One thing I always like to credit Wizards for is the large amount of sub-themes they have going on with each set. In this case, Sirens as a minor tribe in XLN. Although there's a small number of siren cards in this set, the ones we did get are all pirates! This is important for cards like Siren's Ruse so we can draw more cards while still protecting our guys from removal. In the past I experimented with going UR, UW, and UWR. Ultimately I went mono U (splashing for W in for my SB) because it provides the best evasion for the deck to get hits in while also being very easy on the manabase. Add in Favorable Winds and we got ourselves an anthem affect for fliers! Not quite aggro or midrange, the deck plays more tempo/aggro than anything else.
One card I think will have a huge impact on Standard is Carnage Tyrant. There are very few answers to it in any format, let alone Standard, and it survives most wrath effects. Fumigate is one of the only answers that can deal with it. The good thing about my build is that it's easy to rebuild after wrath affects because it employs (mostly) cheap creatures. Cast Out helps deal with anything else. Aside from that the rest of the SB is composed of anti-removal tech and GY shenanigans.
Deck looks awesome! Plunderer into Jace is sick and gets ridiculous quick. Dreamcaller Siren plus Sirens Ruse is just so much value! The only critique I have is just 2 Lookout Dispersals seems like not enough, but the list does seem pretty tight and Sirens Ruse does a lot of work against removal so I can see it.
Deck looks awesome! Plunderer into Jace is sick and gets ridiculous quick. Dreamcaller Siren plus Sirens Ruse is just so much value! The only critique I have is just 2 Lookout Dispersals seems like not enough, but the list does seem pretty tight and Sirens Ruse does a lot of work against removal so I can see it.
Thank you. I got quite a bit of testing in recently and took it to FNM tonight, albeit with a slightly different build:
As you can see, I took out Dispel from my original build because I had forgotten it's no longer Standard legal. Instead, I went -1 Fumigate, +2 Dusk // Dawn, and an even split between Ixalan's Binding and Cast Out. I went 1-2 at FNM tonight, losing to Temur Energy (a misplay in Game 3 cost me the match) and Mardu Vehicles (with an impressive burn suite). The deck also ran too slow in that it has too many lands that enter the battlefield tapped, and not enough lands to cast Dreamcaller Siren on curve. Shefet Dunes is too much of a "win more" card, and actually hasn't done anything for me in ANY of the matches I've played, so it's definitely being removed. At this point, I'm fairly convinced the deck isn't powerful enough going mono U alone. We need ways to interact with the board, being more proactive and less reactive. Which is why I believe it's more viable to go UB, UR, or possibly even UB/x, UR/x or Esper.
R: Gives access to Lightning Strike, Shock, Harnessed Lightning, Abrade, and Magma Spray. In a meta that's saturated with 3 or less toughness creatures and bothersome artifacts (both big and small), these cards can remove most threats employed by the more popular decks in the format (right now). B: Gives us Fatal Push, Walk the Plank, Never // Return, Vraska's Contempt, and Duress. B is best at targeting and removing threats outright and we need this kind of speed if we hope to kill off larger threats r can't hope to deal with. W: I haven't given up on W just yet. Carnage Tyrant and Ripjaw Raptor are to major threats that I believe will be getting a lot of play this season. RG Dinosaurs and BG Constrictor are two decks we need to look out for as well.
I honestly don't know which direction to take the deck right now. Just gotta get more testing in.
EDIT: Been play-testing +2 Anointed Procession, +2 Island in place of -4 Storm Fleet Aerialist. The deck runs a bit smoother and... OMG JACE+PROCESSION IS BONKERS!!! Seriously, you never want to have more than one Procession in hand at any time, but if you manage to "Christmasland" curve Skyship Plunderer Turn 2 into Jace, Cunning Castaway Turn 3 (+1'ing him), hit with Plunderer adding another counter to Jace, then cast Procession Turn 4... You'll have four Jace tokens, that can -2 creating eight 2/2 Illusion creature tokens... on Turn 4...
In case you're interested, I posted a pseudo-PRIMER about a UR Pirates deck here. Feel free to join in on the conversation.
Took a look and left a few comments there. If you've read them you'll see I'm not sold on UR Pirates just yet. I have, however been testing with Esper UWB Pirates instead:
This build is even more "Jace-Centric" than before. I've been trying to come up with ways to keep the core idea of the deck (fliers) intact without sacrificing too much of its power. GY hate has been altogether irrelevant in my local meta (including Mardu Vehicles) and, as previously stated, I want the deck to be more proactive and less reactive. Game 1 is all about winning with Jace, whereas Game 2 becomes more about winning with creatures and disruption via SB options. It's possible we could get ran over by Ramunap Red, but it's not impossible to stabilize via flashing in (and out) Dreamcaller Siren + using Fatal Push. The most interesting addition to this build is March of the Drowned. I'm not quite sure if it's better to have 2 vs 4 copies in the MB. The idea is to bring to hand all the pirates that die to combat, are sacked (Siren Stormtamer), or pitched to Jace's +1 ability. I've also considered running Liliana, Death's Majesty as well, capitalizing even more on Skyship Plunderer's triggered ability AND combo-ing with Anointed Procession to create even more zombies. I'm just not sure if I'm running enough creatures MB for her to truly be good in this build.
In case you're interested, I posted a pseudo-PRIMER about a UR Pirates deck here. Feel free to join in on the conversation.
Took a look and left a few comments there. If you've read them you'll see I'm not sold on UR Pirates just yet. I have, however been testing with Esper UWB Pirates instead:
This build is even more "Jace-Centric" than before. I've been trying to come up with ways to keep the core idea of the deck (fliers) intact without sacrificing too much of its power. GY hate has been altogether irrelevant in my local meta (including Mardu Vehicles) and, as previously stated, I want the deck to be more proactive and less reactive. Game 1 is all about winning with Jace, whereas Game 2 becomes more about winning with creatures and disruption via SB options. It's possible we could get ran over by Ramunap Red, but it's not impossible to stabilize via flashing in (and out) Dreamcaller Siren + using Fatal Push. The most interesting addition to this build is March of the Drowned. I'm not quite sure if it's better to have 2 vs 4 copies in the MB. The idea is to bring to hand all the pirates that die to combat, are sacked (Siren Stormtamer), or pitched to Jace's +1 ability. I've also considered running Liliana, Death's Majesty as well, capitalizing even more on Skyship Plunderer's triggered ability AND combo-ing with Anointed Procession to create even more zombies. I'm just not sure if I'm running enough creatures MB for her to truly be good in this build.
You could probably swing with some Fathom Fleet Captain. He'll make a 2/2 Pirate token with Menace for (2).
In case you're interested, I posted a pseudo-PRIMER about a UR Pirates deck here. Feel free to join in on the conversation.
Took a look and left a few comments there. If you've read them you'll see I'm not sold on UR Pirates just yet. I have, however been testing with Esper UWB Pirates instead:
This build is even more "Jace-Centric" than before. I've been trying to come up with ways to keep the core idea of the deck (fliers) intact without sacrificing too much of its power. GY hate has been altogether irrelevant in my local meta (including Mardu Vehicles) and, as previously stated, I want the deck to be more proactive and less reactive. Game 1 is all about winning with Jace, whereas Game 2 becomes more about winning with creatures and disruption via SB options. It's possible we could get ran over by Ramunap Red, but it's not impossible to stabilize via flashing in (and out) Dreamcaller Siren + using Fatal Push. The most interesting addition to this build is March of the Drowned. I'm not quite sure if it's better to have 2 vs 4 copies in the MB. The idea is to bring to hand all the pirates that die to combat, are sacked (Siren Stormtamer), or pitched to Jace's +1 ability. I've also considered running Liliana, Death's Majesty as well, capitalizing even more on Skyship Plunderer's triggered ability AND combo-ing with Anointed Procession to create even more zombies. I'm just not sure if I'm running enough creatures MB for her to truly be good in this build.
You could probably swing with some Fathom Fleet Captain. He'll make a 2/2 Pirate token with Menace for (2).
I considered it, but I just don't know where it would slot in. My current build wants/needs to be able to cast cards in hand when needed, such as countering a spells and/ casting removal as opposed to building a large board presence. That is, until we get Jace's -5 ability on line. The deck plays like control in this respect, which is why the deck is more tempo than anything else. Captain may simply be too aggro for what the deck does, and definitely works better in faster decks.
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4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Scavenger Grounds
4 Desert of the Mindful
2 Shefet Dunes
6 Island
CREATURES 20
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Skyship Plunderer
4 Storm Fleet Aerialist
4 Nimble Obstructionist
4 Dreamcaller Siren
4 Jace, Cunning Castaway
INSTANTS AND SORCERIES 10
4 Opt
4 Siren's Ruse
2 Lookout's Dispersal
ENCHANTMENTS 4
4 Favorable Winds
1 Dispel
2 Jace's Defeat
2 Spell Pierce
2 Negate
4 Fumigate
2 Cast Out
2 Crook of Condemnation
One thing I always like to credit Wizards for is the large amount of sub-themes they have going on with each set. In this case, Sirens as a minor tribe in XLN. Although there's a small number of siren cards in this set, the ones we did get are all pirates! This is important for cards like Siren's Ruse so we can draw more cards while still protecting our guys from removal. In the past I experimented with going UR, UW, and UWR. Ultimately I went mono U (splashing for W in for my SB) because it provides the best evasion for the deck to get hits in while also being very easy on the manabase. Add in Favorable Winds and we got ourselves an anthem affect for fliers! Not quite aggro or midrange, the deck plays more tempo/aggro than anything else.
One card I think will have a huge impact on Standard is Carnage Tyrant. There are very few answers to it in any format, let alone Standard, and it survives most wrath effects. Fumigate is one of the only answers that can deal with it. The good thing about my build is that it's easy to rebuild after wrath affects because it employs (mostly) cheap creatures. Cast Out helps deal with anything else. Aside from that the rest of the SB is composed of anti-removal tech and GY shenanigans.
Needs moar Delver.
Thank you. I got quite a bit of testing in recently and took it to FNM tonight, albeit with a slightly different build:
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glacial Fortress
2 Scavenger Grounds
4 Desert of the Mindful
2 Shefet Dunes
6 Island
CREATURES 20
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Skyship Plunderer
4 Storm Fleet Aerialist
4 Nimble Obstructionist
4 Dreamcaller Siren
4 Jace, Cunning Castaway
INSTANTS AND SORCERIES 10
4 Opt
4 Siren's Ruse
2 Lookout's Dispersal
ENCHANTMENTS 4
4 Favorable Winds
2 Jace's Defeat
2 Spell Pierce
2 Negate
3 Fumigate
2 Dusk // Dawn
1 Cast Out
1 Ixalan's Binding
2 Crook of Condemnation
As you can see, I took out Dispel from my original build because I had forgotten it's no longer Standard legal. Instead, I went -1 Fumigate, +2 Dusk // Dawn, and an even split between Ixalan's Binding and Cast Out. I went 1-2 at FNM tonight, losing to Temur Energy (a misplay in Game 3 cost me the match) and Mardu Vehicles (with an impressive burn suite). The deck also ran too slow in that it has too many lands that enter the battlefield tapped, and not enough lands to cast Dreamcaller Siren on curve. Shefet Dunes is too much of a "win more" card, and actually hasn't done anything for me in ANY of the matches I've played, so it's definitely being removed. At this point, I'm fairly convinced the deck isn't powerful enough going mono U alone. We need ways to interact with the board, being more proactive and less reactive. Which is why I believe it's more viable to go UB, UR, or possibly even UB/x, UR/x or Esper.
R: Gives access to Lightning Strike, Shock, Harnessed Lightning, Abrade, and Magma Spray. In a meta that's saturated with 3 or less toughness creatures and bothersome artifacts (both big and small), these cards can remove most threats employed by the more popular decks in the format (right now).
B: Gives us Fatal Push, Walk the Plank, Never // Return, Vraska's Contempt, and Duress. B is best at targeting and removing threats outright and we need this kind of speed if we hope to kill off larger threats r can't hope to deal with.
W: I haven't given up on W just yet. Carnage Tyrant and Ripjaw Raptor are to major threats that I believe will be getting a lot of play this season. RG Dinosaurs and BG Constrictor are two decks we need to look out for as well.
I honestly don't know which direction to take the deck right now. Just gotta get more testing in.
EDIT: Been play-testing +2 Anointed Procession, +2 Island in place of -4 Storm Fleet Aerialist. The deck runs a bit smoother and... OMG JACE+PROCESSION IS BONKERS!!! Seriously, you never want to have more than one Procession in hand at any time, but if you manage to "Christmasland" curve Skyship Plunderer Turn 2 into Jace, Cunning Castaway Turn 3 (+1'ing him), hit with Plunderer adding another counter to Jace, then cast Procession Turn 4... You'll have four Jace tokens, that can -2 creating eight 2/2 Illusion creature tokens... on Turn 4...
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
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Took a look and left a few comments there. If you've read them you'll see I'm not sold on UR Pirates just yet. I have, however been testing with Esper UWB Pirates instead:
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Fetid Pools
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Concealed Courtyard
8 Island
CREATURES
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Skyship Plunderer
4 Dreamcaller Siren
4 Jace, Cunning Castaway
INSTANTS AND SORCERIES 16
4 Opt
2 Siren's Ruse
2 Lookout's Dispersal
4 Fatal Push
4 March of the Drowned
ENCHANTMENTS 4
2 Favorable Winds
2 Anointed Procession
2 Spell Pierce
2 Negate
4 Hostage Taker
2 Vraska's Contempt
3 Nimble Obstructionist
2 Crook of Condemnation
This build is even more "Jace-Centric" than before. I've been trying to come up with ways to keep the core idea of the deck (fliers) intact without sacrificing too much of its power. GY hate has been altogether irrelevant in my local meta (including Mardu Vehicles) and, as previously stated, I want the deck to be more proactive and less reactive. Game 1 is all about winning with Jace, whereas Game 2 becomes more about winning with creatures and disruption via SB options. It's possible we could get ran over by Ramunap Red, but it's not impossible to stabilize via flashing in (and out) Dreamcaller Siren + using Fatal Push. The most interesting addition to this build is March of the Drowned. I'm not quite sure if it's better to have 2 vs 4 copies in the MB. The idea is to bring to hand all the pirates that die to combat, are sacked (Siren Stormtamer), or pitched to Jace's +1 ability. I've also considered running Liliana, Death's Majesty as well, capitalizing even more on Skyship Plunderer's triggered ability AND combo-ing with Anointed Procession to create even more zombies. I'm just not sure if I'm running enough creatures MB for her to truly be good in this build.
You could probably swing with some Fathom Fleet Captain. He'll make a 2/2 Pirate token with Menace for (2).
I considered it, but I just don't know where it would slot in. My current build wants/needs to be able to cast cards in hand when needed, such as countering a spells and/ casting removal as opposed to building a large board presence. That is, until we get Jace's -5 ability on line. The deck plays like control in this respect, which is why the deck is more tempo than anything else. Captain may simply be too aggro for what the deck does, and definitely works better in faster decks.