you wanna know how many times i lost during testing because i didnt attack with my noble hierarch (when i couldnt cast anything and he couldnt block) and my opponent lived with 1 life remaining?
LOL. Noble hierarch CAN attack for 1 since he had exalted trigger,....
Back to topic... I agree...That Sylvan Elf could be most likely replacing elvish visionary as SoA will rotate out.
Vamps typically beat decks that are made to beat Jund like Spreading Seas, Grixis Control, Team America and they have a decent matchup against Jund (although it's definitely in Jund's favor).
This. Vamps give most of tier-1 control decks a hard time, especially UW/x..
Tested Springheel's list against explore Jund that run 4 explore instead of leech (without any sideboarding). I see no Garruk but it has Great Sable Stag main board.
Game 1
He won the roll, and mulled to 6. I kept the opening 7 card hand of Spreading, Ardent, 3 lands, Kathari and Mirage.
His first Savage land become an island. On his next 2 turns, he played 2 Verdant Catacombs and fetch both of them into Great Sable Stag. Next turns I kept turning his lands into blue while Kathari attacking with 1 or 2 damage (2 ardents on board), and Jace didn't live that long. Stag kept beating me to one-digit until I had Wrath and casted it. He casted another Stag on his next turn, pumped it with Oran Rief, and I had no more answer.
0-1
Game 2 :
Another Stag beatdown. My Baneslayer didn't live long since he kept the single terminate only for the Angel. He didn't bother with Tar Pits attacking him to single digit. Jace2 Fatesealed him for 3 times, then he got blighting-ed, and died to a swarm of pumped saproling tokens. Finished me off with consecutive bolts in last two turns.
0-2
Game 3:
He casted nothing except bad-draws-bad-hand explores from beginning of the game until it ends (6 of his lands are blue from the beginning, plus his other dual/triple land is either destroyed by tectonic edge or bounced back to his hand). He conceded seeing Jace2 is at 11 loyalty.
1-2
-----
I probably will test the deck further vs. Vamps and UWr Control, since I'm interested in this deck's potential.
I can imagine how Vampires will have more trouble than ever with their monocolor manabase getting wrecked by seas and mirage.
However, from vs. Jund matchup : GSS + Decent Jund player = trouble in our first game.
Stag renders most of the cards we got inusable : Kathari, Tar Pits, Jace, Resounding & Deny Reality.
If I had to sideboard against Jund :
-3 Deny Reality
-4 Resounding Wave
+3 Oblivion Ring
+1 Day of Judgment
+4 Wall of Reverence
as I believe the Jund will likely sideboard :
Duress
add more GSS
add another Pulse
I fell in love with the list so far, and I'm pretty sure your opponent go *OMG* when they see you land a Tectonic =D
How did it go so far? And wasn't that Creeping Tar Pit a little bit too many?
I'd consider Wrexial as our finisher/blocker/menace rather than Sphinx of Jwar Isle simply because :
- it's 6/8 (Dead Baneslayer if she manage to block Wrexial)
- 2 landwalks (rendering Baneslayer and Wall of Denial hopeless, favoring us in UW/x matchup that runs them)
Amulet of Vigor, Bolts & burst : Solid early turn play on T1/T2. Amulet of Vigor IS our advantage vs control and Jund matchups. Moreover, it's gonna help in mid-game to have our CIPT lands guaranteed ready for counters and other spells.
Courier's Capsule & Treasure hunt : These are our T2/T3 card draw engine.. where previously we used Divination. I prefer these simply because Treasure Hunt is cheaper, synergize pretty well in this deck, and never hurts to cast in turn 2/3.
As for courier's capsule, since Divination is out, I strongly suggest this capsule for our card draw engine facing Mind Sludge, Mind Shatter and the likes.
Six counterspells : 3 Countersquall, 3 Spell contortion. The moment I saw that spell contortion is easier to cast, while later on it can act as a 1 or 2 card drawer.. IMHO it's better than double negatives currently in this meta. Aggro tend to empty their mana to cast fatties, and they will have little chance to leave 2 mana open.
As for new Jace, it fills our curve perfectly, simply because he's still good vs aggro decks AND control decks, even WITHOUT protection. Especially if we run Treasure Hunt and Halimar Depths. Keep in mind that we should still be careful of blightning (which can 2-for-1 him).
I'm not a big fan of 15(!)CIPT lands, but Amulet of Vigor has convinced me to safely run fifteen of them. Halimar Depths are your new island.
Sideboard: ??? **not sure yet, since I don't know what other decks will look like post-[WWK]*** but If I HAD to create a sideboard for a tourney tomorrow here's what I initially thought of :
Few cards to consider : Spreading Seas : Rendering Wrexial much more effective in non U/ decks manabase. Seer's Sundial : Acts as a more flexible Courier's Capsule, but the 4 casting cost is very meh. Dispel : As a sideboard, it might help against Vampire's Tendrils or even a removal targeting our creatures.
Do you think it is a better sidboard choice than grizzeld leotau. I mean it is cheaper and gets you life but than there are putrid leeches and steppe lynx...
Depending on what deck you'll be playing.
In white weenie vs Jund scenario..(after sideboard)
Turn 2
Putrid Leech : "I'll suck up my owner's 2 life and attack for 4!"
Captain : "I'll block this guy, give my owner 2 life and go to the graveyard."
Turn 3
Captain #2: "Hey you little dirty lint!"
Putrid Leech : "I'll suck... oh ****"
Putrid Leech's owner = +2 damage
You = +2 life
For just one single W, for God's sake.
All in all, great defense at early turns!
Yep, It's Evolving Wilds
Yes. I can also confirm that the random-unearth common nonbasic land is true.
You are correct.
*facepalms*
-----
I'm a reprint from a not-so-long-ago block expansion set.
I had a 'twin' in a Core Set with exact same function and ability, and we both got rotated out of Standard environment at that time
I was seen in both casual and competitive deck lists back then.
Now, I arrive in Dark Ascension expansion as a common non-basic land.
What am I?
PS : Some just solve it faster than others
-----
Answer : Evolving Wilds
Yes, this dude dies to bolts, helixes, and 99 more instants/sorceries out there
but man....
2/2 Flyer or 4/4 trampler is VALUABLE (yes, I have to type it in caps) for legacy zoo/bant/evagreen decks!
4 Lotus Cobra
4 Oracle of Mul Daya
4 Primeval Titan
3 Ob Nixilis, The Fallen
19 Creatures
4 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Explore
2 Liliana Vess
11 sorceries / planeswalkers
4 Mana Leak
4 instants
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Drowned Catacombs
3 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Tectonic Edge
3 Island
3 Swamp
26 Lands
Maximizing Ob Nixilis - Primeval Titan synergy in killing your opponent, by early ramping with birds/cobra/Mul-daya.
Sideboarding will be like :
4 Narcolepsy
3 Leyline of Anticipation
2 Rampaging Baloth
2 Deprive
What do you guys think?
LOL. Noble hierarch CAN attack for 1 since he had exalted trigger,....
Back to topic... I agree...That Sylvan Elf could be most likely replacing elvish visionary as SoA will rotate out.
and the black (zombie/skeleton) card is Phylactery.
Black = Zombie Master?
Argh!
This. Vamps give most of tier-1 control decks a hard time, especially UW/x..
I guess aggro decks are still dominating the format right now.
Game 1
He won the roll, and mulled to 6. I kept the opening 7 card hand of Spreading, Ardent, 3 lands, Kathari and Mirage.
His first Savage land become an island. On his next 2 turns, he played 2 Verdant Catacombs and fetch both of them into Great Sable Stag. Next turns I kept turning his lands into blue while Kathari attacking with 1 or 2 damage (2 ardents on board), and Jace didn't live that long. Stag kept beating me to one-digit until I had Wrath and casted it. He casted another Stag on his next turn, pumped it with Oran Rief, and I had no more answer.
0-1
Game 2 :
Another Stag beatdown. My Baneslayer didn't live long since he kept the single terminate only for the Angel. He didn't bother with Tar Pits attacking him to single digit. Jace2 Fatesealed him for 3 times, then he got blighting-ed, and died to a swarm of pumped saproling tokens. Finished me off with consecutive bolts in last two turns.
0-2
Game 3:
He casted nothing except bad-draws-bad-hand explores from beginning of the game until it ends (6 of his lands are blue from the beginning, plus his other dual/triple land is either destroyed by tectonic edge or bounced back to his hand). He conceded seeing Jace2 is at 11 loyalty.
1-2
-----
I probably will test the deck further vs. Vamps and UWr Control, since I'm interested in this deck's potential.
I can imagine how Vampires will have more trouble than ever with their monocolor manabase getting wrecked by seas and mirage.
However, from vs. Jund matchup : GSS + Decent Jund player = trouble in our first game.
Stag renders most of the cards we got inusable : Kathari, Tar Pits, Jace, Resounding & Deny Reality.
If I had to sideboard against Jund :
-3 Deny Reality
-4 Resounding Wave
+3 Oblivion Ring
+1 Day of Judgment
+4 Wall of Reverence
as I believe the Jund will likely sideboard :
Duress
add more GSS
add another Pulse
Hope it helps!
I fell in love with the list so far, and I'm pretty sure your opponent go *OMG* when they see you land a Tectonic =D
How did it go so far? And wasn't that Creeping Tar Pit a little bit too many?
seems little better on paper IMO.
Post-[WWK]
Win-Cons (11)
3 Sorin Markov
2 Earthquake
3 Wrexial, the Risen Deep
I'd consider Wrexial as our finisher/blocker/menace rather than Sphinx of Jwar Isle simply because :
- it's 6/8 (Dead Baneslayer if she manage to block Wrexial)
- 2 landwalks (rendering Baneslayer and Wall of Denial hopeless, favoring us in UW/x matchup that runs them)
Card Draw, Counters, Manipulations & Removals (23)
2 Courier's Capsule
1 Into the Roil
4 Amulet of Vigor
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Burst Lightning
3 Jace, the Mindsculptor
3 Countersquall
3 Spell Contortion
Amulet of Vigor, Bolts & burst : Solid early turn play on T1/T2. Amulet of Vigor IS our advantage vs control and Jund matchups. Moreover, it's gonna help in mid-game to have our CIPT lands guaranteed ready for counters and other spells.
Courier's Capsule & Treasure hunt : These are our T2/T3 card draw engine.. where previously we used Divination. I prefer these simply because Treasure Hunt is cheaper, synergize pretty well in this deck, and never hurts to cast in turn 2/3.
As for courier's capsule, since Divination is out, I strongly suggest this capsule for our card draw engine facing Mind Sludge, Mind Shatter and the likes.
Six counterspells : 3 Countersquall, 3 Spell contortion. The moment I saw that spell contortion is easier to cast, while later on it can act as a 1 or 2 card drawer.. IMHO it's better than double negatives currently in this meta. Aggro tend to empty their mana to cast fatties, and they will have little chance to leave 2 mana open.
As for new Jace, it fills our curve perfectly, simply because he's still good vs aggro decks AND control decks, even WITHOUT protection. Especially if we run Treasure Hunt and Halimar Depths. Keep in mind that we should still be careful of blightning (which can 2-for-1 him).
Lands (26)
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Drowned Catacomb
2 Creeping Tar Pits
3 Halimar Depths
2 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Swamp
1 Island
2 Mountains
I'm not a big fan of 15(!)CIPT lands, but Amulet of Vigor has convinced me to safely run fifteen of them. Halimar Depths are your new island.
Sideboard: ??? **not sure yet, since I don't know what other decks will look like post-[WWK]*** but If I HAD to create a sideboard for a tourney tomorrow here's what I initially thought of :
2 Smother
2 Agony Warp
2 Comet Storm
2 Malakir Bloodwitch
2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3 Duress
Few cards to consider :
Spreading Seas : Rendering Wrexial much more effective in non U/ decks manabase.
Seer's Sundial : Acts as a more flexible Courier's Capsule, but the 4 casting cost is very meh.
Dispel : As a sideboard, it might help against Vampire's Tendrils or even a removal targeting our creatures.
Depending on what deck you'll be playing.
In white weenie vs Jund scenario..(after sideboard)
Turn 2
Putrid Leech : "I'll suck up my owner's 2 life and attack for 4!"
Captain : "I'll block this guy, give my owner 2 life and go to the graveyard."
Turn 3
Captain #2: "Hey you little dirty lint!"
Putrid Leech : "I'll suck... oh ****"
Putrid Leech's owner = +2 damage
You = +2 life
For just one single W, for God's sake.
All in all, great defense at early turns!