MTGO League Result 3-2 I tried a revised deck in league and beat Jeskai Saheeli, Bant Eldrazi & Grixis Death Shadow. Lost to Grixis Death Shadow and Counters Company. The deck:
Match 1 - LOSS (1-2) to Counters Company. Game 1, I was overwhelmed by multiple CoCo's. Dn't remember all Sideboarding, but did bring in Cage, Wrath, Worship, Surgical, and Flaying Tendrils. Game 2, Flaying Tendrils was key to wipe his board and I beat for win. Game 3 really close. Got his life to 1, but he Chorded for Fiend to exile my TKS and got a CoCo with extra card. His CoCo brought in Duskwatch Recruiter and Qasali which blew up by Sculler and returned another CoCo to him; so I scooped.
Match 2 - WIN (2-0) to Bant Eldrazi. Strangler was the card that processed each game to exile an Eldrazi from Sculler and kill a Displacer. Game 2 was a top deck war, but Mutavault shone as the extra attacker to the win. Don't remember sideboarding as I didn't take notes.
Match 3 - WIN vs Jeskai Saheeli (2-0). Game 1 Relic was the star to prevent any graveyard shenanigans. Game 2 Souls got me there. He played a Leyline of Sanctity, but I didn't draw the hate for it, but no matter. Sideboarding: + Cage, +2 Disenchant, + Worship, + 2 Blessed Alliance. - 2 Strangler, - 3 Relic, -1 Ratchet Bomb. Not sure if I boarded correctly. Let me know what you would have done.
Match 4 - LOSS to Grixis Death Shadow (1-2). Game 1 was smooth for him as I flooded and he went to plan. Game 2, went T3 TKS into T4 Smasher and he was short on creatures and removal. Game 3 was brutal for me. I mulled to 5 (no lander; then 1 mutavault), but had good cards on the 5 plus the draw. He went T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Collected Brutality, then eventually Kolaghan's Command, Snapcaster Kolaghan's Command to wreck everything. Wasnt pretty. Sideboarding: +Cage, 2 Blessed Alliance, 1 Worship, 1 Surgical; -1 Herder, -2 Sculler, -2 Matter Reshaper.
Match 5 - WIN(2-1) vs GDS. Game 1 was easy for him as I was stuck on 2 lands. Game 2 had 2 Temples and 2 TKS dealt so was T2 T3 TKS. Easy win. Game 3 went long. Top decked multiple Souls to hold off an early Tasiger. Survived late game activations with careful and lucky picking. Eventually got there with a top decked Path to remove a newly played 8/8 Shadow which let me attack with more fliers for the eventual win.
All-in-all liking the deck, but not sure about the Lands. 2 Mutavaults seem right as does 1 Ghost Quarter since I play Fulminator Mages in the side. I am torn between another Shambling Vent in place of either Wastes or Vault. I like the toobox approach tot he lands when they are out. So far, I also like the 2-of with Sculler and Matter Reshaper - I always like getting a card either in Reshaper dies. In fact it was the blocking of Reshaper that gave me the Path in last game of last match for the win. Finally, I am mixed about sideboard. Not sure to put in more cards to help unfavorable matches or go for cards that make close matches more winnable. For example the 3 Fulminators.....
Thank you for the tournament report! I'm hearing more and more people who split between Tidehollow and Matter Reshaper. Maybe I'm also going to give that a try. The only thing that, without having played it, I like less about it is that I lose potential turn 2 plays with this change.
Thoughts on this?
I do feel our curve isn't as sweet when not playing 4 Scullers, but after playing a league with no scullers, I really overall wasn't missing. We have plenty of hand disruption, removal or relics to keep us busy on first 2 turns. I am cheating by playing 2, so far ok. I am almost never sad to see a reshaper, since it replaces itself.
MTGO League Result 2-3 Not greatest results. Lost to Affinity twice (never saw sideboard cards, but lost in 3 games each match); Lost to Burn in 3 games, and beat Burn (2-0) and GW Elves (2-0). Deck as above.
Ran a pretty stock list all of Vegas did great in side events got my byes. Went to Main event lost twice to the mirror, once to mono- green tron (known bad match) and never drew 3rd land Game 1 and no threats game 3 vs living end. Breast 2 grixis and 1 jund death's shadow. Went back to my death and taxes lists since then. Rebooted eldrazi today for fnm and went 3-0-1 beating burn, abzan company and amulet titan and splitting the last round. I did cut 2 strangler from the main, adding 1 to the side and subsequently cutting 2 relics from main and adding to side, since strangler is hit or miss. Adding things like Gideon main son've its good and gives occasional free wins versus fringe decks like ad nauseum and mill. Sideboard like usual is meta dependant, IE double mindcensor due to a lot of titan decks locally. I know how good cards like strangler can be since I have run many variants in the past but currently I find outta greasy or just bad which outs went I trimmed. Also the two blessed alliance in side were supposed to be Kambal but of a only had one which was an experiment regardless but was great against burn.
- not saying by any means that this is the best or most tuned list, and yes I know how good strangler can be against suspended cards, just wanted to share a list that felt powerful in my meta, and may help someone in a similar meta, and open up conversation to anyone who may have constructive criticism.
@ HugeElfBoy: What decks did the 2 Eldrazi Displayer perform best against?
it's just a solid creature imo, saves creatures, blanks attacks, nice synergy with strangler thought-knot and sculler. Maybe it holds a special place to me from all the death as taxes brews but i was never disappointed to see it.
Hey guys, this is my first post on MTG Salvation and I still have to figure some things out. I've been interested in this deck since it won GP Kobe and put together my version 1.0. I ran it into a Competitive League and 5-0'd it right away. Below is the list:
Matchups were: Counters Company, Titanshift (both close ones), Affinity and 2x Boros Burn (which got wrecked pretty hard)
Unusual in my list is probably the 4 Cavern of Souls and the 2 Eldrazi Displacer. Cavern wasn't that relevant, but against Counter decks, it was obviously amazing. It also fixes for Displacer and Strangler. I didn't drew Displacer that often, but when I did, I was always happy to see it. There aren't many flicker shenanigans like in D&T but flickering opposing tokens, blockers and attackers makes it a very good early and late game threat (something the deck lacks) and I will definitely keep it in.
The card I didn't like was 4 Relic of Progenitus. Oftentimes (against the fast decks) I didn't even get to play it and when I did, it didn't do much more than cycle. Additionally, I was getting the Strangler Benefit even without it. Also, sacrificing 6 Main and Sideboard slots for Graveyard hate seems a bit too much. I decided to cut them down to 2 pieces and put in the 4th Smasher and the Brutality from the Sideboard.
I went to another league and 3-2ed. The deck felt better and I feel like this could have been another 5-0. I've beaten Death's Shadow (no chance for them, even though they had really good hands), Jeskai Nahiri (Caverns), and Kiln Fiend Aggro (Seems like the best matchup ever). I've lost to Fairies (felt like a good matchup. I flooded in Game 1 and especially in Game 2. In Game 3 I mulliganed to 5) and Eldrazi Tron (Match was over in 4 Minutes as i mulliganed twice to 5 with 0 and 1 landers).
The one thing I didn't like about my list at all is the potential to flood and not having anything to do with my mana. I think I have to change my land selection a bit. Maybe 2 Mutavault/Shambling vent and 2Ghost Quarter/Sea Gate Wreckage? What would you guys suggest?
I will for sure continue running the list and tune it. I also wanna try out the Matter Reshaper version, even though I really like Tidehollow Sculler in the build.
Do you have any suggestions or questions, please write them down:)
Simple question: how do we beat storm? That deck has been running me over online.
Having mainboard 12-14 Discard Spells certainly helps. We also should have enough recources to kill their 2-drops, + we have mainboard graveyard hate. I think we're fine against Storm.
If the meta is burn/storm heavy, like HugeElfBoy said, Kambal is a valid Sideboard card. Maybe even Thalia.
For the additional land I've cut the Dismember which wasn't really good the past leagues.
I've only lost to UW/Control and Living End (No Graveyard hate drawn and Mana Screw). Beating Affinity twice, Burn, Mill, Jund DS, Grixis DS, Titanshift and U/R Storm.
This feels much closer to the ideal Mana Base to me than before. I'm thinking about exchanging the SGW for another Mutavault, they were great. I didn't miss the Caverns too much, though I would have liked some more copies against U/W obviously.
Thanks for the write ups Reymon27 and congrats on the consistent results. Could you give some ideas about your sideboarding? I am also interested about how you feel using Gideon. I tried him before and felt he was best against fair decks which are already favorable matches for us. What matchups do you bring Kalitas in for?
Has anyone tested out sorin solemn visitor some more? Or is he just situational because his +1 relies for you to have a solid board state? Is this why I see gideon popping up on lists instead?
Thanks for the write ups Reymon27 and congrats on the consistent results. Could you give some ideas about your sideboarding? I am also interested about how you feel using Gideon. I tried him before and felt he was best against fair decks which are already favorable matches for us. What matchups do you bring Kalitas in for?
Thanks Jim, at the moment, I am switching my sideboard almost every league as I want to try out what is best. I've just scored my second 5-0 league a few hours ago with the following sideboard: 1 Fragmentize (Cheap and kills almost every artifact and enchantment) 2 Knight of Glory (Obviously great vs. DS and pushes the matchup to "very favorable", I also brought it in against Burn and Dredge as it is better than some mainboard cards) 2 Rest in Peace (Graveyard hate number 3 and 4, this is definitely enough, I don't miss having 4 Relics, I usually take out 1-2 Lingering Souls if I bring this in except vs. DS) 2 Stony Silence (Another two "oops I win" cards against Affinity. It is especially strong in this build as they can't really win against us, even if they have the "Signal Pest" draw, as we have lingering souls and much single spot removal. Also good against the Tron decks. I also brought it in against D&T that played Smuggler's Copter and Aether Vial) 2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (I brought it in against blue control decks and regular Jund but I am not convinced yet that he is really needed. It's true that he is best against fair decks. Except U/W control I already feel good about these matchups. In the next league I will maybe try Sorin (Thanks laoshun, Sorin looks great, especially with Lingering Souls!) or Gideon of the Trials) 2 Surgical Extraction (I will also definitely keep this slot, card is great with all the discard against combo decks and graveyard interactive decks. If I can I also just use it as a second discard spell in Turn 1 if they hold a second copy of a card in hand.) 1 Fatal Push (3 in the Mainboard is to much, as it doesn't kill everything and we have a hard time turning the revolt on. So the 3rd one is in the side. Comes in against cheap creature decks.) 1 Collective Brutality (2 in the main, now another one in the side. Just to push the Counters Company matchup and wreck Burn some more.) 2 Flaying Tendrils (First time trying this out and I'll keep it. I've had trouble against go wide strategies and this is the answer. The last league, it was great against Mono White D&T, Tooth and Nail (Killing 2-3 dorks every time) and Merfolk (as we have the tools to keep the lords under control.)
I'm definitely sketchy about Gideon and will try out different walkers in his place. I've decided to cut the one Kalitas. GP Kobe winner had 3 in his side and it was kind of a Sideboard plan against all creature/grindy matchups. He took out Reality Smashers for them and played the long game. I think with only 1 copy in my Side, this strategy isn't very viable and it doesn't impact too much. I would bring it in against almost every creature deck and matchups where the grave hate is viable. Burn, Affinity, Death Shadow, Dredge, Death and Taxes etc.
Deck feels really good right now. The meta seems perfect for it. I've played against almost everything and the win rate lies at 84% at the moment.
Thanks Jim, at the moment, I am switching my sideboard almost every league as I want to try out what is best. I've just scored my second 5-0 league a few hours ago with the following sideboard:
Thanks for the write-up and glad to see the results. I am still getting used to playing midrange after a very long spell playing aggro decks. Some reflections.... I used Fragmentize but ultimately shifted over to Disenchant because I was seeing a lot of Chalice of the Void and wanted to keep out of the 1-drop slot while also gaining instant speed. Not seeing Chalice so much anymore, but not sure if the mana trade-off is worth it. I tried Gideon, Sorin, Kalitas and ultimately abandoned for reasons set out earlier. But Sorin was the best of them for me. Seemed more controlish which ultimately was where I didn't want to be. Otherwise I agree with all your other choices, though I have been trying out Worship. Still more testing to see if its worth it. Finally, toying with idea of Auriok Champion in pace of Knight of Glory as get benefit against red decks too and some lifegain.
Thanks for the write-up and glad to see the results. I am still getting used to playing midrange after a very long spell playing aggro decks. Some reflections.... I used Fragmentize but ultimately shifted over to Disenchant because I was seeing a lot of Chalice of the Void and wanted to keep out of the 1-drop slot while also gaining instant speed. Not seeing Chalice so much anymore, but not sure if the mana trade-off is worth it. I tried Gideon, Sorin, Kalitas and ultimately abandoned for reasons set out earlier. But Sorin was the best of them for me. Seemed more controlish which ultimately was where I didn't want to be. Otherwise I agree with all your other choices, though I have been trying out Worship. Still more testing to see if its worth it. Finally, toying with idea of Auriok Champion in pace of Knight of Glory as get benefit against red decks too and some lifegain.
I've only played Merfolk and Bant Eldrazi before, so I am not very experienced either. Practice makes perfect;) Of course Disenchant is better against Chalice. But in the last 30 matches, I've seen 1 Chalice on 1 resolved against me, and I won anyways. I really like the mana efficiency of Fragmentize, I guess you can choose either one. I've played one league (3-2, losing to UW Control and 8 Rack, which seems unwinnable) with Sorin in the SB but I never drew it when I've brought it in. So I will do another one with him. He would have been good topdecks against Burn and Affinity though.
I've played a copy of Worship in Bant Eldrazi, it was really good there. Here I am not 100% sure if the creature count is high enough and against what I want to bring it in. It doesn't really make our bad matchups better so I think I'll pass.
Auriok Champion is sweet but not reliably castable on turn 2, not in a "3-colored" deck without fetching. And if we can cast it we probably have to shock or pain ourselves and that isn't worth it. Against DS it isn't a fast clock like Knight, so I can't imagine he's very good. Do you have some experience with it?
I run one copy of Sin Collector against Burn and any kind of combo and am really liking it.
Sin Collector is like a worse Thought-Knot Seer against those decks, so it does its job. I don't like it that much against Burn. I feel like you win the game against Burn if you can curve out really well. Ideally Turn 1 discard / removal, turn 2 collective Brutality / Tidehollow, turn 3 Thought knot / wasteland strangler -3/-3 their eidolon. I don't like that it competes against Thought-Knot Seer for the 3 CMC slot. On the draw it gets even worse. If you want to beat burn, just play 1 more Collective Brutality in the Sideboard, the more the better. I've yet to lose to Burn (standing 4-0 in matches). Against combo I like it, but I bring in Collective Brutality against those as well. Against Counters Company it is even better than Sin Sollector.
I think Sin Collector belongs to Company decks, but that's just my opinion:)
I'm running Sorin right now to test him. I don't have enough experience to say how good it is.
If you're playing the 4 mainboard Relic's and maybe even some copies of Rest in Peace in the sideboard, I think you're in a good position (favored/like 55-60 percent I guess). Discard is only good to get their cascade effects, otherwise it's weak. I've played against it once the last 30 online matches and got crushed 0-2. But firstly, I play 2 relics mainboard, and I kept a very bad Game 1 hand against them (no Relics, 2 Fatal pushes, no discard) and in Game 2 I mulled to 5 until I had a good interactive hand and got mana screwed, they finished me with fulminator mages.
That's something I wanted to mention, I think we can be mana disrupted pretty easily. U/W control basically locked me out of the game with 1 Ghost Quarter and 2 Spreading Seas each game. I am not a fan of one Wastes though as it uses another slot we could use for Mutavaults.
Thanks Reymon. Can you elaborate on when you find Displacer useful and what it does for you? I've tried the card in a few leagues but I always seem to have better uses for that three mana, i.e. developing my own board or disrupting my opponent. Unless it's a really grindy game I don't seem to use the blink much.
Also, is two Relic enough to support your Stranglers?
I would say anyone using Disenchant in the side should try Fragmentize. I've never ran into an artifact or enchantment where the CMC restriction was an issue (fully realizing I just jinxed myself).
Thanks,
Jed
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3 Concealed Courtyard
1 Godless Shrine
2 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Mutavault
1 Marsh Flats
1 Shambling Vent
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Wastes
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Matter Reshaper
4 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Reality Smasher
1 Blight Herder
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
1 Collective Brutality
4 Lingering Souls
4 Relic of Progenitus
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Stony Silence
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Worship
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Wrath of God
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Flaying Tendrils
Match 1 - LOSS (1-2) to Counters Company. Game 1, I was overwhelmed by multiple CoCo's. Dn't remember all Sideboarding, but did bring in Cage, Wrath, Worship, Surgical, and Flaying Tendrils. Game 2, Flaying Tendrils was key to wipe his board and I beat for win. Game 3 really close. Got his life to 1, but he Chorded for Fiend to exile my TKS and got a CoCo with extra card. His CoCo brought in Duskwatch Recruiter and Qasali which blew up by Sculler and returned another CoCo to him; so I scooped.
Match 2 - WIN (2-0) to Bant Eldrazi. Strangler was the card that processed each game to exile an Eldrazi from Sculler and kill a Displacer. Game 2 was a top deck war, but Mutavault shone as the extra attacker to the win. Don't remember sideboarding as I didn't take notes.
Match 3 - WIN vs Jeskai Saheeli (2-0). Game 1 Relic was the star to prevent any graveyard shenanigans. Game 2 Souls got me there. He played a Leyline of Sanctity, but I didn't draw the hate for it, but no matter. Sideboarding: + Cage, +2 Disenchant, + Worship, + 2 Blessed Alliance. - 2 Strangler, - 3 Relic, -1 Ratchet Bomb. Not sure if I boarded correctly. Let me know what you would have done.
Match 4 - LOSS to Grixis Death Shadow (1-2). Game 1 was smooth for him as I flooded and he went to plan. Game 2, went T3 TKS into T4 Smasher and he was short on creatures and removal. Game 3 was brutal for me. I mulled to 5 (no lander; then 1 mutavault), but had good cards on the 5 plus the draw. He went T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Collected Brutality, then eventually Kolaghan's Command, Snapcaster Kolaghan's Command to wreck everything. Wasnt pretty. Sideboarding: +Cage, 2 Blessed Alliance, 1 Worship, 1 Surgical; -1 Herder, -2 Sculler, -2 Matter Reshaper.
Match 5 - WIN(2-1) vs GDS. Game 1 was easy for him as I was stuck on 2 lands. Game 2 had 2 Temples and 2 TKS dealt so was T2 T3 TKS. Easy win. Game 3 went long. Top decked multiple Souls to hold off an early Tasiger. Survived late game activations with careful and lucky picking. Eventually got there with a top decked Path to remove a newly played 8/8 Shadow which let me attack with more fliers for the eventual win.
All-in-all liking the deck, but not sure about the Lands. 2 Mutavaults seem right as does 1 Ghost Quarter since I play Fulminator Mages in the side. I am torn between another Shambling Vent in place of either Wastes or Vault. I like the toobox approach tot he lands when they are out. So far, I also like the 2-of with Sculler and Matter Reshaper - I always like getting a card either in Reshaper dies. In fact it was the blocking of Reshaper that gave me the Path in last game of last match for the win. Finally, I am mixed about sideboard. Not sure to put in more cards to help unfavorable matches or go for cards that make close matches more winnable. For example the 3 Fulminators.....
Welcome comments and suggestions
I do feel our curve isn't as sweet when not playing 4 Scullers, but after playing a league with no scullers, I really overall wasn't missing. We have plenty of hand disruption, removal or relics to keep us busy on first 2 turns. I am cheating by playing 2, so far ok. I am almost never sad to see a reshaper, since it replaces itself.
4 tidehollow sculler
2 eldrazi displacer
2 wasteland strangler
4 thought-knot seer
4 reality smasher
Spells 20
4 inquisition of kozilek
2 thoughtseize
4 path to exile
2 fatal push
2 relic of progenitus
4 lingering souls
2 Gideon of the trials
4 caves of koilos
4 eldrazi temple
4 concealed courtyard
2 shambling vent
2 fetid heath
1 vault of the archangel
1 cavern of souls
3 plains
3 swamp
2 relic of progenitus
1 wasteland strangler
2 stony silence
2 Liliana, the last hope
2 fragmentize
1 kambal, consul of allocation
1 damnation
2 blessed alliance
2 aven mindcensor
- not saying by any means that this is the best or most tuned list, and yes I know how good strangler can be against suspended cards, just wanted to share a list that felt powerful in my meta, and may help someone in a similar meta, and open up conversation to anyone who may have constructive criticism.
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Wasteland Strangler
2 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Reality Smasher
Spells 20
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Relic of Progenitus
1 Collective Brutality
4 Lingering Souls
1 Dismember
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Fetid Heath
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
3 Swamp
1 Disenchant
2 Knight of Glory
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Cast Out
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Fatal Push
1 Collective Brutality
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Geth
2 Fulminator Mage
Matchups were: Counters Company, Titanshift (both close ones), Affinity and 2x Boros Burn (which got wrecked pretty hard)
Unusual in my list is probably the 4 Cavern of Souls and the 2 Eldrazi Displacer. Cavern wasn't that relevant, but against Counter decks, it was obviously amazing. It also fixes for Displacer and Strangler. I didn't drew Displacer that often, but when I did, I was always happy to see it. There aren't many flicker shenanigans like in D&T but flickering opposing tokens, blockers and attackers makes it a very good early and late game threat (something the deck lacks) and I will definitely keep it in.
The card I didn't like was 4 Relic of Progenitus. Oftentimes (against the fast decks) I didn't even get to play it and when I did, it didn't do much more than cycle. Additionally, I was getting the Strangler Benefit even without it. Also, sacrificing 6 Main and Sideboard slots for Graveyard hate seems a bit too much. I decided to cut them down to 2 pieces and put in the 4th Smasher and the Brutality from the Sideboard.
I went to another league and 3-2ed. The deck felt better and I feel like this could have been another 5-0. I've beaten Death's Shadow (no chance for them, even though they had really good hands), Jeskai Nahiri (Caverns), and Kiln Fiend Aggro (Seems like the best matchup ever). I've lost to Fairies (felt like a good matchup. I flooded in Game 1 and especially in Game 2. In Game 3 I mulliganed to 5) and Eldrazi Tron (Match was over in 4 Minutes as i mulliganed twice to 5 with 0 and 1 landers).
The one thing I didn't like about my list at all is the potential to flood and not having anything to do with my mana. I think I have to change my land selection a bit. Maybe 2 Mutavault/Shambling vent and 2Ghost Quarter/Sea Gate Wreckage? What would you guys suggest?
I will for sure continue running the list and tune it. I also wanna try out the Matter Reshaper version, even though I really like Tidehollow Sculler in the build.
Do you have any suggestions or questions, please write them down:)
WDeath and TaxesW
RWGBurnGWR
Having mainboard 12-14 Discard Spells certainly helps. We also should have enough recources to kill their 2-drops, + we have mainboard graveyard hate. I think we're fine against Storm.
If the meta is burn/storm heavy, like HugeElfBoy said, Kambal is a valid Sideboard card. Maybe even Thalia.
Lands 24
For the additional land I've cut the Dismember which wasn't really good the past leagues.
I've only lost to UW/Control and Living End (No Graveyard hate drawn and Mana Screw). Beating Affinity twice, Burn, Mill, Jund DS, Grixis DS, Titanshift and U/R Storm.
This feels much closer to the ideal Mana Base to me than before. I'm thinking about exchanging the SGW for another Mutavault, they were great. I didn't miss the Caverns too much, though I would have liked some more copies against U/W obviously.
Thanks Jim, at the moment, I am switching my sideboard almost every league as I want to try out what is best. I've just scored my second 5-0 league a few hours ago with the following sideboard:
1 Fragmentize (Cheap and kills almost every artifact and enchantment)
2 Knight of Glory (Obviously great vs. DS and pushes the matchup to "very favorable", I also brought it in against Burn and Dredge as it is better than some mainboard cards)
2 Rest in Peace (Graveyard hate number 3 and 4, this is definitely enough, I don't miss having 4 Relics, I usually take out 1-2 Lingering Souls if I bring this in except vs. DS)
2 Stony Silence (Another two "oops I win" cards against Affinity. It is especially strong in this build as they can't really win against us, even if they have the "Signal Pest" draw, as we have lingering souls and much single spot removal. Also good against the Tron decks. I also brought it in against D&T that played Smuggler's Copter and Aether Vial)
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (I brought it in against blue control decks and regular Jund but I am not convinced yet that he is really needed. It's true that he is best against fair decks. Except U/W control I already feel good about these matchups. In the next league I will maybe try Sorin (Thanks laoshun, Sorin looks great, especially with Lingering Souls!) or Gideon of the Trials)
2 Surgical Extraction (I will also definitely keep this slot, card is great with all the discard against combo decks and graveyard interactive decks. If I can I also just use it as a second discard spell in Turn 1 if they hold a second copy of a card in hand.)
1 Fatal Push (3 in the Mainboard is to much, as it doesn't kill everything and we have a hard time turning the revolt on. So the 3rd one is in the side. Comes in against cheap creature decks.)
1 Collective Brutality (2 in the main, now another one in the side. Just to push the Counters Company matchup and wreck Burn some more.)
2 Flaying Tendrils (First time trying this out and I'll keep it. I've had trouble against go wide strategies and this is the answer. The last league, it was great against Mono White D&T, Tooth and Nail (Killing 2-3 dorks every time) and Merfolk (as we have the tools to keep the lords under control.)
I'm definitely sketchy about Gideon and will try out different walkers in his place. I've decided to cut the one Kalitas. GP Kobe winner had 3 in his side and it was kind of a Sideboard plan against all creature/grindy matchups. He took out Reality Smashers for them and played the long game. I think with only 1 copy in my Side, this strategy isn't very viable and it doesn't impact too much. I would bring it in against almost every creature deck and matchups where the grave hate is viable. Burn, Affinity, Death Shadow, Dredge, Death and Taxes etc.
Deck feels really good right now. The meta seems perfect for it. I've played against almost everything and the win rate lies at 84% at the moment.
Thanks for the write-up and glad to see the results. I am still getting used to playing midrange after a very long spell playing aggro decks. Some reflections.... I used Fragmentize but ultimately shifted over to Disenchant because I was seeing a lot of Chalice of the Void and wanted to keep out of the 1-drop slot while also gaining instant speed. Not seeing Chalice so much anymore, but not sure if the mana trade-off is worth it. I tried Gideon, Sorin, Kalitas and ultimately abandoned for reasons set out earlier. But Sorin was the best of them for me. Seemed more controlish which ultimately was where I didn't want to be. Otherwise I agree with all your other choices, though I have been trying out Worship. Still more testing to see if its worth it. Finally, toying with idea of Auriok Champion in pace of Knight of Glory as get benefit against red decks too and some lifegain.
I've only played Merfolk and Bant Eldrazi before, so I am not very experienced either. Practice makes perfect;) Of course Disenchant is better against Chalice. But in the last 30 matches, I've seen 1 Chalice on 1 resolved against me, and I won anyways. I really like the mana efficiency of Fragmentize, I guess you can choose either one. I've played one league (3-2, losing to UW Control and 8 Rack, which seems unwinnable) with Sorin in the SB but I never drew it when I've brought it in. So I will do another one with him. He would have been good topdecks against Burn and Affinity though.
I've played a copy of Worship in Bant Eldrazi, it was really good there. Here I am not 100% sure if the creature count is high enough and against what I want to bring it in. It doesn't really make our bad matchups better so I think I'll pass.
Auriok Champion is sweet but not reliably castable on turn 2, not in a "3-colored" deck without fetching. And if we can cast it we probably have to shock or pain ourselves and that isn't worth it. Against DS it isn't a fast clock like Knight, so I can't imagine he's very good. Do you have some experience with it?
Sin Collector is like a worse Thought-Knot Seer against those decks, so it does its job. I don't like it that much against Burn. I feel like you win the game against Burn if you can curve out really well. Ideally Turn 1 discard / removal, turn 2 collective Brutality / Tidehollow, turn 3 Thought knot / wasteland strangler -3/-3 their eidolon. I don't like that it competes against Thought-Knot Seer for the 3 CMC slot. On the draw it gets even worse. If you want to beat burn, just play 1 more Collective Brutality in the Sideboard, the more the better. I've yet to lose to Burn (standing 4-0 in matches). Against combo I like it, but I bring in Collective Brutality against those as well. Against Counters Company it is even better than Sin Sollector.
I think Sin Collector belongs to Company decks, but that's just my opinion:)
If you're playing the 4 mainboard Relic's and maybe even some copies of Rest in Peace in the sideboard, I think you're in a good position (favored/like 55-60 percent I guess). Discard is only good to get their cascade effects, otherwise it's weak. I've played against it once the last 30 online matches and got crushed 0-2. But firstly, I play 2 relics mainboard, and I kept a very bad Game 1 hand against them (no Relics, 2 Fatal pushes, no discard) and in Game 2 I mulled to 5 until I had a good interactive hand and got mana screwed, they finished me with fulminator mages.
That's something I wanted to mention, I think we can be mana disrupted pretty easily. U/W control basically locked me out of the game with 1 Ghost Quarter and 2 Spreading Seas each game. I am not a fan of one Wastes though as it uses another slot we could use for Mutavaults.
Also, is two Relic enough to support your Stranglers?
I would say anyone using Disenchant in the side should try Fragmentize. I've never ran into an artifact or enchantment where the CMC restriction was an issue (fully realizing I just jinxed myself).
Thanks,
Jed