This is a great looking Primer, thanks for putting it togehter. Looking at the various iterations here, I agree with others who said Aethersphere Harvester should be in the main. It's just too good against many matchups: evasion, lifelink, and the combo with Night Market Lookout is too good to not exploit. I'm looking into this for FNM because it likely strictly better than the UG tribal Merfolk I've been working on.
Ramunap Red: Very favorable. It's possible to lose to the god hand that unlocks an early Hazoret but I almost always manage to win the match.
UW Approach: Favorable. I think we're even odds to win game one and favored post board.
Temur Energy: Moderately favorable. Game one we are a bit of a dog with a puncher's chance and games two and three are in our favor thanks to the wrath effect. Overall I win more matches than I lose but I don't feel unlucky when I lose.
UB Control: Even. They have a lot of grind, we have a lot of grind, hard to say whether we will break through before their bombs take over. The higher their curve the better our chances.
Abzan/Esper tokens: Awful. I'm shocked when I manage a match win.
Esper gifts: Awful. I don't think I've ever won a match.
I've noticed lately I tend to see two or three matches against the even matchups, one or two against the awful matchups, and one or two against the very good matchups. I think we need to shore up the terrible matchups in order to more consistently put up 4-1s and 5-0s. I'm not sure how to do it. Part of it is that I think I've been a little unlucky with matchups (had Crook of Condemnation in the sideboard for two leagues and never saw gift, pulled it out and saw gifts three times in the next two leagues), but part of it also is that people play these game winning bombs that we have a very hard time interacting with (Anointed Procession, The Scarab God, God-Pharaoh's Gift) while everybody is locked and loaded and ready to deal with our game winning bomb (Hazoret).
the power level is watered down significantly and since there is no zombie on ixalan (yet). we are pretty much scrambling for viable zombie that survived the rotation. there is metallic mimic and plague belcher but they didnt make the cut, also scrapheap scrounger are not on the list because it cant block.
if rivals of ixalan bring more zombies (pretty much cant separate zombie with pirate, right?) i think this will be a somewhat viable list.
Did you guys see this list? Top 8 at an IQ... No Siphoner, No red. I have been playing with a version similar to this one and it's pretty dang fun. I think the mono black is viable, and it's also a good deck for the price.
Round 1 2-0 against Jeskai Control
Round 2 2-1 against Temur Energy
Round 3 2-0 against Esper Tokens
Round 4 2-0 against Boros Dinos
Ruin raider is an absolute house for us. I can see him hurting in an aggro mirror, but in any game where your opponent is not pressuring your life total he is the best card in the deck. I think the pirate sub theme is worth it because lookout's dispersal is a house, and one of the most powerful cards in standard. Hostage taker and siren stormtamer both really over performed for me as well.
I'm more of a tempo player than an aggro one, so I really like the blue splash. It made the jeskai control and esper tokens matchup feel like a joke.
With gift being such a bad matchup, along with tokens. I've going to try out Socerous Spyglass.
The idea being it comes down and names either Gate To the Afterlife which is where most gift decks are trending, or Hidden Stockpile which dampens the token deck's power a little bit. It also seems good against The Scarab God because if our opponent is just playing a 5 mana 5/5, it gets much easier to deal with.
This sunday is a 16 player championship series at our lgs, where the top 16 most attending players get to go for free and play for some big prizes. I'll try to write everything down as a comprehensive tournament report.
I like the idea of Heart of Kiran, and supernatural stamina seems like a wierdly good place to be rn because of no Magma Spray and obviously 0 Incendiary Flow. Tonight at fnm if I find some hearts to put in i'll run them. I still think Glint-Sleeve Siphoner is too good not to include. I might try to play something like this.
Let us know how the deck plays for ya! I played against tokens twice in a row at my FNM... so........ yeah, didn't go so well.
I really don't want to lose Siphoner, though I am curious to know how Heart of Kiran plays in the deck.
I've realized glint-sleeve siphoner is one of the worst cards in my deck and that it isn't necessarily him I don't want to lose, rather I don't want to lose my bad ruin raider 5-7. The issue is siphoner is so much worse and slower at drawing cards in a list not dedicated to energy and I think the slots would be better focused elsewhere.
I am going to play without the Siphoner for about a week. I really like Menace, but we'll see... it seems like the mono black list has some variations. I think one MTGO player used Duress and then switched to Harsh Scrutiny in another list.
I have always played with two Harvesters, even in BR aggro. I am struggling to understand why Heart of Kiran would work in this deck, because I am seeing lists popping up with it. I am just hesitant to spend on it if an optimal build doesn't require the card. Seems like it would be harder to crew than the Harvester.
I played this deck to a 2nd place finish on sunday at a 16 player mini invitational. Gotta lots a fun prizes, including plenty of store credit to upgrade the deck if I wanted to.
Tourney Report!!!*we only had a 3 round swiss because lots of people quit early, plus some couldn't make it
Round 1: Temur Energy 2-0
Game one was really close. I got him down to one extremely fast and then he stabilized with hydra and virtuoso. Key to the City (of course it was my lucky german copy, always play one non-english card in your deck for good luck, it works 100% of the time.) was a lucky rip, allowing me to win with an unblockable Heart of Kiran.
Sideboard: -2 Supernatural Stamina -1 Fatal Push -1 Heart of Kiran
+2 Aethersphere Harvester +2 Sorcerous Spyglass
Game two was a little easier for me. He boarded in Essence Scatter which almost all of the participants agreed was wrong against a deck like mine. He got in some good beats, but I outdrew him on cards and got the win with my fliers.
Round 2: Grixis Control 0-2
Game one I kept a slow hand, he countered everything of importance I sideboarded a bunch of cards, don't really feel like putting them down, its just most of my removal out, keep 1/2 walk the prank in, bring in grindy cards.
Game 2 I kept the ultra greed hand of 1 colorless land, drew the only other one in my deck. This is all on me for the extra greed. Not much to say here.
Round 3: Jund Vehicles 2-0
He had a game-loss game one for forgetting to sideboard.
Sideboarded in harvesters.
Game two was close. He had more individually powerful creatures, but mono B just annihilated him with its speed.
TOP 4 CUT! YAY!!!
Semifinals: UB Control 2-0
My opponent didn't draw Fatal Push either game. izi rek. Boarded in harvesters over heart of kiran due to it being harder for them to kill. Brought in a bunch of other stuff as well, didn't matter much.
Finals: UW Approach Control 0-2
Game one I got him low, but Fumigates and Settle the Wreckage game him enough time to recover.
Sideboard: All but harvesters and spyglass. Brought out all of my removal and bone pickers, and key to the city.
Game two felt really bad. Early game I Lost Legacy'd approach, his only threat was Sunscourge Champion. What was the game changer was Authority of the Consuls. He resolved two, and shut down my recursive threats almost entirely. Eventually he decked me out, not much to say.
All in all it was a fun tournament, sorry I'm so bad a breaking things down.
A few things looking forward:
Authority of the Consuls is really, really, really good against us, at least in my experience, since mono black, and red for that matter, don't have good enchantment hate, the best way to stop it is with hand destruction.
Supernatural Stamina was just plain underwhelming. Nothing much to see here.
A complicated sideboard doesn't help this aggro deck much. I think a much more streamlined sideboard could work. There needs to be ways to fight control and graveyard decks, but our aggro and midrange matchups are pretty good already.
Moving Forward: I want to try out a deck like this:
The focus on Duress effects is to be able to stop enchantments pre-emptively. Kitesail Freebooter seems good here as part disruption, and part flier. No Aether Hub is because I really want to be able to cast Walk the Plank on turn 2 or 3 while also deploying other cards that cost B or B1. Scavenger Grounds, as our only utility land, can be squeezed in, as well as being sacrificial fodder to ifnir deadlands if we want to machine gun little creatures down.
Sorry for the rambling, I wanted to write this yesterday with all the games still in my head, but this will have to suffice. Thoughts? Criticisms? How did your tournaments go? Until next time, keep on raiding!
I am going to play without the Siphoner for about a week. I really like Menace, but we'll see... it seems like the mono black list has some variations. I think one MTGO player used Duress and then switched to Harsh Scrutiny in another list.
I have always played with two Harvesters, even in BR aggro. I am struggling to understand why Heart of Kiran would work in this deck, because I am seeing lists popping up with it. I am just hesitant to spend on it if an optimal build doesn't require the card. Seems like it would be harder to crew than the Harvester.
I'm also a little skeptical about the Heart. It goes with my skepticism about Ruin Raider. Basically I feel like you give up a lot of percentage points against Temur if you don't have the Bontu's Last Reckoning plan out of the sideboard. Without the Ruin Raider you just don't have many creatures that can crew up the Heart--I've even seen people have trouble crewing Harvesters post board when they run the full playset and then side out dudes for removal.
Going completely mono black also gives up the power of Hazoret. I'm not sure how that can be right.
There have been a lot of featured Br lists in recent days:
I am just not a fan of Ruin Raider or Heart. I don’t think these cards are good against Red and I do think it’s hard to crew Heart.
I am now curious about Dread Wanderer in the BR deck. Is it worth it to swap it out for Harsh Scrutiny or Dufess, since we would have Bomat in the BR version? I started thinking about it after reading an article on CFB that mentioned our deck. My biggest roadblock, outside of tokens, is the Virtuoso in the energy decks. It stonewalls me hard. Even if I can strike it or hit it with Walk the Plank on mono black, they have enough energy to drop a couple dudes.
I really like Harsh Scrutiny right now. Besides hitting all the Temur bombs it also takes out The Scarab God, which is nice. The Wanderer is usually the last one drop I take out just because it is a legit 2/1 so it trades with x/2s.
Whirler Virtuoso and Bristling Hydra are why the Bontu's Last Reckoning plan is so important. If you can play it while you have Yahenni or an active Hazoret going it's just amazing. Even without those guys you still have the eight recursive cheap guys to get back.
I am a huge fan of Harsh Scrutiny for all the reasons you mentioned. Holding it to get Hazoret right before they want to drop it feels pretty good, too. In mono black, I am still not sold on Bone Picker, either, so I like to have the flying pirate dude and Harsh Scrutiny in the main. I only play with two Ruin Raider.
I have a little more fun playing Mono at the moment, because I have Red built... and hate switching the cards back and forth because I can't make up my mind, lol. I want to play mono black tomorrow night and BR for FNM, with Bontu's in the main. I've only had one losing night (there were Three tokens players last Friday). A part of me also really wants to play Cut // Ribbons because I want to hit Glorybringer with it and have the Ribbons option late game.
I check this thread every day for new information, so I like keeping the dialogue going.
I have not tried mb hand attack such as Harsh Scrutiny or Duress. Without Heart of Kiran, Bone Picker doesn't seem extremely necessary, but it is a good creature in any non-control matchup. Even in the control matchup, it can fly over their finisher, if it is something like The Scarab God or Torrential Gearhulk. Ruin Raider seems like the glue that holds the deck together imo, but my local meta is slanted more towards control than ramunap or temur.
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2 Doomfall
2 Vraska's Contempt
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Abrade
2 Rampaging Ferocidon
Ramunap Red: Very favorable. It's possible to lose to the god hand that unlocks an early Hazoret but I almost always manage to win the match.
UW Approach: Favorable. I think we're even odds to win game one and favored post board.
Temur Energy: Moderately favorable. Game one we are a bit of a dog with a puncher's chance and games two and three are in our favor thanks to the wrath effect. Overall I win more matches than I lose but I don't feel unlucky when I lose.
UB Control: Even. They have a lot of grind, we have a lot of grind, hard to say whether we will break through before their bombs take over. The higher their curve the better our chances.
Abzan/Esper tokens: Awful. I'm shocked when I manage a match win.
Esper gifts: Awful. I don't think I've ever won a match.
I've noticed lately I tend to see two or three matches against the even matchups, one or two against the awful matchups, and one or two against the very good matchups. I think we need to shore up the terrible matchups in order to more consistently put up 4-1s and 5-0s. I'm not sure how to do it. Part of it is that I think I've been a little unlucky with matchups (had Crook of Condemnation in the sideboard for two leagues and never saw gift, pulled it out and saw gifts three times in the next two leagues), but part of it also is that people play these game winning bombs that we have a very hard time interacting with (Anointed Procession, The Scarab God, God-Pharaoh's Gift) while everybody is locked and loaded and ready to deal with our game winning bomb (Hazoret).
i come up with a list, will test it and report back
4 dread wanderer
4 gifted aetherborn
4 lord of the accursed
4 ammit eternal
instant
4 fatal push
2 hour of glory
sorcery
4 harsh scrutiny
4 walk the plank
1 never // return
4 liliana's mastery
artifact
1 aethersphere harvester
land
19 swamp
1 scavenger ground
4 ifnir deadland
4 duress
2 gonti, lord of luxury
2 essence extraction
1 skysovereign, consul flagship
1 bontu's last reckoning
2 vraska's contempt
3 lost legacy
the power level is watered down significantly and since there is no zombie on ixalan (yet). we are pretty much scrambling for viable zombie that survived the rotation. there is metallic mimic and plague belcher but they didnt make the cut, also scrapheap scrounger are not on the list because it cant block.
if rivals of ixalan bring more zombies (pretty much cant separate zombie with pirate, right?) i think this will be a somewhat viable list.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/801351#paper
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/ixalan-ub-aggro/
Round 1 2-0 against Jeskai Control
Round 2 2-1 against Temur Energy
Round 3 2-0 against Esper Tokens
Round 4 2-0 against Boros Dinos
Ruin raider is an absolute house for us. I can see him hurting in an aggro mirror, but in any game where your opponent is not pressuring your life total he is the best card in the deck. I think the pirate sub theme is worth it because lookout's dispersal is a house, and one of the most powerful cards in standard. Hostage taker and siren stormtamer both really over performed for me as well.
I'm more of a tempo player than an aggro one, so I really like the blue splash. It made the jeskai control and esper tokens matchup feel like a joke.
The idea being it comes down and names either Gate To the Afterlife which is where most gift decks are trending, or Hidden Stockpile which dampens the token deck's power a little bit. It also seems good against The Scarab God because if our opponent is just playing a 5 mana 5/5, it gets much easier to deal with.
This sunday is a 16 player championship series at our lgs, where the top 16 most attending players get to go for free and play for some big prizes. I'll try to write everything down as a comprehensive tournament report.
4 Bone Picker
4 Dread Wanderer
2 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Night Market Lookout
4 Ruin Raider
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Vicious Conquistador
3 Walk the Plank
4 Fatal Push
3 Supernatural Stamina
1 Aethersphere Harvester
4 Heart of Kiran
Lands:
4 Ifnir Deadlands
16 Swamp
2 Gifted Aetherborn
2 Aethersphere Harvester
1 Supernatural Stamina
1 Walk the Plank
4 Duress
2 Harsh Scrutiny
1 Key to the City
2 Lost Legacy
I like the idea of Heart of Kiran, and supernatural stamina seems like a wierdly good place to be rn because of no Magma Spray and obviously 0 Incendiary Flow. Tonight at fnm if I find some hearts to put in i'll run them. I still think Glint-Sleeve Siphoner is too good not to include. I might try to play something like this.
4 Dread Wanderer
4 Night Market Lookout
3 Vicious Conquistador
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Ruin Raider
3 Bone Picker
4 Fatal Push
4 Walk the Plank
4 Heart of Kiran
2 Supernatural Stamina
Lands (20):
4 Ifnir Deadlands
3 Aether Hub
13 Swamp
4 Duress
2 Lost Legacy
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Arguel's Blood Fast
3 Aethersphere Harvester
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
I really don't want to lose Siphoner, though I am curious to know how Heart of Kiran plays in the deck.
C Long Live Eldrazi C
I've realized glint-sleeve siphoner is one of the worst cards in my deck and that it isn't necessarily him I don't want to lose, rather I don't want to lose my bad ruin raider 5-7. The issue is siphoner is so much worse and slower at drawing cards in a list not dedicated to energy and I think the slots would be better focused elsewhere.
I'm considering a second aethersphere harvester in the main, bone picker, supernatural stamina, and another walk the plank or two. Stamina plays a roll similar to siren stormtamer in my list so probably not worth it for the blue splash, but it is nice to catch them off guard at times.
I have always played with two Harvesters, even in BR aggro. I am struggling to understand why Heart of Kiran would work in this deck, because I am seeing lists popping up with it. I am just hesitant to spend on it if an optimal build doesn't require the card. Seems like it would be harder to crew than the Harvester.
4 Night Market Lookout
4 Dread Wanderer
3 Vicious Conquistador
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
4 Ruin Raider
2 Bone Picker
Other Spells:
4 Heart of Kiran
4 Fatal Push
3 Walk the Plank
2 Supernatural Stamina
1 Key to the City
4 Ifnir Deadlands
3 Aether Hub
12 Swamp
1 Sunsorched Desert
1 Hostile Desert
3 Duress
2 Lost Legacy
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Arguel's Blood Fast
2 Aethersphere Harvester
2 Deadeye Tracker
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
Tourney Report!!!*we only had a 3 round swiss because lots of people quit early, plus some couldn't make it
Round 1: Temur Energy 2-0
Game one was really close. I got him down to one extremely fast and then he stabilized with hydra and virtuoso. Key to the City (of course it was my lucky german copy, always play one non-english card in your deck for good luck, it works 100% of the time.) was a lucky rip, allowing me to win with an unblockable Heart of Kiran.
Sideboard: -2 Supernatural Stamina -1 Fatal Push -1 Heart of Kiran
+2 Aethersphere Harvester +2 Sorcerous Spyglass
Game two was a little easier for me. He boarded in Essence Scatter which almost all of the participants agreed was wrong against a deck like mine. He got in some good beats, but I outdrew him on cards and got the win with my fliers.
Round 2: Grixis Control 0-2
Game one I kept a slow hand, he countered everything of importance I sideboarded a bunch of cards, don't really feel like putting them down, its just most of my removal out, keep 1/2 walk the prank in, bring in grindy cards.
Game 2 I kept the ultra greed hand of 1 colorless land, drew the only other one in my deck. This is all on me for the extra greed. Not much to say here.
Round 3: Jund Vehicles 2-0
He had a game-loss game one for forgetting to sideboard.
Sideboarded in harvesters.
Game two was close. He had more individually powerful creatures, but mono B just annihilated him with its speed.
TOP 4 CUT! YAY!!!
Semifinals: UB Control 2-0
My opponent didn't draw Fatal Push either game. izi rek. Boarded in harvesters over heart of kiran due to it being harder for them to kill. Brought in a bunch of other stuff as well, didn't matter much.
Finals: UW Approach Control 0-2
Game one I got him low, but Fumigates and Settle the Wreckage game him enough time to recover.
Sideboard: All but harvesters and spyglass. Brought out all of my removal and bone pickers, and key to the city.
Game two felt really bad. Early game I Lost Legacy'd approach, his only threat was Sunscourge Champion. What was the game changer was Authority of the Consuls. He resolved two, and shut down my recursive threats almost entirely. Eventually he decked me out, not much to say.
All in all it was a fun tournament, sorry I'm so bad a breaking things down.
A few things looking forward:
Moving Forward: I want to try out a deck like this:
4 Night Market Lookout
3 Vicious Conquistador
4 Dread Wanderer
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
2 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Ruin Raider
4 Bone Picker
4 Fatal Push
3 Walk the Plank
Artifacts:
4 Heart of Kiran
1 Key to the City
3 Aethersphere Harvester
Lands:
4 Ifnir Deadlands
2 Scavenger Grounds
14 Swamp
4 Duress
4 Kitesail Freebooter
3 Lost Legacy
2 Deadeye Tracker
2 Vraska's Contempt
The focus on Duress effects is to be able to stop enchantments pre-emptively. Kitesail Freebooter seems good here as part disruption, and part flier. No Aether Hub is because I really want to be able to cast Walk the Plank on turn 2 or 3 while also deploying other cards that cost B or B1. Scavenger Grounds, as our only utility land, can be squeezed in, as well as being sacrificial fodder to ifnir deadlands if we want to machine gun little creatures down.
Sorry for the rambling, I wanted to write this yesterday with all the games still in my head, but this will have to suffice. Thoughts? Criticisms? How did your tournaments go? Until next time, keep on raiding!
I'm also a little skeptical about the Heart. It goes with my skepticism about Ruin Raider. Basically I feel like you give up a lot of percentage points against Temur if you don't have the Bontu's Last Reckoning plan out of the sideboard. Without the Ruin Raider you just don't have many creatures that can crew up the Heart--I've even seen people have trouble crewing Harvesters post board when they run the full playset and then side out dudes for removal.
Going completely mono black also gives up the power of Hazoret. I'm not sure how that can be right.
There have been a lot of featured Br lists in recent days:
4 Dread Wanderer
2 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Fatal Push
1 Abrade
3 Lightning Strike
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Cut // Ribbons
4 Aether Hub
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Mountain
11 Swamp
1 Chandra's Defeat
3 Duress
2 Abrade
1 Aethersphere Harvester
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Doomfall
1 Vance's Blasting Cannons
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Dread Wanderer
4 Vicious Conquistador
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
3 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Strike
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
4 Aether Hub
2 Canyon Slough
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Mountain
12 Swamp
4 Duress
4 Gifted Aetherborn
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Doomfall
2 Unlicensed Disintegration
1 Vance's Blasting Cannons
1 Vraska's Contempt
4 Dread Wanderer
2 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Strike
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Cut // Ribbons
4 Aether Hub
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Mountain
11 Swamp
1 Chandra's Defeat
3 Duress
2 Abrade
1 Aethersphere Harvester
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Doomfall
1 Vance's Blasting Cannons
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Dread Wanderer
2 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Fatal Push
4 Lightning Strike
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Cut // Ribbons
4 Aether Hub
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Mountain
11 Swamp
1 Chandra's Defeat
3 Duress
2 Abrade
1 Aethersphere Harvester
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Doomfall
1 Vance's Blasting Cannons
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Dread Wanderer
4 Bomat Courier
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Fatal Push
1 Abrade
3 Lightning Strike
4 Aether Hub
2 Canyon Slough
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Mountain
11 Swamp
1 Chandra's Defeat
4 Duress
1 Magma Spray
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Doomfall
2 Rampaging Ferocidon
1 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Dread Wanderer
4 Bomat Courier
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
3 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Fatal Push
2 Lightning Strike
2 Cut // Ribbons
4 Aether Hub
2 Canyon Slough
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Mountain
11 Swamp
1 Chandra's Defeat
4 Duress
1 Key to the City
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Pia Nalaar
2 Rampaging Ferocidon
2 Vraska's Contempt
4 Dread Wanderer
4 Bomat Courier
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Scrapheap Scrounger
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4 Hazoret the Fervent
4 Fatal Push
1 Abrade
3 Lightning Strike
4 Aether Hub
2 Canyon Slough
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Mountain
11 Swamp
3 Duress
2 Magma Spray
2 Abrade
4 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Rampaging Ferocidon
2 Vraska's Contempt
It seems the basic core is more or less settled but there's some interesting tinkering going on around the edges.
I am now curious about Dread Wanderer in the BR deck. Is it worth it to swap it out for Harsh Scrutiny or Dufess, since we would have Bomat in the BR version? I started thinking about it after reading an article on CFB that mentioned our deck. My biggest roadblock, outside of tokens, is the Virtuoso in the energy decks. It stonewalls me hard. Even if I can strike it or hit it with Walk the Plank on mono black, they have enough energy to drop a couple dudes.
Whirler Virtuoso and Bristling Hydra are why the Bontu's Last Reckoning plan is so important. If you can play it while you have Yahenni or an active Hazoret going it's just amazing. Even without those guys you still have the eight recursive cheap guys to get back.
I have a little more fun playing Mono at the moment, because I have Red built... and hate switching the cards back and forth because I can't make up my mind, lol. I want to play mono black tomorrow night and BR for FNM, with Bontu's in the main. I've only had one losing night (there were Three tokens players last Friday). A part of me also really wants to play Cut // Ribbons because I want to hit Glorybringer with it and have the Ribbons option late game.
I check this thread every day for new information, so I like keeping the dialogue going.