Took my deck titled "Naya Zoo" at the OP to the FNM yesterdat and went 4-0-1. Jund is not that hard to beat, if you go highly aggresive and dorkless you just beat them up before they cast something relevant, and if you manage to drop Thalia early you just hinder them so big by making them farseek T3 or use their sorcery-speed removal on her, giving you an extra turn. Hellrider is an all star and greatly breaks boardstalls or wins against control. If you have a Reckoner in field, the interactions are even funnier.
What was your dorkless version? What'd you replace the Pilgrim with?
One thing I've found is that Experiment 1 is amazing when it's good. It's usually never misses an evolved unless you miss a follow up drop.
I've been going back and forth on Rancor though. Don't get me wrong, I love the card. It's just that there have been many times where Ghor-Clan Rampager or Selesnya Charm were just better. So I've flipped in and out of having Rancor in the main, or not at all.
One thing I'm wondering is whether or not I should find a place for Silverblade Paladin in the deck.
This deck feels like it'll have a ton of potential. It just needs to find the right amount of things to work with in your own meta.
This is the deck list I'm going to be trying out this weekend. Since there has been a rise of decks where killing the creatures is not enough, I'm going with a more counter heavy build.
I tried to work in Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, and Sheoldred, Whispering One, but they just seemed to be win more, or not enough to win the game. So cut Sheoldred entirely and put Elesh Norn into the sideboard.
In this package, I feel the thing I'd like to have more of is flying creatures. Sadly I can't find any that seem to be good enough for the deck just yet. Sure Rune-Scarred Demon is good, but I'm not sure if it's a great card to use just yet.
What I want to try to do is find some nice cheap aggressive creatures to give us a good early game, or even a mid game if we're running removal or counters early on.
I'm actually starting to consider Body and Mind, or Fire and Ice due to the loads of Blue out there. Body and Mind also has the advantage of getting you through Green targets.
Nurgal, why a 63-card deck? It seems like you'd be better off cutting something, and adding a fourth Aether Vial, than running such a large deck. Also: Is Gaddock Teeg going to be as important here? I would see him more as a sideboard card, perhaps as part of a GSZ toolbox in the sideboard (or MD) to counter storm combo (Dragonstorm rather than Tendrils) and control (Cryptic rather than Force), but not important enough to use three valuable MD slots. Ironic how he shuts down similar archetypes in both Modern and Legacy...
My bad I must have forgotten to take something out. I was dead tired when I was writing those and couldn't sleep. I'll go back an edit.
Torpor orb is really a sideboard card, not a maindeck. I would maindeck 2 spellskites and 3 Solemns, dropping land to 24 and add 2 ruins to your lands. They're really worth it with Sadbot (gets a land back, ends up in graveyard often) and Spellskite (AKA Counterspell on Legs). That will also get you a few shuffle effects. I really wouldn't ponder over preordain without a decent number of shuffle effects in the deck. With the shuffle effects I would definitely Ponder.
Sadly most of the cards you've mentioned I don't have access to. I ran a similar version of this deck at an IQ 2 weeks ago and Torpor Orb in the MD was a god send in 2/3 of my matches. I made it to 11th place sadly due to bad tie breakers, but it proved worth having there then.
If I had access to the lands and the robot, I would put it in there for sure, but I've opened limited amounts of M12, and thus my pickings are slim.
In regards to using ponder over preordain in this deck. I've found that there are a number of times where I'd prefer to shuffle then to just send things to the bottom. With Tezz there is a huge chance of wiffing if you're running low on artifacts. With Ponder in there, you have a higher chance of getting those decent cards that you may have sent to the bottom back into a higher chance of being drawn afterwards. Also there have been times where i really need the Tezz and just can't get to it. In those times Ponder's shuffle has a better potential of getting it then Preordain.
Both have a row of books. Both also have the skull.
Mother of Runes has none of this.
What was your dorkless version? What'd you replace the Pilgrim with?
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Experiment One
4 Flinthoof Boar
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Loxodon Smiter
3 Boros Reckoner
4 Hellrider
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
Spells:
4 Boros Charm
2 Searing Spear
2 Rancor
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Rootbound Crag
2 Clifftop Retreat
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Forest
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Frontline Medic
2 Rest in Peace
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
3 Pillar of Flame
3 Selesnya Charm
2 Ray of Revelation
One thing I've found is that Experiment 1 is amazing when it's good. It's usually never misses an evolved unless you miss a follow up drop.
I've been going back and forth on Rancor though. Don't get me wrong, I love the card. It's just that there have been many times where Ghor-Clan Rampager or Selesnya Charm were just better. So I've flipped in and out of having Rancor in the main, or not at all.
One thing I'm wondering is whether or not I should find a place for Silverblade Paladin in the deck.
This deck feels like it'll have a ton of potential. It just needs to find the right amount of things to work with in your own meta.
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Drowned Catacombs
3 Isolated Chapel
3 Glacial Fortress
3 Seachrome Coast
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Island
3 Swamp
3 Plains
Creatures:
2 Sun Titan
2 Grave Titan
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Phantasmal Image
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Doom Blade
3 Mana Leak
2 Dissipate
2 Think Twice
4 Forbidden Alchemy
Sorceries:
2 Unburial Rites
3 Day of Judgement
Enchantments:
3 Oblivion Ring
Planeswalker:
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Timely Reinforcement
1 Dissipate
2 Dismember
2 Divine Offering
2 Celestial Purge
2 Revoke Existence
2 Tribute to Hunger
2 Grave Titan
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Consecrated Sphinx
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Phantasmal Image
I tried to work in Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, and Sheoldred, Whispering One, but they just seemed to be win more, or not enough to win the game. So cut Sheoldred entirely and put Elesh Norn into the sideboard.
In this package, I feel the thing I'd like to have more of is flying creatures. Sadly I can't find any that seem to be good enough for the deck just yet. Sure Rune-Scarred Demon is good, but I'm not sure if it's a great card to use just yet.
What I want to try to do is find some nice cheap aggressive creatures to give us a good early game, or even a mid game if we're running removal or counters early on.
4 Arid Mesa
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
5 Plain
1 Forest
2 Flagstones of Trokair
Creatures: 24
3 Adaptive Automaton
4 Knight Exemplar
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Knight of the White Orchid
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Student of Warfare
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Dismember
4 Path to Exile
Sorcery: 2
2 Green Sun's Zenith
Artifacts: 6
3 Aether Vial
2 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Planeswalker: 1
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
4 Krosan Grip
4 Brave the Elements
2 Qasali Pridemage
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
4 Relic of Progenitus
I'm still not sold on the side board quite yet, but this is the version I'm playing on cockatrice right now.
My bad I must have forgotten to take something out. I was dead tired when I was writing those and couldn't sleep. I'll go back an edit.
4 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flat
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Temple Garden
2 Horizon Canopy
5 Plain
1 Forest
Creatures: 25
3 Adaptive Automaton
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Student of Warfare
3 Dismember
4 Path to Exile
Artifacts: 6
3 Aether Vial
2 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Planeswalker: 2
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
4 Krosan Grip
4 Brave the Elements
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Relic of Progenitus
Version 2
4 Arid Mesa
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Temple Garden
4 Horizon Canopy
5 Plain
1 Forest
2 Flagstones of Trokair
Creatures: 25
3 Adaptive Automaton
4 Knight Exemplar
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Student of Warfare
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Dismember
4 Path to Exile
Artifacts: 6
2 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Planeswalker: 2
2 Elspeth, Knight Errant
4 Krosan Grip
4 Brave the Elements
3 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Relic of Progenitus
Sadly most of the cards you've mentioned I don't have access to. I ran a similar version of this deck at an IQ 2 weeks ago and Torpor Orb in the MD was a god send in 2/3 of my matches. I made it to 11th place sadly due to bad tie breakers, but it proved worth having there then.
If I had access to the lands and the robot, I would put it in there for sure, but I've opened limited amounts of M12, and thus my pickings are slim.
In regards to using ponder over preordain in this deck. I've found that there are a number of times where I'd prefer to shuffle then to just send things to the bottom. With Tezz there is a huge chance of wiffing if you're running low on artifacts. With Ponder in there, you have a higher chance of getting those decent cards that you may have sent to the bottom back into a higher chance of being drawn afterwards. Also there have been times where i really need the Tezz and just can't get to it. In those times Ponder's shuffle has a better potential of getting it then Preordain.
4x Creeping Tar Pit
4x Drowned Catacomb
3x Darkslick Shores
3x Tectonic Edge
2x Inkmoth Nexus
5x Island
4x Swamp
Spells: 14
4x Ponder
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Dismember
1x Black Sun's Zenith
3x Mana Leak
1x Stoic Rebuttal
4x Torpor Orb
4x Everflowing Chalice
3x Tumble Magnet
Creatures: 4
3x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Consecrated Sphinx
Planeswalkers: 6
4x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2x Jace Belerin
3x Spellskite
2x Ratchet bomb
2x Black Sun's Zenith
3x Surgical Extraction
2x Into the Roil
3x Duress