Eldrazi has been humbled, not completely killed.
What do you think this B&R will mean for us? Blue-based control got infinitely better, Tezzerator also stands to gain a lot. How do we think we'll counteract those decks and can we properly utilize Ancestral Visions?
I'm thinking that I'll be replacing any individual artifact/enchantment destruction with a Krosan Grip, but I'll be keeping wipes like Creeping Corrosion or Shatterstorm.
If your meta includes a lot of shifts then yeah, the Crumble makes sense.
While Damnation is harder to cast, the majority of the time you will be casting it off Bring to Light so I find it isn't too painful to run, I just have to be a bit more mindful of how I fetch, having both Watery Grave and Overgrown Tomb helps in that regard.
I love card selection, and Anticipate gets the best out of the top of your deck, so it's great when you just need to topdeck a land or Shift, or even just dig foe counters in hmthe early game against control. It's rarely a dead card and I only really board it out against Burn (Eidolon).
I prefer Izzet Charm because I find its great against the majority of the top tier decks, it kills lots of affinity creatures, merfolk lords, counters Coco or kills their combo pieces, helps win counter wars against control and at worst it digs into a win con or answer to some other threat. It wasn't great with Eldrazi running around but at that stage I'd just put a second Damnation in the board and hoped to hit one, which worked extremely well, I managed an 8-2 record against Eldrazi variants at the GP Melbourne between the warm-up event and the main event (lost to RG)
I was running Pulse but Burn and Jund havn't been a noticeable part of the meta where I am and so I cut it while they're not represented. There is however a few Control decks showing up frequently, so I've boarded cards like Huntmaster which are good against them while also being good against Burn and BGx for whenever they show up again.
Kommand hasn't particularly sold itself to me in theory, though I haven't tested it yet and probably should.
I've tested Worldly Council and don't like the floor, it's roof is better but if I'm casting it early I can't be sure I've got many land types. I usually work on a worst-case basis so it didn't make the cut.
This is the list I think I'll starting from 4th of April, admitting the meta changes to a Affinity/Burn/Infect + Jund/Abzan + Tron meta.
*DECK*
As you can see there are a few slots that could perfectly accommodate 2/3 Coursers, namely the Charms, Kommand, Bolts, Crumble.
The main question for courser is does it improve your bad matchups?, and I'm inclined to think it doesn't, especially considering that the expected meta is Affinity/Infect/Burn/Tron, all decks which are affected by the cards you'd be removing. Charm counters Tron/Burn/Infect spells, Kommand kills the creatures of the non-tron decks and pressures Tron/Burn resources, Bolts again kill the creatures and bring Tron to 7-Shift range.
Courser improves the Jund matchup (if it sticks around, but you're turning on their removal G1) but we're already good against that deck if we're running BTL.
Crumble is the card which I think could be replaced unless you're expecting an extremely heavy Tron meta, though I still think there are better cards to run in its place.
I'm intrigued by your preference of Polluted Delta over Misty Rainforest, though I assume this is a budget decision as you're not splashing black enough to warrant the switch.
Sultai charm is interesting, I was going to test it when I first built my build but moved into Maelstrom Pulse fairly quickly due to a decent token presence in my meta, I'll have a look at it and see how I feel on it though it seems fairly strong.
My decklist is located here.
Now that Eldrazi is gone I'll continue testing Damnation as my wipe as it's been putting up great results against the tier decks whereas Anger has been temperamental, though if Melira Combo becomes a large part of the meta Anger may just be required anyway due to the deck's weakness to it.
I re-sleeved a traditional RUG build and nearly immediately was reminded that only having four copies of shift can mean you never draw it in a game.
I'm expecting that I'll jump between regular and BTL as the meta changes though I'm pretty much sold on BtL being the more effective deck, primarily because it's able to hit its bullets consistently.
As for courser, I'm not sure, the only real slot I'd put it in is the one held currently by Mummy and Daddy Nalaar, and they're strong against three top tier decks on their own (Affinity, Infect, Jund).
Huntmaster of the Fells is a better choice, you can hit it off BTL, can attack on its own, generates life, damage and blockers. This only really generates 1 block per turn and it'll be hard to take advantage of the bolts against Midrange decks since they're usually throwing out Tarmogoyfs.
As one of the few advocates of RUG on this board, here's one of my reports to help keep the discussion going. I feel that RUG is the stronger version of the deck, but that it's bad against Eldrazi, or basically anything that has early pressure larger than Anger of the Gods and Lightning Bolt can handle. I'm willing to just try to dodge the matchup at FNM because it's not too common yet. I think RUG will be in a good position if Eldrazi disappear.
I'd love some thoughts on how I to approach the Eldrazi. I'm thinking I should bring in some Roasts. Lightning Bolt is great against most decks, but I think I need something a bit more powerful even if it's a bit slower. Usually if I'm able to throw a bolt at the opponents face it means I would rather it be another card anyway.
I was on the play for this game, and we both mulliganed. I had no idea what he was on, but I got a reasonable hand with a first-turn Search for Tomorrow. His first turn he played a Forest and an Aether Vial. There are only two decks that could possibly be, basically: Slivers (unlikely) or Hatebears (likely). This could be bad if he plays an early Leonin Arbiter or Aven Mindcensor this could go poorly.
However, his hand was mostly Flickerwisps. I fogged with some Cryptic Commands, killed three creatures with Electrolyze and Izzet Charm, but eventually I had to start taking some beats, going from 16 to 7 in one attack. By the time he was doing those attacks I already had enough land and I was in the process of digging for Scapeshift, which I found the next turn and won.
I almost missed on a Peer Through Depths, revealing four lands and an Izzet Charm, one of the worst cards in the match-up.
In: 3x Anger of the Gods, 1x Sudden Shock, 1x Obstinate Baloth, 1x Pulse of Murasa
Out: 2x Izzet Charm, 4x Remand
In game 2 he played a turn-2 Thalia Theraben. On my turn 2 I had two options: Sakura-Tribe Elder or bolt the Thalia. I chose to go with the Elder, figuring I could bolt her later and that I should focus on ramping up my mana. That turned out to be a mistake. I felt the pressure of the extra mana for the rest of the game. I used a Pulse of Murasa to buy some time and try to bait him into putting out some more creatures, which worked and I snagged Thalia, Voice of Resurgence and Noble Hierarch from one Anger of the Gods. After the Anger I was pretty stable and with a Cryptic-Snap-Cryptic I bought myself enough time to get to seven lands and win.
Round 2 - Mono-G Stompy
These games were not particularly interesting. I drew really really cold. Game 1 I mulliganed a slow hand into a no-land hand and kept a mediocre five. I took beats form Experiment One, Kalonian Tusker with Rancor and Surrak, the Hunt Caller. This got me to 3, but I was able to buy myself time with Cryptic Command. This turned into the situation where I needed to draw pretty perfectly to win, finding land and a Scapeshift while stalling. I had a Snapcaster Mage in hand, and I drew into another Snapcaster Mage and Cryptic. This would have given me 4 turns of fog, but I never found the sixth land so I couldn't do it and I lost.
In: 3x Anger of the gods, 3x Obstinate Baloth
Out: 2x Izzet Charm, 2x Electolyze, 2x Remand
All that needs to be said of game 2 is that I kept 6 cards that was Anger of the Gods, Search for Tomorrow, Peer Through Depths and land. However, I did not draw a non-mana card for the rest of the game other than a Lightning Bolt I got off the Peer Through Depths, which was the best tool I could find to do anything about the Leatherback Baloth that was killing me.
We played two more games for fun and I won both easily.
Round 3 - UW Tron with Gifts
These games are some of my favorites and one where RUG shines, in my opinion. I saw what looked like Tron, so I got surprised by Gifts Ungiven. However, I had the counters available to Remand his Unburial Rites. I used a Sakura-Tribe elder to attack twice while we were playing draw-go and I was ramping up my mana. This got him to the magical 18 and I started trying to force Scapeshift by floating mana. He answered the first one with Remand, but then I won the counter-war. He miscalculated and only left up 5 mana to Condescend, but I floated four extra when I played the Scapeshift.
In game 2 he went for an end-of-turn gifts when I only had two mana open, but I had a Dispel available and that killed his tempo. Then I was able to also Lightning Bolt him to get him to 17. We ramped mana for a bit, but then I was able to force through the Scapeshift with three mana floating (7 lands) because I had Snapcaster + Dispel in hand I gambled that he only had at most one real counterspell.
Round 4 - GR Eldrazi
I thought because I was 2-1 I might be safe, but I was wrong.
Game 1 he's on the play and goes Eye of Ugin -> Endless One. I suspend a Search for Tomorrow. He plays Eldrazi Temple -> Thought-Knot Seer and I bolt his Endless One in response. He takes my Cryptic Command and now I'm just left with just land, Izzet Charm and Peer Through Depths. I play my land and pass, he follows up with Forest -> Reality Smasher, swing for 9. I draw and scoop, since I have no outs.
Game 2 I had a slightly better chance. I took a few beats from a Matter Reshaper while I delveloped my mana. I remanded a Reality Smasher, but then over the next three turns he played World Breaker, World Breaker, Reality Smasher. Each World Breaker took one of my lands and my only available defense was Remand, a Sakura-Tribe Elder and a Snapcaster Mage. I couldn't hold off that army and he even got me down on mana such that I couldn't draw into a Cryptic to buy time since he targeted my blue and red mana.
When boarding against GR I find its better t keep my Izzet charms in, as they frequently run annoying support spells like Crumble to Dust, it also allows you to dig for the win better in the mid-game, if I've seen a Cavern of Souls I usually take out 2 or so remands.
I'm running the BtL build though, so I just Damnation T3-4 to regain tempo against them, which probably isn't possible in the RUG build.
Does the deck needs an alternative win con in the side? considering that there will probably be more hate for our main win con
I'm experimenting with more win cons like Huntmaster of the Fells and Inferno Titan in case we get Games'd or Crumbled to the point we can't go off.
I also have Teferi who's an all-star against control and anyone else who wants to interact with us.
My matchups (in order) were:
R1 BW Eldrazi 2-1 He got a Game Loss in G3 after I crumbled his Eldrazi Temple and found he didn't have his fourth in his deck, he never found it. He probably would have won otherwise.
R2 UG Infect 2-0, an early Shift G1 after remanding a kicked vines for lethal was just enough, G2 I wiped his board with an Anger T3.
R3 UR Storm 0-2 It felt like a bad matchup at the time but I realized while writing this that I didn't board into Slaughter Games. That would definitely have won me game 2 if I'd remembered it.
R4 Melira Combo 2-0 This feels like a great matchup, they're slow to apply pressure and we can just counter/kill their combo plays.
R5 Tezzerator 2-0 Game 1 I bounced his Talismans and remanded his Tezzeret until I shifted. G2 I T3 Slaughter Games'd his Tezzerets away and beat down with Glen Elendra + Teferi.
R6 UG Infect 2-0 Game 1 I had 4 mana T3, he animated a nexus and swung, I remanded a kicked Vines and took 2 (Exalted), he then cantripped with Slip through Space so I Izzet Charmed his Inkmoth at EOT, he didn't draw another threat. G2 I BtL'd T3 into Melira and he had no removal.
At this stage I was able to ID in, but my opponent wanted to play it out, this next win put me to third in Swiss standings.
R7 UW Control 2-0 Game 1 he GQ'd my Breeding pools as he wasn't entirely sure how Shift worked, I combo'd him and explained after the pairing, G2 he mulled to 4.
Top 8: Living End 2-1: Game 1 I Shifted into his 3 open mana, he apparently didn't know how Shift worked and let it resolve, he was apparently so tilted that he forgot to cast the Beast Within in his hand to counter my triggers (he was also apparenlty on 19, I had marked him at 17 for some reason, long day). Game 2 he was able to fulminator repeatedly and beat down. Game 3 I T3 Slaughter Games'd his Living End and he didn't hit enough land to play his big creatures.
Top 4: Affinity 0-2: G1 I anger'd his board after he put me to 5, he revealed that he had a Galvanic Blast in hand and a blinkmoth in play (mox and Citadel gave him Metalcraft) so I scooped. Game 2 he played an early Scissors on a Darksteel Citadel and had 3 counterspells for my bounce spells. Oh well.
The reasoning for my sideboard choices: Glen Elendra Archmage This card is a house against Tron, the many Jeskai and UW control variants in my meta since the twin ban and also chumps Infect like a boss. Melira, Sylvok Outcast Melira is an insane BtL target vs infect and pretty much ensures that I can't lose to them G2 (They usually board out removal except Twisted Image) Obstinate Baloth Probably the most questionable choice in the current meta which BGx isn't strong in, it's still a great play against Burn as they have a very hard time getting through it, so it can buy a turn or so to combo off, I might cull the numbers if I can find a replacement card and BGx remains low-key. Spellskite Spellskite is great vs Burn, Infect, Bogles and opposing Scapeshifts, I don't think I'll be dropping this any time soon. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Teferi is a new addition as I used to run Surrak Dragonclaw as it smashed Twin and friends, I bring this in against Burn as it forces them to play in main phase, they can't react to lifegain, etc. It's also obviously good against anyone who wanted to interact with our Scapeshift or hold up tricks. Counterflux Primarily there against Storm and Ad Nauseum, two pretty terrible matchups for the deck as far as I'm aware. I'd like to cull it if I could but don't feel safe to do so yet. Kozilek's Return Amazing vs Affinity (Etched Champion), Merfolk (Master of Waves, Lords), Soul Sisters (Auriok Champion), etc. being Instant Speed allows us to threaten countermagic or just cast it when they're not expecting a wipe. Pulse of Murasa A test card at the moment, great vs burn as it gains 6 and return a Molten Rain'd land or Sakura-Tribe Elder to block with. Also good vs Living End for similar reasons, good for GBx as well. Crumble to Dust Shouldn't need any introduction. Tron, Eldrazi, Other Scapeshifts. Damnation Wipes boards clean, great vs any creature deck. Shatterstorm Affinity 100%, otherwise Lantern Control gets hit pretty hard by it. Slaughter Games Hits Storm (Grapeshot), Living End, other Shifts, Newlamog, Karn, etc. Anything we can't really deal with. Engineered Explosives Another wipe that handily hits Blood Moon or Choke if we're expecting it (note that against choke the island you tapped for the third color doesn't need to untap to explode the bomb.
Mainboard tricks: Pia and Kiran Nalaar Great against infect and Affinity, walls BGx for a couple turns. Into the Roil bounces problem permanents, good tempo card. Anger of the Gods Needs no introduction, run this card. Maelstrom Pulse One of the biggest reasons to be playing Black. The ability for a mainboard card to hit multiple Blood Moons, Master of Waves, etc. cannot be overstated. The fact that it also hits Leylines post-board is just gravy.
My input on the Anticipate/Worldly Counsel discussion is that Anticipate has a higher floor than Counsel, as you can't always ensure that you'll have 3 basic types out, I'm more than willing to sacrifice a higher ceiling for consistency.
I am interested to see if anyone knows of cards that are useful early against Eldrazi, as they look to be our next worst matchup (Infect is actually really good for us now since BtL). I'm experimenting with Voidslime in the main, as it counters Ulamog triggers, spells and problem abilities.
I'll also be doing a more in-depth write-up soon, likely tomorrow.
So, my current list that I will be taking to the GPT this weekend is located here and I felt like explaining a few of my choices.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar: This card is a great speedbump against aggressive decks like zoo, affinity and merfolk, being able to favorably block Etched Champion and Inkmoth Nexus against Affinity, chump against Merfolk's un-lorded creatures or kill lords and force Zoo players to have trample-enablers. It's also good against GBx should they still be around. Should Bx Eldrazi take over as expected, this might bite the bullet to become a proactive Mwonvuli Acid-Moss. Voidslime: This is a test to bring against the expected Bx Eldrazi lists and deals with pretty much every card Tron can throw at us (I'd like to assume I can win the turn after they play an Ulamog if I can stifle the trigger). While worse against aggressive I believe it's the price we have to pay to deal with the big-mana decks. Maelstrom Pulse: Despite the death of twin this card is still insane, it deals with leylines, blood moons, choke (and multiples thereof), Master of Waves, zoo creatures, etc. as long as you ensure you fetch for UG to Bring to Light into it or fetch BG if you have it in hand. I doubt there will ever be a time that this card is irrelevant without the big-mana decks taking over the format. Huntmaster of the Fells: This is more of a test than anything, I don't have 4x Baloth and this throws down blockers, gains life and can kill little aggressive creatures if it sticks around. Surrak Dragonclaw: I've been running Surrak over the last year due to its high power-level against Twin and other blue-based decks, I'm unsure whether I'll be cutting it though if the format loses a lot of blue decks then I'll probably run it. Pulse of Murasa: I'm not running white so I don't get access to Timely Reinforcements, this is the next-best option which can buy back Sakura-Tribe Elders/Baloths to block with, lands to ensure land drops or even just give the opponent a land to avoid dying. I have high expectations of this card in an aggressive format. Slaughter Games: While Twin is gone, there are a lot of other problem cards that this deals with: Oblivion Sower and Ulamog from Bx Eldrazi, Ad Nauseum win conditions, Gifts targets, storm, etc. and anything that revolves around a specific card.
Feel free to discuss this lineup as I'm always interested to see what people think of choices.
The problem with Trickbind is that it's too narrow. With Voidslime, you can counter Wurmcoil or Karn as well as shut down Eldrazi. It's also useful in other match-ups, for example burn (as a hard counter).
So maybe I'm missing something but how exactly are we planning to use Voidslime against Eldrazi decks? Is the idea that it is either a hard counter, or if we are just a turn away from going off that we can prevent the activated ability of say Ulamog the Ceaseless hunger versus countering or remanding it as our normal game plan? Basically is it solely for the option, or are we trying to do something else with this that I'm completely missing?
For us to be countering an ulamog they're likely on 5 lands, which means we should be on around 6, if the ulamog triggers we go down to 4 and cannot win next turn. If we stifle that trigger, however, they have an ulamog in play and we can kill them on our next turn.
And if they're not casting an Ulamog, we're countering a Karn/Wurmcoil/Emrakul Trigger.
I've been running BTL and have been having great results at my previous few GPTs with it. I've top-8'd 2/4 and missed the others due to my own punts. My list is located here: Deckbox
The addition of Relic was due to knowing two Living End players were present and it replaced my second Electrolyze.
The mainboard Maelstrom Pulse is frankly ridiculous, dealing with multiple blood moon effects game one, wiping Merfolk boards, etc. The Nourish in the side is likely going to be replaced by Pulse of Murasa due to being a Semi-Timely effect or ensuring I hit a land drop.
Decklist is quit spicy. It looks great tho. I think the Pulse can be a Decay, but that is personla preference to. How about the Pia maindeck, how does it work for you?
I have been testing RUG version now. Just the old regular build. It feels great, never had a game where I couldnt close it. The two maindeck Lumbering Falls are new hero's in the deck. Beside that. I have been testen against Twin, Jund, Junk, Grixis Control and Bogles. So not that bad mu. I still need some testing vs Infect and Burn. Tron looks awfull now with the new Ulamog... #bannhammer!... Besides that, I think both decks have pro's and con's. I have always been an Toolbox player with Birthing Pod. So I keep on testing the RUG and after a month or so I will make the BTL version and keep testing with that. The silver bullets are great. But I think you will have to many hands with double BTL or BTL and sAPESHIfT. It feels so clunky for me. But time will tell. Next to that, I love Anticipate instead of Worldly Counsil. And there are so many options in the BTL build. So keep the posts comming!
The pulse turning into decay could happen if you were in a meta without Leyline and less blood moons. I have both so I prefer the Pulse as it has got me out of a lot of sticky situations that Decay could not have: killing early tasigur/Angler, multiple blood moons (3), double Master of Waves, etc.
Pia and Kiran is also great, they slow down aggro decks game 1 and provide a useful grindy card against GBx that can also remove a late twin.
I've been running BTL and have been having great results at my previous few GPTs with it. I've top-8'd 2/4 and missed the others due to my own punts. My list is located here: Deckbox
The addition of Relic was due to knowing two Living End players were present and it replaced my second Electrolyze.
The mainboard Maelstrom Pulse is frankly ridiculous, dealing with multiple blood moon effects game one, wiping Merfolk boards, etc. The Nourish in the side is likely going to be replaced by Pulse of Murasa due to being a Semi-Timely effect or ensuring I hit a land drop.
I find Podless CoCo to be fine, you just need to prioritize your counter targets. I'd usually let their cheaper (non-voice) creatures resolve early and then just hold up counters for their combo plays.
Eye of Ugin is banned.
Ancestral Vision is unbanned.
Sword of the Meek is unbanned.
Eldrazi has been humbled, not completely killed.
What do you think this B&R will mean for us? Blue-based control got infinitely better, Tezzerator also stands to gain a lot. How do we think we'll counteract those decks and can we properly utilize Ancestral Visions?
I'm thinking that I'll be replacing any individual artifact/enchantment destruction with a Krosan Grip, but I'll be keeping wipes like Creeping Corrosion or Shatterstorm.
While Damnation is harder to cast, the majority of the time you will be casting it off Bring to Light so I find it isn't too painful to run, I just have to be a bit more mindful of how I fetch, having both Watery Grave and Overgrown Tomb helps in that regard.
I love card selection, and Anticipate gets the best out of the top of your deck, so it's great when you just need to topdeck a land or Shift, or even just dig foe counters in hmthe early game against control. It's rarely a dead card and I only really board it out against Burn (Eidolon).
I prefer Izzet Charm because I find its great against the majority of the top tier decks, it kills lots of affinity creatures, merfolk lords, counters Coco or kills their combo pieces, helps win counter wars against control and at worst it digs into a win con or answer to some other threat. It wasn't great with Eldrazi running around but at that stage I'd just put a second Damnation in the board and hoped to hit one, which worked extremely well, I managed an 8-2 record against Eldrazi variants at the GP Melbourne between the warm-up event and the main event (lost to RG)
I was running Pulse but Burn and Jund havn't been a noticeable part of the meta where I am and so I cut it while they're not represented. There is however a few Control decks showing up frequently, so I've boarded cards like Huntmaster which are good against them while also being good against Burn and BGx for whenever they show up again.
Kommand hasn't particularly sold itself to me in theory, though I haven't tested it yet and probably should.
The main question for courser is does it improve your bad matchups?, and I'm inclined to think it doesn't, especially considering that the expected meta is Affinity/Infect/Burn/Tron, all decks which are affected by the cards you'd be removing. Charm counters Tron/Burn/Infect spells, Kommand kills the creatures of the non-tron decks and pressures Tron/Burn resources, Bolts again kill the creatures and bring Tron to 7-Shift range.
Courser improves the Jund matchup (if it sticks around, but you're turning on their removal G1) but we're already good against that deck if we're running BTL.
Crumble is the card which I think could be replaced unless you're expecting an extremely heavy Tron meta, though I still think there are better cards to run in its place.
I'm intrigued by your preference of Polluted Delta over Misty Rainforest, though I assume this is a budget decision as you're not splashing black enough to warrant the switch.
Sultai charm is interesting, I was going to test it when I first built my build but moved into Maelstrom Pulse fairly quickly due to a decent token presence in my meta, I'll have a look at it and see how I feel on it though it seems fairly strong.
My decklist is located here.
Now that Eldrazi is gone I'll continue testing Damnation as my wipe as it's been putting up great results against the tier decks whereas Anger has been temperamental, though if Melira Combo becomes a large part of the meta Anger may just be required anyway due to the deck's weakness to it.
I'm aware of those cards and was running 4x Peer, I still don't like Serum Visions in Scapeshift but that's just a preference.
I'm expecting that I'll jump between regular and BTL as the meta changes though I'm pretty much sold on BtL being the more effective deck, primarily because it's able to hit its bullets consistently.
As for courser, I'm not sure, the only real slot I'd put it in is the one held currently by Mummy and Daddy Nalaar, and they're strong against three top tier decks on their own (Affinity, Infect, Jund).
When boarding against GR I find its better t keep my Izzet charms in, as they frequently run annoying support spells like Crumble to Dust, it also allows you to dig for the win better in the mid-game, if I've seen a Cavern of Souls I usually take out 2 or so remands.
I'm running the BtL build though, so I just Damnation T3-4 to regain tempo against them, which probably isn't possible in the RUG build.
I'm experimenting with more win cons like Huntmaster of the Fells and Inferno Titan in case we get Games'd or Crumbled to the point we can't go off.
I also have Teferi who's an all-star against control and anyone else who wants to interact with us.
My matchups (in order) were:
R1 BW Eldrazi 2-1 He got a Game Loss in G3 after I crumbled his Eldrazi Temple and found he didn't have his fourth in his deck, he never found it. He probably would have won otherwise.
R2 UG Infect 2-0, an early Shift G1 after remanding a kicked vines for lethal was just enough, G2 I wiped his board with an Anger T3.
R3 UR Storm 0-2 It felt like a bad matchup at the time but I realized while writing this that I didn't board into Slaughter Games. That would definitely have won me game 2 if I'd remembered it.
R4 Melira Combo 2-0 This feels like a great matchup, they're slow to apply pressure and we can just counter/kill their combo plays.
R5 Tezzerator 2-0 Game 1 I bounced his Talismans and remanded his Tezzeret until I shifted. G2 I T3 Slaughter Games'd his Tezzerets away and beat down with Glen Elendra + Teferi.
R6 UG Infect 2-0 Game 1 I had 4 mana T3, he animated a nexus and swung, I remanded a kicked Vines and took 2 (Exalted), he then cantripped with Slip through Space so I Izzet Charmed his Inkmoth at EOT, he didn't draw another threat. G2 I BtL'd T3 into Melira and he had no removal.
At this stage I was able to ID in, but my opponent wanted to play it out, this next win put me to third in Swiss standings.
R7 UW Control 2-0 Game 1 he GQ'd my Breeding pools as he wasn't entirely sure how Shift worked, I combo'd him and explained after the pairing, G2 he mulled to 4.
Top 8: Living End 2-1: Game 1 I Shifted into his 3 open mana, he apparently didn't know how Shift worked and let it resolve, he was apparently so tilted that he forgot to cast the Beast Within in his hand to counter my triggers (he was also apparenlty on 19, I had marked him at 17 for some reason, long day). Game 2 he was able to fulminator repeatedly and beat down. Game 3 I T3 Slaughter Games'd his Living End and he didn't hit enough land to play his big creatures.
Top 4: Affinity 0-2: G1 I anger'd his board after he put me to 5, he revealed that he had a Galvanic Blast in hand and a blinkmoth in play (mox and Citadel gave him Metalcraft) so I scooped. Game 2 he played an early Scissors on a Darksteel Citadel and had 3 counterspells for my bounce spells. Oh well.
The reasoning for my sideboard choices:
Glen Elendra Archmage This card is a house against Tron, the many Jeskai and UW control variants in my meta since the twin ban and also chumps Infect like a boss.
Melira, Sylvok Outcast Melira is an insane BtL target vs infect and pretty much ensures that I can't lose to them G2 (They usually board out removal except Twisted Image)
Obstinate Baloth Probably the most questionable choice in the current meta which BGx isn't strong in, it's still a great play against Burn as they have a very hard time getting through it, so it can buy a turn or so to combo off, I might cull the numbers if I can find a replacement card and BGx remains low-key.
Spellskite Spellskite is great vs Burn, Infect, Bogles and opposing Scapeshifts, I don't think I'll be dropping this any time soon.
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir Teferi is a new addition as I used to run Surrak Dragonclaw as it smashed Twin and friends, I bring this in against Burn as it forces them to play in main phase, they can't react to lifegain, etc. It's also obviously good against anyone who wanted to interact with our Scapeshift or hold up tricks.
Counterflux Primarily there against Storm and Ad Nauseum, two pretty terrible matchups for the deck as far as I'm aware. I'd like to cull it if I could but don't feel safe to do so yet.
Kozilek's Return Amazing vs Affinity (Etched Champion), Merfolk (Master of Waves, Lords), Soul Sisters (Auriok Champion), etc. being Instant Speed allows us to threaten countermagic or just cast it when they're not expecting a wipe.
Pulse of Murasa A test card at the moment, great vs burn as it gains 6 and return a Molten Rain'd land or Sakura-Tribe Elder to block with. Also good vs Living End for similar reasons, good for GBx as well.
Crumble to Dust Shouldn't need any introduction. Tron, Eldrazi, Other Scapeshifts.
Damnation Wipes boards clean, great vs any creature deck.
Shatterstorm Affinity 100%, otherwise Lantern Control gets hit pretty hard by it.
Slaughter Games Hits Storm (Grapeshot), Living End, other Shifts, Newlamog, Karn, etc. Anything we can't really deal with.
Engineered Explosives Another wipe that handily hits Blood Moon or Choke if we're expecting it (note that against choke the island you tapped for the third color doesn't need to untap to explode the bomb.
Mainboard tricks:
Pia and Kiran Nalaar Great against infect and Affinity, walls BGx for a couple turns.
Into the Roil bounces problem permanents, good tempo card.
Anger of the Gods Needs no introduction, run this card.
Maelstrom Pulse One of the biggest reasons to be playing Black. The ability for a mainboard card to hit multiple Blood Moons, Master of Waves, etc. cannot be overstated. The fact that it also hits Leylines post-board is just gravy.
My input on the Anticipate/Worldly Counsel discussion is that Anticipate has a higher floor than Counsel, as you can't always ensure that you'll have 3 basic types out, I'm more than willing to sacrifice a higher ceiling for consistency.
I am interested to see if anyone knows of cards that are useful early against Eldrazi, as they look to be our next worst matchup (Infect is actually really good for us now since BtL). I'm experimenting with Voidslime in the main, as it counters Ulamog triggers, spells and problem abilities.
I'll also be doing a more in-depth write-up soon, likely tomorrow.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar: This card is a great speedbump against aggressive decks like zoo, affinity and merfolk, being able to favorably block Etched Champion and Inkmoth Nexus against Affinity, chump against Merfolk's un-lorded creatures or kill lords and force Zoo players to have trample-enablers. It's also good against GBx should they still be around. Should Bx Eldrazi take over as expected, this might bite the bullet to become a proactive Mwonvuli Acid-Moss.
Voidslime: This is a test to bring against the expected Bx Eldrazi lists and deals with pretty much every card Tron can throw at us (I'd like to assume I can win the turn after they play an Ulamog if I can stifle the trigger). While worse against aggressive I believe it's the price we have to pay to deal with the big-mana decks.
Maelstrom Pulse: Despite the death of twin this card is still insane, it deals with leylines, blood moons, choke (and multiples thereof), Master of Waves, zoo creatures, etc. as long as you ensure you fetch for UG to Bring to Light into it or fetch BG if you have it in hand. I doubt there will ever be a time that this card is irrelevant without the big-mana decks taking over the format.
Huntmaster of the Fells: This is more of a test than anything, I don't have 4x Baloth and this throws down blockers, gains life and can kill little aggressive creatures if it sticks around.
Surrak Dragonclaw: I've been running Surrak over the last year due to its high power-level against Twin and other blue-based decks, I'm unsure whether I'll be cutting it though if the format loses a lot of blue decks then I'll probably run it.
Pulse of Murasa: I'm not running white so I don't get access to Timely Reinforcements, this is the next-best option which can buy back Sakura-Tribe Elders/Baloths to block with, lands to ensure land drops or even just give the opponent a land to avoid dying. I have high expectations of this card in an aggressive format.
Slaughter Games: While Twin is gone, there are a lot of other problem cards that this deals with: Oblivion Sower and Ulamog from Bx Eldrazi, Ad Nauseum win conditions, Gifts targets, storm, etc. and anything that revolves around a specific card.
Feel free to discuss this lineup as I'm always interested to see what people think of choices.
For us to be countering an ulamog they're likely on 5 lands, which means we should be on around 6, if the ulamog triggers we go down to 4 and cannot win next turn. If we stifle that trigger, however, they have an ulamog in play and we can kill them on our next turn.
And if they're not casting an Ulamog, we're countering a Karn/Wurmcoil/Emrakul Trigger.
The pulse turning into decay could happen if you were in a meta without Leyline and less blood moons. I have both so I prefer the Pulse as it has got me out of a lot of sticky situations that Decay could not have: killing early tasigur/Angler, multiple blood moons (3), double Master of Waves, etc.
Pia and Kiran is also great, they slow down aggro decks game 1 and provide a useful grindy card against GBx that can also remove a late twin.
The addition of Relic was due to knowing two Living End players were present and it replaced my second Electrolyze.
The mainboard Maelstrom Pulse is frankly ridiculous, dealing with multiple blood moon effects game one, wiping Merfolk boards, etc. The Nourish in the side is likely going to be replaced by Pulse of Murasa due to being a Semi-Timely effect or ensuring I hit a land drop.
If a Voice resolves then you're in for a race.