Just wanted to say I really appreciate the immense amount of information on the deck in terms of card options and playstyle (as well as the ongoing analysis of the incoming cards)! This looked like a blast and after I chased down some of the lore bits on Ayli I was sold on the theme haha. Ordered the pieces I'm missing from the pool and am hoping to sleeve it up this week!
I run a conscription build whenever I take the deck out for a walk - utilizing cobras and the like. I definitely enjoy playing with the cobra and as mentioned above, it doesn't take away from your ability to drop a geist (or another 3 drop) on turn 2 instead it allows for even faster turn 2 plays when he's present - adding another body and 2 power to your turn 2 board state.
I've felt like the conscription version has kept my interest more than any sort of tempo game simply because it has the normal beatdown option with geist, exalted triggers, and some evasion (elspeth jump, and angelic destiny if you run it) but also has a "surprise! I just stole the game" option in the form of sovereigns > conscription. I'm not sure the deck can play the "fair game" as well as the handful of other fair decks that are around so it needs another angle of attack. Living the dream results in a turn 3 sovereigns putting conscription on the snake which is a very nice thing to be able to threaten. Geist beats get there a large number of times especially alongside flying and/or sejiri steppe but the ability to rip a sovereigns and just nail the opponent even from a lame board state (such as a lone bird of paradise) at any point is great.
My biggest thing with the version is since we don't have mind sculptor like the versions of old, I'm still on the hunt for ways to streamline the deck and keep it consistent. I've been debating things like thassa, god of the sea even to just allow me to scry before my draw every turn to 1. get through the deck faster, 2. avoid drawing my conscriptions since i can't brainstorm them away, and 3. make any of my threats unblockable for 2 mana. I also like that she can be hit off collected company
I was surprised how many times I boarded the sword in last night - and might experiment with it going forward. My biggest blocker with the sword was, when I did happen to see it I just could never find the mana to really make it work for me. If i was lucky enough to have 3 mana to cast it.....I couldn't really find an opening to tap all of my mana to effectively do nothing for a turn. And in the version I ran last night, having 5 mana was out of the question.
shared animosity seems nuts on paper especially considering the overlap of elemental, elf, and of course shaman. there are a LOT of double buffs coming in...I didn't ever get the chance to make use of it last night. I didn't see it a ton with only one copy and when I did, rageforger was the priority. I definitely want to test this card more.
I went ahead and took that states list out for a spin in a mtgo daily this evening. I can see some explosive lines of play on paper but it didn't quite carry over into practice for me. The 18 land count was much to low for my personal liking. I mull'd almost every game going down to a useless 4 card hand once and multiple 5 card hands. At that point I just never had enough to actually swarm the board - and some of my 5 card keeps had a basic land only or no land (and a simian). I definitely struggled with lands most games. That said,
Round 1 0-2 loss against Wilted abzan.
G1 I bolted both of his early manadorks to keep the way clear for my burning tree and visionary while trying to keep him off of rhino and liege mana. I was able to play some other shamans - ire shaman and wolf-skull however That didn't play out and liege > lingering souls > smiter > rhino was a thing that I couldn't get past despite my large board. I was stuck at 2 lands the whole game ( the 2 in my opening hand) and never got to cast the two rage forgers in hand. He was super low on life, even with the rhino and a rage forger would have gotten it for me - but alas the lands.
G2 He played out a lot more like a normal abzan deck. I had to mulligan to 6 keeping burning trees and 2 drops which wasn't bad. That said, turn 1 thoughtseize made my turn 2 a little less stunning. Then path to exile on my wolf-skull, abrupt decay on my shared animosity, and double rhino put me in my place.
Round 2 2-1 win against RW Norin
G1 I mulled to 4 and was left with 3 lands and a spirit guide. I just played lands for a bit (6 to be exact) to see what he was doing since I hadn't played against it before.
G2 I had a strong start and an early reclamation sage on his impact tremors. Rage forger triggers did work.
G3 I had a similar start getting burning tree, wolf skull visionary, and reclamation sage onto the board killing his impact tremors again. then he surprised me with pyroclasm which I wasn't expecting given all of his own small creatures. He landed a spirit bonds and began churning out tokens while I tried to rebuild. He had enough blockers (2-3 a turn) to keep my handful of guys from getting through for normal damage but double rage forger was able to do enough direct damage to finish him off before his tokens could get me. Was a grindy/close one. The reach was the only way through!
Round 3 1-2 loss to RG(W) Zoo
G1 Made me want to throw up hah. Turn 1 goblin guide. Turn 2 burning tree > burning tree > burning tree > goblin guide. I lost that one lol.
G2 Turn 1 simian spirit guide > burning tree > experiment one > goblin guide. He had a fast start obviously but me being on the play and having a decent start of my own allowed me to trade with his guys, bolt the experiment and start rebuilding with a wolf skull shaman. I managed to get there as he ran out of gas.
G3 He got rolling with an experiment one > flinthoof boar. I had to mull to 5 and din't have any removal. None of my guys were big enough to profitably trade and rage forger ate a helix. The boar was eventually joined by a ghor clan and I just didn't have much game with so few resources to start the game.
Round 4 0-2 loss to Bogles
G1 I don't know what this specific list can even try to do against bogles short of race - which isn't the best plan considering the lifelink available to bogles. Game 1 was over super quick with his guys getting large, gaining first strike, and trample making my chump blockers irrelevant.
G2 I had to mulligan again and still ended up struggling to get to 3 lands. I was almost dead when I got to choose between casting rage forger to buff my guys big enough to actually block his favorably or casting blood moon to stop him from casting things while dropping to 4 life. I opted the rage forger route - however as he cast 3 more enchantments (only had 1 in hand, but drew consecutively off of spirit dancer) I clearly chose wrong. I should have played the moon, eaten the damage and then played rage forger. Oops :/
I definitely had fun with it but as I said before I stalled at 1 or 2 land a lot. I also spent most of my games mull'ing my cards away often times tossing a bad 7 card hand, to get a 6 card hand with no lands, to get a 5 card hand with one land. I'll definitely be trying to play a bit different of a list in the future!
This past weekend I ran my conscription build again. I changed a few slots: Vendilion Clique became thrun, the last troll, Tarmogoyf became 2 x angelic destiny and 2x elspeth, knight errant. I moved some lands around and included 2 cavern of souls since a large portion of the deck is human and the other important chunk, geist and sovereigns are spirits. My sideboard was definitely tuned a bit more as well. I went 2-2 for the day.
round 1: W 2-0, monoblack vampires.
His pet deck versus mine I suppose. Game 1 I stuck a knight, protected it from murderous cut by fetching a sejiri steppe at the appropriate time, suited her up with destiny and kept her buffed with elspeth. Game 2 I mulled to 5 and kept Cavern of souls, 2 thalia, a bird, and a path to exile. I got a lucky top deck noble hierarch which allowed me to name humans and play out most of my hand. I eventually drew into more lands and stabilized at 3 life with elspeth and thrun.
round 2: L 1-2, affinity.
Game 1 he unloaded on me and the race began. I was able to suit up a 4/4 knight with destiny, with a noble on the field, and then stick an eslpeth. He left 1 ornithopter behind to block my knight - which I path'd. I was about to attack for exactly lethal with my flying knight, but he was able to galvanic blast my noble before combat and without the exalted trigger I was 1 damage short. I lost on the backswing. Game 2 I surprised the hell out of him with sovereigns into conscription on geist and took the game. Game 3 I mulled once and found no pressure. I was able to set up a fragile worship with a noble on the field. He didn't have an answer for it which kept me alive for a bit - however his 3 inkmoth nexi were met with only 2 path to exile from my side and I eventually died to poison. all in all I actually enjoyed the match a lot. I wish my stony silences had shown up Better luck next time!
round 3: L 1-2 burn.
I stole game 1 with conscription on geist. I saw only worship from my sideboard games 2 and 3 ( spellskites, rhox war monks, etc all stayed hidden) and he was holding destructive revelry both games when i stuck worship. GG. I guess they are already prepared for leyline and I am playing right into their sideboard with worship. Might be better off just increasing the number of warmonks, firewalkers, auriok champions, or finks - than trying to hide behind worship anymore.
round 4: W 2-0 burn.
Game 1 he was sort of slow and I as able to beat him down with an angelic destiny-equipped bird of paradise while keeping the other guys back on defense alongside path. Game 2 I saw none of my sideboard. I found myself at 7 life with 4 creatures facing me but was able to sovereigns > conscription on geist to attack for above lethal with the angel token. He had to put his whole team on block duty to stay alive. with thalia on the field even with his draw he couldn't cast enough to finish me so geist got another swing.
All in all a fun day. Successfully avoided mana screw and the like and played a lot of "good" magic.
Are the sac effects that potent/guaranteed against junk with all of the souls running around? Or do you guys have some sweet tech for handling the souls? I currently am playing with the mainboard damnations posted previously but without drawing 1 of those 2 - and having them over-commit, i can't seem to profitably clear them out (especially when my fairy tokens are 1/1s, vendilion only has 1 toughness, etc). Thanks in advance for the thoughts/info!
Last weekend more than half the decks present were aggressive so I tried to set my self up maindeck to have better chances game 1. I got some different pairings this week ( and some people changed decks ) so it may not have been ideal to focus in as much. I finished up the day 2-2.
Round 1: Grixis Delver, 1-2
Despite losing, this matchup was pretty fun. It was very interactive and there was a lot of push/pull and opportunities for comebacks. Game 1 I felt a bit behind the whole time trying to kill 1 thing a turn while he was playing more than 1 card a turn. That said I was able to stabilize at 1 life and then follow it up with a rhino to start crawling back out of burn range. I had a couple good draws with lingering souls and was able to take the game. Game 2 on the other hand, he stuck a turn 2 tasigur while I had no removal other than abrupt decay in hand. I took a lot from tasigur before I could get things on board - and I never did get rid of tasigur. Game 3 I had to mull to 5 but got lucky on my draws and was able to play some early disruption. I saw a tasigur, deprive, and batterskull in his hand - while I had path, maelstrom, and batterskull in mine. Things fell into place - I path'd his tasigur, maelstrom'd his batterskull, and was eager to play my own batterskull and try to take the game. Knowing he had deprive in hand I fed him a rhino (which he leaked...nice draw), then i fed him a sorin (which ate the deprive), and thinking I was finally clear I tried the batterskull - which got hit with yet another deprive (not snapcaster, mind you). He was able to take the game shortly after with a lot of bolts.
I had sided in 2x darkblasts and 1x goglari charm. If i recall, i pulled out my 2 thoughtseizes and an abrupt decay. I was able to save a goyf from a murderous cut once with charm. Though it was killed soon after by snappy > cut. I never saw a buildup of tokens for the -1-1 mode and the darkblasts only showed up once to kill a delver.
Round 2: Merfolk 2-0
Game 1 I saw all 4 abrupt decays and a liliana in the first few turns and he drew a surplus of lands and couldn't replenish the dead threats. Game 2 he got vial online but liliana and solid removal kept him from amassing much. He did manage to spreading seas all 3 of my lands - but i topdecked a plains which allowed me to start playing the lingering souls in hand to join my goyf on the field and close the game before much more happened.
I brought in the damnation, the ratchet bomb, and 2x timely reinforcements. The ratchet bomb was a sort of failsafe, colorless out to spreading seas (potentially) or a token killer. I didn't see it though so who knows. I had pulled out Tasigur, 2x thoughtseize, and 1x souls.
Round 3: Infect 2-1
He mulled super hard game 1 going to 4 cards. I had inquisitions and liliana in hand which made his 1 land, inkmoth hand fall apart pretty quickly. I had a lot of time to take over and it wasn't much of a game. Game 2 I got hit early for 2 poison but took control of the game. I recall having 1 souls, a goyf, and a rhino on board. He was low on life ( single digits ) So I got greedy and went to put him on a 2 turn clock leaving my stirring wildwood back to block whatever he did with his inkmoth on the rebound. I didn't expect the dismember and he was able to get in for 8 and game. I would have been fine if I had left a little more protection behind instead of pushing the advantage so much. Oops. Game 3 was really grindy. Some early disruption kept him from taking off too fast. But his exalted colorless land and minor buffs kept my souls from doing much more than chump blocking his necropede for a while. Then a goyf was left to chump, and then a rhino - I just couldn't find removal to kill his attacker. I did finally get ahold a liliana and kill the necropede-that-just-wouldn't-die but it was a lot of luck and i was down to my last turn to chump block.
I had brought in 2x darkblast, 2x spellskite, and a golgari charm (I didn't see any of them game 2 or 3). And took out Sorin, batterskull, tasigur, and 2 x ooze.
Round 4: U Tron 1-2
I was pretty bummed when I got this pairing as "Tron" of any sort isn't a good matchup...and isn't one I've ever won even when prepared. That said, I hadn't seen any tron in the room last week so I was completely unprepared for it. I somehow managed to win game 1. I got some early pressure down and he didn't assemble tron. I had thoughtseized a myr battlesphere early on and he used kuldotha forgemaster to put a blightsteel colossus onto the field. Lucky for me I was waiting with a path to exile when he tried to equip it with lightning greaves. Both games 2 and 3 he had tron online by turn 4 and I was just straight outclassed. I got hit with an ugin once ( which I actually managed to kill when he dropped it to 3 to wipe my rhino and i returned fire with a wildwood) and then a wurmcoil into overloaded cyclonic rift. Game 3 I burnt my damnation to kill a kuldotha forgemaster to stop him from finding a threat before dropping a 6/7 goyf into play. I thought I might win the race until he used rite of replication to make 5 of his own goyfs which killed me next turn.
I made a futile effort siding in damnation, 2x creeping corrosion, 2x stony silence ( i only saw the damnation once in game 3) I pulled out Sorin, 2x abrupt decay, and 2x ooze.
In the end I think next week I'll keep the maindeck a bit more general and less anti-aggro oriented, and definitely change up the sideboard ( reaches for fulminator mages ).
I hadn't played BGx in a bit over a year and it felt a little less powerful overall to me than jund before. I suppose I was used to the extra cards/advantage flowing from dark confidant and/or courser of kruphix. Today I felt super fair to my opponents and VERY dependent on my draws. If i drew several cards correctly in a row things went well. There was zero room however for a small land pocket or a removal drought or any other variance. It definitely felt weird without the second/third chances at cards every turn. I was often in top deck mode and holding my breath each draw step with little to do if it was a land besides wait till next turn.
That said I received 4 packs and lucked out pulling an Ugin and a monastery mentor - so I can't complain and will be tinkering a bit with lists until next week.
So I'm trying to get a list together to run tomorrow at a local store. Last week was my first trip there and I ran a conscription deck into the unknown - and ended up hiding behind worship most of my games. The meta seemed pretty aggressive with: Burn, White weenies, merfolk, infect, affinity, and then UWR, grixis delver, and tezzeret control. My siege rhinos showed up this week so Junk is being assembled and I have a few questions to throw around.
I've seen lists with and without Bob - and the ones that do pull him out against aggression. I feel like in order to be prepared for the assault I'd be better off removing him from the start since he's probably going to come out most rounds anyways. Is this correct?
Similarly, the thoughtseize / IOK split. Most lists seem to be 3/3, but would i be better off starting with less thoughtseize, perhaps 2/4 ?
I feel like some number of Sorins should probably be main-board and that I would do well to join the 1 batterskull mainboard bandwagon as well.
Scavenging ooze has always been a weird card for me in BG ( was a much bigger fan of deathrite ). How do you usually play it against aggressive decks. Do you wait a few turns until it can eat something immediately as opposed to getting it down on curve when getting pummeled? I feel like i often hit panic mode and try to keep killing opposing creatures or putting blockers down.....which means ooze often comes down as a 2/2 speed bump that doesn't kill/survive what it got in the way of.
Tezzeret control is one I had never played against until last week - what would the Junk plan be? The revolving door of elixir, engineered explosives, etc seemed troublesome.
Some sideboard cards I am definitely considering bringing include: Stony Silence and fulminators beyond that i'm not sure yet.
I dusted off my conscription deck from a year or so ago and hit a local store this past weekend for a 4 round modern tournament. Snagged some prize packs and some meta knowledge and am currently considering some changes/updates/sideboard options accordingly.
Round 1 (2-1) was against a white weenie type deck.
He was sporting a variety of white enchantment anthem effects and some odd yet unexpectedly powerful things like gideon's avenger . Game 1 got a bit out of control as I was trying to figure out what he was actually doing (while trying to draw some action) and the avengers alongside a buffed flier got through before i could assemble much. Game 2 i landed a turn 2 luminarch ascension and kept him at bay until it got online - then promptly made 4 tokens on his turn and ended that game quickly. Game 3 I drew pretty lively and got geist > sovereigns on curve for the win.
Round 2 (weird) Tezzeret control
I honestly had no clue what he was playing as he started dropping artifacts into play. I flooded like crazy, drawing 3 thalia's, a cobra, and 13 of my 23 lands - so he got to goldfish pretty freely. He had to bail after the first game so i got the win for the round but not the experience unfortunately.
Round 3 ( 2-1 ) Burn
The moment i saw the mountain i knew i was in trouble. I didn't have any maindeck lifegain and my early critters are really just speed bumps. Game 1 was over pretty quick as he burned his way through with creatures having their way with my life total. Game 2 and 3 on the other hand were a blast...for me at least. I boarded in my worships - then proceeded to stick a geist, drop to 1 life on his turn, and windmill (figuratively) slam the worship down on mine. That bought me the extra 2 turns to get to 6 mana and drop sovereigns for the lonely geist. Game 3 was, unfortunately for him, quite similar. He emptied his hand and grim lavamancer to drop me to 2 with worship on the stack - but with geist already waiting on board for it, sovereigns came shortly after.
Round 4 (technically 1-2) Merfolk
We split the packs and played for an extra pack between us and the experience. Game 1 I got stuck at 2 lands, (2 fetches in the bin) and 3 knights of the reliquary in hand. By the time i got my third land and dropped a knight it didn't really matter any more. Game 2 I brought the worships in again and stuck worship alongside my manadorks and cobra with my lifetotal sub 10. Sovereigns came down a turn or so later with conscription on a cobra. Game 3 I laid down an early Thalia to block the initial waves of blue men with her first-strike...but it came back to haunt me as my life total dipped and i stalled at 4 mana with 2 worships in hand With some better planning/foresight I'm pretty sure that should have ended differently.
Some thoughts I guess - feel free to throw input in.
Goyf felt odd most of the day. Several opponents were running maindeck relic of progenitus which kept both him and knights small. The knights allow for some land shenanigans with cobra, some ramp, and utility fetching so I can forgive them - but goyf. Unlike when I'm playing BGx, this deck contributes next to nothing to the yard for goyf. I think the biggest one i had all day was a 2/3. Perhaps he doesn't fit that well without my own supply of instants, sorceries, and kill spells? Would something else better contribute to the end goal?
I barely saw the cliques at all however the time or two i did, i sorta held them without a good time to play them - and when i was finally looking at my hand for an out or an option - they weren't a good one. Perhaps I just didn't see them enough and didn't play matches where they shine yet though I personally feel they are sorta flex spots for me currently.
Thassa, while never being active allows card selection before each of my draws...how i hate drawing conscription. and also allows geist and others to walk past a stalemate for cheap.
Courser also gives some card advantage in his own way. Helps keep draws live, can plan fetches around the top card a bit better, extra shot at lands for landfall off the top, and the incidental lifegain.
Beyond the decks listed above I spotted UWR, Grixis delver,infect, and affinity. Definitely open to suggestions on how to survive the meta, especially when it comes to sideboarding.
I am probably going to keep the worships in for now until people wise up and start hating it out hardcore but I'm very curious what i could do to not be so soft to all the aggression. I'm also planning on bringing some stony silences next time as well
Anyways, happy "Geist-ing" and thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Evening All, This is the same list i posted previously except for one less essence scatter and one more doom blade.
I finished top four with 4-1-1 as a record at tonight's FNM.
Round 1: 1-1-draw BUG merchant devotion
Game 1 I got an ashiok down and began stripping away his library. I hit 3 gray merchants in the first few activations which was great to not worry about anymore. I traded back and forth, removal for his demons and reapers. He managed to get 3 underworld connections rolling and dug himself down to 1 life. It was a long game but he finally drew a demon i couldnt answer and got there. My only creature the entire game was a lone lifebane zombie.
Game 2 I lead with a thoughtseize taking a whip, got ashiok online again early and had syncopate for his underworld. The game was another long one and i won on turns with an ashiok (who stole a gray merchant), a vraska, and 2 demons on the board. Didn't have time for game 3.
Round 2: 2-1 against golgari aggro
Game 1 i got stuck at 2 lands - what can ya do. Games 2 and 3 the deck handled well. He was playing some cheap GB creatures, agent of the fates, and pump spells trying to get in for lethal. It made my removal a lot easier 2 for 1's which didn't work in his favor.
Round 3: 2-0 against BW merchant devotion
Both games ended with me using ashiok to play one of her gray merchants to finish her off. It wasn't the most optimal BW deck. I feel like obzedat and blood baron (absent) would have caused bigger issues. That said, it had crypt ghast, whip, merchants, etc.
Round 4: 0-2 against RDW
I got run over by RDW. Game 1 he had a really slow start which i thought would work in my favor, though my hand consisted of 3 lifebanes and an essence scatter. I was lucky enough to snag a reckoner with a lifebane but the next two were blanks. He was able to kill them off with removal and draw a few guys. I flooded out and he got there over time. Game 2 I got stuck on lands and the reaper and jace in hand never got to see the light of day.
Round 5: 2-0 Azorius control
Game 1 was on the draw and had to mulligan to 5. I was able to get an ashiok on board and knock out a detention sphere right away. He wasnt able to get ashiok off the field which took his library apart down to the final 5 cards. He landed an aetherling to get the clock rolling and i landed my own. My removal spells in hand served as fogs for a turn or so until my aetherling got ahead and i managed to win the race.
Game 2 I baited out counters with some reapers and lifebanes. Followed up with a thoughtsieze then began sticking ashiok and vraska (to kill elspeth). Mistcutters took it from there.
Round 6 (top 8) 2-0 against RG devotion (monsters, nykthos, etc)
Game 1 lacked green mana for the reaper or vraska in hand to really gain control for the first many turns but an ashiok (which got an arbor colossus and put it into play) followed by another ashiok stabilized until i found green.
Game 2 he fumbled for red to cast the burning earths in hand. I was able to thoughtseize his sylvan turn 1 which slowed him down enough for me to get ashiok rolling again (to get a polukranos in play). Vraska took care of the walkers as they came down and my polukranos, reaper, and lifeban got in for damage.
Notes: Ashiok was awesome tonight. I was happy to not be playing gray merchants but i loved playing the opponents' and there were lots of them to be played. He also grabbed polukranos's and arbor colossus and nearly milled other opponents while exiling their answers. Even the times where he whiffed on creatures I was happy to watch detention spheres and garruks alike get exiled instead of be drawn into the opponent's hand.
I went 3-1 at tuesday night magic this past week. I beat monogreen devotion round 1, beat monoblack devotion round 2, lost to BWR midrange (yet again), and then beat the RG monsters deck the fourth round.
I went to 2 gameday events yesterday with mediocre results. But were pretty small given a memorial game day event a bit further away. That said, at the first store I went 1-1-1. Round 1 i went to turns against a RUG ramp deck in game 3. I think I could have finished it off with more time, but hard to say for sure. Round 2 i beat mono black devotion. The final round I lost to GW aggro/midrange (again)
At the second store I finished 2-1. My round 1 loss was to a RDW list. Game 1 was over in seconds. Game 2, being on the play helped, as did the side and I stabilized, landed a whip and got it. Game 3, I cast a cyclonic rift, 2 far//away (just for away), and a devour flesh. I got to 5 lands but none were green. I was stuck with an abrupt decay, 2 reapers, and a golgari charm in hand. That said, the golgari charm would have been a 3 for 1 and the reapers would have stabilized so this match just ended with some bad luck. Round 2 I beat an azorius enchant deck using ordeal of heliod, battlewise hoplite, sphere of safety and a variety of enchantment recursion/reuse. Game 1 she had bad luck with mana. Game 2 was super long with her hitting 60 life at one point but my early mistcutter hydra for 1 kept the nasty big battlewise in check for many many turns starting on turn 2. Eventually I started drawing into some removal and could take over.
Take the sideboard with a grain of salt. It changes every day almost depending on the store ( even changed between the morning and afternoon yesterday). The second store was heavy on hexproof/enchant decks and there was a mono U there as well - hence some of the choices.
Some thoughts:
I simply cannot beat that BWR list with whip, obzedat, and blood baron. i've also been struggling a lot with the monogreen devotion decks and similarly curved GW decks. RDW I havent been quite as scared of just because the creatures are smaller but the G, and GW lists have been too difficult to just play 1 for 1 with. Most of the time I'm seeing turn 1 elf/soldier from them, turn 2 fleecemane or witchstalker, turn 3 polukranos or smiter, etc. If i am lucky i got to kill something on turn 2 (unlikely), then on turn 3 i usually have to decide between going for their hand with lifebane or killing something with an edict or targeted effect. I'm generally still behind up to two creatures and they usually just keep coming ( what i would give for damnation).
The biggest issue I'm having ( as a by stander commented), is that while being fairly solid and having a lot of answers, the deck is REALLY "fair". It just wants to 1 for 1 and slooowly get ahead which is really hard to do when so many other decks are doing so many "unfair" things with landslide advantage. It's really difficult to ever really get ahead and nearly impossible to catch back up when behind.
I brought it on tuesday and used it in my green devotion match as well as the RG monsters match. Backed with lifebane and thoughtseize it was as close to a 2-3 for 1 as i could come up with to stay ahead. It effectively for 4 mana, removes a fatty from the opponent's board and gains a blocker on yours ( normally i can only play a blocker, or kill an attacker). Either that sticks, OR they dump the rest of their threats in hand to get it back which is also good for us while also giving us two more cards. I saw planewalkers, gods, and large creatures be discarded just to get their polukranos or ember swallower back more than once.
What's a good game plan against soul sisters (with martyr of sands)? I'm currently running 4C so i have access to a lot. This evening I used the following out of the board.
game 1 was honestly a lot closer than game 2. Game 2 i only saw an aven ( from sideboard cards) while he saw his boarded-in rest in peace and suppression field (really hosed me more than i expected).
any advice for this matchup? Any particularly effective answers to their deck that I'm likely not thinking of?
From playing both at different FNM's I just love the options that come with Knight. Even if he is stuck smaller, his ability to fetch manlands, vault of the archangel, ghost quarters, gavony township (build depending), bojuka bog, sejiri steppe and so on has always provided me more than the 5/5 body of doran. Even with deathrite, I 1, haven't found myself using him for ramp much beyond a time or two early on and 2, an active knight can bin 2 lands a turn which stays ahead of deathrite. One can also look at knight as a tool "tooo ramp" as he can keep fueling deathrite if needed. My personal experiences have just preferred the vast utility of Knight over doran even if he averages being a smaller body.
However, Doran does allow for some humorous interactions - my favorite being the nullification of cranial plating
I've felt like the conscription version has kept my interest more than any sort of tempo game simply because it has the normal beatdown option with geist, exalted triggers, and some evasion (elspeth jump, and angelic destiny if you run it) but also has a "surprise! I just stole the game" option in the form of sovereigns > conscription. I'm not sure the deck can play the "fair game" as well as the handful of other fair decks that are around so it needs another angle of attack. Living the dream results in a turn 3 sovereigns putting conscription on the snake which is a very nice thing to be able to threaten. Geist beats get there a large number of times especially alongside flying and/or sejiri steppe but the ability to rip a sovereigns and just nail the opponent even from a lame board state (such as a lone bird of paradise) at any point is great.
My biggest thing with the version is since we don't have mind sculptor like the versions of old, I'm still on the hunt for ways to streamline the deck and keep it consistent. I've been debating things like thassa, god of the sea even to just allow me to scry before my draw every turn to 1. get through the deck faster, 2. avoid drawing my conscriptions since i can't brainstorm them away, and 3. make any of my threats unblockable for 2 mana. I also like that she can be hit off collected company
shared animosity seems nuts on paper especially considering the overlap of elemental, elf, and of course shaman. there are a LOT of double buffs coming in...I didn't ever get the chance to make use of it last night. I didn't see it a ton with only one copy and when I did, rageforger was the priority. I definitely want to test this card more.
Round 1 0-2 loss against Wilted abzan.
G1 I bolted both of his early manadorks to keep the way clear for my burning tree and visionary while trying to keep him off of rhino and liege mana. I was able to play some other shamans - ire shaman and wolf-skull however That didn't play out and liege > lingering souls > smiter > rhino was a thing that I couldn't get past despite my large board. I was stuck at 2 lands the whole game ( the 2 in my opening hand) and never got to cast the two rage forgers in hand. He was super low on life, even with the rhino and a rage forger would have gotten it for me - but alas the lands.
G2 He played out a lot more like a normal abzan deck. I had to mulligan to 6 keeping burning trees and 2 drops which wasn't bad. That said, turn 1 thoughtseize made my turn 2 a little less stunning. Then path to exile on my wolf-skull, abrupt decay on my shared animosity, and double rhino put me in my place.
Round 2 2-1 win against RW Norin
G1 I mulled to 4 and was left with 3 lands and a spirit guide. I just played lands for a bit (6 to be exact) to see what he was doing since I hadn't played against it before.
G2 I had a strong start and an early reclamation sage on his impact tremors. Rage forger triggers did work.
G3 I had a similar start getting burning tree, wolf skull visionary, and reclamation sage onto the board killing his impact tremors again. then he surprised me with pyroclasm which I wasn't expecting given all of his own small creatures. He landed a spirit bonds and began churning out tokens while I tried to rebuild. He had enough blockers (2-3 a turn) to keep my handful of guys from getting through for normal damage but double rage forger was able to do enough direct damage to finish him off before his tokens could get me. Was a grindy/close one. The reach was the only way through!
Round 3 1-2 loss to RG(W) Zoo
G1 Made me want to throw up hah. Turn 1 goblin guide. Turn 2 burning tree > burning tree > burning tree > goblin guide. I lost that one lol.
G2 Turn 1 simian spirit guide > burning tree > experiment one > goblin guide. He had a fast start obviously but me being on the play and having a decent start of my own allowed me to trade with his guys, bolt the experiment and start rebuilding with a wolf skull shaman. I managed to get there as he ran out of gas.
G3 He got rolling with an experiment one > flinthoof boar. I had to mull to 5 and din't have any removal. None of my guys were big enough to profitably trade and rage forger ate a helix. The boar was eventually joined by a ghor clan and I just didn't have much game with so few resources to start the game.
Round 4 0-2 loss to Bogles
G1 I don't know what this specific list can even try to do against bogles short of race - which isn't the best plan considering the lifelink available to bogles. Game 1 was over super quick with his guys getting large, gaining first strike, and trample making my chump blockers irrelevant.
G2 I had to mulligan again and still ended up struggling to get to 3 lands. I was almost dead when I got to choose between casting rage forger to buff my guys big enough to actually block his favorably or casting blood moon to stop him from casting things while dropping to 4 life. I opted the rage forger route - however as he cast 3 more enchantments (only had 1 in hand, but drew consecutively off of spirit dancer) I clearly chose wrong. I should have played the moon, eaten the damage and then played rage forger. Oops :/
I definitely had fun with it but as I said before I stalled at 1 or 2 land a lot. I also spent most of my games mull'ing my cards away often times tossing a bad 7 card hand, to get a 6 card hand with no lands, to get a 5 card hand with one land. I'll definitely be trying to play a bit different of a list in the future!
round 1: W 2-0, monoblack vampires.
His pet deck versus mine I suppose. Game 1 I stuck a knight, protected it from murderous cut by fetching a sejiri steppe at the appropriate time, suited her up with destiny and kept her buffed with elspeth. Game 2 I mulled to 5 and kept Cavern of souls, 2 thalia, a bird, and a path to exile. I got a lucky top deck noble hierarch which allowed me to name humans and play out most of my hand. I eventually drew into more lands and stabilized at 3 life with elspeth and thrun.
round 2: L 1-2, affinity.
Game 1 he unloaded on me and the race began. I was able to suit up a 4/4 knight with destiny, with a noble on the field, and then stick an eslpeth. He left 1 ornithopter behind to block my knight - which I path'd. I was about to attack for exactly lethal with my flying knight, but he was able to galvanic blast my noble before combat and without the exalted trigger I was 1 damage short. I lost on the backswing. Game 2 I surprised the hell out of him with sovereigns into conscription on geist and took the game. Game 3 I mulled once and found no pressure. I was able to set up a fragile worship with a noble on the field. He didn't have an answer for it which kept me alive for a bit - however his 3 inkmoth nexi were met with only 2 path to exile from my side and I eventually died to poison. all in all I actually enjoyed the match a lot. I wish my stony silences had shown up
round 3: L 1-2 burn.
I stole game 1 with conscription on geist. I saw only worship from my sideboard games 2 and 3 ( spellskites, rhox war monks, etc all stayed hidden) and he was holding destructive revelry both games when i stuck worship. GG. I guess they are already prepared for leyline and I am playing right into their sideboard with worship. Might be better off just increasing the number of warmonks, firewalkers, auriok champions, or finks - than trying to hide behind worship anymore.
round 4: W 2-0 burn.
Game 1 he was sort of slow and I as able to beat him down with an angelic destiny-equipped bird of paradise while keeping the other guys back on defense alongside path. Game 2 I saw none of my sideboard. I found myself at 7 life with 4 creatures facing me but was able to sovereigns > conscription on geist to attack for above lethal with the angel token. He had to put his whole team on block duty to stay alive. with thalia on the field even with his draw he couldn't cast enough to finish me so geist got another swing.
All in all a fun day. Successfully avoided mana screw and the like and played a lot of "good" magic.
4x inquisition of kozilek
2x thoughtseize
3x path to exile
4x abrupt decay
4x lingering souls
2x maelstrom pulse
Creatures:
4x tarmogoyf
3x scavenging ooze
4x siege rhino
1x tasigur, the golden fang
1x Batterskull
Planeswalker:
3x Liliana of the veil
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Lands:
2x swamp
2x forest
1x plains
1x vault of the archangel
1x treetop village
2x stirring wildwood
1x urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
4x verdant catacombs
4x marsh flat
2x windswept heath
1x temple garden
1x godless shrine
2x overgrown tomb
1x Damnation
2x stony silence
2x creeping corrosion
2x darkblast
2x timely reinforcements
2x thrun, the last troll
1x golgari charm
2x spellskite
1x ratchet bomb
Last weekend more than half the decks present were aggressive so I tried to set my self up maindeck to have better chances game 1. I got some different pairings this week ( and some people changed decks ) so it may not have been ideal to focus in as much. I finished up the day 2-2.
Round 1: Grixis Delver, 1-2
Despite losing, this matchup was pretty fun. It was very interactive and there was a lot of push/pull and opportunities for comebacks. Game 1 I felt a bit behind the whole time trying to kill 1 thing a turn while he was playing more than 1 card a turn. That said I was able to stabilize at 1 life and then follow it up with a rhino to start crawling back out of burn range. I had a couple good draws with lingering souls and was able to take the game. Game 2 on the other hand, he stuck a turn 2 tasigur while I had no removal other than abrupt decay in hand. I took a lot from tasigur before I could get things on board - and I never did get rid of tasigur. Game 3 I had to mull to 5 but got lucky on my draws and was able to play some early disruption. I saw a tasigur, deprive, and batterskull in his hand - while I had path, maelstrom, and batterskull in mine. Things fell into place - I path'd his tasigur, maelstrom'd his batterskull, and was eager to play my own batterskull and try to take the game. Knowing he had deprive in hand I fed him a rhino (which he leaked...nice draw), then i fed him a sorin (which ate the deprive), and thinking I was finally clear I tried the batterskull - which got hit with yet another deprive (not snapcaster, mind you). He was able to take the game shortly after with a lot of bolts.
I had sided in 2x darkblasts and 1x goglari charm. If i recall, i pulled out my 2 thoughtseizes and an abrupt decay. I was able to save a goyf from a murderous cut once with charm. Though it was killed soon after by snappy > cut. I never saw a buildup of tokens for the -1-1 mode and the darkblasts only showed up once to kill a delver.
Round 2: Merfolk 2-0
Game 1 I saw all 4 abrupt decays and a liliana in the first few turns and he drew a surplus of lands and couldn't replenish the dead threats. Game 2 he got vial online but liliana and solid removal kept him from amassing much. He did manage to spreading seas all 3 of my lands - but i topdecked a plains which allowed me to start playing the lingering souls in hand to join my goyf on the field and close the game before much more happened.
I brought in the damnation, the ratchet bomb, and 2x timely reinforcements. The ratchet bomb was a sort of failsafe, colorless out to spreading seas (potentially) or a token killer. I didn't see it though so who knows. I had pulled out Tasigur, 2x thoughtseize, and 1x souls.
Round 3: Infect 2-1
He mulled super hard game 1 going to 4 cards. I had inquisitions and liliana in hand which made his 1 land, inkmoth hand fall apart pretty quickly. I had a lot of time to take over and it wasn't much of a game. Game 2 I got hit early for 2 poison but took control of the game. I recall having 1 souls, a goyf, and a rhino on board. He was low on life ( single digits ) So I got greedy and went to put him on a 2 turn clock leaving my stirring wildwood back to block whatever he did with his inkmoth on the rebound. I didn't expect the dismember
I had brought in 2x darkblast, 2x spellskite, and a golgari charm (I didn't see any of them game 2 or 3). And took out Sorin, batterskull, tasigur, and 2 x ooze.
Round 4: U Tron 1-2
I was pretty bummed when I got this pairing as "Tron" of any sort isn't a good matchup...and isn't one I've ever won even when prepared. That said, I hadn't seen any tron in the room last week so I was completely unprepared for it. I somehow managed to win game 1. I got some early pressure down and he didn't assemble tron. I had thoughtseized a myr battlesphere early on and he used kuldotha forgemaster to put a blightsteel colossus onto the field. Lucky for me I was waiting with a path to exile when he tried to equip it with lightning greaves. Both games 2 and 3 he had tron online by turn 4 and I was just straight outclassed. I got hit with an ugin once ( which I actually managed to kill when he dropped it to 3 to wipe my rhino and i returned fire with a wildwood) and then a wurmcoil into overloaded cyclonic rift. Game 3 I burnt my damnation to kill a kuldotha forgemaster to stop him from finding a threat before dropping a 6/7 goyf into play. I thought I might win the race until he used rite of replication to make 5 of his own goyfs which killed me next turn.
I made a futile effort siding in damnation, 2x creeping corrosion, 2x stony silence ( i only saw the damnation once in game 3) I pulled out Sorin, 2x abrupt decay, and 2x ooze.
In the end I think next week I'll keep the maindeck a bit more general and less anti-aggro oriented, and definitely change up the sideboard ( reaches for fulminator mages ).
I hadn't played BGx in a bit over a year and it felt a little less powerful overall to me than jund before. I suppose I was used to the extra cards/advantage flowing from dark confidant and/or courser of kruphix. Today I felt super fair to my opponents and VERY dependent on my draws. If i drew several cards correctly in a row things went well. There was zero room however for a small land pocket or a removal drought or any other variance. It definitely felt weird without the second/third chances at cards every turn. I was often in top deck mode and holding my breath each draw step with little to do if it was a land besides wait till next turn.
That said I received 4 packs and lucked out pulling an Ugin and a monastery mentor - so I can't complain and will be tinkering a bit with lists until next week.
I've seen lists with and without Bob - and the ones that do pull him out against aggression. I feel like in order to be prepared for the assault I'd be better off removing him from the start since he's probably going to come out most rounds anyways. Is this correct?
Similarly, the thoughtseize / IOK split. Most lists seem to be 3/3, but would i be better off starting with less thoughtseize, perhaps 2/4 ?
I feel like some number of Sorins should probably be main-board and that I would do well to join the 1 batterskull mainboard bandwagon as well.
Scavenging ooze has always been a weird card for me in BG ( was a much bigger fan of deathrite ). How do you usually play it against aggressive decks. Do you wait a few turns until it can eat something immediately as opposed to getting it down on curve when getting pummeled? I feel like i often hit panic mode and try to keep killing opposing creatures or putting blockers down.....which means ooze often comes down as a 2/2 speed bump that doesn't kill/survive what it got in the way of.
Tezzeret control is one I had never played against until last week - what would the Junk plan be? The revolving door of elixir, engineered explosives, etc seemed troublesome.
Some sideboard cards I am definitely considering bringing include: Stony Silence and fulminators beyond that i'm not sure yet.
Thoughts, opinions, advice very much welcome!
Maindeck was:
4 x noble hierarch
4 x tarmogoyf
3 x thalia, guardian of thraben
4 x lotus cobra
4 x knight of the reliquary
4 x geist of saint traft
2 x vendilion clique
4 x sovereigns of lost alara
2 x eldrazi conscription
4 x marsh flats
4 x verdant catacombs
1 x misty rainforest
1 x arid mesa
2 x temple garden
1 x hallowed fountain
2 x breeding pool
1 x gavony township
1 x sejiri steppe
3 x forest
2 x plains
1 x island
3 x worship
2 x Thrun
2 x Jace, architect of thought
2 x seal of primordium
2 x luminarch ascension
2 x mirran crusader
2 x rhox war monk
Round 1 (2-1) was against a white weenie type deck.
He was sporting a variety of white enchantment anthem effects and some odd yet unexpectedly powerful things like gideon's avenger . Game 1 got a bit out of control as I was trying to figure out what he was actually doing (while trying to draw some action) and the avengers alongside a buffed flier got through before i could assemble much. Game 2 i landed a turn 2 luminarch ascension and kept him at bay until it got online - then promptly made 4 tokens on his turn and ended that game quickly. Game 3 I drew pretty lively and got geist > sovereigns on curve for the win.
Round 2 (weird) Tezzeret control
I honestly had no clue what he was playing as he started dropping artifacts into play. I flooded like crazy, drawing 3 thalia's, a cobra, and 13 of my 23 lands - so he got to goldfish pretty freely. He had to bail after the first game so i got the win for the round but not the experience unfortunately.
Round 3 ( 2-1 ) Burn
The moment i saw the mountain i knew i was in trouble. I didn't have any maindeck lifegain and my early critters are really just speed bumps. Game 1 was over pretty quick as he burned his way through with creatures having their way with my life total. Game 2 and 3 on the other hand were a blast...for me at least. I boarded in my worships - then proceeded to stick a geist, drop to 1 life on his turn, and windmill (figuratively) slam the worship down on mine. That bought me the extra 2 turns to get to 6 mana and drop sovereigns for the lonely geist. Game 3 was, unfortunately for him, quite similar. He emptied his hand and grim lavamancer to drop me to 2 with worship on the stack - but with geist already waiting on board for it, sovereigns came shortly after.
Round 4 (technically 1-2) Merfolk
We split the packs and played for an extra pack between us and the experience. Game 1 I got stuck at 2 lands, (2 fetches in the bin) and 3 knights of the reliquary in hand. By the time i got my third land and dropped a knight it didn't really matter any more. Game 2 I brought the worships in again and stuck worship alongside my manadorks and cobra with my lifetotal sub 10. Sovereigns came down a turn or so later with conscription on a cobra. Game 3 I laid down an early Thalia to block the initial waves of blue men with her first-strike...but it came back to haunt me as my life total dipped and i stalled at 4 mana with 2 worships in hand
Some thoughts I guess - feel free to throw input in.
Goyf felt odd most of the day. Several opponents were running maindeck relic of progenitus which kept both him and knights small. The knights allow for some land shenanigans with cobra, some ramp, and utility fetching so I can forgive them - but goyf. Unlike when I'm playing BGx, this deck contributes next to nothing to the yard for goyf. I think the biggest one i had all day was a 2/3. Perhaps he doesn't fit that well without my own supply of instants, sorceries, and kill spells? Would something else better contribute to the end goal?
I barely saw the cliques at all however the time or two i did, i sorta held them without a good time to play them - and when i was finally looking at my hand for an out or an option - they weren't a good one. Perhaps I just didn't see them enough and didn't play matches where they shine yet though I personally feel they are sorta flex spots for me currently.
Some cards I've been considering:
Thassa, god of the sea
Courser of kruphix
Thassa, while never being active allows card selection before each of my draws...how i hate drawing conscription. and also allows geist and others to walk past a stalemate for cheap.
Courser also gives some card advantage in his own way. Helps keep draws live, can plan fetches around the top card a bit better, extra shot at lands for landfall off the top, and the incidental lifegain.
Beyond the decks listed above I spotted UWR, Grixis delver,infect, and affinity. Definitely open to suggestions on how to survive the meta, especially when it comes to sideboarding.
I am probably going to keep the worships in for now until people wise up and start hating it out hardcore but I'm very curious what i could do to not be so soft to all the aggression. I'm also planning on bringing some stony silences next time as well
Anyways, happy "Geist-ing" and thanks in advance for any suggestions!
2 essence scatter
1 doom blade
1 cyclonic rift
2 abrupt decay
2 syncopate
2 hero's downfall
2 putrefy
2 far//away
4 reaper of the wilds
2 desecration demon
1 aetherling
3 ashiok, nightmare weaver
3 jace, architect of thought
1 vraska the unseen
1 whip of erebos
4 watery grave
4 breeding pool
4 temple of deceit
3 temple of mystery
1 golgari guildgate
4 swamp
1 island
Evening All, This is the same list i posted previously except for one less essence scatter and one more doom blade.
I finished top four with 4-1-1 as a record at tonight's FNM.
Round 1: 1-1-draw BUG merchant devotion
Game 1 I got an ashiok down and began stripping away his library. I hit 3 gray merchants in the first few activations which was great to not worry about anymore. I traded back and forth, removal for his demons and reapers. He managed to get 3 underworld connections rolling and dug himself down to 1 life. It was a long game but he finally drew a demon i couldnt answer and got there. My only creature the entire game was a lone lifebane zombie.
Game 2 I lead with a thoughtseize taking a whip, got ashiok online again early and had syncopate for his underworld. The game was another long one and i won on turns with an ashiok (who stole a gray merchant), a vraska, and 2 demons on the board. Didn't have time for game 3.
Round 2: 2-1 against golgari aggro
Game 1 i got stuck at 2 lands - what can ya do. Games 2 and 3 the deck handled well. He was playing some cheap GB creatures, agent of the fates, and pump spells trying to get in for lethal. It made my removal a lot easier 2 for 1's which didn't work in his favor.
Round 3: 2-0 against BW merchant devotion
Both games ended with me using ashiok to play one of her gray merchants to finish her off. It wasn't the most optimal BW deck. I feel like obzedat and blood baron (absent) would have caused bigger issues. That said, it had crypt ghast, whip, merchants, etc.
Round 4: 0-2 against RDW
I got run over by RDW. Game 1 he had a really slow start which i thought would work in my favor, though my hand consisted of 3 lifebanes and an essence scatter. I was lucky enough to snag a reckoner with a lifebane but the next two were blanks. He was able to kill them off with removal and draw a few guys. I flooded out and he got there over time. Game 2 I got stuck on lands and the reaper and jace in hand never got to see the light of day.
Round 5: 2-0 Azorius control
Game 1 was on the draw and had to mulligan to 5. I was able to get an ashiok on board and knock out a detention sphere right away. He wasnt able to get ashiok off the field which took his library apart down to the final 5 cards. He landed an aetherling to get the clock rolling and i landed my own. My removal spells in hand served as fogs for a turn or so until my aetherling got ahead and i managed to win the race.
Game 2 I baited out counters with some reapers and lifebanes. Followed up with a thoughtsieze then began sticking ashiok and vraska (to kill elspeth). Mistcutters took it from there.
Round 6 (top 8) 2-0 against RG devotion (monsters, nykthos, etc)
Game 1 lacked green mana for the reaper or vraska in hand to really gain control for the first many turns but an ashiok (which got an arbor colossus and put it into play) followed by another ashiok stabilized until i found green.
Game 2 he fumbled for red to cast the burning earths in hand. I was able to thoughtseize his sylvan turn 1 which slowed him down enough for me to get ashiok rolling again (to get a polukranos in play). Vraska took care of the walkers as they came down and my polukranos, reaper, and lifeban got in for damage.
Notes: Ashiok was awesome tonight. I was happy to not be playing gray merchants but i loved playing the opponents' and there were lots of them to be played. He also grabbed polukranos's and arbor colossus and nearly milled other opponents while exiling their answers. Even the times where he whiffed on creatures I was happy to watch detention spheres and garruks alike get exiled instead of be drawn into the opponent's hand.
3 essence scatter
1 cyclonic rift
2 abrupt decay
2 syncopate
2 hero's downfall
2 putrefy
2 far//away
4 reaper of the wilds
2 desecration demon
1 aetherling
3 ashiok, nightmare weaver
3 jace, architect of thought
1 vraska the unseen
1 whip of erebos
4 watery grave
4 breeding pool
4 temple of deceit
3 temple of mystery
1 golgari guildgate
4 swamp
1 island
3 mistcutter hydra
2 frilled oculus
2 golgari charm
2 gaze of granite
1 jace, memory adept
1 vraska the unseen
1 primeval bounty
1 erebos, god of the dead
2 devour flesh
I went 3-1 at tuesday night magic this past week. I beat monogreen devotion round 1, beat monoblack devotion round 2, lost to BWR midrange (yet again), and then beat the RG monsters deck the fourth round.
I went to 2 gameday events yesterday with mediocre results. But were pretty small given a memorial game day event a bit further away. That said, at the first store I went 1-1-1. Round 1 i went to turns against a RUG ramp deck in game 3. I think I could have finished it off with more time, but hard to say for sure. Round 2 i beat mono black devotion. The final round I lost to GW aggro/midrange (again)
At the second store I finished 2-1. My round 1 loss was to a RDW list. Game 1 was over in seconds. Game 2, being on the play helped, as did the side and I stabilized, landed a whip and got it. Game 3, I cast a cyclonic rift, 2 far//away (just for away), and a devour flesh. I got to 5 lands but none were green. I was stuck with an abrupt decay, 2 reapers, and a golgari charm in hand. That said, the golgari charm would have been a 3 for 1 and the reapers would have stabilized so this match just ended with some bad luck. Round 2 I beat an azorius enchant deck using ordeal of heliod, battlewise hoplite, sphere of safety and a variety of enchantment recursion/reuse. Game 1 she had bad luck with mana. Game 2 was super long with her hitting 60 life at one point but my early mistcutter hydra for 1 kept the nasty big battlewise in check for many many turns starting on turn 2. Eventually I started drawing into some removal and could take over.
Take the sideboard with a grain of salt. It changes every day almost depending on the store ( even changed between the morning and afternoon yesterday). The second store was heavy on hexproof/enchant decks and there was a mono U there as well - hence some of the choices.
Some thoughts:
I simply cannot beat that BWR list with whip, obzedat, and blood baron. i've also been struggling a lot with the monogreen devotion decks and similarly curved GW decks. RDW I havent been quite as scared of just because the creatures are smaller but the G, and GW lists have been too difficult to just play 1 for 1 with. Most of the time I'm seeing turn 1 elf/soldier from them, turn 2 fleecemane or witchstalker, turn 3 polukranos or smiter, etc. If i am lucky i got to kill something on turn 2 (unlikely), then on turn 3 i usually have to decide between going for their hand with lifebane or killing something with an edict or targeted effect. I'm generally still behind up to two creatures and they usually just keep coming ( what i would give for damnation).
The biggest issue I'm having ( as a by stander commented), is that while being fairly solid and having a lot of answers, the deck is REALLY "fair". It just wants to 1 for 1 and slooowly get ahead which is really hard to do when so many other decks are doing so many "unfair" things with landslide advantage. It's really difficult to ever really get ahead and nearly impossible to catch back up when behind.
Random sideboard card of the week : Soul Ransom
I brought it on tuesday and used it in my green devotion match as well as the RG monsters match. Backed with lifebane and thoughtseize it was as close to a 2-3 for 1 as i could come up with to stay ahead. It effectively for 4 mana, removes a fatty from the opponent's board and gains a blocker on yours ( normally i can only play a blocker, or kill an attacker). Either that sticks, OR they dump the rest of their threats in hand to get it back which is also good for us while also giving us two more cards. I saw planewalkers, gods, and large creatures be discarded just to get their polukranos or ember swallower back more than once.
game 1 was honestly a lot closer than game 2. Game 2 i only saw an aven ( from sideboard cards) while he saw his boarded-in rest in peace and suppression field (really hosed me more than i expected).
any advice for this matchup? Any particularly effective answers to their deck that I'm likely not thinking of?
thanks!
However, Doran does allow for some humorous interactions - my favorite being the nullification of cranial plating