Played 3 rounds. Ended the night 1-2. Trying to predict the meta turned out horribly for me. Tuned my main deck for the control match up and didn't face a single control deck.
sideboard was randomly thrown together because I couldn't get some of the stuff in time
1) wolf-run ramp. Game 1, drawing the whole family of Grand abolishers that aren't able to stand up to a primeval and an inferno titan.
in : 3 leonin arbiter, 1 sofaf
out : 2 grand abolisher, 2 elite inquisitor
game 2, mull to 5 without drawing a single of my sideboarded cards
2) tempered steel.Game 1, my creatures were just better.
in : 1 dismember, 1 o-ring, 3 DOJ
out : 1 Mikaeus , 2 angelic destiny, 2 grand abolisher
Game 2, stalled on a seachrome coast and 2 moorland haunt.
Game 3, same as game 1, not seeing any sideboarded cards.
3) the mirror match. On the draw, lost game 1 to a perfectly curved out t4 crusader + destiny
In : 3 DOJ , 1 O-ring, 1 dismember, 1 elite inquisitor
out : 4 grand abolisher, Mikaeus, 1 geist
game 2, curved out pretty nicely. t1 traveller t2 inquisitor t3 traveler + hotp.
He just couldn't deal with the spirit tokens + my Inquisitor was bigger than any creature he could cast. 1st strike + vigilance is pretty good in the mirror.
game 3, punt of my life, tried to cast honor of the pure to go for the win forgetting that he had an active moorland haunt. I should have o-ringed his crusader instead. Lost to angelic destiny on the crusader in the crackback.
Thoughts :
no comment on mikaeus, just something i wanted to try out. unable to draw him in all the g1, and siding him out afterwards.
wolf run ramp i think is a really horrible match up. There was no situation where having ghost quarter would have let me win. Maybe delaying his win by 1 or 2 turns but I definitely would still have lost.
I think we can all agree that we need a 3/2 split between o-ring and dismember. Which does everyone prefer?
I do 3 o-rings 2 dismembers.
On another note, I tested a bunch of game ones with a BUG control deck running thruns/bsz/snapcasters/think twice/alchemy/grave titans/wurmcoil/counters/bramblesnap/garruk 3.0/liliana today. No sideboarding. Which doesn't really say much. And not very credible. Yea I know.
But I do want to share some of my observations.
1) turn 2 grand abolisher is a house against control. It might not survive more than a turn but it ensures your turn 3 play to come down uncontested giving us the tempo advantage.
Definitely at least a 3-of main deck, bringing in the 4th against control.
2) 3x Inquisitor Exarch. It hasn't been phenomenal but it's been decent at applying pressure. Even won me a game once after my opponent stabilized at 3 life with me having a spirit token on the field.
Still really on the fence on whether it deserves a place in the deck though.
3) 2-2 split between angelic destiny and hero. Angelic destiny is a great card but it hasn't been too successful for me, but I think it is still a matter of preference. I prefer to keep a Higher creature count for ...
5) moorland haunt which I think has been reasonably successful for me today.
Going into the late game, I found myself scrambling for creatures to play out even though I know they're definitely going to die. The close games that I lost, I lost due to running out of creatures in a yard, and the close games that I won, I won due to having just enough creatures in the yard to deal the last 3 or 4 points of damage.
Moorland haunt definitely at least a 3-of in my opinion.
Inquisitor Exarch is something that I'm trying out as a sort of pseudo burn spell to force through that last bit of damage that we may be lacking to win when you know control stabilizes at that last few points of life.
Against RDW, the gain 2 life option can also be helpful.
I think the only problem is it has no synergy whatsoever with the human sub-theme.
Grand Abolisher as a 3-of. Great against control and decent at least against other decks. Stops any think twice shenanigans, removal and counter-spells on your turn.
Against RDW, prevents any burn at the end of your turn. Haven't really tested but it might slow them down at least a turn or 2.
Doomed Traveller as a 4-of. This card is great value, especially in this deck. It's basically 3 creatures in 1 due to moorland haunt. Great with honor of the pure, but sometimes underwhelming without. The spirit token at least has evasion though. And as we know from the previous standard, 1/1 flyers poking away can stack up pretty nicely. Also, great against Liliana / DOJ.
Elite Inquisitor. Using him mostly for the 1st strike and vigilance. Is a decent beater that fits nicely into the curve, 1st strike and vigilance with honor of the pure could be a real house against other creature decks. Although I think if there were a better alternative, he would be going out.
Hero of Bladehold. Just a good, efficient creature that can win games on her own.
Angelic destiny. 1 of so far. I'm considering a 2/2 split with the hero. Not running the full 4 because it just isn't very good on a creature light draw. Moorland haunt kind of makes up for that drawback but I think Hero is a better play just because she doesn't require any board presence.
Again, this is all just theory. Just throwing my 2 cents out there. Any suggestions would be really welcome.
I don't really think Mentor of the Meek goes well in a deck with Honor of the Pure.
Champion of the Parish is good with a human sub-theme as most of the good WW creatures are humans.
Mirran Crusader, Hero of Bladehold , Elite Inquisitor etc.
Maybe even considering Doomed Traveler ? Since you can get 2 uses out of it. And the 2nd time it comes with evasion. With Honor of the Pure 2 flying damage stacks up pretty quickly.
Also , Anyone tried Inquisitor Exarch as a 4-of ? its a 2/2 for 2 that does 2 damage upon entering the battlefield. Could be helpful for closing out games.
Could u put up a brief tournament report or testing reports ? I've got most of the cards for the deck, just trying to make some choices between the last few creature slots. How is Etched Champ over Hero of Bladehold working out for u ? I'm really curious.
Played 3 rounds. Ended the night 1-2. Trying to predict the meta turned out horribly for me. Tuned my main deck for the control match up and didn't face a single control deck.
4 seachrome coast
4 glacial fortress
3 moorland haunt
4 doomed traveller
4 champion of the parish
4 grand abolisher
2 elite inquisitor
4 mirran crusader
2 hero of bladehold
3 geist of saint traft
1 Mikaeus the lunarch
3 oblivion ring
2 dismember
2 angelic destiny
1 sword of war and peace
3 day of judgment
3 leonin arbiter
3 negate
1 island
1 elite inquisitor
1 dismember
1 oblivion ring
1 sword of feast and famine
1 hero of bladehold
sideboard was randomly thrown together because I couldn't get some of the stuff in time
1) wolf-run ramp. Game 1, drawing the whole family of Grand abolishers that aren't able to stand up to a primeval and an inferno titan.
in : 3 leonin arbiter, 1 sofaf
out : 2 grand abolisher, 2 elite inquisitor
game 2, mull to 5 without drawing a single of my sideboarded cards
2) tempered steel.Game 1, my creatures were just better.
in : 1 dismember, 1 o-ring, 3 DOJ
out : 1 Mikaeus , 2 angelic destiny, 2 grand abolisher
Game 2, stalled on a seachrome coast and 2 moorland haunt.
Game 3, same as game 1, not seeing any sideboarded cards.
3) the mirror match. On the draw, lost game 1 to a perfectly curved out t4 crusader + destiny
In : 3 DOJ , 1 O-ring, 1 dismember, 1 elite inquisitor
out : 4 grand abolisher, Mikaeus, 1 geist
game 2, curved out pretty nicely. t1 traveller t2 inquisitor t3 traveler + hotp.
He just couldn't deal with the spirit tokens + my Inquisitor was bigger than any creature he could cast. 1st strike + vigilance is pretty good in the mirror.
game 3, punt of my life, tried to cast honor of the pure to go for the win forgetting that he had an active moorland haunt. I should have o-ringed his crusader instead. Lost to angelic destiny on the crusader in the crackback.
Thoughts :
no comment on mikaeus, just something i wanted to try out. unable to draw him in all the g1, and siding him out afterwards.
wolf run ramp i think is a really horrible match up. There was no situation where having ghost quarter would have let me win. Maybe delaying his win by 1 or 2 turns but I definitely would still have lost.
I do 3 o-rings 2 dismembers.
On another note, I tested a bunch of game ones with a BUG control deck running thruns/bsz/snapcasters/think twice/alchemy/grave titans/wurmcoil/counters/bramblesnap/garruk 3.0/liliana today. No sideboarding. Which doesn't really say much. And not very credible. Yea I know.
But I do want to share some of my observations.
1) turn 2 grand abolisher is a house against control. It might not survive more than a turn but it ensures your turn 3 play to come down uncontested giving us the tempo advantage.
Definitely at least a 3-of main deck, bringing in the 4th against control.
2) 3x Inquisitor Exarch. It hasn't been phenomenal but it's been decent at applying pressure. Even won me a game once after my opponent stabilized at 3 life with me having a spirit token on the field.
Still really on the fence on whether it deserves a place in the deck though.
3) 2-2 split between angelic destiny and hero. Angelic destiny is a great card but it hasn't been too successful for me, but I think it is still a matter of preference. I prefer to keep a Higher creature count for ...
5) moorland haunt which I think has been reasonably successful for me today.
Going into the late game, I found myself scrambling for creatures to play out even though I know they're definitely going to die. The close games that I lost, I lost due to running out of creatures in a yard, and the close games that I won, I won due to having just enough creatures in the yard to deal the last 3 or 4 points of damage.
Moorland haunt definitely at least a 3-of in my opinion.
All in all, decently happy with the deck.
All theory-crafting, no actual testing done yet. But will explain card choices outside of the obvious ones as best as I can.
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Moorland Haunt
13 Plains
4 champion of the parish
4 doomed traveller
3 Grand Abolisher
4 Mirran Crusader
3 Geist of saint traft
2 Elite Inquisitor
2 Hero of Bladehold
4 Inquisitor Exarch
3 Oblivion Ring
1 Angelic Destiny
2 Dismember
Have not figured out a sideboard yet.
Inquisitor Exarch is something that I'm trying out as a sort of pseudo burn spell to force through that last bit of damage that we may be lacking to win when you know control stabilizes at that last few points of life.
Against RDW, the gain 2 life option can also be helpful.
I think the only problem is it has no synergy whatsoever with the human sub-theme.
Grand Abolisher as a 3-of. Great against control and decent at least against other decks. Stops any think twice shenanigans, removal and counter-spells on your turn.
Against RDW, prevents any burn at the end of your turn. Haven't really tested but it might slow them down at least a turn or 2.
Doomed Traveller as a 4-of. This card is great value, especially in this deck. It's basically 3 creatures in 1 due to moorland haunt. Great with honor of the pure, but sometimes underwhelming without. The spirit token at least has evasion though. And as we know from the previous standard, 1/1 flyers poking away can stack up pretty nicely. Also, great against Liliana / DOJ.
Elite Inquisitor. Using him mostly for the 1st strike and vigilance. Is a decent beater that fits nicely into the curve, 1st strike and vigilance with honor of the pure could be a real house against other creature decks. Although I think if there were a better alternative, he would be going out.
Hero of Bladehold. Just a good, efficient creature that can win games on her own.
Angelic destiny. 1 of so far. I'm considering a 2/2 split with the hero. Not running the full 4 because it just isn't very good on a creature light draw. Moorland haunt kind of makes up for that drawback but I think Hero is a better play just because she doesn't require any board presence.
Again, this is all just theory. Just throwing my 2 cents out there. Any suggestions would be really welcome.
Also, any tips for sideboard card selection choices ?
edit: mistaken, guy above me is right
Champion of the Parish is good with a human sub-theme as most of the good WW creatures are humans.
Mirran Crusader, Hero of Bladehold , Elite Inquisitor etc.
Maybe even considering Doomed Traveler ? Since you can get 2 uses out of it. And the 2nd time it comes with evasion. With Honor of the Pure 2 flying damage stacks up pretty quickly.
Also , Anyone tried Inquisitor Exarch as a 4-of ? its a 2/2 for 2 that does 2 damage upon entering the battlefield. Could be helpful for closing out games.
Really quite surprising that there's no caw in the top 8 at all
Could u put up a brief tournament report or testing reports ? I've got most of the cards for the deck, just trying to make some choices between the last few creature slots. How is Etched Champ over Hero of Bladehold working out for u ? I'm really curious.