Honestly, the sideboard is changing constantly, along with the mainboard. So I wont bother posting it. But usually, it consists of atleast Duress, Black knight, and 2-3 doomblades.
As for your post, I'll refute some of the stuff you said.
First and foremost, Bit blast. While yes, unlike Jund, this card doesnt cascade exeptionally. But, it does serve another purpose besides removal. Ever revealed a card off the top of your deck that wasnt black? This gives the ability to cascade passed that for another chance at a black card. Not to mention its a great combat trick to cascade into a nighthawk or nocturnus. Even a hexmage can be a great cascade when blocking. It also gets better when you have a nocturnus on the field, as he shows you what youll be cascading into. Your quite right about cascading into gatekeeper/bloodghast. There is a reason they are only 3-of's in the deck. But nonetheless it will still happen. Im considering taking Ghasts out for Urge, but for now, more testing is neccessary. It's great removal, and cascades. What more can you ask for? Tendrils? Thats just great removal and lifegain. I prefer cascade.
Bloodghast is good against Jund for discarding to blightning, it's also very resillient to control the same way Vengevine is.
Now looking at the manabase. Obviously it's slower. But you get the added benefit of Lavaclaw reaches. Which is very underrrated imo.
This deck just does what mono-black cant, and thats create lots of card advantage. Bitblast into anything is a 2 for 1 obviously. Bit blast into Blightning or Sign in blood is a 3 for 1. Also it retains the explosive power of Vampires.
Esper Charm is going to be my most missed card by far.. Soo powerful.. Path to Exile will also be missed, but at the same time, not missed. Im sure anyone who's played it can attest to that feeling. Blightning is one of my all time favorites. And the Tri-lands will be missed as well.
Went 3-2-1 at last nights FNM getting 3rd. Could've done better.
Round 1, vs. U/w Control
Game 1 - He mulls to 6, I curve out perfectly, T2 Tidehollow, T3 Elsper charm, T4 Jace to fateseal. Jace'd him out.
Game 2 - I mull to 6, outplay him and end up Jacing him out again.
2-0
1-0
Round 2 vs. G/w Aggro
Game 1 - I Falsely interpret his first 3 turns as Bant, but still end up winning on the back of Admonition angel to exile all of his dudes and for the kill.
Game 2 - BARELY Lost (by 1 turn ><) Due to a play error. I forget that Whispersilk Cloak gives unblockable, and he gets in for the damage to kill me before I crash in for lethal. ><
Game 3 - Again very close. But again, lost to screwup on my part. Could have played better in these games, but atleast i'll never make those mistakes again.
1-2
1-1
Round 3 vs. Jacerator (Very long games)
Game 1 - He mills me out before I can kill. Not much to say.
Game 2 - I barely kill him with about 20 cards left in deck. Oh, and we ended up having an O-ring war, that involved 7 o-rings exiling other o-rings. Very crazy and complicated. ><
Game 3 - A much better win on my part, Disrupt his Draw engines and win with admonition angel.
1-2
2-1
Round 4 vs Grixis Control
We draw into top 8
2-1-1
Round 5 vs Grixis Control (Yeah, same guy.)
Game 1, I Outplay him, Jace him out for the win.
Game 2, Long game, were at a stalemate until I play Liliana to start tutoring up the cards I need to win. End up Jac'ing him out again.
3-1-1
Round 6 vs U/w Control.
Game 1, I'm on the play, I play Tideholow turn 2 to see Baneslayer, Baneslayer, Martial Coup and lands, I take a baneslayer. Later, he plays his baneslayer, I path it. Next turn, he plays baneslayer. I play one and we trade. Next turn, Baneslayer. And im out of answers. Lose to his 4 baneslayers..
Game 2, Again on the play. I turn 1 duress him to take care of Jace TMS, Turn 5 he plays Baneslayer. I mind control it and then he plays a very unexpected card, Kor sanctifiers. I play a divination and Esper charm to find an answer. End up drawing into more land and more draw. Never find an answer and he gets me.
What can I say? All that luck I had in Round 1, was against me in round 6. I really feel like I lost to superior draws in that round and that I could've outplayed him if he wasnt soo damn lucky. Will be more prepared next time around.
0-2
3-2-1
Overall, I did pretty well. But I could have done much better. I obviously need to be more prepared for rogue decks. I feel like the control matchup is more on my side than my opponents.
I win 7 packs, 4 RoE and 3 WW, end up pulling an Omnath and a Foily Transcendant Master. Not bad for a $6 Entry fee.
Just curious, what is "Up-Down Dralnu"? I've seen the archetype mentioned in a few places but have never actually seen a decklist or heard an explination of what it does. Care to explain? =]
I won with him a few times playing Esper splashing 1 mountain and some fetches for just him at FNM once ><
4-0.
Is that sad?
Hehe =] But no really, he isnt competetively costed enough. Maybie if he costed around 6, his overpowered abilities might justify his being played in standard. But at 8, it's just too much.
Why exactly are you playing esper? 3 Consuming Vapors and 2 Liliana's arent worth the splash. If your gonna play the chalice/mindspring/coup package, you should be playing U/w, not U/W/b. Esper charm, Agony warp, etc are all cards that your missing out on and all your doing is weakening and slowing your mana base for cards that arent relevent for your build.
Hi Nogoodnames, I tested your creature-based Esper but the result is not as good as you played. It's hard to against UWR planewalkers control, Tidehollow sculler&Admonition angel can be both quite easily removed, and the opponent may get his whatever that being removed back. I used to empty opponent's hand and battlefield, but he turned around with one drawed PTE which removed my tidehollow sculler and got one Doj back. I don't have enough couter spells
Would you please share more experience about duel with Jund/Rdw/UWR Planewalkers? Thnks a lot.
Really? Because personally, planeswalker control is one of my favorite matchups. Post board, I can see how it would be fairly tough to win. But post board, after siding in the extra counterspell, oblivion ring, and then the 3 duress's. Your opponent shouldnt be getting any walkers on the field and if they do, they should be fairly easy taken care of.
As for Tidehollow sculler and Admonition angel, these are cards you have to play carefully with. Obviously, you need to make sure they dont have removal in thier hand. But you also have to protect them. Some ways of doing this-
-Esper charm to discard at the end of thier draw step. Great move to time warp them.
-Use Jace to fateseal them once thier low on cards in hand.
-Use Liliana to tutor up counters.
-Bluff counterspells if you have none in hand.
Yes, your opponent can always topdeck that critical piece of removal, you just need to make sure your prepared to deal with it. Most deck that do run removal only run 6-12 of them. This deck has the tools necessary to handle that much. You just have to play carefully and intelligently.
By the way, an insane move I actually pulled off was this.
I have 2 admonition angels and a Marsh Flats out against Jund. He goes to pulse the first, in response, I crack my fetchland to activate both Angel's exile abilities. I put the angel that is about to get pulsed's ability on the stack targeting his Thrinax, and then the other angel's ability on top of it, targeting the angel about to get removed. What this does is exiled the soon-to-be-dead angel and because of that, by the time it's exile ability targeting the thrinax goes off, it has already left the field, meaning his Thrinax is gone forever. Also, my 2nd angel is saved from pulse. And the first angel will come back if my 2nd were to die =] What a tricky move? I think so. Very rare? Quite.
Anyway, if your metagame has alot of planeswalker control, I would suggest cutting the 2 smothers in the sideboard for pithing needle. The sideboard I posted earlier today is mostly crafted for my metagame, and can be changed accordingly to any meta.
Next, you wanted to know about Red Deck Wins. Well, first off, im not going to lie, Game one against RDW is pretty damn tough. And I've never won a game one against it unless i've had alot of wall of omens and discard. But dont be sad! Theres good news. Games 2 and 3 are soo easy it makes me feel bad. Obviously you side in 4 firewalkers, which is basically good game right there. But alongside that, you side in duress and smother. Now basically you have 2 strategies here. First off, try and get a hand with alot of hand disruption. Red deck wins has a very hard time winning if they run out of fuel. So get as many Duress/Mind Rot/Tidehollow/Esper Charm as possible. Wall of omens is great against the version running devastating summons, Kiln fiend, or Hellspark Elemental. After youve drawn the game out into the late game, just win as usual but be careful. Strategy 2 is basically the same as #1, exept it includes playing any number of Kor Firewalkers and then laughing as the red deck scoops. Really, it hoses them THAT much.
As for Jund, the plan is just basically keep card advantage on them. The thing about Jund is that, all of thier cards are 2-for-1's. But the funny thing is, if they never get to play them, they cant 2-for-1. So if you duress thier blightnings, Tideholow thier bloodbraids, oblivion ring thier thrinaxs, and admonition angel/baneslayer thier seige-gangs/Broodmates you should do well. Also, try to save your Esper charms and Mind rots for after Jund has played most of it's lands. That way you hit more relevant cards. This is one of those matchups where you really need to know the deck and play effectively to win. Our deck is capable of generating even more card advantage than Jund, because we run just as many 2-for-ones. And at the same time, we can shut downt thiers through heavy discard and counterspells.
P.S. I Just wanted to let it be known that the reason I didnt post results for last friday was because I wasnt able to attend FNM due to most of my Magic team, including my ride were out of town. But I will be posting results this friday!
Hey i appreciate you sharing your build. I love it and have used it to win my last FNM. Now comes the serious crap. What is your board? I was wondering what are you running and why.
PS admonition angel ftw twice last friday
Heh. Apparently my build did well. I guess I should take this opportunity to post my most recent build of Creature-Based Esper.
This is a really solid list, as it attacks from several angles, and can combat almost every situation. It has counters, very powerful removal, discard and hand control, good defence, and last but not least great finishers.
If anyone has questions on how the deck plays or any card choices, ask away. The deck has had nothing but good results and im willing to answer any questions.
And lastly, I want to point out that Admonition Angel is the real deal. This card is an extremely powerful finisher. I believe Esper is the only deck that can play it to it's full potential. As it's the only color combination that plays both hand disruption to get rid of removal, and counters to protect it once it's in play. But really, if the angel hits the field unmolested, it is more game changing that baneslayer angel and almost as crippling as Iona, shield of emeria.
Hmm, i've considered B/u Vamps before but never could see it doing better than B/r, but spreading sea's is something i've never considered. I definately wanna do some testing with this, it looks promising. =]
This. What exactly is damnation going to do to help us for everyone saying we need it? I dont see it helping us at all, unless were getting out-aggroed, which should never happen. We dont need better answers, we need better threats.
What do you mean it doesnt cascade into much? Mul Daya channelers and Leatherback are both great cascades. And even if it just cascades into a mana dude, it's still extra mana that will help pump a thornling or a Wolfbriar Elemental.
Further testing
Went against naya Allies 1-2 (Slow hands both games. Owell)
Jund 2-0 (Discarding Vengevine to blightning is laughable)
Turbofog 1-1 (couldnt handle anymore after 2nd game. Not like ill ever see this in a tournament anyway)
P.S. - Rip Clan Crasher was actually in an earlier version of this deck. It got cut cuz it just didnt deliver like it needed to. Back then this deck functioned more as a R/g deck wins. Now its more of a hasty beatdown that can play midrange.
@ Anonymousity - No, if anything, Thornling gets the most kills in this deck. It's almost sad. Soo many decks cant handle him because he can go indestructable for only 1. Not to mention late game he comes out hasting. =] It's just ridiculous.
@ TheWarden89 - I'm willing to test Sarkhan Vol as a possible 2-of. Cutting a single Wolfbriar and Vengevine Perhaps? He seems solid. And actually, he can play the role of Psudo removal. I mean really, by turn 4-5 when he comes out, your opponent SHOULD be at a fairly low life total. And one turn to steal a baneslayer or a Conscripted birds is all you need to alpha strike with your dudes for the win.
Bolt goes in the sideboard. It's just not something you want to cascade into often. I just cant see when I would have a red mana untapped to ever play it on my opponents turn. Sure it makes good removal and even a good surpise finisher. But all those times I cascade into Channelers instead of a bolt to rescusiate Vengevine make the non-creatureless approach much better IMO.
This is a very aggressive and consistent aggro deck I have designed. It's power relies in its' ridiculous card quality and recoverablility. Heres the list
Now as you can see, almost every card is a kill condition excluding lands and mana dudes. Obviously, this deck comes out of the gate fast. usually with a T2 Mul daya channelers or Baloths. Which can crash in for ridicuous amounts turn 3.
I've only had the ability to test the deck a few times. Most of it is theorycrafting. But heres what ive tested against soo far.
(Best 2 of 3 games)
Jund 2-0
Conscription Bant 0-1
Vengevine Bant (chapin list) 2-0
U/w Control 1-1
Super friends 2-0
Vampires 1-0
Jank Decks 3-1
The deck is just far too fast for most other decks. And it just has too many ways to combat removal. Bloodbraid Elves bring out 2 creatures. They can possibly revive Vengevine. Thornline can go indestructable. Kicked Wolfbriar is awesome. Master of the wild hunt makes card advantage. Theres only one blaring weakness to the deck, and thats the complete lack of removal. Meaning that BSA is hard to play around. But it's definately not impossible.
Considering most of your threats are huge, and also considering many of them haste, your opponent should be at a moderately low lifetotal by the time an opponent plays baneslayer, which means you can force the damage through (trust me it has happened). The only play I've seen completely blowout this deck is turn 4 DoJ followed by baneslayer.
For anybody who loves to play huge, powerful creatures. But still wants a consistent, competetive deck. I suggest you play this. Its great
Hmm, honestly, I cant see what your trying to accomplish with this decklist. I can see mysteries of the deep, the 1-of doom blade, and the lack of Planeswalker control all causing problems. I would cut the doom blade, and 2 Into the roils for Oblivion rings. As they take care of planeswalkers and problem creatures. I'd also make Mindbreak trap and Negate each 3/3 to make a little better early game. Also, no Wall of Omens? You need that early game defence so you can get your counters online.. I dont know. I want to like the list, but counters can only get you soo far. Expecially with such a small amount of removal. Good luck to you at both FNM and the PTQ
Okay, so I read your post and realized that, not only had I left my manabase out of the decklist, but also the Nocturnii =P
Heres the full decklist, I do apologize for the confusion.
3x Bloodghast
3x Gatekeeper of Malakir
4x Vampire Nighthawk
4x Vampire Nocturnus
3x Malakir Bloodwitch
2x Bituminous Blast
4x Terminate
4x Blightning
2x Lightning Bolt
4x Akoum Refuge
4x Dragonskull Summit
4x Verdant Catacombs
8x Swamp
Honestly, the sideboard is changing constantly, along with the mainboard. So I wont bother posting it. But usually, it consists of atleast Duress, Black knight, and 2-3 doomblades.
As for your post, I'll refute some of the stuff you said.
First and foremost, Bit blast. While yes, unlike Jund, this card doesnt cascade exeptionally. But, it does serve another purpose besides removal. Ever revealed a card off the top of your deck that wasnt black? This gives the ability to cascade passed that for another chance at a black card. Not to mention its a great combat trick to cascade into a nighthawk or nocturnus. Even a hexmage can be a great cascade when blocking. It also gets better when you have a nocturnus on the field, as he shows you what youll be cascading into. Your quite right about cascading into gatekeeper/bloodghast. There is a reason they are only 3-of's in the deck. But nonetheless it will still happen. Im considering taking Ghasts out for Urge, but for now, more testing is neccessary. It's great removal, and cascades. What more can you ask for? Tendrils? Thats just great removal and lifegain. I prefer cascade.
Bloodghast is good against Jund for discarding to blightning, it's also very resillient to control the same way Vengevine is.
Now looking at the manabase. Obviously it's slower. But you get the added benefit of Lavaclaw reaches. Which is very underrrated imo.
This deck just does what mono-black cant, and thats create lots of card advantage. Bitblast into anything is a 2 for 1 obviously. Bit blast into Blightning or Sign in blood is a 3 for 1. Also it retains the explosive power of Vampires.
This is my first standard rotation. =( Not fun.
Round 1, vs. U/w Control
Game 1 - He mulls to 6, I curve out perfectly, T2 Tidehollow, T3 Elsper charm, T4 Jace to fateseal. Jace'd him out.
Game 2 - I mull to 6, outplay him and end up Jacing him out again.
2-0
1-0
Round 2 vs. G/w Aggro
Game 1 - I Falsely interpret his first 3 turns as Bant, but still end up winning on the back of Admonition angel to exile all of his dudes and for the kill.
Game 2 - BARELY Lost (by 1 turn ><) Due to a play error. I forget that Whispersilk Cloak gives unblockable, and he gets in for the damage to kill me before I crash in for lethal. ><
Game 3 - Again very close. But again, lost to screwup on my part. Could have played better in these games, but atleast i'll never make those mistakes again.
1-2
1-1
Round 3 vs. Jacerator (Very long games)
Game 1 - He mills me out before I can kill. Not much to say.
Game 2 - I barely kill him with about 20 cards left in deck. Oh, and we ended up having an O-ring war, that involved 7 o-rings exiling other o-rings. Very crazy and complicated. ><
Game 3 - A much better win on my part, Disrupt his Draw engines and win with admonition angel.
1-2
2-1
Round 4 vs Grixis Control
We draw into top 8
2-1-1
Round 5 vs Grixis Control (Yeah, same guy.)
Game 1, I Outplay him, Jace him out for the win.
Game 2, Long game, were at a stalemate until I play Liliana to start tutoring up the cards I need to win. End up Jac'ing him out again.
3-1-1
Round 6 vs U/w Control.
Game 1, I'm on the play, I play Tideholow turn 2 to see Baneslayer, Baneslayer, Martial Coup and lands, I take a baneslayer. Later, he plays his baneslayer, I path it. Next turn, he plays baneslayer. I play one and we trade. Next turn, Baneslayer. And im out of answers. Lose to his 4 baneslayers..
Game 2, Again on the play. I turn 1 duress him to take care of Jace TMS, Turn 5 he plays Baneslayer. I mind control it and then he plays a very unexpected card, Kor sanctifiers. I play a divination and Esper charm to find an answer. End up drawing into more land and more draw. Never find an answer and he gets me.
What can I say? All that luck I had in Round 1, was against me in round 6. I really feel like I lost to superior draws in that round and that I could've outplayed him if he wasnt soo damn lucky. Will be more prepared next time around.
0-2
3-2-1
Overall, I did pretty well. But I could have done much better. I obviously need to be more prepared for rogue decks. I feel like the control matchup is more on my side than my opponents.
I win 7 packs, 4 RoE and 3 WW, end up pulling an Omnath and a Foily Transcendant Master. Not bad for a $6 Entry fee.
4-0.
Is that sad?
Hehe =] But no really, he isnt competetively costed enough. Maybie if he costed around 6, his overpowered abilities might justify his being played in standard. But at 8, it's just too much.
Why exactly are you playing esper? 3 Consuming Vapors and 2 Liliana's arent worth the splash. If your gonna play the chalice/mindspring/coup package, you should be playing U/w, not U/W/b. Esper charm, Agony warp, etc are all cards that your missing out on and all your doing is weakening and slowing your mana base for cards that arent relevent for your build.
Really? Because personally, planeswalker control is one of my favorite matchups. Post board, I can see how it would be fairly tough to win. But post board, after siding in the extra counterspell, oblivion ring, and then the 3 duress's. Your opponent shouldnt be getting any walkers on the field and if they do, they should be fairly easy taken care of.
As for Tidehollow sculler and Admonition angel, these are cards you have to play carefully with. Obviously, you need to make sure they dont have removal in thier hand. But you also have to protect them. Some ways of doing this-
-Esper charm to discard at the end of thier draw step. Great move to time warp them.
-Use Jace to fateseal them once thier low on cards in hand.
-Use Liliana to tutor up counters.
-Bluff counterspells if you have none in hand.
Yes, your opponent can always topdeck that critical piece of removal, you just need to make sure your prepared to deal with it. Most deck that do run removal only run 6-12 of them. This deck has the tools necessary to handle that much. You just have to play carefully and intelligently.
By the way, an insane move I actually pulled off was this.
I have 2 admonition angels and a Marsh Flats out against Jund. He goes to pulse the first, in response, I crack my fetchland to activate both Angel's exile abilities. I put the angel that is about to get pulsed's ability on the stack targeting his Thrinax, and then the other angel's ability on top of it, targeting the angel about to get removed. What this does is exiled the soon-to-be-dead angel and because of that, by the time it's exile ability targeting the thrinax goes off, it has already left the field, meaning his Thrinax is gone forever. Also, my 2nd angel is saved from pulse. And the first angel will come back if my 2nd were to die =] What a tricky move? I think so. Very rare? Quite.
Anyway, if your metagame has alot of planeswalker control, I would suggest cutting the 2 smothers in the sideboard for pithing needle. The sideboard I posted earlier today is mostly crafted for my metagame, and can be changed accordingly to any meta.
Next, you wanted to know about Red Deck Wins. Well, first off, im not going to lie, Game one against RDW is pretty damn tough. And I've never won a game one against it unless i've had alot of wall of omens and discard. But dont be sad! Theres good news. Games 2 and 3 are soo easy it makes me feel bad. Obviously you side in 4 firewalkers, which is basically good game right there. But alongside that, you side in duress and smother. Now basically you have 2 strategies here. First off, try and get a hand with alot of hand disruption. Red deck wins has a very hard time winning if they run out of fuel. So get as many Duress/Mind Rot/Tidehollow/Esper Charm as possible. Wall of omens is great against the version running devastating summons, Kiln fiend, or Hellspark Elemental. After youve drawn the game out into the late game, just win as usual but be careful. Strategy 2 is basically the same as #1, exept it includes playing any number of Kor Firewalkers and then laughing as the red deck scoops. Really, it hoses them THAT much.
As for Jund, the plan is just basically keep card advantage on them. The thing about Jund is that, all of thier cards are 2-for-1's. But the funny thing is, if they never get to play them, they cant 2-for-1. So if you duress thier blightnings, Tideholow thier bloodbraids, oblivion ring thier thrinaxs, and admonition angel/baneslayer thier seige-gangs/Broodmates you should do well. Also, try to save your Esper charms and Mind rots for after Jund has played most of it's lands. That way you hit more relevant cards. This is one of those matchups where you really need to know the deck and play effectively to win. Our deck is capable of generating even more card advantage than Jund, because we run just as many 2-for-ones. And at the same time, we can shut downt thiers through heavy discard and counterspells.
P.S. I Just wanted to let it be known that the reason I didnt post results for last friday was because I wasnt able to attend FNM due to most of my Magic team, including my ride were out of town. But I will be posting results this friday!
I would say it comes in a little too late and is a little too easy to remove to be playable. Shambling remains is better Imo.
Heh. Apparently my build did well. I guess I should take this opportunity to post my most recent build of Creature-Based Esper.
1x Baneslayer Angel
4x Tidehollow Sculler
2x Sphinx of Jwar Isle
4x Wall of Omens
4x Esper Charm
3x Path to Exile
3x Oblivion Ring
1x Unified Will
2x Negate
2x Mind Rot
2x Divination
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2x Liliana Vess
3x Island
3x Plains
2x Celestial Colonnade
2x Creeping Tar Pit
4x Glacial Fortress
2x Drowned Catacomb
4x Marsh flats
1x Admonition Angel
1x Unified will
2x Smother
3x Duress
1x Oblivion Ring
4x Kor Firewalker
3x Day of Judgment
This is a really solid list, as it attacks from several angles, and can combat almost every situation. It has counters, very powerful removal, discard and hand control, good defence, and last but not least great finishers.
If anyone has questions on how the deck plays or any card choices, ask away. The deck has had nothing but good results and im willing to answer any questions.
And lastly, I want to point out that Admonition Angel is the real deal. This card is an extremely powerful finisher. I believe Esper is the only deck that can play it to it's full potential. As it's the only color combination that plays both hand disruption to get rid of removal, and counters to protect it once it's in play. But really, if the angel hits the field unmolested, it is more game changing that baneslayer angel and almost as crippling as Iona, shield of emeria.
This. What exactly is damnation going to do to help us for everyone saying we need it? I dont see it helping us at all, unless were getting out-aggroed, which should never happen. We dont need better answers, we need better threats.
Further testing
Went against naya Allies 1-2 (Slow hands both games. Owell)
Jund 2-0 (Discarding Vengevine to blightning is laughable)
Turbofog 1-1 (couldnt handle anymore after 2nd game. Not like ill ever see this in a tournament anyway)
P.S. - Rip Clan Crasher was actually in an earlier version of this deck. It got cut cuz it just didnt deliver like it needed to. Back then this deck functioned more as a R/g deck wins. Now its more of a hasty beatdown that can play midrange.
@ TheWarden89 - I'm willing to test Sarkhan Vol as a possible 2-of. Cutting a single Wolfbriar and Vengevine Perhaps? He seems solid. And actually, he can play the role of Psudo removal. I mean really, by turn 4-5 when he comes out, your opponent SHOULD be at a fairly low life total. And one turn to steal a baneslayer or a Conscripted birds is all you need to alpha strike with your dudes for the win.
Bolt goes in the sideboard. It's just not something you want to cascade into often. I just cant see when I would have a red mana untapped to ever play it on my opponents turn. Sure it makes good removal and even a good surpise finisher. But all those times I cascade into Channelers instead of a bolt to rescusiate Vengevine make the non-creatureless approach much better IMO.
=] Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming!
4x Vengevine
4x Leatherback Baloth
4x Mul Daya Channelers
3x Thornling
3x Master of the Wild Hunt
3x Wolfbriar Elemental
4x Birds of Paradise
4x Noble Heirarch
2x Llannowar Elves
4x Raging Ravine
4x Oran-Reif the vastwood
4x Rootbound Crag
12 Forest
Now as you can see, almost every card is a kill condition excluding lands and mana dudes. Obviously, this deck comes out of the gate fast. usually with a T2 Mul daya channelers or Baloths. Which can crash in for ridicuous amounts turn 3.
I've only had the ability to test the deck a few times. Most of it is theorycrafting. But heres what ive tested against soo far.
(Best 2 of 3 games)
Jund 2-0
Conscription Bant 0-1
Vengevine Bant (chapin list) 2-0
U/w Control 1-1
Super friends 2-0
Vampires 1-0
Jank Decks 3-1
The deck is just far too fast for most other decks. And it just has too many ways to combat removal. Bloodbraid Elves bring out 2 creatures. They can possibly revive Vengevine. Thornline can go indestructable. Kicked Wolfbriar is awesome. Master of the wild hunt makes card advantage. Theres only one blaring weakness to the deck, and thats the complete lack of removal. Meaning that BSA is hard to play around. But it's definately not impossible.
Considering most of your threats are huge, and also considering many of them haste, your opponent should be at a moderately low lifetotal by the time an opponent plays baneslayer, which means you can force the damage through (trust me it has happened). The only play I've seen completely blowout this deck is turn 4 DoJ followed by baneslayer.
For anybody who loves to play huge, powerful creatures. But still wants a consistent, competetive deck. I suggest you play this. Its great
Suggestions? Questions?
Hmm, honestly, I cant see what your trying to accomplish with this decklist. I can see mysteries of the deep, the 1-of doom blade, and the lack of Planeswalker control all causing problems. I would cut the doom blade, and 2 Into the roils for Oblivion rings. As they take care of planeswalkers and problem creatures. I'd also make Mindbreak trap and Negate each 3/3 to make a little better early game. Also, no Wall of Omens? You need that early game defence so you can get your counters online.. I dont know. I want to like the list, but counters can only get you soo far. Expecially with such a small amount of removal. Good luck to you at both FNM and the PTQ