Wins were both against BG decks (one energy, one delirium). T5 Ulamog is pretty good.
Losses to Esper Spirits and WB vehicles. Sketchy hands and perfect opponent curve-outs are bad.
Biggest takeway for me is that this list is atrocious against aggro. It needs a lot more early game interaction (delay and/or lifegain) to give it the setup time it needs. Right now I'm looking at moving Pulses maindeck and potentially adding some number of Filigree Familiar. Fliers also cause significant grief so the board is gaining some Clip Wings and possibly a Sandwurm Convergence.
I still think there is potential here, we just need to solve the early game.
So watching the GP stream today and caught a match with a Temur Marvel build running Baral's Expertise and Crush of Tentacles. Also Oblivion Sower. I was not expecting to see some of our tech at that level. Shows me that we are on the right track...
I'm having some trouble with my sideboard. I'm looking for artifact enchantment removal and some other good combat tricks. I already put in heroic intervention and took out the spring//mind and decision paralysis .
What's your current list and SB? It's been a couple weeks since you have posted updates to it. You had previously mentioned Appetite for the Unnatural and Dissenter's Deliverance. Are those not getting the job done for you?
Ok so after playing for a few weeks casual amongst my friends I have tested this against a wide variety of standard and non standard decks and have tweeked it along the way and this is what I have and will be taking to fnm this week.
The problems I ran into early on were artifact removal and my creatures being killed with cards like Fatal Push and Unlicensed Disintegration. So I decided to main deck the Heroic Intervention to counter spells targeting my creatures and the Dissenter's Deliverance for artifact removal that can be cycled if not needed. As for the sideboard it mostly consist of more answers for countering spells or removing artifacts if a deck is leaning heavy enough in one direction that the main deck cant handle it. Please let me know what you think about the deck ASAP so that I can maybe make some changes before friday night. It will be my first FNM and I want to win!!!
OK. You've got a good shell here; let's see what we can do to make it better! Let's break this down into a couple different areas. Hopefully I don't come across jerky (online is bad for that)...
1. Mana
Analyzing your main deck, the spells are skewed 63% / 37% in favour of green, while your lands are skewed the other way at 55% / 45% to blue. At the very least you need to reverse your basics count (9 forest, 7 islands) so you have a better chance of casting your ramp on time. Also on the subject of lands, I can't say for sure but my gut says you might want 1-2 more in there. Nothing sucks worse than having 3 ramp creatures out and only 2 lands, and then your creatures are removed...
2. Ramp
At first glance I think you have too many mana dorks. My experience has been that overloading on ramp creatures is bad for the late game. Especially as you aren't really ramping into anything truly massive with 6 being your curve-topper, you might be able to get away with shaving a few slots there. (For comparison, my build only runs Naga Vitalists for creature-based ramp -- OK, and a couple Ulvenwald Hydras -- but I also have a number of non-creature options: Bounty of the Luxa, Gift of Paradise, Nissa's Renewal and Spring // Mind. They all do more than just providing mana on a weak body, and are all more difficult to remove or deal with, which makes them better topdecks.) I haven't used Druid of the Cowl, but I do have experience with Vitalist and Weaver of Currents, and honestly there were very few times that I was really happy to see Weavers after turn 3. My suggestion would be to cut those in favour of non-creature ramp or some card draw. In addition to those mentioned earlier, Hieroglyphic Illumination, Pull From Tomorrow, Glimmer of Genius, Anticipate, Mouth // Feed all have merit, and I'm sure I'm missing more.
3. Payoff
By which I mean, what are you ramping into that really changes the game in your favour? Your creature choices are for the most part quite decent, and I can't speak specific ill of them as I don't have play experience with most of them, but given your objective of ramping to victory, I think there could be some better options out there. In particular, I'm not convinced that Angler Drake and Scaled Behemoth are the best at what they do. For Drake specifically, your sideboard has Baral's Expertise which is 1 mana cheaper, hits more targets, and lets you cast something for free. Not saying that a 4/4 flyer is bad, but considering how much more you can do with Expertise I think it would be better for you to bring those into the main. Behemoth just doesn't give me a wow factor (yes, not the best reason but it's what I've got!). Oh, and 3 Sphinx of Magosi might be one too many given that you want to use them as mana sinks.
4. Sideboard
Seems OK really. If you move the Expertises to the main that would free up a couple of slots. Not having played your list I don't know what you have trouble with, but you should have answers to Marvel, BG, U/x Control, and aggro (which comes in many flavours). You have Appetite for the Unnatural for Marvel (tho 4 might be a couple too many), and Dispel for Control. I'm guessing Blossoming Defense is also for the control matchup, and it can also do some work against BG and Mardu on the aggro spectrum. Open into Wonder is to deal with board stalls? With what you have, are you still finding any matchups that are giving you grief that would benefit from additional cards?
TL;DR
-2 Island; +2 Forest (with consideration to adding another land or two)
-4 Weaver; +4 non-creature ramp or card draw (I would lean towards draw myself)
-3 Drake, -2 Behemoth; +2/3 Baral's, +2/3 other (either something else big, or more draw)
(SB) -2 Baral's, -1/2 Appetite; +3/4 other (monitor your SB for holes, and then fill them)
I hope there is some helpful info here for you. As with any advice, take what works for you and run with it, and if something doesn't sit right for whatever reason (budget, metagame, pet cards) then ignore it
The problems I ran into early on were artifact removal and my creatures being killed with cards like Fatal Push and Unlicensed Disintegration. So I decided to main deck the Heroic Intervention to counter spells targeting my creatures and the Dissenter's Deliverance for artifact removal that can be cycled if not needed. As for the sideboard it mostly consist of more answers for countering spells or removing artifacts if a deck is leaning heavy enough in one direction that the main deck cant handle it. Please let me know what you think about the deck ASAP so that I can maybe make some changes before friday night. It will be my first FNM and I want to win!!!
I think that Negate is the better maindeck option than Heroic Intervention (which you can still use in the SB if you want) as it can counter the same removal spells while also being able to disrupt the opponent countering his spells.
I figured I would put my updated list up for review & constructive criticism. Hopefully it still fits in the thread, as my latest development is a black splash for some better removal options. Without further ado:
The mana base was the hardest part of the build, and I'm sure I've gone through a good half-dozen iterations tweaking to make it work. The mix I've settled on has been extremely consistent for me in testing.
I'm sure there are a few maindeck cards that will elicit some raised eyebrows, so let's look at the two most obvious ones to me. First up, Gift of Paradise. This slot has been many things. I finally settled on Gift because it serves two critical purposes: one, it ramps and colour fixes amazingly, which is a big help in casting the BB cards in the deck; and two, it's a lifegain buffer. Much like Woodweaver's Puzzleknot in Marvel, it's doing double duty to both speed up my gameplan and keep me alive to execute it. Next, Sandwurm Convergence. I wanted a non-creature win-con to ramp into, and this fits the bill nicely. The defensive part of it is just gravy (especially against Mardu and Spirits); the real draw is the free creature every turn. One-time investment for a long-term advantage is where it's at.
Sideboarding Plans
Gotta deal with the big threats in the room, and I want to actually be prepared so I'm not scrambling mid-match to determine all the ins and outs.
Marvel
-3 Gift of Paradise
-1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
-1 Sandwurm Convergence
+2 Dissenter's Deliverance
+2 Pick the Brain
+1 Summary Dismissal
Weenie Aggro (Mardu, Spirits)
-4 Naga Vitalist
-1 Bounty of the Luxa
-1 Spring // Mind
-1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
[-2 Kiora, Master of the Depths (vs Mardu)]
+1 Blooming Marsh
+3 Liliana, the Last Hope
+3 Yahenni's Expertise
[+2 Dissenter's Deliverance (vs Mardu)]
Midrange (BG, Zombies)
-2 Kiora, Master of the Depths
-1 Nissa, Steward of Elements (vs BG) <or> World Breaker (vs zombies)
+3 Crush of Tentacles
U/x Control
-3 Baral's Expertise
-1 Nissa's Renewal
-2 (conditional)
+1 Blooming Marsh
+3 Liliana, the Last Hope
+2 Pick the Brain
Please feel free to question, comment, etc. I don't think this is quite the final version, but it feels close.
Also you have some expensive ramp in Spring // Mind and Bounty of the Luxa (still not sure if it's better than Hedron Archive)
but only 3x mana dorks (which don't even tap for Blue),
I'd try to balance it with more cheap ramp creatures to have better starts to games.
Against aggressive creature decks cards like Walking Ballista and Engulf the Shore (if timed correctly can get vehicles and Gideon) would be good options.
I have an idea that I want to test which is essentially an energy ramp deck building towards a giant Aetherwind Basker.
Another finisher option can be Sandwurm Convergence if removal proves to be too much of an issue.
#I'm not sure about Channeler Initiate in the deck, it doesn't add energy and is another easy removal target.
Potential replacements can be either Ranging Raptors as a blocker or Gift of Paradise as a non-creature option (the lifegain is nice too).
Cascading Cataracts is in there because it combos well with Nissa's ult and Waker of the Wilds ability (the latter which I'm not sure wether it's actually too cute to work properly or not but still wanted to try it). It also allows Naga Vitalist to produce any color of mana, which can help if I want to splash another color in at some point. Opt is always really good and since there's no real payoff for energy ATM, I like it way better than Attune. Sandwurm Convergence is awesome too. It can even hate on the various Favorable Winds deck that are out there. SB was thrown together on a pinch so I'm really not sure about it.
I've tried several tweaks to the deck but it doesn't seem to work.
The main problem is that the payoff isn't good enough (Basker is easily dealt with and Convergence often doesn't win the game)
and the early interaction is too weak.
For the deck to be playable it probably has to play White as well and then Approach is the best win-con and you might as well drop the ramp angle for control.
Well it sure ain't no Ulamog if that's what you're comparing it to, but Convergence is actually the card that carried my deck most of the time. I mean it takes a few turns but it pumps out a 5/5 every turn and eventually, if your opponent stays on defense, you can just Rebuke their entire board away and swing in with 4-5 tokens and you get there. It also stops Glorybringer and the army of thopter token that Temur energy sometimes produces which is something to consider.
From the few test games that I played in the last couple of days, Bounty is a MVP. I won most of the games I played riding on it's CA/ramp. It really suck when your opponent has Fragmentize on the next turn though :/ Waker of the Wilds seems to be either terrible or really good. I was thinking of dropping to 2 and maybe add 1 Nissa, Vital Force. I Mean, if your opponent can't get rid of it right away, attacking with an indestructible 5/5 every turn sounds like a decent plan. It can also get back your other dead or countered permanents.
The most terrible matchup that I had to suffer through was against Grixis control. They just had answers to everything I did. I think it's probably going to be the toughest matchup for this deck unless you can run a playset of Carnage Tyrant in your 75.
Also, I don't think that running Approach will make that matchup any better but maybe it's just me :/ I agree though that Aetherwind Basker is probably just not good enough to work as your main wincon. It just dies to too many different things
The problem with "Creature" ramp is that you, the player are gonna rely too much to your creatures to do the ramping. And at most a "Board Wipe" would inevitably stop you in its tracks temporarily, but would definitely cost you one or 2 manas more.
Bounty of the Luxa is good... Why not put Hour of Promise?
Boardwipes are always an issue, I hope that the draw filtering provided by Nissa and Vizier can help power through this. Nissa can be pretty good at recovering from boardwipes.
I don't really find Hour (as a 5-mana ramp spell) necessary as my curve tops and 6-mana (besides Nissa and Balista that can go higher) and I want to maintain a high creature count to maximize the effectiveness of Nissa and Vizier.
Wins were both against BG decks (one energy, one delirium). T5 Ulamog is pretty good.
Losses to Esper Spirits and WB vehicles. Sketchy hands and perfect opponent curve-outs are bad.
Biggest takeway for me is that this list is atrocious against aggro. It needs a lot more early game interaction (delay and/or lifegain) to give it the setup time it needs. Right now I'm looking at moving Pulses maindeck and potentially adding some number of Filigree Familiar. Fliers also cause significant grief so the board is gaining some Clip Wings and possibly a Sandwurm Convergence.
I still think there is potential here, we just need to solve the early game.
Other options can be Engulf the Shore and Haze of Pollen.
4 Druid of the Cowl
4 Naga Vitalist
3 Prowling Serpopard
4 Weaver of Currents
3 Altered Ego
3 Champion of Rhonas
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
3 Angler Drake
2 Scaled Behemoth
3 Sphinx of Magosi
3 Dissenter's Deliverance
4 Heroic Intervention
Planeswalkers
2 Nissa, Steward of Elements
Lands
4 Botanical Sanctum
7 Forest
9 Island
3 Blossoming Defense
3 Dispel
3 Open into Wonder
4 Appetite for the Unnatural
2 Baral's Expertise
The problems I ran into early on were artifact removal and my creatures being killed with cards like Fatal Push and Unlicensed Disintegration. So I decided to main deck the Heroic Intervention to counter spells targeting my creatures and the Dissenter's Deliverance for artifact removal that can be cycled if not needed. As for the sideboard it mostly consist of more answers for countering spells or removing artifacts if a deck is leaning heavy enough in one direction that the main deck cant handle it. Please let me know what you think about the deck ASAP so that I can maybe make some changes before friday night. It will be my first FNM and I want to win!!!
1. Mana
Analyzing your main deck, the spells are skewed 63% / 37% in favour of green, while your lands are skewed the other way at 55% / 45% to blue. At the very least you need to reverse your basics count (9 forest, 7 islands) so you have a better chance of casting your ramp on time. Also on the subject of lands, I can't say for sure but my gut says you might want 1-2 more in there. Nothing sucks worse than having 3 ramp creatures out and only 2 lands, and then your creatures are removed...
2. Ramp
At first glance I think you have too many mana dorks. My experience has been that overloading on ramp creatures is bad for the late game. Especially as you aren't really ramping into anything truly massive with 6 being your curve-topper, you might be able to get away with shaving a few slots there. (For comparison, my build only runs Naga Vitalists for creature-based ramp -- OK, and a couple Ulvenwald Hydras -- but I also have a number of non-creature options: Bounty of the Luxa, Gift of Paradise, Nissa's Renewal and Spring // Mind. They all do more than just providing mana on a weak body, and are all more difficult to remove or deal with, which makes them better topdecks.) I haven't used Druid of the Cowl, but I do have experience with Vitalist and Weaver of Currents, and honestly there were very few times that I was really happy to see Weavers after turn 3. My suggestion would be to cut those in favour of non-creature ramp or some card draw. In addition to those mentioned earlier, Hieroglyphic Illumination, Pull From Tomorrow, Glimmer of Genius, Anticipate, Mouth // Feed all have merit, and I'm sure I'm missing more.
3. Payoff
By which I mean, what are you ramping into that really changes the game in your favour? Your creature choices are for the most part quite decent, and I can't speak specific ill of them as I don't have play experience with most of them, but given your objective of ramping to victory, I think there could be some better options out there. In particular, I'm not convinced that Angler Drake and Scaled Behemoth are the best at what they do. For Drake specifically, your sideboard has Baral's Expertise which is 1 mana cheaper, hits more targets, and lets you cast something for free. Not saying that a 4/4 flyer is bad, but considering how much more you can do with Expertise I think it would be better for you to bring those into the main. Behemoth just doesn't give me a wow factor (yes, not the best reason but it's what I've got!). Oh, and 3 Sphinx of Magosi might be one too many given that you want to use them as mana sinks.
Did you look at Eldrazi and/or non-creature options to ramp towards? Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is pretty good if you can get him out on turn 5-6 There's also goodness to be found in Decimator of the Provinces, Desolation Twin, Elder Deep-Fiend, Sandwurm Convergence, Garruk's Horde, Plated Crusher (beats up on Scaled Behemoth strictly because trample), and World Breaker.
4. Sideboard
Seems OK really. If you move the Expertises to the main that would free up a couple of slots. Not having played your list I don't know what you have trouble with, but you should have answers to Marvel, BG, U/x Control, and aggro (which comes in many flavours). You have Appetite for the Unnatural for Marvel (tho 4 might be a couple too many), and Dispel for Control. I'm guessing Blossoming Defense is also for the control matchup, and it can also do some work against BG and Mardu on the aggro spectrum. Open into Wonder is to deal with board stalls? With what you have, are you still finding any matchups that are giving you grief that would benefit from additional cards?
TL;DR
I hope there is some helpful info here for you. As with any advice, take what works for you and run with it, and if something doesn't sit right for whatever reason (budget, metagame, pet cards) then ignore it
I think that Negate is the better maindeck option than Heroic Intervention (which you can still use in the SB if you want) as it can counter the same removal spells while also being able to disrupt the opponent countering his spells.
As far as creatures go:
#Angler Drake and Scaled Behemoth aren't good enough (for 6-mana) and Altered Ego is very high-variance.
Better options would be: more Verdurous Gearhulk, Elder Deep-Fiend, World Breaker and Sphinx of the Final Word.
#Champion of Rhonas probably isn't necessary as well, a card like Walking Ballista will be much better in the deck for removal and direct damage purposes (and a good mana sink).
#In the SB I'd go with Manglehorn (as a creature) over Appetite for the Unnatural (how many enchantments are out there anyway ?).
#Dispel seems rather narrow as well (especially with Negate in the MD), a more universal counter like Disallow/Void Shatter would be much better or even a bounce spell like Unsubstantiate or Commit // Memory.
Here is how I'd go with the deck:
4x Walking Ballista
4x Servant of the Conduit
4x Channeler Initiate
4x Weaver of Currents
2x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4x Verdurous Gearhulk
4x Elder Deep-Fiend
1x Decimator of the Provinces
3x Oath of Nissa
4x Bounty of the Luxa
Planeswalker (3)
3x Nissa, Steward of Elements
Land (23)
4x Botanical Sanctum
3x Lumbering Falls
3x Aether Hub
9x Forest
4x Island
3x Tireless Tracker
2x Prowling Serpopard
3x Manglehorn
2x Commit // Memory
3x World Breaker
1x Nissa, Vital Force
1x Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Sanctum
6 Forest
6 Island
2 Lumbering Falls
2 Sunken Hollow
2 Swamp
Creatures (13)
4 Naga Vitalist
3 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
2 Ulvenwald Hydra
3 Walking Ballista
1 World Breaker
2 Kiora, Master of the Depths
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
Enchantments (7)
3 Bounty of the Luxa
3 Gift of Paradise
1 Sandwurm Convergence
Instants & Sorceries (13)
3 Baral's Expertise
2 Disallow
2 Never // Return
1 Nissa's Renewal
2 Pull from Tomorrow
3 Spring // Mind
1 Blooming Marsh
3 Crush of Tentacles
2 Dissenter's Deliverance
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Pick the Brain
1 Summary Dismissal
3 Yahenni's Expertise
The mana base was the hardest part of the build, and I'm sure I've gone through a good half-dozen iterations tweaking to make it work. The mix I've settled on has been extremely consistent for me in testing.
I'm sure there are a few maindeck cards that will elicit some raised eyebrows, so let's look at the two most obvious ones to me. First up, Gift of Paradise. This slot has been many things. I finally settled on Gift because it serves two critical purposes: one, it ramps and colour fixes amazingly, which is a big help in casting the BB cards in the deck; and two, it's a lifegain buffer. Much like Woodweaver's Puzzleknot in Marvel, it's doing double duty to both speed up my gameplan and keep me alive to execute it. Next, Sandwurm Convergence. I wanted a non-creature win-con to ramp into, and this fits the bill nicely. The defensive part of it is just gravy (especially against Mardu and Spirits); the real draw is the free creature every turn. One-time investment for a long-term advantage is where it's at.
Sideboarding Plans
Gotta deal with the big threats in the room, and I want to actually be prepared so I'm not scrambling mid-match to determine all the ins and outs.
Marvel
-3 Gift of Paradise
-1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
-1 Sandwurm Convergence
+2 Dissenter's Deliverance
+2 Pick the Brain
+1 Summary Dismissal
Weenie Aggro (Mardu, Spirits)
-4 Naga Vitalist
-1 Bounty of the Luxa
-1 Spring // Mind
-1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
[-2 Kiora, Master of the Depths (vs Mardu)]
+1 Blooming Marsh
+3 Liliana, the Last Hope
+3 Yahenni's Expertise
[+2 Dissenter's Deliverance (vs Mardu)]
Midrange (BG, Zombies)
-2 Kiora, Master of the Depths
-1 Nissa, Steward of Elements (vs BG) <or> World Breaker (vs zombies)
+3 Crush of Tentacles
U/x Control
-3 Baral's Expertise
-1 Nissa's Renewal
-2 (conditional)
+1 Blooming Marsh
+3 Liliana, the Last Hope
+2 Pick the Brain
Please feel free to question, comment, etc. I don't think this is quite the final version, but it feels close.
3 Ulvenwald Captive
2 Ulamog, the ceaseless hunger
Spell
4 spring // mind
4 commit // memory
3 censor
4 haze of pollen
3 commencement of festivities
2 Crush of tentacles
4 Nissa's Renewal
1 Part the Waterveil
4 Bounty of the Luxa
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Lumbering Falls
1 blighted cataract
9 forest
9 island
It's Ali's simic ramp list that I tweaked. I do need help with the sideboard against a heavy vehicle, constrictor and energy meta.
thanks.
I've never liked the card and immediately cut it in my version, first for Dissenter's Deliverance and then Commencement of Festivities
(or Negate/Essence Scatter).
Also you have some expensive ramp in Spring // Mind and Bounty of the Luxa (still not sure if it's better than Hedron Archive)
but only 3x mana dorks (which don't even tap for Blue),
I'd try to balance it with more cheap ramp creatures to have better starts to games.
Against aggressive creature decks cards like Walking Ballista and Engulf the Shore (if timed correctly can get vehicles and Gideon) would be good options.
I have an idea that I want to test which is essentially an energy ramp deck building towards a giant Aetherwind Basker.
Another finisher option can be Sandwurm Convergence if removal proves to be too much of an issue.
Here is the deck:
4x Servant of the Conduit
4x Channeler Initiate
4x Shefet Monitor
2x Aetherwind Basker
Sorcery (12)
4x Attune with Aether
4x Spring // Mind
2x Confiscation Coup
2x River's Rebuke
4x Commit // Memory
2x Pull from Tomorrow
Enchantment (4)
4x Aether Meltdown
Land (24)
4x Aether Hub
4x Botanical Sanctum
8x Forest
8x Island
4x Walking Ballista
2x Nissa, Vital Force
2x Carnage Tyrant
2x Disallow
2x Negate
2x Entrancing Melody
1x Aethersquall Ancient
Some new additions to the deck are River's Rebuke as a one-sided mass-bounce and Entrancing Melody in the SB
(might be better as more Confiscation Coup though).
Some other card considerations:
#I like the flexibility of Shefet Monitor being both a ramp spell and a potential 6/5 beater, it also cycles and ramps at instant speed.
Other potential options can be: Bounty of the Luxa, Hour of Promise, Beneath the Sands or even Harvest Season.
#I'm not sure about Channeler Initiate in the deck, it doesn't add energy and is another easy removal target.
Potential replacements can be either Ranging Raptors as a blocker or Gift of Paradise as a non-creature option (the lifegain is nice too).
#Pull from Tomorrow is a very powerful card but Glimmer of Genius helps with energy and nets value earlier in the game.
I have actually. Just started paytesting today. Here's what I'm playing with:
4x Cascading catarats
4x Botanical Sanctum
9x Forest
7x Island
Creatures:
4x Naga Vitalist
4x Druid of the Cowl
3x Waker of the Wilds
4x Opt
4x Censor
3x Commit // Memory
3x Pull from Tomorrow
Sorceries:
3x River's Rebuke
Enchantments:
4x Bounty of the Luxa
2x Sandwurm Convergence
2x Nissa, Steward of Elements
4x Negate
4x Aether Meltdown
3x Appetite for the Unnatural
2x Entrancing Melody
2x Disallow
Cascading Cataracts is in there because it combos well with Nissa's ult and Waker of the Wilds ability (the latter which I'm not sure wether it's actually too cute to work properly or not but still wanted to try it). It also allows Naga Vitalist to produce any color of mana, which can help if I want to splash another color in at some point. Opt is always really good and since there's no real payoff for energy ATM, I like it way better than Attune. Sandwurm Convergence is awesome too. It can even hate on the various Favorable Winds deck that are out there. SB was thrown together on a pinch so I'm really not sure about it.
The main problem is that the payoff isn't good enough (Basker is easily dealt with and Convergence often doesn't win the game)
and the early interaction is too weak.
For the deck to be playable it probably has to play White as well and then Approach is the best win-con and you might as well drop the ramp angle for control.
From the few test games that I played in the last couple of days, Bounty is a MVP. I won most of the games I played riding on it's CA/ramp. It really suck when your opponent has Fragmentize on the next turn though :/ Waker of the Wilds seems to be either terrible or really good. I was thinking of dropping to 2 and maybe add 1 Nissa, Vital Force. I Mean, if your opponent can't get rid of it right away, attacking with an indestructible 5/5 every turn sounds like a decent plan. It can also get back your other dead or countered permanents.
The most terrible matchup that I had to suffer through was against Grixis control. They just had answers to everything I did. I think it's probably going to be the toughest matchup for this deck unless you can run a playset of Carnage Tyrant in your 75.
Also, I don't think that running Approach will make that matchup any better but maybe it's just me :/ I agree though that Aetherwind Basker is probably just not good enough to work as your main wincon. It just dies to too many different things
I wonder if an updated version of this deck can work in the current meta:
4x Walking Ballista
4x Servant of the Conduit
4x Drover of the Mighty
4x Ranging Raptors
2x Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4x Vizier of the Menagerie
4x Verdurous Gearhulk
4x Carnage Tyrant
4x Attune with Aether
Planeswalker (4)
4x Nissa, Steward of Elements
Land (22)
4x Botanical Sanctum
4x Aether Hub
3x Hashep Oasis
9x Forest
2x Island
3x Ripjaw Raptor
2x Prowling Serpopard
4x Negate
3x River's Rebuke
1x Confiscation Coup
2x Nissa, Vital Force
The deck might need lifegain so Deathgorge Scavenger or Arborback Stomper might be better in the SB over Ripjaw and Serpopard.
Bounty of the Luxa is good... Why not put Hour of Promise?
Nissa can be pretty good at recovering from boardwipes.
I don't really find Hour (as a 5-mana ramp spell) necessary as my curve tops and 6-mana (besides Nissa and Balista that can go higher) and I want to maintain a high creature count to maximize the effectiveness of Nissa and Vizier.