nullify
Dragon's Eye Savants
Void Snare
Sudden Storm
But yeah, this deck is actually pretty strong. There's a lot of blowouts involving Triton Tactics, and you're frequently stopping their 3-5 mana spells with spells that cost 1-2.
By the way, Triton Tactics is also good against Anger of the Gods/Drown in Sorrow.
Mantis Riders and Ashiok are the deck's biggest weaknesses. You can get Mantis Rider with Triton Tactics if they attack you. Ashiok is strong but inconsistent; I'd attack the player instead.
The set was built to be balanced. Each wedge has it's share of good and mediocre cards.
Seriously, look through each wedge and tell me how many playables each wedge has. The numbers are similar, and the number of bad cards completely outweighs the good.
One of the main purposes of a new set is to shake things up in the format. The fact the Khans is a multicolor set suggests that mana fixing will be easy and there won't be very much reason to stay monocolor.
Monored will probably still be fine, because it always is right after a rotation.
First off, I'd advise going up to 24 lands; your deck has a lot of mana sinks, and 22 is below average.
Playing basics for the sake of Evolving Wilds isn't that strong if you're only going to play 1 Evolving Wilds. I would play 2 more Evolving Wilds, or replace all with Temples.
Return to the Ranks is a pretty hard sell, considering your manabase. I'd cut them unless you plan on making white a much larger part of your deck; consider Immortal Servitude if you want a similar effect.
You can also cut white entirely, or replace it with blue so you can play Siren of the Silent Song.
That being said, if you do want to make white a bigger part of the deck, Athreos, God of Passage is a strong card that's thematic.
Here's a manabase for 3 colors:
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Malady
4 Temple of Malice
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Forest
1 Mountain
5 Swamp
Here's a manabase for 4 colors:
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Malady
2 Mana Confluence
2 Temple of Triumph
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
5 Swamp
The main problem I see is that even in a ramp deck with scry, the chance of hitting a 4 CMC permanent when looking at the top 4 cards of your library is pretty low. Same goes for 5, 6, etc.
Sometimes you'll get cast him for 4 and get a Polukranos. But far more often you'll get something pretty lackluster and wish you had run Soul of Zendikar or GB Garruk instead.
What about Cruel Sadist, or a discard spell? I'd even consider Nyx-Fleece Ram!
I also feel like Arbor Colossus is better than Ivorytusk Fortress, if you can make the mana work. Blocking dragons and demons is important.
I would say that this deck is too heavily geared towards beating aggro, at the expense of your midrange and control matchups. When both players enter topdeck mode, you're going to be drawing Magma Jets and Despises while your opponents are going to be drawing fat creatures and planeswalkers.
I'd recommend maindeck Anger of the Gods over Eidolon of the Great Revel. Eidolon turns on their removal and hurts you more than it hurts them, whereas Anger is essential for aggro matchups and often acts as the same as (or better than) Searing Blood. Exiling cards like Bloodsoaked Champion is an added bonus.
I'd also go up to 4 Chained to the Rock; lots of big creatures to expect in the new Standard. I'd cut 1 Mindswipe, a card that I'd consider to be weak overall and only reasonable after 5+ mana.
As a matter of fact, I'd cut the Mindswipes entirely for Sarkhans if you can afford them. You could also play 1 Harness By Force if you felt like it. 1 Treasure Cruise seems potentially viable as well, but I'd test it first.
I agree that aggro is inherently this deck's biggest weakness. Do you have any opinions on the best sideboard options for those matchups are?
I'm thinking maybe some copies of Back to Nature. Do you know if enchantment decks are a real thing?
I would also consider replacing Deflecting Palm with Lightning Strike; you're rarely going to get more than 4 damage off of Deflecting Palm, and it's way more conditional. People are unlikely to attack you when they're on the defensive.
Bestow and Prowess
+1/+1 counters in both sets
In fact, maybe they should be Highland Game or Dragon's Eye Savants, which can help the aggro matchups.
4 Welkin Tern
4 Vaporkin
4 Quickling
4 Heir of the wilds
4 Hornet Nest
4 Titanic Growth
3 Disdainful Stroke
2 Triton Tactics
10 Island
4 Yavimaya Coast
9 Forest
4 Temur Charger
4 Negate
2 Triton Tactics
2 Singing Bell Strike
1 Disdainful Stroke
Other cards that I've considered:
Nullify
Dragon's Eye Savants
Void Snare
Sudden Storm
But yeah, this deck is actually pretty strong. There's a lot of blowouts involving Triton Tactics, and you're frequently stopping their 3-5 mana spells with spells that cost 1-2.
By the way, Triton Tactics is also good against Anger of the Gods/Drown in Sorrow.
Mantis Riders and Ashiok are the deck's biggest weaknesses. You can get Mantis Rider with Triton Tactics if they attack you. Ashiok is strong but inconsistent; I'd attack the player instead.
Thanks in advance,
-Ben
Seriously, look through each wedge and tell me how many playables each wedge has. The numbers are similar, and the number of bad cards completely outweighs the good.
Monored will probably still be fine, because it always is right after a rotation.
First off, I'd advise going up to 24 lands; your deck has a lot of mana sinks, and 22 is below average.
Playing basics for the sake of Evolving Wilds isn't that strong if you're only going to play 1 Evolving Wilds. I would play 2 more Evolving Wilds, or replace all with Temples.
Return to the Ranks is a pretty hard sell, considering your manabase. I'd cut them unless you plan on making white a much larger part of your deck; consider Immortal Servitude if you want a similar effect.
You can also cut white entirely, or replace it with blue so you can play Siren of the Silent Song.
That being said, if you do want to make white a bigger part of the deck, Athreos, God of Passage is a strong card that's thematic.
Here's a manabase for 3 colors:
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Malady
4 Temple of Malice
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Forest
1 Mountain
5 Swamp
Here's a manabase for 4 colors:
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Temple of Malady
2 Mana Confluence
2 Temple of Triumph
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
5 Swamp
For a sideboard, I would suggest some combination of Duress, Dark Betrayal, Doom Blade, Underworld Connections, Mistcutter Hydra and Brindle Boar.
Here's a rough version of what I would play:
4 Temple of Malady
4 Temple of Malice
4 Evolving Wilds
2 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Swamp
2 Tyramet, the Murder King
4 Dreg Mangler
4 Lifebane Zombie
4 Liliana's Reaver
3 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2 Bile Blight
4 Ultimate Price
3 Necromancer's Stockpile
1 Underworld Connections
3 Obelisk of Urd
The main problem I see is that even in a ramp deck with scry, the chance of hitting a 4 CMC permanent when looking at the top 4 cards of your library is pretty low. Same goes for 5, 6, etc.
Sometimes you'll get cast him for 4 and get a Polukranos. But far more often you'll get something pretty lackluster and wish you had run Soul of Zendikar or GB Garruk instead.